Friday, December 29, 2006
On the road again...
We have had an awesome week with the Ecords and Howards with us. Vicki and Ron did make it out to the jungle with me on a flight on Tuesday, but because of the weather, that is all that we could get done. I guess the Howards will have to come see us again to make it out on a jungle flight. We are already heading back up to Quito today to take everyone to the airport. Although they don't leave until Sunday morning, we wanted a few days to play around in the Andes and see some of the sights together. On Monday, my family comes in, which will prove to be fun as well, I'm sure. As evidenced by our lack of blogs this week, we have been real busy, and this morning is no different. Our ride to Quito is going to be here in an hour, so I better get going. Happy new year to everyone!
Monday, December 25, 2006
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
Hope you are enjoying a joyful and memorable Christmas day. May you take a moment to remember the First Christmas and the significance of the God of the Universe sending His Son to a little stable in Bethlehem over 2000 years ago. What a miracle!! That tiny baby grew up to take the sins of the world upon Himself that we might enjoy fellowship with God - for eternity in Heaven but also during our time on Earth. Wow!
We are enjoying a very special Christmas with my family. Words do not describe the joy of spending this Holiday with loved ones. When you only see your family once a year it makes those moments together just that much more precious. We are so blessed that all of my immediate family was able to come this year - and then as an added bonus Sean's family is coming too! Not many people are so blessed and we praise God for our families.
Oops, better go. There are four little girls (ages 2 months to 13 years) who are dying to open their stockings. Then its time for some turkey, ham, and the fixings and a piece of "Happy Birthday Jesus Cake."
Love, Becca
We are enjoying a very special Christmas with my family. Words do not describe the joy of spending this Holiday with loved ones. When you only see your family once a year it makes those moments together just that much more precious. We are so blessed that all of my immediate family was able to come this year - and then as an added bonus Sean's family is coming too! Not many people are so blessed and we praise God for our families.
Oops, better go. There are four little girls (ages 2 months to 13 years) who are dying to open their stockings. Then its time for some turkey, ham, and the fixings and a piece of "Happy Birthday Jesus Cake."
Love, Becca
Friday, December 22, 2006
From the logbook...busy, busy, busy
Since I have been flight coordinating this week, I have tried to stay on the ground, and have our other pilots fly. This isn't always an option. So, I put myself on the schedule on Wednesday to make two simple flights. They would have added up to just over two hours. But, on only my second stop on my first flight, I received reports of bad weather in Shell. I happened to be in Makuma (MAK) which is a great place to be if you get stuck in the jungle for any amount of time. I landed there about 9:30am, and Shell was shut down the whole day. Therefore I ended up spending the night in the jungle.
At 6:30am yesterday morning I awoke and got going trying to get back to Shell. I made two other stops and was on the ground in Shell just in time, by around 8:00am. Shell, and the whole jungle for that matter, was shut down until around 2:00pm.
Many of you know about the travel delays because of blizzards and things in Colorado, and probably many other states. This time of year there is a huge influx of travelers doing their holiday traveling. It is no different here. There are literally hundreds of teachers, missionaries, doctors, etc, that want to leave the jungle for the holidays, and then go back the first of January. I had a huge list on Monday to begin planning how to get them all out by today, and it has been a nightmare trying to get it done. Although the weather we have is far from blizzard conditions, it shuts us down, just the same as an airline. If we could only get one good day of weather today, we could get it all done. As I sit here and drink my morning coffee, guess what, it is raining! I guess we will see what happens today.
My family and I are all jumping on the bus tomorrow to head to Quito to welcome the first of our holiday visitors. Becca's parents and her sister's family are all coming down to see us. Pray that the Colorado runways will get cleared out by then, so they won't be stuck like so many others! Oh, the logistics of flying, mixed with "wonderful" weather. I have a good job!
At 6:30am yesterday morning I awoke and got going trying to get back to Shell. I made two other stops and was on the ground in Shell just in time, by around 8:00am. Shell, and the whole jungle for that matter, was shut down until around 2:00pm.
Many of you know about the travel delays because of blizzards and things in Colorado, and probably many other states. This time of year there is a huge influx of travelers doing their holiday traveling. It is no different here. There are literally hundreds of teachers, missionaries, doctors, etc, that want to leave the jungle for the holidays, and then go back the first of January. I had a huge list on Monday to begin planning how to get them all out by today, and it has been a nightmare trying to get it done. Although the weather we have is far from blizzard conditions, it shuts us down, just the same as an airline. If we could only get one good day of weather today, we could get it all done. As I sit here and drink my morning coffee, guess what, it is raining! I guess we will see what happens today.
My family and I are all jumping on the bus tomorrow to head to Quito to welcome the first of our holiday visitors. Becca's parents and her sister's family are all coming down to see us. Pray that the Colorado runways will get cleared out by then, so they won't be stuck like so many others! Oh, the logistics of flying, mixed with "wonderful" weather. I have a good job!
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Moving up the ladder
Recently I got an "upgrade" at the hangar, and became part of the "elite" group that call themselves the flight coordinators. Really, I was asked to help in this role because we are so short handed at the time being. As I have stated before, we have more airplanes than pilots. Our workload and requests for flights hasn't lightened at all, and therefore we find ourselves doing a lot more than just flying.
What flight coordinating entails is really quite simple in print. I take all the flight requests, the various cargos, and put them all together in a logical manner trying to make the most of our flights. What makes this job hard is the amount of flights requests, the weather, which makes flights impossible, and people that don't show up for their flight or come with more people and/or cargo than planned. It can become a logistical nightmare. Because of the workload involved with flight coordinating, the flight coordinators try not to fly. It is very helpful to always have someone at the hangar that knows the flights that are happening, the next flights that will happen, someone that can check the weather for you, get cargo together, make flight plans, etc. Because of this I haven't flown the past two days. I had myself on the schedule today, but weather prevented my flight from happening all day. So, I will try and do it tomorrow. At this point we have 9 flights planned for tomorrow, among 3 pilots and 3 planes. Our fourth plane is getting a new engine, and our 5th is the one I brought down from the States, still held up in the red tape of certification.
Although I haven't flown since Saturday, it has been nice. It is refreshing to not have to think about making a flight happen, fight weather, have precise landings, make smart takeoffs, etc. I am only 2 days into a 2 week shift, but at this point so far so good. Tomorrow will prove to be different, since I will be hopefully making 2-3 of our 9 flights. I started working on the flight schedule today at 10am and finished at about 5:15pm. Now, add that kind of workload, with over 4 hours of flying, and I might have a different opinion tomorrow.
What flight coordinating entails is really quite simple in print. I take all the flight requests, the various cargos, and put them all together in a logical manner trying to make the most of our flights. What makes this job hard is the amount of flights requests, the weather, which makes flights impossible, and people that don't show up for their flight or come with more people and/or cargo than planned. It can become a logistical nightmare. Because of the workload involved with flight coordinating, the flight coordinators try not to fly. It is very helpful to always have someone at the hangar that knows the flights that are happening, the next flights that will happen, someone that can check the weather for you, get cargo together, make flight plans, etc. Because of this I haven't flown the past two days. I had myself on the schedule today, but weather prevented my flight from happening all day. So, I will try and do it tomorrow. At this point we have 9 flights planned for tomorrow, among 3 pilots and 3 planes. Our fourth plane is getting a new engine, and our 5th is the one I brought down from the States, still held up in the red tape of certification.
Although I haven't flown since Saturday, it has been nice. It is refreshing to not have to think about making a flight happen, fight weather, have precise landings, make smart takeoffs, etc. I am only 2 days into a 2 week shift, but at this point so far so good. Tomorrow will prove to be different, since I will be hopefully making 2-3 of our 9 flights. I started working on the flight schedule today at 10am and finished at about 5:15pm. Now, add that kind of workload, with over 4 hours of flying, and I might have a different opinion tomorrow.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
From the logbook...
As stated earlier, today was my first weekend on call. We try to have someone available almost everyday of the year. We fly weekends mostly in case medical emergencies come up. I wasn't at the hangar long this morning before we had an emergency. In a town called Tena (TEN) there was a car accident and one of those involved needed more advanced care, only available in the capital city of Quito. Tena is only about a 20 minute flight north from Shell. I am not approved on the various Quito routes that we have, so my boss Dan came with me to help begin the checkout process of the Quito flying.
En-route to Tena, we barely made it VFR (out of the clouds). When we pulled up to the awaiting ambulance, there were also about 50 other people there waiting with it. I don't know who this person was that was all banged up, but he knew a lot of people. After about 10 minutes on the ground, we loaded up the patient, a doctor, and a family member at set off for Quito.
The flight to Quito would take us back south towards Shell, and then towards the west into the Andes mountains, and then north into Quito. We quickly encountered the same bad weather leaving Tena as we encountered flying to Tena. This time we just went IFR (into the clouds) and continued our climb to Quito. We finally broke out of the clouds at around 12500 ft, after leaving Tena at 1700 ft. The rest of our flight into Quito was VFR and very stunning. Every time I see the Andes from the air, they are just so impressive. All the little farms and villages are absolutely gorgeous.
We were shortly joining the Boeing's and Airbuses in Quito and made a quick landing and taxied to our hangar. The airport ambulance was already waiting to assist with getting the patient to the hospital. They were quickly on their way, and then Dan and I proceeded to get things ready for our return flight home.
As we were getting ready, we heard the buzzer at our hangar gate. It was the police. They were wondering if the patient had showed up yet. We told them yes, he is on his way to the hospital. They were glad to hear this, and unbeknown to us, he was also a criminal of some sort, and the police were going to keep him in supervision.
The return flight to Shell was very pleasant, and we were able to stay VFR the whole time. About 50 minutes after leaving Quito we landed in Shell, whereupon I found out I had another emergency flight waiting for me, this time out in the jungle.
Here is a shot of our hangar in Quito. It is very small, and cannot even house an airplane. Three people work there during the week keeping things going for us in the capital city. The airport medical staff are helping us unload the patient in the photo.
What's a Quito flight without a good picture of some big iron. If I have my airplanes right, I think this is the UPS plane that comes in every day, and makes stops all throughout South America before heading back to the States to sort out all the packages. The B-757 has always been one of my favorite aircraft. I'll guarantee you that those pilots didn't work as hard as we did today. Sometimes I wish I could just fly one of those big boys, flip on the autopilot, let the plane do all the work, land on a long runway, and then have a ground crew to do all my grunt work when I land. Ah, that would get boring I suppose, and I would get a beer belly from not sweating anymore.
My second flight entailed hauling a planeload of cargo to Makuma (MAK) and then I hopped over a hill 6 miles away and landed in Kusutka (KSK) to pick up the awaiting patient. The patient was a 1 year old girl leaving with her mom. I don't know what was wrong with the little girl medically, but the doctors form said she had severe diarrhea among other things. Diarrhea is one of the top killers in the world, especially of little people. We take it for granted, and just let time run it's course, or take a swig of Pepto. It is amazing some of the little things that make life so hard for those in the jungle. It served as a good reminder of why we are here.
En-route to Tena, we barely made it VFR (out of the clouds). When we pulled up to the awaiting ambulance, there were also about 50 other people there waiting with it. I don't know who this person was that was all banged up, but he knew a lot of people. After about 10 minutes on the ground, we loaded up the patient, a doctor, and a family member at set off for Quito.
The flight to Quito would take us back south towards Shell, and then towards the west into the Andes mountains, and then north into Quito. We quickly encountered the same bad weather leaving Tena as we encountered flying to Tena. This time we just went IFR (into the clouds) and continued our climb to Quito. We finally broke out of the clouds at around 12500 ft, after leaving Tena at 1700 ft. The rest of our flight into Quito was VFR and very stunning. Every time I see the Andes from the air, they are just so impressive. All the little farms and villages are absolutely gorgeous.
We were shortly joining the Boeing's and Airbuses in Quito and made a quick landing and taxied to our hangar. The airport ambulance was already waiting to assist with getting the patient to the hospital. They were quickly on their way, and then Dan and I proceeded to get things ready for our return flight home.
As we were getting ready, we heard the buzzer at our hangar gate. It was the police. They were wondering if the patient had showed up yet. We told them yes, he is on his way to the hospital. They were glad to hear this, and unbeknown to us, he was also a criminal of some sort, and the police were going to keep him in supervision.
The return flight to Shell was very pleasant, and we were able to stay VFR the whole time. About 50 minutes after leaving Quito we landed in Shell, whereupon I found out I had another emergency flight waiting for me, this time out in the jungle.
Here is a shot of our hangar in Quito. It is very small, and cannot even house an airplane. Three people work there during the week keeping things going for us in the capital city. The airport medical staff are helping us unload the patient in the photo.
What's a Quito flight without a good picture of some big iron. If I have my airplanes right, I think this is the UPS plane that comes in every day, and makes stops all throughout South America before heading back to the States to sort out all the packages. The B-757 has always been one of my favorite aircraft. I'll guarantee you that those pilots didn't work as hard as we did today. Sometimes I wish I could just fly one of those big boys, flip on the autopilot, let the plane do all the work, land on a long runway, and then have a ground crew to do all my grunt work when I land. Ah, that would get boring I suppose, and I would get a beer belly from not sweating anymore.My second flight entailed hauling a planeload of cargo to Makuma (MAK) and then I hopped over a hill 6 miles away and landed in Kusutka (KSK) to pick up the awaiting patient. The patient was a 1 year old girl leaving with her mom. I don't know what was wrong with the little girl medically, but the doctors form said she had severe diarrhea among other things. Diarrhea is one of the top killers in the world, especially of little people. We take it for granted, and just let time run it's course, or take a swig of Pepto. It is amazing some of the little things that make life so hard for those in the jungle. It served as a good reminder of why we are here.
Friday, December 15, 2006
From the logbook...
From our lack of blogs over the past few days, one can surmise two things. That nothing much is happening worth writing about, or we are too busy to write anything. It is obviously the later. There is always something to write about. We live in a third world country, remember? In just the past two days I have flown about 8 hours and had 20 landings. I have flown everything from medical evacs, to patient returns, roofing metal, missionaries, medicine, medical teams, etc. . It has been a blast and it makes for good sleeping. Although, I didn't sleep that great last night. I think it was to do with some of the food I ate while in Tsetsakentsa. While there yesterday, they offered me some of the best white meat they know, parrot breast. Not too bad I must say.
The picture above is from Sharamentza. It was a fun strip, and dropped off about 100 feet at the one end into the Pastaza River below. I was dropping off some medical patients returning to their homes.
This is a picture of the runway at Tsetzakentsa (TSE). I was there yesterday as part of a radio install again. We were very close to the southern Ecuadorian border with Peru in that village. After we landed, we still had to hike about 15 minutes to the village. Needless to say, I was sweating a little bit. The people of TSE were incredible. They had never had a radio before, and they were so grateful to us for finally coming and putting one in. The simple radio represents such a life link for them. They have had people die just because there wasn't anyone, or anyway to tell someone of the sickness. Now they have hope, through just a simple radio. The villagers fed us until we were bloated, and as we were leaving, they sat me and our radio guy Rob down at a table and they all thanked us personally for coming, and for caring about them. It was very touching indeed. There are many villages that I go into that I can't wait to get out of. The spiritual difference from one village to another that is only 5 minutes away is sometimes very noticeable. 
This was a typical home in TSE. Surrounding the house is the yucca plant. They harvest it's large root, and make all kinds of food from it, including the famous chicha drink.
Tomorrow I have the day "off." I am on call this weekend to fly, so we try to take Friday off if it is our weekend. I sure have plenty to do tomorrow, but that is better than nothing to do. We are going to try and get our driver's licenses tomorrow. This process has been discouraging to say the least. Please join us in prayer with this simple matter, that we will glorify Christ, as well as walk out of the police headquarters with our licenses.
The picture above is from Sharamentza. It was a fun strip, and dropped off about 100 feet at the one end into the Pastaza River below. I was dropping off some medical patients returning to their homes.
This is a picture of the runway at Tsetzakentsa (TSE). I was there yesterday as part of a radio install again. We were very close to the southern Ecuadorian border with Peru in that village. After we landed, we still had to hike about 15 minutes to the village. Needless to say, I was sweating a little bit. The people of TSE were incredible. They had never had a radio before, and they were so grateful to us for finally coming and putting one in. The simple radio represents such a life link for them. They have had people die just because there wasn't anyone, or anyway to tell someone of the sickness. Now they have hope, through just a simple radio. The villagers fed us until we were bloated, and as we were leaving, they sat me and our radio guy Rob down at a table and they all thanked us personally for coming, and for caring about them. It was very touching indeed. There are many villages that I go into that I can't wait to get out of. The spiritual difference from one village to another that is only 5 minutes away is sometimes very noticeable. 
This was a typical home in TSE. Surrounding the house is the yucca plant. They harvest it's large root, and make all kinds of food from it, including the famous chicha drink.Tomorrow I have the day "off." I am on call this weekend to fly, so we try to take Friday off if it is our weekend. I sure have plenty to do tomorrow, but that is better than nothing to do. We are going to try and get our driver's licenses tomorrow. This process has been discouraging to say the least. Please join us in prayer with this simple matter, that we will glorify Christ, as well as walk out of the police headquarters with our licenses.
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
From the logbook...another radio install
After we figured out some last minute planning this morning with my flight, I was finally off around 10:00am to make my first of 6 stops. We installed a radio in a village called Copataza (CPZ). I actually took both of our radio technicians and while they got started I did some other flights hauling around some other missionaries, and some general cargo. We had great weather today, and there isn't a whole lot to write about. As far as mission flying goes, today was very smooth. It was a nice change from some of the flights I have had in the past week. Below are some of the things I have seen lately...
One of the guys in the village of Copataza had a pet monkey. I forgot what species it is. After living in Costa Rica, I enjoy seeing monkeys, but I would never want to have one as a pet. They are dirty little guys, and in some ways just too human like.
The other day at the hangar, I saw the C-130 on approach to land. This is taken right in front of our hangar. There are no taxiways at our airport, which leaves things up close and personal sometimes.
One of the guys in the village of Copataza had a pet monkey. I forgot what species it is. After living in Costa Rica, I enjoy seeing monkeys, but I would never want to have one as a pet. They are dirty little guys, and in some ways just too human like.
The other day at the hangar, I saw the C-130 on approach to land. This is taken right in front of our hangar. There are no taxiways at our airport, which leaves things up close and personal sometimes.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
From the Logbook...
I didn't write a whole lot this week because we were shut down with rain most of Monday, all of Tuesday, and all of Wednesday. Since then, we have had decent weather, but tons of flying to do. Because of this, I have been to tired to do anything when I get home. I have gone to bed at 8:30 the past two nights. My last two days of flying have been very fun.
Yesterday, I hauled some interesting "cargo." I flew a cadaver and a passenger about 50 minutes south near the Peruvian border back to their village called Tucupi, (TUC). When I landed, no body had warned me beforehand what was going to happen. Even while I was still braking during the landing, I began to hear a loud clamoring. When I finally got stopped and shut down, all (you know what) broke loose. We had brought this dead person out alive a few days earlier as one of our medical evacs. Sadly, we weren't returning this person alive like most. The villagers knew that two people had left, and when they saw only one sitting in the airplane when I landed, they knew what had happened. Maybe some of you have seen footage of how Asians and Middle Easterners wail when someone dies, in particular the women. When I finally got stopped and they all saw the casket sitting right next to me, an uproar began of wailing and crying. It broke my heart to be bring such sad "cargo" to this village, and it really shocked me afterwards how they deal with mourning and the death process. I wanted to get some pictures of the whole thing, but I never had a respectful time to do it. I will never forget that landing.
Below, are some pictures over the past few days that I have taken. It has been an interesting few days for sure...
This boy is from a village called Yampuna (YAM), one of the 8 stops I had yesterday. I was waiting there for a medical missionary. While a waited I took a few shots. Does anything look wrong to you in this picture?
On Thursday we had a radio installation again. The building that we put the radios in had some huge spiders on it. I am NOT joking when I say this spider is as big as my hand.
This is an overall shot of the village of Nuevo Sasaim where we installed a radio on Thusday. It was some of the hardest work I have done in a while, mostly because there wasn't anyone to help us in the village. You can see the antenna and solar panel on the right of the blue and white building. The pole for the antenna was a killer. It probably weighed at least 1000 pounds. Jungle wood is very dense, and this was no exception. I wanted my mommy when we were putting that pole in!
Yesterday, I hauled some interesting "cargo." I flew a cadaver and a passenger about 50 minutes south near the Peruvian border back to their village called Tucupi, (TUC). When I landed, no body had warned me beforehand what was going to happen. Even while I was still braking during the landing, I began to hear a loud clamoring. When I finally got stopped and shut down, all (you know what) broke loose. We had brought this dead person out alive a few days earlier as one of our medical evacs. Sadly, we weren't returning this person alive like most. The villagers knew that two people had left, and when they saw only one sitting in the airplane when I landed, they knew what had happened. Maybe some of you have seen footage of how Asians and Middle Easterners wail when someone dies, in particular the women. When I finally got stopped and they all saw the casket sitting right next to me, an uproar began of wailing and crying. It broke my heart to be bring such sad "cargo" to this village, and it really shocked me afterwards how they deal with mourning and the death process. I wanted to get some pictures of the whole thing, but I never had a respectful time to do it. I will never forget that landing.
Below, are some pictures over the past few days that I have taken. It has been an interesting few days for sure...
This boy is from a village called Yampuna (YAM), one of the 8 stops I had yesterday. I was waiting there for a medical missionary. While a waited I took a few shots. Does anything look wrong to you in this picture? 
On Thursday we had a radio installation again. The building that we put the radios in had some huge spiders on it. I am NOT joking when I say this spider is as big as my hand. 
This is an overall shot of the village of Nuevo Sasaim where we installed a radio on Thusday. It was some of the hardest work I have done in a while, mostly because there wasn't anyone to help us in the village. You can see the antenna and solar panel on the right of the blue and white building. The pole for the antenna was a killer. It probably weighed at least 1000 pounds. Jungle wood is very dense, and this was no exception. I wanted my mommy when we were putting that pole in!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Enjoying Her Room
One of the best things about the house we just moved into was the special, already fixed-up bedroom for Brooklyn. The missionary family that lived here before us had fixed up a darling room for their little girl and we were able to buy the whole set-up for Brooklyn from them when they left. This is the first time in Brooklyn's life that she has had her own very special, decorated room. She has really been enjoying the room - filled with her own toys of course. I caught her this morning with her dolls all lined up in chairs teaching them to sing (that is what she told me she was doing). I am always amazed at the things she comes up with all by herself. What amazes me most is that I remember playing the very same things when I was a little girl. Makes a Mommy feel all warm and fuzzy inside! -- Becca
From the Homefront...
Here I am again, Rebecca - you know the wife of the exciting, adventurous pilot! No, I don't get to blog that often any more. Sean pretty much hogs the computer. His news is a lot more exciting and different everyday than mine is - not that I don't enjoy my days at home in Shell but most people don't find my stories of getting all the laundry done in one day very exciting! Actually, I just don't get much extra time to sit down and write at the computer any more (three words: Brooklyn and Madison) When I do get a quiet moment, I'm usually not sitting at the computer but trying to get a box unpacked, dinner in the oven, myself showered, etc, etc, etc....You get the picture.
Speaking of pictures. I know you all are just dying for more pictures of Madison, so here is one we took yesterday. We find it difficult to get a good picture of her right now - or at least one that shows her as cute as she really is. (I think it might have something to do with the fact that she can't hold her own head up very well yet)
Maddie is doing really well. She's already 8 weeks old! We just moved her into her own room and she seems to sleep even better when she doesn't get awakened by Dad's snoring all night long. She wakes up once in the night for a "midnight snack" and then goes right back down to sleep until about 6 am. We can't take any of the credit for that - even though she can be real fussy in the evenings, Maddie has always been very good through the night.
We had a nice weekend in our own house! We're pretty much unpacked and settled in. We even got our Christmas tree set up (we'll blog later about that ordeal), although it did feel a little strange to be decorating for Christmas when it was so hot outside! I don't know, but where we're from picking lemons in our front yard for lemonade and "dashing through the snow" just don't go all that well together. Like Sean said, it may not feel like Christmas here in the jungles of Ecuador but we're going to fake it anyway. I have a feeling that it will begin to feel more and more like Christmas - especially when family is here to celebrate it with us! I'll just keep playing our Christmas music until I'm convinced - it may take a while though, which is bad since we have really awful Christmas cd's!!
Speaking of pictures. I know you all are just dying for more pictures of Madison, so here is one we took yesterday. We find it difficult to get a good picture of her right now - or at least one that shows her as cute as she really is. (I think it might have something to do with the fact that she can't hold her own head up very well yet)
Maddie is doing really well. She's already 8 weeks old! We just moved her into her own room and she seems to sleep even better when she doesn't get awakened by Dad's snoring all night long. She wakes up once in the night for a "midnight snack" and then goes right back down to sleep until about 6 am. We can't take any of the credit for that - even though she can be real fussy in the evenings, Maddie has always been very good through the night.We had a nice weekend in our own house! We're pretty much unpacked and settled in. We even got our Christmas tree set up (we'll blog later about that ordeal), although it did feel a little strange to be decorating for Christmas when it was so hot outside! I don't know, but where we're from picking lemons in our front yard for lemonade and "dashing through the snow" just don't go all that well together. Like Sean said, it may not feel like Christmas here in the jungles of Ecuador but we're going to fake it anyway. I have a feeling that it will begin to feel more and more like Christmas - especially when family is here to celebrate it with us! I'll just keep playing our Christmas music until I'm convinced - it may take a while though, which is bad since we have really awful Christmas cd's!!
Friday, December 01, 2006
From the logbook...Airstrip map
I know that when I write about where I went and what I did, it can be hard to visualize where I really was, and then where I went, etc. I scanned our airstrip map that we use. I don't claim it to be very good quality, but you can at least get a sense of what we do and where. This portion of the map is only the southeast corner of the country. You may be able to find Shell with the identifier of "SHL." All of the little black and green dots are our airstrips. We have over 200 of them and I have been into about 35 at this point. It will take me years until I have been in all the airstrips. I hope to figure out a way to put a better quality image on the blog when I have more time, and then link the airstrips that I am talking about for those of you who are like me and enjoy maps and finding places. If you click on the map, and then click it once more after that it will be a little better for viewing quality. Today my flight was very simple. I went from Shell, "SHL," to Conambo, "CON," and then back. See if you can find it. It is about 40 minutes to the east from Shell to Conambo. 
Thursday, November 30, 2006
From the logbook...Radio Install
Today I was part of helping one of our radio technicians install a new FM radio in a village called Chinkianentza. We have an extensive network of radios throughout the jungle. They help us to know the weather, medical emergencies, needs, etc. We have been working on a complete jungle upgrade these past few weeks, replacing old HF radios with new FM radios. Here is a small look into what we did this afternoon...
The men pictured here were the majority of the helpers that we had. Here they had just placed the pole in the ground that holds the antenna. It was stinkin' heavy. The man on the right with the paint on his face is wearing the typical Shuar makeup. He was the only one that I saw wearing the traditional makeup.
I have said that it rains here right?
Here we are taking the old antenna down, so we can put a new cable and hardware in. Did I mention that it was heavy?
What is a good jungle trip without some bug pictures. Many places I have been in the jungle are literally swarming with butterflies. It is a pretty stunning sight. I think these butterflies were licking salt from the dirt.
The men pictured here were the majority of the helpers that we had. Here they had just placed the pole in the ground that holds the antenna. It was stinkin' heavy. The man on the right with the paint on his face is wearing the typical Shuar makeup. He was the only one that I saw wearing the traditional makeup.
I have said that it rains here right?
Here we are taking the old antenna down, so we can put a new cable and hardware in. Did I mention that it was heavy?
What is a good jungle trip without some bug pictures. Many places I have been in the jungle are literally swarming with butterflies. It is a pretty stunning sight. I think these butterflies were licking salt from the dirt.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
From the logbook...
As expected yesterday, I flew a lot once again. At the rate I am going, I am flying about 15-20 hours a week, which by flying standards is a lot. Not to mention I am landing on average every 20 minutes into something somebody calls a runway. But it is so fun!
My first flight yesterday involved moving around a medical team, and taking back some patients to some villages about 40 minutes from Shell. I was able to come home for lunch, which is always nice. During my lunch break I also went and bought a real Christmas tree. Ya, I know, Christmas in the jungle feels weird to me too, but we are going to fake it and give it a try.
After lunch I took all the seats out of the plane except the co-pilots seat, and loaded up two full 55 gallon drums of avgas to take to Makuma. We use Makuma for a staging area sometimes, and like to have extra gas there. Also, when we have to divert there like I did on Monday, sometimes it is nice to be able to put on extra gas if we need it to get where we are going.
En route to Makuma I got the famous "call." The doctor at our hangar was wondering if I would go to Iwia afterwards to pick up a mom, and her 23 day old daughter that was having respiratory problems. I didn't plan on any extra stops, therefore I didn't have a lot of gas, and I only had 1 extra seat. Fortunately I didn't have to use any of the gas I had just brought to Makuma, and I had the one seat for the mom and her baby. So, after Makuma I flew 10 minutes to Iwia and picked up the awaiting patients. Combined the baby and mom probably weighed 120 pounds dripping wet. Shortly thereafter we were on our way to Shell, and 25 minutes later we landed, and the mom hopped into the awaiting ambulance taking them to the hospital.
When I arrived home, I was bushed, and so was Becca. Dealing with two little kids, and trying to unpack would have whupped me to. That crazy lady has just about the whole house unpacked and organized, she did some painting, and she even sewed some slip covers for one of our chairs. I know without a doubt that I would fail miserably and quickly if we were to trade jobs for even a day. I got me a keeper!
My first flight yesterday involved moving around a medical team, and taking back some patients to some villages about 40 minutes from Shell. I was able to come home for lunch, which is always nice. During my lunch break I also went and bought a real Christmas tree. Ya, I know, Christmas in the jungle feels weird to me too, but we are going to fake it and give it a try.
After lunch I took all the seats out of the plane except the co-pilots seat, and loaded up two full 55 gallon drums of avgas to take to Makuma. We use Makuma for a staging area sometimes, and like to have extra gas there. Also, when we have to divert there like I did on Monday, sometimes it is nice to be able to put on extra gas if we need it to get where we are going.
En route to Makuma I got the famous "call." The doctor at our hangar was wondering if I would go to Iwia afterwards to pick up a mom, and her 23 day old daughter that was having respiratory problems. I didn't plan on any extra stops, therefore I didn't have a lot of gas, and I only had 1 extra seat. Fortunately I didn't have to use any of the gas I had just brought to Makuma, and I had the one seat for the mom and her baby. So, after Makuma I flew 10 minutes to Iwia and picked up the awaiting patients. Combined the baby and mom probably weighed 120 pounds dripping wet. Shortly thereafter we were on our way to Shell, and 25 minutes later we landed, and the mom hopped into the awaiting ambulance taking them to the hospital.
When I arrived home, I was bushed, and so was Becca. Dealing with two little kids, and trying to unpack would have whupped me to. That crazy lady has just about the whole house unpacked and organized, she did some painting, and she even sewed some slip covers for one of our chairs. I know without a doubt that I would fail miserably and quickly if we were to trade jobs for even a day. I got me a keeper!
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
From the logbook...
What a beautiful morning I am seeing right now. When I woke up yesterday, it was raining...go figure, equatorial rain forest. As expected, we had a lot of flights to get done yesterday. It wasn't until 11am that I launched on my first flight taking Compassion International folks to a village called Chinkianentza. Even after waiting until lunch time, mid-route I still had to divert to Makuma because the weather was shutting down around me the farther I got out into the jungle. I landed in Makuma with my tail between my legs and was glad to be on the ground. I was there for about 2 hours while we let the weather rain itself out a bit.
All wasn't lost in Makuma. I enjoyed lunch there with there with the Holmes, some missionaries that work with the Achuar Indians. They are awesome people. Dwain Holmes is also a reptile buff. For those of you that think I am always playing with bugs and things...well, he has be beat...bad. He has so many snakes in his house, some don't even have an English or Spanish name...meaning they have never been documented before. He had about 12 different species at his house yesterday. They were impressive. He has even had universities come and study at his house and document these new species. While Dwain is walking through the jungle to Achuar villages, barefoot I might add and in shorts, he takes his snake grabbing stick and just keeps his eyes peeled. Anything that comes close to his path is quickly snatched up and put into the collection, at least for a while.
Finally the weather in Makuma subsided, and I had good reports from Chinkianentza. I made the 20 minute flight and dropped off my passengers, and then flew back to Makuma to bring out some other missionaries who needed to come out to "civilization." When I got back to Shell, the weather was becoming beautiful in the late afternoon, so I loaded up for one more flight to the village of Wayusentsa. Again I had a load of Compassion International people and their cargo. I returned to shell after the 45 minute flight and landed for the last time at about 5:30 pm.
When I got home, Becca had done a great job of beginning to make our house a home. I am so glad for the ability God gave to women to be able to do that. If it were up to me, I would already be content the way things are. Not because I like bare walls and boxes everywhere, I just lack the ability to know what to do.
Today we are busy again flying. I have a least one long flight, and we will see if anything else comes up, highly possible.
All wasn't lost in Makuma. I enjoyed lunch there with there with the Holmes, some missionaries that work with the Achuar Indians. They are awesome people. Dwain Holmes is also a reptile buff. For those of you that think I am always playing with bugs and things...well, he has be beat...bad. He has so many snakes in his house, some don't even have an English or Spanish name...meaning they have never been documented before. He had about 12 different species at his house yesterday. They were impressive. He has even had universities come and study at his house and document these new species. While Dwain is walking through the jungle to Achuar villages, barefoot I might add and in shorts, he takes his snake grabbing stick and just keeps his eyes peeled. Anything that comes close to his path is quickly snatched up and put into the collection, at least for a while.
Finally the weather in Makuma subsided, and I had good reports from Chinkianentza. I made the 20 minute flight and dropped off my passengers, and then flew back to Makuma to bring out some other missionaries who needed to come out to "civilization." When I got back to Shell, the weather was becoming beautiful in the late afternoon, so I loaded up for one more flight to the village of Wayusentsa. Again I had a load of Compassion International people and their cargo. I returned to shell after the 45 minute flight and landed for the last time at about 5:30 pm.
When I got home, Becca had done a great job of beginning to make our house a home. I am so glad for the ability God gave to women to be able to do that. If it were up to me, I would already be content the way things are. Not because I like bare walls and boxes everywhere, I just lack the ability to know what to do.
Today we are busy again flying. I have a least one long flight, and we will see if anything else comes up, highly possible.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Thanksgiving in Ecuador
We got back from our retreat just a few hours ago. Since then we have been doing the standard unpacking and getting back into the swing of things, although we are still figuring out what that swing is with our new house and all of our things in tubs still. But, it is still good to be home nonetheless. Our Thanksgiving weekend was truly one to remember. We had an incredibly refreshing time, and a lot of fun too. We have a wonderful team here that we work with, so to all be refreshed and encouraged together was wonderful. We had 4 people come down from California to "put on" the conference. We arrived in the town of Cuenca about 6 pm on Thursday evening. It was a long trip, about 10 hours, but it was really enjoyable for Rebecca and I. Seeing new countryside was wonderful. This country could really leave you captivated for years if all you did was travel from one corner to another. There is so much diversity in Ecuador, all in a country about the size of our home state of Colorado.
Of the 4 people that came down from the states, one is on the MAF board, and he did most of the teaching. By trade he is a judge in Orange County. He was awesome. He had some incredible teaching and encouragement for all of us. The other three on his team were 3 college kids that gave up their Thanksgiving to be with us, and mostly to watch our kids while we were meeting together. They really did a great job with our kids. Brooklyn seemed to grow up even more with all the social interaction in just a few days. Sometimes I feel like she is already getting away from me, and all I can do is watch.
This coming week is sure to be busy. While I cannot say for sure what will happen or in what order, I am sure there will be a lot of flying to be done. We also need to finalize some of Madison's Ecuadorian paperwork, as well as finish our driver's license process. (Thanks Vicki, the special papers arrived with the California team.) Not to mention getting unpacked and trying to put a little order back into the home front.
On the way to Cuenca near the place where we ate lunch, Brooklyn was dying to go see the nearby burros and sheep grazing in the nearby pasture. So while everyone was waiting in the restaurant for their food, we snuck off and went and petted the burros. She thought that was pretty cool. They were really woolly also. They average temperature where we were is about 56 degrees year long. Quite a difference from the jungle heat we are used to.
This hill is a good example of the endless patchwork quilt like fields that cover the area. It is amazing where they farm, and that most of it is still done by hand. But is does make for a gorgeous landscape.
Most of the Andes Mountains from Columbia to Chile are inhabited by one of the world's largest indigenous groups called the Quechua. They are remarkable people, and are as diverse as the countries in which they live. They are incredibly hardworking as noted by the farms above, but most striking to me are the beautiful garb that they wear.
Of the 4 people that came down from the states, one is on the MAF board, and he did most of the teaching. By trade he is a judge in Orange County. He was awesome. He had some incredible teaching and encouragement for all of us. The other three on his team were 3 college kids that gave up their Thanksgiving to be with us, and mostly to watch our kids while we were meeting together. They really did a great job with our kids. Brooklyn seemed to grow up even more with all the social interaction in just a few days. Sometimes I feel like she is already getting away from me, and all I can do is watch.
This coming week is sure to be busy. While I cannot say for sure what will happen or in what order, I am sure there will be a lot of flying to be done. We also need to finalize some of Madison's Ecuadorian paperwork, as well as finish our driver's license process. (Thanks Vicki, the special papers arrived with the California team.) Not to mention getting unpacked and trying to put a little order back into the home front.
On the way to Cuenca near the place where we ate lunch, Brooklyn was dying to go see the nearby burros and sheep grazing in the nearby pasture. So while everyone was waiting in the restaurant for their food, we snuck off and went and petted the burros. She thought that was pretty cool. They were really woolly also. They average temperature where we were is about 56 degrees year long. Quite a difference from the jungle heat we are used to.
This hill is a good example of the endless patchwork quilt like fields that cover the area. It is amazing where they farm, and that most of it is still done by hand. But is does make for a gorgeous landscape.
Most of the Andes Mountains from Columbia to Chile are inhabited by one of the world's largest indigenous groups called the Quechua. They are remarkable people, and are as diverse as the countries in which they live. They are incredibly hardworking as noted by the farms above, but most striking to me are the beautiful garb that they wear.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Happy early Thanksgiving!
I know that tomorrow is the real holiday, but I am writing now for many reasons.
1.) We thankfully just got done this morning moving to our new house. While everything is moved into our house, those that have moved know what is is like, and our situation is no different. Our house is a WRECK! We already have internet service at the house, but I don't think I will have our computer hooked up for a few days. I am writing from our hangar right now.
2.) We are also leaving on a 4 day retreat tomorrow. With our recent move, and the retreat tomorrow, I can't give the time to get things hooked up before we leave. MAF is taking us to a mountain town called Cuenca. It should be a good time of refreshing and "bonding." There is a group coming down form the states that is going to minister to us, take care of our children, etc. It should be a Thanksgiving to remember for sure. We come back late Sunday night.
Talk to you all next week!
1.) We thankfully just got done this morning moving to our new house. While everything is moved into our house, those that have moved know what is is like, and our situation is no different. Our house is a WRECK! We already have internet service at the house, but I don't think I will have our computer hooked up for a few days. I am writing from our hangar right now.
2.) We are also leaving on a 4 day retreat tomorrow. With our recent move, and the retreat tomorrow, I can't give the time to get things hooked up before we leave. MAF is taking us to a mountain town called Cuenca. It should be a good time of refreshing and "bonding." There is a group coming down form the states that is going to minister to us, take care of our children, etc. It should be a Thanksgiving to remember for sure. We come back late Sunday night.
Talk to you all next week!
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Madison 6 Wks.
Due to some people complaining that we haven't put enough pics of Madison on (I admit, we haven't, but she isn't very photogenic) here you go people.
A picture for the Vickies
Being that Becca's mom Vicki, and my mom Vicki, both have an affinity for arachnids, I caught this one in the office this evening, and I thought they would enjoy the picture. Happy sleeping!
note-This picture is life size :)
note-This picture is life size :)
Sunday, November 19, 2006
"Mission to the headhunters"
A few blogs ago I told you about the book called "Mission to the headhunters." I also told you I found it in the local school library, and let me just say, it is awesome. I am about half way through it, and I just cannot believe sometimes what I am reading, and that it is describing the same places that I serve and fly. Things have changed so much here in Ecuador in the last 50-60 years since the stories in this book took place. I highly recommend anyone interested to find this book and read it. Amazon.com has it for about $10 new, if you wanted to buy it.
On a side note responding to some of the things Becca wrote about in her last blog, I just need to clarify some things. First of all, I am in total agreement that the home life is much more dangerous than my "day job." It goes without saying that living with 3 women, and three girl dogs, and 2 girl cats is very dangerous. I am the only form of testosterone to be found for miles.
Secondly, I did not offer my help to Becca to hang the curtain. Any wise man would know to steer a wide course around such trouble. When I walked into the room, she said, "hey, you, mister, get yer' little tail up here and help me before I get mad." Being the diplomat and humble servant that I am, I quickly and willingly jumped in to help narrowly avert destruction and ruin.
Third, yes I did have a close call on the roof yesterday. As with most things of this matter, in hindsight it is really funny. It was just like you see on TV. There I was "just a hanging on the precipice," in fact hanging for dear life by only the strength of a few fingers, and Becca finally got out of bed and made her way onto the roof to help me. I must have been hanging there for 10 minutes by the time she came. If she was going to take so long getting up there, the least she could have done was to bring the camera and get a picture of me hanging there like Sylvester Stalone in the movie "Cliffhanger." But at least we will always share the memory of the "roof day."
Fourth, stinkin electricity. It finally came on about 4pm yesterday afternoon. Of course almost all of Shell had electricity, but our block got pretty fried by a lightening bolt, so it took them a while to fix it. Praise the Lord we had a generator to keep things cold. I am going to have to buy one when we move to our new house. The electricity goes off at least twice a week. Usually it comes back on in decent time, but every once in a while it goes for a day or more. But, on a side note, it is fun to eat dinner by flashlight. While I wouldn't go as far and say it is romantic, it is memorable nontheless.
ps-Kids, be carefull on those roofs!
On a side note responding to some of the things Becca wrote about in her last blog, I just need to clarify some things. First of all, I am in total agreement that the home life is much more dangerous than my "day job." It goes without saying that living with 3 women, and three girl dogs, and 2 girl cats is very dangerous. I am the only form of testosterone to be found for miles.
Secondly, I did not offer my help to Becca to hang the curtain. Any wise man would know to steer a wide course around such trouble. When I walked into the room, she said, "hey, you, mister, get yer' little tail up here and help me before I get mad." Being the diplomat and humble servant that I am, I quickly and willingly jumped in to help narrowly avert destruction and ruin.
Third, yes I did have a close call on the roof yesterday. As with most things of this matter, in hindsight it is really funny. It was just like you see on TV. There I was "just a hanging on the precipice," in fact hanging for dear life by only the strength of a few fingers, and Becca finally got out of bed and made her way onto the roof to help me. I must have been hanging there for 10 minutes by the time she came. If she was going to take so long getting up there, the least she could have done was to bring the camera and get a picture of me hanging there like Sylvester Stalone in the movie "Cliffhanger." But at least we will always share the memory of the "roof day."
Fourth, stinkin electricity. It finally came on about 4pm yesterday afternoon. Of course almost all of Shell had electricity, but our block got pretty fried by a lightening bolt, so it took them a while to fix it. Praise the Lord we had a generator to keep things cold. I am going to have to buy one when we move to our new house. The electricity goes off at least twice a week. Usually it comes back on in decent time, but every once in a while it goes for a day or more. But, on a side note, it is fun to eat dinner by flashlight. While I wouldn't go as far and say it is romantic, it is memorable nontheless.
ps-Kids, be carefull on those roofs!
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