An older American couple once came to our house for supper. We all spoke in Spanish. (Dan spoke only Spanish until he was five.) As they were preparing to leave, the man asked Dan if he had a piggy bank. So he ran to get his "Señor Tomate", a big porcelain tomato with a face. When the man gave him a coin to put into the bank, Dan was thrilled. Since he didn't thank the man, I whispered, "What do you say?" He thought for a moment and then said, "Do you have another one?"
Both our first and second churches met in the afternoons, so Sunday mornings we'd go to a park or a flea market, etc. We also found a small Australian church where we felt comfortable (at first), not too far from home. It was less formal than DD's! We made friends there, one with whom I still keep in touch after 35 years.
This church decided to start a small Bible College (we'd call it a Bible School). It was unaccredited, just for the believers to study Scriptures more deeply, in a more disciplined way.) I took a course or two (can't even remember in what!). Then they asked me to join the faculty (of 5 or 6! - very small). If it hadn't been unaccredited, there's no way I'd be legally qualified to teach! But I had grown up with daily family devotions, and obligatory Bible classes in school, so I had had a lot more exposure to the Bible than most of the students. Besides, I enjoy teaching! (One of my close friends there told me that the students considered me to be the best teacher and the one whose classes they enjoyed the most.)
I taught the historical books of the Bible, from Genesis to Ruth, and Acts. In preparing the lessons I had to keep ahead of my students, so I learned a lot myself!
I was also asked to teach music. First we studied things like directing music in a church service...I wish I could remember what else, because the material they gave me was very interesting, but I didn't feel right (in this particular case) copying it all off! Have you heard the cantata "No Greater Love"? (Our choir had sung it in high school; in fact I had a solo part in it, so I was quite familiar with it.) For our second part of the term, I decided that music class would consist of learning and preparing the cantata. It turned out that we left Australia before the class presented it, but they sent me a cassette - and it sounds like they did a pretty good job.
When we had been in Australia almost five years, Germán felt God calling him to return to Ecuador. So we pulled up our roots there and flew back with our little three-year-old kangaroo. When we were getting ready to leave, Dan told his little friend (also 3) that he would save up his pennies and come back and marry her!
We got some fantastic tickets, thanks to my dad's connections. We payed a little under $1000 total for the three of us, and our luggage could weigh as much as we wanted, as long as the dimensions were correct (and the size allowed was really big). Space was more crucial than weight on this flight.
We left Melbourne at 3:00 p.m. Friday afternoon, had a layover in Aukland, then an hour stop in Tahiti, and after 20+ hours traveling, arrived in Los Angeles at 5:30 p.m. the same afternoon. We were going "backwards" through the International Date Line!
After a weekend in Los Angeles shopping and repacking, and almost causing a huge pile-up on a big highway by making a turn as if we were still driving on the left-hand side of the road, we headed back to Quito.
Please join me again next time!
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