Dearest friends and family,
The city of Esmeraldas is a place full of purple dogs and the
occasional purple person. I’ll explain what I mean in a moment.
There are so many exotic animals and plants here, how could
I have not noticed this before? Last week I wrote that I feel like I’m living
in a National Geographic TV show. This week I want to write about feeling silly
for not noticing this sooner because it’s really quite obvious that it’s always been
this way.
I wrote last week about seeing a chocolate tree in my sector
and while that was monumental for me a few days ago, I’ve now noticed that
there is an abundance of cocoa trees everywhere I look. We went to Quito on
Monday for the monthly mission council meeting and during my favorite 6-hour bus
ride through the jungle, I noticed that a lot of the trees that go whizzing by,
especially in the flatter areas around Viche and Quininde, there are millions
of these mystical cacao trees. I tried to take some photos but they came out
blurry. But the lesson of the week is that Ecuador is an amazing country!
I don’t believe I’ve ever written about the geckos. In the
coast, I haven’t seen too many “standard-issue” lizards like the ones we have
back home. But I do see a lot of geckos! The most common species, that must
be breeding season because they are everywhere, are these little white geckos
with wide toes. Elder Chaves and I have been able to catch a few of them
lately. Everywhere I look I see more bugs, animals, stray dogs, mosquitos,
weird but cool flowers, plants with leaves the size of car doors, big ants,
small ants, in-between ants, cock roaches, toads, frogs, everything! It leaves
me wondering what doesn’t live here?
There are even purple dogs and the occasional purple person.
They sell in the stores a purple “cure-all” anti-flea, anti-infection spray
meant for dogs. But some people walk around spraying it everywhere, leaving a
trail of “cured” purple-spotted dogs and objects in their wake. To me, the
product seems like some sort of scam but I always chuckle when I notice someone
has sprayed it on their own body. It’s very purple…it doesn’t look right.
Know that I’m happy. I’m living in the one of the most
bio-diverse areas of the world and very content doing so.
With love - EE
PS – Can't wait to see you all on Mother’s day!
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