Fiction Friday: Plagued By a Piece of Cake

***Thursday***
I'm so excited I can't sleep. Tomorrow we leave on our missions trip and I can't wait. Cindy, my team leader, keeps asking me if I'm sure I want to do this. I keep telling her I love people and new experiences. This is going to be a fabulous two weeks, I just know it.


***Friday***
This place is beautiful! Palm trees line the streets and snow capped mountains are in the distance—just gorgeous! We're spending the night in a dorm that missionary kids live in during the school year and it's not much different than my college dorm. There's even a t.v. in the living room area, and we had meatloaf for supper. I don't see what the big deal was about and why we had to sit through all that orientation. Tomorrow we travel to Chillanes where we'll work on their church. This is going to be a piece of cake.


***Saturday***
I thought we were going to die on the bus ride here! The driver was a madman! He flew around hairpin curves and wove in and out of traffic. He used his horn more than his brakes and he couldn't even stop someplace decent for us to use the restrooms. I have never seen, or smelled, such a disgusting place! The toilets were overflowing, there were no toilet seats, and you had to bring your own tissues in with you. When I started gagging Cindy led me around a hill so I could squat. If I hadn't been so desperate I would've waited for someplace with clean toilets.

It turns out Chillanes is a dirty little town. We're staying in rooms at the school where there's no glass in the windows and no running water: only a smelly outhouse.


***Sunday***
When I mentioned the accommodations to Cindy today, she said, “I kept telling you this is how it would be and you kept telling me you could handle it.” She makes me so mad! There's been dirty kids hanging on her, and she acts like she loves the food. At lunch we got potato soup and bread, and supper was a huge plate of rice and beans with some cooked bananas thrown across the top. Of course, Cindy smiled and cleaned her plate. Everyone loves her—I just don't get it. Tomorrow we start work.


***Friday***
I am so tired I don't know how much I'll be able to write.
The work is harder than I thought it would be and people are always nagging me about being too stand-offish. I work hard, but I can't stand the food, and I'm starving. The dirtiness of the everything is just gross, too. I'm glad the kids don't pester me anymore--their sticky, grimy hands give me chills just thinking about them! The adults are better, but they don't try to talk to me anymore, either. I smile at them and say, 'hola', but they just smile and go talk to someone else. I don't get it.


***Sunday***
We went to another church today, even higher in the mountains and dirtier than this place. I forgot my candy bars and didn't get to eat anything all day. One of the old ladies there gave me some of those baby bananas. I smiled and said thank you, but I couldn't eat them after seeing her dirty fingernails. I threw them out as soon as I could. Later on she wouldn't even look at me but went and sat near Cindy. Of course Cindy put her arm around the lady and gave her a hug. How can she do that?


***Wednesday***
I shared a candy bar with one of the cleaner girls today. She laughed and ran off to share it with her friends. I was so weak I stayed in bed almost all day. Two more days here and then we go back to the city to fly home. The other girls are talking about how much they'll miss the people here, but I don't know why. I tried making friends with them, but even tonight they didn't want anything to do with me. And they say I'm standoffish!


***Friday***
Finally! We're back in civilization! I almost ate myself sick at supper. They served hamburgers and nothing ever tasted so good!

The people here are so much cleaner and friendlier. Why couldn't that village be like this? They don't treat me like I have the plague here-- I don't understand why the village people did.


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This was great fun to write because I wove bits of real events in with the fiction. Chillanes is a town in Ecuador, although my description here is NOT accurate of the town, but I wanted to use that town name because two of my favorite missionares live in there--they had a profound influence on my life, whether they know it or not, and I love them greatly. This sort of thing happens quite often on missions trips--unfortunately--but it doesn't have to!!

Remember to pray for the missionaries you know, as well as those going on missions trips this summer!!

Thank you for joining us for Fiction Friday, whether you're posting fiction or reading--or both. If you're posting, put a link to us here at Patterings, and add your name and url address to the Mr. Liknky gadget. If you're reading, enjoy the stories!

And don't forget to tell your friends! Anyone and everyone is welcome!


10 comments:

  1. I loved this Patty...it shows that everyone isn't as affected by mission trips as the majority. I wanted to hug Cindy myself. Wonderful stuff here...

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  2. I ALSO loved this one - when I first read it, and again now. Her character is a REAL eye-opener. Good stuff!

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  3. As usual, amazing stuff from the missions field. YOur format was a great choice for this story line.

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  4. It is an amazing thing to go on a mission trip. Everyone should go at least once so that we can truly appreciate what we have or maybe even grieve for the overabundance we have. Love this story, Peej!

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  5. I agree Laury! Missions trips can be real eye openers into just how abundantly blessed we are! I wish more would more people would go on them! I wish I could go home for a visit! I wish I could go visit Chillanes, to see Martha and Linda--it's been years (ahem, decades *yikes*) since I've been there. And, oh, I wish I could see my mountains again. LoL, I'll wish my life away if I'm not careful!

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  6. Patty, this was fantastic! When I first got saved, I had the opportunity to go on a mission trip to Mexico, where we were able to help people who lived in "cardboard city" (yes, everyone including families and children lived in cardboard boxes) and I'll never forget it. Unfortunately, I was with someone similiar to your MC and she just didn't get it! Thanks for bringing this up. Blessings! ~ Tracy

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  7. I remember reading this one and loved it because most of this country has no clue how blessed we are, and yet when you visit places that are "poor" they are often wealthier in spirit than we are.

    I have a heart for missions, so I of course love this one!

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  8. Anonymous12:37 PM

    This is cute and love the way you told the truth. Sadly there are those with these struggles in servanthood.

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  9. As Americans, we are so spoiled. I have never been on a Missions Trip, but I'm sure if I were to go on one, I would be amazed at how much I take for granted on a daily basis. Good story!

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  10. Peej, I enjoy your blog so much. I find your writing both convicting and inspiring. Your gifts as a writer and a mother are obvious. I'm honored to be counted among your friends. Love, Verna

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