Our first visitor

We had a wonderful time with our first visitor here in Shell. Jessica McMillan, fellow HCJB missionary nurse and former neighbor and colleague at Partners in Hope in Malawi. "Auntie Jessica" as the kids call her is in Ecuador getting ready to be part of a short-term medical team that is going from Ecuador to West Africa and we were lucky enough to have her come visit us here in Shell. We had lots of reminiscing to do about life in Malawi and talked a bit about the similarities and differences between life in Shell and life in Malawi.
Certainly the medical work is very different as the prevalance of HIV is so much less here in Ecuador as is malaria and tuberculosis. But whether being the lower socioeconomic status or the tropical climate or both--we still see plenty of sick patients.
The climates are comparable--although Shell is perpetually in a "rainy season". But both are definitely comfortable.
In Malawi we were in the capital city--one of the most "developed" in the country and here in Ecuador we are in the "sticks". However the level of development is pretty similar between the two cities as far as roads, restaurants, housing, etc. That's just a few of the similarities and differences that I can think of right off the bat.

Mostly we just loved seeing Auntie Jessica again!