Ecuador 5 - El Salvador 1

Ouch! That had to hurt. The boys and I went to another friendly match, but it weren't none too friendly! El Salvador had two Direct Reds, meaning that 2 different guys got ejected for flagrant fouls. Playing 11 men to 9, Ecuador wiped em up.

Now, we get ready for the next 2 matches which are World Cup elimination games. Venezuela in October and Peru in November. That Peru game...I am not sure any die hard Ecuador fans will want to sit with us :)

Foto: Ecuador scores into the upper corner on penalty kick. (Thanks to Jon Fields for the picture)

My Own Coffee Plantation

Some people like coffee. I think it is safe to say that it goes way beyond that for me. When we used to travel to Trujillo, I would notify the pastors I would be in town and would be at my " office " in the morning. Then, those who could would come to the Café Oviedo and we would together solve the problems of the life, church, family or whatever we were facing. On our recent trip to Trujillo, Matt got to see that first hand. He noticed that these pastors were much more relaxed and “fun” over a cup of café than in their church office.

Here in Quito, we like the Magic Bean. The food is okay, the prices high (for Quito) but the coffee is always good. We are now launching out into uncharted territory. We are going to be getting our own coffee tree! It will be indoors as it needs to be protected from the cold. Hopefully in 3 years, we will be harvesting our beans! Be looking for Café Pancho at a store near you.

Off To A Good Start At School!

It is Friday night at the Lamca house. Bryan is off at Arizona State. Matt is at band camp. Katie is having supper with a friend. Thomas invited two buddies over to spend the night. They are right now, putting up a tent in the back yard and plan to spend the night out there...we'll see!

Everyone is doing real well, but we are especially happy with Thomas. After the first week and a half of school, he is doing great. Everyone at school seems pleased by the progress he made over the summer. For the second summer in a row, we requested summer work for both he and Katie. They did a little of the 3 R’s each day. If you can make it out, he is holding up a 15/15 A+ spelling test. He also got an A+ on his Bible verse. They are retesting him in reading because he appears to be reading much, much better than last year. We hope and pray that everything is coming together for him. He not only has done his homework, but even turned it in!

Top Picture: A+

Next Two Pictures: Thomas and two buddies making their own pizzas at a place here in Quito.

Bolivia 0 - Ecuador 1

Last week we got a call from our team member, Ben Haley, asking if we wanted to use a ticket for the friendly match between Ecuador and Bolivia. We took it and bought two more and Thomas, Matt and I went to our first international soccer game. It may seem strange after 7 years in Latin America, but honestly, the big games were not usually helf in Trujillo or Tumbes! Both teams are getting ready for the World Cup Qualifiers that start in October.

1-0 is pretty much a barnburner in soccer, so it was a good game. Thomas, especially, had a blast. We sat in the $5 endzone seats with the Hooligans and it was great. Thomas particularly enjoyed the " Wave." He put everything into it. Matt was great to have along for his encyclopedic knowledge of the game. He gets upset with me when I shout " Hey that's icing!" as opposed to " offsides!" but it amounts to the same thing. Once I figured out that soccer is slow, not-as-violent hockey played on grass, it all made so much more sense!