Ecuadorian titulo

As many of you recall, I've been trying to get my Ecuadorian medical license. Things seemed to stall when I couldn't get the appropriate approval from the Ministerio de Relaciones Laborales (MRL).  The MRL oversees all types of labor issues and wasn't allowing me to start my rural year.  Essentially the Ministry of Health wanted to treat me like they do all of the 'rurales' - as an employee, entitled to a salary and all of the benefits of social secuirty.  In the past, this salary was donated to a fund created by the hospital to help pay for care given to members from Puyo.  With my missionary visa, however, I'm not entitled to have a paying job.  To make matters worse, new laws also stipulated that anyone providing a service had to be compensated monetarily and through 'the system'.

The Carnaval holiday is over so this last week, the Ministry of Health has sent a request to the powers that be asking for an exemption so my time at the hospital may be counted towards the rural year requirement and be unpaid.  The hospital has also sent a letter and I've done the same renouncing any form of payment, all in hopes that it will be approved.  From what I hear, it should get approved but I ask that you pray about this.  I'm anxious to get this started and there are several others that will need to do the same as well.

I took the above photo yesterday afternoon as I was leaving the hospital.  We've been having alot more rain than we normally do and haven't seen much of the sky lately.  This is the closest thing to a sunset that we've had in several weeks.  I know that we're making those of you in Texas especially jealous.