Ponte

8-7-11

I think I’m going to be more culture-shocked when I’m actually living in the United States instead of the other way around.  I didn’t have any problems adjusting to the new culture in Ecuador and actually fell in love with everything about it.  I had a great experience working with both the residents in Lumbisí and also the volunteers who came and went while I was there.  I think the people are amazing and I have definitely learned a lot from them (not the other way around this time!) I have been observant of the lifestyles that these good people have. 

The women are absolutely amazing and hard-working.  Whether they have work outside their homes or they stay home-they are always busy and working.  I was surprised to see how many hand-wash their clothing instead of using washing machines.  I see them washing outside with watering stations while using bowls of water to rinse their clothing.  They are also always cooking something on the stove- usually it is a soup that they whipped together or rice with some kind of vegetables steaming.  For those who own pigs (chanchos), they need to feed and wash their stalls every morning and evening.  I swear my host mom never took a break.  The one time I knew she was taking a nap during the day was on her birthday (good for her!!)

Other women own stores that sell home-grown fruit and what not.  There are so many stores on the street that are just like the Farmer’s Market- I loved buying the $0.05 bananas frequently.  :-)  Other older women I came into contact with were the most understanding women I’ve ever met.  They actually listen to you when you talk to them! (even if your Spanish speaking skills aren’t perfect)  It was fun talking to the woman who owns a store right next to the FEVI store (she was also there to help me with the students who were naughty for the English classes I taught in the beginning of June).  It’s also great interacting with my host “grandma” and Magdalena.  Those are women who are extremely hard-working, but also have a great sense of humor and personality.  I will never forget their laughs. 

Other interesting fact about the women in Ecuador is that they have no shame of breastfeeding in public. You can be sitting on the public bus and a woman will just start breast feeding right next to you.  They truly value the nutrition factor that breast feeding has for a newborn. 

Weirder things that I’m going to miss are the crazy bus rides.  I have gotten used to being flexible when busses don’t show up, when I have to stand holding on the railings for two hours as the bus whips past curves through the mountains.  Many people hate the bus system, while I on the other hand, love them because of how many convenient routes they have and how cheap they are.  I will miss good public transit in Michigan!

I think I now have a fear of dogs.  Haha.  I never did get used to all the wandering dogs in the street, and also how they all turn evil at night, chase and bark at you until you are out of “their” property.  It’s funny how my breathing is rapid when I walk down the street to where I live.  It is definitely a different world of dogs in Lumbisí.

I will miss seeing the women dressed in long skirts, high, thick socks, wearing knitted sweaters, carrying slings with heavy object on their backs.  I will miss their braided hair and unique-looking hats. 

Something else that I’ve fallen in love with in the town of Lumbisí is their way of Community-style life. They share a lot of things between families, such as a microwave, instead of everyone having to waste resources and money just to own their personal microwave.  This is just a small example of community-living.  They help each other out with watching little kids when parents work and what not as well.  If you ever have a problem, it is your family that you depend on.  

The community lifestyle kind of relates to the simplicity of living in Ecuador.  I’m not saying that their life is easier, because obviously it’s not.  But I’m talking about them not needing a lot to survive.  They possess what is necessary and the rest is love.  When I would walk past my grandmother washing clothes outside, she wouldn’t be bitter or complain about anything, but she would be concerned about how I was.  All she wanted to do was to just love on people. 

What amazed me in Ecuador is the simplicity of living. People just didn’t need much to survive, whether it be money or material things. I never felt like people had much responsibility, not meaning they didn’t have much to worry about, but they didn’t have many material things to worry about, like cars, insurance, buying things, etc. Relationships were most important to them. Family stuck together and helped each other out.   

The mountains/volcanoes in the distance always amazed me. I never got sick of having the fresh, crisp mountain air blowing through my hair. Being able to travel through a country that had pretty much everything in it was amazing.  What I mean by this is that Ecuador has lots of mountains, the coast, and rainforest, depending on which area you go to.

I loved being able to speak Spanish to anyone on the street. Now that I’m back to the States, it feels weird to be speaking English or that English is even the majority here. Now I actually have to work to find people to speak Spanish with.  By the end of my time there, I didn’t have to stress about what I was going to say in Spanish, which I’m thankful for.  I could walk past people, greet them, and talk to them about what was going on in their lives. I’m happy to have this experience working with the people in Ecuador, volunteering, practicing Spanish, and learning a ton about myself.  Thank you to everyone for supporting me! 

No es cierto

8-7-11

I arrived very early (about 6 AM) in Quito at the big bus terminal.  I was determined to figure out the bus system instead of taking a taxi that would cost a ton to get back to Lumbisí.  The guy at the information desk was not very helpful and didn’t look like he wanted to help anyone because it was early in the morning.  He talked very softly, didn’t show me a map of the bus routes, and was wearing a hat that covered everything except his eyes- maybe that’s why I couldn’t hear him very well?  He said that the bus system was a little complicated, so I checked to see how much a taxi really would be; $15.00- no way.  So, I asked a different lady who was extremely helpful—writing down names of the bus stations, how many minutes (roughly) it would take, etc.  I paid my $0.25 and got on the trolley. The nice lady said it would take about 40 minutes to the next station.  After a couple different people sat beside me, I finally asked a woman who looked like she would be helpful to kind of guide me to the next bus station.  She said she was going to the same area and that she would “advise” me.  We chatted for a while and then told me to be very careful at the next bus station, as many people are mugged. Good advice!  As we were getting closer to where I would be getting off the trolley, she recommended that instead of going to the dangerous terminal, that I follow her to get on a regular city bus.  I trusted her enough and that’s where she would be going anyway.  We got off the bus together to walk to a bus stop; we waited for about a half hour for the correct one to Cumbayá for me.  There were no problems taking the two other city busses, where I arrived safely to Lumbisí. Traveling from Cuenca to Lumbisí took about 10 hours—I was exhausted.  I walk into my house and find my whole family there, along with Danielle (another volunteer who stayed at my house for a few days before) and Rosita (a girl who lives in Tonsupa who I’ve become good friends with). 

Rosita and I saying our good-byes. I'm gonna miss this girl! 

It was like a big reunion! I’m so glad I was able to see them before I leave the country! After our good-byes, I helped out with Clarita and the comedor with Zack and another volunteer.  It was a sad day leaving the comedor and thinking that I’ll probably never see the old folks again; it was a very odd feeling walking out of the comedor, because I’ve been helping out the whole summer! Thursday, August 4^th was my host mom’s birthday, so I went to Cumbayá to buy a brownie mix to make (since no one bakes brownies and they have probably never tasted the deliciousness of them) that night. On the way home from Cumbayá, I stopped at a local flower shop to buy a flower bouquet for Matildle as well. The guy (Pedro) who owns the really tiny flower shop told me it would only be $5.00 for the huge flower bouquet and then continued on to show me his garden where he grows most of what he sells.  I love buying things locally and supporting the community of Lumbisí! Grace, Martín, Zack and I helped make the brownies when Matilde arrived at our house.  Also, something interesting is that most families in Lumbisí don’t ever use their oven, so making brownies in the oven was interesting to them.  Usually they cook over the stove while frying absolutely everything.  Everyone loved the brownies (it actually turned out to be more like cake than anything…oh well) and we were able to relax together.

My host dad, Freddy, and host mom, Matilde, eating brownies on her birthday

Friday morning we didn’t have much to do since los ancianos (older people) at the comedor were taking a “vacation” to the hot springs and we didn’t have to serve them lunch.  Instead, we cleaned the upstairs classroom at Muñequitos so that Zack can start English classes for adults next week (Pedro, the flower shop guy, said he would be attending). In the afternoon, Zack and I went to my favorite location in Cumbayá- “El Español” where there is free wifi, frozen coffee/chocolate drink and oreo cheesecake. What can be better than that?  Oh, also the view from where we were sitting was amazing.  We were looking at the clear view of Cotopaxi, with the snow-covered top and dusk setting in so that the clouds surrounding it were a pretty color. We arrived back at home, ate dinner together, and enjoyed some really sweet pear wine (Boone’s); it actually tasted more like sparkling wine than anything, to celebrate Matilde’s birthday once again.  Matilde, Zack and I played cards late into the night because I didn’t want to go to sleep, because sleep would mean time here would go by faster! 

Hot Springs fed by volcanoes nearby. 

Saturday morning, everyone was able to sleep in and we had plans to go to Papallacta (hot springs heated by the surrounding volcanoes).  Matildle, Grace, Martín, Zack and I hopped on a few busses to an area that was surrounded by mountains, however, meaning it was very cold outside.  The pool was pretty big and felt just like a big hot tub (and cost only $2).  I couldn’t get over that we could just look out into the mountains, where cows and sheep were grazing on the hills, sitting inside of a hot springs pool.  Finally we arrived home, after a pretty long bus ride.  Matilde made another fantastic dinner (my last one in Ecuador!) that consisted of patacones, rice, broccoli/carrot salad, and a mixture of cold tuna with tomatoes. I wanted to make Quimbolitos before I left for the United States, since most likely there won’t be huge leaves that I can wrap the goodness into.  I bought all of the ingredients from my grandparents store who live behind us and told a few of the families who live around us that I was going to be selling Quimbolitos at 9PM. The house had the aroma of Quimbolitos and Zack and I played cards (Spit) while they were being steamed.  I am taking a few of them to the United States so my family can try them!  

Ahorita

8-4-11

I decided to travel by myself to Cuenca—the third largest city in Ecuador (the order is Guayaquil, Quito, Cuenca, from largest to smallest). I took the night-bus Sunday night to head 8 hours away from Quito.  Before that, it was a relaxing Sunday where a Frisbee was thrown around in the stadium and afterwards we watched the finals for soccer in Lumbisí.  Of course, pool was played on our way back to our house.  It was a little nerve-racking trying to figure out the bus situation and what not to get to Cuenca, since I was going to be traveling in the dark by myself for hours at a time.  I took a taxi to the huge bus station in Quito where I found the bus I was supposed to take (there were about 7 leaving from that station going to Cuenca anyhow).  This was also a stressful situation because I arrived to the station only 15 minutes before a bus was going to leave.  After standing behind people who were taking forever to buy their tickets, I overheard a man ask if there were anymore tickets for Cuenca.  I heard the dreaded answer- “no”.  Instead of freaking out, I followed the man who had asked the question (because obviously he was going to Cuenca as well) and we ended up getting tickets for another bus company that was leaving “ahorita”, which means “right now”; so we run to where our bus and settle down next to each other.  I didn’t sleep very well on the trip, I think because of nerves, and also I was close to a guy who was snoring pretty loudly (and I think he was the only one snoring).

I arrived in Cuenca at 7 AM on Monday morning; 2 hours earlier than expected. The man who I was sitting next to on the bus helped me get a taxi to my hostel “Cafecito”.  I was showed to my room, which is a big room with two bunkbeds and a single bed- mostly sharing the room with guys.  We share a half bathroom (community showers are available down the hall) that has hot water and great water pressure! I met the only girl in our room (Anita) and she said she was going to eat breakfast that would be served in our hostel, then going to Ingapira—the Incan ruins.  So, we ate breakfast together (with unlimited coffee refills) along with two other guys from our shared room.  It was so nice to have to be forced to meet people in the hostel I was staying in.  I wouldn’t have reached out to these people if I had my own, private room.  We pretty much all clicked right away and those were the people I traveled with to different locations around Cuenca.  I was a little afraid about sharing room with strangers, but those strangers turned out to be great friends.  So, Brandon, Anita and I caught a taxi that would take us to the bus terminal to get on “Transportes Cañar” that would connect us to “Tomba” where we would end up in Ingapirca. The two-hour bus ride was incredible and I fell in love with all of the grassy mountains surrounding me.  Ecuador is such a beautiful country that I still haven’t taken for granted!  The views still take my breath away.  Ingapirca wasn’t as impressive than I had imagined it, however the Incans are pretty incredible building things when their technology wasn’t near as advanced as it is now.  Their precise “measurement” with all of the big boulders being cut and put together in a square-like fashion, without needing anything between them to hold them together is pretty amazing.

After getting back into Cuenca and resting up a bit, the 5 of us from our shared room went to a Colombian restaurant where we could partake of a delicious, authentic meal.  Mine was a thicker-like tortilla (reminded me of pita bread) on the bottom, with shredded chicken and vegetables on top.  After dinner, me and the boys headed to a place called “Cacoa and Canela”, which served home-made hot chocolate.  “Chocolate España” (hot chocolate, cinnamon, and meringue (eggs whites?).  If that wasn’t a busy enough day, we finished the night playing pool together at the “Wunderbar”, located on the river that runs through Cuenca.  

Cuenca, Ecuador

A few of us from the hostel singing Karaoke at a bar next to our hostel

Tuesday morning, after a restful sleep (earplugs are a must!), I woke up early to venture the European-like city of Cuenca.  While I was wandering about, I found a very cute breakfast place called “Cappuccino”. Here, I enjoyed 3 American-style pancakes, scrambled eggs and coffee—all for $2.90!  It was fun touring the city by myself as I was free to do whatever I wanted.  All of the buildings are very old (most of them built in the 1800’s?) and look a lot like what I would think Europe would be like, which I absolutely loved.  The people I saw on the sidewalks looked like they were pretty well-off, dressed in suits; looking professional.  The parks/plazas are beautiful, adorned with flowers, trees, water fountains, etc.  After visiting a few museums, I ate at a vegetarian restaurant, “Govindas”—I fell in love with the place and the food.  The soup was especially impressive; I think it was something like butternut-squash soup, but different because I’m in Ecuador and the word didn’t translate to squash.  The soup came with rice, beans, salad and fruit juice made from melons—all for $2.50! Leaving satisfied, I walked alongside of the river running through the city, in search of a quaint coffee shop. That I found.  “La Tasca” is a cute shop that even has an upper level overlooking the river. Here, I read and drank coffee until later in the afternoon where we met up with the regular group to have dinner together.  It was one of the guys’ birthday, so he chose a restaurant that had a variety of things on the menu; one of which had an American Hamburger on the menu (this included meat, cheese, ham, egg, lettuce and tomato). Afterwards, we looked for a Karaoke place to hang out.  This was lots of fun because there were both locals and people from the US singing along to the stupid Karaoke songs (for example: Britney Spears). Wednesday morning a few of us ate breakfast at a chain called “Coffee Tree” and afterward one of the guys’ from the hostel and I went to Cajas National Park.  This park has over 200 lakes and several trails running up mountains, through swampy areas, and through forests with weird trees. I think this was the first time I’ve ever really been “hiking” and I absolutely loved every moment of it.  The trail that we took was considered “muy difícil”; very difficult.  I would say it was pretty difficult as well, hiking up the mountain, maneuvering our way through the swamp, crossing waterfalls, etc.  It was such a beautiful area; I would recommend this park to anyone interested traveling to Ecuador (Cuenca, in general, I would recommend). For dinner, we went to a nice restaurant where I ordered “Locro de papas”.  This is a traditional dish in Ecuador that is served with avocado and cheese in the soup.  All 6 of us hung out as a group and then moved on to a Karaoke bar once again.  It’s a lot of fun singing Karaoke in Spanish!  After lots of fun, I took a taxi to the bus terminal to take the night bus once again.  

Habla serio

7-31-11

Pretty much all the volunteers came all at once, and now they’re all leaving at the same time, so I’ve been preoccupied trying to spend as much time with them before they leave (and then I leave).   Thursday afternoon I taught the last English class to my two students before a few of us ran a couple miles in the stadium in Lumbisí. At night, a group of 20 students (!) went to the Mariscal in Quito, since it was the group from Illinois’ last night.  It was entertaining to go to a bar and request a table for 22.  After we spent some time trying different drinks like Tinto de Verano (red wine mixed with orange juice) and a mojito, we went to a bar to do some salsa dancing.  It was fun to hang out with a big group before they all left. 

Friday morning was the last day of summer camp for the kids in Lumbisí as well as the students from Illinois.  Here, the kids performed a play (similar to the Lion King with hints of environmental awareness) for the elderly whom we serve at the comedor.  Zack, Marjorie and I served lunch to the elderly after the play and then delivered all of the Tupperware (for 3 couples) to people who are unable to make it to the comedor.  This usually takes a while, since some of the couples live far away.  Vanessa, Marjorie and I went to “El Español” (next to Baskin Robbins in Cumbayá) where we ordered chocolate drinks (and coffee), sat in comfortable couches in the upper part of the restaurant and just chilled.  It was a rainy and cold afternoon, so it was nice to be in a relaxing place where we used free wifi internet, read, and hung out.  It was a great place to spend an afternoon with good friends.  

Marjorie, Vanessa, Zack, Esteban, and I on the side of a volcano. 

Cotopaxi volcano: we were on the snowy part!! 

Saturday morning we planned a day-trip to Cotopaxi volcano.  An Ecuadorian friend (Esteban) offered to drive us in his uncle’s Jeep-like vehicle.  From Lumbisí, it’s about a 2 hour drive to the 2^nd largest volcano in Ecuador (I think). No matter what we do, we always have an adventure along the way.  Since there aren’t many signs to tell you where to go on two-track dirt roads (or if there are signs, they’re most likely wrong) on the way up to the volcano, we took a bad turn and ended up facing a huge crevasse where if we would have continued we probably would have flipped the jeep.  The only way out of there was to put the car in reverse (while trying to avoid huge boulders and not get stuck in the mud, because of course, it was raining) and take a new route.  After saying “Oh my land” multiple times because of fear, we made it to the correct dirt path up the mountain.  Side note: never follow signs/arrows painted on rocks which eventually point you in the wrong direction.  As we were ascending the volcano, we came across sleet and then lots of snow.  Many of the cars/busses couldn’t make it up the volcano because of this (as we had to stop eventually as well because the 4 wheel drive wasn’t working) which was just amazing because I wouldn’t expect snow fall on the equator.  It was very exciting to see and play in the snow during the summertime.  We started walking, instead of driving, up the mountain, but we weren’t really dressed for the occasion of snow.  Eventually we made it to the parking lot where the hike usually begins—this is the highest point in Ecuador I’ve ever been; even higher than the Teleférico.  Although, since it was snowing so hard, we could barely see anything, let alone the volcano.  We decided against the hour hike up the volcano in the snow because of the extremely thin air and also because it was freezing and we weren’t prepared for that kind of weather.  Instead, we ran down the snowy mountain like you would a sand dune.  Descending the mountain was a lot easier in the Jeep and we ended up in a restaurant/lodge that had a fireplace and hot chocolate as well as a great meal. With my host parents, I ate salchipapas (hot dogs with French fries mixed with Ketchup and Mayonnaise) and then met up with Zack and Marjorie to go to Cumbayá to eat at a vegetarian restaurant (kind of rare in Ecuador).  Later in the evening, we met up with some other friends in Guápulo (a cute, cobble stone town located between here and Quito) to hang out at a café overlooking the city. It was a really laid back café and is known for “Moralazo”, which is mora-flavored hot wine—really good.  

I feel it

7-28-11

This week has of course, flown by.  Monday night everyone arrived from the coast and some of us who aren’t apart of the Illinois group went out to “La Ronda” in Quito.  La Ronda is a historic street in Quito that has been re-done and now is a laid-back area that has restaurants in the old buildings.  We have heard that it is really “tranquilo” and beautiful at night, so we decided to celebrate together on Monday night.  I guess no one goes out on Monday nights (rare, right?!), so we had to make our own fun, which wasn’t difficult to do.  We all had a glass of “canelazo”, which is a warm, alcoholic drink that tasted a little bit like hard cider with cinnamon.  We sat inside a small, quaint, old building and told stories about our weekend away from each other.  How sweet! ;-)

Zack, Michelle, Me, Tahjie, Marjorie, and Vanessa at our breakfast for dinner. 

The whole gang eating breakfast (pancakes, scrambled eggs with onions and tomatoes, and coffee) 

Tuesday was another day at the vocational course, where most of my time was spent helping out the cooks prepare lunch for the kids. Tuesday night, some of us went to Zack’s apartment to cook breakfast for dinner, since we all miss pancakes from the U.S! We made pancakes, eggs with onions and tomatoes, and passion fruit juice (and coffee for those of us who drink it).  It was great company with Michelle, Marjorie, Vanessa, Zack, and Tahjie. However, it was sad to see Michelle leave since she’s a fun girl to hang out with!  Good conversation to follow long into the night after dinner…

Wednesday night, the professor from U of I took all of the students out to a Pizza place for a good-bye dinner.  Before that, we were invited to listen to a guest speaker at the university in Cumbayá.  The speech was about education in Ecuador and it made me pretty depressed, but it was really interesting.  The education system in Ecuador is very poor and now I understand some of the things that are wrong with the system.  After the speech the pizza was amazing, as we were able to try 6 different kinds.  I’m not sure when the last time I had pizza that was like pizza from the U.S.!  After eating a lot of pizza, we eventually went back to Lumbisí where we played a couple games of pool until later in the night.  

Viva Lumbisi!

7-24-11

My host mom and I. 

Last night for dinner I ate about a half-plate’s full of boiled potatoes in some sort of sauce, along with a slab of beef which was pretty fatty and tough.  First time I didn’t really like the meal.  After the late dinner, we all went to a party in Lumbisí.  This party was a pre-game of what is to come in August (I think around August 20-24?).  When the party started, dancers performed the national, indigenous dances with music accompanying them.  I was able to drink in all of the music, dance, and costumes, as everything has really grown on me since I’ve been here.  The purpose of this party was to nominate and vote for a queen for Lumbisí before she is crowned in August.  It reminded me much of the movie Miss Congeniality because each one had to dress up, answer a random question on state, and then judges voted for the best one.  There were only 4 girls (I say girls because one of them was 14 years old and the oldest was 20 years old) who had to do this.  The purpose of having a “queen” in Lumbisí is to improve the community people’s lives, clean up the town, and represent this great town.  Once that was over, dancing started.  

My host dad and I dancing away at the Lumbisi party on Saturday night. 

Of course, I danced the whole time since every guy wants to dance with an extranjero.  Dancing and drinking of Pilsener ended early because the Police kicked everyone out at midnight.  However, my host parents, my “uncle” and his friend didn’t want to end the night there, so we returned to my house to continue laughing and talking with each other. 

Me, Danielle (my "uncle") and his friend, David.
This morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee along with the Pan de Chocolate that I purchased yesterday and an omelet with vegetables. SO good!  Since it was a relaxing day, I continued to read the Spanish book and learn new vocabulary while enjoying another cup of coffee. :-)  Afterward, I hand-washed my Keens on the top floor of my house, where we have a washing station and also clothes lines hung up everywhere.  Lots of people have and extra floor for these things (clothes lines, chicken coops, washing stations, and tanks of water), as it’s a great place to dry clothing since there is absolutely nothing to block the sun.  For lunch we ate rice, tuna, guacamole (a first here), and home-made French fries (with ketchup!)  :-).  I love relaxing Sundays, as I was able to start a new book (Water for Elephants) and read outside on the “patio” outside of my room. Around dusk (6PM), I ran around a soccer field for 20 minutes while my host mom was feeding the pigs, and then continued to run with her down a winding dirt road and back to our house.  When we got home, I was stretching and she was wondering what I was doing.  She wanted me to teach her how to stretch!  So we stretched together (haha!) and I told her why stretching is so good for people, and that it helps not to be sore the next day. She really liked that.  Later in the evening, I drank tea and ate bread and honey with my host sister.  I cherish moments like these! 

Mi hija

7-23-11

Grace and I at "Cafeto", drinking coffee and reading books! 

Today I was able to enjoy a day in Quito with my host sister, Grace.  For breakfast, we were served French Toast (with cinnamon) by my host mom, which was pretty amazing.  It was fun hearing my mom try to say “French Toast” because they don’t really say that in Spanish—she couldn’t get the “Toast” word out; I think because the word ended with a “t”.  The bread that she used was more like an English muffin, so it was a little different than what we eat in the States, but still tasted and smelled really good.  It was a treat for a Saturday morning breakfast.  It was a chill day (not chilly) as Grace and I were able to sleep in, eat a great breakfast, and head to Quito together.  I wanted to go to a chocolate/coffee restaurant that I knew of in the historic district in Quito.  I really like the atmosphere of this tiny restaurant; as it has a park that we could look into while reading and drinking coffee.  However, the bad news was that it’s not selling sweets anymore!  They are no longer making cheesecakes, brownies, biscotti, and other things.  I was so disappointed! Haha. It was fun just hanging out with Grace, as we don’t spend that much time together.  I brought books and a dictionary along with us because I started a book in Spanish today…it’s a very difficult book and I don’t know many words, so most of the time was just looking up new words.  I enjoyed this thoroughly.  Since “Cafeto” is relatively expensive for purchasing lunch, we looked for a cheaper restaurant to enjoy lunch together.  Indeed, we found a cheap lunch.  For $2.50, it included rice, chicken, salad, avocado, French fries and a soda.  Afterward, we hopped on a few busses to get home.  Before going home, we took a tour of where my host dad works in Quito, where he installs windows and doors (but first needs to cut the glass).  On that same street, we went to a Panadería (bread/pastry shop) and I bought “ChocoPan” (for $0.30)—the Panadería is called “Pan de Vida” and that’s where my host parents buy all of our bread that we eat and it’s amazing…especially the Pan de Chocolate and Pan de Manjar.  Just to note: not all bread shops have good bread.  There is one in Lumbisí that doesn’t make tasty bread and my family never shops there because of that.  

I have been running at the “Estadio”, where the soccer fields are located, a few days a week with some girls who are also volunteering here.  It’s really difficult to run because of the altitude (I’m thinking its about 9,000 feet above sea level), but usually we run about 2 miles each time.  Today, however, I was not able to run because soccer teams have the fields reserved on Saturdays.  Sad.  Instead, I came home to eat a brownie (we made them a few days ago), drink some coffee, and write my blog.  I think that’s a good trade-off! :-)

I can’t believe I only have about 2 weeks left in Ecuador! I will be sad to leave, but have a lot to look forward to when I am home (a nephew!) I’m happy with the experience I’ve had so far, but I will definitely miss my family, where I volunteer, living in a different country, and speaking Spanish to everyone around me.  I’m sure that the next few weeks will fly by just like this past week has!  It’s good that I’ve been busy helping the students from U of I with the vocational courses, but it makes time go by quickly.  At the vocational course,  I don’t have much to do since the students from U of I have it all pretty much under control, so I help out with 2 women who cook snacks/lunch for all of the kids (about 70 kids).  I think I would enjoy doing this anyways, instead of planning what to do for each group of students with art, sports, English and environment.  Everyday I leave early to bring Clarita (the 94 year old) to the comedor to eat lunch. I still enjoy working in the comedor with the two cooks, preparing and serving lunch to the elderly.  I have been dependable working there, as I think I’ve worked almost everyday (Monday-Friday) since I’ve been here. I am going to miss the phrase “Dios le pague” when I return home.  ;-) 

Oye

7-19-11

Sometimes in Lumbisí (and other cities), the electricity just turns off.  This is my case right now—I’m sitting in my bedroom, drinking some really good black coffee, while eating pan with peanut butter and the lights go off.  It’s really weird to look out my window and see absolutely no lights in Lumbisí.  I can see the city lights off in the distance from Quito, but other than that- nothing.

Biscotti-making shop on our way to Otavalo.

Otavalo: biggest market in South America; here just some herbs and grains being sold. 

Last night a few of us arrived from a fabulous weekend.  The group of students from Illinois and us other volunteers went to Otavalo early Saturday morning.  Otavalo is a really cool city, known for its huge market (I think the biggest in South America??) and indigenous people.  On the way, we stopped at a famous biscotti-making shop where we ate some delicious home-made biscotti (it was really fun watching them make it!) and drank hot chocolate.  The best part was dipping the biscotti into the hot chocolate; great combination!  Once we arrived in Otavalo, some of us didn’t have much time to shop around since we needed to catch a bus to Mindo and also eat lunch.  It was fun bargaining with the vendors as I bought pretty (WILD!) jewelry. Six of us rushed to eat lunch in order to catch two buses to get to Mindo.  Otavalo is about 2 hours away from Quito and our bus was supposed to leave from Quito right at 4:00PM.  It was not a relaxing afternoon as we had to rush to make it there on time.  After a 2 ½ hour bus ride from Quito to Mindo, we finally arrived to a small, beautiful city. 

Mindo: Cloud Forest; a very small, beautiful town. 

The sketchy-looking hostel we stayed at the first night. 

 It was nice to actually be somewhere other than Lumbisí, Quito, and Tonsupa.  After many hours of traveling in buses, we wandered around the small town of Mindo (Cloud Forest) trying to find the cheapest hostel (there are many).  La Casa de Cecilia hostel looked perfect, with a riving running beside it and an eating area fit for playing cards, was full.  However, the employees here are unbelievably nice (even to people who aren’t staying with them) and called hostels around the area to see if any rooms were vacant.  The woman (Paula) walked us to a hostel she recommended and we resided there.  It wasn’t the nicest place in town (looked pretty sketchy actually), but who can beat $5.00/night? We were all quite hungry, so we walked down the main strip to see all of our food options.  We found a restaurant that had pretty much everything; pizza sounded the best to most of us.  Zack and I were pretty hungry so we ordered the “family” pizza (and of course it was the last one to come;-).  

Zack and I with our huge pizza...

3 beds to a room at the sketchy hotel.  

They weren’t kidding about how big it was…and delicious!  Afterwards, some of us girls were craving coffee, so we decided to head back to La Casa de Cecilia to see if any was brewing.  Don’t worry; Paula welcomed us back to hang out whenever we wanted, even though we didn’t have a room there.  It was already 9:30 PM, so no luck on the coffee being prepared. As we wandered back to our own hostel (I’m not even sure of the name), we came across the “Reggae Bar” where we ordered coffee and played cards. After a few hours, we decided to go back to our own hostel where we shared rooms (3 beds to a room)—it was good enough for sleeping for a night. 

Sunday morning we ate breakfast at the nice hostel (bread, fruit, scrambled eggs, coffee and freshly squeezed juice) and took a tour of the waterfalls in the surrounding areas.  I didn’t think about hiking around, so I wore flip flops (big mistake…again!) and didn’t pack any shorts, so I wore a beach dress. 

Michelle and I: the difference here is that she was prepared to hike.  Hiking shoes, shorts, and a backpack.  Me, on the other hand, wore a dress and flipflops.  Funny joke the whole time we were hiking. 

 It made life more interesting for sure.  The area that we hiked was beautiful with a couple of waterfalls and a slide that dropped us into the cold, icy water.  After hiking back up the mountain, the rest of the group took a zip lining tour (and by this time, it was rainy and cold).  We all were starving by the time they were finished so we went to a restaurant on the main strip.  It’s funny to me that we crave non-Ecuadorian food; we pretty much all ordered Mexican food. Haha.

Marjorie, the guy we met in Mindo, Vanessa, Zack and I drinking hot chocolate  and playing cards in the nice hostel. 

Mindo is such a cool place that we all wanted to stay longer than just one day, but two people in our group needed to get back to Lumbisí Sunday night.  The rest of us (5 people) asked around to make sure there were more busses leaving early on Monday morning (around 4-5AM) that we could take to make it on time to the classes in the morning.  Indeed, there were busses at that time so we stayed another night! (we were even able to get rooms in La Casa de Cecilia). Paula told us that one of her other co-workers would take us to the main road outside of Mindo at 3:40AM to catch the 4:15 AM bus on the side of the road to get to Quito.  We made a plan!  Three of the other girls and I went to a Chocolate tour afterward where we learned the history of chocolate and were able to try some samples and also their home-made brownies and ice cream.  Afterward we bought some snacks and drinks for the bus ride home that would be in the morning and went back to the “Reggae Bar” along with a friend we met who was staying at the same hostel with us. After a few cups of great hot chocolate and some card-playing, we were spent and went to sleep in La Casa de Cecilia.  We awoke at 3:30 AM and drove to where a bus would pick us up on the side of the road. It was cold and we were just standing on the side of the road, waving down anything that looked like a bus that could take us to Quito.  We had quite a good time doing this, even though it was so early in the morning.  I think all of us were a little slap happy; we laughed a lot. After flagging down about 15 busses (and dump trucks and semis) and none of them picked us up (don’t worry; we wouldn’t have gotten into a dump truck even if it stopped for us) after waiting 1 ½ hours on the side of the road, we hopped into a taxi from the hostel and slept for a few more hours in the same rooms that we had rented from before. That morning was stressful as we had to call a bunch of people to tell them we wouldn’t be at the vocational course and/or helping delivering food to the elderly.  Ecuador=change of plans. For breakfast we ate pancakes, eggs, fruit, juice and coffee.  We wandered back to our hostel to pack up our things and drifted off to explore what Mindo had to offer us.  Since we had time to kill (we decided to take the “real” bus where we actually buy tickets from a bus station for a 3:00pm bus), we went to the lamest orchid nursery ever.  Someone’s guidebook said there would be orchids that were 5 meters tall—we saw ones that needed to be shown with a magnifier.  Lame.  I think the tour lasted 10 min (maybe) and cost $2.00/person (which is expensive, right?), but the orchids were nothing to shout about.  With our disappointment we went to a bar that was open-air and had swings all around it; pretty cool.  Some people ordered Batidos while I waited for the chocolate/coffee place to open.  After about an hour of waiting, finally we went into the great-smelling store where we could look at really pretty jewelry (I bought some really cool multi-stone earrings) and sit down, eat a great vege-sandwich (onions, tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado, grilled, with cheese) and a cup of home-made coffee and brownies.  What could be better than that, right? By the end of our great afternoon, we took the buses home to Lumbisí. Great adventure! 

Chuta

7-15-11

We’ve all been pretty busy working with the vocational course as well as helping other volunteers, but I’ve had some time to reflect a little bit about my experience here.  I’m grateful to be living in a small mestizo community where animals wander and be surrounded by indigenous-looking older people.   I’m sure this would have been a much different experience had I lived in Quito, with much pollution and too many people.  Its fun walking around Lumbisí recognizing almost everyone, smiling, greeting and talking to people who own little shops.  I wouldn’t be able to do this in the capital.  I’ve also come to find that I’m pretty flexible when it comes to plans changing or working with different people.  I love how “chill” it is here.  If you make a mistake, you are forgiven (sometimes laughed with) immediately.  I like the variety of things I’m able to do- whether it’s helping the U of I students with the course, working in the community garden, traveling to Tonsupa, or working in the FEVI store-I enjoy the things I’m doing.  When we had the “minga” in the community garden the other day, I wasn’t freaked out about the little bugs or worms in the dirt; I embraced them.  I wasn’t concerned about getting my hands dirty as we weeded about 8 beds.  It’s so easy not to complain about things here because I honestly like the adventure of trying new things and changing how I view the world.  I’m able to appreciate even the odd things or non-North American way of how we do things because I understand the cultural aspects since I’ve been living here for even a few months.  Even the ridiculously obnoxious Ecuadorian music I’ve come to love, just because it reminds me of the people I have danced with or the setting I’ve been in (like Tonsupa).  I still hate the dogs in Lumbisí, but since we’ve been delivering meals to the elderly after serving in the comedor, I think they’ve gotten used to us and don’t bark and run after us anymore (hopefully! :-) Also, even though the women would save SO much time using washing machines instead of washing by hand, I like seeing ladies outside their houses in their “washing station” type concrete slabs.  It’s definitely a different culture, but I’ve come to love it.  I hope to always be sensitive to different cultures and try to understand their way of doing things.  I’m sure I haven’t even come close to finding all the cultural aspects here because I think that comes with time.  I have gotten close to my host family, especially my host mom, just conversing with her over tea or helping her cook dinner.  She’s a great woman and I’m happy to have lived with one of the best families here!  

Disculpe

7-13-11

Yesterday I worked in a variety of places.  At first I went down to the “curso vocacional” to help out the group from Illinois for a couple hours.  It was fine just to jump from group to group, but to also help out some of the women cooking the snack for the kids for their break.  Afterward,  I went to work with the older people do arts and crafts, activities for mind stimulation and just to hang out with them before serving them lunch at the comedor.  I really enjoyed this type of work because as I’ve stressed earlier, they are so appreciative for anything you do for them.  It was fun learning some of their names (which most of them were María) and getting to know some of them.   

Clarita and I at the comedor. 

They have lived some tough lives!  After bringing back Clarita (the 94 year old woman who we push in her wheelchair back and forth) back to her house and delivering 3 meals to people who are not able to come to the comedor, I arrived home to eat lunch quickly and left for Cumbayá.  I brought two of the other volunteers with me to Cumbayá to get a few things done and also to buy ice cream from Baskin Robbins :-).  By the time we got back to Lumbisí we were all exhausted, so I relaxed at home with a cup of fresh coffee.  Later, I watched a few movies with my host siblings in Spanish.  It was good to hang out with them!

This morning I was very productive as I cleaned my room early in the morning and stripped my bed (because I think the top blanket might have fleas!).  I headed down to the vocational course where I was informed that the other volunteers (besides the Illinois group) would be working with younger kids (ages 5-7).  They did this because these smaller kids weren’t getting enough attention.  The whole morning we colored, learned songs, and played games.   It was a good time!  This afternoon was another “minga” at the community garden.  A minga is a group gathering to work on community projects.  The usual women who work in the garden were there to instruct us and to get a ton of work done.  At first it was just Grace (my host sister), one of the women’s sons, and me.  We picked green beans in the greenhouse until the big group from Illinois came to help.  When picking the beans, the little boy was so interested in nature and how big his beans were!  It was so great to see and interact with a little boy so interested in taking care of the plants.  I think it’s great when little kids get involved in projects like this!  It’s a good idea to get them excited about where the food is coming from that he is eating.  There’s something so romantic about that—that we actually know where the food is coming from that is placed on the dinner table.  After picking all the beans and composting the plants, we picked all the cilantro.  I’ve never seen so much!  I think I will smell like cilantro for a while…

I love seeing all the animals just roaming around Lumbisí (not including the dogs).  Today I saw goats running down the street; sheep in the field eating the tall grass around them, cows hooked up to ropes in my front yard grazing, and chickens on the tops of the roofs.  I sit really close to the window in our house to steal wireless internet from our neighbors (my Ecua-aunt and uncle) where my view is their roof (a flat roof-more like a patio, where they have clothes lines hooked up to dry their clothes).  Not only is their clothing hung up, but also a chicken roaming around, eating corn.  I watched the chicken for a while and I see it chasing away any other small bird that sits on the roof!  Again, I love seeing the random animals throughout the day! 

The people I work with a the comedor (the cooks) and some of the physical therapists/occupational therapists who help the elderly before they eat lunch.

Chuchaqui

7-12-11

Monday was a 10 hour travel day for me.  I was sad to say good-bye to the volunteers I had gotten close to in Tonsupa in the morning and I took a bus to Atacames where I took a charter bus from Tonsupa to Quito.  The bus ride was different this time because we went through a different charter bus company (Trans Occidentales instead of Trans Esmeraldes) and no one that I know has ever taken this bus.  It was an adventure for me as I didn’t know what to expect.  With Trans Esmeraldes, they don’t allow more people to get on than they have seats for—with Trans Occidentales, they picked up more people who would then stand in the aisles until they reached their destination.  Both buses show movies to make time pass by quickly, but usually you can’t hear them very well and usually they are dumb movies.  Oh well.  About the halfway point of my travels, we stopped at a bigger bus station to let people off.  I really had to use the bathroom, and of course, the bathroom on the bus was locked (it always is! which is really inconvenient).  I climbed over the guy who was sitting next to me on the bus, went up to the front where the drivers were outside and asked if he could unlock the bathroom on the bus.  He told me there was a bathroom inside the big bus station.  I was afraid of being left at the station with my backpack and computer still on the bus, so I told him I didn’t want to go to that one.  This is where trust comes in: he said he would wait for me.  Right. I really had to use the bathroom, so I decided I would trust him.  I paid the 15 cents to use the bathroom quickly and ran to the bus. Haha.  They actually waited for a gringa!     Since I wasn’t exactly sure where my destination was in Quito, it was a little nerve racking as we were driving through Quito for almost an hour; myself trying to orientate where exactly I was in the capital as I looked out the window of the bus.  When there was only 3 people on the bus with me, I asked one of the ladies where she was getting off the bus, where the “Parque Ejido” was, etc. and she told me later on.  Right after that, the bus drivers told everyone that this was the last stop, so we all got off.  I don’t think anyone really knew exactly where to get off.  I walked around the city like I had a purpose so as not to get anymore attention I didn’t need.  I finally found the Parque Ejido, where from there I knew my way around of how to switch busses to end up in Lumbisí.  I’m so glad I was able to utilize public transportation (busses, really) instead of a taxi.  I saved $10.00!  When I arrived home to my host family, they served me soup with bowtie noodles, potatoes, chicken and fresh cilantro with a side of an avocado.  I was happy to be “home” in Lumbisí.  I love this place and its people!