Naipe

6-17-11

I’ve lived in Ecuador for exactly a month now.  I can’t believe how fast the time has gone by, and still how much I love being here.  I am happy to say that I adjusted well and am sinking it all in- the people, the views, the laughter, the awkwardness, the Spanish-speaking…and I am looking forward to being here another two months! I’m pretty sure I have a good idea that I don’t want to be an elementary school teacher :-).  I think I’m more of a blessing for the older folks ;-) That being said, I still love being around little kids.  Joy spreads across our faces as we watch them understand English and play together on the play-ground.  Today at the school we didn’t have many classes of English, so instead we walked around from house to house in the surrounding area to let people know that there will be a doctor (John) coming every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to the school if they need medical attention/advice/recommendations.  This was an adventure because we didn’t know who these people were, but it was fun and good practice to speak Spanish to strangers.  Because today was so incredibly hot and humid, we bought waters and headed back to school.  On the way, some of the kids were playing outside; one asked me if he could have a sip of water (it was really hot) and I said, “Of course!”  Little did I know that he would drink half of the water.  Right after he was done, another friend of his came and asked for water.  How could I refuse giving other people water??  When he was finished, I had two swallows of water left ;-).  After school (which ends at 12:30PM usually, but today ended at 11:00), three of us read and took naps in the hammocks here.  I think the weather really wears us out, because we were all exhausted after walking to the bus stop after school.  I’ve also noticed that many of the women here just wear leggings/stretch pants.  That was random, but it’s true.  Maybe they do it to keep cooler during the very hot and humid days?  Doc, Mabel and I went to the clinic this afternoon, where we helped a father and son with medical needs.  I’m happy to have the experience of translating for a doctor who cares deeply about the needs of the poor that surround the area of the school.  To reward ourselves for a hard days work, we went into Atacames (a bigger town nearby) to our favorite internet café (Air conditioned, lots of nice computers, ice cream, coffee and Batidos) to buy $1.00 Batidos.  Of course, I chose  the Mora Batido and it was delicious…