Sunday, October 22, 2006

Sunday October 22, 2006 4:30 PM

What a crazy day! After a speedy recovery from the virus that hit me like a truck, I was treated to a day with my extended host family. And let me tell you, they are LOCO! Danny, my eldest host brother turned 22 today, and because Andrea, the middle child (18), just returned from Canada where she's been studying English for the past year, it was an occasion that called for the gigantic presence of Rosario's mother, father and sister.

Within 30 seconds of meeting me, Rosario's mother decided that Danny needed to marry me. I protested with the obvious problem that I'm already married. It was decided that "En los estados unidos soy casada, pero en ecuador, soy soltera." So now that I was deemed single in Ecuador, I was free to marry Danny. Ok a little embarrassing for me, but super funny. I can tell you Rosario´s mother isn´t a woman with whom you argue. When this woman says no, the answer is NO!

However, once I busted out the wedding photos (mi esposo es muy guapo), the conversation turned from marrying me off to Danny to the amount of sex I will be having with my husband after four months of being apart. I can't quite explain the color red I turned (and Rosario too), but it was enough to make the jokes continue for a good half hour. It was one of the few times I was grateful not to be able to understand the whole conversation, as I could tell it was getting pretty raunchy. But I can honestly say that I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.

The family was absolutely lovely and has invited me to visit them in Quito - probably because seeing the gringa blush is now the new past time. It's great that I now have a new family in Ecuador. Although my time here ends pretty soon, I know this won't be the last I'll see of them.

And even more pics

More Cuenca

More Pics

In Cuenca



Various Pictures





October 20, 2006 4:00 PM






I realized today how terribly out of date my blog has become, and I’m going to try to catch everyone up on my comings and goings.

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles…

Over the first weekend in October I took a trip to Cuenca, a lovely colonial city in the south of Ecuador. Now that makes it sounds like it was a very relaxed process to get to, be in, and travel home from that city. But this being South America, that’s not really the case.

Shadi and I left from Otavalo on a Thursday after school. We bussed it down to Quito and then made a bus to Riobamba minutes after we arrived. And four plus hours later (~11:30 PM) we made it to our first destination. I should mention that the only reason we did make it there is that the bus driver’s assistant ran back to get Shadi and me after the bus already started to pull away. There’s no way to know where you are unless someone tells you.

Thankfully a cab was waiting at that late hour to take us to our hostel for the five hours of sleep we could look forward to. And why would we be getting up at 5 AM you ask? El Nariz del Diablo. Or more accurately, the train to Nariz del Diablo. One of the biggest tourist attractions in Ecuador is a 6-hour train trip that leaves Riobamba, heads through the mountains and down a series of switchbacks over a mountain known as The Devil’s Nose. What makes it such an attraction, aside from the amazing views, is that everyone rides on the roof of the train.

Shadi and I picked up our tickets at 6:00 AM and joined the other crazy gringos on the roof. Actually, it wasn’t only gringos, there were scores of locals who sold stuff on the roof of the train. Throughout the journey we’d pick up new people who had different things to sell, mostly food, which we gladly purchased.

The train ride was amazing – it meandered through beautiful country showing a different side to Ecuador than I’d seen. For such a small country (about the size of Nevada) the biodiversity is staggering. You can drive any direction for two hours and find something totally different. The area the train passes is much more green and lush than what I see everyday up north. And it was a lot of fun to wave to kids along the tracks.

We arrived at Alausi, or final destination, at around 2:00 PM at which point we immediately caught the bus to Cuenca. And by immediately, I have to mention that there wasn’t time for a bathroom break (after 6 hours on a train with no bathroom) before the 5-hour trip to Cuenca. Shadi and I thought we were going to DIE by the time we reached our hotel in Cuenca.

Both Shadi and I agreed that because we’re kind of roughing it out here in Ecuador that we deserved a bit of luxury during our weekend vacation. So our hotel in Cuenca was one of the nicer ones available. When we saw the two big beds facing the television, complete with cable, we weren’t sure we’d actually leave the room. But we did. On Saturday we spent most of the day walking around Colonial Cuenca. We had no real destination in mind, we simply wanted to get a feel for the city. And it really is beautiful. Some of the architecture is reminiscent of New Orleans. And it has some of the most beautiful churches in Ecuador.

After a long nap and seemingly longer showers (this hotel actually had hot water, a real luxury down here) we decided to check out the night life. Keep in mind that my life here has dictated a strict 10:00 PM bedtime, so the idea of going out for a late Saturday night was pretty novel. With the help of our guidebooks we found a great place for food, drinks and music. I started off the night with a passion fruit daiquiri, followed by a blackberry daiquiri, followed by… I think you get the idea. The live band churned out great Latin tunes for hours and Shadi and I had a great view of the dance floor from above.

We finally rolled back to our hotel around 2 AM – late enough for it to be locked shut so that we had to drunkenly bang on the doors until we were let in. Once in our rooms, for whatever reason, I felt the need to make some phone calls. I don’t know why I have an inclination toward drunk dialing, but unfortunately for Jon and my mom I do. Neither answered (thank god, as I don’t know how much those calls would have cost).

Very hung-over on Sunday, Shadi and I essentially stayed in bed watching sitcoms (actually in English, not dubbed). I made an unsuccessful trip out to try to recover the credit card I left in a store the day before. It’s amazing how quickly you break some habits. At home I’m totally crazy about checking to make sure I get my card back after a transaction, but after 2 months of not using a credit card I forget how the whole thing works.

We sadly checked out of the hotel in the afternoon to make our way to the airport to get back up to Otavalo. Rather than take a 12-hour bus journey, we thought we splurge on the $48 plane ticket that would get us home in 45-minutes. This seemed like a good idea at the time. We figured if we could survive the crazy bus trips we’d taken, surely a short plane ride would be nothing. Yeah, famous last words.

The plane was very nice – modern, clean, the airline seemingly efficient. Unlike the busses, there were no live animals on board. All seemed copasetic. However, I can honestly say that I have never been on a plane that flew faster or banked harder when turning. And at one point both Shadi and I swore we were looking at a mountain peak just off the side of our wing (it turned out to be a cloud). And the descent in the airport in Quito is about the scariest thing ever. Quito itself is at 2800 meters (~8500 ft), but it’s in a valley surrounded by mountains that are quite a bit higher. So when a plane flies into Quito, it practically brushes the mountain tops in order to be low enough to land in the valley. At normal speeds this would be scary – at mach 20 it was a bit petrifying. I wanted to kiss the ground when we landed.

Anyway, it was a great weekend, and having some time away from Otavalo was exactly what the two of us needed.

Last weekend, Shadi and I made a trip to a nearby town called Cotacachi which is famous for its leatherworks. And now it is famous for how much money it can get two gringas to spend in a 3-hour time period. Between the two of us, we went home with five leather jackets, three handbags, and 3 scarves. I should mention that all of this cost less than any one of our jackets would at home. So I don’t feel too guilty about the shopping spree.

The best part of the day though was when Shadi went back to a store we visited earlier in order to buy the last two of our jackets. After deciding on her purchases she realized that she didn’t have enough cash to buy them, and she hadn’t bought a credit card, as most merchants won’t accept them. So the guy who owned the shop (along with his sister and mother, both of whom we met) ushered us through his house and out to his garage in order to take Shadi to the nearest ATM. These folks really wanted the sale. And afterward they invited us to join them for lunch, which we turned down. When would you ever get such treatment in the U.S.?

I was meant to go to Quito this weekend for dinner (food with flavor), movie (not dubbed), museum, etc, but I came down with a nasty bug late Thursday night. At first I thought it was the chicken I bought off the street from a lady who cooks out of her garage, but when the fever set in I knew it was the flu that’s been going around. So once again, I’ve been stuck home sick in bed. Thankfully its effects seem pretty short-lived as I’m doing a lot better today after a really rough day yesterday. I’m hoping to actually be able to eat solid food and leave the house tomorrow.

This week Shadi and I gratefully welcomed two new volunteers to Muenala: Rowan and Amy. It’s great to have the extra help with our very high-spirited students. But the extra numbers are short-lived as Shadi finished off on Friday. After mentioning her so much you may think that I’ll feel lost without her. Well, we’re not rid of each other yet. I will be meeting up with Shadi on Thursday to embark on what should prove to be our biggest adventure yet.

I leave for Peru on Thursday to hike to Machu Picchu. I’ve decided that I’ve worked really hard over the past 11 weeks and therefore I’m giving myself a vacation. It’s a five-day hike (Salcantay Trek, if you want to google it) in the Andes that joins up with the Inca Trail on Day 4 and then into Machu Picchu on Day 5. It should be totally amazing, although I expect it to kick my ass. What’s crazy is that I have to spend more time traveling to get to Cusco, Peru than I actually spend hiking. Shadi and I will be traveling by bus to Lima, Peru (via Loja – 12 hours – to Piura – 8 hours – to Lima – 14 hours), then we catch a flight from Lima to Cusco (to avoid that 26-hour bus ride). And then we have to do it back the following Saturday so that I can be back in school by Tuesday. And of course in between those two long journeys is the 5 days of hiking. I expect to be pretty much wiped out by the time it’s all over. But then again, I’ll only have a little more than two weeks left on the project by the time I return. It’s amazing to think how fast the time has gone, especially when it felt like it would be forever when I arrived here.

And as for life in the school (you know, the reason I came here in the first place), things are really going well. I’ve been working with the 3rd and 4th grade for the past five weeks, and it’s been great. I still have days that I think I’m not doing a good job, but they are fewer and far between at this point. And I’m really getting a lot closer to my kids every day. Each hug I get I appreciate so much considering how long it took to get to a point where my kids wanted to show that kind of affection. And I’ve managed to get them to work really hard in school, so I haven’t had to sacrifice the educational goals I set in order to have them like me. So now that I’m in the home stretch, I’m finally feeling pretty confident about what I do everyday. It’s a good thing I allowed myself so much time here or else I could have gone home feeling like a total failure.

Ok, that should catch everyone up. Sorry for the communication blackouts on this end. But honestly, I’m so bloody tired most of the time that I can’t get myself to update my blog, or email, etc. But I promise to try harder in these final weeks.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

October 4, 2006 1:00 PM





Just a quick entry to say that I finally tried cuy last night, and I really liked it. Tastes like chicken! Well, sort of anyway. The funniest part about it is that when the plate comes out the cuy looks like a large deep-fried rat – claws are intact, ears are still attached, teeth, etc. But I was eager to dive in and couldn’t really dwell on the fact that my dinner was a cute little guinea pig before I came along to eat it up. So I ate an entire one by myself, including one eyeball, a kidney, both ears, and the brain (all considered delicacies). I drew the line at the liver. Enjoy the photos!

October 1, 2006 8:00 PM






Happy anniversary to me! Ok, so it’s a bit strange to celebrate a two year wedding anniversary when my husband is a continent away, but I think I did a pretty good job, all things considered. But before I get to that, a bit about my adventures this weekend.

Shadi and I met up yesterday morning at 7:30 to catch our bus. We had two things: a ticket purchased by Shadi’s host family with instructions to change busses, and a final destination name from Alexandra (the girl we were visiting) who said we wouldn’t have to change. So basically we were a bit concerned from the start that we’d never get there. But we found our bus, got our seats, and crossed our fingers.

The bus ended up going into the Itag region beyond our schools north and west of Otavalo. It was a beautiful, albeit harrowing drive, hugging the mountains and descending into cloud forest. After three hours in we spoke with the driver’s assistant about where we wanted to go and he assured us he’d get us there no problem. We weren’t exactly convinced, but had no choice but to hope he’d take care of us.

A few memorable moments from the bus ride: 1) Staring out the window and realizing exactly how close we were driving to the edge of a cliff – for four hours! 2) The stop we made in a small village where in the market an entire pig was hoisted up in order to sell off bits and pieces – the local butcher, I presume. 3) The driver spending more time turned around talking to the passengers than watching the road. 4) The frequency with which passengers carrying live chickens joined us on the bus. This was especially entertaining as most of them managed to stand right next to Shadi who happens to have a fear of pretty much every living thing. One particular guy had two roosters which he let perch on the railing by the door, again very close to Shadi. The whole thing was pretty hysterical, especially when you figure we had no idea if we’d actually get where we needed to be.

But thankfully we did. When we got off the bus (many stares at seeing the Gringas getting off in the middle of NOWHERE), we were met by Alexandra and her sister, whose house happened to be next to the stop. Ok, now before I explain anything about the house and the family I have to say that I felt really honored to be invited, the family is absolutely lovely, and the experience was so worth it.

Disclaimer accomplished, let me describe the home. After climbing up barely fashioned steps, we came upon the house – a two story clapboard shack. We quickly learned that there was no running water. And, you guessed it, no bathroom – not even an outhouse. The world is their bathroom, you could say. Now, if you’ve been following my blog from the beginning, you may remember that I have some issues with other people’s bathrooms. But I would have gladly dealt with those issues in order to at least have something with a door. Worse for Shadi was that the house was full of dogs and chickens (in the house as there weren’t any doors).

After meeting everyone we sat down to a really nice lunch with the family that had been prepared over an open fire in the back, and we given the place of honor at the table. By place of honor I don’t mean an actual seat at the table, I mean the table itself, as it could only seat three. The rest took their seats on the floor. And the lunch was interesting: potato, yucca, and banana soup, cauliflower mixed with canned tuna, and rice. I’ve gotten pretty used to this kind of lunch, so I was fine with it, and I knew my stomach would tolerate it well (important consideration given the bathroom situation). However, when Shadi and I were presented with glasses we had a feeling there could be trouble. The glass contained lemonade of sorts – obviously made with local unfiltered water. Between the two of us we counted nine bugs floating in the glasses. Shadi and I knew that this drink could spell our intestinal doom, but we didn’t want to be rude, as it was obvious that the family had pulled out all the stops for us. We each got half a glass down and prayed. Many thanks to the bowel gods, we were just fine.

Quick aside… The family had a small pen in front of the house that contained two cows a bull and a donkey. I would just like to say that the expression “hung like a horse” really needs to be changed to “hung like a donkey.” I swear I thought this animal had five legs before I took a closer look. Totally disturbing.

Anyway. We (Shadi, Alexandra, three of her six brothers, one of her five sisters, and I) set off for the school, which ended up being a 45-minute downhill walk. I made a passing comment about how hard the walk would be going home, but we’ll get to that foreshadowing later. When we arrived it was very obvious that no one was expecting a couple of Gringas at this party. I’ve never been more stared at in my life. Our presence interrupted a volleyball game so that everyone could get a look. But Alexandra introduced us around and everyone was so welcoming and cool. We watched the volleyball game for a little while, and then moved onto the site of the piñatas, which I took part in – blindfolded and feeling like an idiot, but at least willing to join in.

Then came the cock fight. Oh yes, a cock fight – held in the classroom of the school. Now I didn’t want to miss out on a cultural experience, so I paid my $1 and joined the crowd of men to watch the fight. It was pretty fascinating. Preparing the roosters involved fastening a spike to each leg for the purpose of jabbing the butt of the bird every time he lifted his leg. This was to piss him off and create a more exciting fight. Attaching these things was a pretty intricate procedure that involved electrical tape and melted wax, and took ages. The fight itself was a flurry of feathers and pecking. Essentially the two birds peck at each other’s heads until one can’t peck anymore. And while this happens the owners make sure the birds stay in the sand circle, only picking up the roosters when the ref indicates to do so. During that second or two, the owners actually suck the blood from the rooster’s head, I think to clear it away, but I’m not sure. So yeah, it was gross. The only good thing I can say is that the roosters don’t fight to the death, and the money from the fight did benefit the school.

Afterward, in the same classroom as the cock fight, the music kicked on and the dancing started. It wasn’t lost on me that I was dancing on sand with rooster blood from the fights only a few minutes before. When in Rome… I danced all night and it was such a blast. I probably looked like an idiot, but the beer helped mitigate my caring about such a thing. However, by the time we left at 1:00 am (we’d arrived around 4:30) I was exhausted.

So now comes the previously-alluded to walk home. At this point there were about ten of us altogether, including two children under five, and the only light we had to navigate by came from a cell phone. It was a long, uphill, dark and scary walk home. Shadi was petrified that dogs would jump out of the dark, I was nervous about falling on the rocks that made up the road, and each of us were pissed that we didn’t think to bring the flashlights we’d left behind in Otavalo. It’s very strange to walk in the dark. I was holding the five-year-old’s hand and I don’t know if I was there to keep her from being afraid or the other way around. I kept trying to push away that which prevented me from seeing and because we could only see a few feet in front of us it felt like we were walking off into eternity. But after an hour or so, we made it back to the house to finally get some sleep, or so we thought.

The only room in the house had been made up for Shadi and me. We got the only proper bed in the house, and everyone else ended up on the floor. It was really kind of the family to make us as comfortable as possible, and it wasn’t lost on us. However, as I was getting changed and Shadi said, “Oh my god, look at that” I knew this wasn’t going to be home sweet home for me. On our wall was a cockroach about the size of my middle finger. I really thought it was there to eat me. I bravely picked up a shoe to make it good and dead, but missed of course. Out of sight out of mind I thought, until Shadi said, “Look at that spider.” Ok, I draw the line at spiders. What Shadi feels for dogs, I feel for spiders. I totally can’t handle them. And this one was the biggest fucking spider I’ve ever seen. It was literally the size of my hand. This spider was going to fight the cockroach for the chance to eat me. Now even with the mosquito netting over the bed, there was no way I was going to sleep with that thing in the room. So I instructed Shadi not to take her eyes of the demon spawn, and I went out to get some help.

As you can imagine, the family thought this was the funniest thing in the world. I explained that I’m from a city and we don’t have spiders that big. One of the brothers came to my rescue with a broom. But of course he missed his target, convincing me that I would have to start the long walk back to Otavalo as I had no intention of sleeping in the same room as that spider. But thankfully he went hunting for it, and considering it was HUGE it was easy to find. Out came the brother with the spider dangling by a leg.

With the spider properly disposed of, and a check under the sheets to make sure none were waiting for me, Shadi and I climbed into the small bed to spend a sleepless night worrying about what else was out there to get us. At 6:30 we looked at each other in agreement, “This was great, but let’s get the fuck out of here.” And by 7:15 we were on the bus bound for Otavalo.

It really was such a cool experience though. The family was so inviting and friendly, and really went out of their way to be hospitable. And it was as far off the beaten track as it gets, and I feel really honored to have been a part of it. We attended a local community celebration that didn’t cater at all to tourists, but the people were happy to receive us. We spent a night in a house that isn’t all that different from those our students live in, which offered us a lot of perspective. You won’t hear me bitching about my apartment ever again (except maybe for the ceiling fan in the living room, I hate that damned thing).

We got back to Otavalo around noon for much-needed trips to the bathroom and showers then met up later for my anniversary celebration. Shadi took me out to one of the nicer restaurants in Otavalo, or I should say she took me and Jon to this restaurant, as his picture accompanied us. We had a lovely meal complete with wine and dessert. And Shadi let me ramble on all night about how Jon and I met, what he was like, etc. If I had to spend my second wedding anniversary away from my husband, this was the best possible way to do it.

So all in all it was a great weekend. I’m off to Cuenca next weekend, which should be great fun, and hopefully will not involve any crazy spider stories as Shadi and I have decided to shell out for a nicer hotel.

September 29, 2006 10:00 PM






What a crazy week! I can’t believe how much stuff was going on in the place this week. First of all, Chrissie, our local coordinator is leaving tomorrow so there is a ton going on at the school to say goodbye. At Muenala yesterday we had a huge fiesta for her. The entire community attended to send her off in style. And Chrissie came to the school wearing the traditional clothes of the indigenous here (see photos) and the kids thought it was the coolest thing ever. We had a huge feast of local specialties including a drink called chicha, which is very thick, made from corn, and is as difficult to describe as it is to get down. There were also games (including musical chairs and a three-legged race) and dancing. The kids prepared songs, some of the parents gave speeches, and everyone seemed to have a really great time. I’ve only had a few opportunities to interact with my students’ parents, so this day was such a treat for me.

Then today we had a party to celebrate all the birthdays from July, August and September – 12 in total. We set up piñatas, which the kids annihilated, repeated some of the games from yesterday, and introduced them to Pin the Tail on the Donkey. We gave out little gifts to each of the 12 – soccer balls for the boys and wool hats with flowers for the girls. Because celebrating birthdays isn’t really part of the indigenous culture, many of the kids don’t know their birthday (or their age in some cases). As a result we had many asking us when it was their turn to get their present. It was pretty funny trying to explain something that seems so obvious to us, but really quite foreign to them.

As a result of Chrissie’s departure and a new coordinator taking her place (Ben, a Kiwi in whom I have a lot of confidence) there were so many meetings this week. As mentioned in my rant earlier today, we had a meeting last night with all of the volunteers. In addition, on Tuesday there were meetings with each of the individual schools. And on top of that, there were little side meetings here and there to get as much information gathered as possible to facilitate the transition. I am meeting’ed out!

But tomorrow I’m getting out of town with Shadi (we’re now a bit inseparable). We’re going somewhere four hours away by bus (I have no idea in which direction) to attend a community festival benefiting a local school. Shadi was invited by the maid who works in her host family’s house, and I’m tagging along. All I know is that it’s in the country, will involve a lot of dancing, and we’ll be the only Gringas. It should prove to be quite an adventure.

A rant about do-gooder, self-righteous hippies…

Ok, so it’s great if one gives up the comfortable life of the West in order to devote oneself fully to the plight of those less fortunate. I really admire that commitment. However, what I can’t stand is the self-importance that can accompany such a choice. Yesterday I met the head honcho of all of the Latin American projects for GVI. Born and reared in Britain, this guy decided to give it all up to move to Guatemala to start volunteer projects in Latin America. And after five years of managing these projects he is SO full of himself and absolutely condescending.

Last night we had what was supposed to be a feedback session with him so that he could hear about the issues with the project from those who are in the schools everyday. Rather than be open to hearing about the struggles of the volunteers, he became defensive, accusing those who spoke up (myself included) of wanting to push western values on the communities and not being flexible enough to embrace the differences. “This is South America,” was his response to so many of our issues. And then, the final insult for me came when I chose to speak up about some of the respect issues in my specific school, and this asshole accused me of creating the problem with the kids by being too strict. After having known me for not even a full day, and never seeing me in the classroom, he made this accusation in front of the whole group. Needless-to-say I was pretty upset – actually pretty devastated by the comment, as I’ve spent so much time and energy working to be successful in my classroom and he seemingly dismissed that entirely. I walked out of the meeting (in tears, I should admit), and this guy didn’t even apologize. The next day he acted as though it had never happened.

Thank goodness this do-gooder, self-righteous hippy made his way back to Guatemala on Saturday to pass the time until his next visit in six months. Now I can go back to the work I do everyday without his ego getting in my way.