Somebody Pinch Me

Sunday May 26, 2013. I dressed up in a funny hat and a bright green poncho last night so that I could be in a parade. Then I danced with the mayor on stage while the whole town watched. Then today I ate pig’s tongue for dinner. Really not sure if I’m dreaming this.

Staying Busy

Most of the classes at my school went on class trips last week and I was invited to tag along with one of the English teachers 8^th grade class to a city called Macuchi. This place is the reason I love Ecuador. It was absolutely breathtaking- green, lush, gorgeous, somewhat deserted, quiet, natural. It was about 3 hours by bus, a trip which was interrupted about half way through by carsickness. Because I live in the mountain region, everywhere I travel is up and down, and windy. I heard a couple of students ask for a “funda de marea” (sick bag) then a couple more then a few more, until I heard the driver say “no hay mas” (there are no more) and then I started to panic. I have a fear of vomit but the bus was so cold and well-ventilated that I couldn’t smell anything and I was sitting in the front (to avoid carsickness) so I couldn’t see it. The bus driver then pulled over and ordered everyone off the bus. It was 14 degrees Celsius at the top of this mountain and here I am with 45 Ecuadorian kids, walking up the mountain as some are pausing to puke and the bus slowly crawling behind us. One of my funniest moments here.

So we finally arrive at the Hosteria Oro Cabañas, which is like a hostel and event space and we are the only people visiting. There is a huge pool, a jacuzzi, a sauna, a pool table, and tons of trout pools you can fish from. We are immediately served a big breakfast of bolon (mashed up plantain with pieces of pork and a fried egg) and coffee. We drop our stuff and head up the mountain on a hike. The weather is SO much nicer than Pujili. It was warm and humid, tropical. We hiked up for about an hour, following the river and passing a few small waterfalls on the way. We stopped at a few trout pools and our tour guide showed us how to fish with a net and then the kids held the fish until it started suffocating and bleeding. Made me think I’ll probably be a vegetarian again when I get back to the States. (Sorry, Momma.) I just really hate seeing a living being die. 

We also stopped at an old abandoned gold mining cave. The kids searched the ground for small shiny rocks, I’m not sure they had real gold but I told the kids they did. We hung out close to the top for awhile and drank lemonade and then headed back down. The kids swam in the pool for hours and tried to convince me to swim with them. I explained to the other teacher that I attract enough attention with all my clothes on, I don’t need to be stripping down. Plus I think they might freak if they see my tattoo and/or piercing. So I watched and laughed as the boys rough housed and the girls shyly swam in the corner. One of the mothers also accompanied the group and she entertained me by trying to convert me to Evangelicalism while we watched. Then we ate a big lunch of soup, trout, rice, french fries, and salad. Everyone rushed to get ready because they close the highway for construction at a certain time and we didn’t make it! It was going to be closed for an hour and a half. So we detoured to Quilotoa, the crater lake in the volcano that I visited a couple months ago, but it was so foggy, you couldn’t see the lake from the vantage point. We walked around there for awhile and then headed home, grabbing a chicken dinner to go on the way, arriving back at the school around 8pm. It was a long and tiring day, but so worth it. 

Saturday I had a meeting in the morning at the Asilo de Ancianos (this directly translates to Asylum of Ancient People, but basically means Old Folks Home). Our neighbor is my host mom’s best friend and she comes over a lot to chat and she mentioned that she just started working in the kitchen of the Old Folks Home. My ears perked up because I love old people! And I worked in retirement homes for 4 years. So I started asking questions and they decided I should go in and see over the weekend. I met with the Presidenta del Patronato, which is like a social work organization through our town’s government. (This lady is also going to be helping us start a summer camp for kids after school lets out.) So this Asilo is government funded and the President explained that they found these senior citizens living on the street all around the country. Some don’t know where they came from, most don’t have families, and none of them have money. The Asilo provides them with the basics like clothing, food, and a bed, and the building itself is new and clean, but this is so far from the retirement homes I worked in. There are no programs or activities for these people to do. When they’re not eating or sleeping, they sit in a circle on the patio and stare off into space. As soon as I walked in, my heart broke. So I’ll be going in on Saturdays for a few hours and hopefully also during the week sometime to run some activities with them. I’m thinking about some exercises like chair aerobics and balloon volleyball (thank you for the ideas, Collette!) and also reading for them, possibly some dancing, and hopefully some field trips eventually. I’m meeting with the President tomorrow to discuss the ideas and also plans for the summer camp.

This week I also started exercise classes! One of our neighbors goes to this small dance club on the other side of town and offered to drive me so I tried it out last night. Mondays and Wednesdays are Rumba class and Tuesdays and Thursdays are Taebo. I laughed at myself the entire time because I have zero rhythm, but it was so much fun and a really good workout. So I paid $20 for 1 month, which seems like a lot, but it’s 4 times a week and it’s worth it because I have no other time to exercise and my host family won’t let me go anywhere alone, so it ends up working out perfectly. Though, this does mean that I miss the beginning of my soap opera, but I think I’ll survive.

The kids class is still going pretty well, though I leave there with a stress knot in my neck every time because they’re so wild. They’re a handful, but it’s fun. The teachers I tutor on Fridays invited me to their English Open House tomorrow so we’ll see what kind of shenanigans are involved there. And one of the teachers at my school (the one who tends to be the most difficult) thanked me for about 5 minutes today for being so patient with her. 

So, evidently, I’m a very busy woman. But I don’t really feel stressed. I am only supposed to spend 20-25 hours a week in the school and my other side projects don’t really take up much time. I love the variety and I love having lots of things to think about and plan for. The other day, I was dying for a real, good hug. I woke up from a nap grumpy and for some reason, all I wanted was a hug from someone who loves me. And in that moment, I felt very alone. The concept of being my own support system has become a reality and I’m still adjusting. But when I think about all the people I’m working with and I’m hopefully going to help, I feel confident that I will. And of course, REALLY looking forward to visiting at Christmas time to get one of those hugs.

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

Add caption

outside the gold mine

beautiful Ecuador

livin the dream

searching for gold

Fotos- new fam and teaching

New host family- Abuelita Maria, Mama Consuelito

Host bro, Esteban

Saturday mass at Isinche, where they house our Patron Saint, el Ninito de Isinche (a baby)

bein a ham. (that´s the door to the secret garden)

Just inspiring Ecuador´s youth, NBD

My children´s English class

Considering going into a Tres Leches making business

Nostalgica

You know what would make the Peace Corps 1000 times better?! A teleportation device. For days like today. When I need to be at home. To surprise my mom with flowers. To make my dad his favorite dessert. To brighten a dark day for a best friend. To plan something special for my one and only sister.

But. As I was sitting here, folding my laundry, of all mundane tasks, I realized that I’m here. I considered and pondered and wondered and went back and forth and decided and changed my mind and then decided again, then committed, then waited, then got accepted, then waited some more, then packed, then got on the plane, and then I flew away. And after years of anticipation, doubt, and excitement, as cheesy as it sounds, I’m livin’ the dream. And I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to experience this. It would be a waste to spend it wallowing in homesickness. So I buck up! (And count down the minutes until the next Skype session.)

I Love Chelsea

As I was walking through the rows of desks, monitoring the annoying class of 40 16 year-old boys, I noticed one of them had written a whole notebook page of “Chelsea” “Chelsi” “Chelsey” “Chelse”. Awkward city. Population: 1. Then later on in the same class, a student had to say a sentence, any sentence, using the word love. Guess what it was. Yep. I love Chelsea. Maybe that will be the name of my new sitcom, starring an uncomfortable gringa who finds herself adapting gracefully to a new and different culture. In my dreams.

So teaching has been going pretty well. I’ve been doing my best to incorporate at least one game into every class, even if it’s just something little. Trying to bring the motivation up and make English class seem slightly more interesting. And I finally had my first English workshop with the teachers at my school. We have the rotating workshops that I posted about before, but those involve teachers from all the high schools in the town. I’ve been trying to get started on training just for my 4 teachers, but planning has been nearly impossible. So today I got 3 of the 4 to show up, reluctantly, after I promised we would only work for 50 minutes of the scheduled hour. It ended up being so much fun, but unfortunately, I think the only new vocabulary they walked away with was “smart ass”. One of my teachers is really funny and has a high level of English and likes to be right. So I was explaining that the phrase, “tomar el sol” literally translates to “to take/drink the sun”, but in English, we say “sunbathe”. Ahhh okay, they enjoyed this concept. Then I said “you also don’t say ‘take the coffee’ like in Spanish, ‘tomar el café’, you need to say ‘drink coffee’” and he argues that he is going to TAKE the coffee cup from someone else. Thus, the lesson about being a smart ass. Then I taught them the word “fart” and we called it a day. I swear there was some productive stuff going on there too.

This week, I also started teaching a children’s English class. My host mom asked me one day if I would be interested in doing this- getting kids prepared for English classes before they get to high school. I said that sounded good, but things like this usually take forever to get started so I was super surprised when she said “okay, let’s start next week”. So I met with 3 parents and thought I would have about 8 kids around the age of 9 years-old. Tuesday rolls around and 32 kids show up to class! Ages ranging from 7 to 18.Holy moly. So I had planned for an easy first day, just making decorative name cards with “Hello. My name is _. I like _.” And translated some activities for them. But the second class, I was feeling a lot of pressure. It’s going to be hard to appeal to such a wide age range and make sure everyone is on the same page. So I did classroom commands today like “stand up”, “sit down”, “open your book”, etc. I played 3 games and all of them were super fun! I was super jazzed, but it made me realize I really have my work cut out for me. It’s going to take a lot of planning to keep this momentum going and because this is completely voluntary, I feel obligated to make it extra fun so that they don’t give up. I guess it’ll be a lot of work, but that’s what I signed up for. Plus, I’m sure it will make for some good sitcom material.

And tomorrow, we’re celebrating Mother’s Day by finishing classes at 10:30 and heading to the restaurant to eat and drink (we’ll probably have guinea pig again. Sigh). And then I’ve gotta head to Latacunga for more teacher tutoring. It seems as though my life became very busy overnight, but I’m grateful as it makes the time fly by. Can you believe I’ve been in Ecuador for 4 months? This is officially the longest I’ve ever gone without seeing my family. Heavy boots.

Bed time. Thank you for reading. And thank you for tuning in. Until next time, I Love Chelsea, signing off.

party and putzalahua pictures

Teacher Training

MY teachers! taking a picture with a ghost

Putzalahua

el paisaje

sometimes it feels like a dream

llama me!

new friend

Ugsha Wasi

in case you were wondering, that is the confused gringa look

tomato dance

before the terrifying sheepfighting

OLE

Humankind Never Ceases to Amaze Me

I feel like I should confess a little. My blog is full of sunshine and sprinkles and maybe it’s a misrepresentation. I am confronted with challenging situations on a daily basis. Whether it’s saying the wrong thing and feeling really stupid, frustration at the bureaucracy of the post office, men hissing at me, plans falling through, people not showing up, or constant miscommunication. However, when I stepped on the plane, I came to the conclusion that my mental and emotional survival is going to completely depend on my ability to laugh at these situations. So I do.

Okay. Confession: hecho. (done)

I met the mayor this week! He told me I have to write an oficio and get back to him. Womp wah. Oficios are required for everything here. It is the Ecuadorian red tape. If you need to miss a day of work- oficio. If you want to start a new project- oficio. If you want to use the restroom- oficio. Okay, okay, I’m exaggerating. But hoping I can eventually get started on some projects through Pujili’s town government. That would be rad-tastic.

That was pretty much the highlight of my week. Oh! And I tried cuy again (guinea pig). Wednesday was Dia del Trabajador (Labor Day) so my host mom invited a couple friends over, Abuelita suffocated our furry little friends, skinned ‘em up and cooked ‘em using el horno de lena (wood burning stove) and it was actually much better this time! I had the lower half and didn’t have to look at the face on my plate and there was only a little bit of hair left on it. Yes, this is real life.

Oh wait! There was actually a better highlight! The other volunteer and I stumbled across a cute little place called Café Miau which is decorated in cats and has a really nice, relaxed, hippie vibe. We started talking to the owner who is this really sweet girl and she mentioned we should come back on Tuesday night because it is Noche de Letras (Night of Letters) which is a literature night. Score! So we went in and ended up being 2 of the 6 people in the audience, but we made friends with a couple of the poets who were reading their work and we had a really good conversation! One of the poets, named Danilo, lived in Tumbaco as a kid and his family hosted a Peace Corps volunteer for a year! Small world. So we invited him on a hike over the weekend and he said yes! Step 1 of making friends: hecho!

Wait! The biggest highlight! I got to talk to Mark this week! :) If any of you other friends are interested in purchasing a calling card and making my day, please let me know.

So then came the weekend of renewing my faith in humanity. We had called my coordinator’s brother who lives in the rich city, Cumbaya, and arranged to be there around 11:00. When we showed up, an old man approached us and said “Todd y Chelsea?” SI! Grandpa was on the lookout for the most awkward-looking gringos at the supermarket and successfully found us. He and his wife were sent to pick us up as Fernando and Denise were not home yet. So we arrive at their house and it is THE nicest house I’ve ever been in. Not just by Ecuadorian standards, but also the US. Gorgeous. With a live-in maid, an indoor pool, and 2 saunas (1 wood, 1 marble). Fernando is an engineer who builds highways and Denise is a stay-at-home mom. The kids are: Dominique, who is 17 and will be living in Los Angeles for 6 months starting in August for an English program through EF; and the son is Zach, who is 14, plays soccer really well and seems like a really good kid. As soon as we got there, they fed us sandwiches and juice and fruit. Then they insisted we take a few beers down to the pool and the speakers for the ipod player and a volleyball. Had such a good time swimming, playing, and relaxing in the saunas. Then they fed us a HUGE lunch of garlic shrimp, locro soup, penne Bolognese, salad, and strawberries with whipped cream. Then they took us out for traditional helados de paila (a delicious type of ice cream) and drove us to Tumbaco. This family is so warm and welcoming! At one point, grandma had her arms around me, just standing there, hugging me. They took us in immediately, gave us everything, and insisted that we come back to visit again. They met us at a party, we’re practically strangers, and they treated us like family.

So then I visited Sonia and Ayllin (my first Ecuadorian family) and we sat at the kitchen table for 2 hours and just talked non-stop. I was surprised by how much I truly missed talking to her. They will always have a very special place in my heart.

Then, Sunday we went on the hike. We decided to meet our new friend in the park in the big city at 8am. When we show up he says he needs to go buy a chicken and wake up his wife and daughter and then his father in-law is going to drive us there instead of taking the bus. Okay, nothing ever goes as planned in this country, in my experience, so I’m okay with that. So we go to his house and he’s got a ping pong table! Which we play a little while we wait. And then we all pile in the car and start driving up a hill. So this ends up being an uncle’s house and we are changing cars there to a huge GMC truck. Okay. Then we get going again. As we’re driving up Punzulahua (the mountain we’re going to hike), sigamos y sigamos (we keep going and going) and we’re not hiking, we’re just driving. So my friend and I are giving each other the usual confused gringo look. But luckily, the mud was so thick that the truck kept getting stuck and we ended up being able to hike most of the mountain. My boots sunk in the mud and I almost fell several times. But at the top, we spread out a blanket and shared our sandwiches and fruit and I made some blackberry bars for dessert. The sun came out and melted all the dense clouds surrounding the peak and behold: such a gorgeous view. Again, these people drove us up a muddy mountain and hiked and shared and conversed and took pictures with us like family. During the slow descent, we also made plans to go on a trip together in June.

My optimistic, philosophical conclusion: It’s a beautiful world. You just have to wait until the sun melts away the clouds.