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.