November 30, 2008
Sunday
7:47am
Weather: Cloudy and cold
Sayausi
The Niño
A few weeks ago I was dropping off the lavasas (all of our food scraps that are used for pig food) at our old host family’s house and I noticed about halfway there that the ground was covered in rose petals. Not just one or two petals here and there but an actual trail of rose petals that led up to the kitchen door of our host family’s house. I thought they were there because a daughter-in-law had recently moved in because her house in under construction and that the rose petals were some sort of ceremonial house switching ritual. Boy was I wrong. Although my host family thinks it’s hilarious that I thought that, as if they don’t do anything similar to that on a regular basis (For example, they carry burning coals with incense around the house once a week to quitar (remove) the evil spirits).
It turns out the rose petal trail was in honor of the Niño (the baby Jesus). Each extended family in Sayausi has a Niño that stays in each family member’s house for one week starting in September. Before the Niño arrives the family has to construct a nacimiento (nativity scene). Once the nacimiento has been constructed the Niño arrives. The rose petals were from when the Niño had left Dona Melchora’s house the past Sunday (the Niño only moves on Sundays and if the family is late moving the Niño they have to pay a dollar fine).
After having been explained the tradition of the Niño, Dona Melchora invited us to the next procession. This time the Niño was leaving an Uncle’s house and going up to Mari’s house in Bellavista (the same house where we roasted cuyes with my Dad). Of course we accepted the invitation and I spent the week leading up to the big procession at Mari’s house helping with the construction of the nacimiento (it involved de-threading plastic sacks for the roof and spray painting wood chips for the grass).
On Sunday evening at seven o’clock we met Norma (Mari’s sister) and Dona Rita (Mari’s mother and Dona Melchora’s sister) in the plazoleta of Sayausi then walked down to the Uncle’s house (Rita and Melchora’s brother’s house). We entered the house through a long dark hallway that opened up into a large sitting room that was lined with couches and chairs and was already seating about twenty family members all centered around the nacimiento and the Niño. After walking around and shaking everyone’s hand and kissing everyone’s cheek (Ecuadorian custom) we took our seats. From our seats we could take a good look at the nacimiento.
The nacimiento was essentially a series of tiered bookshelves covered in a white cloth. Each tier was covered with rose petals and candles and featured figurines of shepards, kings, animals, Joseph, Mary, and of course, the Niño. The typical Niño here is on average ten times larger than any other figure in the scene, wears an embroidered brightly colored dress, and rests in a custom built wooden cradle.
After everyone had arrived, which was about another fifteen people making a total of about thirty Albaracins (their last name), we were served a hot cinnamon flavored rum drink followed by a prayer and then coffee and homemade banana empanadas. Once everyone had finished their snack the procession began. We all filed outside, led first by the children carrying large bags of rose petals, then Norma carrying the Niño flanked by several adults with candles and incense, then finally the rest of the family including me and Mike.
The procession lasted almost an hour and followed the major street of Sayausi meaning that in order to arrive at Mari’s house we definitely stopped traffic.
Once we arrived at Mari’s house we all filed into another large sitting room lined with about thirty chairs centered around another nacimiento. After everyone was seated the patriarch of the family (Tio Oscar who happens to be our next door neighbor) stood up with the Niño and moved to the center of the room. At this point a line was formed leading up to the Niño and each family member, children included, was blessed by kneeling beneath the cradle of the Niño while Tio Oscar said a prayer and made the sign of the cross with the Niño above their head. Mike and I weren’t sure if we should go up and so remained in our seats until Dona Melchora took us by the arm and said we needed to be blessed for the health of our families. So, with everyone watching (we were the last ones) we each individually took a knee in front of Tio Oscar while the Niño in cradle was passed over our heads and some sort of blessing was murmured.
This was followed by a longer prayer, another hot cinnamon rum drink, a toffee candy, agua de remedios (pink herbal sugar drink), rice, potatoes, and stewed meat.
All and all the procession plus prayers, blessings, and snacks, took about three hours. Additionally, each Sunday during the dinner portion of the procession a bag is passed around and each family is expected to give three dollars. This money is used to buy bread and bananas for Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve all of the children dress up as members of the Bethlehem crowd and parade through town ending up in the main plaza of Sayausi where they are given bread and bananas. Mari told me that her family buys about 400 breads every Christmas Eve to hand out. Her son, Juan Diego, dressed up as San Jose last year and may dress up the same this year but is still deciding between that and Papa Noel (not a Bethlehem original but still a popular holiday figure).
Just for comparison’s sake I want to briefly explain what Mike has told me about the Honduran version of the Niño’s role in holiday festivities. In Honduras, each house has its own Niño and their own nacimiento. However, there is no sharing of the Niño. In fact it is quite the opposite. Each house has to guard their Niño from being stolen. Yes, in Honduras your neighbors try to steal the Niño instead of sharing him. And if your Niño is stolen you have to throw a party for the family who stole your Niño, if you want to get it back.
So, I guess each country has its own way of celebrating the holiday season. We’re looking forward to being back home with family with or without Niño processions or Niño stealing. However, if any of you would like to start either one of these traditions there are stores here that sell only Niños and dresses for the Niño and we would be happy to pick one up for you.
Click to watch niños throw rose petals in Procession of the Niño
Click to watch Mike in the Procession of the Niño
Click to watch Tio Oscar bless people with the Niño
Thanksgiving
Wednesday morning I began to cook for Turkey Day. And for an extra Peace Corps challenge, Sayausi was without running water ALL day. Yes, from sunup to sundown there was not a drop of water to be gathered in Sayausi (before sunup the water had a brown sludge consistency due to heavy rainfall the previous day). All cooking was done without the ability to easily wash, rinse, or soap a single dish or ingredient. With this in mind, cookies, cornbread, and tortillas were strategically prepared first followed by roasted vegetables and from scratch-stuffing so that even if the veggies tasted like anise the cookies would not taste like onion. Mike was there to help with dicing and general moral support as there was no electricity at the Cajas office so he couldn’t get anything done on his computer and came home after being at work for just less than an hour.
We finally turned off the oven around 5pm that evening and treated ourselves to dinner at the chicken place in town as there was not an available pot or pan in the house that wasn’t filled with savory treats for the next day.
Watch Mary fetch water from the giant bucket we store for times when there is no water
Thursday morning our apartment in Sayausi became the staging ground for what would become the first ever Cajas National Park Thanksgiving extravaganza. Volunteers arrived from far and wide to celebrate el Dia de Accion de Gracias in the pristine valley of Llaviucu. By ten o’clock we had loaded our neighbors buseta (big van or little bus) with two horses of firewood (conversion: Mike learned that a horse is equal to two mules, and each mule is two cargas of wood), ten pounds of charcoal, a propane gas tank with hose and regulator, 14 Peace Corps Volunteers, 14 backpacks with sleeping bags, pots, pans, silverware, a jaba of beer (12 big bottles of beer), several boxes of ecua-wine, 10 gallons of drinking water, toilet paper, untold pounds of food and snacks, a portable stereo, dish soap, binoculars, and a fishing pole. Needles to say we were a large load for a relatively small van and as a result our max speed uphill to the park was around 5mph.
Nevertheless, we arrived at the cabin by eleven o’clock and were snacking on bocaditos by eleven thirty. After some heavy snacking, there was hiking, fire building, and holiday arts and crafting until late in the afternoon when we started heating up all the Turkey Day goodies for the big meal. The served-on-the-porch-overlooking-the-lake-in-a spectacular-valley menu included the following:
Charcoal Roasted Chicken (Thanks to a pollo place in Sayausi that opened at 6am for us)
Stuffing de Sayausi (Me and Mike)
Mac and Cheese (Margaret a PCV in Honduras 69-71)
Mashed Potatoes (Amy and Jacob)
Roasted Roots with Rosemary and Garlic (Me)
Veggie Gravy (Amy)
Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows (Brad)
Lucy’s Cornbread (made by me)
Veggie Crudite (Me and Migi aka Mike)
Mrs. B’s Spinach Dip and Crackers (Kelly B.)
Made by the Swiss in Ecuador Cheese and Crackers (Linea)
Bruchetta and Herbed Tomatoes (Me after being married to an Italian for a year)
Herbed Butter (Almost Italian Mary)
Bread and Cheeses (Jungle Lauren)
Wine and Cheese (Margaret)
Fruit Salad with Yogurt (Lucy and Craig)
Fruit (Lauren, Mike, and Me)
Guava Machete Fruit (Garrick)
Tennessee Apple Pie (Amy)
Riobamba Chocolate Chip Cookies (Erin and William)
Secret Recipe Oatmeal Cookies (Linea)
Oreo Brownie Fusion (Kelly)
Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting and Walnuts (Lucy)
Grandma Carbone’s Anise Biscotti (Me)
There was so much food that the four burner stove wasn’t sufficient to heat everything up so Mike turned the fire that Amy had so skillfully built into a makeshift oven to heat up the two chickens and four pots of stuffing (we didn’t heat up the third chicken as there was an abundance of food and treats). I’m sure I have forgotten to list some foods not that they weren’t also delicious but the food coma has impaired my memory.
The evening was spent star gazing, planet watching, constellation creating, owl listening, card playing, night hiking, catch phrasing (a game sort of like Taboo but easier), and being thankful for good food, good company, good lodging, and everything else good in the world. Before going off to bed we loaded up to wood burning stove with charcoal and even though we were at 10,000 feet above sea level the cabin stayed toasty warm all night long in the upstairs carpeted rooms with fluffy beds, pillows, and comforters.
The next morning Mike and I got up around five o’clock and went for a sunrise tour of the Llaviucu valley. When we got back around eight we sat down to a breakfast of leftovers and homemade tortillas with eggs and coffee, hot chocolate, tea, and milk. Not bad for the middle of nowhere in an Ecuadorian national park. The morning was then filled with checkers playing, day hiking, fishing, and general park activities like bird watching and llama chasing. We were also lucky to have an Andean toucan visit us while we were fishing (the cabin is actually called La Casa de los Tucanes) and to have two endangered condors fly up the valley while we were river hopping in search of trout. We tried to lure them in with the chicken carcass we were using for fish bait but it proved just as ineffective in attracting the condors as it was for the trout.
At three o’clock the busetta arrived to take us back to Sayausi and although we had fewer things than before it was still crammed and the wire holding the back of the van closed did not endure the cobblestone road up to the highway so Mike had to backtrack on foot to pick up involuntarily jettisoned items. We’re still not sure if we lost anything to the river as we crossed the small wooden bridge but so far no one has noticed anything as missing.
When we got back home on Friday afternoon our apartment served as a very comfortable waiting room for those who were headed back home on a bus later that day/night. We ate more leftovers and watched Lord of the Rings noting the similarities between Cajas and the landscapes in the movie. And although it had been several days we still did not have enough water pressure to ignite the calefon (water heater) and so we took ice cold showers at 9,000 feet above sea level where ice cold is really ice cold and the ambient temperature is slightly above ice cold. Don’t worry we did not get sick but we haven’t showered since as there is still (on Sunday) not enough water pressure.
We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with lots of delicious food, good company, and hot showers. We look forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks and to taking a hot shower.
Double click on the image below to enlarge the photos and see the captions
PS…It is now 11am on Sunday, we have finished typing, are about to go into Cuenca to post, and the water in our apartment is now completely shut off. I guess we will have to continue looking forward to that hot shower.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
A Day in the Life of a Famous Ecua-Yankee Author
November 15, 2008
Saturday
8:30am
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: 60’ish
Sayausi
The original theme for this post was going to be a photo-documentary of a single day here in Ecuador. However, we ended up not taking as many pictures as anticipated and several other days turned out to have actual things to write about. As such, this post is just like any other; a random collection of thoughts, events, and photos.
Dia de los Difuntos
Also known as Day of the Dead in Mexico, closely associated with Halloween in Los Estados Unidos, and part of the Fiestas of Cuenca in the province of Azuay, Ecuador.
During the first week of November Cuenca celebrates itself and Dia de los Difuntos. This weekend is probably the biggest weekend of the year after Christmas, Semana Santa (Easter), Carnaval (Mardi Gras). For the fiestas there are bailes (dances), concerts, artesanias (crafts), misas (masses), games, Volkswagon bug races, burro races, a Miss Cuenca competition (La Reina de Cuenca), and a Chola Cuencana competition (no literal translation just Chola of Cuenca). Since most of the free events are held outside and it was raining buckets for the entire weekend we didn’t get to see much of the fiestas. Fortunately, we saw many of these things during the fiestas of Sayausi back in June and so we can just imagine that they were more grandiose and the venues were larger.
For Dia de los Difuntos, which was the Sunday of this party weekend, there was a giant mass that is held in a cemetery here in Sayausi. During this mass people bring flowers for their loved ones that are buried in the cemetery and the priest reads a complete list of these loved ones. Outside of the cemetery vendors sell colada morada (a warm, purple colored, cinnamon, pineapple, blackberry drink) and gua-guas de pan (breads in the form of babies). These are specialty items that are only sold for Dia de los Difuntos (although I have heard that some families throw caution to wind and make the colada morada for Christmas). The mass in Sayausi (which traditionally was held at 2:00 in the afternoon) was held at 5:00 (the people were a little put off by this as it traditionally held at 2:00 and that’s when it should be) and is supposed to last several hours but was cut short due to a torrential downpour (which people were saying wouldn’t have happened if it had been held at the normal time and what was Padre Oscar thinking to change it). So we hid out in Carmita’s tienda for the evening hoping for the rain to stop. When several hours had passed and it was still raining we accepted the offer of plastic garbage bags fashioned into a poncho type garment and made our way home through the continued rainfall.
On a Norteamericano note, on Dia de Halloween, I made pancakes with…CANDY CORN! Looked great…tasted like candy corn with pancakes.
Pictures of Dia de los Difuntos (double click the image to enlarge the image)
Sunday (yes, just Sunday)
From time to time there are processions in Sayausi (i.e. every week give or take a few days). On this particular Sunday (which was going to be the inspiration for our Day in the Life post) the local elementary school was having a soccer tournament. So, all of the teams paraded through the plaza and the market that is there every Sunday. Each team was in uniform, carried a sign with the name of their team, and was led by a madrina (Mari’s sister Sandra’s daughter Heidi was one of the madrinas and Juan Diego, Mari’s son, was on one of the teams). A madrina is kind of like a team matron but she wears a gown, a tiara, makeup, and carries a bouquet of flowers. More often than not the madrina is selected for the team based on her visual appeal. And so twelve or so teams of elementary school kids were led by elementary school madrinas into the plaza where the madrinas are voted on and a queen is elected. Keep in mind that none of the madrinas actually had to say anything, they were just voted on. A lovely tradition that certainly encourages young girls to care about more than what they look like, they learn to care about what others think they look like. Good thing we don’t have anything like that in the States.
After stumbling across this procession, we continued on our way to Cuenca where we were meeting up with a few volunteers to do some grocery shopping before heading out to Kelly’s house in Santa Ana for a BBQ. Before heading to the grocery store where we were going to do said shopping we stopped by the ATM. Who can find something unusual about this ATM encounter after looking at the pictures?
On the way from the ATM to the store we passed through one of Cuenca’s many parks. Parque de la Madre (Mother’s Park) is a hotbed of speedwalking activity. At any time of day you can find the next “Jeff” training at the Escuela de Marcha (Speedwalking School) that is located in the park. Other common sights in Parque de la Madre include; kids playing, soccer games, Ecua-volley games, teenagers “cuddling” on benches, hot dog vendors, a planetarium, and of course the giant statue of Ecuador’s pride and joy, Olympic gold and silver medalist, three-time World Champion, the one and only, speed walking legend: Jefferson Perez.
In this next paragraph I am going to reveal something to you. I do not in any way want what I am about to say to spoil your vision of Peace Corps and what your son/grandson/nephew/son-in-law/friend/former teacher or daughter/niece/daughter-in-law/friend/former teacher is going through here in Ecuador. Let me remind you that we have an unreliable supply of hot water (yes, we do normally have water it’s just sometimes we don’t have hot water) and we are only given $10 worth of minutes on our PC issued cell phones each month. We are truly roughing it here and so when I tell you about out grocery store, Supermaxi, I expect that you will remember the hardship we face in our daily lives (our TV only gets like 5 channels and our freezer needs to be defrosted frequently) and see Supermaxi as a well deserved luxury. I will not attempt to describe what Supermaxi is. I will simply allow you to look at the few pictures we were permitted to take of its interior (I think Ecuador wants to keep its guilty pleasure a secret as well) and remind you that there are only three Supermaxis in Cuenca and that there also exists a Megamaxi, which I will allow your imagination to visualize after seeing pictures of its more humble beginnings.
After buying the necessary foods for a totally Norteamericano BBQ we hopped on a bus, waited for an hour in the market parking lot (see life here really is tough), and then we were off to the hills of Santa Ana where our dear friend Kelly lives and where Cuenca trucks all of its dear trash. Yes, Santa Ana is both Kelly’s home and Cuenca’s landfill; a perfect location for a Sunday cookout.
The Guest-List:
Me (aspiring Cholita of Sayausi)
Mike (recently discovered model and author)
Kelly (hostess and Santa Ana’s resident polar bear)
Sarah (Lojana who agrees Cuenca is better)
Garret (recently imported from Bolivia since PC Bolivia was shut down)
Matt (have you checked out his website for Puyo’s Orchid Garden?)
Kenji (knows how to pack light for a hike)
Wilcox (does not have a Supermaxi in his site)
The Menu:
Cheese Burgers with mushrooms and onions
Grilled Asparagus
Mrs. B’s Spinach Dip
Doritos
Ruffles
Carrot sticks
Ecua-Beer
Coke
Diet Coke
Cookies
Yes, life here in Ecuador is a daily challenge. That’s why it’s nice that every once and a while with a little effort (we had to walk up to the nearby tienda to get the beer and only half of them were cold) we can really enjoy ourselves and know we can make it through our hard knock lives as Peace Corp volunteers.
A Day in Life(double-click to enlarge the image)
Las Fiestas de Cajas
This past week marked the twelfth year of Cajas’ status as a national park. To celebrate this milestone Cajas and Mike (not necessarily in that order) have been working on nine books: a mammal guide, a bird guide, a plant guide, an amphibian, reptile, and fish guide, a route guide, an environmental education workbook for teachers, a workbook for kids, a storybook filled with pictures and stories by kids, and a tourist brochure.
During these past few months as the park and Mike (again not necessarily in that order) realized that there was still a lot of work to be done on these books, Mike and the park (in that order) having been working really hard and really long hours to make sure everything would be ready for the fiestas. And because of all of this hard work almost everything was ready for the fiestas. As a co-worker of Mike’s said, “You can prepare here but that doesn’t actually mean anything will happen.” Not that Mike really took that advice to heart as he was at the office until 8:00pm the night before the fiestas trying to make sure all of the books were going to be ready (2 print shops and a design shop to coordinate) and that all the appropriate banners, flags, and other parade paraphernalia was organized for the next morning. We left the house at 6:30am the following day to go “prepare” for the parade.
So yesterday was the big day and for the celebration Cajas organized a parade, a concert, and a Session Solemne (A Solemn Session). The parade began at 8:30am on a Friday morning and over 40 groups with a total of around 900 people participated. And even though the Park was only given permission to have the parade the night before (yes, they had known for months about the parade) everything turned out great. Mike was in charge of getting the groups in order for the parade at the start and then once all of them were parading he was making sure the high school band marching behind him and the park guards didn’t run them over. I’m not sure what the other park employees were doing during this time but I’m sure it was important.
Watch Mike Walk!
Watch Mike Wave!
The parade ended in Parque Calderon (the central park of Cuenca) where there were snacks for everybody and a concert in the plazoleta (which also wasn’t approved until the night before but hey how can you plan for something with only a few months notice?). At this point Mike was told today was his day off because all of the books were ready and now he could just enjoy the fiestas….except that they still needed to find a projector for the Session Solemne that started at five and prepare the auditorium for the many VIPs that would be attending. So, really Mike spent that afternoon making last minute touches to the slideshow, setting up the projector and the screen, making sure all banners and flags were appropriately displayed, and oh did I forget to mention he had to gather facts for several of the speeches that were to be given that night?
At 5:00pm the Session Solemne began in the Salon de la Ciudad of the Municipal Building that borders the central park. A Session Solemne is kind of like the Oscars without any funny skits or suspense but with the fancy clothes, flowers, awards, and ushers. Basically, it is an opportunity for really important people to get together, dress up, and congratulate each other for all of their excellent work. Normally, I don’t think I would have been at all entertained by lengthy speeches in a language I am still learning but several words did stand out among the overly ornate orations: Cuerpo de Paz and Miguel Carbone. The regional representative of the Secretary of the Environment, a man who has the ear of the President should he need it, personally thanked Mike during his speech in front of all the big wigs and the 500 people in the audience for Mike’s contribution to the completion of the nine books and the conservation of Cajas National Park. Not bad for seven months in site. Mike tells me PC Honduras was not like this.
After the Session Solemne (or maybe it was still part of it) they served cocktails and continued thanking each other while looking at pretty posters of Cajas, one of which is a picture Mike took of a fox when we were here three years ago. Not being big on self-congratulations and having been up since five o’clock in the morning, we skipped out on the cocktails. Probably a social no-no in Ecua-culture but since we have no current plans to settle in Cuenca, were undressed, had been in Cuenca for over twelve hours, and had already been congratulated enough for our Norteamericano standards, we went home.
Below is a link to a page that has pdfs of all of the books. Since they are new releases with limited print numbers hard copies are in high demand. If you have any specific requests I can see what I can do.
ETAPA website with pdfs
Highlights of the books include: my name on the credits for translation in the Mammal Guide, Mike’s name on many credits for the Mammal Guide, Route Guide, and Amphibian Guide, and is featured as a guapo tourist in nine pictures in the Route Guide as well as haven written the Backcountry First Aid section.
Las Fiestas del Cajas (double click to enlarge the image)
P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma!
Saturday
8:30am
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: 60’ish
Sayausi
The original theme for this post was going to be a photo-documentary of a single day here in Ecuador. However, we ended up not taking as many pictures as anticipated and several other days turned out to have actual things to write about. As such, this post is just like any other; a random collection of thoughts, events, and photos.
Dia de los Difuntos
Also known as Day of the Dead in Mexico, closely associated with Halloween in Los Estados Unidos, and part of the Fiestas of Cuenca in the province of Azuay, Ecuador.
During the first week of November Cuenca celebrates itself and Dia de los Difuntos. This weekend is probably the biggest weekend of the year after Christmas, Semana Santa (Easter), Carnaval (Mardi Gras). For the fiestas there are bailes (dances), concerts, artesanias (crafts), misas (masses), games, Volkswagon bug races, burro races, a Miss Cuenca competition (La Reina de Cuenca), and a Chola Cuencana competition (no literal translation just Chola of Cuenca). Since most of the free events are held outside and it was raining buckets for the entire weekend we didn’t get to see much of the fiestas. Fortunately, we saw many of these things during the fiestas of Sayausi back in June and so we can just imagine that they were more grandiose and the venues were larger.
For Dia de los Difuntos, which was the Sunday of this party weekend, there was a giant mass that is held in a cemetery here in Sayausi. During this mass people bring flowers for their loved ones that are buried in the cemetery and the priest reads a complete list of these loved ones. Outside of the cemetery vendors sell colada morada (a warm, purple colored, cinnamon, pineapple, blackberry drink) and gua-guas de pan (breads in the form of babies). These are specialty items that are only sold for Dia de los Difuntos (although I have heard that some families throw caution to wind and make the colada morada for Christmas). The mass in Sayausi (which traditionally was held at 2:00 in the afternoon) was held at 5:00 (the people were a little put off by this as it traditionally held at 2:00 and that’s when it should be) and is supposed to last several hours but was cut short due to a torrential downpour (which people were saying wouldn’t have happened if it had been held at the normal time and what was Padre Oscar thinking to change it). So we hid out in Carmita’s tienda for the evening hoping for the rain to stop. When several hours had passed and it was still raining we accepted the offer of plastic garbage bags fashioned into a poncho type garment and made our way home through the continued rainfall.
On a Norteamericano note, on Dia de Halloween, I made pancakes with…CANDY CORN! Looked great…tasted like candy corn with pancakes.
Pictures of Dia de los Difuntos (double click the image to enlarge the image)
Sunday (yes, just Sunday)
From time to time there are processions in Sayausi (i.e. every week give or take a few days). On this particular Sunday (which was going to be the inspiration for our Day in the Life post) the local elementary school was having a soccer tournament. So, all of the teams paraded through the plaza and the market that is there every Sunday. Each team was in uniform, carried a sign with the name of their team, and was led by a madrina (Mari’s sister Sandra’s daughter Heidi was one of the madrinas and Juan Diego, Mari’s son, was on one of the teams). A madrina is kind of like a team matron but she wears a gown, a tiara, makeup, and carries a bouquet of flowers. More often than not the madrina is selected for the team based on her visual appeal. And so twelve or so teams of elementary school kids were led by elementary school madrinas into the plaza where the madrinas are voted on and a queen is elected. Keep in mind that none of the madrinas actually had to say anything, they were just voted on. A lovely tradition that certainly encourages young girls to care about more than what they look like, they learn to care about what others think they look like. Good thing we don’t have anything like that in the States.
After stumbling across this procession, we continued on our way to Cuenca where we were meeting up with a few volunteers to do some grocery shopping before heading out to Kelly’s house in Santa Ana for a BBQ. Before heading to the grocery store where we were going to do said shopping we stopped by the ATM. Who can find something unusual about this ATM encounter after looking at the pictures?
On the way from the ATM to the store we passed through one of Cuenca’s many parks. Parque de la Madre (Mother’s Park) is a hotbed of speedwalking activity. At any time of day you can find the next “Jeff” training at the Escuela de Marcha (Speedwalking School) that is located in the park. Other common sights in Parque de la Madre include; kids playing, soccer games, Ecua-volley games, teenagers “cuddling” on benches, hot dog vendors, a planetarium, and of course the giant statue of Ecuador’s pride and joy, Olympic gold and silver medalist, three-time World Champion, the one and only, speed walking legend: Jefferson Perez.
In this next paragraph I am going to reveal something to you. I do not in any way want what I am about to say to spoil your vision of Peace Corps and what your son/grandson/nephew/son-in-law/friend/former teacher or daughter/niece/daughter-in-law/friend/former teacher is going through here in Ecuador. Let me remind you that we have an unreliable supply of hot water (yes, we do normally have water it’s just sometimes we don’t have hot water) and we are only given $10 worth of minutes on our PC issued cell phones each month. We are truly roughing it here and so when I tell you about out grocery store, Supermaxi, I expect that you will remember the hardship we face in our daily lives (our TV only gets like 5 channels and our freezer needs to be defrosted frequently) and see Supermaxi as a well deserved luxury. I will not attempt to describe what Supermaxi is. I will simply allow you to look at the few pictures we were permitted to take of its interior (I think Ecuador wants to keep its guilty pleasure a secret as well) and remind you that there are only three Supermaxis in Cuenca and that there also exists a Megamaxi, which I will allow your imagination to visualize after seeing pictures of its more humble beginnings.
After buying the necessary foods for a totally Norteamericano BBQ we hopped on a bus, waited for an hour in the market parking lot (see life here really is tough), and then we were off to the hills of Santa Ana where our dear friend Kelly lives and where Cuenca trucks all of its dear trash. Yes, Santa Ana is both Kelly’s home and Cuenca’s landfill; a perfect location for a Sunday cookout.
The Guest-List:
Me (aspiring Cholita of Sayausi)
Mike (recently discovered model and author)
Kelly (hostess and Santa Ana’s resident polar bear)
Sarah (Lojana who agrees Cuenca is better)
Garret (recently imported from Bolivia since PC Bolivia was shut down)
Matt (have you checked out his website for Puyo’s Orchid Garden?)
Kenji (knows how to pack light for a hike)
Wilcox (does not have a Supermaxi in his site)
The Menu:
Cheese Burgers with mushrooms and onions
Grilled Asparagus
Mrs. B’s Spinach Dip
Doritos
Ruffles
Carrot sticks
Ecua-Beer
Coke
Diet Coke
Cookies
Yes, life here in Ecuador is a daily challenge. That’s why it’s nice that every once and a while with a little effort (we had to walk up to the nearby tienda to get the beer and only half of them were cold) we can really enjoy ourselves and know we can make it through our hard knock lives as Peace Corp volunteers.
A Day in Life(double-click to enlarge the image)
Las Fiestas de Cajas
This past week marked the twelfth year of Cajas’ status as a national park. To celebrate this milestone Cajas and Mike (not necessarily in that order) have been working on nine books: a mammal guide, a bird guide, a plant guide, an amphibian, reptile, and fish guide, a route guide, an environmental education workbook for teachers, a workbook for kids, a storybook filled with pictures and stories by kids, and a tourist brochure.
During these past few months as the park and Mike (again not necessarily in that order) realized that there was still a lot of work to be done on these books, Mike and the park (in that order) having been working really hard and really long hours to make sure everything would be ready for the fiestas. And because of all of this hard work almost everything was ready for the fiestas. As a co-worker of Mike’s said, “You can prepare here but that doesn’t actually mean anything will happen.” Not that Mike really took that advice to heart as he was at the office until 8:00pm the night before the fiestas trying to make sure all of the books were going to be ready (2 print shops and a design shop to coordinate) and that all the appropriate banners, flags, and other parade paraphernalia was organized for the next morning. We left the house at 6:30am the following day to go “prepare” for the parade.
So yesterday was the big day and for the celebration Cajas organized a parade, a concert, and a Session Solemne (A Solemn Session). The parade began at 8:30am on a Friday morning and over 40 groups with a total of around 900 people participated. And even though the Park was only given permission to have the parade the night before (yes, they had known for months about the parade) everything turned out great. Mike was in charge of getting the groups in order for the parade at the start and then once all of them were parading he was making sure the high school band marching behind him and the park guards didn’t run them over. I’m not sure what the other park employees were doing during this time but I’m sure it was important.
Watch Mike Walk!
Watch Mike Wave!
The parade ended in Parque Calderon (the central park of Cuenca) where there were snacks for everybody and a concert in the plazoleta (which also wasn’t approved until the night before but hey how can you plan for something with only a few months notice?). At this point Mike was told today was his day off because all of the books were ready and now he could just enjoy the fiestas….except that they still needed to find a projector for the Session Solemne that started at five and prepare the auditorium for the many VIPs that would be attending. So, really Mike spent that afternoon making last minute touches to the slideshow, setting up the projector and the screen, making sure all banners and flags were appropriately displayed, and oh did I forget to mention he had to gather facts for several of the speeches that were to be given that night?
At 5:00pm the Session Solemne began in the Salon de la Ciudad of the Municipal Building that borders the central park. A Session Solemne is kind of like the Oscars without any funny skits or suspense but with the fancy clothes, flowers, awards, and ushers. Basically, it is an opportunity for really important people to get together, dress up, and congratulate each other for all of their excellent work. Normally, I don’t think I would have been at all entertained by lengthy speeches in a language I am still learning but several words did stand out among the overly ornate orations: Cuerpo de Paz and Miguel Carbone. The regional representative of the Secretary of the Environment, a man who has the ear of the President should he need it, personally thanked Mike during his speech in front of all the big wigs and the 500 people in the audience for Mike’s contribution to the completion of the nine books and the conservation of Cajas National Park. Not bad for seven months in site. Mike tells me PC Honduras was not like this.
After the Session Solemne (or maybe it was still part of it) they served cocktails and continued thanking each other while looking at pretty posters of Cajas, one of which is a picture Mike took of a fox when we were here three years ago. Not being big on self-congratulations and having been up since five o’clock in the morning, we skipped out on the cocktails. Probably a social no-no in Ecua-culture but since we have no current plans to settle in Cuenca, were undressed, had been in Cuenca for over twelve hours, and had already been congratulated enough for our Norteamericano standards, we went home.
Below is a link to a page that has pdfs of all of the books. Since they are new releases with limited print numbers hard copies are in high demand. If you have any specific requests I can see what I can do.
ETAPA website with pdfs
Highlights of the books include: my name on the credits for translation in the Mammal Guide, Mike’s name on many credits for the Mammal Guide, Route Guide, and Amphibian Guide, and is featured as a guapo tourist in nine pictures in the Route Guide as well as haven written the Backcountry First Aid section.
Las Fiestas del Cajas (double click to enlarge the image)
P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Boy, you’ve gotten fat…and beautiful
November 1, 2008
Saturday
7:00am
Sayausi
It seems that after six months of being in our site we have started to fall into a routine of some sorts which has distracted us from attending to our blog. Furthermore, due to the said established routine this blog may seem to lack the usual flare that I am sure you have all noticed and appreciated about our previous posts. Apparently, you can take the gringo out of the U.S. but you can’t take the task oriented nature out of the gringo.
Mary’s “Work”
In the past four weeks I think I have officially crossed the line into to being Peace Corps busy. Granted this is a relative term both within Peace Corps and certainly in comparison to what “busy” may mean to someone working in the great U.S. of A. As of right now from 7:30am until 12:00pm Tuesday through Friday I am working. Yes, that’s right for a total of eighteen hours per week (including the many break-citos within those hours to tomar a pan-cito y platicar i.e. chat with my “colleagues” while work is supposed to be happening…just for clarification this chatting and snacking is not because of me, it is actually built in to the typical Ecuadorian work day)
So, what may you ask am I doing besides snacking, engordaring, and gossiping during these self-described work-hours? Well, on Wednesdays and Thursdays I walk up the road from the plaza to Bellavista Elementary School (it actually has a more official name, or names rather, but I can’t remember all eight of them so I just call it la escuela de Bellavista despite being corrected a number of times about its actual litany of names). At this school I am currently giving English classes, trying to start up a school garden, and eventually trying to elbow in some environmental education classes and possibly a world map in the future. But for now some Enlglish and a school garden, which the near constant rainfall in our town makes it a nearly impossible task, will suffice. Below is outline of what my work days consist of:
Wednesdays at La Escuela de Bellavista
Jardin: A class of twenty four-to-five year olds all wearing aprons (to keep their uniforms clean) and dripping noses shouting back at me the few words I have managed to teach them. Usually this class also includes a bathroom break where I have to dole out sheets of toilet paper and help about half of the class unbutton and re-button their pants. On occasion there is also a random crying student who needs to be sent home because they miss their mom.
Segundo de Basico: More shouting, no aprons, no bathroom assistance, less crying, and a surprisingly increased ability to retain information (then again when you’re coming from buttoning pants and wiping noses the mere ability to maintain some sort of physical upkeep is impressive).
Recreo: Also known as recess in the States, is a time where the kids run around like crazy (nothing new here) but the teachers, instead of watching over the madness, retreat to the kitchen, shut and lock the door, and sit down to eat bread, drink coffee, and talk about whatever gossip is making the rounds on that particular day (last weeks’ topic was the realization that there was a student who only had his father’s last name. “Jamas en mi vida” i.e. “Never in my life” was the resounding chorus upon hearing this piece of information, as it is the custom for every child to have a total of four names: first, middle, mother’s last name, and father’s last name. I always thought I was strange for having all those names but here it is unheard of for someone to be lacking one. I really think the teachers believed he was some sort of aberration that actually did not have a mother and just appeared on this earth by some unseemly manner).
Tercero de Basico: This is the first class I have where I can actually write something on the board and there is the slight possibility that they will be able to copy it in some form into a notebook. However, the writing of more than five words on the board takes up the entire 45 minutes as they attempt to copy it, erase it, ask me if it is OK, I say it is, they say it is not, they erase it again, and the cycle repeats.
Cuarto de Basico: This class has forty (yes forty), energetic, eager to participate, but hard to focus students that can write reasonably quickly and retain information from one week to the next. This class is obsessed with what color pen they should be using to take down the notes I put on the board and so a large portion of each day is spent discussing red pen, blue pen, pencil, should we skip a line, what do I do if I don’t have enough space on the page (well, continue on the next page I say as though I were some sort of mensa member), is that a “g” or a “y” (y’s here have to be made by the joining of two perfectly straight lines whereas only g’s and j’ have a curvy tail), and is that an “n” or a “h” (the proportion of stem to hump with the letter ‘h’ is about 10 to 1 and anything else is indistinguishable as a letter).
Thursdays at La Escuela de Bellavista
Quinto de Basico: The teacher of this class is the Director of the school and as such feels he is quite the outstanding instructor. Each time I write something on the board or explain something he will erase and re-write or excuse himself for the proceeding interjection and basically try to stage some sort of coup where he ends up teaching some other mildly related topic instead of whatever it was I had been teaching. Also, his preferred form of communication is most similar to that of a dog defending a fire hydrant; a series of barks punctuated by displays of macho-ness.
Sexto de Basico: By far my favorite class, there are only 16 students and every single one is super excited about everything. I think this is the equivalent of fifth grade in the States and so the universality of fifth graders being in a developmentally awesome stage holds true. As an added bonus, they can write quickly and the teacher just sits quietly at his desk.
Recreo: Pretty much the same as Wednesday’s recreo though the topic of the gossip usually changes.
Septimo de Basico: I usually end up teaching this class for about fifteen minutes instead of 45 as after recreo on Thursday’s the entire school formars (stands in lines according to their grade and pratices a few pseudo-militaristic exercises) and the director barks some announcements at them before calling out the names of around 60 individuals to collect some small piece of paper he has that they need to deliver to their parents. Why this task can’t be given to the teachers of the classes still confuses me. In any event, the students in this final class can learn about the same amount of material as the previous class in less than half the time but with the enthusiasm of tweens that are no longer unabashedly excited by school and are more interested in making sure their social status is maintained.
So that’s my work up in Bellavista and now I can’t leave the house without being bombarded with “Hola Senorita” by the wandering masses of the students that are finished with school at 12:00pm and have never had one of their teachers live in their neighborhood. It’s actually quite cute and does my ego wonders.
The other two days of the week I go up to Cajas National Park with Mike to give Tourism/English classes to the parkguards. Technically the classes start at eight and finish at ten but by the time the class actually starts and by the time I get a ride back down to Sayausi it is usually noon, so I count the entire time as work though in reality there’s only about an hour and half of actual work but when in Ecuador do as the Ecuadorian park employees do i.e. work equals the total amount of time it takes to do something including travel time and break-citos.
Mike’s Work
After many months of being stuck behind a desk (something Mike probably never envisioned himself doing especially while in Peace Corps) the several books he has been working on (i.e. re-writing though he will only be given credit for ‘technical revision, photographer, and translation’) are supposed to go to print this coming Tuesday! Which has been no easy task as most of the edits he has done have required access to AdobeReader which ETAPA has still not given Mike access to at his work computer and so can only use the program for a minute before it kicks him off and shuts down. This means that a majority of the work he has done was first with paper and pen and then transferred to digital format when he had access to a computer with the appropriate program; all and all tripling the time it would have taken if he had just been given the ability to use AdobeReader at his own computer (Internet access would have also made the job much easier; oh well). In any event, he finished and now, as mentioned earlier, the books are supposed to go to print. And although “supposed to” in Ecuador is the equivalent of saying “will not” it may present a possible end to desk work for the near future.
However, Mike has done such a good job with the books (he was complimented on his methodical approach to editing and his attention to detail in front of all the major jefes at the last park meeting) that he may get pinned to the desk for another round of books that didn’t make this deadline. As the newly appointed park biologist (the old one is doing a Masters in Quito and as such will be gone for the following ten months), in addition to more book editing he has been given the responsibility of designing and implementing a survey for the park guards to fill out on a regular basis that would track the number and movement of different animals in the park so that Cajas could monitor the health of its fauna (or the maybe more accurately so that is can measure the extent of the effect of cattle and horses that are in the park and should not be). It’s almost like Mike left a real job in the States only to get a more “real” job in Ecuador.
Fortunately, every now and again the park does let him out from behind the desk and one of those rare moments occurred a few weeks ago when he accompanied a team of biologists to assist with site selection for an upcoming condor study (see pictures below). The study aims to monitor the small population of Andean condors that frequent the park by luring them to particular peaks using recently slaughtered cows. The biologists will set up nearby observation points where they will sit in a relatively dry place with binoculars and wait for the condors to appear. Before cozying up in there observation points the biologists will delegate the slaughtering of cows, and all the blood and foulness that that action entails, to the park guards demonstrating the food chain that exists in the work place as well as in nature.
Another out-of-desk experience included taking a camera and park guard on a point-and-shoot tour of specific sites in the park. One of the books Mike has been working so hard on in the most recent past is a guide to all of the trails in Cajas. In this book, each trail is broken down in to several different points of interest where some specific information is given about the surrounding area. There is also supposed to be pictures from each of these points of interest. Keep the word “supposed” to be in mind. So, obviously several of these pictures were missing i.e. did not exist and so needed to be taken. So Mike, a park guard, and camera spent the day visiting these points of interest and taking pictures for the book. As a result Mike can now add to his resume part-time model and photographer. Not bad for a day’s work.
Mike also took it upon himself to break free of his desk shackles one day last week to go check up on another study going on in the park. This other study is monitoring the population of deer by measuring the amount of fecal matter found within several transects throughout Cajas. I was lucky enough to accompany Mike on this lovely, rainy, wet, cold day and trudge through the Andean paramo looking for small red strings that identified each transect. Fortunately, we were not there to count the quantity of fecal matter (though I wouldn’t be surprised if that was included in an upcoming hike). The task of finding the transects ended up being a mission of luck rather than map reading ability as these biologists had incorrectly placed the transects and so they were also incorrectly placed on the map. We did end up stumbling across one of them and despite its location everything else about was set up correctly.
Despite the likelihood of working behind a desk each day Mike continues to pack his backpack with all his hiking gear (pancho, waterproof pants, first aid kit, thermos with tea, compass, maps, binoculars, gloves, hat, emergency blanket) just for the possibility that he may find some excuse to leave his office, computer, chair, and desk behind for the day and pretend to be a real Peace Corps volunteer doing things outside the confines of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat.
Home on the Range…or more accurately the Plazoleta
Pasta
Though we are both working stiffs we still find time (somewhere outside those 18 hours per week) to enjoy the campo life. After leaving it sitting on our kitchen shelf for three months, we finally took out the pasta maker and made pasta. It was not nearly as time consuming as I originally thought it would be and I now appreciate the need for a giant wooden board (whether it be for googala or other doughs that require a well of flour for eggs to be placed within). The tile counter top is OK but the grout can be quite annoying while kneading. But it’s all worth it to use the play dough machine…I mean pasta machine that is amazingly reminiscent of a play dough machine with the added advantage that you are actually supposed to eat what comes out of it as opposed to just wanting to eat what comes out of it.
The next day we feasted on fresh pasta with tomato sauce and though the noodles are longer than I have become accustomed to, the taste was unsurpassed (at least in the land of Ecua-noodles).
Watch Mary make pasta!
Watch Mary eat pasta!
Veggies and Kichwa
Obviously we pay rent every month. Not so obviously, our landlady comes to our house each month to collect it. Even less obviously, when she comes she brings with her a giant crate filled with vegetables from her garden that she presents to us just after we give her the money for the rent. I would like to emphasize the word “crate” in the previous sentence. It is not just a mere lettuce head or bunch of carrots; it is an entire crate of vegetables (see pictures in slideshow and make sure to notice the new “window” Mike made for our kitchen). Also, keep in mind that our land lady is a fully fledged chola. That means everyday she wears a pollera, the flashy blusa, a cardigan, braids, and a chalina (a blanket worn for extra warmth when it is cold and balanced on the head when sunny, to block the sun of course).
This past month when she, her daughter, and her grandson came over with the overflowing crate of vegetables she also brought one of her other daughter’s homework for Mike to help her with. The homework was kichwa. Our chola (i.e. almost indigenous land lady) brought Mike (total gringo) her daughter’s kichwa homework. I mean we probably have the only Kichwa-Spanish dictionary in all of Sayausi and Mike has probably received more formal Kichwa instruction than anyone in Sayausi but the entire situation was still highly amusing.
Boy, you’ve gotten fat…and beautiful
This is a difficult story for me to write. But I figure for the sake of cultural exchange and humor factor it is worth putting down in a public space for the entire world to read and comment upon.
If you will recall from earlier in the post Mike and I went for a hike in Cajas on a cold, rainy day. Again, it was a cold, rainy day and as such I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, a windbreaker, a scarf, a raincoat, jeans, and waterproof pants over my jeans. The hike took around five hours, of which four of them included large amounts of rain and wind. We had just gotten out of the back of pick up truck (which was our ride back to Sayausi form the park which means more rain and more wind) and were walking through the main street of Sayausi back our apartment when we ran into Luz Mil.
Luz Mil is also a chola, like our land lady, but a more eccentric chola with the final effect being more similar to a rodeo clown than cute and indigenous. The majority of people in our town also believe that she is a witch. In any event, she has taken quite the liking to me and is always thrilled to see me. Whenever, Mike runs into her (which is fairly often as he walks by her house on the way to work) she always asks, “Y la nina Mari? Donde esta? Como esta la nina Mari? Porque no viene aqui para visitarme. Yo hice motecito, porque no viene?” Guilt, as it turns out, is a universal tactic in trying to get people to come visit.
On this particular occasion, a month or so had passed since the last time I had seen her and so she was particularly enthused to see me on the street. We crossed over to greet her in the traditional Ecua-fashion which includes a kiss, a hug, and several exchanges of “How are you”, “How have you been”, and “How has it been going”. However, after the kisses and hugs there was no “How are you” there was no “How have you been” there was no “How has it been going”, there was only, “Oh, how fat you’ve gotten, you look so beautiful! What have you been eating to get so fat and beautiful! I can’t believe how beautiful and fat you have become!” I tried to go on the defensive with some comment about the number of layers I had on because it was so cold and so on but she countered expertly by pointing out the my face had also gotten much more beautiful and fat.
Now, I realize there are some cultural differences between here and there and for the most part I think I have adjusted well to these differences and usually do not take offense to where these differences collide. But my brain honestly and truly had no idea how to respond to someone telling me how incredibly fat I have gotten and at the same time saying how absolutely beautiful I looked. In any event, I want to hear no comments on the truth or untruth of my fatness, nor the accompanied beauty of this fatness. I will just point out that if someone here in town is sick everyone automatically says that this person has lost a lot weight and how terrible it is to lose weight. Following this logic I will assume her meaning was more along the lines of how healthy and glowing I looked and I will now monitor my ability to button my jeans.
Moving on to other less personally scrutinizing topics...
Don’t Forget to Vote
That’s it really, don’t forget to vote. We did and we are both registered in states where our votes quite literally don’t matter and we had to pay $6.00 to do it. That’s like ten ice cream cones, five full lunches, or sixty pieces of bread, quite the sacrifice (no comments about fatness here please). So, go vote…for Obama.
Don´t forget to double click to enlarge the slideshow and see the captions.
Saturday
7:00am
Sayausi
It seems that after six months of being in our site we have started to fall into a routine of some sorts which has distracted us from attending to our blog. Furthermore, due to the said established routine this blog may seem to lack the usual flare that I am sure you have all noticed and appreciated about our previous posts. Apparently, you can take the gringo out of the U.S. but you can’t take the task oriented nature out of the gringo.
Mary’s “Work”
In the past four weeks I think I have officially crossed the line into to being Peace Corps busy. Granted this is a relative term both within Peace Corps and certainly in comparison to what “busy” may mean to someone working in the great U.S. of A. As of right now from 7:30am until 12:00pm Tuesday through Friday I am working. Yes, that’s right for a total of eighteen hours per week (including the many break-citos within those hours to tomar a pan-cito y platicar i.e. chat with my “colleagues” while work is supposed to be happening…just for clarification this chatting and snacking is not because of me, it is actually built in to the typical Ecuadorian work day)
So, what may you ask am I doing besides snacking, engordaring, and gossiping during these self-described work-hours? Well, on Wednesdays and Thursdays I walk up the road from the plaza to Bellavista Elementary School (it actually has a more official name, or names rather, but I can’t remember all eight of them so I just call it la escuela de Bellavista despite being corrected a number of times about its actual litany of names). At this school I am currently giving English classes, trying to start up a school garden, and eventually trying to elbow in some environmental education classes and possibly a world map in the future. But for now some Enlglish and a school garden, which the near constant rainfall in our town makes it a nearly impossible task, will suffice. Below is outline of what my work days consist of:
Wednesdays at La Escuela de Bellavista
Jardin: A class of twenty four-to-five year olds all wearing aprons (to keep their uniforms clean) and dripping noses shouting back at me the few words I have managed to teach them. Usually this class also includes a bathroom break where I have to dole out sheets of toilet paper and help about half of the class unbutton and re-button their pants. On occasion there is also a random crying student who needs to be sent home because they miss their mom.
Segundo de Basico: More shouting, no aprons, no bathroom assistance, less crying, and a surprisingly increased ability to retain information (then again when you’re coming from buttoning pants and wiping noses the mere ability to maintain some sort of physical upkeep is impressive).
Recreo: Also known as recess in the States, is a time where the kids run around like crazy (nothing new here) but the teachers, instead of watching over the madness, retreat to the kitchen, shut and lock the door, and sit down to eat bread, drink coffee, and talk about whatever gossip is making the rounds on that particular day (last weeks’ topic was the realization that there was a student who only had his father’s last name. “Jamas en mi vida” i.e. “Never in my life” was the resounding chorus upon hearing this piece of information, as it is the custom for every child to have a total of four names: first, middle, mother’s last name, and father’s last name. I always thought I was strange for having all those names but here it is unheard of for someone to be lacking one. I really think the teachers believed he was some sort of aberration that actually did not have a mother and just appeared on this earth by some unseemly manner).
Tercero de Basico: This is the first class I have where I can actually write something on the board and there is the slight possibility that they will be able to copy it in some form into a notebook. However, the writing of more than five words on the board takes up the entire 45 minutes as they attempt to copy it, erase it, ask me if it is OK, I say it is, they say it is not, they erase it again, and the cycle repeats.
Cuarto de Basico: This class has forty (yes forty), energetic, eager to participate, but hard to focus students that can write reasonably quickly and retain information from one week to the next. This class is obsessed with what color pen they should be using to take down the notes I put on the board and so a large portion of each day is spent discussing red pen, blue pen, pencil, should we skip a line, what do I do if I don’t have enough space on the page (well, continue on the next page I say as though I were some sort of mensa member), is that a “g” or a “y” (y’s here have to be made by the joining of two perfectly straight lines whereas only g’s and j’ have a curvy tail), and is that an “n” or a “h” (the proportion of stem to hump with the letter ‘h’ is about 10 to 1 and anything else is indistinguishable as a letter).
Thursdays at La Escuela de Bellavista
Quinto de Basico: The teacher of this class is the Director of the school and as such feels he is quite the outstanding instructor. Each time I write something on the board or explain something he will erase and re-write or excuse himself for the proceeding interjection and basically try to stage some sort of coup where he ends up teaching some other mildly related topic instead of whatever it was I had been teaching. Also, his preferred form of communication is most similar to that of a dog defending a fire hydrant; a series of barks punctuated by displays of macho-ness.
Sexto de Basico: By far my favorite class, there are only 16 students and every single one is super excited about everything. I think this is the equivalent of fifth grade in the States and so the universality of fifth graders being in a developmentally awesome stage holds true. As an added bonus, they can write quickly and the teacher just sits quietly at his desk.
Recreo: Pretty much the same as Wednesday’s recreo though the topic of the gossip usually changes.
Septimo de Basico: I usually end up teaching this class for about fifteen minutes instead of 45 as after recreo on Thursday’s the entire school formars (stands in lines according to their grade and pratices a few pseudo-militaristic exercises) and the director barks some announcements at them before calling out the names of around 60 individuals to collect some small piece of paper he has that they need to deliver to their parents. Why this task can’t be given to the teachers of the classes still confuses me. In any event, the students in this final class can learn about the same amount of material as the previous class in less than half the time but with the enthusiasm of tweens that are no longer unabashedly excited by school and are more interested in making sure their social status is maintained.
So that’s my work up in Bellavista and now I can’t leave the house without being bombarded with “Hola Senorita” by the wandering masses of the students that are finished with school at 12:00pm and have never had one of their teachers live in their neighborhood. It’s actually quite cute and does my ego wonders.
The other two days of the week I go up to Cajas National Park with Mike to give Tourism/English classes to the parkguards. Technically the classes start at eight and finish at ten but by the time the class actually starts and by the time I get a ride back down to Sayausi it is usually noon, so I count the entire time as work though in reality there’s only about an hour and half of actual work but when in Ecuador do as the Ecuadorian park employees do i.e. work equals the total amount of time it takes to do something including travel time and break-citos.
Mike’s Work
After many months of being stuck behind a desk (something Mike probably never envisioned himself doing especially while in Peace Corps) the several books he has been working on (i.e. re-writing though he will only be given credit for ‘technical revision, photographer, and translation’) are supposed to go to print this coming Tuesday! Which has been no easy task as most of the edits he has done have required access to AdobeReader which ETAPA has still not given Mike access to at his work computer and so can only use the program for a minute before it kicks him off and shuts down. This means that a majority of the work he has done was first with paper and pen and then transferred to digital format when he had access to a computer with the appropriate program; all and all tripling the time it would have taken if he had just been given the ability to use AdobeReader at his own computer (Internet access would have also made the job much easier; oh well). In any event, he finished and now, as mentioned earlier, the books are supposed to go to print. And although “supposed to” in Ecuador is the equivalent of saying “will not” it may present a possible end to desk work for the near future.
However, Mike has done such a good job with the books (he was complimented on his methodical approach to editing and his attention to detail in front of all the major jefes at the last park meeting) that he may get pinned to the desk for another round of books that didn’t make this deadline. As the newly appointed park biologist (the old one is doing a Masters in Quito and as such will be gone for the following ten months), in addition to more book editing he has been given the responsibility of designing and implementing a survey for the park guards to fill out on a regular basis that would track the number and movement of different animals in the park so that Cajas could monitor the health of its fauna (or the maybe more accurately so that is can measure the extent of the effect of cattle and horses that are in the park and should not be). It’s almost like Mike left a real job in the States only to get a more “real” job in Ecuador.
Fortunately, every now and again the park does let him out from behind the desk and one of those rare moments occurred a few weeks ago when he accompanied a team of biologists to assist with site selection for an upcoming condor study (see pictures below). The study aims to monitor the small population of Andean condors that frequent the park by luring them to particular peaks using recently slaughtered cows. The biologists will set up nearby observation points where they will sit in a relatively dry place with binoculars and wait for the condors to appear. Before cozying up in there observation points the biologists will delegate the slaughtering of cows, and all the blood and foulness that that action entails, to the park guards demonstrating the food chain that exists in the work place as well as in nature.
Another out-of-desk experience included taking a camera and park guard on a point-and-shoot tour of specific sites in the park. One of the books Mike has been working so hard on in the most recent past is a guide to all of the trails in Cajas. In this book, each trail is broken down in to several different points of interest where some specific information is given about the surrounding area. There is also supposed to be pictures from each of these points of interest. Keep the word “supposed” to be in mind. So, obviously several of these pictures were missing i.e. did not exist and so needed to be taken. So Mike, a park guard, and camera spent the day visiting these points of interest and taking pictures for the book. As a result Mike can now add to his resume part-time model and photographer. Not bad for a day’s work.
Mike also took it upon himself to break free of his desk shackles one day last week to go check up on another study going on in the park. This other study is monitoring the population of deer by measuring the amount of fecal matter found within several transects throughout Cajas. I was lucky enough to accompany Mike on this lovely, rainy, wet, cold day and trudge through the Andean paramo looking for small red strings that identified each transect. Fortunately, we were not there to count the quantity of fecal matter (though I wouldn’t be surprised if that was included in an upcoming hike). The task of finding the transects ended up being a mission of luck rather than map reading ability as these biologists had incorrectly placed the transects and so they were also incorrectly placed on the map. We did end up stumbling across one of them and despite its location everything else about was set up correctly.
Despite the likelihood of working behind a desk each day Mike continues to pack his backpack with all his hiking gear (pancho, waterproof pants, first aid kit, thermos with tea, compass, maps, binoculars, gloves, hat, emergency blanket) just for the possibility that he may find some excuse to leave his office, computer, chair, and desk behind for the day and pretend to be a real Peace Corps volunteer doing things outside the confines of Microsoft Word, Excel, and Adobe Acrobat.
Home on the Range…or more accurately the Plazoleta
Pasta
Though we are both working stiffs we still find time (somewhere outside those 18 hours per week) to enjoy the campo life. After leaving it sitting on our kitchen shelf for three months, we finally took out the pasta maker and made pasta. It was not nearly as time consuming as I originally thought it would be and I now appreciate the need for a giant wooden board (whether it be for googala or other doughs that require a well of flour for eggs to be placed within). The tile counter top is OK but the grout can be quite annoying while kneading. But it’s all worth it to use the play dough machine…I mean pasta machine that is amazingly reminiscent of a play dough machine with the added advantage that you are actually supposed to eat what comes out of it as opposed to just wanting to eat what comes out of it.
The next day we feasted on fresh pasta with tomato sauce and though the noodles are longer than I have become accustomed to, the taste was unsurpassed (at least in the land of Ecua-noodles).
Watch Mary make pasta!
Watch Mary eat pasta!
Veggies and Kichwa
Obviously we pay rent every month. Not so obviously, our landlady comes to our house each month to collect it. Even less obviously, when she comes she brings with her a giant crate filled with vegetables from her garden that she presents to us just after we give her the money for the rent. I would like to emphasize the word “crate” in the previous sentence. It is not just a mere lettuce head or bunch of carrots; it is an entire crate of vegetables (see pictures in slideshow and make sure to notice the new “window” Mike made for our kitchen). Also, keep in mind that our land lady is a fully fledged chola. That means everyday she wears a pollera, the flashy blusa, a cardigan, braids, and a chalina (a blanket worn for extra warmth when it is cold and balanced on the head when sunny, to block the sun of course).
This past month when she, her daughter, and her grandson came over with the overflowing crate of vegetables she also brought one of her other daughter’s homework for Mike to help her with. The homework was kichwa. Our chola (i.e. almost indigenous land lady) brought Mike (total gringo) her daughter’s kichwa homework. I mean we probably have the only Kichwa-Spanish dictionary in all of Sayausi and Mike has probably received more formal Kichwa instruction than anyone in Sayausi but the entire situation was still highly amusing.
Boy, you’ve gotten fat…and beautiful
This is a difficult story for me to write. But I figure for the sake of cultural exchange and humor factor it is worth putting down in a public space for the entire world to read and comment upon.
If you will recall from earlier in the post Mike and I went for a hike in Cajas on a cold, rainy day. Again, it was a cold, rainy day and as such I was wearing a long sleeve shirt, a fleece, a windbreaker, a scarf, a raincoat, jeans, and waterproof pants over my jeans. The hike took around five hours, of which four of them included large amounts of rain and wind. We had just gotten out of the back of pick up truck (which was our ride back to Sayausi form the park which means more rain and more wind) and were walking through the main street of Sayausi back our apartment when we ran into Luz Mil.
Luz Mil is also a chola, like our land lady, but a more eccentric chola with the final effect being more similar to a rodeo clown than cute and indigenous. The majority of people in our town also believe that she is a witch. In any event, she has taken quite the liking to me and is always thrilled to see me. Whenever, Mike runs into her (which is fairly often as he walks by her house on the way to work) she always asks, “Y la nina Mari? Donde esta? Como esta la nina Mari? Porque no viene aqui para visitarme. Yo hice motecito, porque no viene?” Guilt, as it turns out, is a universal tactic in trying to get people to come visit.
On this particular occasion, a month or so had passed since the last time I had seen her and so she was particularly enthused to see me on the street. We crossed over to greet her in the traditional Ecua-fashion which includes a kiss, a hug, and several exchanges of “How are you”, “How have you been”, and “How has it been going”. However, after the kisses and hugs there was no “How are you” there was no “How have you been” there was no “How has it been going”, there was only, “Oh, how fat you’ve gotten, you look so beautiful! What have you been eating to get so fat and beautiful! I can’t believe how beautiful and fat you have become!” I tried to go on the defensive with some comment about the number of layers I had on because it was so cold and so on but she countered expertly by pointing out the my face had also gotten much more beautiful and fat.
Now, I realize there are some cultural differences between here and there and for the most part I think I have adjusted well to these differences and usually do not take offense to where these differences collide. But my brain honestly and truly had no idea how to respond to someone telling me how incredibly fat I have gotten and at the same time saying how absolutely beautiful I looked. In any event, I want to hear no comments on the truth or untruth of my fatness, nor the accompanied beauty of this fatness. I will just point out that if someone here in town is sick everyone automatically says that this person has lost a lot weight and how terrible it is to lose weight. Following this logic I will assume her meaning was more along the lines of how healthy and glowing I looked and I will now monitor my ability to button my jeans.
Moving on to other less personally scrutinizing topics...
Don’t Forget to Vote
That’s it really, don’t forget to vote. We did and we are both registered in states where our votes quite literally don’t matter and we had to pay $6.00 to do it. That’s like ten ice cream cones, five full lunches, or sixty pieces of bread, quite the sacrifice (no comments about fatness here please). So, go vote…for Obama.
Don´t forget to double click to enlarge the slideshow and see the captions.
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