hehehehehe
In transit
And that’s when you realize…
Yesterday, I cam home from an afternoon exploring the sights, smells, tastes, and sounds of “fiestas de Quito” (week-long celebrations commemorating the foundation of Quito) to another Quiteñian tradition. Every year, during fiestas de Quito, my family hosts a party for friends and family, to play cuarenta and drink copious amounts of canelazo and other spirits.
Upon walking into the house, I was bathed by the intoxicating aromas of patas and canelazo on the stove, Eucalyptus branches in the fireplace, and of course Myriam’s beloved lavender incense. After a day’s worth of preparations, about 15-20 relatives arrived in true Ecuadorian fashion (1.5 hours late, which is actually on time). The merriment began. After a brief introduction, I succesfully played cuarenta, Cesar as my parter. I caught on quickly to the rules of the game, which are as diverse and quirky as Ecuador itself, but it’s going to take me a few more years to master the art of the insult— trash talking your opponents is no joke. A few chinchon-canelazo’s later, warm cheeked and happy, I felt as though I was exactly where I needed and wanted to be, and realized how much my life has changed. It took no time at all for Quito and my family to feel more like home than I’d ever expected, and four months later, I no longer have those hard days. I no longer have cravings from home, and surprisingly, as frustrating as it can be, I love this country and its people. It was in that moment, watching my host mom and sister playing cuarenta, my host dad conversing with his friends, the overdressed over hair-sprayed ladies sitting reading coffee table books, and the men talking politics, that I realized a few things. I realized that after a weekend away, a day at school or a night out, it feels just as good to come to this home as it does to return to my home in the states after a few hard weeks at school. That I joke with this family in exactly the same way I do with my own. That I become concerned when a family member gets sick. That I’ve built relationships with more than just my parents, from the 95 year old aunt to the 2.5 year old guaguas. That I know where every dish, even the ones for special occasions, belong in the kitched. That I love my family here, and, with about a month left living in this house, it’s all coming to an end much too quickly. I have so much respect for this family, and I can’t imagine having to leave them come February.
Someone, tell me how to live with two families who live very far apart.
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
Bullfighting. Men prancing around in beautifully stoned outfits (yes, I was jealous). ¡Hoorah mankind!
I can’t even tell you how many times I listened to this during finals week of fall quarter 2010. That was exactly a year ago. HAHAH ohhh, the memories.
So it seems as though I suck at updating this blog…
and I do. The same goes for my personal journal. Well, in attempts to re-motivate myself, I’m updating both, and sticking with them, as of today. (well, I’m going to try)
Here’s what’s happened since I’ve posted last, in no specific order:
- Planned a trip to Macchu Picchu and Lake Titicaca (SO EXCITED)
- After looking for what seemed like forever, I found a volunteering job!!! I now work about 8 hours each week at a “subcentro de salud”, or public clinic in the city of Cumbaya. I take blood pressures, weights, heights and temperatures of incoming patients, and shadow the doctor once everyone has been triaged. Seriously, it’s SO great.
- My momma bought her tickets to come here, and the host padres offered for her to stay in the house, also SUPER EXCITED.
- Experienced a lot of unneeded drama, but it’s over now, and so much for the better.
- My host sister who lives in Chicago visited for a week, with her husband and two twin 2.5 year old boys. The house was jam packed all week, full of food, family, laughter and warmth. I absolutely loved it, and I absolutely LOVE my family. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE. so much.
- I had a week off of school, in which I hiked through an enchanted forest (That’s what they called it, and as tacky as the name sounds, it really was one of the most beautiful places probably in the world, full of this kind of tree), saw some frailejones, got stranded on the top of a mountain and spent my time hanging out with some really awesome dogs, then traveled to the coast where I climbed some mangroves, couldn’t sleep, and generally felt very unsanitary.
- Wondered if I made the right choice in choosing Ecuador for my study abroad experience.
- Spent a lonely afternoon thoroughly exploring the park (bosque metropolitano bellavista) next to my house, which is amazing. It’s a Eucalyptus forest (although it smells really good, Eucalyptus are an introduced species), with a marked 5k trail, tons of small winding trails, lots of places for families to gather for barbecues, and AMAZING views of the city (hence bellavista). Seriously, it’s so great there, and that lonely yet lovely afternoon spent walking through the park, chock full of families really got me thinking about how much I love, value and miss my own.
- Stressed over nothing (in other words, don’t worry, I’m still my usual self)
- After 7 weekends of traveling, I spent my first weekend back in Quito with my host parents and Host sister Eli. We went to an art fair, saw a movie, and went hiking to some pretty cool waterfalls (cascada del río pita). God I love this family so much.
- Passed the half-way point in the program (November 15), and felt a little bit relieved and a tad bit shocked all at the same time.
- Learned a lot about a lot of things, especially myself.
Sooooo that’s that then. Hopefully I’ll be better about posting things more frequently from now on. :)
This is a photo of me swimming in the Pacific for the first time. I’m the dot. Happiness.
The weekend of October 21, the Ecology and conservation group and I went to the coast. Specifically, we went to a town called Pedernales, where we were to do some investigations into how we might structure a project for our Human Ecology class.
While there, we visited three different communities. The first one, was a community that relies heavily on Mangroves for their survival. Because the shrimp industry exploits these areas, their environment has changed drastically, as has pretty much every aspect of their lives (and not for the better). The second community was also associated with the shrimp industry, however, it was a community of harvesters. We basically saw the noxious conditions in which these people were forced to live, terrible. The next day, we traveled to an inland community whose cattle farmers were unknowingly deforesting way too much, and struggled to correlate their economic and environmental problems with the fact that they were the culprits (deforestation on mountains is a baaaad thing).
Besides the “work” we did there, I had an absolutely fantastic time exploring the Pacific. The first thing we did upon arrival was swim and explore the beach. The water was incredibly warm, and obviously just great by virtue of the power of its huge swells as we swam out. Not to mention, the sublime weather conditions, about 80 and sunny as hell (this town is literally right on the equator). Afterwards, we ate fish. DELICIOUS. This place was exactly what you’d imagine paradise as, complete with tiki bars that serve a multitude of sweet drinks, all made from incredibly fresh fruits of course.
A select few of us woke up on Sunday morning at about 6 am to see the fishermen come in with the night’s catch (they had been out since 5 pm the previous evening). Led to the site of the action by the swarms of birds, we watched as about 10 men went back and forth from boat to truck one bin full of sardines at a time. They unloaded a very impressive amount of fish given the very small size of the boat. We watched as Dogs and birds stole their respective portions of the catch, and finally, the fishermen did the same once their work was finished. It was an experience worth remembering.
FINALLY. Done with jewelry piece #1. Also, my hair needs to grow faster.
On the way to Quilotoa, we made a short stop to meet an indigenous family living on the side of the mountain. Eight people live in this house, composed of one room no larger than the bedroom of an average American teenager. They sleep on the floor, with the guinea pigs they sell at the market. The children in these families have calloused cheeks, to protect agaisnt the harsh winds and strong sun. This is literally all they have.
The average Ecuadorian consumes 5 times the energy that they do. Americans consume more than 6 times the energy than the average Ecuadorian. These people live on the same planet as you do. Think about that next time you feel the urge to say “FML”. (I really abhor that phrase even more now than I did before.)
