Mi Cumple

Although turning 23 is something that I have dreaded for approximately the last 11 1/2 months ("22" seems to give the impression of one who is still young and sprite, bordering that invisible line between adolescence and adulthood, while "23" is the age at which society expects a person to possess the grown-up traits of maturity and responsibility) my fellow PD's here in Ecuador made my birthday celebration such that my mind almost never drifted to the topic of aging. 

My actual birthday fell this past Tuesday, which was a busy workday as usual. Although I spent the morning sending emails and making lesson plans, by the time we got to Apoyo Escolar (our after school homework help program) in the afternoon I had received many "Happy Birthday" wishes- from all the PD's, and, to an even larger e

xtent, from the kids at programs who seemed determined to surprise me with gifts and homemade cards. Melissa and Dennis brought a stuffed animal (that we think is something between a giraffe and a cow) which they gave to me as soon as I got there, and the kids who finished homework early spent their time making me cards with paint, construction paper and markers. It was very cute.

After Apoyo, Seth and I walked down to Alinambi where we had a meeting about a Sewing Workshop project. Inside the gate, all the women were gathered in a circle around a piece of wood and a large bag. My curiosity really peaked though when Sarita came outside carrying a large machete. Turns out, inside the bag were a bunch of cow legs (yes- cow legs) severed right below the knee, some still with fur, and the mach

ete was for hacking them into pieces to make soup. It's always something! As the meeting would no doubt be starting late, Seth got roped in to helping cut the bones despite his protests and somewhat green looking face. Two hours later, we started off for home in the rain and were welcomed by a fantastic dinner of pumpkin-sausage pasta (thanks Serena!). 

Wednesday was when we had decided to celebrate my birthday at the house. It was my cooking day and I had been waiting to make a pumpkin spice cake using the canned pumpkin mom sent from home. So after another typical day of work and programs, I got to work in the kitchen with the help of my sous chef for the night- Tyler (Seth's friend from the Peace Corps who stayed with us for a few days). After dinner, Holly

 shoo'd me out of the kitchen and proceeded to adorn the cake with 23 candles which she brought out as everyone sang a lovely chorus of the birthday song. After blowing out all the candles in one try (yessss!!) and carefully licking the icing off, I got a face-full of cinnamon-pumpkiness (thanks Mark) followed by a pile of presents from my housemates. The presents were nothing less than amazing. They included, chocolate from the states, flowers, glass earrings (to replace ones that I got here and lost), a Jean Claude Van Damme biography in Spanish (huh?), Home Alone 1 & 2, and CD's with new music (does this mean people are tired of my reggaeton??). 

We watched Home Alone 1 last night (check out the Daily Life blog for more on that subject), and I'm already halfway through my chocolate.  : )

Tonight we are going out to dinner at a restaurant with all you can eat tapas and all you can drink wine to combine October's Manna Meal with the celebration of two birthdays (me and Johanna- who is visiting from Guayaquil!). It's been another awesome week that I'll never forget. So glad I got to spend my birthday this year with amazing people in an amazing country! Thanks to all the MPIE crew for making my cumple so fun!

Until next time

-J

Dale duro!!

Tonight was quite an eventful one (even by Manna standards) here in the valley. After weeks and weeks of research, lesson planning, vigorous Tae Bo workouts in the common room, and posting flyers in buses and store windows, we kicked off our Beginners English and Women's Exercise classes in the barrio of Tena. Both classes went incredibly well and were hugely successful despite the fact that, following typical Ecuadorian fashion, nothing went exactly as planned!

1. Beginners English:  The English class (which I am in charge of running) started about 25 minutes late setting the whole evening off to a somewhat confusing start. This was a result of a few different factors- the first being that 70% of the students didn't arrive until 20 minutes after the start time (naturally), and the second that we had no white board to use for the lesson. Even though MPI is a non-religiously affiliated organization, we are partnering with an Evangelical church in the valley to use their space for these two classes. Prior to this evening, we met with the leaders of the church a few times to talk about the schedule and the things the church would provide for our programs. One of the things they promised to provide was a white board- but when we arrived 15 minutes before the start of class, there was no white board to be found. Turns out, the church's white board had been lent out a few months ago to the Casa Barrial of San Fransisco, where MPI holds our daily Apoyo Escolar program, and apparently we were the only ones with a key. 

So, at 5:30, when class is supposed to start, we only have 4 students and our white board is over a mile away down a muddy dirt road (that happens to also be under construction) in a building that we just left 20 minutes ago. Fantastic! Fortunately, Eliah volunteered to take the muddily unpleasant task of going to get it, and miraculously arrived back at the church (board in tow) just as the last of the students finished inscribing in the course. We begin our class and are able to make it through most of the material before we have to clear the area for Women's Exercise!

2. Women's Exercise: Yeah, so the "Women's Exercise" class attracted just as many men as it did women. The men knew that they weren't allowed to participate, and I think this is why so many of them happened to show up (a huge gathering of just women?? what could they possibly be doing that we're not allowed to attend??). I guess I can kind of understand the mysteriousness of it, but was still very amused at how the men kept finding excuses to "hang around" as we got the class organized (until finally we shoo'd them away and made them leave!). 

We tried to keep the routine fairly simple and easy- minimal cardio and basic steps, but the class turned out to be quite humorous as the women tried to keep up with our moves. Whether a result of our broken Spanish explanations or the fact that these women have never set foot in a gym in their life (some were wearing sweaters and jeans) they definitely had some trouble keeping up the whole time. Despite that, every one of them was so enthusiastic and eager to do their best. Even though they were struggling, each woman gave us her all. Knowledge on physical fitness and health in general is so absent here and yet is something that everyone in the community craves. Though I certainly don't consider myself an expert on exercise and health, I know a lot more than they do, and it's so great to be able to pass on that energy and a desire to be healthy. 

3. The Way Home: Exercise class ended about 45 minutes late, and by the time we got everything packed up and ready to go it was about 9:00. At this point it was just us girls (the boys had long before left for home to the Spanish themed dinner Dunc prepared) and it wasn't until we were already waiting at the bus stop that we realized busses to Conocoto don't run that late. Hmmmm... Didn't think about that when we decided to do the full class after a super late start. We called home with the news of being stranded in the barrio, and Seth saved the day by calling one of our favorite cabbies named Manuel. Apparently even the cab companies weren't answering their phones tonight, but Manuel loves our group of gringos and rushed to pick us up despite some crazy story about getting stuck in a hole with a tractor (or something along those lines). Around 10 we stumble inside our house with all of our gear and head straight for the gazpacho and tortilla espanola. Yummm!

As we say here in Ecuador, "vale la peina" (it was worth the pain). The classes tonight were a huge success both in attendance and commitment level, and I think we have found a niche in the community that we can build upon for future programs and community connections. We really made a difference tonight which is what being here is all about. And additionally we were genuinely appreciated for the services we are providing. I can't wait to see how these classes evolve over the next 8 weeks and how much the students grow and learn. 

Hope you are all doing well back home and enjoying the beautiful fall weather (shout out to Suz who is finally done with LSAT's- woo hoo!). And thanks Mom for the goodie package- we all made hot apple cider tonight to sip on after dinner and unwind a bit- perfectly delicious! Hasta pronto...

-J