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

Back to the Future/Saturday Morning

Wow- it's been a while, hasn't it? So much has happened since my last blog post here in Ecuador, back home in the States, and within our MPIE community. Most importantly though (at least in my little world) is that today I got my computer back from the repair store!!! After 3 weeks of not-so-patiently waiting, and stealing 20 minute intervals of internet time on the house computer, I'm sitting in my bed, with my fully functioning macbook, typing away and simply could not be happier! Holly pointed out the other day how drastically my life was going to change once my computer was returned to me, and she was so right. It's as if I have been suddenly lifted out of the dark ages where personal computers and wireless internet do not exist, and carried back to the present where I can check my email more than twice a day and type long messages without worrying about being an inconvenience to other people. The only thing that could possibly make this day any better is a brownie sunday... but let's not get too carried away! In light of how tired I am and how difficult it is to chose a blog topic from the past 3 weeks, I'm going to recycle a bit. Below is copied the entry I wrote as a guest blogger for our MPIE Daily Life Blog. For those of you who have already read this, I promise there will be more blogs coming soon, and for those of you who have not, enjoy!

Hasta Pronto, J

"Saturday Morning"

I wake up to the purring of the coffee grinder in the kitchen below my room. Mark must be making fresh Columbian coffee for our new French press, producing sounds and smells that signal the start of a new day. Coming out of the haziness that separates dreams from reality, I realize it's Saturday and take a deep breath. I lie still enjoying the lack of immediate responsibility that comes with the weekend before venturing out from the warmth of my comforter.

As I go downstairs, the house is still. Most are still asleep, taking advantage of the easiness that is Saturday to unwind from the stress of the week. I make my usual breakfast of cinnamon sugar oatmeal with sliced banana, grab a book, and head up to the roof to eat and read in the morning mountain air. The stillness of the house is enhanced by the stillness of the city. At first glance, all of Conocoto is quiet, tranquil, serene. As the minutes pass, I notice that the quiet is punctuated by sounds- some nearby, some mere echoes in the distance- that remind me of the life here in our valley. A dog barks. Birds chirp. A rooster crows. A child laughs. A bus drives by on the way to Quito. A man´s spade scrapes cement as he plasters his rooftop railing. The pages of my book flap in the gentle breeze. The sun is bright and warm, no clouds in sight that might inhibit its rays. Even in the coolness of the mountains, I am delightfully toasty in my fleece jacket.

Looking out over the rooftops, I take in the reality of my surroundings. All of Conocoto stretches out before me, and beyond that, all of the valley. The mountains large and looming in the distance separate us from the rest of the world. We are a pocket of life nestled in the grandeur of the Andes. Right here, right now, all that exists is the sun, the sky, and Conocoto. At this moment, I feel a oneness with every aspect of our little world, an interconnection to all of the sights and sounds penetrating my senses. I reflect on the work we are doing here, each person´s programs, goals, dedication and commitment. I think about the people we have met and those we will meet, how we are affecting the community and how the community is affecting us. We are now intricately involved in each others lives in a very real and complicated way. We belong to the valley, and the valley belongs to us. Today is perfect.

Mind your P´s and Q´s!

As many of you already know, I have been suffering for the past few weeks from a difficulty in online communication resulting from an incident involving coffee and my Macbook keyboard (typical, no?). The side effects of this horrendous event have led to many cryptic emails and AIM chats, along with a neglegence in updating my blog. To clear things up for those who are out of the loop: after a traumatizing coffee spill, I was delighted to find that my computer seemed to function perfectly despite the large amount of liquid it drank (maybe it was in need of a caffeine boost after all!) until I logged into Facebook and realized, while leaving a witty message on someone´s wall, that my sentences were missing the letters P, N, Y, and the all important ´?´. I tried everything to fix the problem, but here I am 3 weeks later still ¨sellig thigs fu¨(insert p, n, n, n, n, y). So- I do appologize for not updating my blog very often, but feel that this excuse is better than none! : )

However, I was inspired to update Quitopia after this morning´s events. If anything successfully sums up my experience so far in Ecuador, it is what happened to me between the hours of 8 and 9:30am:

8:00am - deep in sleep, until... *KNOCK KNOCK* ¨Jocelyn! It´s 8 o´clock!¨I awake with a start to Dunc´s morning alert upon realizing that I´m still in bed. My alarm was supposed to go off an hour before so that I could take my time getting ready for class. This week and next I´m teaching an intenstive English review course to kids aged 11-14 before they start school for the year. As of right now, I´m already 30 seconds late leaving the house. Dulce.

8:15am- after inhaling a queso de mesa sanwich and cold coffee for breakfast, pulling on yesterday´s pair of jeans, and grabbing 50 cents for the bus, I´m out the door with Dunc as we head down the hill toward downtown Conocoto. It´s not raining yet, but the possiblity doesn´t look that far off (in Ecuador you never know!)

8:45am- get off the Amaguana bus at the stop closest to the Casa Barrial where we hold our classes. The big main road that passes by the C.B. has been closed for a few days now for repaving, so after getting off the bus we have a 10 minute walk through a stereotypical Ecuadorian barrio complete with stray dogs, piles of dirt and asphault, children everywhere, dangerously uneven sidewalks (if there are sidewalks at all), abandoned houses, small neighborhood tiendas, and people who have been awake for 2 hours running errands and doing chores.

8:55am- arrive at Casa Barrial just in time to meet our first students (most of the time Ecuadorians are consistently late, but we have strategically implemented a point system in our class so that our kids earn a point if they arrive to class on time... This has somewhat backfired as we now are often beat to class by our students). As we walk inside the gate to the property, we notice there are cows all over the field and the playground. Weird, but whatever, this is Ecuador. Upon a second look we realize that one of the cows is GIVING BIRTH. I don´t know if any of you have ever seen this miracle of life from a very large four-legged black and white mammal, but it is not pretty. Some words that come to mind as I recall this event: blood, umbilical cord, swollen utter, blood, cow eating umbilical cord, blood, slimy calf, cow licking slimy calf, more blood and more sliminess. The children are just as fascinated (or grossed out) by what is happening as we are.

9:00am- it is starting to rain now. I take out my keys to open the old lock on the rusty door. The key always gives me trouble, and this morning I am determined to open it quickl. I put all my strength into turning it, and to my surprise, it turns! Looking down however, I realize that the part of the key inside the lock hasn´t turned at all. It has completely broken off. Now, not only are we standing in the rain, with a cow, its slimy calf, and a half eaten umbilical cord, but we can´t get inside of the building to have class because the key is now officially broken in two.

9:02am- Dunc and I arrive at the cooperativa down the street. We explain our situation in broken Spanish to a random employee and ask if he can help us. He makes a few phone calls and returns to assure us that help is on the way.

9:05am- back at the Casa Barrial, we amuse the kids with quizzes on English vocab (ex. Como se dice... ¨We are outside¨??) as we wait for said man to arrive with something that will potentially improve our situation.

9:30am- little old man arrives with (drumroll please...) a saw from the colonial era. Great! He saws away, and within 30 seconds the lock is in two, the door is open, and we are able to go inside. Problem: now we have no lock. Dunc and I leave the kids in the classroom to walk down the street again (in the rain- naturally) in search of a ferreteria. Find one, buy a lock.

9:45am- return to Casa Barrial and our eager students (they really really love English class, it´s awesome). Start reviewing the verb ¨To Be¨and off we go!

Bottom line- working for Manna Project, and living in Ecuador in general, literally anything can happen within an hour´s time. Not a day goes by that I don´t experience something new, am challenged by it, and learn from it. But, so far, there has been nothing that I haven´t been able to handle, and the outcome is always positive and rewarding. That´s all for now, it´s time to go make a quiz and homework for tomorrow´s class (today we leaned past tense!). Miss you all and hope all is well back in the States! Ciao : )

Weekend in Banos!

Right now I'm sitting at Coffee & Toffee- a cafe in "Gringolandia" sipping a cappuccino, utilizing the free wi-fi, and listening to really bad American songs covered in Spanish. This is the first free afternoon we've had since arriving in Quito, and it's really nice to be able to relax and reflect on the weekend we just spent in Banos!

Last Friday after spanish school Mark, Serena, Holly, Dunc, Annie, and I hopped on a 4 hour bus ride to Banos, a city south of Quito frequented by tourists for its fun outdoor activities and beautiful mountain views. By the time we arrived and checked into our hostel, it was time for dinner at Casa Hood- a cute little restaurant that caters to travelers with a plethora of cheap food options, a colorful decor, and a wall of bookshelves set up for book exchanges

 in different languages. After dinner we retired to the hostel rooms where we spent a few hours playing double decker Cuarenta, quoting YouTube videos, and acting like giddy 5 year olds.  : )

The next day we arose early to grab some desayuno and head out on a bike ride through the Andes! The ride itself was a few hours, and almost completely downhill (with only a few exceptions). It was raining/sprinkling almost the whole time, which made the ride all the more adventurous with muddy potholes and "puddles" that came up past our pedals (we were all completely soaked from the knees down). The end result was our arrival at la Cascada el P

ailon del Diablo- a giant waterfall that we hiked to through a

 path in a mini-jungle a little ways from the main road. We had some lunch at the only cafe by the massive waterfall that was made up of a collection of huts built up the side of the mountain. For the record, empanadas de choclo, hummus, chocolate-banana bread, and a stunning jungle view following an exhilarating mountain bike ride = an amazing afternoon. 

The next morning we were all hurting a bit from our tour through the Andes, so Serena, Annie, and I treated ourselves to a cheap yet effective hot stones massage. MMMmmm... After that, we hopped back on a bus to San Golqui where we joined the rest of the group to see the newest Batman movie! We had to wait around the mall for a few hours to see the un-dubbed version, which allowed us plenty of time to dine on turkey and mozzarella sandwiches and a 3 liter bottle of orange fanta (that almost exceeded our limited budget). The movie was amazing and we all headed back to Quito content and cansados. Check out the pics on my other website! Miss you all! 

Subjunctive Tense is the Bane of My Existence

So for the past week and a half, every morning has began promptly (or 5-10 minutes late according to Ecuadorian practice) with 4 straight hours of Spanish language classes. The first day I started strong- Ruth could understand what I was trying to get across (I assumed) and for the most part I could understand her. My feelings of success however were short-lived as we progressed extremely quickly to a brutal review of ALL the Spanish verb tenses including pluscomperfect, past and present subjunctive, and who knows what else. The next few days, I backtracked, and actually got worse at my already menial conjugating skills. At times, I would slip and a few words of English frustration would spurt from my mouth- such as "Ahhhh- subjunctive is the bane of my existence!!!"- after which I would have to explain the phrase's meaning in Spanish to my "profe" (not as easy as it might seem since Spanish was the source of the frustration in the first place). The past few days, however, have been hopeful! Now, I think there might be a light at the end of the tunnel that slightly resembles a more fluent me after 12 more months. Nevertheless, I implore you all to keep your fingers crossed and think of me the next time you frequent your neighborhood Chipotle or El Fenix and hear the employees effortlessly shouting preterite, subjunctive, imperfect, and reflexive verbs on a whim. Ciao for now!  : )

How to Become an Ecuadorian...

Living in Ecuador isn't that easy. Between the altitude, the rapidly changing weather, street muggers, the terrain (which can lead to accidents involving feet and bookcases), and inevitable food sickness (which I am currently experiencing less than a week into my stay), it takes a somewhat strong-willed person to thrive here. The native Ecuadorians definitely have that mentality. I have had conversations with both my host mother and my Spanish language teacher about what it is like for them to live and work in a country that for North Americans is so cheap, but for natives is relatively expensive. The people here work hard and have little to show for it. Each day is a constant reminder of how lucky we Americans are to have daily modern conveniences like indoor heating and AC, steaming hot showers, clean tap water, FAA food regulations, personal computers and internet access, and the ability to experience personal gain from hard work. Here, it is nearly impossible for the middle class (which is much poorer than the middle class in America) to become wealthy or to improve their conditions at all. And since the people here are so poor relative to other countries, they cannot afford to move to a place where they might find better opportunities. In a sense, they are stuck, working day to day, living dollar by dollar. 

Despite this, the people here are so incredibly good-natured and agreeable. Everyone I have come into contact with is positive and happy. Maybe this is a result of the fact that Quito is so beautifully situated. While much of the city is rundown, the backdrop is breathtaking. All you have to do is peel your eyes away from the fast-moving taxis, street vendors, and crowded

 streets for a second to look up between the buildings and see the mountains (which surround the city from every angle). During the day, you can see each individual house built on the mountainside, the trees, the rocks, and the clouds. Some of the clouds float halfway up the mountains so that the people who live there have only to look out their bedroom window to see them. During the nigh

t, all the little houses are lit up with people eating dinner or visiting with family. The side of the mountains look like they have been carefully decorated with Christmas lights for some festive celebration. Coming from Dallas and Ohio, which are both extremely flat, it's fantastic to have such a beautiful landscape each and every day. 

Food, on the other hand, is a completely different matter. Those of you who know me best know that I am a big fan of food, which can make traveling to certain places somewhat difficult. The good thing about the food here is that it's cheap. A typical "almuerzo" that you find at most street cafes costs about $1.50 to $2, a roll at the Panaderia is anywhere from 30 to 60 cents, and when they're in season, I hear you can buy avocados 6 for a dollar. The bad thing about food is that a lot of it is unsanitary for Americans (especially fruit washed with tap water), and Ecuadorians don't seem to know anything about the food pyramid. Every lunch and dinner I've eaten has for the most part consisted of potatoes, rice, rolls, and some type of meat. I am completely starched out. At least with breakfast we have a plate of fruit and some cheese to put on the rolls, but in 6 days I've been served vegetables once (and they weren't very good). What I wouldn't give for a huge salad from Central Market! I can't wait until we move into the Manna house in two weeks and begin cooking for ourselves. Does anyone have a good recipe for enchiladas?

Day 5

Hello all! I have been in Quito for 5 days now and already so much has happened. My visit so far has been an absolute whirlwind that I've loved every minute of. I will try to update this blog often so that anyone who is interested can follow my experiences and keep in touch (please comment!!). Miss you all and hope to hear from you frequently. Besos!  : )