Happy Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year

I know some of those holidays are long over, but all have passed since the last time I posted. I hope they were pleasant for everyone! The reason it’s taken me so long to post is that things have gotten incredibly busy, plus it’s SO DIFFICULT to upload pictures onto Facebook with our internet connection here. Not to mention the fact that I’ve been on vacation in Peru for the last two weeks! This post will only update you up until the beginning of December, but then I’ll post again later to update you on all of the Christmas and post-Christmas vacation adventures. I still don’t have all the pictures uploaded that go along with this post, but I just can’t wait any longer to fill you in! Let’s rewind…

Saturday the 29th of October, I woke up around 8:50 AM to my bed shaking violently. Not exactly the most peaceful way to rise. I looked frantically around my room trying to figure out what was happening (keep in mind that I’m BLIND without my glasses or contacts), and I saw that my lamp was about to fall off  of my nightstand, and an empty glass on my dresser was about to fall over. I realized that I was experiencing my first earthquake, so I jumped out of bed and ran into my bathroom doorway because in my sleepy state that was the only thing I could remember about what to do during an earthquake. It lasted about 20 seconds, and immediately afterwards everyone ran out into the hallway and said “DID YOU FEEL THAT?!?!” We learned later that we were just about at the epicenter, and it was a Magnitude of 4. There wasn’t any major damage as far as I know. We had another earthquake a few weeks later while we were eating dinner. It didn’t last as long and it wasn’t as strong, but it was enough to make the Madres get up from the dinner table and head for the doors!

I spent most of the rest of Halloween weekend preparing for the concert that I was singing in on Sunday, the 30th. Unfortunately, I had been getting sicker and sicker with a bad cold throughout the week, and by that weekend I had full-blown ear infections and could hardly hear a conversation happening right in front of me. That made it slightly difficult to practice music. I was at Manuel’s house virtually all day Saturday, after he took me to a pharmacy to get some medicine that probably shouldn’t have been sold over-the-counter, and insisted that I chug some hot lemon-water. Two of his friends had come to listen to us rehearse, and after we finished rehearsing the three of them played musica nacional (traditional Ecuadorian music) for hours. It was great to spend some time relaxing, listening to traditional music and talking to them when we took a break for dinner.

Later that night, all the volunteers were dressed up in Halloween costumes ready to go out celebrating, even though they don’t traditionally celebrate Halloween in Ecuador. I was sad that I had to miss Halloween this year (especially because of the tradition that my college roommates and I had of spending months creating the best costumes ever), but I was trying to get healthy for the concert.

I woke up around 6:15 AM on Sunday morning and Saul and I left the house for the church in Roldos, a part of the city that’s about twenty minutes north of the Center. Manuel told us that in addition to the concert, we were also going to be singing at Mass that morning, but apparently another group had been scheduled instead. Father Bob, who has done a variety of work at the Center over the years, is here visiting. He started the parish in Roldos and raised funds to build the church several years ago. It was his first weekend back in months, so he said Mass that morning. I could tell that everyone in the parish was excited to have him back. When Mass was over, everyone was ushered outside where there was a stage set up, and food stands with colada morada (a hot, Ecuadorian, fruity drink… it’s delicious!). A group of the other volunteers had come to see the concert, and they were all waiting outside the church. I was so happy to see them! There were a few other acts before ours, so we had about an hour to warm-up in a room where all the other performers were warming up, too. I was still having a lot of trouble hearing because my ears were so clogged, and with all the noise from the other groups rehearsing it was nearly impossible for me to hear our own guitars. I started getting really nervous that I wouldn’t be able to hear well enough when we were on stage, especially because there were way more people in the audience than I thought there would be.

Finally it was our turn to perform. We got into position on stage and surprisingly I didn’t feel as nervous as I had felt before. There was a nice breeze, but the wind kept blowing my music off the stand. In the middle of the performance a couple of stray dogs decided to wander across the stage… and then later a small child did the same. Also, one of Manuel’s daughters played the drums even though we hadn’t rehearsed with her before, but she sounded pretty good. I did have trouble hearing everyone else because of my ears, which was frustrating. However, despite those distractions the performance went pretty well, and I had a lot of fun! Joe was nice enough to take a video of the whole thing; unfortunately, the file is too big to post on Facebook or in my blog, but there are a few photos of other musical groups and the audience in the album below.

After the concert we went back to Manuel’s house to relax for a little and have some Ecuadorian Chinese food (it was… interesting). Later I went with some of the other volunteers at an Irish bar to unwind after the stressful weekend and watch some football, which I definitely miss!

The next week of class was shortened because of El Día de los Difuntos and Cuenca’s Independence Day. Laura and I watched a Magic School Bus movie about musical instruments in our music classes, and Andy and I played futbol with our gym classes on Tuesday afternoon (though Madre Cindy pulled me out of our last gym class early so that I could play Ecua-volei with her and some of the workers… sorry, Andy!). We left Tuesday night, November 1st, for vacation (hooray!). One group of volunteers decided to go to Cuenca, the Germans went into the rainforest somewhere, and my group (there were nine of us) went to Montañita, a small coastal town. We took an overnight bus from Quito to Guayaquil, which took about eight hours. Once we arrived in Guayaquil we had to take a taxi from the station where we arrived to get to the main bus terminal. The terminal was chaotic to say the least, and the line for people trying to get a bus from Guayaquil to Montañita was astronomical. We figured we were going to have to waste a whole day of vacation just waiting in line for the bus. Luckily, after about an hour in the station we ran into a couple of guys who had two vans and offered to drive our group to Montañita for a slightly higher price than the bus tickets would have cost (I know… that sounds totally shady, but people here do that kind of thing all the time). We gladly accepted the offer and ended up toting along another guy from the US and his Ecua-girlfriend who we knew were trying to get to Montañita as well.

The van ride itself was the perfect start to our vacation. Our driver was fun and friendly, and we sang and played music during the entire three-hour trip. We were so excited to be on the last leg of our journey. We finally arrived at our hostel around 11:30 AM on Wednesday. We had trouble checking in at first because the people at the front desk told us they had never received our reservation, even though we had a receipt from the deposit we had made the week before. After some struggle, they found us a couple of empty rooms so we all dumped our luggage and put on our swimsuits as fast as we could.

Montañita is like a haven for hippies and young people. The streets are covered in sand and are lined with musicians and street performers, artisan crafts, stands selling fruity drinks and delicious street foods, and amazing restaurants and clubs. Our hostel was about a block from the beach, so I think I only wore shoes for about 10% of the entire time we were there. We ended up making friends with people from all over the world, including Australia, Canadia, the UK, the Netherlands, and lots of different cities in Ecuador. We even met a crazy Rasta named King Ja Ja who happened to be living in Quito as well (and yes, we ended up seeing him again once we got back to the city).

I was EXTREMELY excited when I found out that there was a pro doubles beach volleyball tournament going on while we were there, with both men’s and women’s teams representing different provinces of Ecuador. You better believe that much of my time was spent watching the games. In fact, the last day we were there I was watching the final match and ended up chatting with one of the players whose team had been eliminated in semifinals. When he found out I play he asked if I wanted to play around with him and some of the other players after the tournament. I was heartbroken because our bus back to Guayaquil was leaving in less than an hour, so I had to tell him I couldn’t.

I did get to play some volleyball while we were there though because we had brought a ball with us (we were instantly popular on the beach because EVERYONE wanted to play). I also tried a lot of new things, like parasailing and surfing, though the parasailing was MUCH more successful than the surfing. The nightlife in the town was incredible. Every night there were hundreds of people out on the beach. Groups of people were camping, so there were always dozens of bonfires. One night a few of us ended up making friends with a big group of guys from Guayaquil. We spent hours sitting with them around their bonfire and chatting, trying to decipher their coastal accents. The next night we found a new fire and made some new friends. I’m still consistently surprised by how friendly the people of Ecuador are.

We were NOT ready for our trip to be over. We were sad to leave the beach and all of our new friends, and we were not looking forward to our long journey home, or the lesson plans that awaited us. We started our trip home on Saturday afternoon, when we took a bus to Guayaquil. We had to wait in the Guayaquil bus terminal for five hours before our overnight bus left, so we camped out in the food court. However, our wait just added to the fun of our trip because we decided to have a “scavenger hunt”. We split into two teams with a judge to determine the winner. Our tasks were the following:
1.      Get a piggyback ride from a stranger
2.      Clear trays for people in the food court for 10 minutes
3.      Sit backwards on the escalator and wave to the people below
4.      Play a game of hop-scotch (extra points if you get strangers to join in)
5.      Buy a food item in the food court and sell it to a stranger (the higher the selling price, the higher the points)
6.      Sit down at a table with someone eating alone and eat dinner with them.
7.      Interview a worker and ask them about an average day at the bus terminal.
The points were close, but in the end the other team won because they got a piggyback from a Spanish-speaking stranger, and our stranger spoke English. Needless to say, however, our five-hour wait flew by.

The week we got back from vacation was particularly challenging, not only because I was wishing I didn’t have to leave Montañita, but also because Laura was sick, so I had to teach music classes by myself. I snapped back to reality in no time.

Aside from my always-busy class schedule during the week, the next couple weekends were pretty relaxed. One day I went with Bob (the volunteer I teach Sales with) to a cultural museum where we learned more about Ecuador’s history and saw some pretty cool artifacts and paintings. Another day a bunch of us spent a few hours in Parque Carolina, which is a huge park in the middle of city and has everything you can imagine from fields and courts, to street food and performers, to playgrounds, to fountains, to skate parks, and everything in between. We ate some AMAZING empanadas from a stand run by a former CMT member, watched some Ecua-volei, and tried to get into a playground that’s made out of a giant old airplane, but it was closed that day. One night Bob, Dave and I went to a club where we listened to some live jazz music and had vino hervido, which is hot red wine mixed with cinnamon and other spices. Another night we all went to a boxing match in the middle of a random field near our house. It was intense!

One Sunday, a big group of us decided to go to Mindo, which is a beautiful, small jungle town about two hours away where they have zip-lining, waterfalls, and other adventures. We left early in the morning on a bus, and when we got there we all hopped into the bed of a pickup truck, and an old guy drove us up the mountain to the start of the zip-lining course (he stopped halfway up the mountain to pick flowers to give to all the girls, as well). We met two friendly and funny guides who took us way up into the canopy and gave us instructions. The course was AMAZING (see the album below)! I had so much fun, especially when our guides showed us different tricks we could do, like the Superman, the Mariposa (butterfly), or just plain hanging upside-down. When we were done zip-lining, we decided to head back home instead of going to the waterfalls because we didn’t have our bathing suits, plus we wanted an excuse to go back again another day!

The next week was the week of Thanksgiving, although Thursday didn’t actually feel like Thanksgiving Day. Of course they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in Ecuador, so it just felt like a typical work day, except it seemed as though the kids were especially naughty in gym class that afternoon. There was a fair going on that day a few blocks away from the Center, so I went after my gym classes to help sell items made by the Girls’ Program. Unfortunately it was raining so we hardly sold anything. I got to Skype with my family before dinner, but because of our shoddy internet connection they could see me, but I couldn’t see them. I was sad not to be home. Overall the day felt less than special. To celebrate Black Friday, we all dressed up in black and played hide-and-seek around our house. It was fun and scary because we shut off all the lights and couldn’t see a thing! We had our own Thanksgiving celebration on Sunday afternoon. People were cooking all day, and everyone got dressed up and had wine with hors d’oeuvres before we had a huge meal at three. We had all of the traditional Thanksgiving food, with the traditional Thanksgiving food coma to follow. We spent the rest of the night playing cards and watching Home Alone. It definitely felt like more like Thanksgiving Day (minus the football). Even though I missed my real family, I was still happy to share that time with my WBC family.

Recently, the Madres and Padre have asked that I use my educational background in Business Management and my experience working with small businesses as an intern at the University of Scranton Womens’ Business Center (shout out to the Dub-Hub!) to work with the businesses run out of the WBC. They include a restaurant, a beauty salon, a furniture store, a sewing business, a bakery, and an auto mechanic shop. Specifically, they would like me to focus on working with the restaurant for now. Bob has also been working with the businesses, though he had previously been focusing more on the furniture store. However, he and I will now be working together in the restaurant to figure out how we can help to grow the business. We’ve spoken to the manager of the restaurant who seems enthusiastic about having us help, and we’ll start this week by spending time with the workers in the restaurant and talking to customers. I’m really excited to start this work since it’s something I wanted to do as soon as I learned that the Center ran the businesses. I really hope I can contribute with some lasting improvements.

This week, we had off from classes on Monday and Tuesday to celebrate the WBC’s 47th birthday and the Fiestas de Quito, which celebrate Quito’s founding. The festivities started over the weekend. Saturday we went to decorate La Marin for Monday’s celebrations, and then that night we went to a free concert in Parque Carolina. The first performer we saw was like an Ecua version of Nicki Minaj, who was followed by a group who played more traditional Ecuadorian music. Everyone in the crowd was dancing! Sunday morning I went with Bob to a bullfight. Everyone else had gone Saturday, but since I had choir rehearsal and Bob had a Spanish lesson, we decided to go Sunday instead. Once we entered the arena we were given tons of free merchandise including hats, seat cushions, fans, and sunscreen (I got sunburned anyway). We had some food and a couple of beers while we people-watched before the fight. I had been to bullfights twice while I was in Spain, so I knew what to expect; however, I was curious as to what would happen at the end of the fight, when the matador traditionally kills the bull. A law was passed just a few months ago in Ecuador stating that the bulls were no longer allowed to be killed at the end of the fight. They still kill the bull, but they do it out of the ring and out of the view of the audience. At the end of the fights, they just ushered the injured bull out of the ring. In all honesty, I felt like without the kill, the fights were anti-climactic. For me, the death of the bull signified the end of its struggle and a relief from its suffering. It’s the epitome of the fight, and without it the fights were kind of disappointing. I still enjoyed being there, though, because our view was amazing and the crowds buzzed with excitement and celebration of the Fiestas. After the fights Bob and I went to a sports bar to watch some good old football (we’re in the process of trying to figure out which is the best location to watch the Superbowl).

Monday morning (the day of the WBC’s birthday party), everyone was in the comedor (dining room) by 6:30 am to start making breakfast for the hundreds of people from both Center locations that were on their way to Cotocollao to start the celebration. We had people chopping fruit for fruit salad, mixing and cooking pancakes, and scrambling eggs. People started showing up to eat around 7, and breakfast was over by 8:30, which is when the games began! All of the volunteers came up with games and events for the kids, like potato sack races, marble races, obstacle courses, face painting, and mural drawing. There were also two giant poles that were greased up and the kids had to try and climb to the top, and a bull-riding contest (it was actually just a block of wood hanging by some bungees). Bob and I were in charge of the dunk tank! We set up a trashcan that had two cups on top. Each person was given two chances to knock down both of the cups with a ball. If they knocked them over, someone from inside the comedor would empty a trashcan full of water out the window onto the volunteer that was sitting in the chair outside. The line for the dunk tank was always at least fifty people long. Bob was in the chair for about ten dunks, and then I felt bad so I offered to switch. The water was FREEZING, but I had so much fun. Eventually we convinced most of the other volunteers to take a turn in the chair. The kids loved it, and a lot of the parents tried their luck, too!

After the games, we had a special Mass to celebrate Father Bob’s and Padre Juan’s 50th years as priests. The choir sang, so I directed and Laura played the guitar. We hadn’t rehearsed any of the songs because we didn’t find out we were performing until the day before, but overall the kids sang pretty well, and they got a round-of-applause at the end of Mass.

When mass was over, everyone had a few hours to make their way to the downtown Center at La Marin, where the festivities would recommence. All of the volunteers took naps and got dressed up. We got to La Marin around 4, just in time to eat. They had sandwiches, chips, and cake for everyone. After everyone ate, people went to play Bingo on the top floor, dance on the second floor, get their faces painted on the first floor, or watch a movie in the basement. The kids loved getting their pictures taken, and I let a few of them (the more responsible ones) borrow my camera and run around and take some pictures themselves. We sang Happy Birthday, and I danced with the kids all evening until around 8 o’clock when everyone started to go home. It was definitely the most fun day at the Center so far, and the day wasn’t over yet.

After the dance was over, Bob, Dave, Juliana and I walked to a part of the city called La Ronda, where the Fiestas were in full-swing. The streets were filled with people and live music. We ended up going to a restaurant to have some snacks, vino hervido, and canelazo, which is another traditional hot, fruity drink. We relaxed until it was time to go meet everyone else at a bar before we got on our Chiva. A Chiva (which actually means goat in Spanish) is essentially a party bus without seats or walls (there’s just a railing around the edge). There is a DJ and a bar where they serve canelazo, and they give everyone who comes on a cup and a whistle. The bus drives all over the city and blasts music while everyone on board dances and holds onto ropes hanging from the ceiling. We invited everyone we knew and packed them in. We shouted “Que viva Quito!” to everyone we passed and they responded with “Que viva!” We stopped at a park at one point so that everyone could get off and go to the bathroom, and when we came back to the Chiva the guys in charge held a dance contest in the park to crown the King and Queen of the Chiva. I ended up being crowned Queen, and an Ecua who was the friend of someone ended up being crowned King! We had our first dance as royalty and then we all piled back onto the Chiva to finish our trip. By the time we got off the Chiva I was exhausted from the long day of fiestas.

Tuesday morning everyone got up and we prepared a huge breakfast of pancakes, smoothies, eggs, and potatoes. We ate together as a family, and then Laura and I had choir rehearsal. The choir has their first big performance this Sunday at a parish called La Dolorosa, so it’s crunch time! They’ll be singing at two masses on Sunday, and then they have a couple of other performances throughout the rest of the month leading up to Christmas. Unfortunately, only about half of the choir showed up because they either forgot we had rehearsal or they didn’t get bus fare from the office like they were supposed to. It was still a productive rehearsal with those who showed up, though.

After rehearsal a group of us went to huge parade that took place downtown. The streets were packed with people and it was impossible to get a good view. Finally, we spotted some people on the roof of a little shop on the side of the road and asked them if we could join them up above. Only half of us were brave enough the scale the front of the building to get onto the roof, but it was definitely worth it. The view of the parade was perfect. Everyone else ended up buying plastic stools to stand on so that they could see over the people. I got some good pictures, but unfortunately my camera died almost right after we got there. The parade was fun, and we made friends with the other people who were on the roof. After a couple of hours we started to get pretty cold, though, so we headed home. It was an excellent ending to a wonderful weekend!

Below are links to Facebook albums that have pictures from the concert, Thanksgiving, some random student photos, zip-lining, and Montañita. I’m still working on pictures from Fiestas de Quito and the CMT birthday party. Hopefully I’ll have them up soon!

Montañita

Everything else!

Next time I post I’ll update you on all of the Christmas events that took place throughout December, including the various performances by our children’s choir, and my vacation in Peru!

Keep in touch,
Jules