Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to All

In order to grab the Christmas season by the proverbial horns, Pete and I had the bone head idea to bring Christmas to Cuenca, Ecuador early this year.

We suited up for the big day, armed ourselves with lollipops and headed out to make new friends the only way we know how, public humiliation. Some were delighted, others cried, some ran back into their houses and others stopped to take pictures and ask us questions.

All in all I would say it was a success. I have never seen so many strangers smile and give hugs to a Santa wearing Capri pants and flip flops.

To see more photos check out the album Merry Christmas, on my photo page at

Some people just got it

In finishing our Clothing and Appearance unit in my third level conversation class, I figured the best way to assess everyone’s mastery of the concepts was to...well, have a fashion show.

I’d heard that fashion shows had worked well in the past, but I was hesitant to lay this bomb on my class given my previous understanding of their creative abilities was based upon a serious affinity for copying I’d observed. The prospect sounded risky, but I tried to outline the parameters of the project really well (using a women’s lacrosse party theme from college “Sophista-FUNK”, a fusion of sophisticated and funky, as my inspiration.)

The day that I presented to the class the project outlines, I held my breath while they formed into their little groups and started the awkward, ‘I’m too scared to share my ideas with a group’ thing. Creative group work is always a bit awkward for some and there is certainly a critical turning point because if someone is fearless enough to present a creative idea, all rests on the comment of the next person to speak. If the presenter’s idea is shot down, a condition I call creativityphobia or don’t-say-anything-stupid phobia results. On the contrary, if the presenter’s idea is affirmed; the group finds their creative spark and from there on out becomes a wonderful little self-governed, self-affirming machine.

So, there I am holding my breath (GASP) thinking maybe this was a bad idea, when I hear laughing.

“PROFE Ella, how do you say ‘Soy un hombre macho y sexy’ in English?”
Ha, you could say- This new style for men says, ‘I am strong (or macho) AND sexy’.
“Tell me, what is your new fashion called?” I ask.

Laura smiles and Roberto just rolls his eyes because he knows too well that this idea will require him to A.) be embarrassed in front of the entire class and b.) become Laura’s puppet or “prodigy” depending on your perspective.

“We will call it, ‘Metro-macho men’”, Laura responds.

The best asset to creative group work is a “fire starter” or bold individual who is able to jump start the creative train and gets the ball rolling. In my class that person is Laura. In an activity a few weeks back when we were describing what we would wear on our perfect date she painted a picture of herself with Brad Pitt on the Beach in Acapulco, Mexico. She’d be wearing a revealing black and white bikini and Brad would be wearing brown Bermuda shorts with his chest bare, oh and they would both be wearing transparent sunglasses, obviously.

In an activity we did just yesterday the task was to use the present perfect tense and write fun quiz for the class. My example was, 'how responsible have you been this week?' Other’s picked 'how friendly' or 'how sporty' are you? Laura wrote a quiz called, 'Are you a good kisser?' (However, there was not one question using the present perfect tense)

So not surprisingly, she was also the inventor of the next biggest thing in fashion “Metro-Macho Men”, a fashion fusing metro sexual fashion with Machismo culture.

I hope that you enjoy the pictures.

Set your standards low

Well, today was my first day of classes. It started off with a bang and ended, well let´s just say...it ended.
Pete made me a bowl of oatmeal and a delicious breakfast sandwich for brainfood and I felt pumped to start the day. I wanted to get to class early, but still took in the morning as I walked along the beautiful river Tomebamba, nevermind the puffs of diesel bus nasty in my asthmatic lungs, to the University of Cuenca. The scene at the school was bustling with energy, lots of new first day of school outfits and cute courting in the courtyard in front of the Department of Philosophy. I walked to the second floor to my assigned room and to my surprise there was another teacher already in the room. I polietly informed her that I had been assigned to the room and she looked at me confused and sort of of feeling sorry for me...
Well after hiking over in my heels (yes, I wore heels) to the second floor of a different building the secretary´s office to get the room situation sorted out. The secretary informed me I did have the correct information so I marched over to the room, not willing to let anyone push my around. I would hold my ground. I would would heed Pete´s advice and ¨not take no crap from nobody¨.
Well, turns out the teacher in my classroom was the teacher of the period before me from 8 to 9...she says to me in English, we´ll be done in 5 more minutes. IDIOT.
Okay, stay composed. Anyone could have made that misstake..right...
My first class was conversation and ever since taking Wilderness Water Safety with Dave Golden I was set of making it my goal to memorize everyone´s name having only heard the names once. BOOYAH! I did it back in the game.
The rest of the class went really well, the students within my department are within their 2nd of 4 years to become english teachers, so they are studious and dedicated. I was even excited to be interrupted by a drum circle in the courtyard just below my classroom. The students are dressed up to the 9´s, as is the Latino way, but have a nice amount of hippie in them which makes me feel right at home. I can almost smell the puget sound.

So, my next class was at 6pm. No problem. I had planned a great first day of activities and the respect and participation I gained from my morning class set me up for good feelings about the second. Also, I took of my heels that gave me blisters. Imagine 40 days hiking in Alaska and NO BLISTERS, but a half day walking in heels in Ecuador and I am hurting.
I can´t deny that I love comfortable shoes. Lesbians are so, so smart.

There I am shutting the door to my house when some jerk feels my butt. I would love to tell you I shouted obsenities at him, but I was so apauled that I just froze. Gross.
Alright, shake it off. Ain´t gonna let a little pervert get me down. What would MLK Jr. do...overcome, overcome.
So I arrive to my department building a little early and this time I play the part of the quick cultural learner and DON´T go in the classroom. My learning curve is impeccable.
Or so I thought.
I wait and everyone leaves, then no one enters...
I go up and down the hallway asking students, teachers, janitors, walls for advice and am told that 222 is my number. Duh its my number it´s my birthday. But, why oh why would 222 let me down (question mark (this computer does not have a question mark))
6:10, 6:15, 6:30...No one.
Well, I say no when to go down fighting AND know when to call it a day.

Pete came to walk me home and it was good to digest the day with him. He always knows what to say, like : ¨I mean, what can you do, the man is a pervert. All you can say is, I am sorry you´re a pervert. ¨

PS. the pictures are totally unrelated, but I thought would spice up a lot of text. This one is of Pete seducing Ms. Ecuador in the Jeep behind him. Thank you Megan Walker for your photography.

Movin' & Groovin'

After sitting everyday all day since September 2nd, I am happy to report that the altitude wailed on me this weekend…and it was wonderful. Yay, for a great weekend of moving and grooving beginning with Friday’s 2-hour salsa lesson and late night dancing, then Saturday’s hike around an area called Papallacta with thermal baths and today’s 3-hour basketball madness.

Friday morning I finished teaching my last of three practice teaching sessions. One highlight was that we practiced a dialogue using questions based on travel and packing for a vacation using Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie as model dummies who had no idea what to bring to Miami and while making a packing list one of my students put on my bikini. Very nice.

Friday afternoon the volunteers from my program took salsa lessons. Our instructors could MOVE and were entertained by our lack of latino “suavetude” when shaking our hips. Surprise: I left the two hour lesson sweaty and needed a shower.

Saturday the group took a trip on little windy roads carved out of the muddy mountainside to Papallacta. The terrain along the river hike was dense along a cascading waterfall. I toyed with the idea of trying Guatita (cow stomach) soup with peanut sauce or Cuy (guinea pig), but opted for a grilled cheese sandwich.

Today at noon nearly 20 volunteers and friends from host families got together to play some basketball. I wanted to reconnect with my baller side, so I decided to throw down. Well, “throwing down” consisted of asking for a sub nearly every 3 plays as I panted heavily at 9,000 feet. Alas, it was fun to practice the ol’ back door and throw some elbows around.

Lots of love to all friends and family,

Ella

You say papa, I say potato

Reviewing most basic Spanish has been a crash course in RE-realizing that the formal and in-formal “you”, one of the most fundamental rules of the language creates an unspoken social hierarchy which infiltrates speech and culture on all levels. Here in Quito, Ecuador people are self-affirmed classists, not racists, but “classists”.

More than word choice, using the in-formal versus the formal can also be a strategy if you want to butter someone up to speak informally or conversely, if you want to put walls between others, you speak formally. As Ecuadorians feel no strong moral, Catholic consciousness binding them to shame in speaking politically incorrectly, the application of this seemingly simple concept becomes exponentially biting in some situations.

Example: the businessman that choose to address me informally, talks to me as a close friend because he wants to make me comfortable with my purchase (AKA not-so-kindly rip me off)

Another Example: An employee uncomfortable with the semi-sketchy boss can choose speak to him formally (AKA create an invisible “you’re a sketch-ball and I’m keeping my distance” line)

Now if that aspect of language doesn’t help you to see that peoples language influences the way that they think, I don’t know what will.

Viva Ecuador

Ecuador it is.

A week has gone by and I’m happy to say that so far I’ve seen the University I’ll be teaching at, spent 20 hours on a bus, bought a cell phone, learned to Ecua-wine in order to get what I want, watched a man eat fire, saw Ms. Ecuador, tried French fry soup, caught a glimpse of Jefferson Perez, national speed walking champion and have been tempted by many a grilled pig street food vendors.

I am spending the year in Ecuador and will be teaching English at the University of Cuenca. I don’t know much more than that as my director is on vacation and my meeting with the Director of the Dean of the Philosophy department leads me to believe I will be the thesis advisor of English teachers rather than the beginning level English instructor of adolescent girls.

This uncertainty leaves me feeling balanced and provides my life with much meaning.

As I try to make sense of things I will write. So, feel free to read a long, skim, look at pictures as you like.

I know last year people were pretty timid about commenting on my blog while I was in Bolivia, but I’m all about diversity of opinion and I certainly am not holding my tongue, so you shouldn’t either.

23?

My birthday was a riot. At the Comedor the 80 or so kids sang me a birthday song that was heart warming and made me teary eyed. It will not be easy to leave soon. I blew out my candles and my face was shoved in the chocolate sheet cake by my loving co-workers.

The evening plans were to meet in the Plaza and head to a Karaoke bar that my friend Jorge promised would be a success and he promised to sing.

A stupid grin crossed my face as we pulled up to “Celos” (Jealousy), a throw-back to Las Vegas love lounges complete with little neon hearts above the bar, a cheesy awning above janky French doors and precariously hung dusty, navy curtains. The bar was old west style; we ordered the only kind of beer available and sat uncomfortably in our cute, but dirty love seats sans cushions. I couldn’t have dreamed up a more comical decor and ambiance and of course I loved every minute of it.

The first man that sang made my face convulse uncontrollably, probably survival instincts working to close passages leading to my ear drums. Painful and funny and I knew at that moments we had chosen the right place.

Later, a big woman in pink sitting at a table with her friends was holding the wireless microphone and “bringing down the house” with her sultry boleros. After her song ended I yelled “bravo” and was surprised to that the clientele was not as roused and applauded the same for Bolivian Aretha Franklin as they did for one drunken, tone-deaf Casanova.

Jorge chose to sing a traditional Bolivian song. I will try to explain why this made me pee my pants. Santa Cruz, the wealthiest department of Bolivia and its people, “Cruceños” or “Camba” have fervent regionalist pride, a desire regional autonomy and walk a thin line bordering on racism towards the country’s indigenous majority (located predominately within Bolivia’s mountainous, Altiplano region). While traditional music from Santa Cruz uses brass instruments, the traditional indigenous music uses strings and high-pitched flutes. Jorge is a poster child for Santa Cruz’s youth. He is outgoing, a prankster, high social standing, comes from money, has a car, and campaigns for Santa Cruz autonomy.
I don’t wish to say that Jorge’s choice to sing a traditional song was mean-spirited and insulting, in fact, all Bolivians know traditional Bolivian music and it is obvious national pride is important. However, his choice to sing the traditional song was half clever and half pompous prank. It was pushing the envelope of politically correct, but this is more of a Western concept anyway.
So, when traditional wind instruments started playing over the speakers, the room turned to find the person with the mic and could not help but laugh to see Jorge with a fat grin on his face singing away, high-pitched whooping and all.

Because it was my birthday it was my duty to sing for the team. I chose Stevie Wonder’s “I just called to say I love you” –certain to be a success. Boy would it have been great if I had not lost my voice playing BINGO with the kids that day. I opened my mouth to sing and not even a squeak came out. The microphone was quickly passed to my understudy: a slick Bolivian chain-smoker (think nasty and you’ll only be half way there). He took over my gig and in 4 brief, scarring minutes ruined my favorite song forever. I did not know whether to laugh or cry on account of being embarrassed and because his English accent sounded like mix between crooner Frank Sinatra and a deaf catfish. Not only that but somehow the singer was looking at me like it was sung to me, both in my place and in my honor.

Women and Pains

In order to get to the Maternity ward at the General Hospital in Montero you walk down a corridor past the nurses stand and take a right; rather than a left which takes you to the morgue and a dining hall facility (perhaps an administrator’s oversight?)

The day that I first went to visit Katie at the hospital I was anxious to find her. Katie had been hospitalized the night before because she was spiking fevers and complained of deep bone pain; the diagnosis- Dengue Fever. Dengue Fever is also referred to as bone-breaking disease to give some idea about the level of discomfort. Given the unparalleled amounts of rain this season so far in Montero, the mosquitoes have quite a haven for beloved offspring/little vectors for diseases such as Dengue.

Katie is a tough, so the fact that she was hospitalized made me nervous and eager to find her—which was not hard because nearly everyone was able to tell me what area and what room the “gringa” was in.
Immediately after we found her we were told to leave the room for bug fumigation.

“Bug Fumigation?!” I responded hoping that I’ve heard someone wrong, but sure enough a man with a mask and a fumigation backpack was at the door to be let in. How come HE gets a mask?

“Don’t worry”, the nurse says to me he’s only doing it in the bathroom.

“You can’t fumigate the room of a pregnant woman with Dengue, that’s ridiculous” I say, “I mean you might as well offer her beer, don’t you think that will also help her baby”, I say and immediately realize I am foolish and that I will, from now on, be pegged as Katie’s obnoxious, hot-headed Gringa friend.

We leave the room and walking past the open windows without screens makes me livid that Katie is enduring the discomfort of moving down the hall with her IV bag and later will be exposed to the nasty fumigation smell because of someone’s misguided notion that fumigation is a better solution than putting screens on the windows. We walk down the hall to be herded into the one room at the back of the Maternity Ward, with no fan.

Stepping into the room it felt like slow motion as my naïve eyes grew wide peering around the room at all the women, laid in their cots with new, new babies by their side. What most stuck out to me was the look in their eyes. Their eyes, some of them young were heavy and expressive with a mysterious mix of stern, but calm, suffering and disinterest. And there I was looking on them, probably it was rude, but I was numb with awe for the way these women had all shared this shared experience, suffering and all. And now it looked to have shaped their eyes in the same knowing, heavy way and I had no way to relate to such a thing.

Later in the hall there was another woman with a big, round belly leaning on the brick wall as she walked, breathed out her discomfort in short puffs. “Why is she walking? Why isn’t she in a bed?” I asked my friend María.

“Honey, at that point you don’t want to sit, you don’t want to lie, you just need to walk until the baby starts coming out.” She went on to say that her sister thinks birth is the most natural of things and that she agrees, but that there is nothing natural about the level of a mother suffers to birth her baby.

It’s only recently in working with Katie that I have learned anything about pregnancy: pre-natal pills, folic acid needs, first trimester nausea, urgent food preferences, 8:30 bed times, expansion of pelvic girdle and subsequent pain, etc. I also know that in fourteen weeks gestation period that the pictures of the baby have changed showing that the little bugger has grown from looking like a snake with a short tail to a bird with flappy wings.

It’s never really been in my radar, but it finally seems more relevant when Katie, at 27, is someone that I’ve felt so natural relating with, especially compared with Bolivians. After all with her Midwest upbringing, the same Asics running shoes, study abroad experience in Spain, volunteer with World Teach program in Ecuador (where I am registered to be next September) and when we talk there are too many “I know exactly what you mean” moments for me to not accepting ideas of divine intervention or at least that our meeting is a bizarre, wonderful coincidence.

NOTE: Dad, please know that in this entry is on my ruminations of women and pangs of childbirth which distinct from me being or having immediate desires to be pregnant. Rest assured this is still a long time off.

Little Evelin

(This picture is unrelated to the story below, but its a good shot to capture the "aguayu" or traditional textile that women from the altiplano wear for carrying around just about anything...kids, chickens, sugar cane, pigs, etc.)

One similarity of families at our Comedor is that the youngest child in a family is the most smiley and cheery of the bunch; little Evelin who comes to the Apoyo Escolar in the afternoon is no different. While shy at first, Evelin is a sweetheart with bubbling energy and smiles, but it turns out she's more of a “bruiser” than the little dresses she wears let on.

In general, the youngest of the family are, in a way, innocent to the harsh reality of their situations. While childhood innocence might seem normal of children in general, my experience with these kids has been that dealing with difficult and explicit themes happens abruptly and early on. Today, while the older siblings and parents are stressing to bail water out of their houses and cringing at the sight of more rain- the littlest kids are out swimming in the street that is now their river-- attempting to catch snakes and frogs.

Nope, there’s no such G-rating system on movies here. That nonsense limits a child’s exposure, and exposure is better than protection, so that reality doesn't catch kids off-guard. That said, older siblings take the brunt of household chores, care for siblings and consequently they wear on their young faces expressions heavier than their years; the financial and other related stresses that are but facts of life. The littlest children are blessed with extra support from siblings and are looked upon by their family with an expression that is almost nostaliga and appreciateion for such young innocence.

So, today I was helping Evelin to practice writing her numbers today when we came to the number eight or “ocho”. “OCHO” she yells. “Yup”, I say. “OCHO”, she says again, this time up in my face and with more conviction. I’m pretty confused why all of a sudden she’s stoaked about writing her numbers, but always happy when the kids have “normal kid” moments of just being silly, so…well I run with it because I’m their CRAZY gringa teacher and if I'm only good for one thing it is relating with my students by making myself look like a raging idiot.

“OCHO”, I bark back at her and she echos back louder. Then somehow the word "ocho" changed from a number, then to a dog barking, next to a racist imitation of an old Chinese man, and later to a sneezing sound. Evelin’s favorite was the sneeze so she ran with it and this went on for sometime. I sneezed big and she sneezed even bigger. I would attempt to look more and more foolish and Evelin continued to copy.

And then the sneeze got too big.

Evelin drew her head back, gained momentum and smacked her head against the table on the way down, taking a sizeable bite out of her lip at the time of contact with the little table. When she lifted her head back up I didn’t know what face to make. My first thought was to freak out and check if she was missing teeth, but I remembered that my sister says to never act scared or the kid will mirror that emotion. My next thought was to laugh hysterically and the fact that the number eight escalated such excitement in the two of us to bring us to this moment and brutal collision with the table, and then that made me think of all those times you were reprimanded in school by teachers who said, “sure, its all fun until someone pokes their eye out”.

When Evelin brought her head back up her face looked startled at first and just as she was about to begin giggling her features morphed, got heavy and changed to expressions of pain and her lip started gushing blood from two teeth-marked places.

I swept her up into my arms and ran to the bathroom to apply direct pressure and rinse her mouth out when I met my boss, Pennye, (who is here visiting from the States) en route to the bathroom. Obviously this incident was not a big deal, but given my track record this week it didn't look to good. Pennye layed into me a bit after having heard a previous child abuse incident just days before involving me cuddling and tickling a little boy in my lap who had an unfortunate hole in the crotch of his shorts with his little member sticking out- inches away from my hands.

All told I still have my job, but it’s been recommended that I go and confess my sins this weekend.

Grinding my teeth

This afternoon I had the realization that with 6 weeks left it might be time to let live some of the provocative inconsistencies of my job for good. Perhaps related to a questionable rash I have contracted from the kids and might need an injection in my butt to fully heal. Blast. There always seems to be some reason that it is hard to get into a rhythm, family illnesses, vacations, internet boyfriends in town, change of employment, and sighting of big snakes…
Whatever it is, consistency is no virtue and it becomes all hogwash to preach to the choir somedays and throw cares to the wind the next 4 days. Most consistent in its inconsistency, this is a system that always allows excuses. Pleas are heard and pardoned- even the most vulgar. The result that I see is that the delivery of the message is nothing. Give each person’s word 50% likelihood and keep note of specific incidents of higher performance according to whether their word matches with their action. For mothers and adults this is a lost cause, it is how they’ve learned to communicate and treat their commitments, to live day to day. The reality being that because everyone abides by this system of “if it happens, it happens” that means it’s institutionalized in banks, bakeries and hell the governor has to relax expectations. Therein lies the brutal circle. I mean and I may bitch, but I’m no type A personality, friends. Failed promises create a slippery slope and an unreliable hogwash of a way to communicate and most pangs me with the kids.
And until those inconsistencies are smoothed out we will be left defining and re-defining the objectives of the kids program rather than setting a definition and growing the program.

On the flip side, my berating of this attitude toward commitments is overdone. As a task-oriented program organizer it makes me want to bash my head against a brick wall, but as a friend of my co-workers I see that this orientation towards family and loved ones is the most pardonable of offenses. Without question, people come through on their promises to care for another, celebrate and thank one another. No matter the circumstances it is hard to throw together a meeting last minute, but a party can be worked up in under an hour. I am consistently blown away by the thought and appreciation kids and their mothers express.

So, I’d say a graph summarizing my job would show irregular marks for productivity, but showing consistent and high for satisfaction. Long-term results? I'll get back to you on that later.

Speaking of satisfaction: I like hammocks and pretty flowers

Back to Bolivia

During the generous, month-long Christmas vacation I managed to sneak in a trip home to spend the holidays with family and still find time to travel parts of Bolivia before today, the 15th of January.

I was ready to travel to other parts of Bolivia to see mountains and see more of this large country. Plus, after living in the lowlands region which is distinct from its other culture home to llamas, quinoa, altiplano, indigeneity, and mountains more commonly associated with Bolivia as its indigenous culture constitutes a strong 80% majority.

The highlight of the trip was a 4 day jeep trip around the Salar de Uyuni- a.k.a. giant salt flats in Southwest Bolivia. Having not seen the 7 wonders of the world I still might dare to say that this could just be the 8th wonder. Mr. Peter Daniels and I were in good company with 5 Aussies and Patricio our Driver/Mechanic/Chef in our ’83 Land Cruiser. We managed to blow out two tires, see snow, desert, flamingos, llamas, pink lakes, green lakes, natural hot spring and lots of salt. Another highlight for me was that our talkative Aussie mates exploited Pete’s patient listening skills, finding him to be quite the attentive audience for tales of world travels, knowledge of Land Cruiser mechanics and stint with being phone tagged by the Aussie CIA equivalent over exclusive rights to US technology coveted by the Russian and Chinese governments.

The initial travel itinerary was adjusted due to transport complications because as it turns out-- political violence and blockades make it difficult to travel. Luckily, I travel lightly most usually without plans and much less reservations.

So, instead of staying the course the new plans became flip it and reverse it.

After finishing a tour of the giant salt flats in southwest Bolivia in an 83’ Land Cruiser with Mr. Peter Daniels and 5 Aussies, Pete and I scrambled to find a bus going in any direction AWAY from road blockades. We ended up with a ticket bringing us to a destination (Potosí) 2 hours from our desired destination (Sucre) and eventually found the last taxi leaving for Sucre. Luckily, this driver was willing to share his compact car with 3 large, jovial miners, me and Pete. Unfortunately, compact cars have 5 seats not six. And somehow, Pete and I found ourselves -for the first time- in a situation where we were smaller than Bolivians and therefore shoved into the front seat together; long-legged Daniels in the seat and me wedged between the Pete dashboard. This was only after I had to walk a block or so away from the taxi to avoid confrontations with the military police standing guard by the car, and then to later be picked up by the taxi on the other side of street where it WASN’T illegal to ride 6 in a compact car.

If it wasn’t for the 80’s love ballads cassette (2 times over) I don’t know what I would have done.

The next day we found a bus company to take us on our second 15 + hour bus ride back to Santa Cruz a hop, skip and a jump from my home in Montero. My seat happened to be beside an overweight man in a small gray polo that should have paid for half of my seat price as well as the entirety of his own. His lack of awareness for my personal space bubbles made me itchy and disgruntled and I didn’t much enjoy that the crumbs of his sandwich blew into my face as he ate it in the window’s breeze.

Somehow I wondered if I had really struck gold though when I discovered Pete would be sharing a seat with two girls and a turkey.

Anyone that previously doubted my "crazy, made-up story" about the Bolivian tradition of intoxicating a turkey pre-killing story before can ask Pete for the details.