First week in Tocachi

I´m in Quito for the day, so I figured it´s time to enlighten you all with my first week in Tocachi! It´s probably been one of the most entertaining/interesting weeks of my life. This is going to be a long post, so feel free to skim if you´re not all that interested in life in rural Ecuador!

I arrived on Tuesday morning about 9:00 and went straight to meet with the director of the school, a petite 50-something lady named Sonja with purple eyeshadow and deep red (dyed) hair. We decided that I will be teaching English to 5-7th grades, and working with the younger kids on "trabajos manuales", aka arts and crafts, and songs. I´ll be at the school everyday from 8-1...on the days there´s class, that is. There were no classes Wednesday-Friday, due to a teacher´s meeting. I get the feeling that class is randomly called off for no solid reason; however, it´s a reality that for many families the education of their kids is not a priority.

Tuesday night the whole fam (4 kids with me and the parents) hopped into the Mitsubishi van (which reminds me of the van in Back to the Future, the one that comes into the mall parking lot to kill Doc; I don´t know if that´s completely random or if it´s same van.. random side note) and headed to Cayambe, about 1/2 hour away. We had to buy flowers and a soccer ball for Heidy, my 11 year-old host sister, who was the beauty queen representative of the school at the county-wide parade the next day. We also stopped at a couple different comedores to try the local fare... Cayambe is "famous" for biscochos, which to me sounds like a parasite but is actually delicious buttery-tasting shortbread. I also had the privilege of trying tripe, or intestines. A little chewy for my taste, but hey, you can´t win em all.

My new host family makes me nostalgic for childhood; just jumping in the car with the fam to head who knows where, kids coming and going at the house, etc. I feel like a little kid with these people, it´s great! On Wednesday we packed into the bus that comes through town every couple of hours to go to Tabacundo for the parade. When we got there the parade had already started, so we ran to meet the group from the school in Tocachi, which consisted of the teachers and a random conglomeration of boys. Heidy was rushed to the front of the group...and so was I. It was super awkward, and highly entertaining. Everyone was in matching sweatsuits (and Ecuadorian), and there I was... the gringa walking next to the beauty queen in jeans and carrying my purse. I think the parade watchers wondered if I was lost. Nonetheless, the teachers seemed to think I should be in front with Heidy. I didnt´t really know what the occasion was, but all of the local schools marched in the parade until we reached the soccer field where the local officials inaugurated the new sport season.


To regress, Tuesday night my host dad Franklin (who works in the Foundation where I had classes) told me about a project they would like my help with. CIMAS (the foundation) has development projects in the county of Tocachi, and they would like me to work with a group of community members to teach leadership and capacitation in order to get the community involved in the projects and take charge of Tocachi´s future. Big job. Franklin and I went to the town meeting on Tuesday night to present the idea. We walked in to find about 25 men in their 20´s and 30´s which immediately intimidated me a little because of the presence of machismo. Franklin presented the idea, and pretty much all I recieved were stares. I shouldn´t generalize or judge, but I felt like the men were thinking, "This foreign girls is going to teach us leadership skills? Pfshhh". All they wanted to know was if I was single or married. So, it´s going to be a challenge. Franklin and I are going back on Tuesday to gauge interest and figure out more details. I don´t really feel that I have the knowledge to teach motivation and leadership to this community, and I don´t think they (the men at the meeting) give me much credit. So, I´m hoping it will be a (positive) learning experience for both sides.

To add to my other tasks, I´m giving English classes in the house every afternoon. Basically I´m teaching my host sibs, but there are a couple other neighborhood kids involved and it could definitely grow. I was indecisive about teaching English before I started my internship, because I wasn´t really sure why rural kids need to know it. It seemed a little colonialist to me. However, the kids from Tocachi that go to high school are incredibly behind because of the lack of English ed. in the school, so it really is a need.

In general, life moves at a much slower pace in Tocachi and I really like it. The views are incredible; I look out my window and see cows walking down the street, people carting wheelbarrows and the occasional tractor. The men of Tocachi all pretty much work in the flower industry (Ecuador is a huge flower exporter), so it´s an agricultural community. The other day I played soccer with my host brother and his friends, and there are always kids playing at the school. I eat rice and eggs for breakfast, and rice and chicken for lunch and supper. Ah, we also only eat with spoons which is interesting.

This coming week will be interesting because I will be at the school every day (given that there are classes), and will start to integrate more into my activities! There´s a lot of down time, so I´ve been reading and generally pondering my existence.... Hopefully more to come next weekend if I make it into the city!!

Hope all is well in the states, I just talked to Nikki and she said the snow has melted and that it´s a beautiful day!!

Chelsea (not as in the soccer team from England because that reference doesn´t work in Tocachi, my name has been given many creative attempts, few of which are successful. I suggested Maria, as in my middle name... I´ll keep you posted!)

Tocachi: Life in the campo

^^ Exactly what I see when I look out my bedroom window ^^
^^My new host "mom" Hirma (she´s 31) and me, sunburned^^
^^My host sister is the beauty queen, the others are kids from the school^^
^^Me with Heidy, my host sister/beauty queen^^
^^The thriving metropolis of Tocachi (aka the street where I live)^^
^^When you´re upstairs, you have to go outside to go downstairs, I think because they built the 2nd floor later and there weren´t stairs in the house. This is what I see when I go out the back door to go downstairs. Not a bad view to see in the morning! ^^

Host family!!

The long awaited picture of my host family!!!!!

Beach pics!!!

Doing a little Sudoku on the beach!!
the beach in Puerto Lopez
soccer in Puerto Lopez
street view of Montañita

sunset in Montañita
Gorgeous!!!
Surf school on the beach in Montañita
enjoying some smoothies!!
Salsa dancing in Puerto Lopez!!

Back in the Sierra

Well, I´m back in Quito. Back to reality, to long pants and long sleeves and rain everyday. Whine, whine, I´m over-exaggerating. I´m happy to say that my sunburn has faded and I am probably the most tan I have ever been in my life! Which will probably only last for a few days, but hey, a girl can enjoy it while it lasts right??

So last night we flew from Manta to Quito, a 30 minute flight. First, if you know me, you know that I LOVE to fly. I love being in airports and people watching, and just the whole experience of flying. Needless to say, I´m super excited that I got to fly twice in one week! It was really neat flying into Quito last night, because this time I could point out and recognize quite a few buildings.

Im at an internet cafe in the mall near my house so I can´t upload pictures until I have my laptop, which hopefully will be tomorrow. Likewise, I´ll write more about my trip tomorrow because this keyboard is oddly slow and randomly puts spaces in the middle of words. I´ll be running errands all day (aka trying to find a good book to read during my internship and buying shampoo) in order to get ready for my move to Tocachi!! The woman I was sitting by on the plane last night is a neueropsychologist in Quito and asked why on Earth I would want to live in Tocachi for 6 weeks. Sigh, I´m really looking forward to it even if nobody else in this country understands!

I´m thinking about you all and am going to miss Easter with the family. I don´t think I´m going to get an Easter basket here... Oh, and Reese´s peanut butter eggs!!!! Eat extra on my behalf :)

Lots of love and God Bless!!

Montañita

Time for a sun break...

I´m in the town of Montañita, and it´s probably one of the most unique cities I´ve ever been in. Lonely Planet describes this place as having a laid-back ethos that means the end of the road for some.. which is completely true. I think a lot of people have come here and never left. Everyone that lives here is either in the hostel business or makes hemp jewelry to sell on the street. There are a ton of people with dredlocks, and everyone surfs. Also, just about every building is a hostel with a restaurant or bar underneath. The buildings are all 3 or 4 stories tall and have straw roofs-- it makes the whole town look like Swiss Family Robinson, it´s a bunch of tree houses!

The sun is STRONG here!!! Aka I´m sunburnt... which is why I´m taking a break in the shade right now. I played beach volleyball with some Montañita people yesterday which was awesome. Oh, and there are a million batido stands (smoothies), which cost 1.00$. Fresh fruit smoothies, sun, huge waves... this place is addicting!

I´ll be back in the mountains tomorrow night, and I´m planning on getting some pictures up at some point on Saturday. This weekend I´ll be packing up to head to my internship!!


love from the gringa roja :)

okay the mouse stopped working so I´m now trying to post using only the keyboard and tab button. ah, I think I´m becoming more patient in this country. If you´re not patient you go crazy. Alright, well I´ll post later this week if I find myself needing some shade... Hope you are all well!
Lots of love!!!

Chelsea (as in the soccer team from England) Marie

la playa

Hola!!

I´m finally discovering that Ecuador is in fact, on the Equator (aka hot climate)!!! I´m on the coast in a sleepy little beach town called Puerto Lopez. The town only has power after 2pm, so we´re taking a sun break in the only place in town that has electricity right now... The culture on the coast is worlds different than in Quito. I´ll write much more about it when I´m back in Quito this weekend, but I wanted to check in and say that I am alive and well under the sun. Tomorrow we are going to Montañita, a beach town known for surfing, an hour south of Puerto Lopez. We´ll be there until Friday when we head back up the coast and fly from Manta to Quito (a 30 minute flight). It´s amazing how different a place can be after only flying for 30 minutes. It´s hot, humid, and I´m getting tons of bug bites!!! (And taking my malaria meds)- But it´s vale la pena (worth the pain), because it´s so beautiful and the ocean is probably my favorite place to be in the world.

mi casa

This is the apartment where I live! And Crispy, the dog...this picture doesn't really do her justice..

Postre and Salsa

buenas tardes!!


We're all on the same time zone now! So, thought I'd give you a little taste of life in Quito by telling you what I did this weekend!! We didn't have class on Friday, which was super nice. Random side note, I have way more of a sweet tooth in Ecuador than in the U.S. I am always looking for a good postre (dessert) here... It's a little disappointing to be honest; this country has AMAZING bread, but the dessert always falls just a little bit short. So my friend Dan and I (one of the 2 guys on my program) went to this chocolate cafe on Friday afternoon in search of something sweet!! I had fruit and fondue, and it was soo good!!! I got a huge selection of delicious fruit (bananas, apples, strawberries, pineapple, grapes), accompanied by dark and milk dipping chocolate. All for under 3.00$$.

Friday night a few of us went to a club called Ramon Antigua. We've become friends with a couple guys who play in a salsa band and who play on Friday and Saturday nights at this club. I LOVE salsa dancing. I wish dancing (that requires more ability than shaking your butt to rap music) were a bigger part of U.S. culture...but there are actually quite a few places to go salsa dancing in Minneapolis, which I'm going to have to take advantage of.

Saturday we had a big "family" dinner, because one of my host cousins is moving to Australia. My host sister made lasagna, which was DELICIOUS. I had been craving Italian food, and was sooo excited to eat lasagna. We also had postre de tres leches for dessert, which is a delicious cake (for those of you who haven't had the great fortune of trying it). I've learned how to make it, so feel free to request some when I'm back in the country!! I went to a bar with my host cousins on Saturday night called Flashback. They only played 80's music, and it was pretty entertaining. I felt like I was in the movie the Wedding Singer...People go crazy for old American music here.

Sunday I went to the inauguration of the new building my host sister's church built. The new sanctuary holds 4500 people and during the service it was standing room only. It was pretty incredible!!

Since it's our last week of classes, I have 2 papers to write this week and an exam. Then next week I'll be at the beach!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Politics Schmalitics

First, I can't believe Hillary won Texas and Ohio!!! Blah. The democrats need to stop being schizo soon and choose a candidate. We pretty much all support Obama down here (students from the U.S., Ecuadorians)...and had a group groaning session this morning when we saw the news. Does anyone know if Edwards has endorsed a candidate yet?

In other news...Brett Farve retired???? Wow. Were the flags in Wisconsin lowered to half-mast in mourning??

Also, no need to worry, Ecuador is not going to war. Apparently we don't have the military power here to put up a fight...maybe in part because everyone is so short and little here??? Hahah, no but really, relations between Colombia and Ecuador are perhaps a little tense but there won't be any military action. But I thought these pictures (above) were entertaining...Who's team would you rather be on?? Bush is with the Colombian president... the other is of Ecuadorian pres. Correa (left) and Hugo Chavez.

Dum...Dum Dum Dum DUMMMM ¿guerra?

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/01/colombia.rebel/index.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/03/03/ecuador.colombia/index.html


A little excitement here in Ecuador....

There´s some political tension happening here between Ecuador/Venezuela and Colombia. Over the weekend, the number 2 Colombian rebel and more than a dozen other Colombians were killed on Ecuadorian soil by the Colombian government (this is my understanding of what happened). Ecuador and Venezuela (Correa, the president here, and Chavez are buds) are upset, because Colombia didn´t have permission to enter, or kill, on Ecuadorian land. Both Ecuador and Venezuela have closed embassies in Colombia and ordered troops to the borders.... Also, the U.S. supports the Colombian president, so this could tighten relationships further between the U.S. and Venezuela, as well as Ecuador... And I thought I was in a peaceful country!! I´ll keep you posted! (But no need to worry!)