November 2, 2010

I am sitting on a couch in AJS (Duran house) right now, sipping on a cup of steaming Don Cafe (the best of instant coffee), eating a banana, and waiting for the cyber to open.  Ecuadorians take All Saints Day seriously - we don´t have work until Thursday, so are trying to make the most of our 5 days off!  

I woke up with two ghosts in my room at 12:01 AM Halloween morning.  It brought my holiday in with a real fright - or as frightening as Jeff and Kipp underneath bed sheets can get.  Our group of 16 had a relaxing 3 day retreat in Playas (a beach town two hours from Guayaquil).  This was time to think about life, speak some English, jump some waves, and play "camping trip".  Unfortunately, our campfire plans did not work out...but we managed without.  Ethan flew from Seattle, Washington to lead the retreat and filled us in with the latest from the states.  It sounds like the campaign trail has started up again.  Politics is one thing we stay out of down here.  Ecuador recently had an attempted coop to sack Raphael Correa - Ecuador´s standing president.  Correa has been extremely vocal for the lower class - installing programs for free university education, and cutting wages to fund other projects.  I really don´t know enough to talk about it intelligently, but I do know that without a police force, the streets in Ecuador are crazy.  In the beginning of October, the police went on strike in response to a pay cut, leaving the rest of Ecuador to scurry to their houses, lock the doors, and stay out of the mayhem.  Fortunately, Monte Sinai was calm - Marco Solis hires a private police force to drive the streets...  Also, because Monte Sinai is underdeveloped, the most anyone could steal from the main street is a couple hundred pieces of bread, and maybe a few tomatoes.  Needless to say, we were completely safe. In Casa Tomas, we used our time in lockdown to make coop-kies and have some community bonding.  Aaron and I also made giant strides with the garden progress.  Aaron can give you an entertaining tour of our garden on You Tube (if you type in casa tomas 2010 Monte Sinai).  You may also find a tour of our house and maybe a song or two performed by the Sinai 5 LIVE!  

Anyway, back to the retreat.   I can honestly say that I had goose bumps for 3 days straight during the retreat -- not what I was expecting when going to a beach in Ecuador.  Nobody in our group planned for cool weather, which lead to a massive shortage in clothing.  It made me miss fall in the Midwest, hot apple cider, and colorful leaves.  We heard the Midwest had its first dusting of snow!  Tracy and Molly, you better be running in the cool weather...  Aaron and I went running on the beach during some free time.  It has been three months since I have had any form of extended physical activity.  Needless to say, my calves are on fire.  It feels fabulous.  

Speaking of Aaron... the one who decided it would be a good idea to use some strange leaves a toilet paper…..and Yes! Celso sped us to the ER in the gray van as Aaron puffed up like a roasted marshmallow in the back seat.  Aaron stayed remarkably calm...and found some comfort in explaining to me how to do a tracheotomy (hole in the throat for emergency breathing) with a ball point pen on our way to the hospital.  I had the ballpoint pen ready in one hand just to make him feel better, but don´t worry Mr. and Mrs. Pierre -- the ‘trach’ was completely unnecessary.  With a few shots and a bit of deflation time, Aaron was back on track.  We are now well stocked with toilet paper.  

We are actually having a hard time keeping Aaron away from the clinic.  A week ago, Aaron left a good centimeter of his pointer finger on the end of a machete as we rushed the rest of him to Sonrisa Naranja clinic for stitches.  Marita and I had a great time watching as they stitched the end of his pointer finger up like a drawstring bag.  The doctor thought it would be a good experience for me to give him his tetanus shot...in the butt.  Talk about community bonding.   I have been practicing drawing blood for HIV testing, so this was a piece of cake (or "es pan comido" as they say in Ecuador) for me.  Not so much for Aaron - apparently next time I need to be a bit quicker.  

The HIV/AIDS training has finally come to an end!  We had our first HIV charla last Tuesday for 73 socias (women who are enrolled in the microfinance program at Hogar).  As with most things at Hogar, gathering the final details together was a bit of a struggle.  But, the session went on, Daniel and Michelle from Fundación Vihda shared the 90 minute talk with me, and 37 women ended up getting tested!  Apparently these are really good odds for HIV talks.  I was really glad Daniel (a native speaker) was there to field questions.  These women were pretty fiery - a couple got on their high-horses, blaming men for the HIV epidemic.  That is not where we were hoping to go with this talk, but at least they are interested and thinking.  We are trying to clear the misconceptions that HIV is primarily carried by homosexuals and sex-traffickers.  Actually, in Ecuador, the highest instances of HIV are in the "Amas de las casas" (women of the house).  

I have also spent quite a bit of time at the Hogar health clinic in Segio Torral (30 minute bus ride from Monte Sinai).  The clinic just added a gynecologist, pediatrician, dentist, and pharmacist in addition to the lab tech and general medicine doctor that were already there.  The clinic looks like an old school house - one room for each doctor, a bench and a swing set outside for the waiting room.  The staff are great - the pediatrician took me under her wing to teach me a few things about medicine, and all of the doctors offered their arms for me to practice drawing blood.  (Don´t worry Mom, I am not drawing much blood -- but needed to know how just in case).  It is intimidating learning to draw blood on a doctor.  But I only failed miserably once...on the dentist.  His low pain tolerance, coupled with the fact that I could not find the blood in his arm was a bad combination.  Oh well.  I figure it was good for him to know how his patients feel.  

Otherwise, work is going well.  I have not blown up any computers lately and have succeeded in communicating with my boss a little better.  I have decided that she is not going to give me much direction -- and I just need to take initiative and get the jobs done.  So far, this attitude is working.  I am giving the "deer in headlights" look much less frequently and have made friends with the other Hogar volunteers.  Fabiola and Felix came to Casa Tomas for lunch the other day.  Felix is from Spain and Fabiola from Chile.  I took advantage of this opportunity to make them chili (haha) and breakfast cherry bars (which I believe was Eric´s first 4-H special foods presentation).  After lunch, I took them to Consuelo´s house for a visit -- who served us shots of homemade whiskey mixed with milk and raw eggs.  Usually I don´t know what I am being served - and try not to find out until I have finished it.  The alcohol was a bit of a surprise at 2pm in the afternoon.  

Our house has started to experiment a bit with meat!  I went with Madre Lucelli to the store the other day to buy ‘safe’ meat and cooked up a recipe of pollo con cola (chicken with cola) from our neighbor Aura.  This recipe consists of orange juice, cumin, garlic, onion, pepper, soy sauce, and cola.  I was not kidding when I said that cola is a big deal down here!  

I assisted Marita with her first Ecua-driving lesson the other day!  I think I am going to tape labels on each pedal before the second driving lesson.  A really big label for the brake would have been nice for the first time around as we tried to navigate the potholes...and a possum as it so happened.  But we are all alive (including the possum), and we successfully retrieved Jeff from his guitar lesson.  A couple more weeks/months of practice and Marita will be ready for the road. 

Monte Sinai had a rodeo to celebrate the independence of Guayaquil the other day.  They kicked off a weekend of festivities with a parade of horses through Monte Sinai.  Aaron and I paid a $3 admission to see the rodeo clowns tell jokes for a couple of hours (Ecuadorian humor is painfully not funny), followed by bronc riding.  They had 3 horses, 3 bulls, and one shoot.  Ecuadorian bronc riding is simple.  The cowboy jumps on the beast (with no halter, no saddle, and often times no shoes) they open the shoot, give the animal a hardy slap on the rump and see what happens.  Often times the horse just runs around the arena throwing a buck here and there.  When the cowboy falls off, everyone runs out there and chases the animal back in the shoot for the next rider.  Apparently audience members can ride too!  Thanks to Aaron´s large mouth, part of the crowd caught wind that the "gringa" rides horses.  Of course, they started chanting my name to go for a ride.  I must admit, I was tempted.  But yes, Dad, my common sense did kick in, and I respectfully declined the offer.  Aaron was also offered a ride...  what a great story that would have been to say we rode in an Ecuadorian rodeo!...  Maybe next time. 

As far as neighbor news goes, Luzmilah had her baby!  She left her house for the first time last weekend and brought her tiny little boy to church.  I am going to start visiting her again, now that she is feeling better.  She has now given birth to 5 kids in her house, with the help of her husband and sisters.  This is the family that is taking care of an 11 year old orphan without papers and without a family.  This little girl does not speak Spanish and can´t go to school without a birth certificate.  The lawyer at Hogar quit the day I planned to make an appointment for her.  We have been looking for a lawyer for the last 2 months with no luck.  That is how the system works down here.  Slow, frustrating, and dysfunctional.  

I have started teaching English on a regular basis to Miguel, Jose, and Maria (Consuelo´s kids).  They have recently stopped going to school because they cannot pay admission.  It is 10 dollars a month per child for high school.  I receive 40 dollars per month in stipend money (Extra money for transportation, shampoo, etc.).  It is all I can do not to hand over my stipend to get these kids an education.  Often times, handing over money does much more harm than good - I understand why we can´t do so.  But after being in this position, education has taken on a whole new meaning to me.  These kids want to learn so badly.  I am honored to spend a couple of hours with them each week.  

On a lighter note, Mariuxi and Cesar have started planning for my visit every Monday afternoon and cooking me lunch.  Jonathon (6 years old) is sitting by the door waiting every time I walk up.  Cesar always has list of challenging questions for me, and Mariuxi keeps asking when my family is coming to visit.  I told her about the Christmas present that Grandma sent with me in August - Which I can´t open until December 25.  She made me promise to open it in her house.  Mom and Dad, I hope you are ready to meet a mountain of neighbors when you come.  They can´t wait.  Oh yes, and I taught Luisana´s kids how to play spoons.  It was messy at first, and we have tears when not everyone gets a spoon.  But I think they have a new favorite game.  

That is the update for now.  Thanks for the letters and emails!  I am thinking of you all and am extremely jealous of your first snow.  Until next time, cuidate!

Becky