Eye on the Prize

Ok, this is somewhat disjointed but stick with me.

Well school is in full swing. Teachers and students are settling into normal schedules and the Gringo is still trying to figure it all out. A weaker person would have given up trying to understand everything and just go with the flow. Wait, did I say weaker? I meant wiser. However, I do enjoy getting surprised on a daily basis so life is good. 

This year my high school has been given the honor to march in a parade as the Captain and his entourage. The parade is called the Mama Negra and consists of 6 main characters, the Captain being one of them. The principle of my school will be the Captain and I was asked to march behind him. The Mama Negra is a very popular festival here in Ecuador and apparently known around the world. I am not sure how true that is but have been told it over and over again. I will say that all the photos I have seen of the festival include ample of amounts of foreigners. I am anxious to see their reaction as they see a white guy walking in a very traditional parade. 

My costume is rather elegant, complete with a sword and handmade shoes. I have to learn the choreography for the march and the men at my school are very serious about this. So serious in fact that we have cancelled classes 3 times already so that we can work on our moves with many more practices to follow. (I really don’t want to stab anyone around me so this might be a necessary evil.)

The festival “officially” begins November 9^th. I put officially in quotation marks because the party has already started. The Mama Negra of the pueblo started last week and I have been told that each neighborhood holds their own mini-Negras from now until November. It is not uncommon to hear fireworks at night here but now that the festival season is upon us I hear them constantly. No rooster to wake me at 6 am, just flying fireworks. 

I recently attended a fiesta at my high school that the whole city was invited to. I was told to wear a poncho and a hat. I only had a hat that was from the coast and did not have a poncho. My host friend told me I could wear his. He had a dark one and a bright one. Which did I pick? Of course the yellow and orange one! My coworkers wore dark ponchos at the beginning of the fiesta but then shed them to make dancing easier. I, on the other hand, wore mine all night. I stood out like a sore thumb as I danced in my bright attire but had a great time. 

I blend in right?

After a recent training in Quito a few friends and I decided to go camping in a nearby national park. The place we camped was called Boliche. This is a campsite and recreational area in Cotopaxi National Park. We took a bus and were dropped off in basically they middle of nowhere and began our hike into the park. A 45 minute hike through the woods brought us to the entrance. We paid a small fee for our tents and then we ushered into the park by an overzealous park ranger. Maybe overzealous isn’t the word. EXTREMELY happy to see tourists come to his park is maybe a better description. He explained many things about the park and how great it was. After we paid our way in he asked to take a photo with us. We obliged and then hoped to be on our way. He then took a photo with a friend’s large backpack and even took an action shot as he slung my friend’s backpack on his shoulder. All of this was highly entertaining if not a bit strange.

Our Campsite

I cannot say nice enough things about Boliche. This park was small enough to day hike and had beautiful views of the surrounding snowcapped volcanoes, especially Cotopaxi. The park staff was professional and courteous. The campsite was clean and accommodating. We had a great time there. I might have also just missed camping.  One thing I will say is I was glad I brought plenty of clothing. The weather became rather frigid after the sun went down. We had a campfire but being at such a high elevation in the Andes always lends itself to very low temperatures. 

...And Boliche Had Llamas!

I am currently preparing myself to climb Cotopaxi, the enormous mountain outside my city. It promises to be very difficult and the guides in town recommend training before attempting it. I do not feel that I am out of shape but I am working really hard at preparing myself physically for the upcoming challenge. Just today some friends and I climbed a nearby mountain. Putzalahua has great views of Latacunga and other surrounding cities. The weather cleared nicely as we neared the top and afforded a nice panoramic view of the place we call home. 

Cotopaxi

On the way back to Latacunga this afternoon I had yet another very awkward moment. I had to stand as we caught a bus on the Pan-American Highway. After 10 minutes of standing I noticed a small baby sitting on her mother’s lap. The chubby little kid smiled up at me and I did my best to keep her attention and smiled back at her. After a good 10 seconds of staring at the kid I realized that the mother was looking at me as well. Her face seemed to say, “Like the show?” As it turned out, the mother had been breastfeeding when the baby turned and looked up at me. What I affectionately call, “the milk show”, had just been interrupted and I seemed to be staring directly at the… uh… the woman, though in reality I was just looking at the kid. The woman smiled and I tried to act as though I saw nothing, though the opposite is true. Luckily it was only a short 5 minutes more until we reached the terminal where I hurried off the bus and avoided eye contact.

Word to the wise, keep your eyes forward and don’t look at the babies on the bus, they might be eating…

School's back in, BYO fresh produce.

After a very busy summer I was looking forward to getting back to normal school so I could rest. In cruel irony this came full force.

Teachers here, similar to the US, are mandated to return to school a week prior to the students arrival. This period is to plan and prepare. I came in each day of this period in order to get an idea of what the next year would be like. After an initial meeting where the new Rector, principal, explained a few plans for the school year and then we were all dismissed. I then asked around about what we would do for the following 5 work days. My English teachers have been told that we will be using a new English textbook this year. However, we did not and still do not have them so planning was almost impossible. We spent the week playing cards, chatting about vacation, and watching some of the male teachers gamble. (I literally watched one man run out of money and use avocados as a currency substitute.) This is not to say that the week was not productive. I did get pretty good at spider solitaire.

On the Friday before the students returned I asked for each English teacher's schedule. This would prove impossible because not one my teachers had been given a schedule from the authorities. Coming from the American world of education this astounded me. The entire weekend I stressed about what would happen when the students showed up on Monday. Even the students schedules were not prepared. Thoughts of complete and utter chaos filled my head. Of course this did not happen. Monday came around and everyone milled about chatting about their weekend and the crazy weather we were having. Students played soccer and basketball to pass the time as their parents watched.

Around noon we had a school wide meeting where the Rector welcomed everyone and officially kicked off the new school year. Teachers received their schedules and everyone moseyed on to class. Classes went on with relatively few hitches. Teachers vamped and created interesting assignments for their new students on the spot. After school was over all the teachers met in the library and went on about their milling.

After some introspection I realized that those two weeks taught me a few things:

1. I am a planner. I never realized that order and structure were so important to me. It takes losing something to realize how much you miss it.

2. My worrying is of no help. The week leading up to school I was stressing due to the fact that we had no schedules or books with which to plan. However, things are running as smoothly as they were when I arrived. My stress only affects me and is not productive.

3. Productivity is relative. Coming from the American way of life I have a mentality of go-go-go. I remember as a boy hearing that, "If you hands ever go into your pockets it should be a reminder that you could be doing something, be productive". This logic does not apply here. It is neither good nor bad, simply not applicable. In order for me to be productive here I need to have my hands in my pockets from time to time and chat away with my co-workers and the administrators of the school. Coming into school with a go-go-go attitude quickly bogs one down.

4. I need to take a step back. Many times when I see things that I think I can do better I need to distance myself from the situation and ask questions about it rather than immediately try to change the way things are. While I have made some changes and suggestions, there are many things here that I simply need to cope with even if I do not understand the method to the "madness".

5. This is what I am here for. Despite some impatience that I experience from time to time I remind myself that this is what I signed up for. I am an incredibly blessed and lucky individual because I am  living a dream of mine. I am in a magnificent country surrounded by people that accept me for all my American "oddities" and I am going to make the most of my time in wild Ecua-land.

Now, a positive note:

In the last school year my school was divided into two campuses. This year the administration decided to combine the two campuses. Now, all levels are packed into one high school. The ages range from 11 to 18. What a mix... Anyway, there were many teachers that I had never met from the other campus. I had been told it was a bit of a boys club there and I wasn't too sure how well they would accept the new Gringo. To my surprise I was warmly greeted by all of the faculty and especially so by the men. I am greeted daily by each the guys with high fives and even bear hugs from a few, especially jovial, individuals. This is something I know I will miss when I return to the States.

And now for a funny story about sarcasm:

Over the break I attended a conference with some of my English teachers. We were walking back from a coffee break and I spotted a tall Gringo backpacker walking far ahead of us on the other side of the road. I pointed at him and asked aloud what my brother was doing in Latacunga. I have a very sarcastic sense of humor and this was yet another instance that I was reminded that sarcasm is not used or understood here.

The ladies looked at me and then looked at him. No one laughed and they then started telling others in the group that my brother was in Latacunga and had the audacity to not tell me. It took me a second to realize that they did not understand I was joking. One of the ladies even called out to the guy. I had to act quickly in order to stop the confusion and potentially embarrassing situation. I explained that I was joking and my brother was actually back in Amarillo and they should not to be alarmed. A few awkward laughs and we moved on. Yet another lesson learned.



Oh, care packages full of avocadoes are appreciated, I may want to get into gambling.




 I have attached a few photos from a recent adventure. Hope you enjoy, we sure did.


Have a friend milk a cow...

...then drink warm the goodness as the momma's calf watches on.



Rode in the back of a truck half the day with this kiddo.

Life is good my friends.