Hot dogs for everyone!

After climbing Putzalahua last weekend I was very tired and not quite ready to start the work week. On Monday it was difficult to walk. Every part of my body was sore but work started none the less. This week was rather productive at my high school. I was able to work with several of my teachers in and out of their classrooms. This had been elusive due to time constraints and cancelled classes. A fellow volunteer and I held our English club where close to 70 kids showed up. We made small planters out of orange peels. The kids really enjoyed making them. After they finished them we planted them in the school garden. We will see if any of them actually grow. Due to dryer weather and general lack of concern on the part of 13 year olds I am guessing we won’t see too many buds.

Orange Peel Planters

This weekend I went to a birthday party for my boss’s son that was turning 9 years old. When we walked in I knew we were in for a treat. Cake, party favors, all kinds of food, a bouncy house and a DJ all sat waiting. The party was to begin at 2:30 so we arrived around then. The other Ecuadorian guests arrived between 3:00 and 4:00. How American of us to show up so “early”. 

Birthday time. Each of those baskets are party favors.

Ecuadorian parties are all about food. I think I ate more food that day than I ate all week. There was a continuous stream of plates placed in front of me. Not wanting to be rude, I ate everything. Plus, I am a volunteer so free food is the best. My boss came up to me early in the party and asked that I cook hot dogs and serve them at some point in the party. I happily accepted my new role as hot dog vender. I even got to use a sweet hot dog cart.

Awesome right?

Ecuadorian Tug 'o War. No rope necessary

We played many games and watched on as the kids enjoyed themselves. Everyone at the party was genuinely nice and didn’t seem to find it odd that Gringos had invaded the party. We were accepted into the group just as anyone else would have been. 

Just today a group of us went to the Ilinizas. These are two large, very high snow-capped mountains about an hour outside my city. We signed up to go on a short hiking trip with the local gym. Our destination was not the summit but to hot springs that were high on the slopes of Iliniza Norte.  We traveled by bus over very bumpy dirt roads before we had to get out because the bus could go no further. We had hiked about 2 hours when we reached a mineral water fall that was about 40 feet high. The water was warm and steam was coming off of it. The mineral rich water had stained the rock to a burnt orange color. We took photos and then continued on our way. 

Mineral Waterfall near Los Ilinizas

A short but very steep hike led us to the springs. The weather was very cold due to the high altitude (roughly 14,000 feet) and the steam from the springs could be seen from a great distance. We were some of the first to arrive at the springs. I quickly stripped down and threw on my bathing suit. The water was warm and felt nice considering the bitter cold and wind. I stayed in the springs for about 30 minutes and then made the decision it was time to get out. That was about the coldest I have been here in Ecuador. Trying to dry off and put on pants and tie my boots in the very cold air about turned my fingers to icicles. We spent some more time around the springs and then headed down late in the afternoon taking in the majestic views of the Andes. 

As I re-read this post I can’t help but think about how busy I have been. I can only hope that writing these posts will help me remember all the experiences I have been lucky enough to have.

Schools out for summer!

The school year has drawn to a close here in the Andean region of Ecuador. Students were released this past Friday with only a small percentage staying for “supletorios”, or summer school. Similar to the United States, teachers are required to stay and “work” at the school until the end of July. I have heard that this period of time largely includes card playing. Maybe instead of methodology training I can teach Bridge to my English teachers. The faculty will have a little less than a month off before returning for a few more weeks of cards then we resume classes in September.

Not quite Ecuadorian children but a great photo nonetheless

I, as a volunteer, am expected to work through the vacation period. I plan on spending much of this “free time” working on Community Assessment Tools that I must present to the Peace Corps during a conference in August. These “tools”, no pun intended, are rather involved. I am to interview around 50 families in their homes, conduct surveys in my school community, and poll my counterparts about what exactly the needs are in my specific community. This process is supposed to guide me to new projects and to gain a better perspective of my community and what my role might be in community development. Personally I think CAT is for volunteers to meet their community and further help with integration. I am all about meeting new people.

In addition to CAT I plan on continuing to work at two local universities. UTC and ITSA have extended offers to me to work with a few of their English courses. I began working at each university three weeks ago. I really enjoy working in an academic setting with students who want to learn. Working in the university is fueling my professional dream of becoming a professor in the US. iYo sí puedo!

I have been working with visually impaired students at the Ministry of Education on a weekly basis. However, they also are now on vacation. This particular job requires a lot of creativity. Every week I try to think of new activities to aid me in teaching English to these students. As one can imagine there is not much material on the internet for this very specific task. Maybe I will make my first million by selling my lesson plans.

I went back to Cumbaya recently after a friend invited me to come to his son’s 15^th birthday party. Eager for cooked food and good company I accepted his invitation. Cumbaya is a well-off suburb of Quito that is home to the movers and shakers of Ecuador’s capital. I expected a warm greeting upon my arrival to the family’s house as I was given one month ago when I visited. Instead, the grandmother of the family scolded me for not calling or visiting the family sooner. It is strange being hugged and chastised at the same time. This was more or less repeated by every member of the family including those I had never met before.

I had bought a t-shirt to give to the birthday boy but absent mindedly left it on the bus. I had shown it to another member of the family the day before so at least it was known that I had tried. In hindsight, it was probably better the birthday boy didn’t see my gift. It was a knock-off Vans t-shirt. “Chimbra” or fake clothing is very popular in Ecuador but within the gated community of Cumbaya my gift might have been judged a bit harsher.

We all sat down for a 5 course lunch. I still do not know which spoon or fork to use with each course. I was excited because they told me we were eating Lasagna as the main dish. As with every meal here we started with soup. Salad followed shortly thereafter and then on to the main course. It looked absolutely delicious. I cut into my lasagna and to my surprise the meat was hot-dogs. I tried to hide my surprise and ate it happily. Ecuador, you never know what to expect.

Before lunch we all watched a “Toros del Pueblo” from the roof of my friend’s house that was being hosted in Cumbaya. This is basically a bull fight that anyone could participate in. BYO Cape. I was assured that the bullfight was safe and no one would be seriously injured. Those horns still looked pretty sharp.  

I did not bring my camera to the bull fight so this pirated photo from Google will have to suffice

The prize for the best bullfighter was a large pizza. I assumed I heard incorrectly but a man standing next to me reassured me that it was indeed the prize. Many of the men that jumped into the arena had obviously had a bit too much “liquid courage” in their quest to for a large ham and pepperoni. One heavy-set man in particular stood out. He did not bring a suitable bull-fighting cape but used his black and white poncho instead. He would stumble around the arena until he had the bull’s attention. Then as the bull prepared to charge the man would have a moment of clarity and run at a drunken full sprint to the fence. Twice he launched himself at the fence only to collide with it as the bull was in hot pursuit. He would climb the fence quickly and both times he did a front-flip over the top of the fence and landed square on his back. This brought great cheers from the audience and from me as well.

I had a great time watching this exposition and even had a very small desire to participate. However, I think the Gringo will stick to sheep-fighting for now.

Sheep Fighting and a Birthday Party

After reading the title of this post you probably assume that I am going to write about two separate occurrences. Only in Ecuador do birthday parties include a sheep fight amid the festivities.

After a long week of working out kinks in my schedule and trying to persuade officials at my school what my actual job was I was ready for so rest and relaxation. This came in the form of a birthday party that a fellow volunteer and I were invited to. The Ministry of Education English Coordinator had invited us to celebrate her birthday in a near a small town named Pujilí about 45 minutes from my house. The birthday party began at 11:00 am in the city at a Catholic Mass in honor of her deceased parents. At the conclusion of the Mass the party moved to the cemetery to pay respects to her parents. Nothing says birthday fun quite like visiting a cemetery.

Up until this point my friend and I had a tough time actually finding the birthday girl. We walked from the church to the cemetery unaccompanied. Gringos stand out in any crowd here but on this day we got more than our share of stares. Dressed up white people walking from a church to a cemetery in front a slow moving procession tends to catch the Ecuadorian eye. Awkward moments abound here.

When we finally met up with the coordinator and her family outside the cemetery we were warmly greeted. I can not say enough about how genuinely nice, caring and community-oriented the people of Ecuador are. After all the introductions were made and tons of cheeks kissed we all hopped in cars and headed to a hostería where the party would continue. The location of the hostería was perfect. We were high in the Andes surrounding by lush green mountains. The site had a restaurant, spa, large gathering room and two pools. The skies were clear and promised good weather throughout the day.

Shortly after arriving lunch was served. We ate Chugchucaras, the famous plate from Latacunga. It consists of fried everything. Empanadas, pork, popcorn, bananas, and moté are on the plate and are all fried. Happy birthday was sung, the cake was cut and stomachs were filled. During lunch I had a good conversation with the brother of the birthday girl who lives in Quito. We chatted about where I was from and what I was doing. He was obviously an educated man and I appreciated the conversation. He even spoke broken English. By the end of the party he and his wife invited me and a fellow volunteer to come to their house in the coming months for lunch.

At the conclusion of lunch we were all escorted outside for “popular Ecuadorian games”. The first was a potato sack race. The man announcing the competitors was really hamming it up. My introduction to the field was something like, “Hailing all the way from the great state of Texas…. the amazing, the fantastic...TOOOD!” My name is very difficult to pronounce in Spanish. Even my debit card has my name spelled at “Tood”. We lined up and on the count of “Prepararse, Listo, Bueno” and we were off. After a mad dash I prevailed as the champion. I was given a small notebook and pen as my prize. Both will come in very handy because I am always in need of both.

We played a few other games but I did not have the same luck in these endeavors. My favorite was the “Baile Del Tomate”. This is a game where two partners dance while holding a tomato between their heads. My friend and I were coaxed into making fools out of ourselves. We practiced with the tomato wedged between our foreheads. When the time came to start we lasted a good 8 seconds and we were happy to have a seat. We also competed in a three legged race. We crossed the finish line close to dead last. Dancing began shortly after the games ended and prizes were handed out. I chose to rest and take in the moment. While watching the many couples that I had only recently met dance their hearts out I had a moment to reflect. I was out in a beautiful green field surrounded by lush mountains celebrating a birthday in a strange but fun fashion in a foreign country. I would have never imagined myself in that position two years ago. What a great opportunity I have to be in such a place with such great people. Even though I had not met 95% of the people before the party, I was already accepted and cared for by the majority of those at the celebration. True moment of bliss.

Now to get away from the sappy stuff and move to me fighting a sheep…

After the dance we were all ushered to a large pen that doubled as a volleyball court. As usual, I had no idea what was about to happen. The women were arranged and began walking into the large pen and parading around in a circle. Apparently this is the same a bullfight when the beauty queen of the city walks around the arena before the bull is brought in. A medium sized sheep lay in waiting. After the women scampered out the “bull” fighters descended into the pen. These were just men from the party that wanted to show their machismo side. Soon 10 men entered the pen and were being chased and hit by the sheep in a similar fashion as they would in a bull fight. The sheep behaved almost identically as a bull would. He would walk backward, scrape his feet and then charge. I got the nerve to jump into the fight. That round was a bit scary but mainly just fun. We all had some good laughs and the women cheered us on. Eventually the sheep tired and we all sat down. I had a great time “sheep fighting” and the Ecuadorians were happy to see my willingness to participate. I thought that was the end of it.

I was then made aware that the main event was about to commence. The bigger male sheep was about to be brought into the pen. I could tell this was a bit more serious by the anticipation that the small crowd seemed to have. Only two men went into the pen with their capes. This sheep meant business. I watched as the men did a pass or two before being chased out of the pen by the agitated sheep. A small group of women told me I should try. With much reluctance I worked up the nerve to enter the pen alone. My desire to be the center of attention got the best of me once again.

My heart was beating hard enough I could hear it. I grabbed a cape and prepared myself for death by sheep. The next 30 seconds are a blur but basically I practiced the same form that I had witnessed from the other men using. The sheep pawed the ground, backed up ten feet or so and then ran full speed at me. At the last second I stepped to the side as I had seen the others do and let the sheep slam head first into the cape narrowly missing my leg. As soon as I saw the sheep realize he had missed me I took off in a dead sprint to the wall with the sheep in hot pursuit. I am happy to say that I made it out unscathed other than wanting to wet my pants. I must say I think I heard more laughter during my Gringo sheep fighting experience than cheers but I will take what I get.

After the sheep fight, we went back inside and listened to a live performance by two local artists. They sang songs about Pujilí with pride and much to the delight of the audience. We then began to dance. Dancing here is much different that I am accustomed to. The DJ plays music non-stop and there are no apparent breaks. At the end of the hour and a half long session everyone was pouring sweat. So attractive. The CJ even played several classic American songs and I was expected to know the dances. I am unaware of the dance that accompanies “Rock Around the Clock” so I improvised with The Twist.

The party concluded around 8 pm after a mandatory firework show. Before I left I gave the mandatory kisses on the cheek to the women and a hearty handshake/hug to the men as is customary here. I promised several that I would stay in contact and then got into the car with a couple that offered to drive me the 45 min back to my house so I could avoid the bus at night. We chatted the whole way home. On that note, my Spanish has improved so much during my short time here. I am impressed with the brain’s ability to change and adapt so quickly.

All in all the party was great. I have never been to a birthday party that lasted nearly 10 hours and wasn’t sure what to expect. I certainly didn’t think that I would earn my stripes as a sheep fighter but I did. This was yet another wonderful experience to log into my memories of this great country.

Ecuador, you never know what to expect.