Summer Camp: Cuidarte Los Huevos!

“Holding a two week summer camp that one created from scratch is the best and most relaxing way to spend one’s vacation time”, said no one ever…

Ok, so that may be a bit overly pessimistic. While the camp was a lot of work and drained me a bit I am happy to have had the opportunity to hold such a camp for kids who likely had never had the opportunity to attend a summer camp until a couple of Gringos showed up. For sure the rewards outweighed the drawbacks.

The idea to hold a summer camp was hatched by a fellow volunteer who lives in a small community about 15 km from my site. Her site, Pujilí, is comprised mainly of indigenous Ecuadorians and the city is at a significantly lower economic state than my site, Latacunga. My friend suggested we hold a free summer camp for the youth of Pujilí giving English classes along with other typical summer camp activities. I initially had reservations about jumping into such a large project so early into our service but was eventually convinced that we would be fine and the camp would be great. I would be lying if I said that I did not think back to my initial feelings of doubt when the going got tough over the past two weeks but I am still very glad that my friend twisted my arm just enough to get me to commit.

Chillin' wit da homies

The camp was…

…a day camp running from 8:30 until 1:00.

…held at a local high school that allowed us to use their campus.

…open to any youth in Pujilí ages 5-16.

…free.

…created completely from scratch.

…ran by two PCVs that looked like they had it all together when really we would meet every afternoon and scratch our heads as we tried to plan the activities for the following day.

…exhausting yet exhilarating.

The camp was attended by about 30 kids depending on the day. Many of them were from the city of Pujilí but after we were featured on the news a few students from very rural very indigenous areas joined the camp as well. I remember working at summer camps in the States and how accountable the counselors were for the safety and well being of each and every student. Those summer camps assumed the liability for the students that are at their camp. Here it is just about the opposite. Children here are very independent and this was reflected in their behavior during the two weeks. Many times a group of three or four students would simply leave our camp to go buy bread from a store down the road. Invariably they would return though with their bread and things would continue. It was my instinct to immediately ask where they went and instruct them that they could not simply leave whenever they wanted to. I was responsible for them and didn’t want them to get hurt. (My very American fear of being sued for losing a child sometimes gets the best of me). The children did not understand why we wanted to know where they were at all times and this was something that I had to adjust to.

My sunglasses and my backpack made Joel look so cool

The students ranged from 4 years old all the way up to 16. This presented a special challenge. Keeping all ages busy and happy was something that undoubtedly expedited my premature balding. We planned activities we hoped would appeal to all ages. Many times we would ask the older kids to help the younger ones to keep everyone working.

The children were not required to come every day. We told them that we had fun activities planned each day and if they wanted to take part in them they would have to show up. This enticed them enough and we had steady attendance from almost everyone. It probably didn’t hurt that we had a tall blonde American female leading the camp.

Camp Activities:

English classes: We started these with the best of intentions. We wanted only to play games that involved English words and phrases. I allowed my friend to teach these because I had had my fill of English education for the year. These classes ended up being a time for the older kids to ask us questions about the United States and how to say certain phrases in English. I think I taught more English at times when a kid would want to know how to say a random word. For example, a young boy ran up to me and grabbed my stomach. I told him he was grabbing my fat, in Spanish of course. He then wanted to know how to say “fat” in English. I suppose learning  how to say “fat” is better than nothing.

Scouts: This was my specialty. I wanted to teach a few basic things dealing with the outdoors and survival. On the first day we did a challenge course where the teams had to complete certain tasks and the team that finished them all first would win a sticker on their team’s card. This was our monetary system that we used to keep track of who was winning. One activity in the challenge course was searching for food, shelter, and water which were represented by three discs. Another activity was to get every member of the team over a “poisonous rock” that was represented by a rope that was about 4 feet in the air. If a member of the team touched as they tried to get over it the entire team would restart. This activity led to only one kid landing on his head from five feet in the air so I consider it a success.

Como Planear Mi Vida: This is an activity that the Peace Corps encourages us to implement in our sites. I realize not everyone who reads this blog speaks Spanish so I will translate. The direct translation of Como Planear Mi Vida is “Not a good activity for 6 year olds.” Actually it means “how to plan my life” and basically it is meant to make children think about the decisions they make and how they can affect their future. My friend decided she would use an activity where each child is given an egg and told to take care of it as if it were a baby. The activity is meant to give kids an idea what it might be like to take care of a child. On paper it sounded like a great idea. But when you give a room full of little kids eggs, the results are predictable. Within the first 10 minutes we had 3 baby casualties. Egg yolk was everywhere. As the day progressed I found “baby brains” in many random places including the bathroom. Hopefully when these kids actually have babies they will try and take care of them better than they did with their eggs.

Sports: I decided the kids needed to learn American sports. The first sport I taught was Ultimate. The kids took to it pretty quickly and even asked to play in the following days. We also taught kickball. Man those Ecuadorians kids can kick a soccer ball (couldn’t locate a kickball). Those two sports were fun but the kids fell in love with Capture the Flag. After we taught that game that was all they wanted to play. They would just scream “Bandera, bandera, bandera!” when we would ask what they wanted to play. (We told them that the name of the game was “Capturar la Bandera”.)

Recycled Art: Because the camp cost nothing for the kids we had no budget. Every resource we used was either something of ours or we purchased it. Therefore recycled art was very appealing to us. We made wallets out of used milk cartons. The kids really enjoyed making these and I enjoyed seeing the kids using them throughout the camp.

Recycled milk cartons turned into wallets

Music Class: A local musician offered to teach a music class to the kids. The younger kids really liked the class. The older kids decided they were too cool for music school and hung out outside with my friend and me. This was when we had “cultural interchange”. We would chat about the States and the differences between Ecuador and the USA. I call it “cultural interchange” because that is one of the main goals of the Peace Corps and just in case my boss is reading this I want to cover all my bases. Hey Maria Dolores! J

Musical production put on at the final meeting

Olympics: On the last day my friend planned Olympic Games for the kids. We set up 6 stations that the kids would have to complete. The team that finished all of the stations in the quickest time would win. Though the games were very simple and short the kids loved the activity.

It may look like gambling but really they were bowling down water bottles

Working within the system to get the camp set up and ready to go was probably one of the most difficult things about the whole ordeal. There were many leaders in the community that pledged support for our camp. While one of them was able to come through and deliver what was promised many fell through due to various reasons. It was frustrating to rely on someone and then when you really need them they fail to hold up their end of the bargain. Improvisation became the name of the game many times. This taught me the value of two things. 1) Rely only on people that you really trust and 2) have really good backup activities.

Each day I would return to Latacunga around five in the evening thoroughly exhausted. On Wednesday of last week my students at the university called me and asked if I was busy. I told them I was not but I had not planned on coming to the university that evening. They pleaded with me to come because they were not going to have classes on Thursday, the day I normally taught them. I wearily agreed to come even though I had no lessons planned. I arrived to a surprise party they had planned for me and another teacher. We ate dinner and the students thanked me for working with them. It was a very nice surprise. Near the end of the evening a student stood up and gave a small speech about how grateful she and her classmates were. She concluded her speech by giving us matching leather jackets from the class. I have never owned a leather jacket before and I like the one they gave me. I look as if I just got off a Harley. It was very nice of them and I am truly grateful to get to work with students that want to learn as strongly as they do.

University students in an English Masters program

Now that the camp is over I have been working on a presentation that I will give in Quito in a week. The work of a volunteer is never finished. Next Wednesday I will go to Quito to work at a summer camp for the US Embassy. It promises to be a lot of fun. Hopefully they don’t plan on giving the kids eggs…

Last day. I bet in a week or so I will miss them!

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.

If you are going to hike on a glacier wear pants.

I will start this post with some of the work I have been doing and end it with a few adventures that I have had over the past few weeks.

At my high school I am working on co-planning, co-teaching, and improving the methodology. I am doing all of this while trying to improve the overall English level of my teachers. These tasks have many complexities that I did not expect when I arrived here. The job seemed rather straightforward and the Peace Corps had given me ample training… I thought. However, there are things that cannot be taught in a classroom. Practical experience has taught me that the cultural aspect of my job is as important if not more important than my “expertise” in education. The best teacher in the world could come here to help but they would have no impact if they did not have a basic understanding and respect of the Ecuadorian culture. Trying to explain basically any of the culture and rituals in this blog would be futile as the culture is very intricate and complex but I will give one small example. If I bring some snack to work or to any public place it is expected that I will share all that I have. This is taken to an extreme here. Recently on a public bus a stranger offered me some of his chips that he had just bought from a vendor. I suppose I am integrating because I did not think anything of it and grabbed a handful of his chips. All of this is to say that the cultural aspect is a vital part of my living and working here.

I have taken on many “secondary projects” here in Latacunga. I am able to work just about anywhere that I want so long as there is a need and it is not for profit. I mentioned that I had worked with visually impaired people in the States and was told I could help at the Ministry if I wanted to. I work once a week at the Ministry of Education teaching blind students. I have 9 students and they range from 9 years old to mid 30s. We are working on very basic English. They had no background in English whatsoever before I arrived. This presents a difficult problem. I am used to drawing and using visual aids when I teach English. With these students it is impossible. I am constantly trying to think of alternative methods of teaching English to these guys.

I have also started working at a university. A contact of mine teaches an English mastery program at Instituto Técnologico Superior Aereonautico or ITSA for short. Her class consists of 15 students 12 of which are professors at a private university that want to gain a certificate in English. It is a night class and is 4 hours long. I teach the last hour and a half. I try to keep it fun and hold conversation groups or have debates. I am very content working in the university. The students have a strong desire to learn. Teaching is so much more enjoyable when you have a group that wants to be there. I might also begin working at the other university in town, Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi . I met several UTC students at a local café a few weeks back and they were very interested in having me come to visit their class. I told them to ask their professor and if he/she approved I would come check it out. I was enthusiastically given the green light and I am headed to observe the course this afternoon.

Now on to a few adventures.

Three weeks ago I went to Cotopaxi National Park with a few friends/volunteers. The national park sits about 30 minutes outside of Latacunga. The park is home to the world’s highest active volcano, Cotopaxi. We left about 7 in the morning and returned around 5 in the evening. We went with a local group of outdoor enthusiasts. I had been told that we would be hiking to a waterfall that was around the same elevation as Latacunga (9,000 ft). Turns out that we were headed up and up and up. I was ill prepared for cold weather. I was wearing shorts which are an Ecuadorian foul to start with. We parked at the base of Cotopaxi and began hiking up to the refugio that sits at about 15,000 feet. This is the place where people on a summit bid stay the evening before heading up to the summit at midnight. By the time the guide and I made it to the refugio it was sleeting and the driving winds did not help one bit. Someone asked if my legs hurt and I responded no. They did not need to know it was because I could not feel them. We rested at the refugio trying to catch our breath when the leader of the group declared we were going to the glacier.

It is very odd to think that there is a glacier on the Equator but like most things here, you never know what to expect. Despite my legs and hands being frozen I decided I needed to stand on the glacier. We continued the hike up. It was bitterly cold and the hike was very difficult. I plan on climbing this volcano later this year and this hike really showed me I need to get serious about training for my ascent. We hiked another 30 minutes and I finally saw the glacier. I stood on it, took photos, and asked the guide if I could go back down to the refugio. I was told no because we had to wait for everyone to make it up and we would all descend together. It was cold coming up but now that I was stationary I was freezing. After another 20 minutes everyone either made it up or had turned around so we descended. As we loaded the bus to go home a person was being brought down in a makeshift blanket stretcher that had apparently fallen ill due to the altitude. It was a very fun trip but made me realize the seriousness of the mountain.

Last weekend I went to the first communion of my host sister in Tumbaco. It was great to see all the family and friends that I had made during training. I spent the weekend in Tumbaco and ate more food that I care to remember. The catholic ceremony was very nice and the family was very happy. I was very glad that they invited me to come and share with the rest of the extended family. After the ceremony we went to the grandmother’s house and ate and ate and ate. I was so full but all the food looked fantastic and I could not stop myself. This comes partly because I now cook all my own food and I missed some Ecuadorian home-cookin’.  After I thought I could eat no more an entire Cuy, or guinea pig, was presented to me. Of course I gobbled it down too. Tasty as always.

While in training I had my own room at their house per the rules of Peace Corps and the three siblings slept in the other room. Now that I was gone things were back to normal and I bunked with the two boys. As it turns out my host brother talks in his sleep even more than I do. While I did not get much sleep it was fun trying to translate the slurred Spanish and imagine what he was dreaming about.

The school is winding down and we are all getting ready for vacation. The students leave on July 6^th and the teachers are out on the 26^th. Having things to look forward to is very important to keep a positive attitude here. I have something exciting happening next month. A great buddy of mine is coming to visit for ten days. I have not yet been to the beach but I am anxiously awaiting his arrival so we can bust out of the high sierra region and see some of the country. What kind of trouble can two Texans get into at the beach? Time will tell. See you soon Jordan!