Christmas Day

Although Christmas is not a holiday that I observe, it was a special day today.  First of all, the 2 youngest children (ages 10 & 12) in the family with whom I live, slept last night on the floor in the hallway of the first floor (their bedrooms are upstairs) so that they would be able to see Papa Noel (Santa Claus) when he arrived.  Their mother, Olga, was able to hide a few gifts while they were sleeping so they never saw or heard Papa Noel.

My family (the family with whom I live) had extended family over for a big Christmas meal.  I enjoyed helping Olga in the kitchen; mostly I chopped and peeled vegetables, but it felt good to be participating in the preparations.  Altogether, there were 15 people--grandma, 3 aunts, 2 uncles, 4 cousins, my family of 5 and me.  Food was outstanding--turkey, tamales, rice, potatoes, ahi, mote, a salad made of beans, hearts of palm, peppers, corn.  Delicioso.   Lucho, the father of my family, made a toast & said some very kind, welcoming words to me, which I found to be very touching.  I feel so much more comfortable with my family in the almost 3 months that I have now been living here.  Early on I never thought it would be as it is now.  We've completely turned a corner & it's all for the good.  Yeah!

Christmas Eve

Went into Centro Historico in Cuenca to see the parade that always takes place on December 24.  It was one of the best parades I’ve ever been to--better than the Pittsfield July 4th parade!  I couldn’t take my eyes off the authentic, traditional clothing that everyone wore.  Magnificent colors, wonderful details.  Increible!  The parade was mostly of children & many, both children and adults, danced to traditional music, played on traditional instruments.  A feast for my eyes and ears.

Around 3:00, one of my students picked me up and brought me to her house, where her family was preparing a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner.  Food was great and the company was so much fun to be with.  In total, there were 15 family members, plus me. Spending the evening with this wonderful family is the kind of experience that makes me so happy to be here.  Everyone sat around and truly enjoyed one another.  The little children were adorable.  I don’t know where the guitar came from, but various men of the group played it and everyone sang along.  This was another one of those times when I wanted to pinch myself.

SARAH AND RACHEL’S VISIT: PART I

Monday, December 19   Flew to Quito & went straight to Nancy’s apartment, where she and I had a very nice reunion.  Sarah & Rachel, who had spent the night there, were out when I arrived, getting maps at the Instituto Geográphico Militar for their hiking trek along the Inca trail, which was to begin early Thursday (12/22) morning.  It was great to see them when they got there.  As planned, we had dinner with Javier, my former Spanish teacher.  He picked us up and drove us to a traditional Ecuadorian restaurant.  Dinner was great and filled with LOTS of laughter.  I wanted to pinch myself throughout dinner to test whether I was really at a restaurant in Quito with my daughters and Javier.  Hard to believe that they had really come to Ecuador and there we were with Javier--just like old times!

Tuesday, December 20  We got up very early this morning to take a bus to get to the bus station south of the city so that we could make the bus for Latacunga and eventually get to Chugchilan, our destination for the next 2 days.  All went without a hitch.  The views from the bus were spectacular.  I really didn’t know that Ecuador is as beautiful as it is.  The beauty was one thing, but experiencing the local people getting on and off the bus, was even more remarkable--people’s clothing, the adorable children--and what was on the roof of the bus, was altogether another experience--live chickens, huge bags of grain, a bicycle, boxes of all shapes and sizes filled with food--a veritable grocery store!  Among the things stored under the bus were at least 10 dozen eggs.  We got to Chugchilan and easily found Hostal Mama Hilda, where we had reservations to stay for 2 nights.  It was a quaint little place, in the middle of this little town, really off the beaten path.  We did some exploring, had dinner, and went to bed, with the plan to get up early the next morning to take a bus to the crater/lake in Quilotoa, which we intended to walk around.  However, that was not to be because during the night both daughters were up with significant, unpleasant stomach issues, the details of which I am not going to go into here.  Suffice it to say that they had ingested something that did not agree with them.  

Wednesday, December 21 Sarah & Rachel still wanted to go to Quilotoa even though they were ill.  They knew that their energy level was low due to their stomach problems and had resigned themselves to just see the crater as they were truly incapable of walking around it.  Instead of taking the bus, we hired a man to drive us there and back.  I don’t know how Rachel or Sarah survived the drive there as the road had dozens of switchbacks, was rocky, bumpy, and nausea-creating even for someone without a major stomach issue.  Rachel looked so miserable the whole way there that it was nearly impossible for me to enjoy the magnificent views and take note of the people, goats, llamas walking along the road. As soon as we arrived, we went to look at the crater, but within minutes Rachel laid down on the ground right then and there & didn’t move.  Not a good sign.

Sarah seemed to have a little more energy than her sister.

My mind was on my daughters’ illness and how miserable they were.  They didn’t complain, but they were without a doubt extremely uncomfortable.  The second we got back to our hostel, Sarah and Rachel got into bed and didn’t move.  Rachel’s face was as red as a beet and Sarah’s wasn’t much better.  They ate nothing that day, were able to drink a little, but generally seemed to lose whatever they took in.

I did take a walk; found the Black Sheep Inn, which was closed and went into the town, and observed some holiday festivities.

Rachel never left our room.  Sarah ate a little with me at dinner.  We changed our departure plans for Thursday, hoping that they would feel well enough to get to Latacunga and decided that we would go by pick-up truck instead of bus so that if either had to get out of the truck, it could stop for them, while a big bus filled with people would not.  

Thursday, December 22  Although it was not an easy decision to make re whether or not we should attempt the long trip to get to Riobamba, where we had originally planned to get to today--me spending the night & Sarah & Rachel beginning their hike, we decided to take it step by step.  We took a pick-up truck to Zumbahua--I sat in front with the driver while Rachel and Sarah were outside in the back (& not it seats).  Along the way the driver stopped 3 times and picked up people who were standing on the road, hoping to get a ride.  They joined Sarah and Rachel in the back of the truck.  One woman was carrying her baby, whom she handed to Sarah as she was loaded down with lots of things and climbing into the back of a pick-up truck was impossible while holding her baby.  Once in Zumbahua, where we bought a Gatorade-like drink to try to replenish lost electrolytes, we were immediately approached by a man who offered to drive us to Latacunga.  Like the other pick-up truck ride, it would cost much more than a bus, but we decided that that was best in terms of the fact that the driver could stop if Sarah or Rachel needed to get out.  All of us were inside this time and the driver only picked up one woman along the way.  He was also more chatty and we even laughed a little, which was a good sign.

Once in Latacunga, where everyone seemed to be feeling better, we made the decision to take a bus to Ambato, change buses there & end up in Riobamba.  The second we got off the bus in Riobamba, someone called out to me---my colleagues from my program were there to pick up their son and his fiancée.  I knew that their son was coming there, but didn’t expect to see them upon arrival.  We had previously talked about me joining them for dinner, as Sarah & Rachel were supposed to already be on their hiking trip.  Not knowing what, if anything, Sarah or Rachel would want to eat, I declined the offer of planning to eat together that evening for dinner.   However, once we got to our hotel & things were definitely looking up, I called my friends & made plans for us to join them for dinner.  Both daughters felt well enough to walk around a little.  We saw a holiday parade, with people in magnificent costumes, many dressed in traditional clothing, plus heard traditional music.  

We met my friends and their son and fiancée for dinner.  All had a good time--lots of sharing of experiences, good food, and best of all, Sarah and Rachel were truly on the mend.  If there was any silver lining to the stomach issue, I did get another full day with my daughters, but given a choice, I would have preferred that they had never gotten sick and had been able to pursue their trip as planned.

Friday, December 23  All slept well for the first time in 3 nights.  Sarah & Rachel decided that they would take it easy for another day and would begin their hike on Saturday, December 24, cutting out a chunk of the original plan.  I had previously arranged to have a guide meet me at the hotel and take me in a meandering route south, ultimately getting back to Cuenca by nighttime.  The guide was there and gave Sarah and Rachel some pointers for their hike.  He and I left around 8:30 AM and arrived in Cuenca at about 4:00 PM.  He was outstanding, a much better experience than simply taking a bus back.  We stopped at many towns along the way, went into some small museums, one of which has the bones (spinal columns of cows) woven into the floor:

We saw the oldest Catholic church in the country:

We took in incredible views of mountains, farm land with people working the soil on very steep parcels of land, without any machinery, unless you call their hands, hand tools, oxen pulling plows machinery.  My guide was so knowledgeable about everything--history, the impact of volcanoes & earthquakes on the towns, tradition, culture, farming, etc.  I loved seeing the sheep, goats, pigs, llamas, oxen, horses & mules (many used as a means for transportation) along the road.  

We went to Cajabamba--the original site of Riobamba, before an earthquake destroyed the city in 1797, Guamote, Alausi, and El Tambor.  We also visited Coyoctor, the site of some Incan ruins that are not well-known, from around the year 1380.

We drove through Cañar and Biblián, that has a church built into the steep mountainside:

It was a great day for me and I hope an even better day for my daughters, whom I am supposed to rejoin on Monday, December 26, in Ingapirca, the site of some other ruins, not too far from Cuenca. 

last class

Had my last class for this term this morning.  I have found the morning group of students to be rather challenging as several of them wanted to focus on grammar & were very hesitant about trying to speak English.  Often it felt like a battle.  In the end they learned a lot, as did I.  I believe that they know that they learned a lot and I sensed some satisfaction in our last class today.  They surprised me with a cake and soda, plus several brought gifts for me.  I feel optimistic that most, hopefully all, will come back for the next level of classes in January.

My last class with my evening students was Friday night.  We went out to a restaurant/bar.  It was fun, but a bit loud.

Off to Quito to be with my daughters & travel around the country a bit!

Life is good!

Wow!  It's been a whole week since I last thought about the blog.  Too busy to write.

The first school term will be over after my 7:00 AM class tomorrow (Monday) morning.  My students had a final exam, which was not easy, but it was an opportunity for them and me to see what they have learned.    I know that they all learned a lot--present perfect, past perfect, some modals, new vocabulary, etc.  Perhaps I was a harder grader than I should have been.  It's a learning process for me too.  It will be easier the next term, which begins on January 9 as I do have the hang of things now.  I will be teaching the next level: Advanced I and hope that all of my students, who just completed Intermediate II, will come back.  I had one student whom I could not pass, which was very difficult for me (and him too).  I spoke to him and offered to give him another final exam, which would require some real studying on his part.  Between his schedule and mine, there was little time for him to do this, but he did and he passed.  Yeah!  He came to my house this afternoon (Sunday) and took the exam again in the dining room where I live.

Every day really is an adventure.  Yesterday my friend with whom I have gotten together with a few times in the past, (a local Cuencana) invited me to go with her and her husband to Gualaceo, a little town about an hour from here.  I am always taken aback when I leave Cuenca and see the countryside.  Gualaceo is a beautiful little town, nestled in the mountains with lovely rivers that traverse the area.  My friend and her husband have a very nice country house there, up a long, unbelievably rutted, very steep, narrow driveway of sorts.  It was pouring outside (which is a typical occurrence almost every day), so it was like a river of stones and debris being washed down the so-called driveway, making the drive to the house quite scary for me.  I had to close my eyes part of the way up as I did not believe that their car would make it, but it did.  It was like paradise in this home in the mountains.  After being there a while, we went into the town and ate the insides of a huge roasted pork with our fingers.  I am not going to comment on how healthy or sanitary this meal was, but I think that I would know by now if it didn't agree with me.  I am occasionally eating a little more adventurously and so far have not had any stomach issues.  We then went to check on this couple's museum.  Yes, they have their own museum, with thousands of artifacts, dating back hundreds of years.  The artifacts have been collected by the husband's family for many years.  It's unbelievable!  On our way back to Cuenca, we had to stop as their was a parade in the street with many of the local people, wearing indigenous clothing, playing traditional music, a custom around Christmas time.  This whole afternoon and evening could have been a paid tour for me, but I was simply with some very nice people whom I have met.  Experiences like this are priceless.

Last, but not least, I just received a telephone call from Nancy, the woman with whom I stayed in Quito during the month of September.  She had just picked up Sarah and Rachel at the airport and they were in her apartment.  I spoke to them briefly.  They seem exhausted, but fine.  They had been traveling for more than 24 hours, on 3 different flights, but they are safely in Quito and I will be there tomorrow to begin an adventure in many parts of the country during the holiday season.  Lots of good things to look forward to!

Slowly, but surely, am developing some friendships.

The fact that slowly I seem to have a social life is makes all the difference in the world to me.  One of my students invited me to meet her at the restaurant where she works today (Saturday).  It's a seafood place, where I had a wonderful seafood stew, with a huge crab resting on top.  After eating I went with her, her 9 year old daughter, her boyfriend, and a boy, who I would say is about 11 (I don't know how he fits into the picture), to see my second movie in Ecuador.  This one was Gato en Botas (Puss in Boots).  Another movie that I wouldn't choose to see, but again the experience is what it's about and the movie, of course, was in Spanish.  I could follow the story because it was a cartoon, but understood probably 50%, which is less than what I understood of Crepúsulo (Twilight).
And I have plans for tomorrow (Sunday) too!  It's not clear what I'll be doing, but with a woman, an ex-pat from the U.S., who is in the process of becoming a resident here.
Having people to connect with eases the adjustment, which is never-ending.

good things seem to be happening

The best news is that my back is better.  Physical therapy really helps.  It shouldn't surprise me, but it does, that PT in Ecuador is basically the same as PT in Pittsfield!  And it works!

The last few days have felt like maybe I have a life here.  My one local Cuenca friend suggested that we go out to dinner last night, which I readily accepted.  While waiting outside of the school where I teach for the bus to take me to meet her, 5 of my students waited with me as they did not want me standing alone.  After waiting a while, 2 of my students, (young men in their 20's) said that they would drive me to the meeting place, which they did.  While talking to them in the car, I told them that my daughters will be visiting me the last 2 weeks of December & they offered to be our guides while Sarah & Rachel are here.  Having the transportation & knowledge of 2 locals will be fantastic.  I met my friend & we went to a lovely restaurant where I had one of the best meals I have eaten.  Although my Spanish is far from perfect & her English is not as good as my Spanish, we had no difficulty chatting about all kinds of things.  It was great and I am hopeful that we will have more good times together.

Today I went on an art tour with a group of gringos, which was really interesting.  We visited 3 different local artists at their studios.  Each was more fascinating than the next.  One works in glass, one in clay & paint, & one does water color.  I don't know which one I liked the best, but the young man who does the water color spoke with such eloquence and passion that I teared up listening to him.  His words were like poetry, as beautiful as his art work.  And another plus that happened was that I connected with another woman in the group.  We plan to get together for dinner some time, so maybe my social isolation is coming to an end.  That is all very good.  

UPDATE

More & more I am aware that I am living, not visiting here.  In no way do I feel like a tourist, but I am definitely not a local either.  Perhaps it’s like I am an outsider who is living & working here.  It is not easy & may never feel easy.....talk about pushing one’s limits.....I am doing that!!  

My weekdays have become somewhat routine--getting up long before the sun, having breakfast, going to my school, teaching my students (7 AM to 9 AM), going home & preparing for the next day’s lessons, having lunch, & if there’s time, going into Centro Historico to explore a little (even be a tourist!), going back to school to teach the evening class (6 PM to 8 PM), going home, having dinner & going to sleep.  One day a week I have to go to the laundromat to do my laundry--the hardest part of this is lugging my laundry there.  I wish that I could figure out how to carry it on my head, but I haven’t mastered that skill.  

Except for when I’m teaching English, everything is in Spanish.  I can’t tell that my Spanish has improved.  I certainly can speak well enough & understand the gist of what is said much of the time (as long as it’s said fairly slowly, with vocabulary I know, & without idioms about which I am more often than not clueless!), but it is quite frustrating that I do not understand a lot of what is said around and to me.  My silence at dinner with my family when they are engaged in a lively conversation is difficult for me, but when I understand only an occasional word or 2, I am not going to chime in on their discussion.

On Saturday night, November 19, I went with Fernando, the 15 year old son of the family with whom I am living, to see the movie, Crepúsculo, (Twilight).  That’s not a movie that I would have chosen to see in Ecuador or the U.S. with the vampires & werewolves, but he wanted to see it with me & not only did I not have any plans for that Saturday night, but I thought it would build our relationship & be a good experience.  The movie was of course in Spanish & I would say that I understood about 80%, which isn’t bad.  We shared lots of junk food & had a good time together.  I now know the word for vampire in Spanish: vampiro; one never knows when that word might come in handy.      And werewolves are hombres lobos or something like that (wolf men).

The biggest issue that cropped up recently, but is more and more behind me, thank goodness, is that I have had major back pain.  I don’t know if I contributed to it by carrying my backpack with too much weight in it, but when I lifted a large pail of water about 10 days ago, I went into agony.  Perhaps this would have happened anyway, but it reached the point that I went to a physician who said I had to have 3 full days of bed rest--no teaching, no walking, no nothing.  It was difficult.  He prescribed hot compresses, pills & an injection (for 3 days--which I received at the local pharmacy in the pharmacist’s bathroom).  I believe the pills & injections were to relax muscles &/or to reduce inflammation.  Fortunately my teaching colleague agreed to take my students into his classroom, even though he teaches 3 levels about mine.  I believe that it was frustrating for my students, but it was either that or extending the hours of my classes to make up the lost time when I return to work, which would be difficult on them and me.  One of my students telephoned me during their break the first evening of my absence, which really touched me.  She called the next day to see if they could come visit me after class that evening.  Six students arrived at my house with candy & a beautiful flowering plant!!  That was the best medicine I could possibly have received.  They stayed about an hour.  I was so touched by this.  Anyway, after the bed rest, etc., I improved a little.  I went back to the doctor (on Thanksgiving Day) as planned & he prescribed 10 sessions of physical therapy, which I have begun.  The fact that I am on the mend is enormous, as my worries were growing.  I have so much to be thankful for.  To feel that I am getting better was a wonderful Thanksgiving gift.  The doctor said that I could return to teaching on Monday, which I will do, but will no longer be carrying a heavy back pack.

A small postscript about getting medical care here is that there is no such thing as HIPPA!

Another postscript is that my colleague, Eric, who has been covering my class, loaned me two books as I told him that I would lose my mind if I didn’t have something to do while being prostrate.  I had immediately finished the books that I had.  I have now read more than half of Indians, Oil, and Politics, A Recent History of Ecuador, not a book I would generally choose to read when being laid up.  It’s like a text book on Ecuador that might be required reading for a Latin American college history course, but it’s really good & I have learned so much.  It is SO relevant.  Nothing in the book is funny, but I almost fell off the bed in laughter when I read that Lorena Bobbitt, (who I didn’t know was Ecuadorean) was invited to have dinner with Abdalá Bucaram (also called El Loco), the former president of Ecuador.

water & bathroom issues!

Just when I thought that I was more often than not winning the competition between how fast can I take a shower and how long the water remains somewhat warm, now we have NO water!  I'll take a cold shower over NO shower any day.  The waterless situation is not just in my house, but basically the whole barrio (neighborhood) & then some.  I've been told that it's related to the fact that there has been a lot of rain & as a result, I think there are some trees or other things obstructing the path of the water.  I don't completely get it, nor do I not like the fact that I have not showered for 2 days.  Yuck!

On this same subject, I have gotten somewhat used to that fact that the bathrooms in the school where I teach are basically non-functional.  Without going into detail, no water in the sinks there is mostly the norm, so when the water exploded out of the faucet the other day, giving me sort of a shower (prior to the waterless situation at home), I reacted by laughing.  Laughing is really the only way to deal with the ongoing unpredictability and inconsistency of the life that I am experiencing.

UPDATE

So now I have 2 months under my belt here.  The first month, September, was orientation in Quito.  Mostly that was good.  I stayed with a great woman, learned a lot, and received a lot of information--culture, history, teaching do’s and don’ts, safety & health issues, Spanish classes, a salsa class, etc.

Then I arrived, where I am and will be until the end of June, in Cuenca.  The adjustment has been so much more difficult than I could possibly have dreamed.  I thought I would just slide into life here.  Not so!  Teaching, which I did not assume would be simple, has had its challenges.  One of the most difficult aspects is that there is no curriculum so deciding what to teach is hard and extremely time-consuming.  Some classes go very well, others are ho-hum.  Trying to be creative, interesting, engaging, while teaching a mixed level of students, all of whom are supposed to be at level Intermedio II, is very demanding.  I chuckle to myself at how strict I am: absolutely NO SPANISH is allowed in the classroom, no cell phones, no talking to your neighbor (in any language), and I am about to institute no use of dictionaries for translating when someone is speaking (because you’re not paying attention & are missing whatever is being spoken about or done while your head is in your dictionary).  So doing the job I came to do--teaching--has been hard work.

A particularly fun class, was about 1 1/2 weeks ago, when the topic I chose, after receiving the suggestion from one of my students, was Ecuadorian food.  We went, as a class, out to dinner to eat Ecuadorian food and had cuy (guinea pig).  See plate with cuy below.  What a great class that was.  Everyone let their hair down.  Amazing how relaxed everyone was outside of the classroom.  The only rule that I had was that until 8 PM, when class time officially ends, English was the only language that could be spoken.  Several students continued in English well after 8 PM & 2 of those were 2 students who hardly speak in the classroom!  A very insightful experience for everyone. 

Another challenge, which has been harder than I had thought would be is living here, in a developing country.  The family with whom I’m living and I have recently overcome a hurdle.  Suffice it to say, that after a sort of confrontation when we laid the cards on the table, we’ve reached a better understanding.  There were a lot of misunderstandings, miscommunications, misinterpretations, and incorrect assumptions, many of which may have been related to cultural differences and the language (my Spanish is improving, but there is so much I don’t get!).  Without going into detail, after a meeting of the minds last week, my family and I are in a much better place.  Yeah!!  Now I am included in many of their activities, we can laugh, and seem to have a much better sense of mutuality.  

Last Saturday (10/29) I went with them to an amazing extravaganza at their sons’ school.  Then on Sunday (10/30) I went with them to the grandmother’s country home.  Very sweet little place in the country without the usual sounds of the city--traffic, machinery, sirens.  All I heard there was birds, sheep, frogs, and of course the usual barking of dogs.  Grandmother raises cuy!  This past Tuesday (11/1) evening, the evening before the El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), my family picked me up at the school where I work and we went to the cemetery to lay flowers on the grandfather’s grave.  What an amazing place.  Graves are placed one on top of another in what looks like buildings that go on forever, filled with thousands of people who have died.  You have to climb ladders to bring the flowers to some of the graves.  There are no words that I know that I can use to describe this place or the experience.  

Nov. 2 through Nov. 4 was a holiday, celebrating Cuenca’s Independence Day.  The whole country was on vacation.  On the morning of Nov. 2, I went with Olga, the mother of the family with whom I am living, to the Feria Libre, a huge outdoor market where everything under the sun is sold:  vegetables, fruit, grass for cuy, fresh (unrefrigerated) meat, chicken, fish, grains, clothes of all kinds, etc.  

It was fun shopping with her, but also difficult lugging everything that we bought.  (There are no grocery carts!)  Later that day we had a special feast at my house.  Several of Grandmother’s cuys were brought to the house.  (I had been told that they would arrive alive and I would help to kill them, but they arrived having previously been slaughtered.)  They were skewered on long wooden poles--through their mouths and coming out the other end.  I cooked 2 cuy to a golden crisp over a fire outside.  I must say that they tasted delicious.  Grandma, 2 aunts, an uncle, and 2 nephews, ages 2 and 18, and of course my family, all took part in the feast.  One of the aunts cooked the cuy with me.  We chatted endlessly (en español) and made a very nice connection.  I really like her and hope to see her again.

On the morning of Nov. 3, I took Fernando, the 15 year old son of my host family, and one of his friends to an amusement park.  I should have known better that it wasn’t my kind of thing, but it was a good way to make a deeper connection with Fernando, who is a sweet young man.  I went on one ride with them.  I think Fernando wanted me to do more, but one was enough for me.  The only casualty was that his friend lost his hat and felt that it was Fernando’s fault.  

Another challenging living issue is making friends.  In general, I don’t find that to be easy & it is not easy in another country with so many barriers, language, culture, limited time, to name a few.  It seems to be happening, but slowly, which is to be expected.  It was very validating during one of the afternoons over the vacation period to run into a group of 5 of my colleagues from my program who decided to come to Cuenca over the holiday to get away from their various sites, which include Guayaquil, Quito, Riobamba, & Loja.  We got together for a drink & shared our various stories.  It’s been up and down for all.  Some have had family issues, some school issues, feeling lonely, all are still adjusting.  No one has just slid into this experience without some bumps along the way.  All expressed some degree of envy that Cuenca is a great place to be............   

On Nov. 4 I went with my family to a resort-like place about 1 1/2 hours away from Cuenca.  It’s good to get out of the city & breathe clean air.  I swam my usual 50 laps that I haven’t done since I left the Berkshires.  What a gift that was & I can still do it without any difficulty.  I believe I impressed my family!  I left my family on my own (by bus) to get back in time to attend an ex-pat gathering at a local bar in Cuenca.  Not than I am an ex-pat, but I have known about this group that gathers every Friday night & thought it might be a way to make some connections.  (Normally I cannot go because I teach until 8 PM & the group is pretty much disassembled by the time I would ever be able to get there.)  The gathering was fine, but not something to get all that excited about.  The ex-pat community is living a completely different life than I am.  

On Nov. 6 I spent the entire day with my host family at grandmother’s house in the country.  The women (mother, grandmother, & Claudia) worked hard in the kitchen making ceviche.  So good!  The 3 sons and father played, relaxed, rested, read the newspaper, etc.  I did have a conversation with Olga (mother of the household) about the macho culture here.  She works so hard & seems frustrated & exhausted.  It seems to be a given that the women wait on the men.  She feels that it’s changing, but slowly.  I don’t really see a change in the household where I’m living and the boys certainly are not growing up with any sense that they should lift a finger when it comes to giving a hand in the kitchen before, during, or after a meal.  One of these days something is going to give.....

Anyway, this holiday time has been a nice rest from the rigors of teaching.  The next break is mid-December........  Hopefully I will find more opportunities to play in between the teaching.........    

Nacional Parque de Cajas

Last Sunday I went with the other teacher in my program and 5 of his students to Nacional Parque de Cajas.  It was great to get out of the city.  Cajas is an immense national park where you can hike, fish, explore, etc.  We hiked the better part of the day.    It’s a very rugged area, dotted with lagoons & some tiny flowers, but lots of rocks.  The hardest part was that the higher altitude made breathing a bit difficult as we climbed.  For the most part, I was able keep up with a group that consisted of 1 person who may be in her early 40’s or so & 5 others whom I would guess were in their 20’s and younger.  I am so glad that I had my hiking poles & wore my hiking boots.  

After hiking we had a fabulous meal, one of the best, if not the best, one I’ve had since I arrived in Cuenca: Trout from one of the lagoons.  Very fresh.  I’ve always appreciated good food, but more so right now.  We also drank a typical liqueur, the name of which I have forgotten, which warmed our innards as it gets quite cold in the mountains

We ended up by hitching a ride in the back of a pick-up truck to return to Cuenca.  Suffice it to say that that was an interesting way to return, but we did get back safe and sound. 

Adapting....

My sense of humor, patience, ability to adapt to less & to take things in stride grow every day.  Prime example:  of course I know that most bathrooms do not have toilet paper or soap so I always bring my own, but when the water stopped flowing from the sinks in the bathroom in the school where I teach, right after I had soaped my hands, I just shrugged my shoulders.  The water has returned for the moment, but now there is no light in there.  Fortunately I have a little flashlight attached to my keys so I can see.

Most of us know that much of the world has so much less than we have in the U.S., but living without what we take for granted is altogether something else.  You make do.  No hay otra opciones.  (There are no other options!)

La Comida (Food) & New Friends!

Needless to say, my diet here is understandably different from what I am used to.  Where I am living, breakfast usually consists of a hot drink that looks like coffee (but tastes like hot chocolate.  I’ve been told it’s coffee, but I am convinced that there is chocolate in it), sometimes there’s a hard boiled egg or a scrambled egg, sometimes there’s a little bit of hot yogurt with a little cereal mixed in or there might be 2 pieces of white bread with what looks like a white hot dog inside & does not have much taste.  Yesterday I had a sort of mashed corn mixture with a few beans wrapped in a large leaf.  You don’t eat the leaf.  Lunch, which is the biggest meal of the day, always starts with soup.  It is not uncommon to put pop corn in your soup, which immediately sort of dissolves or at a minimum becomes soggy, adding a little additional substance to the soup.  The meal is usually a large white starchy one with a large portion of rice, which may or may not have a few beans in it & is often accompanied by pasta.  There may be a small piece of chicken and/or some beans or lentils.  Sometimes there are tomatoes or beets, which add some color to the plate.  Dinner is generally the same meal as lunch, but smaller in portion.  I neglected to add that mote (large white corn kernels) are a staple in Cuenca and are on the table and eaten at every meal.  I find that mote has no taste & frequently the outer part is unchewable.  Beverages are one kind or another of fruit juice.

Sunday night I had dinner at the home of a local family whom I met a week ago.  I had cuy* (guinea pig) again.  It was very good.  As I have said, I have had guinea pig before, but this was the first time that the whole head was on my plate, including the teeth!  When I asked if I was supposed to eat the head, I was told that some people only ask for the head.  Of course I ate it.  There wasn’t much meat on the head & looking at the eye sockets was a bit strange.   

New friends

All work and no play is no good!  Life outside of the school where I teach and the family with whom I live is key to my happiness here.  I met a woman a week ago, who asked me if I might be available to help her with her English.  I said yes & suggested that she might be able to help me with Spanish.  She called and we got together on Sunday.  She and her husband live in a beautiful home, surrounded both indoors and out with magnificent plants.  It was like being in an arboretum.  I taught her the meaning of having a green thumb!  We really hit it off.  She swims regularly at an Olympic pool, that I did not know existed in Cuenca.  I hope to get there sooner rather than later.  She also has a home on the beach, several hours from here, where she said she would like me to come some time.  She asked me what kind of music I like & when I said that I like music from Latin America & shared that Marco Antonio Solis is my favorite singer, her husband put on a song of his without words & he belted out the words.  How special!!  I feel that this is the beginning of a new, special friendship.  It was at her home where I ate the cuy* with the head.

teaching

By the end of today I will have completed one full week of classes.  I teach from 7-9 AM & 6-8 PM Monday through Friday.  Although I'm not thrilled about waking up at 5:15 every morning, this schedule is to accommodate people who work during the day & want to study English either before or after their jobs.  The students are VERY motivated.  Mostly they are professionals:  electrical and civil engineers, an attorney, businessmen, an elementary school teacher, but there are some university and high school students, who come either before or after school, so if it's a long day for me, it is also a long day for them.  My students' ages range from one 13 year old boy, to a couple of 16 year old girls, a few older teens, a few in their 20's to some whom I would guess are in their 30's & 40's to 2-3 who are in their 50's.  The ages don't matter.  There's one father & his daughter in 1 of my classes.  They all want to learn & they are all at about the same level--Intermediate II.  The morning class has 9 students & the evening class has 14.  The students are great.  They keep me on my toes!

The hardest part is lesson planning, but I seem to be getting the hang of it.  When everything clicks, it's so much fun.  (Just like the Adult Learning Center in Pittsfield.)  I do spend the bulk of the day, between the 2 classes, planning for the next day's class.  Eventually I hope that the number of hours of prep time will decrease a little, but to me, the prep is a necessity to success & that it will be......

el clima (the weather)

Since I just took my 2nd 15 minute walk of the day to the school where I teach & I was observing the weather patterns, I thought I would take this opportunity to describe it in writing.  The main difference between the weather here in Cuenca & the weather in Quito is that it's a little cooler here.  Mornings are usually pleasantly cool (I'd guess in the mid 50's or so & often cloudy).  By mid to late morning the sun comes out & regardless of the temperature (it could be in the 70's) the air doesn't feel hot, but being on the equator, the sun feels like a hot iron.  Then by mid to late afternoon usually a very black, threatening cloud arrives, accompanied by nasty thunder.  The sky opens up & generally there's a significant downpour.  Yesterday, while walking to school it was raining hard & the sun was out, which resulted in one of the most beautiful, long-lasting rainbows I have ever seen.

I ALWAYS have my umbrella & rain jacket with me, along with sunscreen a hat & shirt that is UV resistant.  I must look like a pack animal, but in one day there are consistently 3 different weather patterns.  I remember from when I was here before that the weather was not one on my favorite things here.  That opinion has not changed, but this time I am getting used to it.  At least I won't be driving in snow & ice this winter!!

reality has hit!!

This is hard!  Harder than I could have dreamed.  Teaching is challenging, especially because there is no curriculum, which means that I have to figure it all out & my formal training is limited.  Somehow or other, I will make it work.  My students seem good.  They are very motivated, which serves to make me work harder.

The novelty of everything has worn off.  It's as if I have to change my lenses & get rid of the perspective from which I came.  Life is SO different here, but I am determined to make it work, but work it will be......

One foot in front of the other......Onward!

Cuenca

Arrived without difficulty in Cuenca yesterday.  I am now living with a lovely family: a husband & wife & their 3 sons, ages 10, 12, 15.  Again I feel like I have a lot in common with them.  They like to eat healthy food, are active, interesting, and fun to be with.  Their home is beautiful & spacious.  I have a very large bedroom & my own bathroom, which is a luxury.  Still have not accomplished the art of figuring out how to have a hot shower.  Whether or not I ever will or whether or not that really is a reality is still to be determined.  ¡Asi es la vida!  (That's life.)  The school where I will be teaching is about a 15 minute walk from my house.  Not at all oriented to the city yet, but that will come with time.......  This photo is what my neighborhood looks like:

This is a photo of the school where I will be teaching:

                                                     

The cathedral, which is beautiful, in Centro Historico of Cuenca:

If you want pork for lunch, you might get a slice from this guy, who was right outside a restaurant, near when I will be teaching.

Men unloading bananas from a truck in downtown Cuenca:

Green bananas for sale, very near where I live: