It's been a busy period of time. Preparing for my classes continues to occupy my time more than I'd like, but when there is an opportunity to do anything else, I find a way. In fact, I was offered to teach another class, would would have been 2 hours/day 5 days/week, which does not include prep or travel time. Although flattered, I decided that for my mental health and the fact that I need to be sure to include play time in my life, I declined. This past week was midterms for my students, which meant a little less prep, which was good. Most of my students did quite well, but there are a few that are really struggling.
NON-WORK ACTIVITIES THIS PAST WEEK
Last Thursday evening there was a presentation by my school at one of the local malls. I thought that I should go & am glad that I did because a group of us went back to the apartment of 1 of the teachers after the presentation. It was good hanging out with my colleagues. They are an interesting group--more mature in many ways than those of the program that brought me to Ecuador. They are older & have much more teaching experience. It's also an international group of teachers---from Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and the U.S.
On Friday night there was a surprise birthday party for Eugenio, Esperanza's brother. I was told that it was called for 6:00 P.M. We left the house at 7:15 P.M. and were quite on time. (Those times are not typographical errors. Whenever parties are called for (or for that matter, time for many things [but NOT the time that classes begin!]) is not to be taken literally. Most of Esperanza's family was there. She is 1 of 6 children. The only 1 who didn't come is the 1 who lives in Canada. It was a big gathering. I think Eugenio was surprised. After eating, Eugenio hit the piñata & all the children as well as many adults ran for the candy. Then the music started & many danced.
Yesterday, (Saturday), after my morning class I was invited for lunch at Emanuela's apartment. She is the woman with whom I did the seder. She had invited me & 1 couple, whom we had gotten together with several weeks ago. We were there from 1:00 PM until after 6:00 PM. Food was great, as was the comraderie.
Today is Mother's Day, which is a big deal here. It started last night (or actually this morning) at about 1:30 AM when a friend of Esperanza's came to the front door & serenaded her & me. I slept through it! I celebrated Mother's Day with 5 other women at 1 of the many restaurants that had a special menu for today. Walking to the restaurant I saw more people out than usual on a Sunday, with flowers and balloons to celebrate the day.
OBSERVATIONS
I've not commented on the fact that greetings between people here are very different from what they are at home. It basically consists of a kiss on the cheek, sort of like an air kiss, but not necessarily. It you walk into a room with 15 people (like Eugenio's birthday party), it is assumed and expected that you will kiss everyone & be kissed back. You also must do this when you leave. It is not uncommon to not be introduced, which means that often I know no one's or very few people's names, but we have all kissed. Last night when I got home, Mayra, Esperanza's daughter, was in the kitchen with 4-5 of her friends, whom I had never met. I immediately went into the kitchen & kissed everyone (& was kissed back), but was never introduced to anyone. Different from what I know, but less unusual for me now!
Whenever I am out walking, which is daily, I am acutely aware of how things get done here. A lot of muscle power is required much of the time because there seems to be a limited number of machines available that we take for granted in the U.S. I do believe that almost every machine that we have in the U.S. exists here, but they are few in number. Lawnmowers is one such example. It's not that everyone has a lawn, but there is grass that grows on parkways, along roads, and places where grass grows. I think I may have seen 1 lawnmower since I've been here. What is typical is that weed whackers are used to cut the grass and then to pick it up, men use large tarps that the grass is gathered into. From there they cart the tarps to trucks, dump the grass into the truck and go back for another load. It's very labor intensive.
Another similar example is watching large heavy bricks being removed from a truck and piled at a business that sells them. I saw an assembly line of men throwing the bricks from two men on the truck to several on the ground until they reached the man who was piling them up. Exhausting to watch and sort of frightening to think what would happen if 1 man dropped his brick. Would the others stop in time for him to pick it up or would they keep the process going?
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