Queridos Familia y Amigos,
What a month it has been here in our barrio! We have had our share of exciting things happening right here in Oriente Quiteno! I will start from a few weeks back with the Guarderia. We had a few kids get sick (which happens pretty regularly) but they were really sick this time, so after they went to the doctor and came back to the Guarderia for classes for a few weeks, they let us know that they had Hepatitis. Now I think I’ve mentioned before about the sanitation at the Guarderia isn’t exactly up to our normal standards (I use my hand sanitizer quite frequently) but with this super communicable disease it didn’t take much time to spread from a couple kids to about 15. They asked all the parents to get their children tested and bring back a note from the medico before their kids continued attending classes. This worked out alright, but the damage had been done and the kids continued to ever so generously “share” their spoons, toothbrushes, suckers and Hepatitis when we (the profesoras) weren’t looking. So, we had a big cleaning with all the parents one Sunday morning and cloroxed everything – toys, tables, chairs, pencils … it was a relief to me, but they decided that the only way to stop the EPEDEMIC would be to vaccinate all the kids. Of course this vaccine is super expensive about $30 (which is like ¼ of a monthly salary for many of the families. So that is sort of unreasonable to ask of the parents. I took this opportunity to check my yellow card and was relieved to find out that I do have the Hepatitis vaccine but am due for a booster shot, which means I’m ok … for now! Speaking of salaries, we got into a really awkward conversation one day while drying the dishes after lunch and I was explaining my teaching job for next year to the other teachers. They asked about how much I would be paid and I was ashamed to tell them my salary, and felt especially guilty because we are always joking about how teacher’s are poorly paid in the US. At our school INFA (Instituto de Ninez y Familia) the govt. dept. pays our teachers $130 a month. One of the profesoras asked me, what are you going to do with all that money? So I feebly tried to explain about rent, bills, food, insurance and LOANS. I don’t think they were too convinced though, and it was quite a humbling experience to realize just how good we have it, even when we don’t realize it.
Another culture shock for me was the new law passed to help alleviate the traffic congestion during rush hours here in Quito. It’s called Pica y Placa (Pica signifying the peak hours and Placa signifying license plate). Here’s what I understand of how it works:
Each person who owns a private car has a 3 numbered license plate. Based on the last digit of your number you are prohibited from driving one day a week during “peak” hours: 7-9 a.m. 11-2 p.m. 4-8 p.m.or something like that. So, for example our buseta (van-like vehicle) ends in 8 and every Thursday we can’t drive it during those times or we are subject to a $80 fine. How crazy would it be if one week the govt. just up and decided you couldn’t drive your car one day a week. I just kept thinking, this would never happen at home, people would protest and there would be an outrage! Well, this wouldn’t be such a big deal for us here, except that we pick up about 1/3 of the kids that attend the guarderia everyday in our buseta. So … the solution that was found for this problem was that Don Gonzo, our driver, does the morning recorrido (route) in his own camioneta (sort of like a wheat truck). Yes, the kids are now riding around in the back of a large truck to get to school Thursday mornings, which can’t be that safe! In the afternoons we leave early to make it home before 4 and go flying around all the curves, its quite an adventure (to add to the excitement the children all scream whenever we speed over one of the “speed bumps”).
We’ve also been experiencing some weather phenomena. Nothing surprising there as tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and everything else seem to be more and more common lately. It doesn’t snow but hails (granizo) little hail stones. Usually they melt by the next day but last week we had quite the tormenta!!! The hail came so hard and fast that it came in along with the melting rain and flooded our house and the school. Luckily there wasn’t too much real damage, just a lot of shoveling (the granizo on the roof was coming in through our great ceiling window so we had to pitch it over the side of the roof!) and mopping! This combination also resulted in practically flooded streets in one part of the city and in our neighborhood, several buses and big trucks stuck in the snow/hail/slush. It was quite a mess as they are not used to dealing with this “winter weather” at all! The Senoras (and kids) at school enjoyed playing in it, as it is really unusual here and it has stayed around for a few days. It has been pretty chilly here after our summer like weather at the beginning of the week! Crazy KS like weather! This weekend I decided I was going to go to Banos a nearby town. But Mother Nature had other plans. Banos is in the valley below Volcano Tungurahua which decided to partially erupt yesterday covering Guayaquil and several other cities with volcanic ash. Luckily, I wasn’t there to witness that!
So instead I took a little day trip to San Rafael about 45 minutes out of the city to the house of Eduardo Kingman, another of Ecuador’s famous artists. I had a wonderful one on one tour guide and learned all about his life, family, paintings and house. His father was a Dr. from Kentucky and his mother Ecuadorian … I’m still not quite sure how his father got here. But nonetheless, he grew up here with his mother and brothers and sisters and after his father abandoned them and returned to the US, he started out as a woodworker making little wooden figures and painting them at the age of 8 to provide for his family. His house was Awesome (which he helped build part of)! It is built on the roots of 3 huge Eucalyptus trees and the floor of the house is always moving, there are many un-level floors to prove it! It overlooks the San Pedro River and his studios have huge windows open to the beautiful natural view. The original part of his house was an old bakery and you can still see the ovens and set up. He has some really incredible work and was a very socially realistic, humanistic painter. He was the teacher of Guayasamin another famous Ecuadorian artist, who Nicole and I are big fans of and it was neat to see his work and the influences and relation between the two.
My time here is winding down and I just try not to think about it. I love the people here so much and the culture and the lifestyle, its just really a different world. Sort of like going back in time, in reference to the mindset and traditions of the people. It’s beautiful to witness the simplicity and devotion of the daily life of our neighbors and the sisters. It is truly an unforgettable experience and I’m trying to really enjoy and not take for granted the time I have left. I have been reading the Seven Storey Mountain (autobiography of Thomas Merton) and it has been really moving to see his faith journey and walk along this path of self-discovery with him. Especially as through this experience I feel like I’m always learning more about myself and getting to know myself and God better. I spoke to the High School confirmation kids last week and they had a chance to ask me questions at the end. One young man asked me why I was Catholic. It was humbling and exciting to try to explain that to him – especially in Spanish! haha But made me glad that they were thinking about these things and willing to ask these questions and a good chance for me to reflect as well.
Praying for you all, that you may experience God in many little ways throughout your ordinary work and daily routines. He is always calling out to us and asking us to follow him in many simple little ways, how happy we are when we answer!
Amor a todos,
April