The rainy season...It's here.

Welcome to the rainy season in Ecuador. It's officially here, and it's not going anywhere anytime fast. What does this mean for Monte Sinaí? It rains most days, sometimes all day or all night. The streets that were once dusty (and unpaved) have now turned to mud or swamps. Some areas are impassable without boots (or the kind of courage it takes to stick your foot in murky, stagnant water that´s sat for days and is contaminated with who knows what). There are puddles and rain-made ponds/lakes/rivers speckling every street where mosquitoes breed and parasites hang out (or whatever it is that parasites do). Dengue fever has been on the rise, along with plenty of other afflictions brought on by the rain-caused conditions. Neighbors have worked together to build little bridges out of scrap wood or rocks, dig canals, or purchase giant dump truck loads of rocks and dirt to fill the low areas and allow people to pass or cars to drive through. Just last week, both ends of our street were so bad that water trucks couldn´t enter and our neighbors had no access to water. Houses that are not made of cement or up on stilts are in constant danger of flooding. (Monte Sinaí was recently featured on the news for the severity of this problem right now.) And the electricity...it´s been going out almost every day, sometimes multiple times and sometimes lasting for hours or even a full day. I won´t mention any specifics about the new bugs and creatures that have emerged (love you, Mom). But in short, the rainy season makes the difficult lives of our neighbors even more difficult. It is inspiring to see their perseverence.

A small success story:
Last month, two women came knocking at our gate, asking for the Hogar de Cristo volunteers that live there. (Hogar de Cristo is a huge non-profit that addresses needs like housing, education, community building, health, and ministry in poverty-stricken areas) They sought help in getting a house. Both sisters, single mothers of small children, had been living with a generous neighbor (many people living in a small cane home)after their house had become unlivable. The canal had flooded, turning the floor of their already make-shift shelter made of sheets and plastic into a thick mud-pit. Being single moms, they didn´t have the money to buy a new house (and they can´t work because there´s nobody to watch the kids). Additionaly, one of the women was attacked by her former husband with a machete before he left them. Defending herself, two fingers were cut off. Her hand became infected, and now her whole arm is unusable. To make matters worse, the kids were sick and without medical access. You may be thinking, "This is a SUCCESS story??" Just wait. So hearing all of this, my community mates Belén and Katty went to take pictures of these women´s former home, brought them to the right office at Hogar, and helped get two houses donated. Each of the sisters now has a cane house on stilts, safe from flooding. And the health office has been offering the family support. That is the success part.

Elementary school graduation godmother?

Yes, I now can claim that title! Here in Ecuador, godparents are not a one-time choice. Kids get godparents for baptism, 1^st communion, elementary school graduation, confirmation, high school graduation, and even marriage. Being a godparent may entail paying for a fiesta, buying presents for their godchild on holidays and birthdays, being a support. But when Mónica asked me to be her son, Mauricio’s, godmother for his graduation into high school, it wasn’t for any monetary reason. One of our Rostro rules is “No gift-giving”. For me, this made it even more of an honor. To know that they chose me as a role-model and someone who will stay involved (even from afar) in Mau’s life means the world to me. And when I said yes, I did so with the knowledge that this is a life-long commitment. I’m incredibly proud of Mau already (he received a special “diploma de oro” for being one of the top students in his class), and I look forward to seeing where life takes him. :)

What kind of person are you?

This week is final exam week at San Felipe. On the 4^th grade Values exam, the students responded to the following question: “What kind of person are you? The three biggest trouble-makers answered like this:

Alejandro*: I have brown hair. I’m very good-looking and well-behaved.

Javier*: I misbehave a lot. I don’t listen to the teacher. I hit the other kids. When my mom sends me to the store, I go play soccer instead.

Daniel*: I’m a bad kid. I’m a failure in life.

Now, Alejandro clearly didn’t put much depth (or truth) into his answer. Javier, on the other hand, wrote things straight and real. But Daniel… His answer broke my heart. Can you imagine being only nine years old and feeling like a failure? This is the same student who came with lash-marks on his back. It’s moments like these when I realize that my greatest purpose here (and in life, really) is to love, love, love. These kids need more love, more care, more encouragement. Believe me, it’s a struggle. It’s all too easy to forget that the kids who challenge me the most are the ones who most need my patience and my understanding. When Javier has been out of his seat all class, running around the room and hitting the other kids, my first reaction is typically not to say, “Javier, I know you can do better. I believe in you. Please, help me with…”. My first reaction is to make some frustrated grunt noise (attractive, I know) and shout, “Javier, my goodness, would you sit down?!”. When my kids are shouting and fighting and acting nuts, it’s easy to lose my head and forget that really, it’s not their fault. Many of my students come from neglectful or violent homes. How can you blame a child for how he or she was raised? So blame the parents? Nope, that won’t work either. The parents were probably raised the same way, if not worse. It’s the culture that needs to change. And though that might seem an impossible task, there is hope. 

*Names changed for privacy

New Years in Ecuador: BOOM!

Imagine walking out your front door at midnight and seeing little fires burning all up and down the street and hearing firecracker explosions fill the night air *pop! pop! pop BOOM!* Here in Ecuador, New Year’s is a day of special and unique traditions. The most notable? Burning paper-maché figures or scarecrow like dolls stuffed with newspaper and firecrackers. Some people make them themselves. Others buy them from vendors downtown (prices range from $5-100 depending on size and quality). These “monigotes” or “viejos” go up in flames when the clock turns midnight. If the gasoline doesn’t make them burn quick enough, poppers are thrown in… POW! Fireworks boom in the sky. Kids and adults alike spin sparklers. Music blares from houses where guests will soon dance the whole night away. Other traditions? Wearing new red or yellow underwear for luck. Eating 12 grapes as the clock chimes twelve, also for luck. Eating lentils and/or filling a container with rice and keeping it in a special place to ensure you won’t go without food that year. Quite the list!

My New Year’s experience? We visited two different families. With the first, we danced out in the front yard and played with sparklers. With the second, we burned a “viejo” out in the street, threw firecrackers at the fire, ate our 12 grapes, sat down to a midnight meal of lentils, rice, and chicken, and conversed until 2am. It was a beautiful night and a blessing to share it with two wonderful families!

Pictures to come soon! :)

December in Ecuador: The most wonderful and crazy time of the year!

Wow! Time has been whooshing by!! The last few months have been a whirlwind of activities and preparations for Christmas. Here's a little recap of some of our recent happenings:

Church celebrations: December was the month of Confirmations and 1st Communions in our parish! My housemate Katty proudly welcomed her RCIA students as full members of the church :) All the kids dressed up in gorgeous white dresses or shirt and tie for the special occasion. And afterwards- fiesta! Church moments are a reason to celebrate, and we were blessed to be invited to participate! One of the families had a big party with food and dancing into the night. I always tell Ecuadorians that when I have kids, I want to throw parties like that :)

Visiting Bucay: San Felipe had a Mass and candle-lit procession around the main streets in our neighborhood for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. An adorned statue of the Virgin Mary led the way, with students and families following behind singing. And because students were out late, Madre Lucely cancelled school the next day :) I was invited to go visit a home in the country with all three Madres, one of the teachers from school, and a few relatives of the family that lives there. The finca (farm house) sat on rolling green hills covered in trees- right on the divide between the coast and mountain regions of Ecuador. It was absolutely beautiful! While there, the family welcomed us into their lives and made us feel at home. Some highlights of the trip: Milking a cow and drinking the fresh, boiled milk with hot cocoa powder. Exploring the gardens and seeing pineapple growing on the plant. Eating fresh sugar out of the cane. Hiking to a waterfall and swimming in the FREEZING cold pool! Spending time with a beautiful, generous Ecuadorian family.

Novenas y Posadas: The nine days leading up until Christmas were incredibly special here. At school, we had a novena each morning. The students acted out little parts of the Nativity story each day, sang religious Christmas carols, and participated in prayer. At night, each of the three chapels held their own prayer services or posadas. What is a posada you may ask? "Posada" means "inn" and is the beautiful tradition in some Spanish-speaking countries of acting out Mary and Joseph seeking shelter in Bethlehem. We went to a different house each night, following the two people dressed as Joseph and Mary and singing. Arriving at our destination, a singing exchange would take place until the doors of the house were opened and everyone entered to pray together. Even though peoples houses are small, the hospitality and love were tremendous. Being able to share in the anticipation of the Christ's coming with women, families, and the young people of our parish was a blessing. Their faith and dedication is an inspiration and a gift. One of the nights, the power went out and stayed out, so we held the whole event in candlelight.

Christmas: Feliz Navidad! On Christmas Eve, we all went to the three, yes THREE, Masses held in the parish. That's a lot of Mass in one night! But it was a chance to share and celebrate and be with our friends. At the first, I semi-directed the Nativity play, and it was a success! The most adorable part? One of the shepherds went running down the aisle of the church yelling, "The Christ was born! The Christ was born!". We definitely hadn't practiced it that way, and it was absolutely beautiful! We spent Christmas morning with kids from the youth group, revealing our "amigo secreto" and sharing some songs with a little fiesta for neighborhood kids that was going on. I am so thankful for the presence of such loving young people in our lives and for the role models they are in the community. That night, we visited Casa Damian, a hospital for Hansen's patients. We shared carols with the men and women who are alone during the holidays. Not having our families with us either, it was very special to share those moments together.

Riobamba: Vacation! Bernie, Katie, Lindsay, Liz and I took a trip to Riobamba after Christmas. We went seeking chillier weather in honor of the Christmas season :) Our adventures took us up Chimborazo, a snow-capped volcano, and to a little village called Candelaria where we hiked the rolling green hills. It's amazing and breath-taking how diverse the geography of Ecuador is. And while waking up at 5am to take a bus into the wilderness may not be the most relaxing way to vacation, it was absolutely worth it to experience the beauty of nature.

Exam Week at San Felipe

This week I am enjoying a week of VACATION! The reason? We just finished 2nd trimester exams. I was incredibly surprised to learn that in Ecuador, even elementary school kids take exams at the end of every grading period. An ENTIRE WEEK of tests! The oldest kids, who are only 8 years old, had 15 different subjects to study for. How stressful! Especially since the results make up 1/4th of the trimester grade. Even the little itty bitties took tests. I admit, I don't understand how effective it is to give five year old kids 10 different tests like that, but I did my best to be helpful during the process and to lend a hand when I wasn't proctoring my own English exams.

In one of the 1st grade classrooms, there is a boy with special needs. His name is Jesús. He can be a very loving or a very violent child, and this often changes without notice. When I have free time in my schedule, I work one on one with him, because left to his own devices, he does not accomplish much and spends a significant amount of time crawling around the floor on all fours barking. Imagine trying to help 20-some 5 year old kids (who can't read) take an exam while Jesús is pretending to be a puppy... yikes. So one of the test days, I worked on exams with him one-on-one. We were making some progress when all of a sudden, he looked at me with his eyes wide, exclaimed "oh no!", and slid out of his seat onto the floor. He then began crawling around making scary snake/dragon noises and pretending to bite other students' feet. Having worked with him many times before, I knew chasing him would not work. Picking him up and putting him back in his seat...also no. So I followed a few paces behind him saying, "Sea humano, por favor. Quiero hablar con el nino Jesús." (Be a human, please. I want to talk to Jesus the little boy.) Although my mind was absolutely frustrated, I kept my voice calm. And after what seemed like hours (which was only 3 minutes tops), he looked at me from the floor and shouted "Hola!". I made a big show of being overjoyed to find him human again, hugging him and thanking God. And we actually finished an entire exam!

A frustrating part of exams, I had a LOT of students try to cheat by writing things on their hands or by talking during the test. Ugg...very disappointing. But despite all that, most of my kids passed the exam, and some of them aced it!

Creepy Crawly Hatching Things

After three months of Ecuador life (which includes many meals eaten at neighbors' houses), I am proud to say that I have only caught one parasite (amoebas) and one stomach fungus! Exciting, yeah?? :) One of my community mates wasn't quite so lucky and currently has LICE. Yikes! I've spent many hours combing through her hair to pull out the little critters and tons of eggs. The worst part, you have to kill 'em...by squeezing them between your fingernails until they pop! Ah! But she should be clear soon! We're all going to get buggy things this year, though, so it's not a bug deal. Parasites and infections and critters will not defeat us! :)

Conveniently, there is a clinic within walking distance that can deliver test results in a day and write prescriptions to exterminate our little buggy friends. How much does it cost? For a medical consult, we pay $3. And for a parasite test? $2. Prescriptions are a little more expensive- it cost me $15 for three different medicines to get rid of the zoo in my belly. But even though it seems extremely cheap (we also have medical insurance that reimburses us), there are still many people who cannot afford the medical attention they need.

Something interesting related to health in Ecuador- there are a LOT of local remedies that we've been advised to try. When I came down with a cough, I was told to drink milk with garlic boiled in it (I wouldn't suggest it...although I did try it). A different friend fed me spoonfuls of fish oil (also not recommended). When my housemate was having trouble sleeping, we were told to blend pineapple and lettuce together and have her drink it (we never tried it). I was also told to leave a pineapple outside all night and then cut it up and feed it to her in the morning before she got out of bed...uh??? Not having a clue about medicine, I have no idea if there is any scientific backing to these methods, but who knows!