The rains have started. And, since our roads are not paved, this means lots and lots and lots of mud. Everyone at the clinic thinks its hilarious that I bring in two pairs of shoes and that I show up with a plastic bag instead of my usual bag (pshhh I don´t want it getting soaked and ruined!) to keep all my notebooks dry. Aside from lots of mud and mess, the rains also mean that the grillos are coming soon, which are basically these huge cricket things that don´t bite, but they´re just really large and make chirping noises and eat our clothes (RIP two t-shirts already...)
We were planning on Banos and Puyo to enter into the jungle for a two-day tour but then a volcano erupted near Banos and it was evacuated so now we´re not sure if going there again is such a smart route. The way to get to the entry points to the Oriente (jungle) are also mostly through Banos, which stinks because it means that roads could be blocked. We don´t want to end up travelling and getting stuck somewhere, so we´re trying to come up with a plan B in case Banos falls through (but we´re all keeping our fingers crossed that the volcano will stop spitting ash into the air). We actually ended up heading south to the Sierra, but I´ll give a full recap on my next post...
HAPPY BELATED THANKSGIVING! I know that´s ridiculous that I´m writing about this on January 3rd, but I felt it was necessary. We ended up having a traditional dinner at Nuevo Mundo with the directors of the school and all sixteen of us volunteers. It was really fun, and there was an opportunity to swim in the pool at the Mundo apartment where Pat and Sonya live (the directors) but we got there a bit late so there wasn´t too much time. Too bad I didn´t realize that so I was running around our house in my Semillas clothes with a bathing suit underneath waiting for people to be ready...and then I realized people were getting ready and not into bathing suits because there was no time to swim...I know, smart.
December was super busy, but really fun. We had our annual Rostro de Cristo Christmas party in the Arbolito retreat house. We decorated it real nice and all of our guards and their families came, plus Diana and her brother Pedro, Ricardo, and Frixon (Daniel and Aide both couldn´t come because they take classes at night). Each house was required to plan "entertainment", which for Arbolito turned out to be a reenactment of a popular Christmas song here about Mary riding the donkey to Bethlehem (I believe a video is posted somewhere on Facebook...) Afterwards all the gringos got showed up by the Ecuadorians and their dancing. I just don´t understand how some people´s hips can move that way. The dancing inside became dancing outside in the rain, which was hilarious, and Ricardo and I taught the "dance" to a song that I have no idea what the name is, but it´s kind of like the current Cupid Shuffle of Ecuador.
In mid-December we also had two paseos for our kids at Semillas. The first was to the Parque Historico Guayaquil, which was a combination of a zoo with a playground and with a recreation of Guayaquil over the past hundred years (I think). It was fun and the kids loved it. Ronny´s outfit was definitely my favorite. He is five. He wore a huge, oversized lime green bathing suit as shorts with a shirt tucked in and his hair combed to the side. It was wonderful. We also had a second paseo that was combined with the two other programs. Each program invited eight kids to come to the Arbolito retreat house for the afternoon to decorate Christmas cookies, make ornaments, play Bingo (it´s a hit here), make snowflakes, and listen to Christmas songs. It was hilarious. Jair is another five-year-old from Sector 4 (the least developed area of Arbolito) who thinks he´s Italian because he pronounces the letter "s" like a "ch". He´s always out of control and we never thought he´d make it to paseo but he did this time. I am fairly confident that he consumed five cups of Cola, nearly an entire bag of Kachitos (like Cheese puffs), and two cookies loaded with sprinkles and frosting. There was one point where I thought he might throw up from sugar intake.
MERRY (BELATED) CHRISTMAS! Our actual Christmas Eve (Noche Buena) and Christmas Day (Navidad) were absolutely wonderful. In one sense they didn´t feel like Christmas at all, because nothing was what we have all grown accustomed to. A lot of us ended up worrying more about friends and family back home; everything here was new and exciting but back in the states, we know that everything passed more or less the same as always, except that one seat was empty. I ended up being not as homesick as I thought, but I definitely worried about family more than usual (yes Mom, that means you). Thank you to everyone who sent me mail! I was feeling very loved on Christmas morning haha so thank you so very much.
I spent my Christmas Eve peeling twenty pounds of potatoes with Ricardo and Tierney and then "helping" (let´s be honest, I just watched) some of the boys and Eduardo construct our año viejo, which is this structure you make out of bamboo and then cover in newspaper and fill with fireworks to blow up on New Years Eve (more on this to follow at a later date). We made ours in the shape of a rat because we have caught twenty mice between our house and the retreat house since August (completely fine). We all went to mass at 7:30 where the Arbolito crew starred in the Christmas pageant. We had absolutely absurd costumes and beards were drawn on our faces, except for Jon who can actually grow a hefty beard all on his own. Caitlin and I were pastores (shepherds), Tierney, Brendan, and Kipp were Los Tres Magos (three Magi) and Jon was Jose (Joseph...who didn´t speak at all but had to do lots of moving around). We had had practice for this thing every night for a month, and even though that got real annoying at times, we were all really excited that we did it. Some of the other volunteers from AJS and some boys from the shelter came with Megan to watch. It was downright hilarious, and I just spent the whole time trying not to catch anyone´s eye in the audience because I knew I´d start cracking up uncontrollably.
After mass (and after washing off the beards...) we headed next door to Eduardo, Nancy, and Wellington´s house to celebrate Wellington´s tenth birthday. It involved lots of cumbia dancing (which I obviously am...amazing...at) and cake and dinner. Around midnight we headed back to our retreat house to have a Christmas dinner with the boys from the shelter. We had turkey and chicken and stuffing and mashed potatoes (hence peeling twenty pounds of potatoes). It was absolutely delicious and the boys were entertaining, per usual.
Christmas morning I got to talk to the family and to Joey while I opened a few things that people had sent me through the mail. My college roommate Kati also gave me a surprise phone call (sorry if I actually blew your eardrum out when I picked up the phone and heard it was you...) so it was a real treat. I made my roommates watch Arthur´s Perfect Christmas, and they hated it (right Jon? hahahahaha) but I love it, so they appeased me and watched it with me. Brendan, Ricardo, and I visited with Jenny and Oscar´s family for a bit before coming back to the house and getting ready to go sing Christmas carols at Damien House, which is the leprosy hospital where Jon and Brendan work. Needless to say my voice was at it´s best, and Caitlin and I realized that between the Christmas obra and the Christmas party "entertainment" and now the Christmas singing, we have been participants in too many performances that actually require musical talent, which is something we both shamelessly lack. We were thankful Aide came with us to sing (she sings in church as well) and we were even more grateful when Monte Sinai showed up, since they are all musically talented. It was certainly entertaining.
We headed over to Sister Annie´s afterwards (she´s the director of Damien House) to have a Christmas dinner with the directors of Nuevo Mundo (Pat and Sonya), as well as with all of the volunteers and Aide came with us too! It was a fun time. We did a reenactment of the Twelve Days of Christmas (again with the musical performances...) and then realized we had to actually pack our bags before sleeping because we were headed out to the Sierra the next morning.
Christmas was absolutely wonderful. I can´t say I´ve ever had a Christmas quite like that one, and even though there was no snow (I miss it way more than I thought), and family and friends were far away, it was something so special. And I know that is ridiculously sappy and I hate being sappy but it was just pure and genuine. Christmas was about family and sharing time with each other and the true focus of it was actually on the birth of Jesus. I guess I´ve always heard that in the states, it´s very easy to lose the true focus of Christmas. Here, it was just raw happiness and celebration, without gifts or presents. It was wonderful.
Paz, Amor, y Ecuador <3
