About two weeks ago, we had one of the most jam-packed weekends yet this year. I´m definitely not complaining; it was probably one of the most fun weekends I´ve had all year as well, but sorry that I´m just getting around to writing about it now.
On Friday night, we had Joseph´s graduation party. Unfortunately, we all weren´t able to make it to the high school graduation because it started at 3pm and we all have program until 5, but Jon was asked to be padrino (godfather) so it was really exciting and he and Caitlin were able to make it to the ceremony. Afterwards, we were able to make to the party. They are in the process of adding onto their house, so it actually made for a great outdoor patio area. Naturally, dancing was involved. Diego, the largest two-year-old I´ve ever seen (okay, he might be three by now, but he still keeps the superlative) was bopping around and ¨singing¨to everyone (okay, more like a weird screaming noise). Some of our most controversial neighborhood kids were there too, like the biggest problem makers at Semillas that we all actually adore, and it was really fun to be with them as only a friend, rather than to have to balance that with being in a position of authority.
On Saturday, I went into Guayaquil to the Bahia and the Malecon, to buy myself an Ecuador jersey and to also attempt to find a present for Maria Sarita for her baptism party, which was the next day. I ended up finding the jersey I wanted, and Ricardo found a gift, so that was good. Later on, my roommates and I all went to Gabriel´s house for a birthday dinner for Tierney. (Wooooo HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY TIERNEY!) He owns the panaderia (bread store) where we buy bread for Semillas every day, so we see him frequently but don´t get to his house to spend time with his family as much as we´d like. His four girls are lots of fun and require lots of energy haha but they´re always entertaining. His daughters are Drew, Anita, Lady, and Tita, and range in ages from about eleven to four. There´s a video below of Anita and Lady rapping? Who knew they could rap?
Sunday was actually a dual celebration, both the baptism for Maria Sarita, as well as Nico´s fifth birthday. After church we all headed over there to celebrate. A long table was set up in their main room, and all the chicks plus Padre Miguel got to sit down at the table to eat, while all the guys had to either sit against the wall or stand up with their plates. It was very funny. Almost immediately after food, the tables were cleared for dancing (straight salsa and merengue). Don Oscar started pairing us off, insisting that we were the ¨jovenes¨(young people) and we should therefore be the ones starting and enjoying the dancing. I like dancing salsa and merengue (even though I´m not very good...let´s be honest, normal people´s hips don´t move that way), especially since I usually just have to follow the steps of whoever I´m dancing with. I must be improving at least to some degree, because Jenny told me, ¨You can dance Miss Cris but why can´t you bathe?¨ So, that needs some explaining, but it was absolutely hilarious when she said it. I don´t think Ricardo or Frixon could breathe for at least three minutes due to laughing. A while back, there was this time period (of four days...) when I didn´t shower, because the water is freezing and I was being prissy. Yes, this is gross, but someone told a neighbor and now it´s STILL a running joke with everyone. I´d like to add that since my retreat group in January I´ve showered every single day (except for yesterday).
Weather here lately has been HOT, but the rains haven´t been around for a while, which everyone keeps insisting is very weird. There was a period of about two weeks when the mud was out of control, and the streets literally looked more like muddy rivers than anything else. Besides the fact that tadpoles are in the puddles and it´s a breeding ground for mosquitos and Dengue (don´t worry, we´ve doubled and trippled up on the repellent), it´s actually kind of fun. I wear bright yellow rubber boots and get called ¨gallina¨, or hen, every single day because of it, but I´ll take that over having to wash my shoes everyday (which I´m sure, I probably wouldn´t do anyway).
The mud can be fun, but it also brings to light how fortunate we are just to have a cistern. The mud makes the roads nearly impassable, meaning that the water trucks sometimes can´t get to everyone. The other week I was talking to one of our neighbors and she told that they hadn´t gotten water in eight days. EIGHT. DAYS. Without water. Can you imagine? She said they were getting by just by asking for a little bit of water from different neighbors, but that if the truck couldn´t get through soon, she wasn´t sure what any of them were going to do. Luckily, the water truck was able to pass through that street later that afternoon.
Water is just something we never have to think about. In that states I NEVER thought about having clean water. I could drink out of the faucet for goodness sake. Here, I think about it more because we have to drink water from the pomas and we have to call the water truck to come fill up our cistern. But yeah, we can call the water truck. Our neighbors can´t. I don´t think I´ll ever get used to kids screaming in the street for the water truck to come to their house.
Paz, Amor, y Ecuador
Sunday was actually a dual celebration, both the baptism for Maria Sarita, as well as Nico´s fifth birthday. After church we all headed over there to celebrate. A long table was set up in their main room, and all the chicks plus Padre Miguel got to sit down at the table to eat, while all the guys had to either sit against the wall or stand up with their plates. It was very funny. Almost immediately after food, the tables were cleared for dancing (straight salsa and merengue). Don Oscar started pairing us off, insisting that we were the ¨jovenes¨(young people) and we should therefore be the ones starting and enjoying the dancing. I like dancing salsa and merengue (even though I´m not very good...let´s be honest, normal people´s hips don´t move that way), especially since I usually just have to follow the steps of whoever I´m dancing with. I must be improving at least to some degree, because Jenny told me, ¨You can dance Miss Cris but why can´t you bathe?¨ So, that needs some explaining, but it was absolutely hilarious when she said it. I don´t think Ricardo or Frixon could breathe for at least three minutes due to laughing. A while back, there was this time period (of four days...) when I didn´t shower, because the water is freezing and I was being prissy. Yes, this is gross, but someone told a neighbor and now it´s STILL a running joke with everyone. I´d like to add that since my retreat group in January I´ve showered every single day (except for yesterday).
Weather here lately has been HOT, but the rains haven´t been around for a while, which everyone keeps insisting is very weird. There was a period of about two weeks when the mud was out of control, and the streets literally looked more like muddy rivers than anything else. Besides the fact that tadpoles are in the puddles and it´s a breeding ground for mosquitos and Dengue (don´t worry, we´ve doubled and trippled up on the repellent), it´s actually kind of fun. I wear bright yellow rubber boots and get called ¨gallina¨, or hen, every single day because of it, but I´ll take that over having to wash my shoes everyday (which I´m sure, I probably wouldn´t do anyway).
The mud can be fun, but it also brings to light how fortunate we are just to have a cistern. The mud makes the roads nearly impassable, meaning that the water trucks sometimes can´t get to everyone. The other week I was talking to one of our neighbors and she told that they hadn´t gotten water in eight days. EIGHT. DAYS. Without water. Can you imagine? She said they were getting by just by asking for a little bit of water from different neighbors, but that if the truck couldn´t get through soon, she wasn´t sure what any of them were going to do. Luckily, the water truck was able to pass through that street later that afternoon.
Water is just something we never have to think about. In that states I NEVER thought about having clean water. I could drink out of the faucet for goodness sake. Here, I think about it more because we have to drink water from the pomas and we have to call the water truck to come fill up our cistern. But yeah, we can call the water truck. Our neighbors can´t. I don´t think I´ll ever get used to kids screaming in the street for the water truck to come to their house.
Paz, Amor, y Ecuador
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