Back to Bloggin'

I think the last time I posted it was maybe two weeks ago --- but I have good excuses for the writing lapse. For one, my brother, John, visited me in Ecuador on his spring break from law school and we traveled around together for the week. We spent a couple days in Quito (seeing the sights...churches, miradores, markets, etc.), then continued on to Mindo (a beautiful little town in the cloud forest where we stayed at a beautiful eco-lodge...unfortunately we got VERY sick...I am not going to go into details, trust me, it is for your best interest). After a seven hour bus journey on "recovering" stomachs (to say the least) we made it to my "hometown" of Baños (gracias a dios) and enjoyed having some time to regain our energies...we ended up doing a go-kart tour of the waterfalls around the area, going on a hike, visiting the mountain town where I teach, and much more! Overall we had a great trip and I was so glad to have had a miembro de mi fam to share my new home with! John and I traveled back to the U.S. together (or rather we left the airport the same night), which leads me to my second excuse for not blogging recently -- I have been at home for the past week and a half! And believe me, as much as I love Grand Rapids, I can't say that it inspires me to write/reflect. Regardless, it has been great to recharge my energies, think about how I want to spend my last couple months in Ecuador (I will still be living in El Triunfo and teaching at the elementary school), and relax. I almost could not get over the fact that in the U.S you can actually throw toilet paper down the toilet...as John said when he arrived back home "God Bless the U.S.A!"

And now for an additional "pitch" to all readers....I also spent a lot of my time at home working on stationary (made from the paintings done by los niños from El Triunfo) which I am selling for a minimum donation of $10. The proceeds of the stationary will go 100% towards the founding of a library in the elementary school in El Triunfo! If you are interested in buying some stationary please contact me at mmishler@middlebury.edu, and I will hook you up! (See attached letter).

For now, enjoy the pictures (including John milking his first cow) and I will be back to blogging via Ecuador sometime later this week as I head back Thursday morning....just in time for Semana Santa!

Día de la Mujer

Día de la Mujer, which falls on March 8th to be exact, is supposedly an international holiday…although I will admit that I never knew the holiday existed until this past Monday. Regardless, I think it is one of my new favorite holidays. The day started with a two-hour program put on by the seventh grade class. The program consisted of songs, poems, dances and a rose presentation (one given to each of the female teachers). To represent the women and mothers in all parts of the world, the seventh grade class split up into groups and learned dances from different parts of the world. The songs chosen to represent the Estados Unidos were “You Ain’t Nuthin’ but a Hound Dog” along with a mix of other similar songs, which I thought was hilarious. Maybe they think that is still how we are getting our groove on in the USA. I guess I am alright with that misconception, as I would say that as a whole we Americans just don’t know how to move like Latin Americans do. Actually, there is no comparison…while the LA youngsters grow up with their hips swinging to the constant blaring beats of merengue and salsa I was clapping along to “B-I-N-G-O” and “Row your Boat” (along with s slew of Disney songs) until I was old enough to choose my own radio station (and then it was Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, dios mio).

Getting back to the topic of Día de la Mujer, after the program classes were cancelled and all teachers went to a close-by town to have a trout lunch (I fished for the trout myself thank you very much), followed by more than a few drinks and some friendly dancing to nacional música de Ecuador, cumbia and salsa. I like to imagine my experiences here in the escuela in a small Ecuadorian mountain town happening back in my elementary and high school in the US…although it is hard to imagine because it would never happen. The two education systems really are worlds apart.

I am going to have a respite from school stories and the likes because this Saturday (in only three days) John (mi hermano) is coming to visit for a week and then I am going home for a week and a half. I am going to pick up John in Quito where we will spend a couple days, then off to Mindo and the cloud rainforest for a couple days and then to Baños/El Triunfo. It will be nice to be home for a bit to recharge and to take some time to think about things I can do in the school and teaching wise as there aren’t many resources here in El Triunfo. Project ideas? Want to help sponsor a new library in the elementary school República de Suiza? Holler at me!

Besote,
Megan

PS – Feliz de de la Mujer (a couple days late) to all the mujeres that read this blog. Especially to my mom who es la major de todas! ☺

Makin' Progress

I would without a doubt say I have really enjoyed my first two months here in Ecuador, and in El Triunfo (wow, I can’t believe it has been two months), but I would also say that in the last few days something has really clicked and I am really feeling like part of the community and forging new relationships.

From high school girls asking me to help them with homework or paint their nails, playing volleyball with a group of girls my age, going horseback riding, or learning to make a mean mora (blackberry) shake, I feel as though I am just getting to a level in the community that I can really help students and make long lasting friendships and connections.

This past Saturday for example I headed down to Baños (the tourist town down the mountain) on the morning bus from El Triunfo and sat with a 16 year old high school student, Morelia. Morelia is a sweetheart. She often stops by my house to ask me to help her with homework (often when she is on her way to feed her families pig down the road). Morelia has 7 siblings, of which the two eldest boys are a little delayed because the Mom used to give them pure cane liquor when they were babies to calm them down and stop them from crying and the eldest sister who got pregnant with one of her teachers when she was 15. Bueno, regardless of the family history, Morelia is a doll. Thus, I invited her to come to breakfast with me at a local hostel that has a nice rooftop terrace breakfast area. I figured she didn’t have any money so I offered to pay for her and convinced her to come along. When I opened the door to the hostel (which is a pretty nice, clean, hostel, but is by no means what I would call luxurious) Morelia told me she was ashamed to enter because she had never been in a hotel before and on the way up the stairs she literally asked me if it was O.K if she talked. Not kidding. I told her that of course she could talk, she had just as much the right to talk as anyone in the building!

On another note, after another trip to Quito today (leaving form El Triunfo at 3:00 am (gag me) to make it to Quito the exact hour the Consulate opened) I officially am done with all the visa hassle as my visa application was approved and everything will be ready to pick up by the end of the week! Yipee! Double yippee because on the taxi drive back to the bus terminal I bought 50 roses for one dollar at a road-side stand!

I am looking forward to a weekend trip to the historical city of Cuenca with Isabel who I live with and her three-year old daughter and looking even more forward to John coming in a little less than 2 weeks (especially because he is bringing starburst jelly beans). Hehe.

LLL! Longer letter later…

Love,
Megita