Visit from ChezGirlChez

Two words: jam packed! Chez and I got to spend 6 wonderful days running around the country experiencing programs, the gorgeous Ecuadorian landscape, and rich culture. Here's what the week looked like:

Tuesday-- I picked Chez up from the airport and went into the Mariscal to get dinner and meet the new 2010-2011 PDs. After dinner, we headed to the house in the valley for some much-needed rest.

Wednesday-- We taught exercise and Chez got a tour of the library and our communities. After we got home, we had a hearty breakfast, showered, and headed into Quito. We walked around the Mariscal for lunch and to book our Cotopaxi tour. In the afternoon, we climbed the bell towers of the Basillica and walked around all of the plazas in Old Town. We ate dinner at the house, and Chez got the full Manna experience of a family dinner. After dinner we chatted and played MadLibs. As I worked on my transition reports for the new PDs, Chez and Mike baked a cake to top off the night!

Climbing the Basillica

Thursday-- Here we ran into our first speed bump. We planned on doing a Cotopaxi tour on Thursday, but the guide forgot to pick us up. After waiting around for an hour or so and running after every gringo-filled bus, we headed into Quito to see what happened. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast while waiting for the tour agency to open up. We rescheduled our tour and stopped by the artisan market on the way home, where Chez got her nose pierced! Later that afternoon (after naps and report-writing), we taught exercise at the Centro. We ended the evening with dinner at the house, followed by a movie marathon.

Piercings (one is fake)

Friday-- The whole crew went to Rumiloma mid-day to give the entire Centro space a deep clean. Afterwards, Chez stuck around and helped me run the library for the afternoon. We closed up shop at 7, went home to a bbq with the new PDs, went into Quito for a Chivas tour (incredibly tacky and embarrassing party bus... dance floor, lights, and fog machine on wheels). After we were danced out, Chez and I decided to stay in a hostel for the evening.

Some of the gals on the Chivas bus (in our burger king crowns)

Saturday-- 6:00am wake-up call, and we went to meet our guide and the other couple for our Cotopaxi tour. We drove up Cotopaxi, to 4,500 meters elevation. We strapped on our gear and started biking down the active volcano (glacier-covered volcano, which is also the closest point to the sun on earth) in the snow. I have few words to describe this experience. The biking wore me out, but the views and the pristine landscape was breath-taking. We biked down the mountain, 28 miles through the National Park, ate lunch at some Incan ruins, peddled through herds of cattle, splashed through the mud... we had an amazing time. As soon as we got back to Quito, we hopped a bus for Otavalo. When we arrived, we had dinner and listened to some live music with Erik before heading up to our hostel. We were so exhausted and hit they hay immediately upon arrival.

Biking down Cotopaxi, with the glacier behind us

This (awkward) picture doesn't do it justice

Sunday-- After a good night's rest, we went into Otavalo to use our haggle-ing skills at the largest open-air market in South America. Shopping, pie, and a bus ride later, we were in Cotocachi (a little town famous for it's leather). Once we were leather-ed out, we took 3 buses back into the valley and went directly to the movie theater to watch Eclipse. We got home around midnight and Chez packed.

Krysta modeling some snazzy chaps

Monday-- I put Chez in a taxi at 5:30am so she could catch her flight. I was sad to see my friend and sister off, but it was so nice to have her visit. Love you, alma gemela!

Retiro #4: Pablo Escobar's Old Stomping Grounds

We are back from Colombia! We spent the weekend seeing a different side of South America. It's hard to believe that neighboring countries can be so different. Spanish accents, food, currency, city planning, museums, appearances, weather, etc. Medellin was very different from Quito. For one thing, we arrived to humidity (what's that?), heat, and sweat. It was warm and tropical. Medellin is similar to Quito in that it is a city in a valley, but the city is much smaller and is circular, rather than reaching north/south for miles. The city is much more developed, with sky scrapers and fancy apt buildings. It is very green and people seem to obey traffic signs.

We spent most of our time exploring parks and museums. The city is very nice and put-together, largely due to the biggest philanthropist Colombia has ever seen, Pablo Escobar. A lot of drug money has been put into the city; that means that now that they have worked so hard to clean up their act, it is a beautiful and clean place, filled with culture. It was a great place to spend the weekend (since we were kicked out of Ecuador).

We all got back safe and sound under tourist visas. Now we are back home and ready for the last month ahead of us.

Happy Manna-versary

It's been a year! We are in a season of a lot of goodbyes and one very exciting hello.

Yesterday was our last Adult English class. We had a party with our students, and Krysta and I stayed at the library with them until almost 9pm. We had a TON of food, music, a little English, and a lot of laughter. We have been with most of our students since January and a couple since last year. They have such excitement for learning English, and they have spoiled us with gifts for "Teacher Day", "Women's Day", "Easter", and any other holiday for that matter. They also taught me so much about Ecuador, Ecuadorian culture, and Spanish throughout the past year. We said our goodbyes and had quite the photo shoot. I hope these adults stop by the library to say hi throughout the next month. They are wonderful students and friends. Through this experience, I've learned how to be a teacher and how education is the key to development. Through education, these community members have so many more opportunities available to them and they are empowered to seek out the best for themselves and their familes.

Tomorrow will be the end of summer volunteers. We will say farewell to our 11 new friends, and step back to see how much they've helped us during the last 2 months. They worked to bring in new faces to the library... helping us reach record-breaking attendance! They encouraged kids to read through the Summer Reading Club and Literacy Class. They helped run classes and got to experience life in the realm of "Community Development". We've enjoyed their company, loud sing-a-longs, lesson-planning help, and shared love of ice cream.

With bittersweet farewells comes an exciting start of a journey. A year ago, we were all in Miami for new PD orientation. Now, the Ecuador 2010-2011 PDs are currently in Miami and will arrive in Quito on Saturday. Unfortunately, we will be in Colombia for the weekend (we have to leave the country to renew our visas), but we look forward to meeting the newbies when we return on Tuesday!

Good Times

We've had a very busy summer so far, and it has been packed with progress, growth, and lots of joy. Humor me while I share what's been going on through different literary media.

Women's Exercise:

• Martha completed her month-long internship and is now certified as a Manna Fitness Instructor
• Rosario AND Susana have completed 100 classes!!
• We bought a plaque for the "Exercise Club", where all the women who have attended 100 classes will have their names engraved
• We are assembling a bungee cord cage to house the exercise balls
• We made new signs and had them laminated to protect them against wear and tear
• We are almost done translating the "Women's Exercise Manual" for future training of fitness instructors

Celebration/Despedida:

We had a fiesta
To celebrate the year
A way to say "bye"
Without shedding a tear

Food galore
And basketball too
Laughter with friends
And all of the crew

Host families attended
There were dogs and children
Doctors and students
Husbands of women

Once strangers, now friends
We gathered to be
Together as a family
Before we leave

Alinambi Kids:

The students in our class started coming to the library a few weeks ago to complete projects for their open house for parents. Since then, they have come almost everyday to color, read, interact with new friends they met, and do many many puzzles. It's been a pleasure to hang out with them outside of the classroom setting. They are great kids, and I hope they continue to use the library and its resources.

Great Experiences with Dr. E:

Diabetes
Respect for patients

Enfermera (Nursing!)
Surgery Prep
Cronic Diseases
OBGYN
Bailoterapia (Exercise Dance Class for The Diabetes Club)
Amistad (Friendship)
Rounds

Thanks for indulging me and letting me fail in my attempt to be creative.

Why I Love My Job

Here are just a few reasons why I feel like I have the best job in the world!

• Zumba: per request, we started a new exercise class. It's called "Zumba" and it's an aerobics class based on latin dancing. I feel a little out of place teaching latina women salsa steps, but they love it and we have a blast! AND I've NEVER seen them sweat so much in exercise. I think we have ourselves a keeper.

• Yoga at Maria's: last weekend, I met up with Maria (Adult English student, and one of the women training to be a fitness instructor) to go to her house to teach a private exercise class. Her sister has physical disabilities, so she can benefit a lot from yoga classes, but doesn't feel comfortable attending classes at the Centro. Maria wants to have Sunday morning Yoga with her mom, sisters, aunts, and neices, and I came the first week to start things off. Maria has been through training, so she knows modifications and moves and is excited to offer this class to her female family members.
  
  
• Dinner with Friends: one of the perks to living in a country where people vacation is meeting up with visitors. The Tysons and Cynthia Knust (family friends from church) came into town, and we met up for dinner. It was so nice to chat and share a meal with friends.
  
  
• Last Alinambi Class: yes, these kids may drive me insane, but I love them. It's sad to see the school year wrap up and the program end, but the kids have learned so much and are enthusiastic to share about the recipes they've made with their families (Krysta and I made a recipe book for the kids to take home with all the recipes we made in class). I hope this program grows, improves, and continues to be successful in the future.
  
  
• Women's Exercise Attendance: 12 people!! We've had an average of 12 women in each evening class. We've also had as many as 8 people in a morning class. Not too long ago we were begging for a class size of more than 2 or 3. This program has grown and is thriving.
  
  
• Day with Maritza: Maritza used to come to exercise (now has to work in the evenings) and is the daughter in my homestay family who is my age. I stopped by the house the other day to catch up, and I ended up spending 4 hours chatting, talking about work and marriage, watching the World Cup, eating, and looking at pictures. I love her, and I love this family. I feel at home in their house, and I am so happy to have made such great friends.
  

Where Am I?

The other day I ended up on Verizon's web page checking out their new phones. I'll need to get a new phone when I get back in August (seeing as the one I left at home is currently held together with duct tape and only works if it's plugged into a wall). Browsing through the phones, I found a common theme.... touch screens, key pads, smart phones, slides and twists. Those are all things I'm unfamiliar with. I couldn't find a single flip phone with a set of numbers to punch in, at which point the phone would ring and connect you to another human being to chat. It got me thinking about my return to the States. It's funny that after a year technology can change so much that I will have to be trained in how to make a phone call. Between a new phone, a new computer, probably a new camera, and learning how to drive again... I may have technology overload. I'm probably going to take it slow, so don't be surprised if I'm unreachable for a little while.

Another observation: today I was perusing the iTunes top 10 list. Wow. Not only had I never heard any of the top 10 most popular songs in the US right now, but I didn't know the names of the majority of the artists! I'm not surprised that music and technology and fashion has changed this past year; it was just a rude awakening that it sped forward and left 10 ex-pats living in a house in Conocoto in the dust. The important lesson I took away from this was not that design, fads, and what's popular is significant, but quite the opposite-- life is not defined in clothes, music, gadgets, stuff... possessions. It's marked by relationships and what you do. This is one of the main reasons I love living and working abroad. It puts so much into perspective.

Drumroll Please

Here is my much-anticipated interview. Jackie did a great job, especially for it being her first interview! Please excuse the echo-y room, loss of power due to a hail storm, and my mumbling. Thanks to everyone who sent in questions. Disfruta!

P.S. It is (clearly) very difficult for me to introduce myself in interviews. I'm very awkward and don't really listen to what I'm saying. Many apologies to Hokies all over for referring to our great university as "Virginia Tech University" rather than the two acceptable options-- Virginia Tech or Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. I'm so embarassed!!!

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

I experienced all kinds of Ecuadorian treats recently, and seeing as I had no real place to put them, here they are in a "special edition" blog post.

Why Ecuador is different than the United States of America:

1. One man's pet is another man's food. I ate cuy! Cuy, or guinea pig, is quite the treat here in Ecuador. The Valle de los Chillos (where I live) is famous for this meal of roasted rodent. One afternoon, I met up with Jenni (one of the summer volunteers) and Krysta to try what we've heard so much about.

2. Karaoke is not to be taken lightly. Upon arrival to my very first Ecuadorian Karaoke Bar, I noticed something was different. People weren't shouting out lyrics, people were not talking above the singing, there were no upbeat 90's rhythms to dance to, and there was absolutely no laughing to tune-deaf performers. Oh don't get me wrong, there were plenty of tune-deaf singers belting out their favorite spanish ballad (and every song sung was just that... a ballad with a synthesizer melody line), but there was no laughing. Karaoke is a way to serenade your sweetie in front of a quiet room of on-lookers. Four of us sang our version of Bohemian Rhapsody much to the dismay of our fellow karaoke-ers. I don't even know why it was in the song list, since most of the people in the bar looked at us as if we were punching their child. So next time you find yourself in Ecuador itching to sing Spice Girls, skip the karaoke bar... no fun to be had there.

3. Washing dishes is about appearance, not efficiancy. Hmmm... cold water and a tub of solid soap. Just how clean can a dish get anyway? This may be the cause for #4.

4. The definition of "normal" changes. Trips to the bathroom happen regularly, but most of us aren't regular. As gross as it sounds, our bowell movements are normal dinner conversation; we've come to realize that we have gotten so used to our angry digestive systems that we've forgotten what it's like to not have stomach cramps after a meal.

5. Cows don't belong on farms. They belong on soccer fields, in streets, in front of tiendas, walking along highways, etc. Some mornings they even greet you at your doorstep. Cows. I love them and I surely will miss getting that good morning wake up call of moo-ing outside of my window.

A 19,000 Word Blog Post

This is a beautiful country. This post is a collection of pictures taken recently. Enjoy the scenes and the stories they have to tell!

All Kinds of Busy

Here's an update of the last couple of weeks:

We've had summer volunteers here for about 3 weeks now. They've been helping with programs and have done some projects of their own. One exciting contribution is that we now have a reading club at the library. When kids read a book and do a mini book report, they earn a "piece" of an ice cream sundae. They put a construction paper banana or scoop of ice cream on the wall, and once they complete the sundae (8 pieces), they earn an ice cream. It's encouraged kids to read and take books home at the end of the day. They've also worked to improve our programs and have lesson planned for different classes.

On the weekends, the volunteers have done some traveling in this gorgeous country. Two weekends ago, I helped lead their trip to Banos. Banos is what we call a "transitional forest" (on the border between the rain forest and the cloud forest). There we mountain biked, rappelled through water falls, had massages, took a swim in thermal baths, and went 4-wheeling. It was an adventurous weekend, and I'm glad we got to make it to Banos before Tungarahua started erupting (Banos is at the base of a volcano that started erupting 2 days after we left).

Dr. Escobar, the doctor who I shadow on Tuesdays, has asked Krysta and I to attend a couple of the Diabetes Club meetings throughout the year. He has a club of a couple hundred diabetes patients that meets on Friday mornings to discuss different relavent topics, to get their glucose levels checked, and to meet as a support group. We just attended the (belated) Mother's Day Celebration. Dr. Escobar talked with me about the possibility of offering exercise classes for the club, and we are now in the process of setting that up. I think this is an awesome opportunity and I hope that these classes will be up and running before I leave.

Diabetes Club

Last Friday, our 6th graders at Alinambi gave interviews to local tiendas to ask about the nutritional value of what they sell and how that affects the health of the community. Some of them were shy, but for the most part, I was really impressed with their journalism skills.

They look thrilled, don't they

Watch Out Tyra Banks

Last Friday my Ecuadorian modeling career began and ended. Maria, one of the Women's Exercise "regulars" and an Adult English student asked me to help her out with a project for her work. I was enthusiastic to help her, and asked what she needed. A model. She wanted me to model in men's suits for a commercial she was creating.

Unsure of what to expect, I traveled to Quito on Friday afternoon to help Maria. First of all, I was about two feet too tall, so we had to hide my feet in all of the pictures. After I had my make up done, I followed posing instructions and smiled for the next 2 hours. Rather than going into any more detail, I'll let you see the finished product. Enjoy!!

The Summer Vols Have Landed

For the next 2 months, we will have a full house with 10 extra volunteers here. They are helping us with existing programs and even starting some new ones. There are 2 one-month sessions with 10 volunteers in each session (3 of the 10 will be here for both sessions). This weekend we have been going around with them as they get aquainted with Quito and the valley we call home. It's exciting to have new faces and fresh ideas in the house, but 20 mouths to feed and constant shannanigans has made life here crazier than ever.

Today we also had our last soccer game of the year (tear). It was quite the battle. Krysta, Sarah, and I were all bleeding, Krysta got a black eye and chipped her tooth, and Sarah was covered from head to toe in dirt. Can't say we went out without a fight!

Fierce

Future Food Network Stars

Every Friday for the past 2 months we've been holding a cooking class for some crazy 6th graders. This is part of a nutrition curriculum we've been teaching at the school we partner with, Alinambi. The school approached us in February and asked us to teach the 6th grade class a course on nutrition. We designed a course where all 20 students are given a charla (mini-lecture) about a nutrition topic every Tuesday, and on Fridays they split up into 2 groups of ten and do hands-on activities that reinforce themes learned on Tuesday and promote healthy eating habits.

Beginning of the garden

Now we have some vegetables (and weeds) growing

Attentive students

Every Friday, half of the group goes to the garden (located on school grounds) to learn about the food cycle, how to grow healthy fruits and veggies, and why we need to make sure the produce we eat is nutrient-rich. The other half walk down the street to the Centro de Manna, where we teach the cooking classes. The kids LOVE going to the 3rd floor kitchen (thanks again to all of our donors!!). I help out every other week in the classroom, and I teach the Friday cooking classes (along with my trusty sous chef, Krysta). Here we have covered the following topics: kitchen safety, hygiene, using the food pyramid, foods of Ecuador, and micro/macronutrients. We reiterate what the students learn in the classroom and teach them how to cook a meal based off of their new nutrition knowledge.

Making juice

Enjoying their hard work

I'm a little frightened that one day we'll lose a finger in class, but I really enjoy teaching this program and think that our students are learning how to take control of their health and eating habits. Last class, one girl came up to us to share that she made a potato dish we learned how to make in class as a special treat for her mom. These are the moments that make wrangling pre-teens around pans and knives in a kitchen worthwhile.

I've Been Bad About Posting... Sorry!

My guestblog:

Fool Proof Way to Burn Off a Magnum Bar

Leave comments! It makes us feel special and like the words we send off into the world wide web are getting read.

I'll have a new post soon... promise!

Ecuadorian Engagement

The love of my life, David Lawler, just left Ecuador. It was a great trip. He got to see how programs have improved since October, we got to travel to the beach, and we spent some relaxing time together. Oh yeah, and we got engaged!

For all of those out there who are interested, here's how it happened:

I picked Dave up from the airport on Saturday and we took a taxi back to the house. Knowing that we would be going to dinner in Quito for Shawn's birthday, I decided to chill until then and check my e-mail. Dave left the room to bring something downstairs, and when he returned, a taxi honked outside. He said "that's us!" and Sarah threw a packed bag at my face.

We got in the taxi and Dave (very sneakily) gave directions to the north bus terminal of Quito. we took a bus up north to an old hacienda on a lake. It was fairly late, so after arriving we had dinner and just chilled. The next morning we had breakfast and walked around the gardens.

In the early afternoon, we got a taxi to take us to Cuicocha (a crater lake about 45 minutes away). The place was gorgeous and we decided to hike just a bit to take in the view. After hiking for 20 minutes or so, I was ready to turn back, since the taxi was waiting for us (note: private transportation in Ecuador is not very expensive, but being conditioned to take buses everywhere, I was freaking out about the cost of the taxi... it ended up being $30 for a 3 hour trip). When Dave kept pushing for us to walk just a little bit farther, I starting getting frustrated and got up to start hiking. Dave then "tripped" and fell o one knee, but in my frustration, I kept walking (I really love him, promise). Then Dave got up, grabbed me, spun me around, and got down on one knee. He said, "Haley, I love you. You are my best friend and I can't wait to grow old with you. Will you marry me?" Of course, I said yes!

After returning to Quito, we had a fabulous meal at the nicest restaurant in the city. We were greeted at the house with champagne, a room full of flowers, and letters from my friends back home. It was a pretty good day, if I do say so myself.

So excited!

eek

Sunset at the beach (we traveled later on in the week)

There's a Reason I've Been MIA

Last week I spent time in a "homestay". One of the women in our Women's Exercise program invited me into her home for the week, so I went to live with her and her family from Monday-Thursday, before we left for our third retreat.

Patricia (from exercise) lives in a two story house. On the first floor, Maritza (her oldest daughter, who also comes to exercise) and her husband live. On the second floor, Patricia lives with her husband, two younger daughters (11 and 2), and her mother. Her mother-in-law also lives on the property out back. This family is a tight-knit group. Every night, everyone gathers upstairs to play card games, play dominoes, do magic tricks, tell jokes, and just enjoy each other's company. They showed me family photos and spoke of life in Ecuador. I was really welcomed into the family... I was even invited on the family trip this summer!

There were many things I learned from my short stay with the family last week, but I'll highlight a couple of them. It was very interesting to see lifestyle and eating habits of women involved in our health programs; it's important to notice cutural norms but also see that habits may be slowly changing based on an education of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Ecuadorians really stress the importance of family, and my week made that even more evident. People who join our programs and attend our classes really appreciate what it is that we do, and they see us as one of them. Although we only live amongst them for only a year, they don't see us as foreigners doing charity work. On the contrary, they see how much we can get from a year here and love that we are spending our time working alongside them to better their communities. Spanish is hard, but mine is slowly improving day by day. Even though I'm not fluent (my definition of fluency has certainly changed as well), I can still communicate all that I want to and develop strong bonds with people in Rumiloma and the surrounding areas. The experience was great, and I know that even though I'm not physically living with them anymore, I will be frequently visiting the family and know that I am welcome home anytime.

A Bittersweet Farewell to Spring Break

The end has come and gone. We hosted 10 volunteers from Tulane the last week of March. The group arrived on a Saturday, so we made it to the LIGA game on Sunday where our favorite professional soccer team won 1-0. They jumped right into program rotations on Monday. The group was broken down into 3 smaller groups to shadow the following programs: Children's English, Library/Teen Center, and Women's Exercise. They also completed several work projects for us. The volunteers painted two rooms in the Centro-- the English classroom and the soon-to-be Preventative Health Center on the third foor. They helped us design bookshelves for the upstairs rooms, they deep-cleaned the library, and they designed and painted a mural for the homework corner of the library. In between working hard on projects, learning about and running programs, and seeing community development firsthand, they went on several cultural outings to learn more about Ecuador. The volunteers were awesome and we would all agree that we could have taken a little more of the craziness of Spring Break if that meant they would stay longer. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll let the following tell you a little be more about their trip:

Sonia and I are so pumped to have Tulane finally here (plus LIGA was winning)

The volunteers on our tour of Old Town

Shawn and Sonia with the sweet Tulane SBers

It's a beautiful city!

Enjoying a dinner out in the city

Working hard to clean the library

Starting the mural in the homework corner

The awesome (almost) final product

A Mule, Two Girls, and a Mission

Semana Santa, or Holy Week, is a big deal in Ecuador. Since schools were out and the Tulane volunteers were traveling on Friday, we had a vacation day and closed the library. Krysta and I went into Quito on Friday morning to see the professional. This ceremony is very important to Ecuadorians, and many years of traditions has made the huge processional into what it is today.

The outfits may remind you of the KKK, but they are said to represent a hiding of one's sin. Individuals also carry crosses and wear crowns of thorns to reinact the events of the crucifixion. Thousands of people march from the San Francisco church to the Basillica and back barefoot. The trip is a couple of miles uphill, and the whole processional takes 4-6 hours. The event was really powerful, and I was moved to tears with such a visual reminder of the sacrifice Christ made.

Afterwards, we dined on the typical Easter dish, Fanesca. It was.... interesting. It is a creamy soup with an extensive ingredient list is:

Cream broth

Choclo

Beans

Chocho

Salted fish

Peas

Cooked white onions

Raw red and green bell peppers

Banana

Raw green onions

Habas

Fried sweet dough balls

Potato
Cheese

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.... Essentially, it is a soup with 12 grains in it (representing the 12 disciples) and some donuts that taste like fish. De-liscious.

After our meal, we traveled to Quilatoa. Quilatoa is a crater lake that is downright breathtaking. Krysta and I stayed in a quaint hostel and snuggled to keep each other warm (the altitude makes for a very cold night). One morning we took a 6-hour hike around the rim of the crater. Since our legs were so sore the next day, after hiking down to the lake and kayaking in the turqoise water, we opted to take a donkey back up. I can't adequately describe the beauty of the laguna, the wonderful company, or the relaxing yet fun-filled weekend. I hope the pictures do it justice. Happy Easter!