Enjoying Ecuador´s coast right now! Lisa, Katie and I are in a little town called Canoa, a 7-hour bus ride outside of our beloved Quito. It is like a dream-- not only because it is beautiful, virtually bus exhaust-free, and we have a $6/night hostel with an ocean view, but also because we have no door on our bathroom...a stressful sueño I´ve definitely had a few times before.
It´s so nice to just be able to relax in the sun (it´s actually warm here and it hasn´t rained!), wake up whenever I feel like it, eat meals whenever I´m hungry and not have to work around someone else´s schedule. I really like my host family, where I live, and what I do in Quito, but it´s just so fantastic to get a break from the semi-micro-managed life of a volunteer in a homestay. We´re here until Wednesday--a super long vacation! In a few days we´re going to do a day tour of an organic farm, called Rio Muchacho, here in Canoa. If it ends up looking worthwhile, I may try to volunteer there for a little when I´m done at UBECI (I have a few weeks between the end of my work and my flight home). But for now, I´ll just enjoy the breeze and the salty smell of the sea.
I swear I actually do work sometimes in Ecuador....
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Quick Update...and Top 5 Quito Oddities
Everything is going pretty well here. We´ve got some new volunteers, which is definitely refreshing and keeps the work and my social life a bit more dynamic. A lot of questions I had about the organization were answered this week when Monica, one of the "jefas," called a big meeting and talked to all of us about UBECI´s mission, responsibilities, and a lot of work that is done by staff behind the scenes. I and a lot of the other vols feel much better about what we are doing.
My friend Lisa--also on a gap year--and I talked to Monica about what more we could do to help the organization. So...pretty soon, the two of us will be taking on a new, long-term project: writing the first ever extensive underground guide to being an UBECI volunteer. Monica is aware that a lot of what UBECI does is unclear to the volunteers--that was definitely my biggest issue in my first few weeks. But hopefully in this guide we´ll be able to go in depth about UBECI´s programs as well as what to ACTUALLY expect when you get to Quito in terms of food, money, people, safety, etc. Writing the guide is something we´re both super excited about doing, and I think it will actually help the organization a lot if volunteers are better informed before they arrive. We´ll see!
I realized that I haven´t been talking much about Quito itself in these updates. So, I´ve decided to give you all a little taste of what I´m experiencing by compiling a list of the Top 5 strangest things that can be seen in Quito--things that one would never see in Northern Virginia. Be warned: some of these may make you sad. Or want to throw up...?
5- Whole pigs.
Everywhere. There are cooked, whole pigs on every street corner in many places. Some of them aren´t even cooked, but are hanging on a hook ready to be shaved. Pretty crazy to see on a regular basis. Sometimes I say hi to them because you can still see their faces.
4- People crying...a lot.
Three times so far, I have seen women walking down the street with other women bawling and pouring their heart out. Super dramatically. Also, there is very frequently live music in restaurants, and twice there have been lyrics about love that have left people in tears. I actually kind of like the music thing...but it´s just like, what??
3- School getting out at 8 pm.
The system here is super different than in the US. Kids go to school either in the morning or the afternoon for 3 or 4 hours. It´s just so ridiculous to see young kids in their school uniforms coming home, like, in the middle of the night. And by the middle of the night, I mean when I am just getting ready to go out in the evening. But still...it´s not like there are extracurriculars or anything, really, so there´s no reason they´d stay after school is over. I just can´t imagine starting school at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, which is what I have deduced that some kids do.
2- Children working...
Obviously. But I had to include it because it is definitely a super major difference between Arlington and Ecuador. Kids come onto the busses with apples, oranges, caramels, chocolate, ice cream, whatever, and look at you with their sad puppy dog eyes, and it sucks. A friend of mine says she saw a little girl hop of the bus in the afternoon, throw her backpack on the ground, then immediately pick up a bunch of mandarines and run back onto the next bus. Ahhhhh I hate it so much.
1- People relieving themselves in the street.
I can´t tell you how many times I have seen people peeing on the grass or by a tree. I have also see two people do #2 in public. On the sidewalk. This is something about Quito that I definitely won´t miss. I almost didn´t even include this one but it just had to be number 1...because who does that?! In the words of my friend, Katie: "I don´t think I have ever wanted to cry and vomit at the same time."
So it´s not exactly beautiful all the time. But it´s definitely exciting! Don´t get me wrong, a lot of what I see and do is pretty normal for me...just not everything. Who wants to come to Quito?!
My friend Lisa--also on a gap year--and I talked to Monica about what more we could do to help the organization. So...pretty soon, the two of us will be taking on a new, long-term project: writing the first ever extensive underground guide to being an UBECI volunteer. Monica is aware that a lot of what UBECI does is unclear to the volunteers--that was definitely my biggest issue in my first few weeks. But hopefully in this guide we´ll be able to go in depth about UBECI´s programs as well as what to ACTUALLY expect when you get to Quito in terms of food, money, people, safety, etc. Writing the guide is something we´re both super excited about doing, and I think it will actually help the organization a lot if volunteers are better informed before they arrive. We´ll see!
I realized that I haven´t been talking much about Quito itself in these updates. So, I´ve decided to give you all a little taste of what I´m experiencing by compiling a list of the Top 5 strangest things that can be seen in Quito--things that one would never see in Northern Virginia. Be warned: some of these may make you sad. Or want to throw up...?
5- Whole pigs.
Everywhere. There are cooked, whole pigs on every street corner in many places. Some of them aren´t even cooked, but are hanging on a hook ready to be shaved. Pretty crazy to see on a regular basis. Sometimes I say hi to them because you can still see their faces.
4- People crying...a lot.
Three times so far, I have seen women walking down the street with other women bawling and pouring their heart out. Super dramatically. Also, there is very frequently live music in restaurants, and twice there have been lyrics about love that have left people in tears. I actually kind of like the music thing...but it´s just like, what??
3- School getting out at 8 pm.
The system here is super different than in the US. Kids go to school either in the morning or the afternoon for 3 or 4 hours. It´s just so ridiculous to see young kids in their school uniforms coming home, like, in the middle of the night. And by the middle of the night, I mean when I am just getting ready to go out in the evening. But still...it´s not like there are extracurriculars or anything, really, so there´s no reason they´d stay after school is over. I just can´t imagine starting school at 3 or 4 in the afternoon, which is what I have deduced that some kids do.
2- Children working...
Obviously. But I had to include it because it is definitely a super major difference between Arlington and Ecuador. Kids come onto the busses with apples, oranges, caramels, chocolate, ice cream, whatever, and look at you with their sad puppy dog eyes, and it sucks. A friend of mine says she saw a little girl hop of the bus in the afternoon, throw her backpack on the ground, then immediately pick up a bunch of mandarines and run back onto the next bus. Ahhhhh I hate it so much.
1- People relieving themselves in the street.
I can´t tell you how many times I have seen people peeing on the grass or by a tree. I have also see two people do #2 in public. On the sidewalk. This is something about Quito that I definitely won´t miss. I almost didn´t even include this one but it just had to be number 1...because who does that?! In the words of my friend, Katie: "I don´t think I have ever wanted to cry and vomit at the same time."
So it´s not exactly beautiful all the time. But it´s definitely exciting! Don´t get me wrong, a lot of what I see and do is pretty normal for me...just not everything. Who wants to come to Quito?!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Beautiful Landscapes, New Ideas and Positive Change
So..a LOT has happened since my last update! My friends Lisa and Katie and I passed a long weekend in Baños, about 3 hours south of Quito. What a beautiful place. Nestled within some of the most gorgeous and lush mountains I have ever seen, it is well-known (I believe) for its waterfalls and hot water springs. For me, not only was it by far the most fun I´ve had here in Ecuador, but also full of learning and relevant epiphanies.
This is definitely going to seem pretty random, but it´s definitely something that I will not forget. As I´ve said before, one of the most incredible things about being here for me is meeting people from all over the world. On Saturday night, for the first time in my life, I met and had a conversation with a group of people who live in Israel. Of course, we immediately got into conversation about politics...and the Israeli impression of Americans and vice versa, their obligatory enlistment in the army, the war on terror. Our conversation kept returning to the same conclusion: things can´t be judged from the outside looking in. You can´t truly understand something if you don´t experience it. I recalled being in Austria a few years ago and told the Israelis about how someone there told me that people in the area were celebrating when they heard that the Twin Towers had been attacked. One of the guys replied, "well, you know what we were thinking? We were thinking, ´finally you all understand how we feel.´" Always threatened, never sure your country or your life is safe. That made me so sad. We realized later that it was actually September 11th. Wack.
The next morning, Lisa, Katie and I took a tour and saw about a billion different waterfalls around Baños. They really were beautiful and the weather was perfect. Little did we know that at the second waterfall, we would be given the opportunity to jump off a bridge and suspend ourselves over a river (called bridge jumping)! Katie and I immediately refused, but it was something Lisa had really wanted to do. Once she officially agreed to it, the guide explained that if we were interested, two people could attach together and jump at the same time. Katie and I did NOT change our minds. But the guide kept insisting...and Lisa turned to me and said "Caitlin, if you don´t do this now, you´ll regret it as soon as you leave." And I immediately agreed to do it. She was so right. I didn´t have any time to reconsider, either, because they began strapping me up as soon as I said the word.
I could never have prepared myself for the sensation of a 90-foot free fall. Never in a million years did I think I would ever willingly do it. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before! In the split second that I jumped, I realized how I really wanted the rest of this trip to be. With risks and adventure-- no regrets. I don´t want there to be anything that I should have done or tried that I didn´t. Somehow, that moment of free fall (I´m not kidding-- I literally experienced this entire thought in less than 5 seconds) was my own personal proof that life is too short not to seize every opportunity. It all just clicked...people say it, but I never really considered it seriously. For the time being, that motto is deep inside me. Who knew that the process of deciding whether or not to bridge jump--and then actually doing it--could be such a great metaphor for a life?
All weekend, my friends and I joked about how we would never return to Quito. We loved being able to breathe without inhaling pure bus fumes, we loved the freedom, and we loved not working! (All of us were getting a little fed up with the volunteering-- it´s a lot of the same, the kids can be frustrating, and the adults can be too.) But towards the end of the weekend-- at which point we had pretty much nothing else to complain about-- we had a long conversation over dinner about people wishing their lives away and always wanting to be somewhere else or living in the moment. All three of us were/are experiencing a little homesickness for various reasons, so we have all wished at some point that that we were done here and could go back home. But what I personally took away from the conversation is that I have really got to change my thinking in some ways or I truly will not last three more months. As much as I love a lot of what I am doing here, I often find myself counting down the minutes until a market activity is over or even counting down the days until I go home. It´s hard for me not to when I´m bored or frustrated or angry. We talked about how people always say "I can´t wait til college" and then, " I can´t wait til I graduate and get a job" and then "I can´t wait until I have a baby" and just always wish they were one step further than they are. But we always wish parts of our life away that we will never get back. I won´t ever return to this time in my life. But I do get Arlington back. I get both, but I only get this for a little while, so I need to appreciate every experience for what it is. I will HAVE to leave here before I know it, at which point all I will want to do is stay.
Since coming back to Quito, I have made a concious effort to not wish for anything to be over and to put full energy into everything. I didn´t wear a watch to the markets today so that I would focus entirely on the kids. When I´m frustrated, I try to find one good thing about what I´m doing in that moment--or wait for one to come. I remember that there are little tiny things that are worth it all: like when a four-year-old who calls the color red "tomato" and doesn´t know the difference between yellow, green, and blue finally begins to understand. Or when a little girl whose homework is to fill an entire notebook paper with swirls finally does one perfectly and beams and gives you a huge hug to celebrate. Weird little things.
I´m actually pretty sure that my attitude is changing. I am getting used to the fact that this is my life; a lot of the time I don´t feel like Quito is a foreign city or like a guest in my house. I really hope things stay this way even as friends come and go.
This is definitely going to seem pretty random, but it´s definitely something that I will not forget. As I´ve said before, one of the most incredible things about being here for me is meeting people from all over the world. On Saturday night, for the first time in my life, I met and had a conversation with a group of people who live in Israel. Of course, we immediately got into conversation about politics...and the Israeli impression of Americans and vice versa, their obligatory enlistment in the army, the war on terror. Our conversation kept returning to the same conclusion: things can´t be judged from the outside looking in. You can´t truly understand something if you don´t experience it. I recalled being in Austria a few years ago and told the Israelis about how someone there told me that people in the area were celebrating when they heard that the Twin Towers had been attacked. One of the guys replied, "well, you know what we were thinking? We were thinking, ´finally you all understand how we feel.´" Always threatened, never sure your country or your life is safe. That made me so sad. We realized later that it was actually September 11th. Wack.
The next morning, Lisa, Katie and I took a tour and saw about a billion different waterfalls around Baños. They really were beautiful and the weather was perfect. Little did we know that at the second waterfall, we would be given the opportunity to jump off a bridge and suspend ourselves over a river (called bridge jumping)! Katie and I immediately refused, but it was something Lisa had really wanted to do. Once she officially agreed to it, the guide explained that if we were interested, two people could attach together and jump at the same time. Katie and I did NOT change our minds. But the guide kept insisting...and Lisa turned to me and said "Caitlin, if you don´t do this now, you´ll regret it as soon as you leave." And I immediately agreed to do it. She was so right. I didn´t have any time to reconsider, either, because they began strapping me up as soon as I said the word.
I could never have prepared myself for the sensation of a 90-foot free fall. Never in a million years did I think I would ever willingly do it. It was like nothing I had ever experienced before! In the split second that I jumped, I realized how I really wanted the rest of this trip to be. With risks and adventure-- no regrets. I don´t want there to be anything that I should have done or tried that I didn´t. Somehow, that moment of free fall (I´m not kidding-- I literally experienced this entire thought in less than 5 seconds) was my own personal proof that life is too short not to seize every opportunity. It all just clicked...people say it, but I never really considered it seriously. For the time being, that motto is deep inside me. Who knew that the process of deciding whether or not to bridge jump--and then actually doing it--could be such a great metaphor for a life?
All weekend, my friends and I joked about how we would never return to Quito. We loved being able to breathe without inhaling pure bus fumes, we loved the freedom, and we loved not working! (All of us were getting a little fed up with the volunteering-- it´s a lot of the same, the kids can be frustrating, and the adults can be too.) But towards the end of the weekend-- at which point we had pretty much nothing else to complain about-- we had a long conversation over dinner about people wishing their lives away and always wanting to be somewhere else or living in the moment. All three of us were/are experiencing a little homesickness for various reasons, so we have all wished at some point that that we were done here and could go back home. But what I personally took away from the conversation is that I have really got to change my thinking in some ways or I truly will not last three more months. As much as I love a lot of what I am doing here, I often find myself counting down the minutes until a market activity is over or even counting down the days until I go home. It´s hard for me not to when I´m bored or frustrated or angry. We talked about how people always say "I can´t wait til college" and then, " I can´t wait til I graduate and get a job" and then "I can´t wait until I have a baby" and just always wish they were one step further than they are. But we always wish parts of our life away that we will never get back. I won´t ever return to this time in my life. But I do get Arlington back. I get both, but I only get this for a little while, so I need to appreciate every experience for what it is. I will HAVE to leave here before I know it, at which point all I will want to do is stay.
Since coming back to Quito, I have made a concious effort to not wish for anything to be over and to put full energy into everything. I didn´t wear a watch to the markets today so that I would focus entirely on the kids. When I´m frustrated, I try to find one good thing about what I´m doing in that moment--or wait for one to come. I remember that there are little tiny things that are worth it all: like when a four-year-old who calls the color red "tomato" and doesn´t know the difference between yellow, green, and blue finally begins to understand. Or when a little girl whose homework is to fill an entire notebook paper with swirls finally does one perfectly and beams and gives you a huge hug to celebrate. Weird little things.
I´m actually pretty sure that my attitude is changing. I am getting used to the fact that this is my life; a lot of the time I don´t feel like Quito is a foreign city or like a guest in my house. I really hope things stay this way even as friends come and go.
Friday, September 10, 2010
On Always Being Surprised
Many Ecuadorians, I have discovered, do this thing where they´ll lead you somewhere and not tell you exactly where you´re going to end up. A few weeks ago, my host brother asked me if I wanted to go get dinner. We hopped on the bus and rode for a few minutes. He turned to me and said, "actually, we´re going to the amusement park." So we did. And last weekend, my host mom asked me if I wanted to go out with her. I said yes and met up with her. We got in a car with two of her friends (that she did not mention...) and little did I know that half an hour later I would be out dancing with 30 of her tipsy coworkers.
To be honest, though, I think the most ridiculous example of this occured last night. A few friends of mine went out and we met up with a few guys--friends of one of the volunteers--who live in Ecuador. One of them asked us if we´d like to go get a drink. We thought he was going to bring us to some typical restaurant or bar...but we followed him to this hole-in-the-wall place where the waiter was Asian (the very first Asian I have seen here). He started speaking to us in really hilarious English (which was totally startling) and said "Come with me! Back here." He disappeared behind a curtain. So we followed him...fearing death...actually, I was kind of worried he was bringing us to a strip club or something. But he led us through the kitchen and up a red-velvet, nearly vertical staircase. We climbed up, only to find a tiny room with a ceiling too low for us to stand up straight, a small table with tea cups, wine glasses and napkins, and fringy pillows to sit on. The walls were covered in tapestry and there was a big-screen TV.
Wait...are we in Asia? Possibly. Anyway, my friends and I were laughing to the point of tears. The waiter then asked us to take off our shoes. We ordered drinks...and then went to a Lady Gaga drag show.
Okay, so the drag show was not a surprise. But still.
To be honest, though, I think the most ridiculous example of this occured last night. A few friends of mine went out and we met up with a few guys--friends of one of the volunteers--who live in Ecuador. One of them asked us if we´d like to go get a drink. We thought he was going to bring us to some typical restaurant or bar...but we followed him to this hole-in-the-wall place where the waiter was Asian (the very first Asian I have seen here). He started speaking to us in really hilarious English (which was totally startling) and said "Come with me! Back here." He disappeared behind a curtain. So we followed him...fearing death...actually, I was kind of worried he was bringing us to a strip club or something. But he led us through the kitchen and up a red-velvet, nearly vertical staircase. We climbed up, only to find a tiny room with a ceiling too low for us to stand up straight, a small table with tea cups, wine glasses and napkins, and fringy pillows to sit on. The walls were covered in tapestry and there was a big-screen TV.
Wait...are we in Asia? Possibly. Anyway, my friends and I were laughing to the point of tears. The waiter then asked us to take off our shoes. We ordered drinks...and then went to a Lady Gaga drag show.
Okay, so the drag show was not a surprise. But still.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
What Are We Really Doing Here?
This is a question I have been asking myself a lot lately. A friend of mine and I have discussed it ad nauseum-- why do people volunteer, who is really benefitting, what is UBECI in particular doing that is really making a difference, etc. This conversation basically stemmed from the fact that many of us know our volunteer organization needs help, and we aren´t really sure how to get it.
UBECI has some issues, a severe lack of funds being the main one. The working staff is clearly not paid very much, since sometimes they can barely afford a $1 meal if we go out between markets. So the staff does as much work as they are paid to do, it seems. They can´t spend as much time planning as they should, which results in disorganization and "didactic" activites that don´t really teach anything.
When a friend of mine asked one of the staff members about it--about what UBECI is really doing--he replied "we give kids a place to be kids." Which is true. UBECI´s intentions are very, very good. The staff obviously wouldn´t be there if they didn´t care, since it is pretty obvious to us that their financial situation is tight. But, because we do not have the time to plan or the money for better resources, UBECI can only cater to very small children--children who are in the markets (bored, distracting to working adults) but probably aren´t actually working themselves. The people we miss are the 10-to-15-year-olds, Í think--the ones who really need a break. We actually had a brief conversation with one of the UBECI staff members about self-sufficiency and suggested that we find older youth to help us out and be leaders. For now, with the amount of people and resources we have, I think that´s all we can do.
One of UBECI´s main objectives, theoretically, is to convey the importance of education, values, and setting goals. Those things are not addressed at all by what we do. And I don´t think it´s anybody´s fault. Like I said, UBECI has crappy stuff and no money. The books we have are old and ripped, we use centimeter-long crayons and have one "didactic game": Chutes and Ladders. Personally, I feel like using supplies like this sends kids the message that these kinds of things are what they deserve.
As far as I can tell, very few people in Quito even know UBECI exists, and it relies on donations from the volunteers. It is a very, very tiny organization, but that is definitely not a reason for it not to be successful. I really think they would benefit from a sister city or partner school somewhere, or some company--locally or internationally--that can provide them with publicity and resources. And even if they can´t bring in more money through publicizing, they could certainly bring in more volunteers, which could lead to more programs and more success.
UBECI has some issues, a severe lack of funds being the main one. The working staff is clearly not paid very much, since sometimes they can barely afford a $1 meal if we go out between markets. So the staff does as much work as they are paid to do, it seems. They can´t spend as much time planning as they should, which results in disorganization and "didactic" activites that don´t really teach anything.
When a friend of mine asked one of the staff members about it--about what UBECI is really doing--he replied "we give kids a place to be kids." Which is true. UBECI´s intentions are very, very good. The staff obviously wouldn´t be there if they didn´t care, since it is pretty obvious to us that their financial situation is tight. But, because we do not have the time to plan or the money for better resources, UBECI can only cater to very small children--children who are in the markets (bored, distracting to working adults) but probably aren´t actually working themselves. The people we miss are the 10-to-15-year-olds, Í think--the ones who really need a break. We actually had a brief conversation with one of the UBECI staff members about self-sufficiency and suggested that we find older youth to help us out and be leaders. For now, with the amount of people and resources we have, I think that´s all we can do.
One of UBECI´s main objectives, theoretically, is to convey the importance of education, values, and setting goals. Those things are not addressed at all by what we do. And I don´t think it´s anybody´s fault. Like I said, UBECI has crappy stuff and no money. The books we have are old and ripped, we use centimeter-long crayons and have one "didactic game": Chutes and Ladders. Personally, I feel like using supplies like this sends kids the message that these kinds of things are what they deserve.
As far as I can tell, very few people in Quito even know UBECI exists, and it relies on donations from the volunteers. It is a very, very tiny organization, but that is definitely not a reason for it not to be successful. I really think they would benefit from a sister city or partner school somewhere, or some company--locally or internationally--that can provide them with publicity and resources. And even if they can´t bring in more money through publicizing, they could certainly bring in more volunteers, which could lead to more programs and more success.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)