La Mitad del Mundo

Below is a short video of an indigenous dance that several of us watched (and participated in) at the La Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World, aka Equator) complex. The red line running down the center of the square is the actual Equator.

¡Ay, mi Quito!

Who knew so much could happen in two weeks? I am having an amazing time. Ecuador really is an awesome place. Actually, I am not yet allowed to say that; Quito is an awesome place. I already feel like I’ve seen and done some of Latin America’s most impressive attractions and I have not yet even gone more than 25 kilometers from Quito.

Before I begin, however, I want to say that right before coming to Ecuador I went to Seattle for a few days to see some (terrible) Mariner games and celebrate my Cousin Mackenzie’s awesome 21st birthday. Almost the whole family was there and it was great to see everybody before taking off for Ecuador.

The first week was spent attending language school in the morning and working with UBECI at their South Quito office in the afternoons. Once most of the team had arrived by the end of the first week the fun really started. It began with a night tour of Old Town Quito (Centro Histórico) followed by one of the most amazing dinners you could imagine: on the rooftop of a building overlooking Plaza Grande, which is surrounded by the Presidential Palace, the main cathedral, the Mayor’s office, and the Ecuadorian Archbishop’s Palace. This being in addition to the fact that there was also an amazing view of the entire city from north to south as well as the Panecillo (a statue of a winged Virgin Mary on a hill above Old Town). Oh yeah, and there was a live classical guitar and harp performance not five meters from our table.

Obviously all of that could not be enough from one night in Quito, so after dinner we went to a restaurant on top of a mountain looking down upon Guápalo where we saw two more amazing musical performances. The first of which was a Cuban Son band that was incredible. If you have not heard of Son, I highly recommend checking out the Buena Vista Social Club movie and/or CD as it is an incredible bringing together of some of the most famous Cuban musicians of the 20th century. From classical harp to Cuban Son to Spanish guitar, the night was rounded out by an amazing performance of a Gipsy Kings (also an amazing Spanish group) style band accompanied by an absolutely amazing Flamenco dancer (who just so happens to be one of our best Ecuadorian friends). Actually, I lied, that wasn’t the end of the night. Afterwards the band played a private performance for just our group and the Flamenco dancer Emilia danced an individual song with each of us. Pretty exciting...

The next day was Zak’s birthday, so naturally we had to top the previous night, and I think we may just have… In the morning we took off for the Middle of the World (aka the Equator). It was kind of silly and touristy, but there were a couple of interesting exhibits dedicated to the 20 some odd individual indigenous group that currently reside in Ecuador, as well as a traditional Andean folklore dance complete with appropriate music and dress. Crossing back into the Southern Hemisphere we watched the Ecuadorian national soccer team destroy El Salvador 5-1 from the best seats in the house: the cheapest ones. Sitting where you can see both sides of the field is never a bad choice, but being behind the goal surrounded by true Ecuadorian soccer fans who can barely scrape up enough money to make it to the game is a total blast. Soccer games in the cheap seats are a treat for all who can make it and the party never calms until long after the game is over.

During the game Zak’s host family was hard at work preparing his birthday party complete with cake and Cuba Libres, which was followed by a long night of dancing in one of Quito’s most popular clubs. People throughout Latin America absolutely love to dance and we have all been taking Merengue and Salsa lessons so as not to appear like complete Gringo fools during the two to three nights a week we go out dancing. Happy birthday Zak!

Dancing and going out is a total blast, but sometimes you need to relax, and the perfect place is Parque La Carolina. (Represent the Carolinas!) A couple times a week we make our way to this enormous park right in the middle of the city for a rousing game of wiffle ball, definitely one of my all-time favorite games. You might be thinking that this does not sound typically Ecuadorian; however, in addition to creating three-on-three Ecua-volleyball, here Ecuadorians have also created a game of baseball that has FIVE bases and innings that last until everyone on the team has been burned (put out).

Okay, I am concerned that you may be thinking that all I am doing is having fun and not actually getting any work done. On the contrary, I have actually been working very hard. The team has had several conversations with the directors of UBECI to make sure that we are on the same page in terms of our work with their programs in Santa Isabel and San Francisco. Just this past Thursday we attended UBECI kick-off celebration in Santa Isabel where we established rules, guidelines, and procedures for the year. More than anything, however, we played games and danced. I absolutely cannot wait for October when we will really get to spend quality time on a regular basis with these awesome kids.

Additionally, I have been assigned the task of finding the official MPI Ecuador house. I am sure you all know how much fun house-hunting is, but imagine doing it without a realtor and without Craig’s List: not the easiest job in the world. I have found a couple of good options, nonetheless, and we plan to make our decision by early this week.

Only a couple more stories to tell and then I will be finished with my September update. The first of which is that there are some amazing art museums here in Quito. I first visited the Museo del Banco Central which houses four full floors of exclusively Ecuadorian art dating from 12,000 BCE to the present day. Some of the highlights include the Gold Room filled with artifacts from many of the pre-Colombian and pre-Inca cultures and the colonial art floor with countless examples of the Quito School of Art (a more colorful and life-like style of classical European Catholic art). A second, and equally impressive, museum is the Chapel of Man (Capilla del Hombre at the Fundación Guayasamín). This is a chapel not dedicated to the Virgin or the Lord or any saint, but rather to the common man as constructed by Oswaldo Guayasamín, Ecuador’s most famous artist of the 20th century. Guayasamín claimed his greatest influences to be Picasso, Goya, and El Greco. These influences can definitely be seen in his incredible murals, but, in my opinion, Guayasamín’s artwork is often times more intense and more emotional than even that of these masters of Spanish art.

Finally, one cannot forget that we are in the Andes Mountains and amazing hikes are a mere glance toward the sky away, the first of which we completed yesterday. One of Quito’s newest attractions is the TeleferiQo, a gondola which takes you from the city up to 4100 meters (13,500 feet). From there we embarked upon the hike up to the top of Volcano Rucu Pichincha at 4680 meters (15,400 feet). Unfortunately we picked a cloudy day and the views were not as amazing on other days but throughout most of the hike there were some very special views of Quito and the Andes. The last kilometer or so was a bit of a climb in a cloud of snow and ice which was in no way conducive to enjoying the beauty of the surrounding mountains, but being in a snow storm on the equator was totally worth it (and totally cold)! 15,000 feet may seem high, but in Ecuador it is nothing but a mere warm-up; we’ve now got our sights set on Volcano Cotopaxi (19,500 feet).

La vida propia de las cobijas

The following is a short story that I wrote for my Spanish class about my bed. I’ve also added a couple pictures from my house and bedroom so you have some visual imagery to accompany the narrative.

Después de una semana de estar en Ecuador, yo en realidad estoy muy feliz; no obstante, hay un suceso que me sigue confundiendo: el uso de las cobijas y las sábanas en la cama. De donde vengo yo, especialmente en el verano, no hace frío de noche. Por lo tanto, me he acostumbrado a dormir con solamente una cobija. O si estuviéramos en el invierno, me dormiría con dos cobijas no más.

Aquí en Ecuador las primeras dos noches me dormí con tres cobijas y una sábana y estas dos noches me acosté y me levanté con frío. ¡Achachay! Por eso, le pedí a Sonia otra cobija. Ya no tengo frío durante la noche pero me está confundiendo el movimiento de las cobijas durante la noche. Lo más raro, todavía, es que la única que se mueve es la que está debajo, o sea la que está directamente encima de mi cuerpo.

Empezó con la sábana hace unas cuatro noches. Me sentía feliz de no tener frío. Me di cuenta, sin embargo, al momento de despertarme, de que había un exceso de sábana subida que ni llegaba a mis pies. Lo tomé como raro pero no hice caso.

La noche siguiente me levanté y la sábana había subido durante la noche hasta más de la cintura. Eso para mi era una molestia; sin embargo, la solución fácil que yo tenía era nada más sacar la sábana de la cama. Como dije antes, no duermo con sábana en los Estados Unidos.

Quiero que te fijes bien ahora en cómo sucede el movimiento de las cobijas: las demás no cambian de posición, solo la más baja.

Bueno, me acosté anteanoche sin sábana pero con cuatro cobijas que eran suficientes para no tener mucho frío. Al levantarme ayer supongo que puedes adivinar lo que me había ocurrido: La cobija de arriba, y las dos de debajo de ella, no se había traslado mientras que la de abajo hasta las rodillas. ¿Por qué me sigue pasando esto? ¡No lo entiendo!

Frustrado, tomé una acción drástica: Yo quité las cuatro cobijas de la cama y empecé de nuevo a ponerlas en orden para que todas llegaran al mismo nivel de las almohadas.

Pensando que ya había conquistado mi problema, me acosté anoche tranquilamente. ¿Y sabes lo que me pasó? ¡La cobija de abajo subió otra vez! Incluso subió más de lo que se había subido la noche anterior: hasta la cintura.

ж ж ж

Este cuento lo vivo en este momento y aún no lo puedo terminar de manera escrita porque no sé cómo voy a solucionar esta extraña secuencia de sucesos. Lo único que puedo decir es que tendré que evaluar la situación cada noche y cada mañana para asegurar que las cobijas se mantengan en orden. Ojalá decidan calmarse.

I talk like a monkey?

I have to admit that I was not entirely excited about taking Spanish language classes here in Quito given that I’ve been teaching Spanish to predominately Spanish speakers for the past two years; nevertheless, I now feel that it was a valuable experience. I have learned a variety of vocabulary that is specific to Ecuador, many of which come from Quichua (or Kichua or Kichwa or K-chwa etc.) Some of my favorites are described below:

• ¡Ayayay! ~ Ouch!
• ¡Arrarray! ~ Ah, that’s hot!
• ¡Achachay! ~ Ah, that’s cold!
• ¡Atatay! ~ Eww, that stinks!

A couple others that come from Quichua are very common around the house:

• Ñaño/ñaña ~ Brother/sister
• Rucu ~ Older person (or volcano…)
• Guagua ~ Younger person (or volcano…)
  The reason I say volcano here is because the closest mountains to the city of Quito are the brothers Pichincha (also the name of the province). Rucu Pichincha is visible from almost anywhere in the city and serves as a fabulous reference point if you are ever lost (in the photo). Unfortunately, Rucu is old and tired and doesn’t get very excited anymore. Its younger brother Ñaño, however, is still alive and kicking and is continuously active blowing off steam on a daily basis and the occasional ash plume every few decades.
• ¡Llugshi! ~ Get away dog! (more useful than you might expect…)

I also enjoy the fact that there are several Ecuadorian expressions that use English words (even if those words in Ecuadorian don’t mean quite what they mean in English…):

• Hacer un play ~ To do a favor
• Man ~ Boy or girl
• Estar happy ~ To be buzzed
• Brother ~ Friend
• Mandarina (like the orange) ~ A whipped man

Clearly, learning to speak Ecuadorian is no simple task (though it is certainly easier than figuring out the bus system). I am really enjoying it here and using this new vocabulary with friends around town. The only thing is people sometimes tell me that I talk like a monkey. Okay, not the oohhh oohh aahh aahhh thing your thinking, but rather like a coastal Ecuadorian. Apparently there are actual two different Ecuadorian Spanishes: One in the highlands (where we are) and one along the coast with the city of Guayaquil (Ecuador’s largest city at about 2.5 million). People from the coast, being so proud of themselves call people from the highlands bobos tontos (which more or less means stupid little dummies). In response, highlanders (yes it is high over 11,000 feet in the city) call coastal folk monos (literally monkeys).

Now throughout Latin America, Andean Spanish is generally considered to be the most generic dialect and what most American students learn in school as the spoken language and the written language tend to agree quite nicely phonetically. Other dialects, for example the Caribbean style Spanish that I speak, are not generally taught in American schools because in the Caribbean people tend to leave out quite a few letters when they are speaking. For example, we were stuck in traffic the other day and I wanted to ask if the road was backed up all the way to the freeway interchange which in standard Spanish would be written as such:

¿Está tapado hasta el trébol?

When I said it, however, it sounded more like the following:

¿Etá tapau atal trébo?

As you can see, I’m not really the biggest fan of the letter s, or the letter d, or having 2 vowels in a row, etc. Fortunately for me, however, Mono Spanish tends to be quite similar to Caribbean Spanish so people never really know where I am from. Pretty much everyone here in the highlands knows I am not from Quito, but many aren’t sure if I am from the coast, or the Dominican, or the US etc. Nevertheless, Quiteños have really proven to be great people. I have been lucky enough to meet and talk to several new people every day and they all have welcomed Team Manna into their country with open arms. I am learning so much day in and day out and it is just from the simple fact that I am able to talk to the people that are here (even if I do talk like a gringo monkey.)

¡Ecuador!

I am in Ecuador! It´s kind of unreal but I´m very excited. After about 27 hours of travel (including 12 hours at the ATL airport) I have safely arrived in Quito. I´m staying with Sonia Herrera and her son and daughter-in-law in the neighborhood of La Floresta, not far from the heart of Gringolandia in New Town Quito. They have a beautiful home filled with artwork and I have my own mini-apartment in the house. I have a bedroom, a small study, and my own personal bathroom complete with hot water shower. Currently I am hanging out with Mark Hand, our fearless leader who has already spent a month working with UBECI in Santa Isabel and San Francisco which look to be our two primary locations once we finish language school at the end of September. The language school, Academia Guayasamin, actually appears to be pretty cool and I am most excited about the included cooking and salsa dancing lessons. I have to go down to the valley now.