"We went back to Damien house and got to buy crafts from the patients like earrings, bracelets, and peace birds (little fabric sewn stuffed birds with bells on the end). It was so nice to be able to sit down and actually talk individually with both the men and women, minus the language barrier, but just listen to them and be there for them just to share time. It was very nice and all are such happy people that it made it so much easier to feel comfortable. I wish we could spend more time with them but there are just so many places to visit.
In the afternoon we went to an after school program in the other neighborhood (Antonio Jose de Sucre - AJS), called Valdivia with Tom (one of the volunteers from the Arbolito house) and two of the AJS RdC volunteers. It was definitely very different from Semillas but still good. I got to do multiplication tables with los ninos and they were so fast, well I would be too (in English)! We got to do a chista for the kids, which is a sketch about the theme of the week - sportsmanship. It was fun and the kids like it! Also today was our day to COOK! and we made a BOMB dinner of tortillas de papas con queso (potato tortillas with queso) Sooo yummy!"
At Damien house I spent a good amount of time talking with one of the patients who I could not understand at all. I really didn't care about the language barrier, or even the fact that he had a speech problem and no one could understand him, but he just got to speak and tell stories, and when I did pick up on things, I loved it! Little things like that make me happy and I was just humbled to be there. What else was I going to do with my time!
Making dinner on Tuesday was so much fun, and surprisingly easy, and everyone was very jealous! Tortillas in Ecuador aren't the same as we think in the US! They were just balls of cooked and mashed potatos that we made a whole in before cooking, and put some queso in. We made a "salad" minus the lettuce with lime juice on it for dressing - soooo good! who knew it would be just that easy!
I was surprised during the week of how much onion we ate, mostly for flavor, but it definitely made me like onions more!
Ciao!
Showing posts with label abrolito. Show all posts
Showing posts with label abrolito. Show all posts
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Recap Ecuador Day #2
It really takes a lot for me to get on here and write this. What it takes is meeting with my team and knowing that i need to share this experience... and so it continues.
Day #2: what a crazy first day. Not because it was crazy, but we were still all realizing the fact that we were finally in Ecuador, doing what we have been preparing to do! When we woke up, we found fresh bread for breakfast... and that was what we had for breakfast every morning, as well as bananas. On that first day we had known we would also have bananas, so on the counter we found a banana looking fruit, so we ate them! Come to find out, they were plantains. PERFECT!
After breakfast, we met Aide, our Ecuadorian translator/tour guide around the neighborhood. We headed over to a couple of our neighbor's houses, including Aide's families house where we met her mom, 2 sisters and little brother, and got to talk about to them about the differences between American and Ecuadorian life. We then went to Oscar and Jenny's house, met their whole family, and were very bluntly thrown very hard questions. Jenny told us about her life and how she grew up knowing she was great and very intelligent, and wanted to be a lawyer, but real life called and she couldn't afford the things she wanted. Now she is a very happy mother and wife, and that is her job. It really differed from the US and how if people tell us we are smart - we can go to college (well most of us), but just the difference in opportunities between the two countries and areas. It is too unfortunate that this is the case and opened my mind to a lot of things and made me thing.
After lunch, tuna, fresh bread, and a veggie "salad" (same as every day). In the evening we had downtime while some of the group cooked dinner with Aide, and after dinner and more free time, we had our nightly reflection. it was the first real time when we got an idea of what everyone else was thinking. it was great to just reflect on this true lifestyle changed we had gone through over the past day!
PS: I don't know how i even slept while I was there, since not only was I sleeping in a room with 1 girl and 2 boys, but it was hotter and more humid than I have ever experienced in my life! But some how I did!
Ciao
Day #2: what a crazy first day. Not because it was crazy, but we were still all realizing the fact that we were finally in Ecuador, doing what we have been preparing to do! When we woke up, we found fresh bread for breakfast... and that was what we had for breakfast every morning, as well as bananas. On that first day we had known we would also have bananas, so on the counter we found a banana looking fruit, so we ate them! Come to find out, they were plantains. PERFECT!
After breakfast, we met Aide, our Ecuadorian translator/tour guide around the neighborhood. We headed over to a couple of our neighbor's houses, including Aide's families house where we met her mom, 2 sisters and little brother, and got to talk about to them about the differences between American and Ecuadorian life. We then went to Oscar and Jenny's house, met their whole family, and were very bluntly thrown very hard questions. Jenny told us about her life and how she grew up knowing she was great and very intelligent, and wanted to be a lawyer, but real life called and she couldn't afford the things she wanted. Now she is a very happy mother and wife, and that is her job. It really differed from the US and how if people tell us we are smart - we can go to college (well most of us), but just the difference in opportunities between the two countries and areas. It is too unfortunate that this is the case and opened my mind to a lot of things and made me thing.
After lunch, tuna, fresh bread, and a veggie "salad" (same as every day). In the evening we had downtime while some of the group cooked dinner with Aide, and after dinner and more free time, we had our nightly reflection. it was the first real time when we got an idea of what everyone else was thinking. it was great to just reflect on this true lifestyle changed we had gone through over the past day!
PS: I don't know how i even slept while I was there, since not only was I sleeping in a room with 1 girl and 2 boys, but it was hotter and more humid than I have ever experienced in my life! But some how I did!
Ciao
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