Happy Commissioning!

Yesterday was a very Ecuador filled day!
To start, from 1-3pm today we had a waffle brunch at Rodrigue's coffee house. Not as many people showed up as we had hoped but we made some money and had lots of fun playing games and just hanging out per usual. In between that I was able to finish up the program (though I had to skip mass) for Into the Woods! FINALLY.
Also last night was our GO! Spring trip commissioning ceremony held in the church basement. It was really nice to be able to see the other teams who are going on their trips at the same time as ours, it is actually really exciting! I can't wait to get back and talk to them all about there's, and thankfully I know at least one person on each trip. At the ceremony we were given pretty wooden dove cut out necklaces by our board buddy, chaperones and leader.

Unfortunately, instead of attending mass after the ceremony with my team, I had to head back to the library to slave away, only to see them again at 10 for our meeting. Our board buddy came to chat and check in on us, which was really nice, and actually really helpful because she went to Ecuador as well. She gave us a few tips on clothes and things to bring (especially bug spray apparently)! Our meeting went the same, per usual: longest highs and lows of all time, and a nice little chat about everything coming up. It is so ridiculous to think that next week is our last meeting before our TRIP! Eeeek!

Well off to the theater I go! Tech week = HELL... especially during midterms.

Peace&Love + Adios

Who knew Senior year was this stressful!

I have nearly had no time to myself this past week, and am sure that more is yet to come.

On top of my classes and planning for Ecuador, as I said before, I am on the board of the Mimes and Mummers. Our show goes up on Thursday and things have been absolutely ridiculousl crazy! Who knew it would get like this. Although I thought that design the poster would be the hard part, that has proved far from true. From running around to get the programs printed, getting the headshots taken, finishing the program, I have been absolutely non-stop on my feet. BUT it should be a good show, so everyone out there best stop by Collins Thursday-Sunday to see this crazy amazing show! (PLUS Thursday is FREE for Fordham students!).

Anyone is invited to come see our show! It is held in Collins Auditorium on the Fordham University Rose Hill campus. Tickets are $10 for non-students and guests!

Here it is... of course, just a little publicity stunt, but it is just another thing I have been working on during this Ecuador process and thankfully will be over before I go on our trip and can think for a few days before I leave!

And the countdown is on....

Ecuadorian Politics

When Elise, from RdC, came to speak with us, we asked her about the political situation that is happening in Ecuador, and she said one word: CORRUPT.

She went on to tell us about a woman who was the previous president or govern of the area, and was very well renowned in the area for all the work she had done, including thinking to put water pipes underground so that some day they would be able to have running water to the villages. And although she was loved by the people, we was eventually found to be embezzling money, which is very common in Ecuadorian politics. People still loved her after this since she hadn't nearly embezzled as much as other previous people. After she left, her son succeeded her and has also embezzled a lot. Some how I cannot find anything about this on the Internet, so it is proving difficult to tell this story from memory. Eventually I will find it and update.


After just looking through the previous and current presidents of Ecuador, atleast two of the presidents that I have come across so far were arrested on charges of embezzlement, of nearly millions of dollars! Abdala Bacaram was only president of Ecuador for 6 months after all his previous supporters turned on him and protested until congress dismissed him, and within the first 2 months he was found to be embezzling millions of dollars and was succeeded by the first female president of Ecuador, the previous vice President, Rosalia Arteaga, who was only in office for 2 days. Not only did Bacaram embezzle but he came into the presidency after the previous vice President, Alberto Dahik was found (3 years into the term) to be embezzling and fled to Costa Rica, where he still lives, under political protection status.


Okay... sometimes we think our politics are rough, this is pretty bad!

And the countdown begins...

Only 19 days away and we will be boarding our little (actually BIG) plane to Ecuador, away from technology and American civilization for a WHOLE week.

Our weekend away was actually really great this weekend, and very simple. We stayed in our sweats all day and hung out in the basement of St. Luke's Church on W. 152nd & Amsterdam Ave in the area between Washington Heights and Hamilton Heights (it has another name, which I forget at the moment!). The boyfriend of one of the girls on my team lives in the same area, and so it was very cool to hear the history of what was around us, since I had never heard it before. Apparently, it is a big jazz and music area, and by there is Covenant Ave which is where in the 1920's many of the predominately rich African American population lived and opened jazz clubs and such. Really cool!

Anyways, pretty much our retreat consisted of us all just hanging out in the same room for 40 hours straight, playing games, laughing and talking. We had some great middle eastern food (sooo yummy!) and some pizza as well. It was great to get to know everyone on a different level and really enjoy everyone's company.

The best discussion we had was of religion and what we all believe, and how we were raised. It opened my eyes to a lot of different things and allow me to relate to my team on a different level.

 

our home for the weekend

After this weekend I absolutely feel so much more open and happy with my team!
At last night's meeting we finally learned about our flight plans and so it follows:

Leave LGA @ 12pm on Saturday, March 13
Layover in Miami for 4 hours
Arrive in Guayaquil @ 11pm on Saturday, March 13

Arrive back at LGA @ 10pm on Saturday, March 20

I cannot wait, plus I weirdly like flying (and especially being in airports)... so pumped!

Adios!

The end of February!

I cannot even begin to say how fast February flew by. It is crazy to think that just a week from today is the last day of the months, eeek! So much to do! We leave in 3 weeks, which is absolutely unreal. I apologize in advance for the random topic here but this is what is on my mind.

While I am not planning for Ecuador and writing in this blog, I am also on the board of our theater club on campus, The Mimes & Mummers. Next Thursday is the opening night of Into the Woods, my last show with the board. :( It is slightly bitter sweet, but I am so ready to be done with the craziness that 2nd semester of my senior year has been. I love working with the Mimes and the shows we produce, but at the same time, holy stressful!

For this show I have picked to be head of Publicity, and have started to put my photo shop skills to work. We shall see where they take me. I am on a race this week to get the poster and program done (by Thursday) so everything else is unfortunately falling behind (including this blog!). Hopefully soon I will be able to share with you all my final product, since I would love to know what you think. Hard work ahead for me!

Stay tuned tomorrow (or later tonight) for an update on the retreat from this weekend and our meeting!

Adios!

Retreat!

I will be gone until Sunday afternoon on our retreat. We don't know where and we don't really know how we are getting there, nor can we bring cell phones or watches, so it shall be an interesting weekend!

See you when we get back Sunday!

Adios

PS: I know I posted later about this, but retreat was absolutely amazing, especially considering that we had no idea where we were going... it definitely let us live like we will (did) in Ecuador! So fun!

SATURDAY IS THE LAST DAY!

If you are still interested in helping finance my trip to Ecuador, even with a mere $10, please PLEASE visit my fundraising site! Enjoy --> giveforward.org/sarahcollins/

Thanks all!

Buenas noches