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Published: February 7th 2010
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Segunda Semana en Baños Agua de Santos, Ecuador
Historias con Palabras Incorrectas, Experiencias con ‘El Oscar’, y La lluvia An update on the ear….Andy finished his five days of gargling and is now drinking the tea. He seems to think that he is breathing better and is uncertain about whether or not it is helping his ear. Vamos a ver (we will see).
In my Spanish class, I needed to write about my weekend (por supuesto, en Espanol) and so I described, in Spanish, the adventure at the ‘Refugio’. I thought that I was using the correct word in describing Andy’s sinuses…but apparently NOT. Apparently, instead of writing that Andy’s sinuses don’t drain properly, I wrote that “his breasts don’t drain properly” and thus the reason for his ears being clogged. Hmm…..apparently there is a HUGE difference between the word ‘senos’ and ‘sinocitis’ and I chose incorrectly. Hmm…I must be more careful in the future of what I say!
Speaking of speaking correctly, one must be very, very careful in putting in the accents (or ‘tildes’ as they are called), otherwise the meaning of the word(s) change dramatically. For example, when you say: “Yo tenía” it means
Banos zoo
tortugas! “I had” (using the imperfect - past tense). However, if you say: “tenia”, without the accent on the “i”, it means “tapeworm”, so then “Yo tenia” means “I tapeworm”….hmmm. Another example of making sure you have the correct symbol/letter. When you say: “Yo tengo 53 años” it means: I have (or I am) 53 years old. But the word “ano” without using the “ñ” signifies uh-hum….”anus”. Therefore, you NEVER want to say: “Yo tengo 53 anos”.
After that exciting experience at the Refugio, we met up with some of the other volunteers and took a local bus to the local zoologico. We were pleasantly surprised both by the size of the zoo and also by the degree of care. We had been told that the enclosures were small…and they were/are, but for such a small town and with such limited resources, it was obvious that quite a bit of care and concern has gone into the zoo.
Later on that day, we met up with some other volunteers, and walked quite a ways to this hospedaje (guest house/bed & breakfast) up in the hills of Banos. Alfonso Morales, the founder of FUVIRESE (http://www.fuvirese.org/beginnings1.html) and an inspiration to the world,
has his home/B&B. He also happens to have an incredible view of the volcano. So we hiked to his place, met his mother, and a young man of 14-years old (his niece’s daughter) who had apparently just lost his father to cancer about 3-weeks ago. We sipped homemade tea (made from orange leaves), ate fresh pineapple and chatted. Then, we hiked back to town, picked fresh avocados off of one of the volunteer’s finca, and headed back into town for dinner. We at at 'Cafe Hood' and were entertained by local musicians (Eschucan.....)
From Sunday onward, we’ve had pretty much non-stop rain with bits of sunshine thrown in. Andy and I did manage to hike to up to the local ‘Virgen del Mirador’…close to 600 steps later, one can take in an incredible view of the town of Banos. We had an impromptu party on Sunday evening, which pretty much describes how things work here (in general in Latin America). Another family that is living and volunteering here from New Mexico, came over to our apartment and we enjoyed making and eating nachos and sharing our Ecuadorian adventures together.
We purchased Ansley’s school uniform and had both Marleigh’s and
Girls and uniformes
The girls wear their respective uniforms (for P.E.) from their respective schools Ansley’s school uniforms embossed with their names. We opted to purchase the more practical gym uniforms, but the girls are pressing us to purchase the school sweaters as well.
This past Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010, Ansley started at ‘Oscar Efren Reyes’…the local ‘colegio’. It was a lesson in how things do, and how things don’t work. We were told to arrive at 7:20 am and the director said he would set up an orientation for Ansley. We showed up at 7:15 am, waited around awhile, then the director showed up, went into his office and started watching the television. He said that we had to wait for someone to do something with us (not sure if I didn’t understand the Spanish or if he was being intentionally unclear). Meanwhile, the front doors were locked with chains. Students who arrived late waited outside and tried to plead their case to be let in. Finally, we were led into a room…the room of the school social worker (what???). We told her that we were from the United States and that while we were here for the month we wanted our daughter to go to school to learn about the culture, meet
Vidro en la pared
Walls have broken glass cemented on them to prevent 'ladrones' friends and practice her Spanish. We had the name of a local girl in the same class and requested Ansley be in there with her. At first she told us all the classes were full, with something like 42 students in each class. Then she left again….hum-de-dum-de-dum and came back several long minutes later. She took Ansley to some classroom and I snuck out (during one of several episodes when some special person there…with the keys…was allowing students to come in. After all that, Ansley did end up in the classroom we requested.
Classes start around 7:15 am and end either at 12:15 pm or 1:15 pm, depending on the day. The school is huge and chaotic and the relations between the director, teachers and students is very formal and somewhat militaristic and like a 180 degrees different from the school Ansley attends in Bend, Oregon. Nonetheless, we hope it will be an interesting experience and provide opportunities for new friendships.
Rain, rain and lots of rain. In fact, so much rain that on Wednesday morning, February 3, 2010, there was a mudslide near one of the local waterfalls (at the village of “Chin Chin”). The cable car
Cemetario en Banos
Cemeteries in Latin America are amazing! was damaged, several homes were destroyed, 150 people are now homeless and sadly, apparently some people lost their lives. Que lastima! The rain here has been relentless and everything is drippy, soggy and damp. There are many wonderful hikes to take, and wonderful outdoor activities to do….but we can barely go anywhere in town without getting soaked to the bone. We did manage to take a couple of local hikes; one to the Virgen del Mirador and the other to Bellavista. Beautiful views of the city indeed and well worth the upward slog of 600 steps. I suppose all that snow in the eastern part of the U.S. trumps all the rain we have been having, but when rains trigger mudslides and lives are turned upside down, that trumps all.
Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you all about the ‘Gran Circo de Titeres’ (the grand circus of puppets) coming up at the “BIB” next weekend (Feb 12, 13, 14). You can hopefully preview the ‘anuncios’ that the children have been coloring. The children who attend the BIB have been practicing their acts and we all hope that they show up…otherwise all the
Signs in Town for Hikes
Hiking/thermal signs throughout town volunteers will be playing the parts of monkeys, dragons and elephants. Ansley is in charge of videotaping the entire performance, which should be quite entertaining. I’ve stuck in some preview pictures for you all to see.
More adventures await us with each day. We are leaning toward staying here longer, as the managers of the BIB have asked us to stay longer, we love our apartment and the town and the girls are adapting to their new school. Contrary to that, the project in Peru (FairMail) has been difficult to nail down. Communications have been difficult and housing for a family is very difficult. So - while we will still go to Peru and will most likely find some other much needed work to do, this particular project and living situation is not coming to fruition. Of course we will keep you all posted with what we decide to do next. In the meantime, we have several more weeks of Baños to enjoy.
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carol styernkopf
non-member comment
wow
I LOVE reading your blog you guys and seeing the photos. I was just commenting to someone the other day about what an amazing adventure you guys chose to do at this point of your life. WE are all pretty impressed back here!!!!! Love, Carol