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Published: December 26th 2008
Well, my last published blog was the 14th of November so I have a lot of catching up to do to bring you all up to date! On Saturday the 15th, we had an intensive course for Ruhi Book 1 and 2, quite a few people showed up and it was great, very lively, a lot of spirit and dedication and we all had lunch together afterwards so it was a lot of fun generally and inspiring to complete the practical parts of each book (something that we put A LOT of emfasis on here!) IN the evening Geoconda and Fabiola Molina wanted to get their hair cut and painted at a friend Baha'i, and I tagged along and watched Dagmar and Kendy and then all three of us got treated to facials, nice and clean! :P
On Sunday the 16th, we had a devotional in the morning, and then some of the people wanted to learn more about the faith so we devided in groups to give Anna's presentation and had four declarations that day! We all felt so uplifted and happy and really able to change the world! In the afternoon I made a trip to the lake near
Ibarra and had tilapia (a kind of fish) for lunch and then made it back just in time to have me dress up as an indigena and go out dancing from 8 until 12 at night, which was a different experience, fun but sometimes uncomfortable becuase of all the stares I would get or people asking me to dance... I spent the night with the Perugachi's and they are all a wonderful family, very generous, very mature all of them becuase the father of the family died a few years ago and they have al had to grow up pretty fast.
On Monday the 17th it was Claudia's birthday so my family spent the evening with Jorge, Claudia amd Yazid, we had dinner all together and cake and just socialized and had a good time, watching TV and talking. It was a surprise for Claudia and when we walked in the door we gave her a huge shock!
The week of the 17th-21st I spent practicing the indigenous dance (even though my height makes me stick out, and so I dance at the back of the group) which we will perform in the conference in Quito! We even met during
school hours in the library with all the prying eyes of students looking through the windows to practice last minute on Friday and make sure we know it perfectly!.
On Friday afternoon of the 21st we left for Quito all together in a little bus and were some of the first to arrive at the location to check in for the the conference where we were offered dinner and something to drink but were some of the last to leave due to lack of buses and we were staying the farthest away. To top things off, the roads were closed and we had to make a huge detour to get to where we were staying the night, only to find out that there were no lights in the house, only running water and the quarters were very tight, so we were all snuggled close together, sharing everything, beds, blankets, clothes and even food as we were still a bit hungry. We all fell asleep prompty due to the late hour and also the length of the trip and the wait and the excitement of meeting new people. And the Saturday and Sunday we had to wake up very early to
get to the conference on time so both nights were spent with few hours of sleep (because Saturday night the roads were closed again and we were late getting home also...) The conference in few words was fantastic, we were blessed with the presence of two counsellors from the International Teaching Center in Haifa, sent as representatives from the Universal House of Justice and they gave talks, we had devotionals and group work on how to improve the communites of different regions and countries, how to help them grow and inspire people to work in the core activites and teach the faith. We all left the conference feeling very inspired, and priviledged to have participated in something of such magnitude! It truly was incredible!
One of my English students who accompanied us to the conference stayed the night with me Sunday in Otavalo, since she lives in a suburb only accesible by bus and then by foot and it was to late for her to get back home. I think it helped her see that I am not a scary stranger but rather a friendly person only a few years older than herself. Now we talk a lot during school
and she feels more comfortable to approach me and ask questions which is good becuase it inspires other students to do the same.
On Monday I tutored book 3 to Eduardo, who holds devotionals in Cachicullá and then accompanied him, his brother Javier and Faiola Perugachi to Morales Chupa for a study circle. When we finished we all hung out in the Plaza de Pnchos eating empanadas and colada morada and having a good time, sheltering from the pelting rain!. On Tuesday we were blessed with the presenc of one of the ITC counsellors to Otavalo and I had the honor of helping Eli make lunch for his visit. Señor Mora was incredibly inspiring and during the program we had prepared for him after lunch, including music, dance and stories on his part, many of us were left in tears, from the gratitude and honor and the feeling that we were special that he left us with. I got to talk to him for a bit personally also and he was so knowlegable and helpful and very inspiring. In the evening we celebrated the day of the covenant and more danicng and singing and socializing and fun as a community,
instigating new close friendships between new and old youth as well as adults and children. On Wednesday 26th there was no school due to a program for the education of teachers ordered by the government so I spent the day playing with Dagmar, Kendy and my neighbors and learning songs to sing for the Ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá on Thrusday. Thursday I then spent making chocolate chip cookies (which came out like crap cookies, just like when we do them with Daphni in Greece!) due to the necessity to change a few ingredients... They were edible, and delicious only that they did not look terribly good :D And then from 8 o'clock until 1 in the morning we spent singing, praying and socailizing at Claudia and Jorge's house for the ascension of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and also a semi celebration of Thanksgiving as it fell on the same day.
Saturday the 29th we had an intensive meeting to study book 5 with Eduaordo but didn't finish it and also had a devotional in the evening, a full day dedicated to the Cause! and then Sunday was a full day, beginning early with a soccer game, follwed by a late celebration of the 19
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Ascension of Abdu'l-Baháday feast and then another soccer game followed by a birthday party for one of the teammates in the afternoon. A tiring but fruitful day, with wins and losses and then in the evening we watched Star Wars dubbed in Spanish with my family which was fun and dinner all together.
Which brings us to December 1st! Which was spent in school making medals for the spelling bee that we have been planning for ages and which was postponed about 3 times... Then in the eveing I tutored book 3 again and we were off to Morales Chupa in the evening for a children's class and a study circle and also a birthday party for one of the kids, who started crying from gratitude that we came to celbrate his birthday and remembered him, becuase his father never visits for his birthday and his mother has no money for celebrations or presents so this year, he got something extra special. The first week of december I spent mostly practicing for the spelling bee, both in school and after school with Dagmar and making medals and formatting diplomas and helping Eli and Marlene in the bar in my free time in
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Ascension of Abdu'l-Bahá between, as well as giving and grading tests because the 2nd term is ending and I need to give grades, something I am scared of doing! On Friday I had my first devotional held and organized by myself, and attended by my neighbors. Afterwards I offered chocolate chip cookies (which turned out right this time!) and tea and also some extra food of rice and fish and potatoes which Eli had given me for the weekend but which I couldn't eat all by myself!. They were all very grateful and enjoyed our reunion, as did I! Then late that night around 11.30 I had the honor of hosting my dear Uncle (who arrived with the gift of a toilet seat, something my bathroom has ben missing these first two months!) and offering him some of my homemade cookies also. Saturday morning we spent walking around the market, buying 30 hammocks to take to Greece for his visit, buying a mirror for my house, some other decoarations and a wonderful breakfast of fruit salad mixed with whipped cream and raspberry icecream and then later a coffee before Uncla Funkla had to make his way back to Quito. Leaving me with just
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Ascension of Abdu'l-Bahá enough time to get changes and eat some lunch and have a quick shower before running off to a soccer game! Then Saturday night we spent at the Cuicocha lake which was freezing due to altitude and rain and wind for a mystical night with all the youth, meant to inspire action in the community and a time to get to know each other a ll a little better. A lot of us left the premises on Sunday feeling a lot closer to the others. On sunday morning we had a marathon in school with all the students, they had to run from the stadium in the center of Otavalo to the school and then at school we had soccer games and volleyball and basketball between students, teachers and parents which was loads of fun and then I was off again for another soccer game (I am participating in two different tournaments, one for 7 on 7 soccer and one full field.) So that is mostly how I have been spending my time, This coming week in school, 8-12 is a cultural week, with games and tournaments between grades and also students versus teachers and I had to give in
grades today ( I hope I don't get too many complaints, I think grading is one of the hardest things ever!) Today female teachers played against the older female students and we (teachers) won 4-1, (I scored the four) and I felt bad afterwards, in the second half I stopped playing as hard becuase I felt sorry for the poor girls and afterwards all the students were surrounding me asking how I knew how to play soccer so well! Yesterday monday the 8th we had a funeral for the mother of the gym teacher, which was a sad occasion, attended by all the teachers of the school to pay our respects and help him through these hard times. Also, we have started band practices again and dance practices to perform on quite a few occasions these coming weeks and months, learning new songs and steps and instruments and sharing and having fun all together generally. Well, that is pretty much it! Miss you all and think of you all!
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Kim
non-member comment
all i will say is:
THIRTY HAMMOCKS????????????????????????