recent events

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Hello to all! When I left off last it was Friday the 9th. What a fun and special day! Omid came to school in the morning, so after the first two classes and time that I spent talking to Jaime about his slaughtering and selling chickens project he has with 9th grade, we spent the day studying book 5 and in the breaks we played the guitar and sang, with all the kids and youth flocking around to join in, lots of laughing and "play this, or play that!" WE had a teacher's meeting after school, and since the teachers cook, we had a wonderful lunch of lentils, a big salad with lettuce, tomato and avocado, rice and fried meat and even some cake for dessert. Yummy yummy! the meeting itself was not very interesting, although I walked home afterwards with most of the teachers and we talked about everything but school, and since I have not related to most of them outside of the school atmosphere, it was a lot of fun to see the kinds of things they are interested in, how they spend their weekends. I got home with just enough time to have a shower and relax a little bit before I had to get down to the Institute to set things up for our Noche Mystica, (Mystic NIght) or Youth get-together. The program consisted of a devotional, and then videos and the exchanging of his stories. We also talked about many of the martyrs for the faith, and talked about all the social degradation in the world today and our responsability as youth to make a change, to inspire people younger than us to be different and to stand out, to have the courage to be different. And this as such is the role of the animator in JY groups. WE went to bed tired but happy after singing some songs at 12.30. A long but very fun and interesting day! On sunday we all woke up early, Omid and I made breakfast while the rest of the youth cleaned up the bedrooms, putting away blankets and matresses and such. WE spent the morning discussing the program, singing songs and motivating and encouraging each other to continue with old or to create new JY groups and inspire new activities such as baking, adventure hikes, music and dance which will also help increase the number of participants. We decided for the very next day (Sunday) to bake alfajores (two white cookies filled in between with caramel and rolled in coconut) with the JY in Cachiculla. So Eduardo (the animator) and Omid and I as helpers with Claudia spent the afternoon buying the supplies and planning the class for the next day. IN the evening I continued studying book 5 with Omid for a few hours in the central park of Otavalo, until it got a little too cold and dark to do any more and we wandered around and ate pinchos (the equivalent of a souvlaki or kebab but with meat, chicken and sausage) and then as Omid was still hungry we went for pizza. And in the pizza place, who would I meet but a friend from England, who I know from Greece, in Otavalo in Ecuador! I was just getting ready to leave when I turned around to take one look back and saw Alex. She was with her group having dinner, they had only stopped in Otavalo for a few days and at first I was very confused because I recognized the face but could not place it, did not fully understand who it was. And then we both really recognized each other and we were jumping all over the place with excitement, everyone around staring as if we were crazy! It was so coincidental and amusing! And a very interesting way to end Saturday.
Sunday morning I was down at the institute early to help set up, organize and cook for the convention. We made cevichochos (a small white bean mixed with onion, tomato, pepper, cilantro, ketchup and mustard, all mixed whole and in a runny sauce) with tostado (crunchy maize). The convention passed without any problems, everyone was pleased with the delegates and we finished with songs and lunch all together. After the convention we had an hour of relaxation (which we did not spend relaxing but rather playing soccer) before going to Cachiculla and making the alfajores. As always, the group session began with prayers and then the children were VERY excited to do something different, namely baking, something that they did not have any experience in. It was a lot of fun, although kind of messy at times and very busy in Eduardo's kitchen with everyone trying to participate and be involved.
Everything turned out as planned, and the cookies very tasty so the group was in high spirits and excited with the new skill they learned of baking and the promise that they would do more things like that during other sessions. So we all left content to make our way to Jaime and Olgi's house, where we were invited for dinner and a family get-together with singing and dance. WE all had a wonderful time, and dinner was chicken that had been slaughtered and de-feathered that same day by Jaime's 9th grade class. I slept over that night at Fabiola Molina's house becuase I forgot my bag in Claudia dn Jorge's car and had no keys to get into my house nor phone nor money... We talked long into the night about the weekend and the convention and how things were going in the school. We talked so long about everything else, that we completely forgot to set alarm clocks for the morning and so MOnday morning I woke up at 7 (the time when school starts in the morning!) I got dressed (in the same clothes as the day before :S) and raced to the center where I grabbed a bit of breakfast and met Omid and we said goodbye because he was leaving for Piura, Peru that same morning. Then i got to school flustered and disheveled and poor Paolo, who I was helping that morning asked me afterwards with a lot of concern what had happened and only after I looked in the mirror after two classes did I see what a mess I was in! With hair all over the place not having been brushed, and still plastered in parts from my nights sleep and clothes wrinkled and stained. I got a lot of looks that day! But it only made the experience that much funner and more interesting. I did manage to get home and change before assuming the rest of my responsibilities at the Institute. WE had a good first deepening meeting with the new friends from La Banda and my pupils Mary and Eduardo did a great job explaining things (the first topic of the covenant) and I only had to step in a few times to make things clearer or explain a few things more in depth. Then later that evening we went to Morales Chupa, where we held a children's class with Eduardo and had another deepening session with Joselito that also went very well. The day ended with me feeling VERY tired, but very happy with everything accomplished and also happy to have received an unexpected call from the still-traveling-back-home Omid.
Tuesday was a regular day in the school but I spent the afternoon with Joselito and Danny, re-inviting the members of the JY and childrens classes in Punyaro, because after vacations the participants were off-schedule and we had to remind parents and kids that the classes were being re-initiated. That night I spent the night at Fabi's again and we watched America's next top model (dubbed in spanish) and minority report before fading out to sleep. In school on Wednesday we finished section 1 of book 4 with Paolo, and he asked many questions about the New World Order, and other things which I was very glad to answer and discuss. IN the afternoon I held a childrens class with 8 kids which went very well, with lots of singing and games and coloring and then I talked to my dad about the recent compilation about family life which is being sent around and how things are quite different under those guidelines from what many families have been doing! Then with Fabi Perugachi we left for Cachiculla for a devotional and deepening but ended up turning right back and coming home because the family were busy and hadn't notified us of the change of plans... So the day ended with a bit of disappointment, but well enough.
On Thursday nothing exciting happened at the school, and the afternoon was a little bit of a let-down also becuase we visited the far-out community of Gualapuro to deepen and have a study circle and none of the participants were home, so again we turned around and made our way right back home again... The only interesting thing was that Claudia was driving, she recently got her license, and becuase the roads were a little bit washed out from the recent rains and are generally hard-to-manouver roads, we had an exciting time encouraging Claudia, helping her make hair pin turns, reverse and constantly trying to make her feel more confident with her driving skills. When we got to Institute, and she had to put the car in the garage (maybe the hardest part of the whole drive!) she exited the car looking green and trembling from anxiety and the stress of the ride.
Friday was a fun day in school, I spent the morning with Jaime and Joselito drinking coffee in the teachers lounge since none of us had classes and singing and learning songs all together. THe time flew we were having so much fun! The last two periods I took over Language class in 8th grade for my mom, who had to make a trip to Cuenca and although the kids were rowdy, (after all, it was the end of the day and the week!) I did manage to teach the whole lesson and everyone understood and carried out the exercises as planned. I got home with time to pack my bags and grab a snack and then I was off in the rain to catch a bus to Quito to visit my dear and sorely-missed Uncle back from Greece! I got into Quito after quite a wait in traffic and when I saw my Uncle I had the biggest smile or rather grin of happiness after such a long time. I barely got through the door before we were sitting down for and early dinner and then Rachel and Ashley came over and we made some great chocolate-chip cookies and bran muffins for dessert/breakfast and then we were sitting down to have ANOTHER dinner all together. It was a festive atmosphere, with a lot of discussion and catching up.
Which brings us to Saturday, where we had guests over for a huge three-round breakfast of oatmeal, fruit (mango, papaya, which were both very hard to peel and cut, I had juice dripping down my elbows and made a mess everywhere! banana, huge blackberries, strawberries and grapes) and then we had muffins and toast and tea and coffee and finished breakfast feeling bloated and stiff as a fossil...
We went with Uncle David and got him a beautiful new rug, which covers the little imperfections of the living room floor and lights up the room with its cosy blue color. And I got a beautiful rug also, that will go in the corner of my room and be my new prayer and meditation rug, an intricate blue and mesmerising rug of just the right size! (maybe even a little big!) WE spent a quiet afternoon, I mostly made headway with my financial aid forms for college (what a frustrating and time-consuming job!). And then in the evening we opened Uncle David's long lost bag and after picking through some pasta elias (olive paste) and some dirpped olive oil, we had a mini christmas with all the gifts and goodies that my family sent back with Unkla. What fun it was! It brought my family all that closer, within reach of my thoughts and my love. Also, seeing pictures of the Greece Christmas fun, although I did feel a tinge of jealousy not to have been able to participate in all the fun, filled me with happiness and smiles to see everyone so happy and united and enjoying themselves. And finally that evening, after having a house load of people the days before, things were quiet and we could really sit down and discuss recent events, share thoughts and memories. It was a wonderfully relaxed and happy atmosphere with sharing and love and joy.
On Sunday we had a wonderful family over for lunch and played an Ecuadorian board game that aims to increase awareness of safety for the environment and what to do in case of natural disasters. We had a short nap after that and then we ended our time together going up the teleferico, the highest point in Quito that you get to by cable car. We went with Rachel, Ashley, Amparo and Andres and had a wonderful time! Walking around (although at a minimum level of 4100 meters and we probably climed another 400, so at our highest point we were 4500 mteres above sealevel, the altitude did get to me, making me feel a little dizzy and weak) and then we had a little tour on horseback before it started to get a little too cold and dark for our liking and it was time for me to head back to Otavalo...
I got back home feeling nice and tired and immediately settled down for a nice happy sleep rested for the week of work ahead of me. So far school has been just as always, today Thursday we had a test, which of course my students weren't happy about although they have known about it for a while! On Tuesday I spent my afternoon in Punyaro giving a JY class and then after that we had our band practice to present some songs for the 19 day feast later that night. It was pretty funny becuase a lot of us were coming down with colds and the flu, so had stuffy noses and sore throats whcih made singing a bit hard, but I think it was the funnest playing that we have done in a while, with the best outcomes even though the members were out of sorts! When we talked about it afterwards, we all decided that when we are sick, it makes for more fun and diversion! Wednesday we had a deepening and devotional in Cachiculla which was also a lot of fun and today, Thursday we have study circles in Gualapuro and more deepening of the new friends there.

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