Ecua Time

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Happy 4th of July! This meant absolutely nothing to me today! I recalled that it was indeed a holiday in my native country only a few times today. When I did, I felt a pang of remorse that I was not able to celebrate by attending the Hollyhock Parade, a grand barbeque, fireworks, and perhaps even a few adult beverages. Just another ordinary day here in Ecuador.

Originally I thought it may even be a better-than-usual day. As of weeks ago, we had a meeting scheduled for yesterday and then an all-day hike planned for today. As I started walking to the meeting yesterday afternoon, someone called to me from the soccer field. It was my counterpart’s partner Jenny asking where I was going. I replied that I was going to her house for the meeting. She then informed me that Manuel wasn’t there; he was participating in a traditional dance in another community all day. Perhaps the meeting would happen later, but most likely not; maybe tomorrow. I headed back home. I tried calling Manuel several times throughout the rest of the day. He never answered and never called me back. I happened to run into the 2 people who were coming from out of town for the meeting at the gas station. I told them there was no one at Manuel’s house. They somehow knew where he was and also went on to assure me that we would meet the following day and still go on the hike.

I woke up this morning and declined going with Rosa to attend to the cows thinking we may be leaving in the morning for the hike. I waited for Manuel to call, and finally broke down and gave him a ring. No answer. I called an hour or so later. No answer. He finally called me around 10:30 am to say that there would be no meeting or hike, but maybe later in the week. He didn’t even bother to mention the cancelled meeting which he neglected to tell me about the previous day. This is the story of my life here. I purposefully didn’t do anything this weekend and declined invitations from other volunteers to do something for the 4th of July thinking I would have a productive weekend and was even looking forward to the hike. I am trying to roll with it, but at times feelings of frustration are absolutely unavoidable.

I hung around the house all day instead and did some reading. I did take a break to go on a nice long run/walk. I’ve been trying to ‘run’ here, but it only lasts so long before I have to slow to a walk seeing as there is no such thing as flat land here. It is uphill or downhill everywhere you go. Today was the first time that I did not return empty-handed. Along the way I acquired 2 oranges and a piece of paper with a name and number on it. Obviously I stick out like a sore thumb everywhere I go and only exaggerate my strangeness when I am seen running in athletic clothing. Occasionally people stop me to ask what on earth I am doing and we get to having a conversation. A woman with a small shop gifted me 2 oranges near the beginning of my route which I proceeded to carry with me the next hour. Later I encountered 2 women who work at a daycare-like establishment who actually live in other communities. One lives in Canar, a larger city where we usually go on Sundays to buy produce for the week. She wrote down her name and number and told me to call if I ever needed anything while I was in Canar. I was also stopped by 2 teachers who invited me stop in the local school some day. This all took place in Gun Grande, which is a small community close to mine. If only I had more encounters like this in my own dear Zhud…

The last real productive thing I did was on Friday when I went to a meeting all day in Cuenca, which I originally hadn’t been planning on. Heather, another volunteer in Cuenca, called me Thursday to see if I was coming for the meeting with my counterpart. I hadn’t heard anything about it but was interested. I called Manuel, who also claimed to not know about it and we arranged to discuss it that evening at craft club. It turned out he couldn’t go, but we decided that I would. I left the next morning some time after 6 and finally arrived to the office in Cuenca around 9:30. I felt bad seeing as the day-long meeting was supposed to start at 8 am. Clearly I am still in denial of Ecuadorian-time. Only representatives from about 6 of the communities were there out of the 29 confirmed (Manuel had somehow confirmed he would be there but apparently did not remember this). Finally they went ahead and started around 10:15. It was a long day, of which a huge amount of time was spent electing a president for another tourism organization. I had high hopes that I would get a lot out of attending, though I must say I was not especially impressed. If I just keep going, one of these days I’m sure I will encounter a productive meeting!

I stayed that night and hung out with Heather and her Ecuadorian co-workers all evening, which I always enjoy. They are our age and actually interested in being friends and having conversations, interests the people in my community lack for the most part. I am still struggling with Spanish, but it’s a lot easier talking to them than the people in Zhud.

When I came back on Saturday, I did have a nice conversation with my host mom Rosa that night. She invited me to come into their room to watch tv. I sat at the foot of the bed and we ended up talking instead. She told me again about her time living in the states. While there, she worked at McDonalds 7 years. She told me about her co-workers and bosses, the good and the bad. I also got some surprising details of her reasons for returning and such. I hadn’t even realized that she had been there a good part of her kids’ lives while they remained here in Ecuador living with her parents. She finally returned after they were all in a bus accident. I really enjoy hearing about the details of peoples’ lives and I also really like Rosa.

I am incredibly excited for this coming weekend, though I may pay for it by missing a community meeting. I need a few days off, and so I am heading to Bahia for a few days. Bahia is a small coastal city. I will be meeting up with some of my best buds. I have just confirmed that it is happening. I am so excited! It feels good to be excited about something… hopefully it won’t always be connected with leaving my site…

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