One last post

Hola a todos!!

I've been meaning to write one last post for a while now, but as this week was my first week back in grad school and teaching, it's been quite hectic!! My last few days in Ecuador were a complete whirlwind, so I wanted to let you all know about what happened as well as wrap things up.

Volcano Cotopaxi mid eruption...

My last day at the orphanage was a little different than normal. They had me working most of the day in the section we call "cunas" or the nursery. There are 8 babies in the nursery and 5 toddlers under 2 years old. One of the babies was only 15 days old!! I don't know if I've said this before, but as the time went on in the orphanage, I got to know that most of the kids aren't your traditional definition of an "orphan". Many kids were taken from their families because of parental drug/alcohol abuse, physical, or emotional abuse. A few kids were willingly given up by their families because of lack of money or other reasons and very few have been orphaned by their families. The baby, for example, was just 5 days old when he was handed off by his mother to a stranger on the street and then ran away. The stranger brought him to the orphanage who has been caring for him ever since. The really hard part is regarding adoption/the futures of these children. Since many of the kids do have their parents (and a lot of the parents even came to visit their children, have snacks with them, play with them, etc), the parents are often unwilling to give up the parental rights to their children - meaning the child cannot be adopted or removed from the orphanage unless they are able to go back home. The main goal of the orphanage then is always to reunite the families rather than adoption. It does happen, however, that a few get adopted. In fact, while I was there, a videographer team came in to make a short video about one of the children to use in their adoption promotion. So it can happen, but it often doesn't due to the nature of the parental involvement.

Anyway, the cunas was really hard for me to work in because I have so little experience working with babies and I'm a little scared still that I'll drop one or something, but they were so cute that it was hard not to love it.

Watching Teletubbies in the toddler room. 

Then, the toddlers were all napping and I still had an hour left, so I went over to the section with the older kids and played with them for a while until I had to go home. The nuns told me not to make a huge deal about the fact that I was leaving because it happens so often with short term volunteers and sometimes it really upsets the kids. So only the oldest girl really knew that I was leaving for good, but it was still very sad for me walking away that last time and hoping that they had a good time while I was there. It's hard to see a huge impact that I had there because my stay was so short, there were so many kids, and the only thing I could really do was play with them, comfort them, and keep them company. But I feel like just making the kids laugh and smile and giving them someone to talk to during my time there was enough, because I feel like the kids had fun, and that's what really matters above all else.

After my last day at the orphanage, my coordinator Jessica stopped by my house to bring me a birthday cake with my family!! It was such a cute surprise and it made me so happy to be able to celebrate with my family abroad since I would be traveling all day on my actual birthday! :)

Birthday celebration with my host family!

That afternoon, I visited the center of the city because all throughout the capital of Ecuador, Quito, there were strikes and protests happening due to an increase in taxes throughout the country and the President's desire to remain president after his term ends without being re-elected. AKA he is trying to become a dictator. I wanted to see if Cuenca had any strikes/protests but there as really nothing. Some stores were closed but the city of Cuenca decided to have a cultural fair in the center of the city because they knew so many people would stop by to do exactly what I did. It ended up being a really nice treat and I saw some awesome folk-dancing and performances!

Cultural dances in the city center

That afternoon, I also packed up all my stuff because the plan was to leave Cuenca by bus around 10AM on Friday morning and get to Quito around 8PM. My flight would leave from Quito at 8:45 in the morning on Saturday, so basically I would arrive at my Quito-Host Mom's apartment, shower and sleep, and then leave really early in the morning. However, nature had other plans for me. I woke up on Friday and the volcano in Quito, Cotopaxi, had started to have mini eruptions. It was shooting out ash and smoke all night and during the whole day on Friday and was making travel plans very unsure and potentially dangerous. Adding to all of this were the strikes in Quito that were still going on and getting more and more serious since they started on Thursday. So serious, in fact, that if I had taken the bus, it most likely would have been stopped for any number of hours in a town called Puyo and possibly allowed to pass through after being searched or possibly sent back to Cuenca. Because of this, my school (Simon Bolivar Education) and my scholarship company (Spirit Cultural Exchange) worked so fast to figure me out a new plan. I am honestly just SO THANKFUL for the both of them, working together to get me on the quickest, cheapest, safest way home. So, I ended up taking a plane from Cuenca to Quito (total flight time, under 50 min) and then to my host mom's at 12:30AM so I could sleep even a little bit before I was picked up at 5:00AM to get to the airport for my flights to Chicago. It was hectic, I was tired, but I was safe and I made it home, and that's all because of these two awesome companies working together to make sure I got home safe and on time! 

With my host sisters right before I left. 

Overall, I had an incredible, INCREDIBLE, three weeks in Ecuador. I loved volunteering my time at the orphanage and it made me feel really good to be able to give back to the community where I was being so touristy. Also, my host moms (especially my family in Cuenca) made me feel so at home, so welcomed, and so happy to be there. It really was just an excellent opportunity and I am so thankful to have had it. Thank you all for reading my blog, keeping up with my posts and pictures, and all the well-wishes for my birthday and my travels home. I LOVE ECUADOR! 

Niños, swimming pools, yoga, and panama hats!!

Hi everyone!! Since I last left off, I've been keeping pretty busy. I work in the mornings at the orphanage from around 8:30-12:30, and my commute by bus there and back takes about an hour each way. Once I get home, I have lunch with my host family and afterwards, I head back out into town to explore or do some activities with my school, then come back home for a late dinner. I've been trying to find downtime to get myself organized for school to start too, but I don't like spending a lot of time while I'm here on school stuff when I could be out exploring!

Keira and me

The Monday of this week was a holiday, so I didn't go in to the orphanage (my bus outside of the city didn't run) and my school was closed, so I was left to my own devices! I have been looking up yoga studios in town, trying to find something I could go to without a membership, and it was more difficult than you would imagine because many places like that close in August for summer vacation. I ended up e-mailing the owner of a studio back and forth in Spanish a few times to find out their schedule/address, and decided that a Monday morning class would be my best bet since I had the whole day off! I was so excited to try yoga in Spanish and learn all this new vocabulary and try something pretty new, however, once I got there I realized that it was run by a US ex-pat (retired person who moved here) and the whole class was in English and all of the students basically only spoke English!! It was a little frustrating, but I had an excellent time at the class and had some much needed relaxation.

The adorable yoga classroom

The courtyard of the studio

Tuesday at the orphanage was really exciting because I finally got to take my big suitcase full of the awesome donations from my friends and family to the kids!! My amazing program coordinator, Jessica, drove me that day so I wouldn't have to lug my giant suitcase on two different buses all throughout town :) Once we got there, the nuns were SO HAPPY and almost started crying at having received such beautiful clothes, toys, school supplies, and more. They told me that they needed to go through everything and check it all in for their accounting purposes, then wash everything, assign the clothes to certain kids and write their names in the items, and then take what they couldn't use (if clothes were too big, for example) to the orphanage next door that has older kids. That means I didn't get to see the kids reactions when they got some new clothes and toys, but I know they appreciate it so much! The nuns were beside themselves with the amount of things I was able to bring and kept telling me how they would pray for my family and friends.

Outside of the orphanage with my suitcase of gifts!

Then, to make the day even better, the niños got to go on a field trip to the very prestigious and expensive Golf and Tennis club in Cuenca! It's a members only club, but once a month they shut it down to deep clean the inside so they let the orphanage come by to swim in the kiddie pools! They all had a BLAST and were exhausted by the time we were done from racing each other, splashing me, seeing who could jump in or go down the slide in the coolest way, and so much more. Since we normally have a snack break around 10:30, the club even gave the kids really delicious chocolate cake, ice cream, chips, and drinks. They were hyper to say the least.

tuckered out

After the eventful day at the orphanage, I went home for lunch and then back into town for an excursion with my school. This time, our teacher took us to the biggest "Panama Hat" factory in Ecuador. The intense work that goes into each one of these hats is just remarkable, and we got to see the whole process from start to finished product. These hats are made from a special straw that is only grown in Ecuador called Paja Toquilla (Toquilla Straw). The straw is harvested, split up into various pieces, dried out in the sun, and then sold at indigenous markets. From there, mostly indigenous women take the straw into their home where they weave the hats by hand, starting out with only 16 strands of straw, until they end up with a product that looks something like this:

Once that is done, the hats are taken to the factory where they are checked for quality and then finished. The hats go through various processes to form different shapes, colors, and decorations, and then they are sold at the factory and throughout Ecuador/the world for around $30-$1000. The price depends on how small the various pieces of straw are that are used in the weaving. There was a hat on display that had straw torn so finely that it took 6 years to reach this point of completion and literally has no price. Once, a tourist attempted to pay $50,000 for it and was told that they would never sell the hat even for that price, because it is so beautiful and unique that they could never part with it.

priceless Panama hat, you can barely see any of the weaving because it is so fine

these are straight from the homes of the weavers, ready to be dyed and pressed into various shapes

different possible shapes

I have never been a hat person, but the beauty of this was simply too good to pass up. So instead of getting one for myself, I bought this tiny little baby hat for my cat Trip which I know he will hate and attempt to eat, so I'll probably end up putting it on my desk as a souvenir.

Today at the orphanage was a very normal day, aside from the one small fight that broke out between two boys about a toy truck that once again ended in bloody noses. Sometimes, its so clear that the kids act out a little bit to get attention from the volunteers, because they know we will come running with hugs and comforting words. It makes it hard to decide when to intervene in a small crying outburst and when to leave it alone, so the kids learn to deal with their emotions in a healthier way. But at the same time, there are so many kids and sometimes when they don't get the attention they desire, they take it out on the others by hitting or kicking or even just flailing and accidentally hitting someone else, so its important to keep a close eye on everyone to make sure they're safe, first and foremost.

And since I know you're all here for the adorable pictures of adorable niños, here are some more. These were mostly taken by the oldest girl at Tadeo Torres, Keira, so excuse the thumb in the way of most of them :)

Carlitos, another volunteer, Sebastian, Keira, and me

Miguel and Cristian

Little Nicole :)

Matteo is screaming of happiness, I promise

I have to eat dinner soon, so I'm going to wrap it up for today. Tomorrow (Thursday) is my last day at the orphanage and its going to be really sad. I have gotten to know these kids really well and it makes me sad knowing that I have to leave. I know they're in really good hands though with the full time employees, and they have a rotation of awesome new volunteers and new playmates all the time so that makes it easier.

Friday morning, my bus leaves for Quito where I'll spend the night with the same host mom that I stayed with before. Then I'll be picked up at 5:00 AM Saturday morning (my birthday!!) to be dropped off at the airport for my full day of traveling. I hope to blog a few times before I'm home, so stay tuned! Hasta luego <3

Getting to know Cuenca and the kids!

Hola a todos!! So much has happened since the last time I was able to blog, partially because I've been pretty busy and partially because the internet in my home-stay has been pretty spotty. But now I have so much to share!!

Wednesday night, I was able to take a double decker bus tour of the city which was super touristy but also very informative. I like doing a mix of really touristy things as well as just random wandering when I'm getting to know a new city, because the tourist stuff helps me learn the most and orientate myself while the wandering helps me find places that I know I'll love :) The highlight of the bus tour was definitely getting to stop at the Mirador de Turi, a lookout spot just outside of the city that has awesome views! From here, you can really see why Cuenca is named that (in Spanish it means wooden bowl) because it is almost completely surrounded by mountains, making the city look like it is its own little basin. At the Mirador, we were also given Canelazo to try, the typical hot cocktail that I made the other day at my school, which was the perfect drink because it was super chilly and windy up there!

Canelazo at the Mirador

Mirador de Turi

Thursday at the orphanage was a CRAZY day. I think I really jinxed it by writing about how well behaved the kids are because all hell broke loose when I arrived that morning haha. We had two bloody noses from kids running into each other, and maybe ten screaming crying outbursts throughout the 4 hours I was there. Also, no one would line up for snack time or lunch time like they're supposed to; every time one would get in line after washing their hands, another would run out of line and go play in the dirt. Total chaos but very fun!! And (some) kids seemed to really begin to trust me and listen to me when I told them what to do, so that was really reassuring.

Me and José after we were playing with the birds

Snack time

Snack time

Friday at the orphanage, however, was a completely different story! The kids were back to their normal well behaved selves and we even got to have some arts and crafts time. So far, all I've been doing with the kids is playing with them outside on the park equipment we have, reading to them, playing house, etc. So it was really nice to gather everyone at the same time and have some organized skill building time. The kids were working on coloring masks that they are going to use this week when they make kites for the annual kite festival in Cuenca!

Working on their masks

After I work at the orphanage, I go home and have lunch with my family and then have the whole afternoon to myself to wander around and explore the city. Lately, I've just been walking around and doing whatever I find that looks interesting and I've been having so much fun! Cuenca is a reasonably safe city, so as long as I'm using my common sense and being just as careful as I would be in a city like Chicago, I feel totally safe exploring alone.

Beautiful church in Cuenca

I FOUND SPANISH CHURROS CON CHOCOLATE

This weekend, my friends from Quito, Anne (Norway) and Roselien (Belgium) came to visit me in Cuenca. It was really fun to be able to do some of the bigger things in the city, like visit the Cathedral and some awesome surrounding towns, with them. It really solidified how much I already learned about this city in just one week!

Saturday, the three of us went to three surrounding towns of Cuenca; Ingapirca, Gualaceo, and Chordeleg. Ingapirca has awesome Incan ruins, the only ones that are left in Ecuador and they're actually pretty well preserved. I didn't realize before I came here that there were so many indigenous groups before the bigger, more well known groups like the Incans came through and took over the lands. So these ruins are actually a mix of Incan and Cañari buildings, but most of it is Incan because they were built so much better.

Ingapirca

We were able to visit these three cities because of a tour which included lunch, transportation, and a personal guide which was awesome because we were in a bigger group, we had a private car instead of a giant bus, and we didn't have to worry about getting off at any wrong stops or getting on the wrong bus. Also, I told our tour guide that I really wanted to try Cascaritas, which is fried pig skin (kind of like chiharrones but very different), so he even made sure to stop and get us some!

Pig on the highway that made my Cascaritas

Cascaritas and corn!

After Ingapirca, we had an awesome lunch at a hotel on the expressway, and then made our way over to Chordeleg. This teeny town is know for its very inexpensive silver and gold. I say inexpensive, but its still more money than a student like me could really spend haha. I guess its cheap considering the price of gold/silver but I wasn't about to drop $100 on some earrings so we just enjoyed the town and walked around looking at all the shiny jewels. Then, we went to Gualaceo which is an even smaller town known for its leather goods. Again, inexpensive considering the quality and materials, but still expensive for me! So we just enjoyed talking with the store owners about their shoes, belts, purses, and more.

Jewelry in Chordeleg

Church in Chordeleg

Main square in Chordeleg

Today, Anne, Roselien, and I went and saw a bunch of awesome sites in Cuenca. Unfortunately, it rained most of the afternoon so we kept ducking into various cafés to escape and get some espresso or a delicious crepe. They leave tomorrow, so it was a quick visit, but I am so glad to have been able to explore some more of Cuenca and the surrounding area with my friends!!

Cathedral in Cuenca

Cathedral domes in Cuenca

Roselien, me, and Anne at the Mirador de Turi

This week I plan on bringing all of the donations to the orphanage, trying a yoga class in Spanish, and visiting a shop that makes the famous Ecuadorian Sombrero de Paja Toquilla, or a Panama Hat as we call it. Stay tuned!!