We arrived at Quito´s largest park, where first the students saw a one-woman play, which entertained me despite my lack of understanding. She called students up to try on animal ears and imitate the respective beast. The children, aged 4 to 9 or so, brought a grin from ear to ear on my face as they did their best impressions. Following, the students ate lunch in the park, under the protection of the shade. The students brought a wide range of snacks, mostly unhealthy chips, crackers or cookies. However, I was both surprised and warmed to see that all the students shared with others that did not have food. They even shared with us teachers, that secretly starved and experienced watering mouths as we watched the children consume delicious food.
The children played in the park, bringing stress for us teachers as they wandered away from the area we were resting at. After the break, we entered a planetarium where we watched (in Spanish) an animated film about all of the planets, Pluto included, as it was slightly out of date.
You have to love Ecuadorian children photo-bombing!
Ready to enter the planetarium.
Sitting in the park for a snack.
A few days later, on Saturday, I prepared for two parties. First, my neighbour Bianca, was celebrating her third birthday, which was on the same day as my mother, March 16. Most of her guests were teenagers or adults, with the exception of one boy her age, Mati, and a few older children. Nonetheless, she seemed to enjoy herself greatly. Prior to the party, we went over to assist in the set-up and food preparation. We prepared so much food- meat and cheese on toothpicks, candy, chips, rice and more, I did not believe it would ever be finished, despite the numerous crowd. To my surprise, all the food, in addition to large portions of cake, was consumed. I learned a new game, where particpants tie a balloon to their ankle, and oponents try to stomp on each other´s balloon in order to burst it. When
I played, my host sister and I burst each other´s balloon right away, knocking each other out. This game reminded me slightly of Mario Kart.
Going all out with the princess decorations.
By Ecuadorian tradition, the birthday girl (or boy) must stick their face in the cake.
Birthday candles and sparklers light up the room with excitement.
One of many tables of food.
Beautiful Bianca, the birthday girl.
Straight from Bianca´s party, I accompanied my co-teachers, Patty and Guillermo, and their son Mati to my second party of the evening. I have yet to find out who´s birthday it was, though I will not be searching for that answer. Many of my other co-teachers were there, as well as my friend Mitch from Canada, the only other Gringo in town. I knew he would be there about a week before the event, although he never found out until he left for the party. I was amused by the way communication works in Ecuador, and how people in the community are so connected.
The party began with us all sitting around a room, some eating, though I passed after consuming portions larger than my stomach could expand for at the previous party. Mitch and I exchanged experiences so far with our host families, but I did not think this fiesta would be very noteworthy by the way it was carrying on. However, the music was turned on and people began to dance. Though reluctant, I agreed to dancing with my co-teacher. I had salsa danced once before on a school trip, and swing danced at a school music social. However, my dancing skills improved immensely after upwards of four hours on the floor. I met many interesting people, one of whom was at the previous fiesta for Bianca. I spoke a lot of Spanish, w
hich increased my confidence with the language. Overall, I had a fantastic night and look forward to more fiestas, and more salsa dancing. By the time I return to Canada, my hips will be moving like there is no tomorrow.
Lastly of note since my last post was my most recent trip to Quito. This time, I took the local transit to the capital, on a mission to meet up with the rest of my ICE group, and our co-ordinator, Samuel. The day began early, as any Ecuadorian day, with a departure from Yaruqui at 6:15 am. I am accustomed to these early rises, so this was not an issue for me. I met up with Mitch in the square, and we settled on our first bus to Quito. We had to take another bus and then had a short walk to are destination. To my surprise, we made it there without any error, arriving nearly an hour early. As our friends filed into the meeting place, we reunited with firm hugs and exchanges of stories. It was refreshing to have a piece of home rest in my arms for a moment, and to express myself in my native tongue.
We visited the Museum of the National Bank of Pichincha, which hosts a multitude of information and artefacts from ancient civilizations of Ecuador. We learned many of the important contributions to present-day Ecuador, and viewed some beautiful, some interesting, and som bazaar artefacts, some akin to the multi-breasted statues of the Middle East. Unfortunately, pictures were not permitted, so I cannot share these images.
Following the museum, we were given free time to purchase lunch before departing to our respective communities. Sarah, Ursula and I were set on pizza, while others wanted Subway or McDonalds. Though I craved a McFlurry, I passed the craving on the willpower of lent, or ´Cuaresma´in Spanish. We entered multiple pizza restaurants before finally settling on a small bistro. We ended up getting a large portion of the most delicious pizza I have tasted in a long time, for $2.50 each, which was more food than I needed. My pizza was called the ´Pizza Real´and was topped with cheese, corn, zucchini, peppers and tomatoes, a perfect blend of vegetables. The excursion lasted much longer than anticipated, and I arrived back in my community at 8:00 in the evening, to my worried host family.
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