Hey, I´m alive and well.It has been unnecessarily long since my last post. I think the biggest reason for this is time- I never have enough. The other reason is, as we have firmly established in lit class, is that it is a bad idea to write a lot without saying much. So it is in these interests I will try to effectively catch up the reader. I am going to (try to) be brief because I think (or hope) that I can use the following images to answer more effectively the question I get a lot: How are things over there?
I am exploring. I am stumbling. Things are very up and very down- like the weather here- all four seasons in a day and pretty much right in the middle of the world. I can say with confidence that life is everything I thought it would be- but bigger, harder to keep up with and understand than I originally thought it would be.
Essential, meaningful things: keep in mind that everywhere in Ecuador, there are wildly amazing landscapes of colorful context, literally and figuratively, so much so, that I feel humbled and often lack the words to describe how I feel.
Places. Otavalo, Baños, Latacunga- previous posts.
Mindo. Lindo, pretty butterflies, jungle cables and cows.
Atacames. Simple, pretty beach, really good company, mototaxi!! sunburn, excellent break from school, kids we hung out with- they let us play soccer, bury them, and I showed them my guitar. They had a lot of energy and funny questions about us.
Cuenca. Absurdly beautiful- it is popular to debate about whether Cuenca or Quito is more beautiful, Unesco world heritage site, where they originally make the authentic Panama hats of all sizes, where this old man spends his life fixing/making guitars (that I couldn´t help buying) and churangos, great company, much unexplored, must return.
Tena. 1st real jungle, many bug-bites (no malaria, I promise) 1st white water rafting-very professional, class three (pictures to come), we went with a company called river people, I liked that, seemed simple and honest, MONKEYS!!- You can just go to this place called monkey island where the monkeys come up to where you sit.
Montañita. Hippie beach town. They live the surfer lifestyle here, which I could definitely get used to.
What´s crazy is how little I´ve explored the touristy places right here in Quito. I don´t know if this is silly or not- but I have all of next semester to do that and so far, I can salsa dance, play one song on my new churango, surf, raft, and I see TONS of stuff on my commutes to the places I am volunteering and to school... for instance-
Here´s my Tuesday- fairly typical: Leave at 6:30 to commute to la escuela Jesus el Buen Pastor, my first volunteer location. I get off at the Santo Domingo stop. This refers to la Iglesia Santo Domingo, a topic of which I just finished a response paper. Basically, in May of 1990, this church was used by an indigenous political group called CONAIE as a means of symbolically expressing their presence on a national level. They used the peaceful, sit-in type of strategy to demand political attention to express their sentiments of exploitation, oppression, marginalization, and the general ignorance, particularly of the government organization called IERAC, which is designed to handle land conflicts. The movement is referred to as the ¨First National Uprising of the Indiginous¨ (roughly translated by yours truly). In terms of effectiveness, this one was big, monumental even, because it was seen as the first display of the organizational capacity of the indigenous communities and the first (real) opportunity for them to gain recognition for their demands, which to me, are the most interesting part. But that´s not for this blog entry.
Anyway, I walk past this church on my way to teaching little kids. I have three classes, a little more than thirty students, most with a very mixed ethnicity, the first three grades. We are going over basic things like colors, fruits, family, shapes, you know, the works. I think they like me- they let me play with them during recreo. Between this place, the place in my head that Gabriel García Márquez takes me, some good friends I´ve made next to Pacific Ocean waves , and the guitar man in Cuenca, I feel like, maybe, I´ve gotten close to capturing the essence of Latin America that I´ve read so much about.
I would like to make a few things clear: I love what I study (even though I question my academic capacity and what I will do with all of this almost daily- there are so many ways to think about and understand things). My anthropology teacher was fascinated by my family tree project- the biggest and most complex one in the class. - I love teaching these little kids more, and I have a really hard time expressing how I feel about this place, the world, and then of course, where I want to fit into this whole picture. What´s funny is that of all things, García Márquez and his use of magical realism helps the most to understand it all. There are so many living and clashing ideals all in the same place and I feel like I sill haven´t decided excactly what mine are. But at the same time, it´s like; dang, man, this must be good.
Yeah- so after school I have to high-tail it on over to my university, which is filled with some uppity people, lemme tell ya. I had an extra hour or so to wander around old Quito before my gender studies class, so I followed the music... which was the advise of the guitar maker, right on over to a rally in the Plaza de Independencia where the very new president Correas was delivering a public speech. It felt very authentic. But to me, it was just another manifestation of Márquez´ magical realism and use of mythical time. He shows, without ever referring to any specific person or event how the clashing ideals that constantly coexist within one people- Ecuador is a great example because of its size and diversity- crash into one another. I like how what moves people in his book is almost always based on a myth or a funny interpretation of how things are. It is this idea that through fiction, he shows so much truth, like how wars and politics are as much if not more about pride and power than actual change or progress- his formation of the opposing liberal and conservative views, the power of image in a world controlled by fear. Cien Años is an ocean of humanity. It is timeless and I think what he was trying to say can be seen almost anywhere. I feel like I see it as I walk from a school of eager and happy students past countless beggars and continue on my way past a newly elected president promising change on the streets with a tired voice and end at the most elite university in the region.
I ran my first 10k in my life today: about 56:30- altidude 2,850 m (about 9,350 ft) depending on where you are. I think it is fair to say that I have gotten used to the air. The event was huge, called the nikecorre. I don´t have any pics, but if I find some on the internet, I´ll post them. The only other place I plan to travel is called the Quilotoa loop. It is with buena gente and will be a good adventure. After that, school is about to get real, real fast.
I don´t know, exactly, if this post worked in terms of clearing anything up except to say that I am here, and it is crazy-cool. I am in an ocean and I just learned to surf.
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