Vida Cuencana

Tomorrow it will be 2 weeks since Adam and I arrived to Cuenca… I can hardly believe it. When we arrived I wasn’t sure if there would be that much for us to help with. It turns out there were needs to be met right away within the Verbo community. Adam is an athlete and the position of the “cultura fisica” (Phys Ed) teacher at the Verbo school needed someone to fill in for a few months. He is enjoying working with the older kids of the school, including teaching them some line dances from his old job at Texas Roadhouse. As far as my position goes, I have been helping a teacher at Verbo, Karina, with her English classes which go from pre-basica (Kindergarten)- quinto grado (5th grade). While Katrina is away on maternity leave I will be helping the new teacher with the classes and offering after school English tutoring. My day won’t end there, because starting this week I will be going to “La Esperanza”, the orphanage that is connected to Verbo after school to help the children with their homework. Adam will be at La Esperanza every Saturday running a soccer clinic. Although our days are pretty long, we are both enjoying being at the school, which is high up above Cuenca, yet only 10 minutes from our new house!

The view from our school

Adam and Matias, one of our many adorable students :)

La escuela!

A typical weekday after school ends with us taking a siesta and either spending time with some of the young people from Verbo and/or hanging out with Vicky, Paz, and Camila. I can’t express enough how wonderful it has been to live with these women. Our house is full of laughter (and squeals from Camila when she gets tickle attacked), fun, and respect. Last weekend Vicky and Paz (by the way, here in Cuenca they use articles in front of names most of the time, for example “la Emma”, “el Adam” etc… I have never noticed that anywhere else and I find that I am doing it now too!) took us to Parque Nacional Cajas, which is a gorgeous, moor like place that seems more like somewhere in Europe than in Latin America. Adam had a hilarious interaction with a llama, which is on video for the world to enjoy ;) As far as this weekend went, it was pretty mellow and tranquilo. We went to the Saturday night service at Verbo because on Sunday morning we ran a 4k with some of our students. It was put on by the federal government’s sports ministry and involved all the high schools in Cuenca; I think it is pretty neat that they sponsor something like that! I went back out on my own to walk around the city for a few hours, and some of my pictures (from my cell phone, they aren’t the best quality) are below.

Parque Nacional Cajas con Vicky and Paz

Incan ruins "Pumapungo", 5 minutes from our house!!

Map of the center of Cuenca, so many churches!

Parque Calderón, the main square in Cuenca

This coming week is going to be busy, as usual! Jeanne, one of my best friends from back when I studied abroad in Guayaquil two years ago will be in Cuenca on Thursday and I can’t wait to see her!! It has been far too long! I will only get to see her for a few days though, since Adam and I are heading to Guayaquil for Christmas. We are spending Christmas with the Encalada’s, the family that I lived with two years ago. Interestingly, Christmas is celebrated with a dinner on Christmas Eve at midnight. We have a two-week break and part of it will be spent in Guayaquil with family and friends, and some of it at the beaches on the coast (New Years—Montañita+La Ruta del Sol!). From there Adam is going to Quito to visit a friend of his and I will be going back to Cuenca.

The river in front of our house

Our casa!! The brown one... the one next to it was destroyed in an earthquake :O

Cuco :)

Feliz Navidad!!

Adam cocinando

la Camila and I in my room
I hope everyone has a blessed, wonderful Christmas. Love and hugs-- Emma

Ecuador X 3; the beginning

After a week and a half whirlwind of traveling we made it to Cuenca. “We” is Adam and I. He and I set out from upstate NY and headed to New York City for a couple of days on November 26th. Priscila graciously let us stay at her apartment and we set out to see as many people as we could in 2 days. One particularly silly moment was right at the beginning when the wheels of my heavyyyy suitcase wore off to nothing. Poor Adam was hauling my 67-pound bag as well as some of his things for a mile. You can follow the trail all the way to Priscila’s apartment. That night we got to go to a taping of the Colbert Report, which was lots of fun (and free!). On Tuesday I got a call from my couchsurfing friend Ethan that he was on his way into the city to spend the day with us, as did Adam’s friend Tamu. Our mini NYC trip wrapped up with a Plattsburgh (+Prisca, Ethan, and Tamu) reunion before our flight. It was at 3:30am out of JFK on Wednesday so we just pulled an all nighter…

And it kept going. Adam and I had a 12 hour layover in El Salvador and we figured we would much rather explore (on no sleep) than stay in the airport. We paid $10 to leave the airport at customs and headed out. Our guide, Alvaro, took us around for 9 hours first to El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador, and then to beach “La Libertad”. San Salvador was smaller than I expected a capital to be. Alvaro was very helpful with all of our many questions about the country, the local slang etc. La Libertad was lovely, with the warm Pacific, dark sand, and a fish market. By the time our flight left EL Salvador at 7pm, we were beat after 40 hours of almost no sleep. We got to Guayaquil around midnight and mi major amiga ecuatoriana Ana Belen was waiting for us.

In Guayaquil we were able to see many friends, and Adam got to meet the family that I had lived with in 2010. We also had made it just in time for Juan’s birthday on November 30th in Milagro. This past Saturday we went to Montañita for 2 days, most of which was cloudy but still a fun time hanging out with people from todas partes. On Monday it was very sunny and we decided to delay our trip back to Guayaquil to spend some time in the sun. I got quite burned to the point of looking like a tomato, despite applying sunscreen. As if I don’t stick out enough -_- On Monday night we made it back to Guayaquil and went to Las Peñas with Galo, Andres, and Ana Belen.

Yesterday evening we arrived in Cuenca and were picked up by our lovely new family, Vicky and La Paz. They are the sisters we are going to be living with these 3 months. They took us all around last night to see various sights in Cuenca. Adam and I also have the pleasure of living with la Paz’s hija Camila, a bright and exuberant 6 year old. We are all moving to a new house tomorrow, which, although it won’t be in the “Centro” of Cuenca, has lots of space and is more modern.

Today Adam and I went to Verbo Iglesia today to meet with Gustavo, who showed us around and talked about some of the ministries we will be able to volunteer with. Adam is leaning toward teaching English with their language institute and I am more interested in helping at the orphanage, but nothing is set up as of yet. Hopefully by next week we will have a better idea of what is going on as far as out Verbo goes. We want to help como podamos!

That just touches on some of the things that have been going on since we left home. I am extremely happy to be back in my lindo Ecuador (hablando español todo el tiempo, yeii!) and with the friends que he extrañado mucho.

Falling into... Fall

I haven't been in New York for the past two falls. And I haven't been home-home for the past four falls. Just so happens it is my favorite season, although until recently I forgot why.

Despite being somewhat indignant about the chill in the air, I find that if one thinks about it as "crisp" and "motivating" it does not seem so bad. Besides, my 23rd birthday is fast approaching (well, still over a month away, but still...). I am a Halloween baby, born at 6:59pm when all the kiddos were getting over the trick or treating thing, and wanting to move on to the sorting, hoarding, trading, and chowing down portion of the night.

I have to be honest, after graduation in May, I was not particularly looking forward to spending more than four months in the same spot. It gets to me from time to time, especially when some of my friends have moved on; cycling across the country (Shaina), starting big girl jobs (Britt), interning in our beloved DC (Samita), etc. I got over myself though, and have been enjoying the routine I have. I'm working at a coffee shop in the always lovely Saratoga with some buena gente, and using my free time to hike (did 4 high peaks last week! 8 down, 38 to go!), read (just finished "Socialist Dreams and Beauty Queens" last night, Venezuela has moved up on my must visit list), spend time with my fam and friends, and just enjoy the moment that God has me in here and now. I am finding more and more that in the quiet, everyday moments He is ever faithful. It is in THOSE moments that I feel His peace, particularly about the future.

[[[ Matthew 30-33 (The Message) “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

34 “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes. ]]]

And what are my plans? They are malleable works-in-progress, but they tentatively go like this:

1. Go teach English in Ecuador with Verbo Ministries. Departure-- November-December? Saving some plata primero... 2. Peace Corps: nominated for Education, departure tentatively February 2013. Country, unknown. Still waiting for the invitation which is on hold due to paperwork. Decision made about whether to accept or not? Nope... weighing the pros+cons, but not worrying. 3. In a few years, back to DC.

That's my life at the moment. Falling into the Adirondack fall all over again. :)

Josh, Emily, and I hiking last week. Que buen trip!

Santiago's Children

I just finished up Santiago's Children. It is a book by Steve Reifenberg about his experiences in Chile living at an orphanage for two years. That is such a lame way to describe it, but you should just read it... I'll try again... it is an amazing book that takes the stories of the children and people he met and weaved it in with his insecurities about his future as well as the tumultuous political climate in Chile under Pinochet. A little better haha. I'll just some of the quotes speak for themselves.

"But I came to Chile, to Santiago, to the orphanage, and my objectivity, so stern and rational, had disappeared. Time after time people invited me into their homes and their families and gave me the best of what they had, generously,openly, with few expectations in return. Children threw their arms around my neck and needed me to tie their shoestrings or lift them up until they could touch the roof with their fingertips. There was a sense of belonging, an immediacy and urgency, the joy of a child on the first day of summer vacation when life was full of endless possibilities. I was needed and welcomed and taken in, and, yes, it was recaptured, that sense of belonging, but in a different, more complex way, with all the hardships of living with and loving so many people so intensely under one small roof...."

"What had changed the most was me. I had learned some things: that the world was a lot more complicated than I ever thought; that U.S. political decisions had reverberations in dramatic ways all over the world; that children were often incredibly resilient; and that interventions, especially when carried out with compassion and love, could make a difference. Finally, I learned to believe in the idea that maybe it was not a bad thing to have dreams, even if they sometimes fell short.”

The last part that I will share is something Reifenberg included in the book from Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge by Rilke

One more semester down, DC style

Another semester is over... this one was spent in Washington D.C. I was part student (1 day a week) and part intern (4 days a week). I was an intern at Partners of the Americas, which is a non-profit organization with a vast network particularly in the western hemisphere that connects volunteers as well as carries out social development programs.My role in this organization was to work with the VP Matt, and Michelle in the communications office. The major focus of the semester was the Second World Summit for Youth Volunteering in Colombia. I provided support in the area of registrations and flights,as well as anything else that was needed. Through this role I was able to get to know some of the amazing youth in our international network. Obviously being at the office also allowed me to get to know the Partners staff, which is a dynamic, knowledgeable and welcoming team.

As far as D.C. in general goes, I fell in love with the city. There are beautiful neighborhoods to explore, lectures and events to attend, diversity, and a population that knows what is going on in the world. I spent every weekend trying something new and meeting more people. "Networking" is a big deal down here, but I didn't really see myself doing anything differently than I usually do, which is being somewhere new and getting to know the environment. One blessing that sticks out in particular was stumbling across Capital City Church. It is unlike any church that I have been to before, full of young professionals who aren't restrained in their passion and motivation for God. Some of those lovely people are below :)

It would take forever to write about all that I learned over these past 4 months. I will cut it off here, as I will be leaving the city soon to head home to these goofs

I will spend about 2 weeks at home before my next adventure-- back to Ecuador for a month!

For Cody

My friend Cody passed away this past Sunday, January 23rd in an accident in Ecuador. This is for him.

It must have been back in November when I first saw Cody Hankerd. I saw a tall blonde guy sitting at the fountain in the middle of the UEES campus, and I thought… hmmm. Definitely not Ecuadorean, but I have no idea who this is. I was excited that there were more international students though. I ended up meeting him not long after at a salsa class on campus. We went through the “hey nice to meet you where are from” etc, but didn’t talk much beyond that. A few nights after, I saw him and his friend Ramon, also a new international student, playing basketball. I was pumped because Ecuadoreans are all about fútbol, and not so much básquet. I asked Cody the next day how often they played, and if I could join. Being the gentleman that he is, it was no problem. From then on we met up a few nights every week for my last month to play. I brought my friend Ana Belen with me, and Cody and Ana ended up hitting it off pretty well. The three of us would spend the beautiful warm evenings after class playing out on the court. Some nights others would join; Juan, Ramon, Juanki, Victoria, Marcos, and even random people who wanted to play. Some nights it was just Ana, Cody and I, and a few times just Cody and I. We would talk about life back home, or what he could look forward to for his next months in Ecuador. I would give him some advice about Ecuador and when Ana was there she would help him with his Spanish. He didn’t know very much but he learned so quickly. Cody was a firefighter back in California, and got a scholarship of sorts to come study Spanish, which would in turn help him on the force. He would talk about his brother, who left for Afghanistan in December, and how proud he is of him. How hard it was not being there when he left. And of course being me I talked plenty, and he was a willing listener. I wish I had had more time down there, but I went home right before Christmas. We tried coordinating meeting up besides for basketball, but it never ended up working out. Our time together was spent on the courts. Those evenings were some of my favorites, so relaxing. From the month I had with Cody, I figured out that he was a really good guy. Trustworthy, motivated, patient, and loving his life in Ecuador. My heart goes out to his brother Sean, and his family.

Time to wrap it up

No he escrito en casi 4 meses… sorry. Estaba ocupadísima por allí. No puedo escribir todo que me pasó en octubre, noviembre y diciembre, pero elaboraré un poco. Al fin de Octubre terminé con el primer bimestre. Después tuvimos casi dos semanas de vacaciones! Primero, fui a Baños Ecuador con Bree, Belinda, Kristi, Clara, Sarah, Hayley, Andrea, Erik, Sou y Micheal. Era mi parte favorita de las vacaciones. Baños es un pueblo en las montañas donde puedes hacer cualquier deporte de aventura que deseas pero super barato. Un día fuimos a la Amazonía cerca de Puyo, y era increíble. Por $30 conseguimos un guía, fuimos a una reserva de monos, subimos por el bosque a una cascada, comimos un almuerzo típico, tuvimos un viaje por bote en un río, y disfrutamos con un “swing” loco. Al fin del día sentábamos en una montaña mirando sobre el río y un valle, una vista que quitó la respiración con la belleza y tranquilidad. Después de Baños, viajamos a Cuenca, pero sin los chicos y Andrea. Ella nos encontró allí un día después. Quedamos allí solo para una o dos noches, para descansar antes del viaje a Mancora Peru! Mancora es un pueblo de la playa, con el sol, las olas, los hostales baratos, y la relajación. Celebré mi cumpleaños el 31 de Octubre allí, y para el resto relajé con mis amigos, tomando el sol, nadando, “surfeando”… tranquilo. A veces había drama, pero así es la vida. Regresamos bronceados a Guayaquil para un bimestre de 6 semanas. Para las últimas semanas, pasé el tiempo con clases (Español y La Historia de la Cultura Ecuatoriana), la pasantía (pero solamente 2 días cada semana), jugando básquet, saliendo con mis amigos extranjeros y ecuatorianos, haciendo actividades voluntarias para la Navidad etc. Me fui el 23 de diciembre, y llegue a casa para la Navidad. Para el resto de mis aventures, miren a mis fotos por Factbook. =]

I have not written in almost 4 months… sorry. I was so busy there. I can’t write everything that happened to me in October, November and December, but I will elaborate a little. At the end of October I finished with my first bimester. After we had almost two weeks of vacation! First, I went to Baños Ecuador with Bree, Belinda, Kristi, Clara, Sarah, Hayley, Andrea, Erik, Sou and Micheal. It was my favorite part of the vacation. Baños is a small town in the mountains where you can do whatever extreme/adventure sports that you desire, and it is really cheap. One day we went to the Amazon near Puyo, and it was incredible. For $30 we got a guide, we went to a monkey reserve, we hiked through the forest to a waterfall, we ate a typical meal, we had a trip down a river in a canoe, and we had fun with a crazyyyy swing. At the end of the day we sat on a mountain looping over the river and a valley, a view that took the breath away with the beauty and tranquility. After Baños, we traveled to Cuenca, but without the boys and Andrea. She met us there a day after. We stayed there only for one or two nights, to rest before our trip to Mancora Peru! Mancora is a Beach town, with the sun, the waves, cheap hostels, and relaxation. I celebrated my birthday there the 31st of October, and for the rest of it I relaxed with my friends, tanning, swimming, and surfing. At times there was drama, but that’s life. We went back to Guayaquil tanned for one more bimester of 6 weeks. For the last weeks, I spent the time in class, at my internship (but only two days a week), playing basketball, going out with my friends both international and Ecuadorean, volunteering for Christmas activities etc. I left on the 23rd of December, and arrived home for Christmas. For the rest of my adventures, look a my photos on Facebook. And if you ever want to know anything about travel in Ecuador, let me know. You should definitely go! =]