Wild Goose Chases

Don't let the title fool you...today I am not talking about the crazy geese that live behind our house, or the one that bit Adam when he was talking to our neighbors. I am talking about one of our common experiences living in Ecuador...the wild goose chase of searching for some obscure product that back home, we would be able to find in no time.

For the past week, I have been in chase of something that in the U.S. I might find in one stop at a Home Depot....

...a metal ring that is 1.5 inches in diameter. Yes, it is an obscure thing to be looking for...but I have been in search of it for an activity that I am doing with the girls at Dorotea Carrion tomorrow so I set off on my little scavenger hunt!

Here in Ecuador, there are a few things that lead to things turning into a wild goose chase. One is that sometimes us extranjeros (foreigners) don't know the proper vocabulary or word usage for an item. The other is that there are literally hundreds of stores in Loja that carry the most random things, so often you are guaranteed to go to at least 2 tiendas to find what you want. Small little tiendas full of random things so you keep trying, one after the other!

So, to start my hunt, I went to a ton of hardware stores (at least 5) asking for "un anillo de metal de 4 centimetros, mas o menos" (a ring of metal of 4 centimeters, more or less). I would get the response that they didn't carry it, but perhaps the next ferrateria down the road would have it. One guy asked me what it was for, and I couldn't really say...me telling him I am doing some teambuilders with a group of girls would lead me nowhere! The staff at Dorotea Carrion showed up with a u-shaped tube that was 4 cm but not what I needed. They were also at a loss of where you could buy something like that so I continued my hunt.

Today I headed into town in the rain, and Adam suggested that I stop by this big warehouse store called Placa Centro. I walk into this gigantic warehouse where they are cutting planks of wood, selling gallons of paint, and giant bags of sawdust. I gave up asking for "un anillo de metal" because it just brought about strange looks, so instead I pointed at my purse and asked if they had something similar to the rings on my purse.

My question led to a very sure response from the woman. She directed me to make a left at the corner down the hill and told me there would be a shop next to a few panaderias (semi-helfpul...there are panaderias on every block). It was the most confident response I had received in the past week (I had been getting a lot of "Ummm...maybe you can try another hardware store??") so I was happy to follow it. I arrived at a small hardware shop next to a panaderia and asked them if they carried something similar to what was on my purse. They shook their heads but then said, "There is a shop that is up the hill and to the left. They fix shoes and they have things like that." I thanked them and went to this next shop that fixes shoes. They regrettably told me that they too did not carry such an item...however they knew of one place that was sure to have it. Back down the hill, make a left, and it would be on that street. I wandered up and down the street not seeing a shop that would carry such a thing, so I gave one last shot and asked a small store that sold ribbons and asked if they knew where I could find something similar to the thing on my purse. The woman at the store smiled and pointed across the street and said "There is a shop that will sell that in the blue and yellow building. Their entrance is on the other street, so just make a right on the corner."

I walked into this shop, full of zippers, soles of shoes, belt straps, belt buckles...AND metal rings of 4 cm, more or less! I was soooo happy to pay my $0.20 (I even had a choice of silver or gold colored and a large variety of diameters!) after only having visited 5 locations today! And I was sure to ask what I should call this ring in the future, in case I ever had an inkling to buy another one. No, it was not an anillo (the word for a ring that you would wear)...it was an argolla. So in the future, "Estoy buscando una argolla de 4 centimetros, mas o menos." And I will prepare myself for yet another visit to no less than 5 tiendas in search of my obscure item that is sure to be sitting in some tienda somewhere in Loja!

Summertime! Sort of!

It's summertime (in the sense that school is out...not that the weather has changed all that much since we are on the equator...luckily that means it is still an average 68 degrees!), the rain has stopped for a few days this week, and work has picked up for Adam and I. Adam has been working the CASMUL camp (the 9-10 age group), making sure that the kids don't get too injured playing soccer and basketball, that nobody drowns during swim hour, and that on their field trip nobody gets left behind. He wasn't able to prevent one kid from getting pushed down a small hill today when they visited some recycling plant, but was there to console him when he got scratched up. 

Recently Eri and I have been working at the Orfanato Dorotea Carrion. We had previously done some workshops with the girls at the orphanage and this is also the location where we taught the 3 day course on origami to the teachers in the area back in March. The reason we have been working there more frequently in recent weeks is because one of our former colleagues from INFA Centro de Protección de Derechos got a job here and asked us to come back and work with the girls. 

The new sign that says this is a program of MIES-INFA (Ministerio de Inclusión Económica y Social & Instituto de la Niñez y la Familia) for at-risk girls and teens with the Centro de Proteccion de Derechos logo representing the diversity of children in Ecuador

In addition to doing origami with the girls once a week, we are also doing a class on discovering your inner and outer beauty and on Friday we are also doing recreational activities, including some teambuilding and trust exercises. This week was our first week doing the recreational activities, and we headed out to Parque Jipiro. It was a little challenging at first to get the girls to open up (I even had Anghy, the youngest girl at the orphange, hollering that the activities we were doing were feo...yeah thanks a lot!) but by the end they seemed to be enjoying themselves. I have 5 more weeks of classes and activities with them...so hopefully by then they will be more comfortable talking and sharing.

Trying to make the perfect square...blindfolded!

A couple of the girls from the group...and yes, my eyes are open!

Eri and I with the chicas...mostly teens and tiny Anghy in the front

Eri showing some dance moves while singing Shakira's Waka Waka

Eri and I have also continued to work at the Centro Comercial once a week. These kids are such fun and I think we are getting accustomed to their rowdiness. I remember the first few times we went there, I was like...whew, these kids wear me out! I might have even mentioned it in a previous blog post! One week we watched a Japanese animation film that was really cute and another week we spent an entire hour and a half making and decorating paper airplanes, and then having competitions to see whose plane went the farthest. The room we work in is two floors above the meat section of the Centro Comercial, so at times it stinks to high heaven! And the room we work in echos, so the yelling and hollering just reverberates against the walls. I included a few videos so you can see what fun we have!

And yes...in this video one of the kids is running while carrying another upside down...that's pretty normal (notice Eri not fazed at all!)

Of course working with all these kids comes with a trade-off. Adam and I have picked up a head cold and we are pointing fingers at each other in terms of who brought the bug home first! I swear it is Adam because he is exposed to 180 kids at the camp, whereas my group of kids at the 2 orphanages, the Centro Comercial, and the office maybe add up to 50 kids. Let's forget the fact that I had symptoms half a day earlier than Adam. Ha!

So this weekend will be spent recovering, sleeping, and probably some baking in between. 

Just another Sunday morning...

We noticed lately that our freezer space was getting smaller and smaller. Less things would fit in the freezer and it was a constant battle keeping things from falling out. That could only mean one thing...it was time to defrost the freezer once again!

Supposedly modern fridges don't require defrosting, but try telling that to most of us down here in Ecuador with fridges/freezers! Our fridge is no more than a few years old (we bought it used) and this is the 3rd time Adam has had to defrost it...and probably we should be defrosting it every month considering how much ice has built up! Sheets of ice!

Method to the madness- steaming hot water to melt it a bit, and a rolling pin to break the ice down! 

Happy Anniversary! 5 Years!!

Today Adam and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary! This is our 2nd we are celebrating in Ecuador. Last year Adam and I celebrated our anniversary by finding out where our site was going to be (woo woo Loja!) and this year we celebrated with Adam being sick in bed (poor guy picked up what appears to be the stomach flu) but finally made our way out of the house for a fancy dinner at the Howard Johnson. That is right folks, apparently the HoJos is one of the best restaurants in town- it was quite lovely!

Happy Anniversary! I wouldn't want to share my life with anyone else!

4th of July, Workshops, and a Trip to Quito!

Happy very belated 4th of July! Adam and I spent our Independence Day with other volunteers from our cluster (region) in Vilcabamba, which is about 1 hour from Loja. Although there were no fireworks, hot dogs and hamburgers, or parades through the town, we went on a horseback ride through the mountains, ate watermelon and enjoyed a game of Risk. 

Miriam (who came to Loja on a tech exchange where she helped me with a workshop for the employees in MIES-INFA Centro de Protección de Derechos) enjoying an apple and the view!

Allison on her horse that left the pack to return to its owner's house!

Adam on his horse...everyone was stuck behind me and my slooooow horse =D

Playing the game of Risk...unfortunately not Justin's ULTIMATE RISK

A rare treat for us- watermelon!!

After our relaxing time in Vilcabamba, we returned to Loja where Nancy and Miriam helped me with a 2 day workshop for my counterpart organization MIES-INFA. A few months ago one of the women who is in charge of the office I work in asked me if I knew anyone who could help share some U.S. methodology of child protection social work. My friend and fellow PCV Nancy was a CPS social worker for 15 years so she came down to Loja with Miriam to share some of her experiences. It was quite a stressful few days, but we ended with some relaxation exercises using information from the UCI Health Education Center Relax Your Mind and Body workshops (thanks Leigh!!!)!!

Nancy and Miriam sharing to the group

Always have to have small group breakouts!

Group work always has to include markers and large sheets of newsprint

Eri leading the group in Radio Taiso...I love this!

More group work!

Guided imagery activity...I am sure a few people fell asleep!

In other news, Adam and I also went up to Quito last week to meet the new trainees during their picnic. Liz and I rode up together on the bus because Adam was already in Quito to see the PC doctor. For some reason I didn't think it would take us a long time to get to Cayambe...and Liz kindly reminded me that 14 hours is the norm! We had spent the entire day before making snickerdoodles, rice krispie treats and little snack packs for our "hermanitos" (some of the volunteers were paired with trainees just to provide support and answer any questions they have). I didn't get any pictures of the soccer game or of our "hermanitos", but I did take picture when we visited our host family and they had a group of trainees that came over to their house to make cheese. Pacha and Micaela are as ADORABLE as ever- now Mica has her two front teeth, but Pacha is missing hers. We had a great meal at their house (Magy is still as good of a cook as ever!) and got to chat with the trainee that is currently living there.

Since we had to pass through Quito to get back to Loja, Adam and I took advantage of our waiting time to go to the Quicentro Mall. It was totally bizarre being at a mall that has things like a Sunglass Hut, a United Colors of Benetton, and a Crocs store. Everything was priced the same as in the U.S. or more. I have no idea who all these rich people are that can afford this stuff in Ecuador!! We decided to splurge and ate at...of all places...TGI Fridays. $12 for a hamburger! What?!? So Adam and I shared one. Haha. And then we went to Dunkin' Donuts afterwards so I could get a coffee. Mmmm!

I love this. On their paper bags it still says "America Runs on Dunkin' Donuts" but at least their wallpaper was changed with a picture of Ecuador! I highly doubt Ecuador runs on DD though!

And of course when I saw the little sushi place in the food court of the mall, I had to get some sushi too! Again, this was also VERY expensive for Ecuador. $6.30. I can buy SOOOO much stuff for that price. But it was oh so worth it. Sushi is one of the things that I have cravings for all the time!

Other than that, I have been doing more origami with Eri at the centro comercial, and with teachers. This morning Eri and I went to this school in Loja to teach all the teachers about origami...as it turns out, our next door neighbor here in Loja is the director of the place (though I have never spoken to her before). Eri will be leaving next month (she is almost done with her 2 years of service with JICA) and I am really sad because I really enjoy working with her and she is just so great! It will be sad to see her go!

Next week Adam will be starting work with a summer camp put on by his counterpart organization. From what I can gather, it sounds like a lot of soccer and basketball! He also has some leads on projects with the technical university in town, so that is good! We like keeping busy!

Ok, well I will keep trying to post more photos and updates!!!