Emilio

Emilio.

He’s your typical, 5-year-old, energetic, border-line-problem-child, crazy, silly, adorable little boy. Emilio is the kid who, after about 3 minutes of trying to focus on a project, loses attention and starts to either (1) fall repeatedly out of his chair- on purpose, (2) sing loudly enough to himself that the entire classroom can hear him, or (3) stand up and start running in small circles until he’s so dizzy that he falls over. I try not to laugh because it only encourages the behavior- but he’s so hilarious that it’s hard not to. Hyperactive? Yes. But he’s so freakin cute.

The first time I met Emilio he didn’t know how to use scissors, couldn’t write a single letter of the alphabet, couldn’t recognize his name and definitely couldn’t color inside the lines. But now, after a little over a month of class, he’s improved so much that he can definitely use scissors, can write and recognize the letters E, C, O and J, he can easily recognize his name, is starting to color inside the lines, and knows his colors in English just about as well as I do. His favorite activity is called “Los Pescaditos,” which involves a combination of coloring fish, cutting them out and gluing them into a paper fishbowl. He loves it. Emilio’s made about 7 complete fishbowls and each time, he’s managed to sit down and focus through the entire process until it’s finished. It’s incredible.

He’s still the same little joker and there are still times when he’s so wound up that it’s like he chugged 4 cups of coffee before class… but it's so worth it because each day he progresses more and more.

Inaguraciòn

I just got back from la inaguración (opening party) for our classes in San Francisco and even though we’re all completely exhausted (I’m currently writing this in bed), the party went so well and we couldn’t be more excited about starting our programs.

This morning we woke up at 7:30 am, made some breakfast (strawberries, bananas, yogurt, coffee and toast, to be exact) and headed off to catch a bus into San Francisco, carrying with us about 15 plastic chairs, 8 plastic tables, a trash can, broom, dustpan and speakers for la música. The bus driver made us pay double because we took up the entire back of the bus- we had so much stuff with us!

Once in San Francisco, we carried everything into our new little schoolhouse (which happens to be an old bar called “Burger San Pancho,” complete with beer advertisements on the wall that we promptly covered up). A quick note on San Francisco: it’s a quiet, rural, peaceful little town surrounded by mountains. About two blocks of shops constitute “downtown,” not including a nice soccer field and great ice-cream shop that we frequently hit. The bar-converted-school is actually quite nice. It has a great yard in the back and plenty of space for teaching, and even though there is a giant, wooden bar in the front, once we set up everything (white board, balloons, brightly colored chairs and tables) the old bar was hardly recognizable. We turned on some music (reggaeton and salsa) and before too long, the kids started to trickle in.

The party lasted two hours, 25 kids and 9 parents showed up. We played “Piedras, Papél, Tijeras” (rock, paper, scissors), “Simón Dice” (Simon says), “Luz Rojo, Luz Verde” (red light, green light) and ¨Juego de Sillas¨(musical chairs). The kids made name-tags, we introduced ourselves, we explained the programs and ate a snack of bananas and lemonade.

So it’s official! Manna Ecuador programs have started- we go back tomorrow at 2:00 for clase numero uno, and couldn’t be happier about it.


Welcome kids and parents!


So this is the bar... where we now teach class.


Making nametags


Proud of her nametag


¨Juego de sillas¨


Mark and his new friend


Little ones


John and some of the kids


Inaguraciòn in action


Seth, Craig, Mark, Zak and kids


More nametag decorating

Photos!

If you´d like to see pictures of our first month, go to:

http://vanderbilt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2079905&l=b80d7&id=4700947

Los Mercados

There are open-air markets all over Quito, where fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, flowers, grains, baskets, artisan goods, furniture, clothes, coffee, plants, etc. are all sold. Picture this: acres and acres of small “puestos” or stands covered in produce of all colors of the rainbow, bright sun, bustling streets, women selling goods in their indigenous attire, smells of roasting platanos and fresh pineapple filling the air, and vendors yelling things like “¡Manzanas! ¡Cincuenta centavos!”

Upon closer look, there are tons of kids in the markets as well, sitting patiently with their parents who are selling produce. Many times I’ve seen a little baby sleeping under a table of fruit while their mother works, or little girls bagging dozens of eggs for customers. The kids are usually very dirty- a result of working in the markets with their parents day after day. Rosy, bright cheeks, tan, olive-colored, weathered skin, big brown eyes, wearing colorful hand-made hats and sweaters made of wool- these kids are absolutely beautiful… and heart-breakingly accustomed to working eight hour days with their parents without the chance to play, often missing school.

UBECI, our partner organization, runs a program in the markets several times a week. I’ve had the chance to go twice so far. At 8:30 in the morning, we meet at the UBECI office in South Quito, collect supplies (which includes a temporary tent that we set up in the markets, cardboard for the kids to sit on, soap and water for the kids to wash their hands and face with, and lots of colored pencils and paper). From there, we take a bus to whatever market we’re working in that morning, usually a 30-45 minute journey. As soon as we enter the markets, the kids (who now recognize the UBECI workers and volunteers) come running toward us from their parents’ stands yelling “¡Aqui! ¡Vengo!” (I’m here! I’m coming!).

We set up the temporary tent and then go collect the rest of the children for their hour-and-a-half of singing, painting, playing games and just being kids. It’s the sweetest thing to walk up to a fruit stand, see a little 4-year-old girl next to her mother washing grapes, say something like, “Good morning Jaqueline! Do you want to come play today?” see her face just light up, take her tiny hand and walk to the tent where the other kids are already playing and singing. It’s a lot of fun, and the kids absolutely love it. I can’t wait to go again.


drawing pictures of family

mother with her baby at the markets

Seth and kids at the market

Zak and kids at the market

Our country get-away

Life in Quito, a huge city, is what you would expect it to be: busy! Buses, taxis, pedestrians and vendors crowd the streets. When walking through the city, I feel kind of like I’m in a video game: dodge this little old man, don’t hit this tree, avoid the speeding taxis when crossing the street, gain 50 points for swerving through a group of school children walking hand-in-hand on the sidewalk. There’s pollution and honking cars and people everywhere- it’s so alive, but so exhausting!

So you can imagine my relief on Sunday afternoon when we took a bus into the countryside, about 20 minutes outside the city to the quiet, peaceful towns of Santa Isabel and San Francisco (where we will be living and working in a month). When I got off the bus in San Francisco, my entire body just relaxed. Seriously, I had this crazy physiological response to the new scenery; cows, chickens, clean mountain air and a still silence were a welcome change from the bustling city life of Quito.

Santa Isabel and San Francisco are as calm and serene as one could imagine. Small tiendas line the roads, and tiny, old, men and women sit outside shops in felt hats and sweaters watching people pass by. The Andes Mountains line the background, the air smells of burning wood, the people are direct descendants of the Incas, and everything seems to move a little slower.

For now, I’m happy to live in the middle of the city with all its great restaurants, bars, libraries, churches, bakeries and coffee shops galore… but I think I might have left my heart in the quiet, little towns of Santa Isabel and San Francisco.

¡estoy en Quito!

I’m in Ecuador! At this point, I love almost everything about Quito.

I love the cool mountain air, the hot sun during the day and the fact that I can look up while walking to school to see the Andes mountains standing proud and tall in front of me. The weather is, well, perfect- always a beautiful 70 degrees during the day with a fresh mountain breeze and it cools off just enough at night so I can snuggle under the gorgeous, hand-made wool blankets that cover my bed.

I love my Ecuadorian family (who I’ll live with for the next month). Mi mama Ecuatoriana is named Laura, and I live with her, her dog, Luna, and her esposo in their beautiful home. The house, four stories high, has wood floors and winding staircases, bright South American paintings on the walls and chandeliers. My room is on the fourth level and my bathroom has a marble sink and large, tiled shower. Outside, there is a courtyard with a fountain and two lines where I hang my laundry to dry in the hot, Ecuadorian sun.

I love the food: choclo (corn), humitas (little corn bread tamales), jugo fresco (fresh fruit juice), sopas (soup), salsa de ahî (a spicy salsa) and empanadas (fried bread with cheese in the middle). We eat all our meals together as a family: breakfast is at 8 am, lunch is at 1 (the largest meal of the day) and we have a small dinner (more like a snack) around 8. We always take a siesta after lunch, which I love. It reminds me of Spain.

I take Spanish classes every day from 8:30-12:30, and a few times a week we have a salsa dancing class or Ecuadorian cooking class after that. The night life is incredible- lots of salsa dancing and lots of Cuba Libres.

We’ve already been to an Ecuador fútbol game against El Salvador (we won 5-1), Mitad del Mundo (the equator… where you can stand in both the northern and southern hemispheres at the same time), and we’ve gone to a flamenco dancing performance where the band played Spanish guitar and los bombos (drums).

Anyway, it’s great here and I couldn’t be happier.

Chao for now, ¡y muchos besos!

Abbie

MPI Benefit Dinner in Denver, CO

Last night we had the MPI Benefit Dinner in Denver, CO. It was so fun... and a huge success.

John, Annie and I (all Colorado natives) were there and Zak flew in from NY for the event. We spent Saturday (the day of the benefit) cooking paella while listening to Gypsy Kings, figuring out the projector system, hanging out in Boulder (had some lunch on Pearl Street), shopping at Whole Foods for last minute groceries and talking about how ready we are to just GO TO ECUADOR already.

The actual event was great- it was at Crestmoor Pool, so it was laid back and perfect for summer. We put out tiki torches, candles on every table, a projector screen where we played both music and a running slide show of pictures from Quito and Nicaragua. The bar (decorated with a red table cloth and vase of bright yellow flowers) was stocked with red and white wine, sangria, and a keg. We set up a silent auction with all sorts of stuff: artisan goods that I brought from the Nicaraguan markets, donated cooking classes from the cooking school where Annie works, Nicaraguan jewelry, a painting that John's artist friend donated, nice wine and liquor, etc.

About 60 people came, we sold all the silent auction items, and raised in total $3,095!

After the event, while we were counting all the money and eating leftover fruit from the sangria, we all decided that we'd do it again in a heartbeat. It really was a lot of fun.

And now we're one step closer to actually going to Ecuador...

photos from the benefit dinner

Annie, John, me, Zak- part of the Ecuador team in Denver for the benefit.


my little bro, Taylor, and I



silent auction in action


Elliot (MPI Nicaragua alum) and I


some of my closest girlfriends from Denver (Devon, Martha, Holly) eating John's paella.


Annie and I


more of the silent auction


me giving the presentation/ slideshow


bartender Annie


Zak, crying while cutting onions (for the paella) in my kitchen the morning of the benefit


John's famous paella

Manna Project International Ecuador