It was a mess this morning. Tamia had to go to school and that was the last time we saw her… It was heart breaking to see her leave. Spending a week with her, building a relationship and then leaving was hard for both sides. However, we did tell her that we would come back soon!! Then she was off to school… While we were waiting for the bus, our host mom said that she had to go feed the cows and pigs. It was hard to say goodbye to everyone one at a time, it kept reminding us that we were leaving. Then, we went to go wait for the bus. Our host father took us to the hill across house and showed us an almost aerial view of Pijal; the view was out of this world. We asked how he met his wife. He said they met while working in the fields and he moved to Pijal to live with her. He spoke Kichwa and needed to learn Spanish. The bus came and we placed our luggage into the bus and went to the community center.
We were asked to pick two images that revolved around our theme of Visualizing Peace and Justice. We went around and everyone explained their images. It was my turn and I was about to explain when one of the mothers came and told me that I needed to come with her right away!! So I left with her. She wanted me to take pictures of her clothing. She had laid them out nice and it was great!! After I took the photographs, I came back and explained my pictures:
We were asked to pick two images that revolved around our theme of Visualizing Peace and Justice. We went around and everyone explained their images. It was my turn and I was about to explain when one of the mothers came and told me that I needed to come with her right away!! So I left with her. She wanted me to take pictures of her clothing. She had laid them out nice and it was great!! After I took the photographs, I came back and explained my pictures:
As someone who does not speak Spanish, playing sports, in this case, soccer does not require one to speak. Art is universal and so are sports. No matter where you are in the world, the rules for each sport are the same. Thus, the Olympics: bring the whole world through sports!!
Our host parents, Luz Maria and Elyias are holding hands. They also have the name of their spouse tattooed on their hands. A tattoo is pretty permanent. Elyias moved from his hometown to be with his wife. With marriage, it is not just two people getting married; you are marrying for each other. It is about finding a great friend that has a good heart, someone you can trust, someone that you can do things together; essentially the reason for marrying someone is so that you can see them happy and laughing, but also be there when they need you. This was all evident when I was living with them and the picture of them holding hands represents all of that.
After that we had left for our way back to Quito… It was great to see many old friends again and make new friends.