We went to play soccer later that afternoon. We walked down the hill to the soccer field. Two friends of Tamia joined us and we played soccer for about an hour. It was great playing between two mountains!! There were other children playing on the other fields. We created our own field to play in. In the middle of our game, it started to rain, but we kept playing. I loved playing in the rain. The altitude did hit me again. After about 10 minutes of playing, I was out of breath pretty fast. It was probably a bad idea, but I kept on playing!!
We had the great opportunity to make horses!! Giovanna showed us how to make a horse with grass. Now is probably a good time to say: ‘it’s harder than it looks.’ The strength and precision needed to make the horse is astounding!! We made a pretty big horse, compared to other ones. The ones we made were probably about seven inches. Some of them were only two inches long. We used the grass and then used string to tie down specific spots. The grass was wet before hand to make it more bendable. Giovanna then came over and cut off the excess to make it look like a horse and then fire was used to melt the ends of the string so it would not loosen and cause a grassy shower in the middle of nowhere. After all the steps were complete, my horse looked more like a llama or even a giraffe, but definitely not a horse. The neck was extremely long, but I had a lot of fun making it. We spent a lot of time with our host family and learned more about them. We finally met Berta in person. She came home from school and showed us her portfolio. It was amazing!! She did everything: drawing, painting, photography. I asked her if she wanted to be a freelance artist or if she wanted to work for a company. She wanted to work for a company. At that moment, she was working at school. We also saw family albums!! It was incredible to see how they changed and what they did in the past!! Come to think about it, I do not remember when the last time I looked at my family albums was. With technology, everything is digital and physical copies of pictures are almost nonexistent. I remember an episode of NBC’s Revolution, a TV show that takes place 15 years after a worldwide blackout, where Maggie Foster says that she does not have any pictures of her children because they were stored electronically on her phone. Therefore, she has held onto the phone for the last 15 years hoping that one day she will be able to see the pictures of her children again on her phone. It was great to see physical family pictures again!! After this, she showed us how to sew. We went to feed the cows and pigs!! It was an enjoyable walk!! I was amazed at how Berta was able to carry two huge buckets of food and not be tired or even fall. There were times when I was going to fall and I was not carrying anything. There was one part of the journey where we were going downhill with a path no more than a foot and a half wide. She was able to walk it with ease and made it look extremely easy. As I was walking down, I almost slipped. On the way, Tamia picked Mora berries and I had some. They were amazing!! There were other fruits that she picked and I ate them. They were delicious. When we got back, Tamia mysteriously became our teacher… She was giving us tests and grading us!! I do not think I have never been given homework by a little child before. It was really funny!! Afterwards, we made necklaces with flowers where we would put the stem into the flower of the other. Then, we made bracelets with real beads and a real shell!! After dinner, we went to another family’s house and played hopscotch. It was different from the hopscotch that I was used to. There were numbers from 1-10 and a rock. You start at 1 and would use the rock similar to as a marker. You start at 1, jump the hopscotch, throw the rock to 2, jump on all the spots that do not have a rock, and then follow the general rules of hopscotch. It was really fun. My jumping abilities were helpful!! For someone who grew up in New York City and then went to Providence, the pace of life is very different. In New York City, we are always rushing to places and always watching the time. However, when I went to Providence, especially the first year at college, the pace was extremely different. To me, everything was extremely slow!! I would always be walking fast, because I was used to it and my friends would always be running next to me. However, when I went back home for Thanksgiving for the first time, I noticed that my pace had changed. I would be the one running next to my family. I have enjoyed the different pace. When we were in Pijal, time was irrelevant. Time was present, but it did not dictate the pace of life, something very thrilling and unique, especially with a New York City background. We visited La Rinconada. Last time, we had lunch there. This time, we were having lunch in the community center after the hike. We hiked to the waterfall. It was wonderful. We had the option to change our shoes to tall waterproof shoes and some of us did. We hiked through muddy patches and little tunnels of tress. It was something that I enjoyed doing. Learning about the legends and sacred places along the way was awe-inspiring. We also saws cows. The hike was awesome, the waterfall wonderful!! The landscape was magnificent. Not seeing a cityscape, skyscrapers upon skyscrapers, was a breath of fresh air. The change in scenery was something that I really enjoyed!! When we got to our home, our father, Elyias was waiting for us on a log outside the house. I was looking for my luggage, but it was not there. I thought, ‘well… this is interesting… where did we leave it?’ I did not remember anyone else taking my luggage. (We were the last ones to be dropped off). We looked under the seats, throughout the back of the bus and it was not there. I guess I will not have luggage. We should be able to find it tomorrow morning because there will be sunlight and it will eventually show up. I was not too worried because I always keep an extra pair of clothes and socks with me and I had my toothbrush, so I was all set. Jeff eventually found my bag all the way in the front of the bus!! The one place we did not look…
Our host dad helped Karissa and I with our luggage. When we got in, it was time for dinner and we met his wife, Luz Maria. We chatted over dinner. We learned that they had four children: Diego, Berta, Guilmer and Tamia. There were also two pets: a dog, Shadow and a cat. There were a lot of interesting events that we learned. First off, Guilmer and Kariassa had the same birthday; month, day, and year. Berta was an art student living in Ibarra and was going to finish her studies soon. She had three more semesters. Her birthday was not the same as mine, but relatively close, August 1 (mine) and August 6 (hers). Diego was away in the military. We also talked about where in the United States we were from and if there were many farms where we lived. Since many recognized Kiley and I from two years ago, our host dad asked whom I stayed with last time and I said Islabella. Islabella was my previous host mom, but was not hosting this time. She lived in the other direction from where I was staying this time. Then, our host dad explained that he was going to play the guitar at the Inti Raymi on Friday night. I thought for a second and asked if he was there two years ago when we were here. As I was asking, it hit me all of a sudden, my host father was there two years ago and he was dancing with me!! We both remembered. He even told me that he had seen the photo of us dancing together, a photo Antonio had!! We chatted some more and then it was bedtime. Our host dad and Guilmer had to work the next day and had to leave at 5:30 AM. Our host dad went to work in San Pablo and Guilmar in Ibarra. They both work as florists. Tamia had to go to school the next day. It was a great night with amazing people and food!! The most exciting part of the whole trip!! I anticipated this part of the trip ever since I knew I would return. We were here for three days and two nights, two years ago and it was amazing!! This time we are here for a week!! I learned, even three days is enough to forge lasting relationships. When we got to Pijal, we picked up Antonio, the president of the community cooperative, whom we had met last time!! I hoped I would be able to live with the same host family that I stayed with the last time I was here. As we were driving to the community center, the road changed. It was great fun!! I had faith in Juan Carlos who was driving the bus. He was driving pretty close to the hill and if the bus moved in the opposite direction, we would have an adventure. I am not sure why, but I was actually having fun!! When we got to the community center, we all got off and the community greeted us with open arms. We saw many familiar faces and it was very emotional. Everyone introduced themselves to everyone. We also met Mercedez, one of the community leaders, who we also met last time. It was really great to see familiar faces again!! As they were figuring out where everyone was staying, there was a little girl who I was playing peekaboo with!! After the families were set up, everyone was updated as to what was going to happen. After that, those that lived close to the community center went to get their luggage and went with their host families. The little girl that I was playing with went with us on the bus. She was four years old and we were enjoying the wind blowing in our faces while we were dropping people off. You cannot forget a visit to the equator when you go to Ecuador. The equator splits the world right down the middle! Being on both hemispheres at the same time is an experience that one cannot pass up!! We also visited the equator two years ago. However, last time we did not have the chance to see the fake equator. It has been scientifically proven that this equator is indeed a fake! It is about 240 meters off from where the actual equator is located. However, the ironic thing is that the fake equator has a monument denoting its presence while the real equator just has a sign. We visited the fake equator first. We took lots of pictures and of course took ones that captured us jumping. Then, we went to go visit the real equator. We were going to have a tour. Before we began, I spotted the tour guide from our first visit. Then, our tour guide came and she gave us a phenomenal tour. There were spiders that were as big as my hand!! We learned why the houses were designed the way they were. One interesting fact was the lack of an opening on the top of some houses. The purpose of this is so that the smoke and tar would act as natural installation, keeping the house warm in winter and cold in the summer. There were also experiments that proved that we were indeed at the equator. One experiment I enjoyed was the water experiment. If you are in the northern hemisphere, the water will drain clockwise. If you are in the southern hemisphere, the water will drain counterclockwise. However, right on the equator, the water would fall straight down. Another great experiment was the egg experiment. Right on the equator, the egg could remain upright on its tip. It was great to see the equator again!! We had lunch at the fake equator and we tried some cuy (guinea pig) with peanut sauce and avocado. When I went to Australia, we camped in the Outback and it was probably the first time that I ate something I was unfamiliar with. I had a steak and a sausage. Most people will think, “Steak and sausage, I grew up eating that, how bad could it be?” When I ate it, it tasted like steak and sausage. And yet, there was something different about it, something I could not pinpoint. I thought it was because I was in a different country; the food was going to taste a little different so I did not think much of it. When we finished eating, our tour guide Ducky said it was steak, not from a cow but from a kangaroo and the sausage was camel. At least this time, I knew beforehand what I was going to eat. Graffiti is a means of communication in Quito. It is the message that is portrayed that is important. Last time we had the opportunity to hang out with some of the graffiti artists such as Diego; his logo/trademark is a ghost. We were able to go back to the same wall that we saw last time. There were new graffiti there, but some of the old ones remained. However, when we got to one place where there used to be graffiti, we realized that it was covered. It was heart breaking to see it gone. The interesting part was that it was covered, but not all the way… so one could potentially see what once was there. This reminded me of 5 Pointz, an outdoor graffiti art exhibit space, in Long Island City, New York City. In November 2013, the building was painted white overnight, but you can still what is underneath the white coat of paint. Now the train ride from Flushing to Manhattan will not be the same. I used to enjoy the few seconds that I had to see all the graffiti from the train and now it is partially gone… But where there is a wall, graffiti will come. CEMPROC is a non-profit organization that aims to ‘reduce destructive conflict and promote global peace.’ Collaborating with schools, Jeff and Omar are working with Peace Promoters. Knowing that there are other ways to solve a problem, the Peace Promoters are equipped with skills and resources to solve these problems peacefully through anti-bullying and conflict resolution programs. Last time, we went to Escuela FAE, a military school, and it was a remarkable experience. Witnessing children being taught things that were probably beyond anything that I learned when I was in elementary school and actually comprehending them was astounding. When I was in elementary school, we had English, math, social studies and science classes, but all I wanted to do was have gym class all day. These children were wise beyond their age. This time we went to Colegio Filippo Brunelleschi. They welcomed us with open arms. They sang songs and had individual students come up and welcome us as well. Then, we went with the Peace Promoters and worked in little groups. We had to create a skit that would include not speaking and relate it back to our theme of visualizing peace and justice. Each group was given a word and the brainstorming began!! Our group was given the word communication. We had to come up with a skit that would show how communication is an essential component in promoting peace and justice. Karissa was our translator and we came up with ideas about why communication is important. Even though there were lapses in conversations due to the need of translations, we were still able to come up with a skit. For our skit, we were going to show the difference between good and bad communication. I was going to be the photographer. Karissa displayed bad communication. I took photographs of her and showed her the pictures. She would tell me that she did not like them and we would take more. After a few tries, she got angry because she did not like the photographs, however, she never explained to me why she did not like the photographs and stormed off. With the good communication, I took group picture of Danielle and two Peace Promoters and showed it to them. They then explained to me what they did not like about the photograph and wanted to take another one in a different way. After a few more tries, communicating our likes and dislikes, a photograph was produced that both sides liked. Thus, communication is key. Both parties need to look and listen in order to understand what the other party needs. We had lunch and it was time for recess!! The children were playing marbles and then it time for the potato sack race, a game that I really enjoyed when I was a child!! When the children had finished, Fernando Sanchez asked if we wanted to play and Asha, Danielle and I were ready to play the potato sack race. It was great fun!! After all the jumping, I needed to do a jumping photo and some of the kids joined me in a jumping photo. Then, they played the egg and spoon race but instead of an egg, they used a ball. After having much fun, we had to leave. As we were boarding the bus, and unbeknownst to me, the whole school practically came outside to wish us safe travels. The bus went in front of the school and everyone was outside waving us good-bye. It was great!! The altitude change did not hit me until Mount Pichincha. Mt. Pichincha is a volcano and we had the most amazing opportunity to go to the top of it. Last time, we were able to see the whole city from the top. From the Basílica del Voto Nacional, we were able to see the city. However, on Mt. Pichincha you really see the whole city!! We went up via the Teleferico cable car. I enjoyed it!! I love heights, so this was something that I was definitely going to enjoy!! I loved seeing the treetops and buildings get smaller and smaller as we got closer to the volcano-top. The whole city was getting smaller. Some of us that went in the same cable car as me did not enjoy heights, but I was having a lot of fun. I was joking that going down with a mountain bike would be extremely fun!!! They did not agree with me… Once we got to the end of the cable car ride we were pretty high. And the first thing that I wanted to do was jump!! After about seven jumps, I could feel that I was out of breath. The altitude was really hitting me. We continued to walk and every few steps we had to stop to catch our breaths!! The ups and downs were really getting to us. Normally, I do not think it would be that bad, but on Mt. Pichincha it was another world. The effects of altitude change were evident. We walked and rested quite a lot. We also took a lot of jumping pictures and enjoyed the view along the way. As we were going back to the city, it started to rain. It was drizzling at first and it was not that bad. However, shortly after, it started to pour. It was raining cats and dogs, and there was some wind, which caused the car to shake. This made some of us scared. When we were very close to the end, the car abruptly stopped and due to the wind, the car was still shaking too. Two minutes from our final destination, two minutes from land, we were stuck and literally hanging by a thread. Some of the people in the cable car were extremely scared, but we were very close to the ground so if anything were to happen, we were going to fall on the grass. Once we landed, the Disney movie The Pacifier came to mind especially when Lulu Plummer said, “Land! Solid land!” while kissing the floor after her older sister Zoe, who had not passed drivers education, was driving. I think that sums up what some of us were feeling on the cable car. |