Slumber Party

The next morning I slept in and then woke up and spent the day with my host family relaxing and living like an Ecuadorian. At about 2:30, Jas had her Kids with Camera’s exhibit in the library. It was so cute to see the final shots of her kids. I was in a lot of them, which made me feel like a good part of their lives for the month I have been here. All the reserve students came to see it, and my host family as well.

After the exhibit, I set up the computer from my family. I installed Rosetta Stone and the other programs. Fabiola and Joselin, a high school girl around my age, came to Kari’s house where I had set up the computer to learn how to use it. Jennifer was there as well. I taught them Rosetta Stone, and it was a really cool program. It was 12$ in Quito, and runs for about $300 in the U.S. I’m going to buy it in Spanish and maybe a few more languages for the future! I think Fabiola and the other Tabugans who want to learn English will get a good use out of it.

reading

More reading

Library

Typical day in my house

My host dad on the floor- candid shot!

Jennifer and I returned home to find my friend John Carlos and Arturo on his motorcycle. I rode with Arturo down my street and walked in on a mini fiesta as my host dad’s 18 year old sister Viviana and her newborn were there with the two kids of her “husband”, Naomi and Darian. They are some of my favorite kids, and I LOVE Naomi. If I could adopt any child from Tabuga, it would be Naomi. They are both so cute and bright, and it’s really sad because their dad had them with a woman from another city, and they lived there, but then he brought them to Tabuga because he had gotten Viviana pregnant, so she is responsible for them. She is so shy and does not say anything; we think it is because her “husband” is always out with other women or watching sports. He is about 31, but hangs out with all younger people. I thought he was my age when I first met him. 

Anyways, Fabiola laid out mattresses all over and we all watched TV and I made popcorn. In the middle of everything, Viviana just picked up the baby and left without a word. We thought she was coming back, but she just left Naomi and Darian there. Darian went into the other room and fell asleep in Ximena and Fabiola’s bed. Naomi was laying on me, and fell asleep a little before me. My host sisters, Jennifer, Arturo, and John Carlos were telling jokes until 2:30am. I woke up and realized that the kids were still there. I put Naomi in my bed considering there was no were else to sleep for her and I had a Queen sized bed. (I am used to sharing a bed with younger sisters or cousins sometimes, so I did not think twice. Apparently, my host family thought it bothered me to share a bed, and I explained that I didn’t care because she was like family to me. )

Fabi's First Time in Quito

I paid for Fabiola’s ticket, hostel, and half of her meals for the trip.  Kari, Fabiola, and I took the night bus there, which was not the best sleep I’ve ever gotten. The bus was dirty and a baby was screaming for an hour at 4AM that woke up the whole bus. I woke up with gum on my legs. I showered in hot water for the first time in a month when we got to the hostel at about 7AM. We then took a nap and woke up at 9 to start the day. Kari had a bad migraine, so I took Fabiola to my favorite restaurant, The Magic Bean, in the Mariscol. For the first time in her life, she tried pancakes and syrup. We ordered Pineapple and Chocolate Chip. When we got back Kari was feeling worse, so we headed to my house to leave my huge bag there and exchange it for the stuff I had left with my Quito host family. 

In the hostal

Fabi and I in Quito

We decided to look at Libromundi for books in the Quicentro shopping center. Fabiola had never seen a mall like it. Quicentro is one of the biggest, if not the biggest shopping center in Ecuador. All the stores are stores they have in the US or England and are mostly designer stores. I think it was a very eye opening experience for her. We looked around at the books, and I think she enjoyed seeing what a book store looks like seeing as there are none in Tabuga or near it. I never realized how great Barnes and Noble, or Borders really is. Books are so important for any child or adult to learn to read in order to learn more and pass on information. Even in the little book store, we saw so many books. After an hour, Kari came to the bookstore and looked over the books we had picked out. There were an assortment from hair and nails, to sports, and a lot of books about plants, animals, and ecology.

Later, we ate lunch in the food court. She had Burger King for the first time, and ordered a Whopper! I helped finish, and we all shared our Taco Bell, KFC, and showed her a good American fast food experience.

After lunch, we went to another bookstore in the mall Jardin. We found a few good kid’s dictionaries and encyclopedias as well as another book in the series that the kids love called Emilio y Lilu. I really have a new appreciation for kid’s books, and we had to decide which were going to get destroyed fast, and which would survive the swarm of crazy kids every day.

After we bought all the books, we returned to the Mariscal to get ready for dinner. Kari went to see her Peace Corp friends, and I showed Fabiola Skype by skyping my parents and sister in the US. We talked to them, and they tried using the best Spanish they knew to talk to Fabiola. She said that she wanted to be a secretary in an office and liked learning keyboarding. She really wants to learn English, and I’ve been teaching her a lot. She started tearing up while talking to my parents, but didn’t know why. Afterwards, I told her I would make her a Skype name, and she got really excited.

After skyping, we went to the Mariscal area where there are countless restaurants and bars. I introduced her to my friends from a few of the bars, and then we met Kari’s Peace Corps friend. I called another friend of mine, and he told me he was working, so we went to his restaurant, and ordered food. It was a fancier place, and a good experience for her. My friend was our waiter and gave us free drinks and a discount. I was so happy to buy her food, and she tried the Thai Salad I ordered and really liked it. She didn’t know what wontons were, and was confused by the variety of food. She didn’t know what to order at first, but then ate shrimp. After dinner, we went to bed.

Friday

We woke up and left the hostel by about 10:30 after a breakfast there. We spent about 3 hours shopping for more library supplies and educational games for the computer. I bought Rosetta Stone to learn English, Encarta Encyclopedia in Spanish, and a kid’s game to learn biology called “Los Animales con Pipo”. They ended up being really great purchases!

I realized when hanging out with Tabugans that they do not have many frames or photo albums, and photos are really expensive to print. I personally bought about 5 albums, and a frame, and printed photos for a ton of the kids from the library. I put pictures of the kids by family into each album, and gave them as gifts. They ended up being really well appreciated. I bought the beautiful frame for my host family’s family portrait, but they put a photo of me and the girls of the family in it instead. They now have a giant frame with me in it!

After a few hours of shopping, we went to Megamaxi, a HUGE supermarket. Fabiola was a bit overwhelmed by it all. I bought her family a towel, and Listerine. She bought herself a new shampoo and conditioner, which, I didn’t realize is very low quality, but the cheapest there. (I left her my nice shampoo and conditioner when I left.) It is so interesting how different life here is. I have the option to choose any toiletries, but here, they can only afford what is cheapest.

We then walked across the street to Papa John’s and had the most delicious meal I’ve eaten in Ecuador. Fabiola actually ate a lot, and loved it. It was so worth missing the bus we were trying to catch just to eat that pizza! We went to the bus terminal to return to Tabuga with our stuff. We had missed the direct bus, but there was another one 2 hours later. We decided to wait two hours and not have to transfer buses. We sat around for two hours, and went to get water 10 minutes before it was scheduled to arrive. We walked back and saw the bus leaving. We ran for it, and just made it. Ecuador is NEVER on time, much less early. It did not make any sense, but at least we got it. On the bus, they were playing a horribly violent movie, and we did end up stopping twice. At one stop, the driver got out at a restaurant, ate dinner, and 20 minutes later, and got back on the bus. We then were stopped at a checkpoint to get off the bus and show ids and have our bags checked. It was the longest trip ever, but we made it back to Tabuga around midnight.

Working Solo

This morning, a Dentist came from Jama to present on CNH. Jennifer asked me to help out my taking photos of the presentation, and of the families that came. She gave a great presentation, then the Dentist cleaned all of the kids’ teeth. I took photos of the families when they were done, and then more of the babies and little kids that got their teeth cleaned. It was so interesting, because no one in the community has ever been to a dentist. Some of them have terrible overbites, and some really need braces, but that is not something they can afford. It’s really sad, and a lot of adults are missing teeth or have really bad teeth. I never realized how much more care American’s, or wealthier countries take of themselves. The dentist, doctor, eye doctor, and other types of specialists are normal to see for me, but these kids will never have that. It is sad to think that some have problems eating because of their teeth, or that they can’t really see anything because they need glasses, but no one will ever know.

Kari and her godson

Santiago, another host cousin

Families

My neighbors

BABIES!

Later, Kari had a meeting, so I ran library alone. It was just me and the kids, and I tried to capture their attention by reading a book about the forest and making the animals noises. They really liked it, and I had their full attention for about 10 minutes, which is huge for them. Slowly, they trickled out, and I was left with the better behaved kids sitting and listening.

That night, Fabiola, Kari, and I packed up and left on a night bus to Quito.

Arrival of my Computer

This morning, I practiced my Spanish by writing down words from kids’ books, and then worked on my board game a little.

Today in Library, it was art day. The kids colored, and I sat with them to color as well. We read later, and after library, James had returned from the US with the computer my family donated to the Tabuga Library. I was so excited that we were able to get it down here! I really think it will be a wonderful addition to the library!

Box that the computer arrived in

Cake

Today, I went to Pedernales to research plants in the morning and send out fundraising emails. I ended up coming back to see the kids who went to visit the reserve. The kids were so excited to go, and everyone would always ask to go, so Jas took them there since she was living there. I went to the reserve when they got back, and hung out a bit. I copied photos from Jas for my fundraising.

At night, I made my family a cake for the Mother’s Day celebration we didn’t get to have the night before. They loved the cake, and asked me to make it again.

El Dia de Madre

Today is Mother’s day, or El Dia De La Madre. My host mom, Monica, and sisters, Fabiola and Ximena went to Pedernales to play bingo. We played for around 6 hours, and there were so many prizes, but my family never ended up winning anything. It was a great way to practice my numbers in Spanish. I snuck away in the middle and went to the supermarket to buy her a gift. I ended up getting her 6 pans, a photo frame/clock, a lighter for her oven, and a 12-in one chopper. I had noticed she needed these things and more in the kitchen, and everything was so cheap. She deserved all of it because she has been so welcoming.

We didn’t get home until late that night.

Voting Day

Today, my family invited me to come to Jama with them because it was voting day. Everyone in Tabuga over the age of 18 was required to vote. They all got dressed up, and all of us went to Jama. It was so interesting to see the whole town out and in the center of Jama. I met some extended family of my host family, and took lots of photos while they were voting. Later, we all had lunch at a restaurant, and then went back to Tabuga. It was a really cool thing to see. They take their voting more seriously, and all get up, dress up, and go with family. Their ballots are different as well. They have to answer si or no to a series of laws that the government wants to pass. A lot of people have been talking about Rafeal Correa being corrupt and others really like what he wants to do. I really felt like part of the family at this point!

My host family and then some (Viviana was nursing)

Sitting with my host family

Sisters and Mom

My host dad's sisters

Center of Jama

One of my favorite kids Niaomi

Niaomi

Viviana, my host dad's 18 year old sister and her baby

Yerial

Center of Jama

Host dad and his brother-in-law

More Jama

The Aunts again

Jama

My family again