Bucket Showers

While my fellow interns and I are trying to stay as hygienic as possible, el campo does not make it easy for us. From mud to animal feces, my poor hiking boots trek through some unsightly things everyday here in Pulingui… but, while learning to deal with that dirt and stench I have also learned the art of the bucket shower (because the animals smell bad enough and I do not need to contribute to that).

As there is no indoor toilet, there is of course no hot water or shower, so every few days my host mother brings out her largest soup pot and boils me water. Now you may be thinking “every few days...?” or you may be asking “why is she never showering…?” well contrary to your judgments, I am currently the cleanest girl in Pulingui (meaning I have showered the most in the past two weeks). While this may be shocking news, it is only because most of the people that live in el campo shower at most once a week. Somehow though…no one smells bad…

This hygiene routine here in el campo has had me quite perplexed: how can they shower less than I do and I still smell worse after a few days…? Well, after some further investigation, this is either due to the 20 layers that each person wears to stay warm, or the cold which doesn’t even permit them to sweat. (I know this blog is a lot grosser than you expected, but after living here for a week and a half I have gotten extremely used to grossness…)

So back to bucket showers… In this 30 degree weather the 10 minutes that I can spread my shower out for are so heavenly (even though my first shower was in the pitch black and my last one I was surrounded by spiders). I also forgot my sandals in Cuenca, so to avoid further diseases I have created Ziploc bag shower shoes (I think this is my entrepreneurial side coming out). But besides all the things that have gone wrong, I have mastered the bucket shower, and am offering tips for anyone who needs them.

Now that I actually enjoy showers, let me tell you about something I don’t like… FLEAS! I guess being clean and hygienic does not exempt you from getting a bed full of fleas…because that is the wonderful way my bed greeted me on Tuesday night. Needing to get up at 3:30 am for work, I thought it would be responsible to go to bed early and get some sleep, but instead my night was filled with biting and scratching (the fleas were biting and I was scratching… just to clarify). Now before you judge me for the second time in this post, let me explain.

In Pulingui (and all of Ecuador) there are more stray dogs than there are people. While most people claim that the dogs are pets, none of the dogs are taken care of, and therefore have diseases and of course, fleas. After being warned about this during our first week in Ecuador, I was determined to avoid these dogs at all costs… but, while some of my fellow interns were enamored by the “cuteness” of the dogs and could not keep their hands off of the dogs the fleas decided to find refuge on their clothing and then later mine… So that is how you can be clean and careful and still end up miserable with fleas…

Oh the joys of living in el campo…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen (who doesn’t have fleas anymore)

No Lights, No Restaurants, No Police

As I sit here writing this blog, the entire town of Pulingui is black. About two hours ago the electricity went out and we have been living by candle/my computer light ever since. I have learned though, that this is not a rare occurrence at all. According to my host mother, the power gets shut off about once a week and the people have no idea why, or how long each stint will last. The most common theory is that this is the government’s way of flexing its muscles and showing how much control they have over these areas… (I don’t find this very amusing since I am so afraid of the dark, so if the Ecuadorian government is reading this: I know you have power now please turn the lights back on). I am going to take this as a test of patience, because my being bothered by it seems so dramatic compared to how calm and patient the people of Pulingui are during the darkness.

So not only are there no lights right now, but there are no restaurants ever! In the whole 12 neighborhoods of Pulingui which stretch all the way up the volcano, there is not one single restaurant. The concept actually seems so silly to them—paying for someone to cook you food—because not only do most of the people love to cook, but they love to share. My host mother practically runs a restaurant by the number of people she has over for every meal, but never in her wildest dreams would she not share her food for free. Maybe it’s the fact that most people in this community are family, or maybe it’s just the warmth and generosity of the people, either way, do not expect to be dining out on your next trip to Pulingui.

While I was quite befuddled that you couldn’t buy food anywhere, I have been even more perplexed over the legal system here. In my 7 days here so far I have only seen one police car drive by. Again, according to my host mother (my source for all things Pulingui), there are no police stations, fire stations, court houses, or anything like that within 30 minutes of Pulingui. You could say that in theory there are laws in the town, but with no one to enforce them it becomes more of a community legal system. Because the community is so tight knit, it is merely expected that you don’t hurt or steal from any of your neighbors.

Last year, a few of my host mother’s guinea pigs were stolen, and though they never found the culprit, every person in Pulingui was convinced it must have been someone from another town, because no one in Pulingui would ever commit such a crime. In a town a few miles away, there are actually signs posted saying “Robbers will be burned”… Now I don’t know if that is what really happens, but I can expect that they don’t have many robberies there…

It really is so bizarre when you think of all this…these people have no lights at times and their lives aren´t bothered in the slightest… they have no restaurants, but no one is ever looking for food…and they have no police, but still it is the safest place I have ever been... Something is very backwards about our lives… Still pondering…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

 

Sheep Shearing & Hospital Stays 6/21

Holy cow these last few days have been… interesting. It all started on Wednesday when I thought it was a good idea to eat street food in a little town called Simiatug. To get to Simitaug we had to travel 4 hours each way in the back of a truck and on a bus resulting in a very car-sick Jennifer. The crazy, cramped rides mixed with the not-so-intelligent choice to eat street food turned into a very sick next few days.

Thursday morning the women of Pulingui wanted to share with us the art of shearing a sheep and then preparing its wool. Already feeling nauseous all day, I participated in the actual cutting of the wool very little. Since the people of Pulingui do not use any electronics, normal electric shears were out of the question. Instead we used very basic (and quite dull I may add) scissors. This particular sheep that they were shearing was very pregnant and they assured me that she wanted a haircut, even though I was not convinced… I was so nervous when my fellow interns were given a chance to try that they would accidentally hurt this poor sheep. That is why I only cut one little inch, checked that I drew no blood, and ended my sheep shearing career right then and there. The wool was surprisingly greasy when we were cutting it, and housed every bug imaginable (so I guess they may have been right about the sheep wanting that stuff off)…I was more tan a little grossed out.

After the sheep had received a very choppy haircut, the women showed us how the wool was cleaned, prepared, and spun. None of us were very good at the spinning, but I definitely rose to the top of the class when it came to weaving ponchos and scarves (thanks to my Montessori education). I did get offered a weaving job with the women (which, if you are keeping up, is my second job opportunity here…so someone tell my Miami career advisor that I have all the career backups I need).

While I lasted through the cutting and the weaving, my health over the next few day deteriorated. Being sick in a foreign country is difficult…Being sick when the nearest bathroom is an outhouse is even more difficult… But being sick when you are too deathly afraid of the dark to actually walk to the outhouse…THAT WAS MISERABLE! One evening I was so afraid that I went and knocked on my poor host mother’s door in the middle of the night and she walked me to the outhouse barefoot and half asleep. (Now don’t worry, I am not afraid of the dark because Pulingui is not safe… it’s merely because I am a baby).

Feeling better on Friday afternoon, my fellow interns and I decided to take a trip to the nearest city, Riobamba, to enjoy the luxuries of civilization and stay at a hostel for the night. (These luxuries I speak of are of course hot water and Wi-Fi). I think that was the best $14 dollars I have ever spent, and I could have sworn that hostel felt like the Ritz Carlton. But, of course, this trip was way too good to be true, and a few of my fellow interns started getting sick one after another. I, confident that I was stronger than them all, pushed for us to still enjoy our time in civilization, so we watched the Ecuador World Cup game, went out to dinner, and then… BAM! The next day I spent 11 hours in a hospital room hooked up to an IV because I ended up having every infection under the sun.

Luckily, the hospital in Riobamba was really nice, and even though I complained incessantly about how much I hated the IV, the doctors and nurses took incredible care of me. Now, many medicines later, I am slowly on the mend and starting to get my appetite back. At least I have a good story to tell…

Lots of love from Ecuador, (And pictures still to come!)

Jen

Queen of the Pig's Kitchen 6/17

 

I know that no one will believe what I am about to say, but trust me when I say the following is true…

I woke up freezing this morning in Pulingui, but that didn’t last long, as I was immediately put to work. My morning was filled with cooking and feeding, but the recipients of my delicious food were definitely not human. To get to know our families, we spent the morning following them around and helping with their normal chores. For my host mother Paula, a very hardworking, sweet woman, this consisted of feeding the guinea pigs, chopping grass for the cows (she even trusted me with a small machete), and cooking bananos for the pigs. If I don’t say so myself, I think the pigs will eat very well this week because of my excellent cooking skills (thanks grandma)… you may now refer to me as Queen of the Pig’s kitchen.

After much more manual labor than I knew animals required, Paula took me up the nearest mountain to see the different plots of land she owns. She has 4 plots of quinoa growing as well as potatoes, corn, and every herb you could ever want, all on the highest peaks of every close mountain. The view from the top was incredible, and incredibly humbling to know how much work goes in to Paula’s crops. This woman was jumping up and down cliffs like Spiderman wearing a skirt… she’s incredible.

Finally in the afternoon my fellow interns and I headed out to a similarly small town name Chimborazo (if you realized that this was the same name as the volcano congratulations, and thanks for keeping up). Our job today was to publicize our upcoming campaign in which we would be giving free eye exams and selling our products, including our water purification products (which are a huge deal here). Chimborazo is about 45 minutes from Pulingui, but due to the horrible road conditions we had to take a truck and sit in the bed, where the pigs usually sit… it was quite a bumpy and cold ride… But, besides the adventurous ride, we were able to talk to a lot of people and successfully get our message out about our upcoming event.

So far this has been the craziest experience I have ever had and slowly I am getting more accustomed to living in such rural conditions. Every person you walk by is so friendly, and I have never felt so safe (except for the spiders in the outhouse). Stay tuned because this will definitely be an adventure!

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

 

 

Living Above the Clouds 6/16

After a weekend of enjoying Cuenca, nine of my fellow interns and I headed up north to the very small town of Pulingui. Pulingui is a very rural town of about 100 people at the base of the world’s closest point to the sun, the Chimborazo. The Chimborazo is Ecuador’s largest volcano (luckily it is dormant so no need to worry), and due to the equatorial bulge is even closer to the sun than Mt. Everest. Let me tell you, I have never seen nature this magnificent! Even when driving up to Pulingui this gigantic volcano took my breath away.

The journey from Cuenca to Puligui (which is right outside of the city of Riobamba) was about 6 hours of uphill travel. At one point we were so high in the mountains that we were looking DOWN on the clouds. The Andes continue to amaze me with their magnitude, and the magnificence of the Chimborazo takes it to a whole new level. So while I am appreciating nature, our living conditions here in Cuenca are definitely au natural. I am talking outhouses, cows and sheep, no outlets, no heat, the whole nine yards… But, right now that hasn’t quite set in as I am still mesmerized by this volcano… so I will save all that for the next blog. The sun did go down though as soon as we arrived, (at 6 pm like always on the equator) and it was then that we realized how cold living on the base of a volcano really is. I do not think my two little sweaters are going to suffice in this 30 degree weather especially with no heating! Luckily though my new bed is packed with warm blankets, so I will deal with the cold tomorrow…

This is like nothing I have ever experienced before (and I will expand on everything later, as I don’t think my two hours here are enough the accurately assess the situation) but, as I looked up at the night sky tonight and saw the most amazing starlit night sky that I have ever seen, so this place may turn out to be okay... 

Locro de Papas con Cuero

If eating cuy wasn’t enough, the next item on the menu was pig skin, and this time I was the chef. To celebrate our last day of Spanish classes, each intern was given a traditional Ecuadorian dish to make with our host families and then bring in to share. There were empanades, tamales, humitas, y leche de tigre, but I was the one who got asked to make soup with peanut butter and pig skin. Loco de papas con cuero is a very popular potato soup with the uniqueness of cuero de chancho and mani. Luckily though, after apprehensively buying a pound of raw pig skin at the market, my homestay mother told me she is an expert at cooking it. (I sort of hoped that meant she would take care of cooking that part… I was wrong).

As soon as I got home from work in the morning on Friday, the pig skin was out and ready for me to cook…  So for the next three hours I, very pathetically, tried to follow the directions of my homestay mother and channel the inner Ecuadorian chef in me. The most peculiar task (besides everything having to do with the pig skin) was peeling the potatoes after they were cooked. As seen in the photo below, burning our hands on hot potatoes became a family affair.

After hearing many times from my homestay mother that I was a horrible cook, the soup actually turned out pretty well! Even the pigskin (after getting over the gummy bear texture) was really not that bad! While I preferred the coconut juice made by a fellow intern, I now know that if I run out of money down here selling locro de papas on the street can be my backup plan.

Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Fundacion "El Arenal 6.12

A large part of our work down here in Ecuador is working to identify entrepreneurial women but, just like with any NGO that does development work it is essential that we have the trust of the communities we are working in before we begin. This being so important, we work heavily in developing relationships with local, respected NGOs that can then refer us to the women they feel would work well with our organization. These relationships can be some of the most powerful tools when trying to do development work in a community and nurturing these relationships takes a lot of time. This is how we ended up finding Fundacion “El Arenal” and spending the morning learning their story.

Fundacion “El Arenal” is a nonprofit organization here in Cuenca that works with at-risk youth and their families. The goal of the organization is to get kids enrolled in school and off the streets and empower these adolescents to become proud, responsible citizens. Basically this organization searches for kids who are working in markets or on the street instead of going to school and works with their families to get them in school and then provides homework help, meals, and activities for the rest of their day while they aren’t in school. It sounds like a typical youth development organization right?... well I was so amazed at some of the problems they have to combat while doing their work.

The area in which this organization serves is extremely poor and drugs are very prevalent, so, not only are they dealing with lack of education, but also drug abuse. To add on to this, many of the young girls they were working with (and I mean 11, 12, 13 year olds) were getting pregnant. Another obstacle was legitimacy. If a child does not have the last name of their father here in Cuenca (and this may be true for all of Ecuador) they do not legally have the same identity or rights as others. This is incredibly difficult for many children to deal with especially during adolescent years when they are trying to figure out who they are. Some kids are barely even recognized by their mothers, many mothers have 10 kids in the campos but in moving to the city they only take the oldest and the youngest and abandon the middle children. Finally, domestic abuse is incredibly common which obviously leaves deep deep emotional scars for the entire family. There is a saying down here: “he may hit you, he may even kill you, but he is still your husband”. Because of all of these problems and more, this organization has branched beyond simple homework help for kids, and now includes family counseling, and workshops to better the life of the whole family.

But, just as we experience cultural apprehension, so does Fundacion “El Arenal”. Primarily, it is difficult to convince the families that their child’s education is more important than having them work. With many families dependent on the income of the adolescents, it is difficult for them to rearrange their priorities. Even after they realize the importance of education, it is very difficult for some of the families to open up about their issues. Some mothers are ashamed or even afraid, which then becomes a long process of gaining their trust in order to help them address these problems.

The greatest thing of all though, is how much the kids truly want to learn. It could be so difficult working with problems that are sadly so deeply rooted in these cultures, but it’s so inspiring that through it all these adolescents want to better their lives and the people at Fundation “El Arenal” are not giving up on that. I love the nonprofit world, especially the smallest local organization like this one, when you see people who dedicate their lives to bettering the lives of others, I can’t help but be so incredibly inspired.

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Hace Frio

I don’t care how many times my bosses warned me that it would be cold in Ecuador, I did not believe them…but boy I wish I had! 50s and 60s on the equator? REALLY? I am definitely going to start studying how the world works, because I thought equator equaled hot (even in the winter) and that is definitely not the case! Next week I head north to a town called Pelingui and I have been warned that temperatures will straddle 40 degrees every day… that’s 40 degrees Fahrenheit and holy cow that’s cold! Luckily though, the lovely alpacas in Ecuador have donated their hair to create warm jackets and blankets which I will be investing in this weekend. These blankets are so soft they are indistinguishable from cashmere it’s incredible (and the $20 price tag is just as incredible!).

So while the temperature is cold for me, you would think that we were coming up on another ice age the way my host family talks. Every morning when I come down for breakfast they are all bundled up in hats and scarves, shivering “achai-chai” (this is the Quitchua for brrrrr). I’m not going to lie, we always have a little moment where I look at them like they are nuts in their frozen tundra attire and they look at me like I am nuts for trying to brave the weather in Bermuda shorts. Their poor immune systems are definitely not built for this cold though, as every one of my host-family members is as sick as a dog. The poor baby coughs all night long, as I search for vitamin C every chance I get. Be on the lookout for an enferma blog post though, because my catching this bug is inevitable.

My time is not just spent dodging germs though, my work is getting incredibly interesting as we are getting trained on water purification systems, eye exams, solar products, and stoves. It’s so exciting and invigorating to know that you are going to be bringing products to people that could really change their life.  I don’t think I have explained much about the model we are following, so here is a little insight into how we are going to do our work.

The Micro-Consignment Model is a development model in which we (the organization/consigners) go out into the rural/indigenous areas of a developing country and identify, train, and work with female entrepreneurs to provide life changing products. We help these entrepreneurs sell products such as water purification systems, reading glasses, solar flashlights, and stoves to the local indigenous communities that would otherwise not have access to these things or not be able to afford them. It is called the Micro-Consignment Model because we consign our products to these entrepreneurs so that they don’t have to take on any risk from buying the products they are going to sell. Think about it as a company like “Thirty-One”, or “Oragami Owl”, or even a Tupperware party—we are the parent organization, and instead of offering jewelry or Tupperware, our individual entrepreneurs have products that are meant to improve the safety and quality of life for the individuals in these villages. But, very similar to these companies, the individual entrepreneur is able to profit from sales and take home a supplemental salary. I know this may sound bizarre, or even may be difficult to understand how this model could really work in the nonprofit setting, but I encourage you to watch the TED talk from our founder. Also you can comment with any questions and I’d love to answer them.

So… cold and busy is my life right now, but I am still having a fabulous time, and my Spanish is improving soo much! Only a few more days left in Cuenca, and then on to the next adventure…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRCIXlZpEX4

Salsa Expert

When in Ecuador… Salsa! And that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly what I have been doing. Every Wednesday evening in Cuenca is salsa night, and the whole city goes out to dance! (yes I mean the dance and not the food) So, in preparation, mis amigos y yo have been practicing day and night and taking lessons (by this I mean we had a 1 hour salsa lesson and I went home and practiced with my 5 year old homestay brother Emilio). Let me tell you though, for all of you that think knowing how to “wobble” (*hint hint Mom that is you) will help you with salsa… you are wrong. Unlike Shakira all of our hips definitely lie…

Just try to imagine 14 awkward 20 year old Americans trying to learn salsa from a very suave Ecuadorian man named Francisco and you will be able to see why we are having so much fun. We are definitely all very bad dancers and I guarantee that if we go to Salsa night on Wednesday you will only hear 14 gringos (that is what they call foreigners here) counting to 8 over and over again.

Speaking of gringos, I was able to meet up with an old skating friend for lunch on Monday and have a little wonderful taste of Kansas City here in Ecuador. As she showed me around all her favorite spots in Cuenca it was so obvious how happy she was to be living in Ecuador. There are so many gringos here in Cuenca and initially I could not understand what attracted them to this random city is South America, but as Katie spoke of all the time she had to really enjoy her life and family, and the ability to set their own pace, it became very clear and honestly, very rational.

It was even clearer when we were eating a three course lunch for two dollars that living in Ecuador was not a bad gig. I now realize that I haven’t talked about the food much… By now you all know that I eat guinea pig, but believe me that was a onetime deal. The fruit here has been incredible! There are about 5 different kinds of bananas, a different citrus fruit for each day of the week, and passion fruit is in everything you find! My new favorite fruit though is called granadia, it’s very similar to the texture of a passion fruit but incredibly sweet and rico (as my host mom says). I don’t know how to get granadia in the US, but I am going to do everything in my power to make it happen.

Besides the great fruit, the cuisine in Ecuador consists of A LOT of rice and carbs (which for my protein loving self is a little difficult). My typical breakfast consists of a little bit of yogurt with fruit and eggs. Snacks are typically always breads or crackers with jam. Lunch though, is the big meal, with multiple courses of rice, meat, and always some sort of soup. It’s kind of bizarre if you think about it, but I’ve never been to a country that eats so much hot soup…and it’s on the equator…hmm…. Finally dinner is very late and consists again of rice, vegetables, and some sort of meat. My host mother is a great cook and with three home-cooked meals each day who wouldn’t love the food. One surprising aspect was that the food is not spicy at all. I have not had anything with any heat (spice not temperature) throughout my entire stay here… but I have had more juice in my time here than I have in my whole life. It’s absolutely essential here to own a blender and make your own juice. From tomate del arbol, to strawberry, to orange, believe me I am becoming quite the connoisseur of juices.

So now you know I am definitely eating well!

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Las Cajas

 

Sunday I got to see Ecuador in an incredible new way. Guided by an adventurous Canadian couple, 9 of my fellow interns and I hiked a portion of the Andes right outside of Cuenca called Las Cajas. With the majority of us not having experience hiking, the five hour journey was much more than we could have expected. Reaching altitude that none of us had experienced before, the trek included a lot of huffing and puffing, but also some of the most amazing sights I have ever seen. (I promise you none of the pictures I took can do it justice)

The couple that guided us on our hike was so intriguing—they had travelled across the entire world hiking for weeks at a time across some of the most dangerous terrains and even cycling across Australia. I have never met people so in tune with nature and so in love with exploring life. It was actually exactly what I needed after a week of studying poverty.

Coming to a developing country such as Ecuador it is so easy to get caught up in the hardships and what people lack. With all the poverty you forget about the beauty—the beauty of the land, the nature, the culture, and the people. Being out completely isolated in these gigantic mountains really puts it all in perspective… You cannot ignore the message of nature when you are just one tiny speck within such an enormous, majestic mountain range.

Returning from our journey in Las Cajas to an entirely closed Cuenca was incredibly symbolic. In Ecuador, Sunday is a day centered on family, therefore everything is closed. One of my favorite cultural values that I have seen so far in Ecuador is the importance of family, and after returning from such an eye opening trip in the mountains, the closed stores reminded me of the beauty of the culture as well.

I know I will see some things here in Ecuador that will be difficult for me to swallow, poverty is always incredibly unsettling, but I am realizing more and more that the poverty does not have to stand in front of the beauty. I may be in a developing country, but these people are genuinely happy… I think I am going to learn a lot more from them.

Lot of love from Ecuador,

Jen

My New Panama Hat

 

Today (Saturday 6/7) we took at day trip to visit the women of Pricipal who are known for making Panama Hats. Peace Corps volunteers recognized the brilliant weaving ability of the people in this region back in 2002 and have worked with them to help create a relatively successful business. Right now there are 17 female entrepreneurs within the organization that make hats, baskets, etc. from a certain type of straw grown near their region. The women even have been given the opportunity to sell these hats through a distributor to an even larger market than the small town of Principal, and expand their market. Each item that a woman makes, she receives 95% of the revenue, and the other 5% goes to covering costs. So, as you can tell, this is incredibly helpful for the financial stability and independence of these women.

The name Panama Hat is slightly a misnomer, as more than 95% of these hats are made in Ecuador. The commonly known name “Panama Hat” only originated from the hat’s use in movies. So… when in Ecuador….I bought a hat... Costing only about 10 dollars each, the handiwork of these women is incredible. Passing through town you see women sitting watching a soccer game and simultaneously weaving this extraordinary hat. This hat business has helped so many women create careers for themselves and provide for their families. The trade is a dying trade though, so hopefully their children find interest in weaving to keep the real Panama Hats alive.

I also ate Cuy today. I don’t want to talk about it out of respect for my former pets. Google it… it tastes like a tiny chicken.

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Las Limpias

 

To all those that are reading this, you are now reading the words of a soul sin malos energias. You may not realize how lucky you are, so let me explain…

Before the Spanish came to the Americas, Ecuador was inhabited by the Incas. Similar to what we know about the Native Americans in North America, the Incas had many spiritual traditions in which they connected nature and the gods. Even though much of the more developed cities of Ecuador are now made up of mestizos (people who are part indigenous and part Spaniard) many of the Incan traditions remain. One of these traditions is called Las Limpias. Three times a week the indigenous women from mountainous villages around the city, travel to Cuenca with dozens of bags of flowers and special oils. They set up in the market, and perform cleansings all day for the people in the city. The purpose is to cleanse the person of their bad energies. Let me tell you from experience though, it takes a lot to get these bad energies out!

First they take a large bunch of their flowers and hit you all over your entire body. Simultaneously they say “cleanse you” and “out” (to the bad energy) in their native language Ketchua??. Next they take an egg and rub it over your entire body. The egg is meant to capture all of the bad energy that they just beat out of you, and when I mean over your entire body, I mean under your shirt, all over your face and everywhere. Finally they take aromatic oils and pour them on your hands and your head, and then drink one of the liquids and spit it all over you. To finish the cleansing they take ashes and make a cross on both your forehead and your wrist.

As a very catholic country, the tradition has an interesting mix of both their indigenous traditions and Catholicism. These women perform Las Limpias every week of the year and people visit multiple times a year. My homestay mother even keeps her egg in a glass in the kitchen to make sure the bad energies stay contained in that glass. One of the most common reasons to visit is called malos ojos. Many Ecuadorians believe that when your baby will not stop crying but is neither sick nor hurt, the cause must be from a person with bad energy staring at the baby. The only way to stop the crying is to take the baby to the market and have these women perform a cleansing to rid the child of the bad energies.

So this is what my fellow interns and I spent out Friday afternoon doing. We took to the streets, and invaded the market (which is incredibly accurate if you have ever seen 20 gringos going anywhere in Ecuador) to rid ourselves of our bad energy. I don’t know if someone gave me a lot of bad energy recently or something, but my cleansing seemed to take a lot longer than my classmates. But… don’t worry I am super clean now (so if you have any bad energy please look away)!

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Long Road to Development

Throughout my trip so far I have been incredibly humbled by the intelligence of my fellow interns and of the employees of Community Social Enterprise Solutions (the organization which created the Social Entrepreneur Corps) the knowledge and passion that they all have to change the world is incredible. We are still in the very beginning stages of learning and understanding what our job is here in Ecuador, but in the process we have started diving into some interesting topics. Today we discussed the idea of relief versus development in the non-profit world. For those of you who are wondering, the main difference between the two is that relief is more about solving an immediate need (for the sake of survival) while development looks to tackle more deeply rooted and chronic problems (aiming at empowerment). As we each learned about different aspects of both and presented our ideas and findings, my eyes were opened to a whole new breed of NGOs that I had never really understood.

Whether it is my business school background or my Type A personality, it is so difficult for me to engage in work that does not show tangible progress or have a distinguishable timeline. I like to see my work paying off, and am motivated by “fixing problems” within a certain period of time— all characteristics of relief work. If we think of any natural disaster or even the event of someone becoming homeless, we can blatantly see how emergency relief or a safety net, such as a homeless shelter, could provide immediate help. If we shift the problem to illiteracy, or domestic abuse though, the problems are much deeper than what simple band-aide relief can fix. These problems require changes in the systems they are rooted in or solutions to current gaps in those systems. These changes are neither simple nor fast—the true nature of development.

Development organizations must come into communities and learn as much about the culture as possible as to find the roots (and I definitely mean plural because, as I am learning, it is never simple enough to have one cause) of the problem. They must gain the trust of the communities before they begin any type of work and continue to nurture these relationships. There is no timeline, no quick results, and therefore many people do not find the work, or even the cause fulfilling enough to donate their time or money to. I am as guilty as anyone, because as I was sitting through our first meeting and team leaders were constantly reiterating how we might not see the tangible and immediate results we might have expected, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. It takes a very patient and motivated person to really step back and see beyond benchmarks and results and truly look at the journey.

These problems and the missions to help solve them are so crucial and many times are not as recognized as relief work—for example, here in Ecuador many indigenous families do not have stoves with chimneys and therefore, when cooking, fill their homes with smoke. This therefore translates to a common problem in which a thick film lines the lungs and eyes of the entire family and destroys their vision in adulthood. It would be simple to come in and find a few people with this problem and give them eye drops and a stove with a chimney, but we are talking about a custom that has been around for hundreds of years. Not only is it customary to have a traditional type of stove, but it is also just accepted and expected that people lose their vision. As we see more and more, changing traditions (those that are hazardous) or chronic problems rarely are a priority. The problem is much more deeply rooted in the lack of knowledge that there is both a problem, and even more, a possible solution. 

So it looks like this is going to be an incredible learning experience. It won’t be “Jennifer goes to Ecuador and saves the world” (as I secretly hoped a little), but instead I am learning that I am here to work on one small piece of a very long and complex puzzle (probably one of those 3D puzzle with over 10,000 pieces). I know it will be an incredible lesson in patience and even more, how to step back and recognize the whole picture. The wheels are already turning…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Finding My Way

I have to admit the last two days have been very difficult. I have felt so many emotions, and, at times, so lost (both literally and figuratively in this new city). The communication barriers in Cuenca are overwhelming—from not being able to communicate effectively in Spanish with my homestay family, to feeling completely cutoff from home with no internet or phone. You always think you are more independent than you are but it really takes a vulnerable situation to truly find out. And that is what I have found myself in… From getting my new glasses stolen, to finding myself lost as it turned dark, I have had my moments where I didn’t know if I was cut out for Ecuador…

 Luckily though, my homestay family has been more than wonderful (even if I can’t speak to them as eloquently as I would like). Tuesday morning, we all took Emilio to his kindergarten where I met all his fellow 5 year old classmates all dressed in matching track suits reading an animal book together yelling “conejo!” . You know, coming to Ecuador I didn’t expect such a high regard for education, but, in Cuenca especially, there is a school on almost every block and it is expected that all children go to school. Yami, my homestay sister, even takes night classes so that she can get a business degree and support her baby. It’s all so inspiring and filled with hope.

Cuenca is very beautiful! There are dozens of scenic parks and even one that has “outdoor workout machines” (I will be exploring that workout option soon so stay posted). The “winter” weather perfectly hits 70 every day (even though the cuencans dress like it is going to snow!) and I think the sky gets just a little bluer J. The most bizarre adjustment though is the 12 hours of day and 12 hours of night. I get done with classes at 6pm when it is already getting dark, and by 6:30 everything is black (this is how I found myself lost). Luckily though, everyone takes a 3 hour lunch break in the middle of the day which allows for ample exploring time in the sunshine.

I’m learning so much, and as I get more and more adventurous am starting to see so many colorful places in Cuenca. My Spanish classes are helping me little by little eliminate some of the language barriers and it’s also very special bonding with my homestay family as they help me with my homework.

Looking for angels in every person and place as my mom instructed, and I am slowly finding my way.

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen

Up…Up…Up…Up…and Away! 6/2/14

Hola Todos!

Today was my first official day in Ecuador and after an early morning breakfast at our hostel in Guayaquil we headed off to Cuenca. So far it has been difficult to turn away from the sights and sounds of this country. From the chirp of the birds outside my window this morning to the waterfalls along the scenic drive to Cuenca, everything is so new and enchanting. That scenic drive, by the way, took us up, and up, and up even farther into the Andes reaching some of the highest elevations I have ever experienced. My mind was constantly spinning (maybe partly due to the altitude…), thinking about the lives and stories of the people I passed. This country really is a sobering mix of beauty and poverty…

Just as a fun fact to all, Ecuador’s main agricultural exports are cacao, bananas, and sugar cane. If you know me, you know that chocolate, bananas, and sugar are all my favorites, so I am feeling especially content with my choice to come to this country specifically. Along our drive to Cuenca we got to see acres upon acres of each of these crops but, as an avid connoisseur of bananas, I was very intrigued by the banana trees.  Each bunch of bananas on the banana tree is covered in a bag to protect it from bugs… now I know that may not seem as incredible as expected, but if you could see the thousands and thousands of banana trees you would realize that to put a bag on each and every banana tree the amount of labor that the banana farmer has to do is… BANANAS! (haha tricked you when I told you my blog wouldn’t be funny)

After finally settling down (**sarcastic tone intended) at 8400 ft in Cuenca and indeed eating one of those very delicious bananas, I was introduced to my new family. For a little background information, we were each asked to take a Spanish test and fill out a questionnaire before we arrived so the organization could best match us with a family that could fit our likes and our language level. And that is how I got blessed with Filomena. My new Ecuadorian family consists of my host mother Filomena, her daughter Yamilt, her 5 year old son Emilio (who has become my new amigo mejor), and her baby grandson Nicholas. We (I have already included myself in this family after approximately 3 hours) all live in a 4 story row house on the southern edge of Cuenca approximately 5 blocks from the Spanish school where I will be taking classes for the next 2 weeks. The only difficult challenge so far is that no one in my home speaks any English… and while my years of Spanish at Clay-Platte and St. Pius both were beneficial…they also seem like ages ago. So I am doing my best and luckily Emilio is very patient with me as long as I let him play puzzle games on my computer.

I guess that is all for now…estoy muy cansada…

Lots of love from Ecuador,

Jen