Then the kids all played games and won “prizes” like towels and socks. Who picked those prizes? They also got tons of candy, cookies and some cheap-o toys. The new Christmas Princess was crowned and her court danced and generally sat around being adorable.
I’m telling you, the pageant thing starts early and they have them for EVERYTHING.On Christmas day the older students from my Friday class came to draw the World Map. A few weeks before I had taken them around the neighborhood to ask for donations to buy the paints and other materials that we needed. This was the best thing I’ve done here. At first they were reluctant, shy, and nervous; they didn’t want to do it (except for Alison who I can always count on for enthusiasm, “yes, let’s go right now!”) I told them that this mural was going to benefit the whole community and so they should seek the support of the community members to pay for it. We went to the cancha first where a bunch of men who’d finished working were watching a game of voli. With the solicitud in hand we made our pitch and right away got almost 4 dollars. This invigorated my students and after about 2 hours of going from house to house (my community is really spread out) we had over $15. They wanted to keep going but it was getting late and I figured we had enough to buy what we needed and we did. I was really proud of them and happy that the majority of those we asked contributed something. Plus it made me feel really good that the girls were hanging all over me and talking about how much they were going to miss me, how they didn’t want me to go and how no one’s ever done anything like this with them. It made me happy that I dedicated so much time to working with children but also sad knowing I could have done more. I still had activities I wanted to do, lessons to teach, but time was running out and with no one to carry on the class after I left they would go back to sitting around being bored on Friday afternoons. Of course I want them to continue to learn, dream and try new things and I’d like to think that they will.
So after they painted a blue square that would be the ocean/backdrop of the map we had to decide on a time to draw and paint. Not everyone could do it that weekend, which was when I wanted to do it. They suggested Friday, Christmas day because they were off from school and because in Ecuador everyone celebrates on Christmas Eve and Christmas day is basically just a regular day. I figured it would be nice to make a special lunch for them and so I bought two chickens from my neighbor and even helped in their killing and plucking. Merry Christmas!
My friend Garrett, fellow PC Bolivia transfer, was visiting for Christmas so I put him to work helping me draw the grid. It came out just a little crooked. The world’s not perfect anyway. The kids started to draw but I had a LOT of correcting to do so we didn’t paint it. Instead we played Frisbee. Over the next week I corrected borders and gave back countries territory that had been mistakenly ceded to others. Finally, it was ready to paint. This was much easier than the drawing part and the kids did a good job. Once again I went over the borders and tried to make it as accurate as possible although it’s far from perfect. I know there’re probably some former Soviet Union countries that according to us, were not yet given sovereignty and a few islands here or there cease to exist. I changed the world, but not in a way I had hoped for. I’m sorry to those countries who have lost territory or are unrepresented, it was not my intention to exclude or offend. The main thing is for people here to have an idea of where Ecuador is in the world and to think about what lays beyond its borders. Also, when the neighborhood kids come over they constantly ask where this country is or that one, which is the largest, etc, etc, so I figured this would give them a permanent reference and also a small reminder of me.
Drawing the world
Painting the world
I was excited to spend New Year’s here since I was in Argentina last year. The tradition is to burn an “año viejo” which are like effigies made out of old clothes and stuffed with paper or whatever you’ve got around. At the last minute David and I decided to make one because there was going to be a party (at the community building right in front of my house) and they were having a competition for the best año Viejo. You have to write a last will and testament for your character of what they’re leaving behind. So I decided, given the major economic crisis, that we would make a US banker type who stole all this money from the states and brought it to Ecuador and we wrote a bunch of things about my neighbors that they would think was funny, like “To Alcidiz I leave $1 to get a haircut” (he rocks a pretty sweet mullet.) Amateur fireworks of the Chinatown variety are a very big part of New Year’s and we stuffed our guy with a bunch of them for when he would be burned at midnight.
Before that though, I had to read the testament. I was the only one who had written one, and it went over well. There were five or six others, but we were the crowd favorite and we won half a crate (6 liters) of beer. Happy new beer! At midnight all the viejos were thrown into the street and set on fire. David and I ran to the house and grabbed our backpacks and ran around the house, as this is what you’re supposed to do if you’re traveling or want to travel in the New Year. Then we ran over and hugged and kissed and happy new yeared everyone. Then we continued dancing and enjoyed our victory beer. It was a good party.
In Ecuador it's not a party until there's a conga line
About a week into the New Year my puppy had a puppy. I was really upset that she got pregnant because of course it was my own fault. I tried to keep her inside during her heat and planned on injecting her with doggie birth control. I was worried about getting her fixed because I don’t know how competent the vets where I get her vaccinated are. I should have just gotten her fixed or asked around for a good vet but anyway…I didn’t. She was seduced by a dog so old that I was pretty certain he didn’t have it in him to do anything. I was wrong. I called the vet and they said I could bring her in to get an injection (like the morning after pill, but for dogs.) Well I don’t know if it didn’t work or if it did because she had just one puppy. It’s a girl and she’s already big and fat because, well, she’s got all that milk to herself. So now I have two puppies. And where I go, they go.
Fresa and Soledad
And where am I going anyway? Back to Bolivia of course. The plan is for David, the puppies, my friend Lebo (the only other gringa I know crazy enough to be on board for this) and I to travel in a truck which will be fitted with David’s ice cream machine so that we can work and travel throughout South America. Yes people, this is the plan, if you didn’t understand it I’ll say again: traveling around South America in an ice cream truck. I’ll soon have a new blog all about it, and I won’t even need a disclaimer….except maybe: don’t try this at home.
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