Life at Latitude 3

Yet again, this will be a random and unconnected blog entry. For one thing, I´m typing from an internet caf{e which is blaring Indian music.  Not loving it. 

Speaking of music, salsa is of course an integral part of latin american culture, and especially here in Ecuador.  And while I had always liked the music and understood the steps, my hips (caderas) were clueless.  Which was unfortunate, since salsa is all about the caderas. Salsa is very sensual, and sensuality just seems to ooze out of the latin american culture.  Sometimes they dance salsa even when there isn´t music.  It´s just really a part of their soul, and the soul of their country.  So not being able to dance salsa really means missing out on a critical part of latin america. 

If someone invited me to dance, I gave it my best effort, but it was evident to all involved that my hips were clueless.  But, then, to my absolute amazement, at dance class on Friday, something finally clicked in my brain, and the next thing I knew, my hips were gyrating in all the right directions.  I experienced a high that no drug on earth could ever compete with. I´m not saying that I should be a professional salsa dancer, or anything that aburd, but I finally understand it and love dancing it every chance I get. 

Speaking of other things that are clicking – as of late, my comprehension (ability to understand spoken spanish) has been improving remarkably.  It was always the language element that I struggled most with.  I´m so jealous of the people who can´t speak a language, but can still understand what is being said to them, bec. for the longest time, I was the total opposite.  But really, it´s best if you can both speak and hear.  I´m getting to where I can understand more and more things out of context, and can catch more and more song lyrics.  Sometimes I wonder, really?  have people been speaking this clearly this whole time? 

Total shift of subject.  It has been thrilling to be here during the Ecuadorian presidential elections. As one article I read said, Ecuadorian isn´t one of the most powerful nations in the world, but this election was pivotal  in terms of overall latin american politics.  On the one hand, there was a banana tycoon (billionaire) who was running his 3rd campaign.  During his campaign, he was literally giving handouts of food and money, and promising more if voted in.  While he was promising to give fish, the other, was promising to teach the people how to fish.  Correa, the pres. elect, is highly educated, with 2 masters – one from the US, one from Belgium, and a PhD in economics from the Univ of Illinois.  He speaks fluent English, French, and Quechua.  Between the 2 candidates, I would certainly have voted for Correa over Noboa.  While I appreciate his vision of reform and restructure, I, like many here, hope that he remembers that effective change takes time and process.  I know he doesn´t need to be reminded that Ecuador has had 8 presidents in the last 10 years. 

Next shift – Thanksgiving.  The Friday after Thanksgiving I got together with about 20 other profs to celebrate the day.  There were some of the traditional trimmings – turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, etc.  And a few items that I´d never seen at a Thanksgiving spread before,  – fresh guacamole, market fresh fruit salad, juices of maracuyá and tomate de arbol, etc. 

Sitting there, enjoying the fluent conversation and shared cultural references, I thought about people back in the US who don´t like it when immigrants keep to themselves.  I don´t want to judge those people, but I realize that they have no idea what it means to live in another country, culture, language, etc, willingly or unwillingly.  While I adore Ecuador, and feel pretty comfortable with the Spanish and the culture here, it´s still a very comforting thing to be in the company of people who share your native language, and your cultural background.  That´s not to say that I automatically prefer any English speaker over any Spanish speaker, or that I like every single US person I meet here –  – but in some respects, it´s easier to be w. people who are like you, and there´s comfort and a sense of safety in that ease.  And when you live in a different country, even one that you like, comfort and safety take on a whole new meaning. 

However, at the end of the night, it was obvious how Ecuador has influenced all of us.  While we in the US generally don´t kiss in our greetings and farewells to one another, having lived in Ecuador for so long, it now feels strange and foreign for me to NOT kiss hello or goodbye.  It´s always a slightly awkward thing when north americans greet and say goodbye to each other in Ecuador – ummm – do we act north american about this and keep our spatial non-touching distance, or do we do what feels more comfortable here, and kiss?  Despite the fact that there were no Ecuadorians present at the feast (they were invited but couldn´t come) we said our goodbyes with Ecuadorian kisses, which just felt right.  

Teaching cycle is almost done, and THANK GOD.  Even with the 2 classes I like, I can tell that I´m losing patience, as they´re ready to be done too.  It´s harder and harder for them to keep their focus, and they want to do nothing but play and speak Spanish.  And you can only imagine how much fun I´m having in my last (most loathed) class.  Actually, it´s not so bad.  We all can see light at the end of the tunnel, and they´ve become more bearable than they´ve prob. ever been.  But finals are next week, and then I´m taking a much anticipated and needed long weekend to the coast with a friend. 

It´s unbelievable to me that Christmas is less than a month away.  They do Christmas trees and greenery here, although they do seem out of place as I´m wearing a tanktop and miniskirt in the middle of the day.  I´m actually trying to not think about Christmas too much this year – this will be hard, as it will be my first Christmas away from home.  Of course I´m not asking for sympathy, as this is completely my own doing.  There´ll be a few of us here, and we´ll do what we can do to make the day as special as possible.  I´m already looking forward to the annual exhibit of nativity scenes in the Old Cathedral, where the scenes are made by artists from all over latin america, of all different types of materials.

Well, I have rambled far too long.  Miss you all, I think of you all at the most random times, and wish quite selfishly that you were here.  Hope that you are happy and healthy wherever you are in the world –

cariño siempre

WARNING: This month´s entry is quite disconnected and random.  

The main reason for the disconnected writing style of this entry is that I have virtually no free time, of course, mostly due to my own doing.  I have returned once again to the happy world of teaching teenagers.  Actually, my day starts with a 7am class of adults. While I would prefer to not get up that early every day, this class is worth getting up for.  They´re sharp, a lot of fun, and are a healthy break from teens.  Class ends at 8:15, and I then have a couple hours to prep, and if I have time left over, to check email.  From 10:30 to 12:30 I have Spanish class.  It would free up a lot of my time to not do those classes, but I feel that as a language teacher, I need to always remember what my students are going through, both mentally, as well as in the classroom.  Plus, I´m a nerd, and have always enjoyed the formal learning setting, and like the chance to iron out pesky grammatical details such as prepositions.  

After class I run home, grab a quick lunch, then book it to the sucursal (school branch) by 1:30 to meet with my tutorial, a rheumatologist (sp?).  He is uber-motivated to perfect his English because in December, he is going to give a speech, in English, in front of 4000 other rheumatologists.  I could NEVER imagine giving a public address in Spanish.  He´s also fascinating for the fact that he lived in Russia for 12 years and married a Russian rheumatologist who returned to Cuenca with him.  They have two children (one born in Russia, one in Cuenca), and he says that in their house, they always speak Russian.  Their children, by the way, are also fluent in Spanish, English, and German.  I hate people like that.  Ok, in sincere truth, I´m blind with envy.  

At 3, I teach my 1st class of teens.  They´re 12-14 yrs old, and are actually quite adorable.  The remind me that not all teens are walking nightmares.  But then I go to my 4:30 class, where I remember why I don´t like teens.  They´re aged 15-17, and really take it out of me.  I come home just in time to watch the sunset over the Cajas, and then it´s time to grade papers.  This is my life Monday through Thursday.  I don´t teach on Fridays, but it gets quickly filled up with laundry, soccer, going to see my girls at the orphanage, going to the market for my fresh veggies and fruits, dance class, catching up on emails, etc. 

Ecuador is having its presidential elections which in many interesting ways are quite different from those in the states.  For starters, military and police are not allowed to vote.  Everyone else is obligated to vote, and must pay a fine if they do not.  Secondly, instead of 2 major parties, there are like 15 or 16.  For the first round of elections, Ecuador becomes a dry country for 48 hours.  No alcohol can be sold before the elections, in an effort to prevent drunken voting.  Alcohol can´t be sold immediately after the elections either to prevent drunken mass rioting.  In addition to the nation wide prohibition, there as also a nation-wide curfew (toque de queda in spanish).  I felt that because I wasn´t allowed to vote, I should have been exempt from the non-drinking/ curfew rule.  But I went outside at about 11pm on the Sat. night of the curfew, and it was freaking eerie.  Every bar and club and disco shut down – not a soul on the street.  All of this fun happens again the last wknd of November for Round 2, when there´s a vote off between the top 2 candidates of the 1st round. 

I am now living with a woman from Australia (Rachel, 26) who was an accountant in her former life, and a guy from England (Andrew, 27) who worked for MARS chocolate co.  After being around so many young 20 yr olds just out of school, it´s refreshing to be around other people who actually gave up bonafide professions to make virtually nothing teaching the richest children in Ecuador. I´m also learning quite a bit of British English from the 2 of them.  Probably at least once a week one of them will whip out a word that I recognize, but use it in a way that I don´t.  I´ve learned “to bottle out” (to flake out, not do something you said you would), “to flake out” (to become very tired), etc.  I´ve also learned that Australians have an affinity for shortening words – ie – I was so unco at footy today.  translation – I was so uncoordinated at football (soccer) today.  Rachel and Andrew and I all agree that we have quite a fun house. 

I´m in the process of figuring out the rest of my life.  Well, maybe not the rest of my life, but at least the next step.  Within the next couple of months I need to decide if I´ll renew my visa or not.  Renewing it is quite easy, it´s just figuring out if that´s what I want to do or not.  The story´s pretty much the same as it´s been for months – some days I´m so in love w. Ecuador, and my life here, that I can´t imagine leaving.  I finally feel good about my Spanish, and want to keep learning it.  There are some aspects of my life here that I know I´ll lose by going back to the states.  And I´ve got some good friends here.  And then other days, I´m very aware of how far I am from friends and family back home.  It´s a conflict that I don´t think will ever resolve itself which of course makes it nearly impossible to figure out what I want to do. 

I trust that all my friends in Madison made it through Halloween ok.  I hear that they charged admission to State St.  I imagine everyone starting to get geared up for Thanksgiving Day.  Meanwhile, I´m trying to recover from the Fiestas of Cuenca, which has been 4 days long.  So fun, but so exhausting.  Well, time to close this very random blog entry.  Know that I miss you all!