Two weekends ago I went up to Quito to visit my old host family and go to Julian’s baptism. I stopped in a friend’s site on the way up. His town is about an hour and a half from Tumbaco/Quito area and is tucked in a valley in the middle of the Andes. It is absolutely gorgeous. In the morning we went up the hill/mountain to an indigenous community to help a man plant his potatoes. The view was awesome, but the altitude was not so nice. By midmorning I was on my way up to Tumbaco to my old house. I walked in and was greeted by people I knew and liked and who liked me; it was great. The baptism party was going to be held at the house so I helped them make some food for the night and chatted. My family has a new volunteer so I got to meet her as well. After, we all got ready and headed out to the church. The baptism was kind of strange because it was just a whole bunch of kids and a few family members for each all there to get baptized. So basically the priest just walked around from kid to kid and did his little ritual thing and then it was all over. I was the official Gringa paparazzi for the ceremony because Johana wanted lots of pictures. The ceremony went fine and we were all getting ready to leave when Julian’s father (who wasn’t invited since he doesn’t financially or emotionally support Julian) walks up to Julian, hugs him, gives him a gift, and walks out. At this point Julian starts screaming because he saw his dad and then he left. Johana starts crying. And Sylvia and Fausto are looking worried and angry. Everybody trudges out to the car, collects themselves, and by the time we are back at the house everything is back to ‘normal.’ The other relatives started showing up at the house and it was great to see everybody again and show them that I can kind of speak Spanish now. Everybody enjoyed the fact that I am getting married off and that I have a love kitten. Fausto and Sylvia both forbid me, saying that I don’t have permission. The night was great. There was lots of good food, good music, dancing, and lots of laughs. The night ended with all the girl relatives dancing in a circle to Lady Gaga…classic. The next morning I woke up and hung out with the family a bit and then they drove me to the bus stop and I was on my way back to site. The trip back was quite the adventure. I was going a different way because I wanted to avoid going into the bus terminal in Quito because it is a hassle. This meant I had to switch buses a lot and get on in random spots that I had never been before. Everything went well and I made it on all five different buses ok. One of the buses was full except for the co-captain seat next to the driver, he insisted that I sit there and get the great view of the drive through the mountains. Throughout the 2 hour drive the bus driver decided we were going to get married in a week, go on a honeymoon on the coast, he was going to teach me Quecha, and then I was going to teach him English and take him back to the States. He didn’t show up for the wedding a week later, bummer. On the next bus, this driver decided to chat me up also. People here are so forward and within a minute of meeting you, they are asking for your cellphone number (I always claim I don’t have one). After long hours on the bus, throwing up children in the seat in front of me, and screaming babies I finally made it back to Buenos Aires.
I had made a point of getting back late Sunday night rather than Monday because I was supposed have a meeting and get the seeds for the community gardens that day. Well, of course, there were no seeds and no meeting. People here do not like to stick to schedules and it is really starting to frustrate me. I broke down to Leonor one day with my frustrations and she was actually understanding. Since then things have been better with her.
Nothing much else is new. I am planting cacao with Pepito on his land near the river. In the Escuela de Campo we got materials to make biol. The kids had their first English test; it didn’t go too well. I went out into the campo to pick some breadfruit. There also have been a lot of papaya and tangerines to pick lately.
Random Thoughts:
· I have a ridiculous amount of bug bites on my legs. My sheets are stained with little drops of blood from when I scratch them in my sleep. My sheets are also stained with squished bodies of gnats and other bugs that make it through my mosquito net.
· Both dogs at the house died within a period of two weeks. The first started having seizures and then completely lost it mentally. And the second got hit by a car and then got an infection from a worm/slug thing.
· A taxi driver told me one day that I am being a really good example for the kids in town. He said that he has seen me running with them and picking up trash with them and that I am teaching them things that their parents won’t ever teach them. It was encouraging to hear.
· My cat went missing one night. I looked around for a while and just decided that she would come back in the morning. In the morning Lizbeth told me that she knew where the cat was the whole time but didn’t want to tell me because she wanted to see me worried and hoped that I would cry.
· There have been various occasions where men come to the house and shamelessly take out their cellphones, take a picture of me, and then just walk away.
· My house is on a fairly busy road. When I am sitting on the porch reading, people will drive by and gawk at me like I am a zoo animal.
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