I´ll start with the craziness of September 30. I was at Damien House when I recieved a call from our in-country director who had just landed in California for a week of vacation. She told me that the bridge between Duran and Guayaquil was closed due to some protest so I should stay at Damien House for a while because I wouldn´t be able to cross the bridge to get home. After hearing the news, the staff at Damien House turned on the TV to see that this was not just any protest, but the national police themselves had decided to go on strike, blocking roads and leaving the country without police protection. Ecuador´s president promptly appeared on the news claiming this was a coup attempt (its still questionable whether it really was) and challenged the police to kill him. (not the best way to diffuse a tense situation in my opinion.) He almost got what he asked for when a police officer gassed him with tear gas less than an hour later. This was all really exciting to me at first, because I had gone through four years of studying international politics and reading about coup attempts in this and that Latin American country, and now I was finally getting to experience one first-hand. I soon discovered however, that any sort of political instability is really just a big pain in the butt. I had to sit at Damien House all day until our security guards drove an hour and a half down river to cross the next bridge and come pick me up (they also forgot money to pay the toll and ended up having to trade the first aid kit from the truck in order to cross the bridge, which I thought was pretty hilarious). The other workers at Damien had to walk two hours to their houses becuase the buses weren´t running. The student group that I was supposed to lead canceled their visit that I was really looking forward to, and we had to cancel our travel plans for that weekend and sit at home doing nothing instead. Everything went back to normal the next day and the police went back to work, so besides providing some excitement and being a big pain in the butt the police protest really had no more of an impact on us.
A few weeks ago I finally had the chance to go and watch an Eagles game. A friend and I went to Sport Planet, an American style sports bar in the wealthy part of the city and enjoyed a cheese burger while we watched the Eagles play the 49ers on Sunday Night football. It felt so good to finally see a game as I felt that there was something very important missing in my life (besides just my friends and family). Unfortunately, we couldn´t have a beer while we watched the game because Ecuador has a some stupid law that no one can sell alcohol on Sundays. In a country where laws are largely ignored, and just a week earlier the police themselves had decided to burn tires in the streets and let criminals rob banks without consequences, we were denied beers because it was against the law. If the police ever go on strike on a Sunday, I am going right to the bar to watch a football game and drink a beer.
Sometimes being a volunteer in Duran is very similar to being a celebrity in LA. Wherever we go, people know who we are, whether they are kids who attend our after-school program, neighbors who have known volunteers for years, or just people from the neighborhood who know that the only 6 foriegners in town are the volunteers. One day I was sitting in the cyber trying to write an email during the short time I have between Damien House and the after-school program when a kid from our program came in and stood over my shoulder. (this actually happens several days a week) I said hello and went back to my business becuase I was tired and worn out from the morning and wanted to take advantage the short time I have to use the computer. The kid just stood there peering over my shoulder for half an hour, making me feel uncomfortable to the point that I couldn´t focus on what I was writing. When I left the cyber, he walked with me all the way back to my house asking me questions. I gently reminded him that the program doesn´t start for another 30 minutes, but he didn´t get the hint. He stood outside our house waiting for me to get changed and get ready for my afternoon job, walked with me for half an hour as I picked up kids from their houses, and asked me questions right up to the minute the after-school program officially started. I was very annoyed that my hour of me-time between jobs was usurped by this curious little kid, but later on I felt really bad about how I had felt earlier. I am here for these children, and this isn´t a job that has set working hours and set break times. This is a job that requires us to give our full selves 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Whenever a child is in need of a friend or companion, I should be there to be their friend, even if that means sacrificing a little me-time. I can see in their reactions that five or ten minutes of personal attention does so much more for these children than five or ten minutes of peace and quiet does for me.
But...it is really nice to take a vacation every once in awhile, so last weekend 5 fellow volunteers and I went to Puerto Lopez, a town on the Pacific coast, to do some sight-seeing and relaxing. We took a bus ride up the coast for a few hours and arrived at our destination Saturday morning. On Saturday we took an hour boat ride out to an island off the coast that is populated with rare migratory birds and is surrounded by sea turtles and coral reefs. Our tour guide Don Cherry (yes that was his real name) took us around to see the populations of the funny looking Blue-footed boobies and these other birds with big red chests. We then watched sea turtles eat from the side of the boat and went snorkling at the coral reef. Once returned to the mainland, we had dinner and spent some time relaxing in the beach-side hammocks at the tiki bars that lined the beach front. The next day we paid the driver of a produce truck a few dollars to take us to a nearby national park in the back of his truck. We spent the day relaxing on a beautiful white beach inside the park that we had nearly to ourselves. It was surrounded by forests and flanked on either side by large cliffs. Puerto Lopez was a unique fishing town with bustling fish markets but a relaxed culture. It was so great to get away for the weekend and recharge the batteries.
A few other things:
- I have been teaching the neigborhood kids how to play baseball, and they love it. (it will never surpass soccer but it provides some variety) They play with bamboo sticks and plastic balls but its been lots of fun. A few weeks ago we had a classic Sandlot moment when a ball was hit over a fence into someone´s yard and a rotweiler chewed up the ball.
- Guayaquil´s independance day was October 9 and we celebrated by attending a riverfront firework show and a free outdoor concert. I´m not a big fan of Latin pop or Salsa music but the atmosphere was fun
I hope all are well, I will try to do a better job of updating my blog in the future.
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