Late Night Arrivals

Eliah and Dunc just walked in the front door a few minutes ago (it’s currently 10:47pm) from their fifth day of small business class, and they are both spent. Instead of simply putting the class on, the boys are also participants in the program, which is proving to be quite the undertaking.

Considering we all are getting up at 5:45am tomorrow morning to head in to San Francisco to take part in a community minga to clean the plastic bottles from the river (see the daily photo), I can only assume that the late night friday class was particularly difficult to get through. Or so it seems by the amount of heavy sighing currently coming from the living room where they’ve both collapsed onto the couches. It’s also a little late to be up in the kitchen making churros, but sometimes when I start something I can’t make myself stop until the task is complete. Plus they’ll be great for breakfast tomorrow morning, right...?

Happy weekend!
Holly

(the local San Franciscan river and site of our 7am community minga clean-up!)

The Dog

In Ecuador, there are a lot of dogs.

A lot of street dogs.

A lot of dirty, mangy street dogs.

The girls in the house can’t help but fall in love with all of them. We see the potential for cuddling; after a few (read, 8) flea baths, a hair cut, and a miraculous memory wipe/personality swap to backtrack from years of abuse, any street dog could be redeemed in the eyes of Jocelyn, Serena and I. The boys feel a little differently, instead dwelling on the fact that most of the street dogs look like they’ve been hit by a truck. A truck filled with Ugly.

So despite the girl’s longing for a dog to call our own, our house is still animal free.

Except there is this one that I KNOW we could get Mark in on. He’s not a street dog per say (aka he belongs to someone, minor detail), but he is pretty awesome. (Side note: most Ecuadorians who own dogs (and want to keep them looking somewhat healthy) keep them on their unfinished rooftops, since fenced in yard space is essentially unheard of. Or reserved for chicken coops and cow grazing.) Anyway, on our way to programs everyday, we pass under one of these roof-dwelling dogs (who actually lives on the abandoned second floor of a building). He is huge. Enormous. And Mark’s tall enough that they can almost get each other. And they have a bond, as in the dog wants to destroy Mark, and Mark wants to push the dog to it’s absolute limits, taunting him ceaselessly and essentially begging him to jump. Which, if he ever did, would be the end of Marco as we know him.

This is when the daily picture really comes in handy, huh :)

Holly

(Mark and his bff)

Saturday Morning

(Today's guest blog comes from Jocelyn Lancaster, a new MPIE PD affectionately called "Legs" around these parts. Jocelyn loves dancing to discoteca music in the kitchen, makes some mean enchilladas, and is our go-to girl for all things celebrity. I'm pretty sure she knew about Palin's pregnant daughter before McCain.)

"I wake up to the purring of the coffee grinder in the kitchen below my room. Mark must be making fresh Columbian coffee for our new French press, producing sounds and smells that signal the start of a new day. Coming out of the haziness that separates dreams from reality, I realize it's Saturday and take a deep breath. I lie still enjoying the lack of immediate responsibility that comes with the weekend before venturing out from the warmth of my comforter.

As I go downstairs, the house is still. Most are still asleep, taking advantage of the easiness that is Saturday to unwind from the stress of the week. I make my usual breakfast of cinnamon sugar oatmeal with sliced banana, grab a book, and head up to the roof to eat and read in the morning mountain air. The stillness of the house is enhanced by the stillness of the city. At first glance, all of Conocoto is quiet, tranquil, serene. As the minutes pass, I notice that the quiet is punctuated by sounds- some nearby, some mere echoes in the distance- that remind me of the life here in our valley. A dog barks. Birds chirp. A rooster crows. A child laughs. A bus drives by on the way to Quito. A man´s spade scrapes cement as he plasters his rooftop railing. The pages of my book flap in the gentle breeze. The sun is bright and warm, no clouds in sight that might inhibit its rays. Even in the coolness of the mountains, I am delightfully toasty in my fleece jacket.

Looking out over the rooftops, I take in the reality of my surroundings. All of Conocoto stretches out before me, and beyond that, all of the valley. The mountains large and looming in the distance separate us from the rest of the world. We are a pocket of life nestled in the grandeur of the Andes. Right here, right now, all that exists is the sun, the sky, and Conocoto. At this moment, I feel a oneness with every aspect of our little world, an interconnection to all of the sights and sounds penetrating my senses. I reflect on the work we are doing here, each person´s programs, goals, dedication and commitment. I think about the people we have met and those we will meet, how we are affecting the community and how the community is affecting us. We are now intricately involved in each others lives in a very real and complicated way. We belong to the valley, and the valley belongs to us. Today is perfect."

(view of the surrounding mountains as seen from our rooftop)

So THAT'S what's wrong...

Every time Eliah and I head over to the University of San Francisco, Quito (USFQ) for a meeting regarding the community garden/recycling/agricultural learning center we’re in the midst of planning, I end up getting sick. Eliah has been spreading around the rumor that school itself makes me physically ill, which is absolutely NOT the truth, seeing as how I love the collegiate feel of that place almost as much as I love the English Department building at Vanderbilt. (I mean how could you not? Vaulted ceilings, stained oak panels, stained glass windows, spiral staircases, literature and poetry professors in every room...yes please). But yet again, yesterday we had a meeting at USFQ with a few different Ecology professors, and boom, this morning I had to attend our weekly meeting from the “comfort” of the downstairs bathroom.

Mark finally said enough is enough, it’s time to figure out what is actually going on (apparently he wasn’t as willing as Eliah to assume a jinxed college campus was behind all the sickness), and so we hopped into a cab and headed out to Quito. 5 hours later I’m back in my bed with my two new friends, Parasite and Amoeba, chillin’ in my intestines, glaring at the three big bottles of Pedialite BUBBLE GUM FLAVOR that are currently sitting on my bedside table and stand as the only liquids I’m allowed to drink for the next week.

And of course today’s the day Jocelyn decides to make Ropa Vieja for dinner. Woe is me.

In other news, I’ve decided to include a daily photo with each update. So at least you have something pretty to look at while thinking about parasites and amoebas.

Tune in tomorrow for the weekly guest blog, I promise it won’t be about being sick :)

Until Thursday, 

Holly

(the entryway to the Galileo Building at USFQ)

The Start of Small-Business Classes

When we first started through around the idea of a Daily Life Blog, everyone was a little worried that, come day 4, I would run out of things to write about and the blog would fade into the forgotten past, along with all-Spanish Wednesdays and certain feathered pets. Everyone clearly underestimated my ability to embellish tiny, insignificant moments into blog “worthy” entries.

As I sit down to write today’s entry, my mind is swimming with an overwhelming amount of moments to share with you all. From our morning chats with Susanna (the venta lady from whom we buy our weekly fruits and vegetables) to our encounters (and in Dunc’s case, fights with) certain street dogs, every day down here teams with stories worthy of sharing. Luckily, we have 11 more months to go...I think I’ll have the time to go there.

Tonight marks the beginning of the two week small-business start-up course which Dunc has been organizing tirelessly for the past three weeks; as I write this, those involved are entering into their fourth hour. Dunc has thrown his whole self into the project, walking around the neighborhoods every day for hours recruiting people, coordinating between the local Cooperative and the organization running the class, setting up meetings with everyone involved, arranging transportation to Sangolqui (the big town close to Conocoto in which the classes are being held), and making an exorbitant amount of phone calls following up with those he’d already talked to.

It is so exciting to see things come together as they have tonight; to be enacting our site’s mission of empowering those individuals taking part in the course, strengthening the local Cooperative institution, and building networks amongst the participants. The only downside to the program is that Dunc and Eliah will be missing from family dinners for the next two weeks, as the course runs from 5 to 9 every night. We will all have to exhibit a lot of self control to make sure there are enough leftovers waiting for them when they get home...I’m looking at you, girls.

Just as an aside, I’ve loved the comments you all have been leaving; they remind me how many people out there are invested in our house and work, which is uplifting and encouraging. Keep them coming!

Holly