So in all honesty, after our trip to Ecuador, nothing really seemed important enough to blog about. I'd hear about cool things going on in fashion, beauty, music, whatever, and it all seemed so minuscule when set down next to the work that Hands for Humanity did there. Therefore, some time has passed since I've updated my blog. Who am I kidding, a LOT of time has passed. Work and school can get the best of me sometimes and take more of my energy than is deserving of them, but my head seems to be straightening out lately.
So there's this brand called Edun. It's a clothing line way out of my price range with very basic designs, and was actually founded by Ali Hewson and her husband, drumroll please...
...Bono. "Why is it worth mentioning then?" you may ask, especially if you know I'm not a big fan of U2. The answer is: this clothing line uses organic cotton and was the inspiration for the Conservation Cotton Initiative (CCI), which was also founded by Ali and Bono along with the Wildlife Conservation Society. CCI promotes organic cotton growing in Africa; the war-torn country's cotton used to be a top export, and has since been diminished. The farmers involved have the benefit of premium prices for the raw material, and the end-product is made there as well (weaving, dyeing, printing, cutting, sewing, etc.) creating jobs for the local communities. The end product comes from Edun Live on Campus, which is a t-shirt company run by students around the United States. On that site, anyone can order custom shirts for any event (of course U2's merch is from Edun Live). Or, you can design and order a custom shirt on Zazzle using an Edun Live t-shirt.
Alexandra Marshall did a great piece on the mission in ELLE this month that I'd highly recommend reading for a closer look and keep it in mind for your next t-shirt purchase.
I have to apologize for my lack of posting for since I've been home. We had so many activities planned during the last week in Ecuador that I didn't have much time to sit down, let alone write a blog. Since I've been home, sickness has laid it's hand upon me in the cruelest way, and I've been extremely fatigued. So I'm going to pick up where I left off with the trip, but it's going to be the simplified version. If you want to chit chat about the trip (I'd love to anytime) just give me a call and let's grab a cup of coffee.
Each day our amazing driver Rita would take us to the orphanage around 9AM, and we usually took the morning to do as much painting as we could. Throughout the week we painted the entire kitchen building and recreational building on the outsides and insides. The paint they use there is thinned with gasoline, so it was a pungent job, but we didn't complain much. Water was a necessity while working in the humidity and heat, as well as sunscreen and bug repellent. Taking breaks was sometimes the most tiring part, because I'd go play with the kids, and they can really wear you out!
Our lunch was brought in every day and always had the most delicious desserts (tres leches and flaan to name a couple). After lunch I usually helped with whatever craft project or game the kids were up to. They shaped pipe cleaners into flowers and glasses, made designs out of adhesive-backed foam, blew bubbles, colored with crayons, and played with the new soccer balls and hula hoops that some of the volunteers and I bought for them at the mall.
We usually left the orphanage around 3PM and would have some sort of outing or event planned before dinner. One day we went to the home of a boy who had been flown to the Mayo Clinic about 10 years ago for a surgery. His father proudly welcomed us into their home. They have a handful of sewing machines at the front of their house that they make sweatshirts with and sell to the schools for uniforms. Each completed sweatshirt is worth about 40 cents and they have to make about 100 per day in order to reach their goal of 3000 per year. The workers start at about 7AM and end around 10PM. Their home was very commonly built for this area; the floor of the consisted of packed dirt, walls of bamboo, roof of corrugated aluminum, usually no doors, and absolutely breathtaking views of the landscape from atop a hill. As we were leaving, we stopped to take a photo of our group. We invited some children that were watching us to come sit with us to be in the photos; before we knew it, there was a stampede of young children running up the hill toward us with smiling faces for the camera.
Another adventure we had one evening was the tour of Portoviejo that we received from one of the four local ambulances. We packed in the back of the ambulance (driving sometimes with the doors closed, sometimes open) and were told about the emergency services there. They brought us to their civil defense headquarters and showed us around, and brought us to a park with great evening views of the city. The ambulance was donated by New York and was actually used there during the attacks on 9/11. All of their emergency responders are volunteers and everything they have for supplies has been by donation.
The next day, after the orphanage, I had the opportunity to scrub in and be in the operating room to watch a foot surgery at the Fundación de Niños San Lucas. This was an amazing experience that I'm sure I'd never be able to have in the US because of more strict laws and policies. I watched the last hour or so of the surgery on a 4 year old girl's foot which had been operated on a few years ago by a different surgeon and hadn't healed 100% correctly, so they were re-aligning the tendons and bones in her foot. I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle seeing the inside of someone's live body, it was heavily intense, but when I was watching, I was in serious awe of the surgeon's abilities. If you've never witnessed something like this before, you may think I'm exaggerating, but watching this life-altering process was miraculous.
After writing about all of these things I am becoming very surprised as to how we fit all of this in! Another day after "work" with the kids, we went to the market in a nearby town, Montecristi. You can find all of the shops along the main street selling locally inspired (and mostly locally made) souvenirs including: tagua nut jewelry and figurines, alpaca blankets, sweaters, and scarves, Panama hats (not actually made in Panama!), hammocks, and many other things. In these shops they usually expect a little bartering, so we could talk down the price on most items we bought.
Leaving the children at the orphanage on Wednesday was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. They did a few more dances for us, and some of them spoke words of thanks into the microphone. One small girl, Andrea, who I believe is about 8 years old, said, "You not only painted on our walls, you painted love on our hearts." We were pretty much all in tears after that one. We gave long embraces before finally taking off in our shuttle, they waved white handkerchiefs at us from both sides of the van and handed us flowers through the windows.
The last full day we had in Ecuador was spent in Crucita, a beach town. Myra's family has a beautiful beach home there directly across the street from the ocean, and allowed us to take it over for the day. This was a much needed day of relaxation, and fun in the sun. We were able to ride the rather powerful waves and were actually warned by the guards to stay in further than we were because of their intensity. The sun was only a few days off from the point when it is closest to the earth (and we were directly at the equator, of course) so, needless to say, even with avid reapplication of sunblock, most of the crew was bright red at the end of the day. Some of us had a chance to go paragliding which was something I'd never done before and surprisingly a very calming experience. But, the winds weren't very strong, so some people weren't able to go. (I guess they'll have to come back next year!) We ended the night by going to the discothèque and dancing the night away.
So there you have it, the main points of the last week. If I've forgotten any, it's because I'm a little lazy at the moment, and I'll post them as they are recalled. I'm currently sorting through the thousands of photos from the entire group, so I'll post some of those as well when I have another spare moment, I promise!
Today was completely and one-hundred percent eye-opening. It's hard to put into words. We started off the day as our normal routine of eating breakfast and then it all changed. We went to the local county hospital first. Thishospital is nothing like you've ever seen in the Unites States. They haven't gotten any medicine supply in four months. The nurses are so limited that each has about 30 patients and the parents have to sleep on the floor under the beds to take care of the kids. If someone is lucky enough not to be turned away, there's no air conditioning in the rooms (it's 86 degrees and humid ) and there are flies everywhere, with eight patients per room, and without even curtains to separate them. Nothing is that I know of is perfectly sterile and the equipment is extremely outdated. According to the doctor who gave us the tour and is involved with Hands for Humanity, the hospital directors are actually placed only because of politics and are usually not fit to run the hospitals, not to mention that they manipulate facts to portray a better healthcare system, so the internet will say that they have much more than they do. That's really just the beginning. It was heart wrenching and extremely difficult to comprehend or understand and especially difficult to look at.
door to a lab
no elevators, they wheel the patients up this ramp
an emergency/trauma room
After we left the hospital, we felt like we had learned a lot, while at the same time felt as if a weight had been placed on our hearts. We went back to the hotel and discussed what we had grasped from this experience. After lunch, we headed out to the orphanage for the first time. We had met only a handful of the kids when they came to our hotel to dance for us, but every child was welcoming and immediately ran up to hug us. It is run by a group of amazing nuns and one of the sisters showed us around. There are 30-40 children there; the rooms are separated by gender and age. The children were excited to play with us and someone in the group brought hot wheels cars for the boys, headbands for the girls, and chalk. Some of the girls used the chalk to decorate the sidewalks and building walls, while others used it to play hopscotch. When some of the volunteers and I got out our cameras, the kids were very excited to snatch them from us playfully and take many pictures, as well as look at the photos that we had taken. Throughout our visit some of the leaders of our group assessed what projects would be the best for us to undertake in the next few days. It was an amazing experience, and it was hard to leave.
the young girls
thumbs up!
checking out the cameras
playing some hopscotch
We then went back to the hotel and recouped. Some went to their rooms, we went with a small group to a candy shop which was a few blocks away and had many different treats that we hadn’t ever seen or tasted before. Then it was almost dinner time, and we had decided to go to Montecristi, a neighboring town, to an authentic Italian restaurant. The food was thoroughly enjoyed by all and the setting was beautiful as it overlooked the city of Manta which we could see in the distance. It was a great bonding opportunity for the group as well as our first time fully together, considering there were some previous flight complications for our team members, Dewey and Kate. After dinner the medical and orphanage groups split to determine plans for tomorrow. Now it’s time for bed because some of us will be working early. Buenas noches!
Yesterday we went to the Vivarium which was filled with all different kinds of snakes, turtles, frogs, and lizards. They were almost all native to Ecuador so it was crazy to see what the local reptiles are like. Unfortunately, my camera was not working (I think we got sand in it at the beach) so I didn't take any pictures when we were there. After that we had lunch at "Este Cafe" which was our favorite meal in Quito. It wasn't authentic Ecuadorian food, but it was damn tasty. We had ceasar sandwiches and a chicken quesadilla with peppers and a really good sauce (we have no idea what the sauce had in it).
Later on, we took a cab to Cumbaya to grab the rest of our luggage that we left at Robbie's house. We got to sit and chat with Juan who is Johana's brother and also lives there, and Claire who is a friend of theirs that was visiting. Claire is volunteering at the hospital here in Portoviejo that Juan and Johana's parents founded for seven months, so we'll be seeing her around down here.
After getting our things, we went back to Quito to the hotel to hang out until some of the people from our group got in. The girls that flew in were: Kari, Beth, Chelsie, and Stacey. We all get along great; everyone is unique and very interesting! Chelsie, Kevin, and I went out for a drink to celebrate St. Patrick's day at Plaza Foch.
This morning we woke up at 7AM and had breakfast at the hotel before Sandra came to pick us up and show us a little bit of Quito. We drove around, getting a tour, and went to a lookout point to see views of the city which was amazing, and I got pictures!
After our mini-trip around Quito, we went back to the hotel to get our things so that we could get to the airport and catch our flight to Manta which is about 40 minutes from our final destination of Portoviejo. The plane trip was only about a half an hour long so it went very quickly, and the views from the plane were gorgeous.
We took a van to the hotel, met up with a bunch of other people from our group and had lunch, I didn't have my camera but some of the girls took pictures so I can get some from them. We had ceviche which is a type of cold soup with lime and chicken or shrimp, along with rice and plantain. Then we got to go check out the hospital where there was a waiting room packed full of people waiting to be evaluated to see if their children will be treated or turned away. It was heartbreaking to see so many people in need of medical care and not knowing if they'd be able to receive it or not.
After seeing the hospital we had time to hang out at the hotel for a little while before eating dinner. Before dinner there was a "surprise" for us which turned out to be the best part of the trip so far. Some of the kids from the orphanage came to our hotel and did a dance for us. They walked into the hotel and immediately started hugging and kissing us, welcoming us, and thanking us for coming. I posted the video of their dance on my facebook page so you should definitely check it out there. After their dance they all got ice cream, and the girls played a patty-cake type game with one of the doctor's daughters. I'm finding it really hard to describe the feeling I had when they came to meet us tonight, but it was touching and it was a moment that made this trip worth every bone in my body. For dinner there were many options and most enjoyed the dish they ordered (I had a glass of wine and steak with a black pepper sauce, yum!) and the dessert was a delicious scoop of fried coconut ice cream. We have a wake up call tomorrow at 7:30AM to get breakfast with the group, so it's bedtime!
When we woke up yesterday we were a bit lazy and watched a movie. Once we got up and about we went for a walk and ended up doing a little shopping (Kevin still wants a hat, we were still unsuccessful) and walking through the park. It was a beautiful day and the park was huge and very lively with people walking, biking, dogs running around, playing soccer, and we even saw one guy juggling. It was a little strange though because, when we were walking through, it was as if everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at us. That's an over-exaggeration of course, but that's what it felt like because so many eyes were on us. This is how it's been for a lot of the trip, people staring at us because we're Caucasian (and probably also because Kevin is six and a half feet tall). It is such an odd feeling to be the minority everywhere you go. There were parts of LA that were Spanish-speaking and I felt like somewhat of a minority, but it wasn't so dramatic, and people didn't stare at me.
It has really gotten me thinking about how I actually really enjoy how the United States has people of all races. It's not an oddity for you or me to walk down the street and see all different skin colors. I love it. And not only that, but I'm so grateful for the abundance of culture that the US has to offer from so many different places. The US has tradition, music, fashion, art, and let's not forget the amazing food, that has all come from all around the world. It is so interesting for me to see how other cultures thrive, and being in Ecuador has been and will continue to be such an amazing learning experience for me.
Moving on, yesterday after our walk, we went down to Gringo Land again for a few drinks. We grabbed a table outside at Coffee Tree, which is supposed to be really great, but it was pretty busy so the service was a bit slow (I think our waitress may have forgotten about us at one point) so we walked over to Azuca, across the street with a colorful little bar. While there, we met a small group of students from Auburn in Alabama that are here for school. We all became friends very quickly, comparing stories from our trips. We talked about meeting up with them again before we go to Portoviejo, so that's a possibility.
Tomorrow we're going to Robbie & Johana's place in Cumbaya (which is really close to Quito) to get some of the luggage we left there and hang out with them and have dinner together. Then on Wednesday evening some of the other Hands for Humanity volunteers are flying into Quito, so we'll be meeting up with them, then all flying to the coast on Thursday.
Our bus ride back to Quito on Friday seemed like it took FOREVER. When we left the bus station around 1:30, they were playing "The Final Destination" dubbed over in Spanish and one of the screens was directly above our seats so it was super loud, even when I had headphones in. But, I read The Giver which was nice because I've started that book so many times and never finished it, so it was nice to finally read it cover to cover. When the movie was finished I enjoyed the ride much more thoroughly. When we took the bus to Atacames the first time it was dark out, but now it was daytime, and the landscape here really takes your breath away. I've never been in the middle of mountains so high and valleys so low, and the mountains I've seen have been either desert or snow-covered. These mountains were so lush they seemed to draw me in, it's indescribable, I stared out the window for hours. When it finally got dark and I lost the comfort of my scenery, I started getting a little anxious and just wanting to be in Quito, so I listened to the album that never gets old and never fails to make me calm, Give Up by The Postal Service. Finally, we got to Quito around 8 and were dropped at this huge bus terminal where we found a much-needed ATM. I called my mom to say hi, we grabbed a Coca-Cola, and found a taxi to take us to our hotel, Hostal la Carolina. We checked in, got online, Skyped Seth with a terrible internet connection at the time, and passed out.
Today, we got up in hopes of finding breakfast. When we went downstairs, we were told that it was included with the room, so we sat down in the small restaurant at the hotel and immediately were served eggs, bread with a jam-like condiment, coffee (they pour hot milk into your cup, then you add the grounds like they're instant), and a drink I believe is popular here but I can't remember the name of which is sort of like a limeade.
We then walked down to the mall which was about 4 blocks. Kevin wanted a hat and we were unsuccessful in finding one he liked, but he did get a Whopper from Burger King, which was the only thing we got at the mall (he said it cured his homesickness). But, on the way home, we stopped to look at a movie store (they were obviously pirated) and we bought 6 movies for $10, then watched Ninja Assassin which was intense and we loved it. We might be going back there, so if you're reading this and you want us to get you a movie, let us know which one!
After being a little lazy and watching the movie, we went to Plaza Fosh which has been dubbed "Gringolandia" because it's apparently a popular spot for local white people and tourists. We forgot the camera, but are planning on going again before we leave Quito, so I'll get photos then. There was a small market with handmade items in the middle of many bars, restaurants, lounges, etc. so we sat down at one called "Dragonfly" and had some nachos and Pilsner. We looked around the market a little bit after that, then sat down at a bar called "Chelsea's" watched a little soccer and had some good conversation with my apple mojito and Kevin's long island. After a two-dollar, seven (or so) minute cab ride, we were back at the hotel and ordered a pepperoni pizza (they don't really use tomato sauce here) and watched Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges, and it was absolutely an amazing movie. Goodnight!
Last night we ordered some food from the restaurant at the resort called Mogli’s (like from the Jungle Book), again without having a clue what we were ordering. It was called Mixto and it ended up being a sort of chicken fried rice with different seasonings on it and plantain (if you haven’t had plantain before, is basically like a cooked banana, but it tastes better than it sounds, or looks).
Today was our last day at Green 9 Resort so we’re leaving Same tomorrow morning to take a bus back to Quito. We slept in and packed all of our stuff today so we won’t have to do it in the morning. We’re both pretty tired and not really looking forward to traveling tomorrow because we don’t know where we’re staying yet and it is a little exhausting to be on a bus that long. We also have been daydreaming about the food we miss from back home; things like homemade salsa and buffalo wings (or anything really spicy, haven’t had that here). Kevin said he misses his guitars a lot, but he mostly misses Seth. But even though we miss our family, friends, and conveniences of home, we are both looking forward to getting back to Quito for a few days and even more excited to meet up with the Hands for Humanity group and get to Portoviejo to start working with the kids! Alright, time for bed
