Little Things

“It does not do to dwell on our dreams and forget to live.”

- Albus Dumbledore -
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer´s Stone

3 weeks since my last blog, and much has happened. Yes, it’s been an eventful few weeks, yet I feel as though I’ve gotten into a rhythm. This is in no way to say that I am accustomed to everything; the “poco a poco” thing is still going strong and I still remind myself to be dorky, awkward, and stupid every day. Sure, the music at 6 in the morning is growing on me, I can maneuver a manual car in and out of traffic, and my cooking repertoire is expanding day by day (made mashed potatoes last week!)…but I know I have a long way to go. Two days ago I ate a cow foot at our night guard’s house. I´m not used to everything just yet..

As for how things are progressing, “todo bien” (Spanish equivalent of “s’all good”). A big part of my last month and my last blog post was my job. The tutoring in various sectors of Mount Sinai with the 3 Jesuit Novitiates continued throughout September and, sadly enough, the three of them left last week. We are now in the process of figuring out how/if the tutoring can continue in the future. Coli and I are not professionals in Spanish, and to help 5 to 15 kids every day with a variety of homework in Spanish seems unrealistic. So as of right now I am back in the office most days, accompanying others in the office to workshops or general visits to the sectors of Mount Sinai. Two Fridays ago I actually got to go with a group of 3 students and a professor from Clarkson University in NY as they did water testing in Mount Sinai. I translated for them (as best I could) and helped with nitrate and chlorine testing (And to think those chemistry labs would never be of use!) Most of the time in the office, however, is spent studying Spanish Computer Vocabulary. They would like me to begin giving the computer workshops to community leaders in November. Please pray for this month of Spanish improvement…

Fran, Wilo, Coli, Ana, Freddy, and I at a lookout 

over Guayaquil the week before they left

Time with the other 7 volunteers in Duran has been wonderful when it happens, and two weekends ago we got to do something awesome as a whole group, including the new boss, Darcy. Hogar de Cristo, where I work, builds houses in Ecuador every day for people in need, and typically the labor is done by teams of volunteers. We were able to set up two house builds to split between the 17 of us (including the Jesuits) and embarked on the construction adventure two Saturdays ago. The process is very much like Habitat for Humanity—we worked on it with the owners of the house—however these houses get put up in 5 hours. We started at 10AM and by 3 we had two bamboo cane houses under our belts, with the help of two hired Ecuadorians. Both houses were in a very rural area and the view from the top of our house was breathtaking (see first picture above). It may have been due to my weight or lack thereof, but I was chosen to scale the walls once they were up to put on the roof. An awesome experience, and it is a bizarre feeling when you look at a full house and can say, “ya, we did that..”

 

Got a little bit of my rock climbing fix that day

Our half and the family of the house

Speaking of manual labor, we had our first cistern clean last month. It involved a 5:30AM wakeup call and frantically scooping up buckets of water, passing them up above our heads before the tanquero of water came to refill. It is perhaps the closest I’ll ever feel to a motley crew on a sinking ship. Next time I will be wearing swimming trunks.

A seemingly unimportant thing: I finished the Harry Potter series last week. I had read the first 6 years ago, and somehow put off the final piece for 6 years. I still have the last movie left, so the adventure is not quite over. As for the timing…could have waited a couple days as I got sick 2 days after finishing and am just now coming off of the throat infection. Missed the celebrations for Chris’ birthday—everybody went to a Barcelona soccer game—and I could have been exploring the final chapter of fantastic story. So instead I watched one too many movies. Can’t believe a hadn’t seen a classic like Saving Private Ryan…

Yesterday was Rosa’s 91st birthday. Rosa is a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother of a family that lives a few blocks away from us. One of the most honest and hilarious women I’ve met so far, and I love visiting and sitting with her by her hammock. She does not mind my terrible Spanish, and often we can sit and merely enjoy one another’s company. A good friend so far, and we made her banana bread while I brought my guitar hoping I could remember Happy Birthday on the spot. I did not.

Rosa and some of her grandchildren

Yesterday was the Despidida (going away party) for Megan and the "Welcome!" to Darcy which means we officially have a new boss. She’s extremely kind and I’m excited to be a part of this transition. I also want to give a shout out to Megan for all of her hard work and life she has put into Rostro de Cristo. Please keep her in mind as she transitions back to the US.

Wellington, a guard and right hand man of Rostro, got a

 Mariachi band for the party. Absolutely amazing

Little things happen every day, and I am learning to remember them, to be grateful for them. It is the little things that get me through the day: the hour spent at Bolivar’s house helping him fix his pickup truck and realizing I’m learning more about cars in Spanish then I ever have in the states. It is way Rosa slapped me after I got done stumbling through Happy Birthday, a hit I know came out of gratitude. The constant worry, advice, and care that was thrown my way when neighbors heard I was sick. Having the time to recreationally read. Seeing a family waste no time making their new house their new home, setting up a birthday party underneath it WHILE we were putting on the roof. The fact that the Novices stopped by the house the day they were returning to Quito because they heard I was out for the count. They’re all things that quickly pass or could become routine, but I find those are the things I write down. They’re things that supersede language; they care not about one´s Spanish ability. Sure, I am excited for the day when I can express what those things meant to my day in the native tongue, but “it does not do to dwell on our dreams.” Until then I can be grateful.

Working on making these shorter and more frequent,
Miguel