The 3 Day War & Mama Rios

In my last blog I left off with holiday fun, a loved one visiting (not much has changed for this time around!) and a broken toe. I used those Winter Crutches for a few weeks, boots and all, and after some arm-chafing and uneven foot sunburn, I threw them to the curb the day before the most ruthless holiday in Ecuador: Carnaval. It´s harder to run for your life with crutches.

All around the world the entrance into the Lenten Season is celebrated differently: elegant masks at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, district-assigned costumes at Fasching in Germany, and even seven hours away from here you celebrate La  Fiesta de las Flores y las Frutas with peach-flavored wine in Ambato, Ecuador. Here in Guayaquil, Carnaval starts the Sunday before Ash Wednesday and is a 3-day holiday involving paint, a LOT of water, eggs, flour, other throwable ingredients, and crossing lines of personal space, boundaries, and friendship.

We had heard from neighbors, “Oh, it´s a great time of playing with friends, eating, dancing, and getting wet!” and we all knew we wanted to take advantage of such a fun-sounding holiday. So we attempted to prepare, arming ourselves with tiny water-guns and a couple bags of colored dust that turns into paint with water. We thought we were ready. Needless to say, we were not. We got rocked those 3 days, each day getting progressively more intense, more draining, and far dirtier. I hadn´t realized how truly out of shape I am until the night of the first day.

Lucky for us, I purchased a water-proof (now called Carnaval-proof) case for my camera before coming to Ecuador so we were able to capture some of the moments: some happy, some sad, some hysterical, and some that will just down right make you feel bad for Greg. I believe pictures are the best way to tell the tale.

Day 1

We set out to get our guard,

 Welly, and Greg still got it

Community.

Went to get 3 eggs at the store, 

that´s all. I got 3 eggs, they just 

weren´t in a bag.

A baby blue chick!

That night, all clean, we 

celebrated Monica´s birthday.

Day 2

The day started similarly to Day 1.

Our afterschool program kids!

“My name´s Eli and I don´t play 

Carnaval…” *bananas to the face*

My hijado (godson), Denys

End Day 2

At Christina´s house we crashed 

her pool party. Literally.

Day 3

Rosa, 91, thought I got paint 

on her face. I did no such thing.

Day 3 and Coli still 

had the best reactions

I´d have felt bad for the guy if he didn´t 

foam everybody in the face for 48 hours straight.

Even Suleika played!

Jessica´s fam. At this point the sun was 

going down and teeth were chattering.

We ended the holiday with

a pretty spectacular sunset.

That week was a wonderful one. No work, just play, and the only thing that brought it down was the fact that my mom came 3 days too late; I wasn´t able to smash eggs on her head or give her a well-deserved make over.

  

Mama Rios came to visit last Friday for 5 days. We weren´t sure, much like with Emily, whether or not she´d make it down, and I was ecstatic when she told me she found a ticket. It was great to see her, and I think I forget too often that my mom´s a pretty awesome person. We spent 3 days in Mount Sinai where I was able to introduce her to neighbors (neighbors who, every time, thought she was my sister and could not get over her youth) my volunteer community, Ecuadorian food, and she even worked WITH me at Hogar, helping me out with the design of my map. 

(Some pictures have a hamster in them. His name´s Humphrey. My goddaughter has a project, like Flat Stanley, where they send their paper friend to a friend or family, and my job was to have him experience Ecuador. Mission accomplished.)

The family, minus the father, Marino

We played the longest game
of UNO with Belgica´s kids.

Although my mom brought nothing but sunshine 

(0 for 5 on rainy days) she still had to learn how to 

maneuver through Winter-Time Monte Sinai

Bolivar was helping Josias, his son, 

practice walking on the roof when 

we visited so we got to join in

Susana, Josias, Terri, Bolivar, Me, and Leyla below

The other days we were able to take a “quick” trip to Puerto Lopez, a town about 4 hours up the coast. I put “quick” in quotation marks because my mom visited the weekend of Election Day. Sunday being the day to vote meant everyone in Mount Sinai had to travel to the place they last had a registered address or to where their family lives, and for some that meant 6 or 8 our trips. Our sector was going to be empty for most of the day. It also meant that all buses all weekend were full, but after much effort and a lot of help from our guard we got there safely, elections happened, and Rafael Correa was re-elected.

Saw ancient ruins at Agua Blanca, a nationally-protected indigenous community

Those, ladies and gentlemen, are grasshoppers…the size of my feet.

The circus was in town! So we went. It was terrible.

We visited Isla de la Plata,, an island nicknamed “The Poor Man`s Galapagos.” It is not the season to see many animals, but despite the odds not being in our favor, we lucked out and returned from the tour with blue-footed boobies, sharks, turtles, and dolphins checked off our list.

A baby booby!

It wouldn´t have been a trip in Ecuador
without something happening. Our bus
broke down on the way back to
Mount Sinai

I mentioned earlier that my mom´s a pretty awesome person. She often outdoes herself when it comes to surprises and projects. Well, while she was here she surprised me by celebrating my birthday the whole week. My birthday´s not until March 13. We got to celebrate with tuna empanadas (my mom´s idea...Delicious!), cake, and Greg´s family the last night she was here.

Props to the woman…she perfectly executed
 an Ecua “Que lo muerda” face smash.

Greg´s fam. Thanks for the cake and empanada hints!

And lastly, my mom—along with bringing awesome things like Flaming Hot Cheetos—helped us to finally complete a dream we´ve had for months. I mentioned a long time ago that Jaime (a volunteer from the other house) got The Settlers of Catan, a board game I fell in love with in college. Well, after much discussion, our community embarked on a project and again requested the help of my mother. First the Multi-Sweater Christmas Card and now…The Settlers of Sinai. You really blew us away, Mama Rios.

Completely in Spanish, this version comes equipped with cane houses that can be upgraded to cement houses, new resources (cane, cement blocks, chicken, water jugs, and rice), Mount Sinai businesses for victory points, and borders corresponding to the main roads outside of Sinai. And if you look closely, my mom decided to Photoshop my face on a peasant.

A practice round without borders. With the help of Wilson, an artist

 and Hansen´s disease patient from Damien House in Duran, we were

 able to buy tiny Hogar houses

After her seemingly-too-short trip, my mom left and I went back to work. My time is mostly spent on the map project while continuing to attend meetings and events in our office. Friday we had a celebration in honor of the rights and value of women in Mount Sinai. Somehow, I got signed up to pass out fake roses and perform at the event. They wanted me to sing in English (thank goodness) so I just explained the lyrics of John Mayer´s Daughters to them beforehand.

Also, the same day my mom left, Ana´s family came. They have been extremely kind and over the past few days I have had my fill of some amazing Mexican dinners. Between the posole (ya, Aunt Josie, I had posole too!) and the carne asada tacos, there has been a mix of homesickness and thanksgiving for Ana´s family´s hospitality, as it`s reminded me of just how much I appreciate my family and my family`s culture.

It was a busy February and with half of our families coming within a 2 week period (Heidi´s family got in Monday!) I think we are all trying to enjoy our last taste of freedom before “Retreat Group Season” starts. “Freedom” may be a bit of an exaggeration, but March begins a long string of back-to-backs and packed months of university and high school students and I imagine once it hits we will be busier than ever. Until then I will be soaking up neighborhood time, flinching at the site of a bucket of water, and walking my map´s route with umbrella or sunscreen in hand.

Realizing I could have saved a bag of paint for my mom! Ugh.

Miguel