Calle 5 #14-32
La Mesa, Colombia
aaronlaurak@gmail.com
To Ecuador and Back
Dear friends and family,
Happy 2006! We've enjoyed a full January so far and are gearing up to start the school year. It's been a bit of a whirlwind, and we're grateful for this week before classes to get settled back in our house and prepare mentally for the new year.
Lots of Traveling
We left on January 9th for Quito, Ecuador. The flight there was beautiful and basically uneventful except when we landed and Abby vomited all over Aaron's lap and herself! So I spent my first moments in the Quito airport in the women's bathroom cleaning Abby and changing her into new clothes. And giving her Dramamine for the 5 hour bus ride ahead of us! We were greeted at the airport by a bearded, smiling Dave Gingerich and a Colombian friend, Luis Ocampo.
We then took a bus to Riobamba, 3 1/2 hours away, and from there a smaller bus to Cebadas, which slowly wound around the dusty hill and mountainsides. Riobamba is 16 miles from Cebadas, but the bus ride is 1 1/2 hours! I had the good fortune of sitting in the very front with Abby, and she slept the entire ride, thanks to the Dramamine. One of the first major differences we noticed between Colombia and Ecuador was the huge indiginous community in Ecuador. So far in Colombia, we haven't seen any indiginous influence, but right away in Ecuador we heard Kichwa and saw the brilliant native dress. It was beautiful, and something I realized I'd been missing in Colombia.
Cebadas
I was sitting in the bus to Cebadas, lurching back and forth, and an ancient looking indiginous women sat in the very front of the bus on a large bag of vegetables. She had long dangling earrings and her neck and arms were roped with beads. She wore a bright colored shawl and a typical woven skirt and a wide brimmed brown hat. Her feet were bare and brown and cracked. I started to muse about how some cultures in corners of the world have seemingly remained untouched by Western influences, when suddenly the woman dove into her bag for her ringing cell phone and started shrilly yelling in Kichwa to her caller. After the conversations was over, she plunked the cell phone back in her purse, and promptly fell asleep balanced on the bag.
We finally rolled into Cebadas right after the sun set and struggled with our suitcases up the dirt road. Ericka was waiting for us in their little brick home with a cozy kitchen, and we joyfully hugged and had a wonderful evening together over taco soup and brownies. Let me just say that Ericka is a wonderful cook and we loved eating with them. Meat loaf! Homemade pizza! It made me miss having a functioning oven. That first night we were also struck by how cold the air was! I usually love winter weather, but I've always had a warm house to go to. The homes in Cebadas don't have heat, so people wear lots of layers and have massively thick bed covers.
A few other things you should know about Cebadas: There are less than a thousand people who live there. David and Ericka are definitely the only foreigners, and there are only a handful of non-indigenous people who reside in town. Some of the brick houses have electricity and water, but not all. There is only one phone in town, and it's very expensive. Medical care is limited to one small clinic that offers basic services on weekdays. Church is almost always in Kichwa, with occasional Spanish mixed in.
As we began to compare our situation with what the Gingeriches experience, it was hard not to feel self conscious about the many "comforts" we enjoy La Mesa. Our high regard for them and their work continued to grow throughout the week.
The School
At sunrise the temp was about 40 deg. F. BRRR! But the skies were clear and the sun was bright, and later that morning we got hot in our sweaters. The sun is really strong due to the higher altitude. The first morning in Cebadas we had a tour of the school, which is named Ñukanchik Yachay (Our Wisdom in Kichwa), and got to meet many of the students and teachers. The students swarmed around Abby and lots of little fingers wanted to stroke her hair and pale cheeks. We were treated to a welcoming program by the students. Each grade shared a song or game for us. We then got to observe Ericka in her classroom and were very impressed with her leadership with the students. She had a great command of the classroom and the students seemed to love her creative and loving style. English is one of their favorite classes!
The next day Aaron taught her classes a new song "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." The students participated enthusiastically, laughing and smiling as we tried to sing it faster and faster. They also enjoyed playing Pictionary, which was a new game for them. It felt like a tremendous privilege to work with these children who have such an ancient language, culture and history. It's unfortunate that other Ecuadorians don't often appreciate the rich heritage they have among their own population. There is widespread prejudice toward indigenous people, even though they have gained somewhat more political influence in recent years.
Back to Quito
After two full days in Cebadas, we headed back to Quito with David and Ericka. In Quito we found our fairly comfortable hostel a few blocks up from the Mennonite church, and enjoyed stretching our legs and exploring the area. We spent some time browsing in a modern supermarket, marveling at the niceness and variety of things offered, and then had dinner at a chinese restaurant. We accidentally ordered a huge amount of fried won-tons, and felt uncomfortably full for the rest of the evening. After dinner we met Liliana Ocampo, a Colombian missionary living in Quito, and her brother Luis. Their warm welcome and excitement was contagious and we soon felt like we had known them for a long time.
Colombian Refugees
The next morning we set off for the northern tip of Quito to meet a Colombian family living in temporary refugee housing sponsored by the Quito Mennonite church. We were very impressed with the work the church is doing with these families who need so much. Jazmin shared her story: how she was kidnapped in Colombia because her husband worked for human rights, and how they came penniless to Quito with the four children to start a new life. After thoroughly enjoying her handmade empanadas and juice and chatting for a while, we hiked in the blazing sun to find a bus to take us to the southern tip of Quito, where a second refugee family lives. After careening around for an hour on the bus, we disembarked because there were demonstrations in the streets and we couldn't go any farther. But Liliana in her endless energy and optimism blazed on and found another bus (standing room only) that we packed on. Abby was asleep in my arms and a dead weight, and some kind man gave up his seat so I sat down heaving a sigh of relief. All in all, the trip took two hours to reach the other family, but we were glad to have met them. We eventually returned to the church and had "lunch" at 5 pm, and were exhausted from the day. It certainly felt more like work/orientation than a vacation day!
That evening we celebrated Ericka's 26th birthday with cake, ice cream and lots of salsa and merengue music. Turns out that Luis is an excellent dancer and was very excited about teaching us the moves. So we did our best, and he was still rarin' to go as the hours passed. We eventually said goodnight and about keeled over with exhaustion when we got to our hostel.
Otavalo
We left for Otavalo bright and early on Saturday morning. Otavalo is an indigenous town about 2 hours from Quito, but also happens to be quite wealthy. It has a famous Saturday market packed with people selling typical cloths, bags, clothes, etc. Tourists flock there. We saw more North Americans that one day than we have in 4 months! I (Laura) loved looking at the variety of bags, jewelry and artwork and enjoyed spending the day browsing through the market. Thankfully, Aaron is a more aggressive "haggler" than I am, and we got a great price on a colorful hammock, a bag, sweater, chess set, and finger puppets for Abby. I felt like I wanted to distance myself from the other "gringos" I saw, the loud obnoxious college students, the grungy backpackers, people who desperately stuck out and didn't know the language at all. We comforted ourselves with the thought that, "We live here, and plus, we're the only ones with a baby." At the same time we were glad to see people willing to step out and experience a new culture. Overall, we had a good time, but one day was enough.
Sunday Worship
We had the treat of worshipping with Quito Mennonite church on Sunday morning. Although it's a small congretation, roughly 30 people, we felt more at home in the service than we have in church since we left Virginia. A husband/wife duo did worship leading, and we sung songs a- capella and did liturgical readings together and had sharing time. Liliana Ocampo preached a concise and well thought out sermon while the children had Sunday School, and afterwards people lingered over coffee and talked and talked. In contrast in La Mesa, we've become used to lively, loud music, an hour long message and very little sharing together after the service. I didn't realize how much I missed the other components until we had them again in Quito! We were impressed to see three different refugee families who traveled from all ends of Quito to come to the service.
Quito Sightseeing
Monday we walked around the historical section of Quito, and paid $1 to go up the towering spires of the National Cathedral. The views of Quito were dizzying and breathtaking. Afterwards, we went to see "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" in English (with Spanish subtitles) in a very posh, North American style theater. Abby mercifully fell asleep after the previews, so I was able to relax and enjoy the movie to the fullest! We came out of the movie inspired, with beautiful imagery and symbolism bouncing through our heads. It was fun to see Liliana and Luis's excitement about the movie, too. We decided with the Gingeriches to treat Liliana and Luis to a thoroughly American meal at TGI Friday's. We stepped in the restaurant and immediately felt transported back to the U.S. The decor, the music and the menus were exactly the same. So were the prices, but we decided to ignore that for the evening and order what we wanted. I had a delicious BBQ chicken salad with beautiful tomatoes and perfect lettuce and crunchy veggies - something I'd been missing because salads aren't very "big" in Colombia. The Gingeriches ordered massive hamburgers - you should really check out the pictures on our site to see how big they are. We had a wonderful time around the table and lingered for awhile. It was our last evening with Dave and Ericka, and I was already starting to think how much I would miss them. We had such a good time of connecting, sharing our joys and struggles during the past few months in South America working with Mennonite Mission Network. But they are also college friends, so we could reminisce with them and talk about the friends and experiences we've had in common back in the States as well.
Back Home
Our journey back to La Mesa was really long but uneventful, and it truly felt wonderful to be "home" again. We realized after being away how much this place has become home to us. Abby was happy to putter around with her familiar toys and pets and have a normal routine again. The morning after we got back we started to look through our pictures from the week and felt a sudden sadness, and realized we were mourning the absence of our friends, Dave and Ericka. We miss them.
We're now looking ahead to the start of the school year, Jan 30th. Aaron has been in many teacher's meetings this week, and we are gearing up to have a busier schedule. Please pray that the school year starts positively for Aaron in the classroom. Also pray for me (Laura) as I discern with the school my role with the students. Keep Abby in your prayers as we transition to a fuller schedule and as we contemplate finding childcare for 2 hours a day or so. Give thanks to God for the wonderful trip and fellowship we had in Ecuador!
There is more to write about - our weekend with Martin's family in Giradot, a warm, touristy town about 2 hours away, and our experience at the Mennonite Assembly in Cachipay. But you already deserve a prize if you've read this far and we will continue to be in touch through email and through our website. We love and miss you all and thank you for your support and interest in us!
With love,
Laura, Aaron and Abigail