"Animal Vegetable Miracle"...read it

Havivi told me this morning that a spider peed on my eye after I showed her that my eyelid was all red and gooey and burned like it was sun burnt. John said it was a Zorro, which is like this tiny little scorpion that releases a sort of acid, so much for my mosquitoes net working.
I went to Ecuador to visit Megs and saw Michelle too. It was all good and difficult at the same time. Wonderful to see them but hard also to realize we are all in similar situations and struggling to figure out what’s right, what our purpose is and where we currently are on the emotional rollercoaster.

“No Claudio would never wear pants that loose” –Megan when asked if the guy wearing normal jeans walking towards us was her boyfriend Claudio

I met Claudio shortly after. Played a game of basketball with his family and friends and then later that night discovered he played drums in a Kiss cover band. This was amazing information. I whipped out my new Emo Morales t-shirt lined my eyes charcoal black and was set to rock out with the Ecuadorian Kiss fans only to hear that Claudio was a little embarrassed and didn’t want his girl to see him play. Alas, Megan has promised to fill me in when she actually gets to see the band perform.

We made bagels and cheesecake, stir-fry and green curry. And discovered a new fruit called Zapote. It is a mix between a peach a mango and a bitty squash. It is real tasty. We also went to a cardio striptease class. Megan told Michelle and I that she often went to a salsa aerobics class during the week so of course we jumped on board. At first it was good clean salsa, then the amazingly flexible young man teaching us became suddenly more excited after “Thriller”. Maybe it was the music, or the arrival of an audience, or the 40-year-old women taking of their sweatbands, whatever it was, it was no salsa. It was oh so much more.

Upon returning home I was greeted warmly by my family and friends. We even had a glorious day of sun and a soft whispering Spring Breeze that lifted everyone’s rainy disposition. As the school year starts Marisella once again enters into her prison. I realize now she is the only person I have met, ever in my life that could care for the girls in the boarding house with such empathy, heart and warmth. I don’t know how she does it.

March has flown by and the rain seems to be throwing in some twists to remind us of her power. I crossed the river today thankfully, but the water was almost up to the bus windows and you could feel the current struggling to pull us off track. I sure hope this is the end of the rainy season because if it gets any worse in April I imagine some tragic things could happen. We already had two landslides an earthquake and various thunderstorms. I have posted a list on my wall. It is called “In case of …” and I have listed my go to items should I suddenly have to escape. Ha-ha I don’t foresee this happening but better prepared than not. I have started keeping some dear valuables in my backpack ready to grab and go too!

I have started helping out in the high school. One of the nuns and I are trying to get a food project started so we can give a little snack to the kids that walk 2-3 hours to school without breakfast. We are in the process of getting funding from the municipality, but all moves rather slowly in that office.

I am also helping the English teacher with her advanced classes, though advanced isn’t saying much. There is a disappointing mix of the students being to afraid to learn and make mistakes and the teacher rushing through her exercises to stay on track, that no progress is really made. So I am committing myself to working on vocabulary. The teacher will start a unit without going over vocabulary first and then we just go around translating everything for the kids. So I told her I would make a vocab list weekly and try and ignite some memorization and fun learning in her classes.

Chicope production continues we have washed peeled, strained, cooked and jarred hundreds of Chicope so I am glad the season is almost over. Although I guess oranges are next. Marisella just keeps going, I don’t know how but she is a great inspiration.

Lots of things planned for the upcoming months and though I may not have figured out my exact purpose here yet, I am enjoying my time more and more with the hope that things come together
A long lost friend, recently found again reminded me that….

poco a poco anda lejos or
Little by little you go far
So that is my current mantra