!Bienvenidos!

!Hola! !Y saludos de Tumbaco, Ecuador! Hello! And greetings from Tumbaco, Ecuador! Well, at least that’s what my attempt at Spanish hopes to say ;) Currently I am residing in Tumbaco, a city about 50 minutes from Quito (Ecuador’s capital). I am living with a wonderful host family and I now have tres hermanos mas! My oldest host-sister is 17 and in her senior year of high school, my host bother is 14 and my younger host sister is 10. J I thoroughly enjoy spending time with my host family! They are extremely patient with my lack of Spanish and I think we have all gotten quite good at charades. So much so that we would totally dominate in a family-style competition. ;) I will be living here for the next three months during Pre Service Training. Our training center is at an old high school about a 20 minute bus ride and roughly an hour walk from where I live. The training center is very small in terms of what one might imagine based on schools in the U.S. but it is quaint and beautiful. (I will be sure to upload pictures later). So far the majority of our training has consisted in introductions and overviews of what the next 11 weeks will look like. That being said, the following are a few short stories detailing some of my favorite moments of these past six days. J

Uno

So. I am sitting in the living room, hanging with my host brother and younger sister. We are playing Uno and while I have no idea what they are saying to me a majority of the time, I think we are all having fun. Now, here’s my Uno situation: I have two cards left, a wild card and a red 4 and it’s my turn. Who cares if I can’t say “it’s your turn” or “no, you must draw 4 cards now, not put down 4 cards”, I am about to win! I put down my wild card and excitedly say, “verde y uno!” Not more than a second later my host brother puts down a green card. What did I just do! Ah! My host sister goes and I have no green cards. I drew 7 more before finding a green (there were no matching numbers either). Dang. I will never forget the difference between verde y roja ever again!

Toilet Paper Fishing

The water is murky. It is definitely not a good day for fishing. Yet here I am at the watering hole. I sit and wait. I am patient. The weather is nice—a light breeze passes by, though the air brings with it threats of rain. Still, I wait. I think of the morning and my arrival to this place and shudder at the thought of being on the bus again. It’s much nicer here. Here the physical demands are much less. I don’t have to worry about supporting myself, two hands on the overhead bars, knees bent, surfing on the bus. The bus also requires much more concentration, balance and strategy than I need while fishing. For example, on the bus you must always be alert for a second bus that passes too close. In that case everyone must lean in the opposite direction in order to keep the bus’ wheels on the ground. However the leaning must be a group effort and does require a lot of trust and good timing. Now, the balance is self-explanatory due to the bumpy roads and mission impossible style driving. Strategy comes into play when getting on the bus. For whatever reason the entrances are always crowded. At first boarding seems impossible. But you have to remember the center. Maneuver your way to the center of the bus and all will be well. So, you see, all this is tribute to the fact that it truly is nicer here. Toilet paper fishing is simple. There are two simple truths involved. Truth #1: the pipes cannot handle the paper. Truth #2: you must retrieve any paper in the toilet bowl before flushing. And that is all. Now, as I said, today the water is murky and isn’t quite the best day for toilet paper fishing. However, the physical demands are not great and the method is artless. So, I resign myself to the tranquility of the bathroom, take a breath, and extend my right index finger. I then gently sweep it through the bowl, catching all the paper in one calculated motion. And that is all. Confident of my work here, I place my catch in the bucket that sits to the right of the bowl. Today was a true toilet paper fishing success.