Equator... start of a new adventure

Here I am, in Ecuador, after a very long and tiring trip. For the first time ever since I’ve been travelling, I missed a connexion flight. We left Barcelona 1 hour and a half late due to heavy fog in Madrid, therefore arrived too late for my flight to Guayaquil… well… that’s actually what the guy of Iberia told me at the gate when disembarking, but 30mn later, I found myself being told at the counter desk that I could have made it, and that they were only closing the gate now… damn it! I actually did not mind it that much... One day lost out of 3 months is not that bad, plus I met a former volley ball mate from Barcelona, Xavi who had also lost his flight going to Santo Domingo. So we both went to our 4 star hotel paid by Iberia and caught up later on with a mate from Madrid, Paco, whom I had met in Greenland. We actually had a very good time in Madrid, walking around, visiting the city

and enjoying its Christmas lights still on. We caught up later on with Javi, Xavi's friend who took us to a really cool pub with live music where we listened to very good blues band.

12 hours spent in the plane made me exhausted, in spite of the nice conversations I’ve had with Valeria, a really interesting girl from Quito, with whom I’ll try to catch up in March when visiting the country. 2 hrs after landing in Quito, we were arriving at Guayaquil. Nice surprise: my entire luggage was there and I faced no problems with customs with my extra luggage. Oscar was waiting for me with Jose, another guy from the Foundation and Macario, our driver, a friend of them.

At the exit, I was struck by a suffocating and humid heat which reminded me of my arrival in Santo Domingo 10 years before! How nice to find such warm weather after the cold of Madrid! My trip was unfortunately not over yet! Montalvo, our final destination, was 2 hours and a half away still… man, I just wished I could sleep right now!

A first stop in Babahoyo to change car, leave Macario to his wife, and we were off to Montalvo but not for long. 5 mn later, having forgotten a backpack, we had to come back to the house and that was finally a chance as our friends noted we were leaking water. It was serious and we finally realized the car had been hit by a moto in the afternoon as a light was broken and the radiator was leaking… everybody reacted with calm, no worries and we all embarked again in Macario’s car to reach Oscar’s house. It was past midnight (so past 6 for me!) when I went to bed.

During the trip, even if my eyes were closing, I still noted that the country looked very similar to the Dominican Republic: same construction style, houses, wandering dogs all over the place, kids on bikes with no lights on, crazy traffic and holes in the road, same vegetation and shops along the way, same humid heat. It felt good to be there, in spite of my tiredness.

My first night was not good at all, the dogs of the streets just would not stop barking, plus I think the change of situation, country and place did not help. I was up at 7:30, had breakfast with the family, a nice chat with Adriana, the second of this 4 kid’s family, and a shower which helped me feeling better. I was hosted in Oscar’s house. It was a bit of a change for me, so used to European cleanliness and comfort standards. It was interesting for me to have to face a new situation, be out of my comfort zone and see how I reacted… the important, I decided, was not the cleanliness, it was the people and they were lovely, warm hearted and welcoming. I was excited by the prospective of sharing the life of this family, having to adapt to their standards and fight my first reaction of ‘kid grown in a rich country!!!

I went to school on my first day, meeting part of the staff and opening the bags full of gifts for the kids. They were delighted.

I started first helping out the staff with distributing the food to the kids. They were coming with tickets they had bought for $0.1 or a bit more, and for some of them, it was the only meal of the day. Rice and spaghettis, fruit juice, ripe plantain, toasts, 'empanada', depending on their budget.

On the second day, I started with the kids aged 11-12, with computer lessons. In a small office, with only 2 laptops ad one PC, it was really tricky to do anything with 11 noisy and very alive kids... the PC had the mouse not going, and the other laptop had a problem with the plug so there was only one laptop available and 12 kids per computer... they were more interested in trying to surf internet than to use Word... I felt totally unorganized (which I was indeed!) and unefficient. I promised myselft to work more for the second group of those who had already some knowledge.

I was then introduced to another class, the 9-10 yrs old, and it was a really interesting exchange. The kids were very keen to know where I was coming from, where I'd been travelling to, asking questions, laughing. Their teacher, Betty was lovely and very cleverly used all I said to show them the difference between our worlds and encourage them to keep on studying in order to get a good education and a good job, which means money to be able to sustain a family. The main problem here being that the girls get pregnant very early, (lack of information about protection and communication with their parents) then stop studying and cannot live decently with babies to raise. The pupils sang me different songs in english and spanish and I had to sing a few songs in french... they all kissed me good buy when leaving, some with lots of affection already!

When I left the class, I realized the kids of the other class, the 11-12, had been making a banner to welcome me! How cute of them really, I felt really moved!

I started my second day at school setting up a last minute stretching session. The english teacher failing to show up, I had them try to stretch all their muscles. How fun it was to see them complaining, moaning it was hurting them or just laughing. It all ended up with a game, the girls having to catch the boys and vice versa. Next was my second computer lesson for the kids who already had some good knowledge. I had prepared a document for them to type on Word explaining the main menus, and we received 1 new computer with an extra mouse and keyboard so we had this time 3 computers for 12 kids, not so bad! They loved it and me too! I could really show them tricks, help them with doing what they wanted and they were very motivated to learn. I felt better than the day before, happy to note that with a bit of structure I could help them out.

This coming week end sounds promising. I have been invited by another family at their place. All of them seem to be wanting to have me home and I think I will not have time to get bored! This is the real immersion in another country with a different culture and way of life and I'm loving it!
This people is generous, open minded, always trying to help each other. I find the same community support I'd found in the Dominican Republic, people giving a lift in cars, giving food to the poorest. They have what most of us have lost: this conscience that we all live together in the same world in a big community and should all help each other out.

Below are pictures of the kids aged 4, the future generation coming...

I start to get used to the rythm here, get up at 6:30, have breakfast, go to school (45mn car or bus ride), teach and play with the kids till 1:00pm, have lunch with the teachers, then go back home, have a bit of a nap, work on computer or read, chat with the family's members, have dinner then go to bed around 10:00pm. I am still recovering the jet lag but getting there. Yesterday I went to bed at past 11:00pm, hurrah, instead of feeling already exhausted at 7:00pm!

Next week, the smallest kids come back to school, under 4 yrs old, that should be fun also to play with them, they are so cute when they're young! I should stay then in the afternoons.

See you later then for next adventures!