The Craziness of Carnaval

Hola a Todos!

This past week flew by with all of the Carnaval celebrations. Although things have been happening for the past 5 or 6 weeks, this last week leading up to Carnaval was the craziest. Everyone was out and about throwing water balloons and buckets of water at any and all passersby. I stayed dry in Azogues last Saturday, although when walking around I went from awning to awning staying up against the buildings to avoid having water balloons dropped on me.  The bus ride home was hot because the bus had been waiting in the sun all day and we couldn’t open any windows for the first half hour or so because people along the side of the street were throwing buckets full of water at the buses trying to catch an open window.

Sunday was the big fiesta in Zhoray that was for all three of the “Amazonian  Parroquias” in the area. People came from all the communities of the parroquia of Zhoray, as well as many other cities and parroquias. There was a big parade into the center market with everyone dressed in elaborate costumes. All day there was a dance competition in the market with all traditional dances in traditional dress. In the afternoon there was the election of the “Carnaval Queen,” of course, and then there were live artists for dancing into the night. The fiesta went from about 9am until midnight, so I was exhausted by the end. Throughout the day, there were water and foam spray (carioca) wars, which I participated in occasionally. It’s a really fun, but also funny holiday because all the adults act like kids, playing in a giant water fight. I stayed around Suca’s store most of the day, helping with sales and enjoying the fiesta from inside. It was a great fiesta!

On Monday I went to Monay with Zoila and the huge extended family that came into town from Guayaquil. We had two cars packed full of people, and I was in the back of the pickup with several of the cousins/nieces. It was a cold, windy ride there as we were at the mercy of people staked out on the side of the road waiting to soak us with buckets of water as we passed by. We all made it alive, and had a great hike up to the waterfall. A few of us went into the freezing water and we all hung out for a while before the slippery, muddy descent back to the cars. The ride back home was even colder now that we were all wet and it was pelting rain, but it was a really fun trip. Once back at the house, we had a big cookout with even more family and fresh grilled lamb.

Tuesday was the actual day of Carnaval, but much more laid back for me. I went into Azogues and Cuenca trying to find internet to skype home, but EVERYTHING was closed. I think it might be the biggest holiday of the year here. Luckily it was a beautiful day so I just wandered around avoiding being hit by water. I went home with Zoila and had a nice dinner with Suca, Zoila and Nayeli for my birthday.

Everyone seems to be in recovery mode right now, so things are pretty quiet. As soon as they’re recovered, though, preparations begin for Zhoray’s week-long fiestas in the beginning of April. Hopefully I will be able to do some work before then, when everything shuts down again.

As far as work goes, Lucy is a proposing a big project that looks like it will go through. Right now, the president of the Junta is going to give us the room in the Junta Parroquial in the center and $10,000 to be equipment for a physical therapy/rehabilitation center for the disabled community members. There only option right now is to go for treatment in Azogues, but it isn’t possible for any of them, so Lucy and the subcentro staff is going to offer PT twice a week. If it goes through, I will also have access to the room to work with other groups and give charlas, etc. While I already have permission to use the space, if it is revamped into a rehab center, it will have more credibility and hopefully people will attend more of my meetings and charlas. I, of course, am also suggesting they get a horse for hippotherapy, but that one might take a while for them to be convinced. It sounds like a great project for the community, so hopefully it is all approved, financed, and actually started!

Living at the subcentro has been going really well and I’m very happy here. Lucy, Martha and Carmita all live here during the week now, so I’m only alone on the weekends. We split cooking days, which is working out, but I also have a lot of time to make my own food, which has been going great. This week I made pizza, veggie soup, corn salad (thanks Zoe!) and bagels. Next week there is quiche, spinach chicken, lentil burgers and cobbler on the menu. It’s fun to try all these new recipes, and to be eating healthy foods again. We hang out in the afternoons and evenings, chatting or playing games. Lucy and Martha have learned Bannanagrams and Set, both of which they love, and Phase 10 will be next thanks to Natalie! While I get to spend a lot more time with them, I’m still spending a lot of time in the town and with Suca, Zoila and Nayeli. I usually go down a few times a day to chat and see what they’re up to, and other times to collect Cora. She is in a new habit of running away if the subcentro gate is open and she isn’t tied up, but luckily I now know that she goes straight to Zoila’s terrace in search for Oscarito, the puppy who lived there for a few about a month. Oscarito has moved to Guayaquil with the family, but a new puppy, Shakira, was gifted to them today, so Cora still has a friend to run to.

The biggest news is that Internet has come to Zhoray! There is the big company here to build a dam, and they have an office set up in a house on the market with internet. They came to me the other day asking for English classes because the engineers in charge are coming from China and speak English, not Spanish. In return for giving them classes, hopefully they will share their internet and I’ll be a little bit more connected!!

That’s about it for now. Things are going well here and I’m feeling settled back in. I hope everyone had a happy Mardi Gras and that it was a little dryer and warmer than Carnaval here. Hello to all!

All my love,

Kerry

Flying Water Balloons....

It has been a bit of a lonely 10 days since Mom and Dad left. It was so great to have someone to talk to 24/7, access to internet to talk to my friends, etc. When they left I was thrown back into the isolation of Zhoray, but now a little more isolated since I’m living in the subcentro and I got back just in time for the weekend when the subcentro staff leaves for Azogues. Luckily I get to keep the subcentro phone with me whenever they leave, so while I can’t call anyone, I can receive calls and got to talk to my parents a lot.

Last Saturday, two kids came up to bake bread with me. It’s nice because since I’m not in somebody else’s house, I can invite anybody I want to come up, so it was different kids than usual. I was sad that Nayeli wasn’t allowed to come up and that she has to suffer/be punished for the situation. Hopefully with a little time they’ll be over it and let her hang out with me again. Until then, I will hopefully make other friends in the community and broaden the group of people I hang out with.

While it is a little lonely at times, I really do like living here at the subcentro. The privacy is great and I was ready for it, and the conversations with the subcentro staff are much different than those in town. Instead of petty gossip about people, we have conversations about traditions, religion, consciences, and more. I didn’t realize how much I missed that until I was around it again.

The other thing I really love about the subcentro is my food independence. I have been baking and cooking again and am so much happier. Not only does it make me happy because it’s something I love to do, but just in the last week I feel so much healthier and stronger from having reasonably portioned meals full of veggies and steering clear of mountains of rice. I made pasta with chicken and fresh marinara and veggie sauce, learning that you actually have to COOK the tomatoes, not just blend them J. Once that happened, it was quite tasty! I also made chicken and black bean burritos on fresh, homemade flour tortillas. That with veggies cooked in mole powder and fresh mozzarella, mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! Almost like real Mexican food! As far as baking goes, I made a ton of banana bread, which is always a hit. I also tried an orange cake, which turned out well, and Pilsener (beer) bread, which was very good. The Pilsener bread was an even bigger hit when I made it into French Toast for the subcentro staff. While I’m making most of my own food, Lucy, Martha and I each cook one day for the others. That means I’m still at the liberty of some food, like the pig liver I had the other day, but overall it is working well and they are getting to try a lot of new foods.

It is Carnaval now, as it has been for the last 5 or so weeks. During Carnaval, people throw water balloons at each other, dump buckets of water, spray Carioca (a foamy spray), and all sorts of things. Thursday was the last day of work for the subcentro staff before the ferriado for Carnaval, so they won’t be back until Wednesday. Since it was there last day, we played Carnaval for most of the day. By the end, we were all dripping wet, covered with egg, flour, tapioca and yogurt. It was a sticky, fun mess!

After the subcentro staff left, Nayeli came up and got to try some of the French Toast, which she also loved. We then went down into town to hang out for a few minutes with Cora and the kids before mass. There has been mass twice a day all week for the Holy week here, so I went to a few of them. It was nice to go on Thursday to be around so many people instead of just being alone in the subcentro. Thursday was the procession through town, stopping for prayers at all of the houses that set out altars. It was a very nice mass, and the church was beautifully decorated.

Since the subcentro staff won’t be back until Wednesday, I have made a few goals to keep myself busy and not get lonely. There is a lot of baking planned with different kids from town, Cora is in need of some more strict training, and there are different Carnaval activities happening. Tomorrow is the huge Carnaval fiesta in Zhoray, so it should be a lot of cold, wet, fun! It supposedly starts early and goes well into the night. I’m still unclear about what else happens surrounding Carnaval, but I’m guessing there are more events because Tuesday is the actual day of Carnaval.

Hopefully after Carnaval, I will be able to be more productive with work. The holidays are definitely something I’m not used to and while some are fun, it is very frustrating as far as work goes. It seems like every other week there is another holiday or fiesta, so nobody is working, everything shuts down to celebrate, and all organization is gone. It makes it very difficult to have anything consistent happen, so I think I will have more success with individual charlas rather than any long-term groups. I’m still hopeful that a group with kids will be more successful than the older community members, but again, I have to wait until after Carnaval to be able to start anything.

There is a company coming into to town to build a new hydro-electric dam, so 300 men are supposed to be coming to live and work here for 3 years. That will significantly increase the population of the community and should be interesting. The good news with that (although I still am not holding my breath) is that Lucy said we are supposed to be getting Internet because the company is bringing Internet for the men. We’ll see if it actually happens, but it sure would make staying in touch a lot easier!

I miss everyone very much, but things are still going well here overall. My computer weather update for C Springs is stuck at 20 degrees and snow from when I last had wireless, so I can’t say I’m missing the cold, but I hope it’s warming up a bit for all of you! A very, very happy Carnaval birthday to Mary and hello to everyone there!

All my love,

Kerry

Mom and Dad visit the middle of the world!

I hardly know where to begin because these last few weeks have been so trying, busy, and exciting! I certainly continue to feel the roller coaster of emotions, as the training staff guaranteed us in training.

Two weeks ago there was a little incident and I ended up moving out of my house and into the subcentro. Sadly, Pablo accepted a job at a different subcentro, but it is lucky for me because there was then an open room I could move into. It was a tough few days because my family didn’t want me to move, it was difficult to explain to them the move, and I had to readjust to a new place. My room in the subcentro is very quaint and cute, now nicely organized and ready to live in. I have a bathroom right next door, and there is a communal kitchen that I can now cook my own food in. Thanks to Mom and Dad, I have a toaster oven I am bringing back with me, so there are a lot of plans for baking and cooking delicious food that I miss! Little Cora is SO happy at the subcentro because we keep the gate closed and she can ran around the fenced in area all day. There is also another dog that likes to hang about, so they play and frolic together for hours on end! Everything happened just a few days before Mom and Dad came, so I haven’t gotten used to it yet, but I’m ready to go back to Zhoray, settle in, and live peacefully with my pup at the subcentro.

Mom and Dad just left after a fantastic 10 day visit in Ecuador. I met them in Cuenca last Monday, where we explored a little of the gorgeous city, hiked in Cajas National Park, went to some surrounding little towns, and hung out with some of the other PCVs. The weather was beautiful and I think they loved being around all the brilliant flowers and hummingbirds, especially when we saw that Boulder got 24 inches of snow!

From Cuenca we ventured into the campo of Zhoray, which was quite the experience for them. It was so great to finally show them everything I try to explain during phone calls and emails. It can never fully be explained until it is experienced in person, so now they have a good sense of what my life is like in Zhoray. We spent a lot of time with my host family, ate way too much food (resulting in stomach sickness…), hiked around the area, went to a waterfall, and had some quality dog training time J. It was a great 3 nights, but I think we were all ready to head to Quito come Sunday.

In Quito we stayed at a lovely old hotel in the historic district that was more like a museum with so many old paintings and artifact type things. The historic district has nice old buildings and incredible churches. On Monday we went to the Presidential Palace where we got to see the changing of the guards ceremony, which was very elaborate, patriotic and fun to see. The president and VP were both there that day, so they came out onto the balcony to greet the crowd, which was a neat tradition. After the changing of the guards, we went and climbed the Basilica, which I have now done 3 times and don’t get sick of! There is a great view of the entire city from the top of the towers, and the inside stonework is amazing. That night we got to meet up with Mercy to visit the Panecillo, statue of the virgin, then go for a delicious dinner.

On Tuesday, my Mom gave a talk on public health and the environment at a university just outside of Quito. A lot of people attended (including several Peace Corps staff/volunteers), and the overall presentation was great! We got to have lunch with Mercy before she had another meeting, then we went to the Peace Corps office. They got to see the office, meet much of the staff, and we got a lot of things worked out.

We got up early on Wednesday to go to “Mitad del Mundo” with Katrina, which is the site of the equator, the “middle of the world.” It was a fun little touristy activity and we took lots of pics before bussing back into Quito. Mom and I explored the artisan market, avoiding the torrential downpour, then we were able to have dinner with Mercy once more.

I am now in the Cuenca airport using a little internet before I go pick up Cora and head back to Zhoray. Mom and Dad left at 5:30am this morning, which was hard. I already miss them, but it was an incredible time with them here and I feel ready to go back to the campo and continue working. Work began picking up the week before they came, so I think I will start being more productive now.

We are in Carnaval season so I will be trying to stay warm by avoiding water balloons, but I guess it still isn’t as cold as in CO! I hope you are all surviving and enjoying the snow!

Ciao,

Kerry

 Lake at Cajas National Park

 Waterfall at Monay in Sangay National Park

 Walking the grand-baby Cora in Zhoray

 Basilica in Quito

 Cora definitely isn't spoiled or well loved....

 Panecillo in Quito

The Mitad Del Mundo

Viva Zhoray!

The last few weeks have been very busy, fun and exciting! The fiestas in Zhoray to celebrate the parroquialization were even more fun than I hoped for. They lasted from a Saturday evening through that Tuesday afternoon and included many sports tournaments between communities within the parroquia and teams from other parroquias, a horse race, a singing competition, live music, lots of dancing, and of course the crowning of the Queen of Zhoray from the high school. Everyone was out in the streets all day and night for the few days, and there was a festive atmosphere in the whole town, helped by the streamers flying everywhere and constant music. Sunday and Monday nights had live artists down in the market, performing well into the night. I spent Sunday hanging out in Suca’s store (which is right on the market), helping with sales and avoiding a few bothersome drunk men. On Monday, the subcentro staff stayed and came down into town for the fiestas, so I hung out with them and the family and we danced until about 2am, having a great time!

After the fiestas, everyone was worn out and there were a few days of downtime before life began to get back to normal. Last week I gave charlas in the school – handwashing to the little kids and sex ed to the older kids. The charlas went really well overall, helped by the fact that all the teachers stayed in the room to help maintain order, answer questions, and be a support in general. The 8-hour training of how to wash your hands during reconnect came in handy because the kids had a lot of fun with the different activities during the charla. The older kids learned from the puberty charla, but had a lot of questions about where babies come from, etc, so there is definitely a need for continued sex ed charlas. It was a good start for my charlas, and next week I have 3 more in the schools in other communities where we will be doing hand washing again.

Nobody showed up for the nutrition charla that I had planned with the women health volunteers, which was a little disappointing, but there is another meeting scheduled for next Thursday with the Ministry of Agriculture, so hopefully they all come to prepare for our garden. The girls group had much more success. About 10 girls came to the first taller, which was about effective communication, and had a great time. The next meeting was with Katrina to teach them how to make wallets out of bottle wrappers and other recycled materials, which most of them came to. Last Thursday wasn’t as successful, but I think the group will continue to be successful now that we will be meeting only on Tuesdays – many of the girls have to help their families get ready for the Friday market, so Thursdays are not a very realistic day for them to meet.  Many of the women are growing interested in the crafts I’m teaching, so I’ve been spending a lot of time sharing with them. The paper beads have been a huge hit, and there is still a lot of interest in the wallets, so I think that will be something I work on a lot in the next few weeks.

It is still very difficult getting much else started, but I’m continuing to try. I think I might try to start a group with kids from the school to meet once a week, and I will be talking with the woman who is in charge of CNH for the kids under 5-yrs-old to see if I can work on health topics with her and the kids during their classes. The garden is a lot of work, especially since the women have yet to show up and Zoila and I are doing everything. There is still a lot to be done before we’re even ready to plant, and we got the bad news from the Ministry of Agriculture that they can’t give us the fencing we need to keep stray chickens out, so we are still looking around for other sources for the fencing. Little by little, however, it’s coming along, and I think it will be great once it’s ready!

Katrina, a Peace Corps friend, came for a tech-exchange visit for a few days this past week, which went really well! We spent a lot of time just sharing ideas and projects, teaching each other various crafts for our youth groups, and just hanging out. She loved the gorgeous view here (hard not to…), and the town loved having her visit, especially my family! They were chattier than I’ve ever seen when she was here and devastated when she left, after just 2 days of knowing her. They are still talking about her, when she’ll be back, if we can go visit her on the coast, etc, so I’d say it was a successful visit. The only part she wasn’t psyched about was the heaping plate of intestines that we got served for both lunch and dinner one day. By now I have learned to eat pretty much anything set in front of me, so I even let her sneak a little bit of extra intestine on my plate when the family wasn’t looking…mmmmm, mmmm, mmmmm. I also got to have the leche colostro from the cow this week because she gave birth to a darling little calf named Catalina. The milk was the first milk from the cow, but then left for 5 days before cooked and sweetened. It was…interesting. Not too bad, but I’m glad that it’s only immediately after the cow gives birth because I won’t be having more any time soon.

Cora is growing quickly, but is still adorable and I am so happy having her. I try to only go to town on Saturdays because Nayeli doesn’t have class and can watch her so she isn’t stuck in the room alone all day. Last time I went and came back Cora barely got up to greet me, so I’d say she had a great time playing with Nayeli and will hopefully be the same way today! I found out that a large company is coming into town soon – potentially this week – to do some sort of electric work. That means that all the workers will be staying in town, and my house is highly sought after. Since they will be renting out the other rooms in my hallway, I will be moving out of my room in Napo’s house and down into another room in Zoila and Suca’s house. The move didn’t happen earlier because the dog isn’t too welcome in the other room, but Zoila has assured me that it will be fine. The new arrangements will have Cora tied out on the terrace during the day when I’m not home, and she can still sleep in my room with me at night. It will probably end up better for her because she’ll have more time outside where she can see what’s happening and have more company from passing kids. I’m happy to move down into their house, the only downside being that I’ll lose my own bathroom, but I’ll be able to deal with that.

Everything is going really well with the family. I work in the garden with Zoila whenever I can, and we recently made a fenced enclosure for all her chickens and our new ducks. I have two little ducklings, a little yellow one and a little grey one. Zoila is very, very handy and can construct almost anything, so the enclosure is really neat and has a perfect little concrete pool she made for our ducklings. If I have a lot of work to do for Peace Corps or the subcentro, I still try to go up to the land with her in the mornings and do my work up there, keeping her company and letting Cora run free. I spend a lot of time in the later afternoons and evenings with Suca and Nayeli chatting, playing Uno, helping with the store and cooking, and just generally hanging out. I really enjoy spending time with them and rarely lock myself in my room anymore – I still laugh when I think of what a big change it has been in the 5 months since I first got here to Zhoray. While I like spending time with my family here, they certainly aren’t my family from home and I can’t wait for my parents to visit! Just 9 days now (not that I’m counting…) before I meet them in Cuenca and get to share my new life with them!  This week will be full of charlas, Peace Corps reports, and everyone’s growing excitement for their visit J.

I hope everyone at home is doing well. Thanks for all the continued support – I love hearing from everyone! I miss you all and hope you’re doing well.

All my love,

Kerry

CUYES roasting on an open fire....

Christmas came and went, rather uneventful. There were many events leading up to Christmas Day, but Christmas Day itself was very tranquila. Most of the day was spent preparing the food, which we then ate at separate times because eating together is not something important in Zhoray. The menu included roasted cuy (guinea pigs) and potatoes with a side of chicken innards soup. Mmmm, mmmm, MMMM! I have gotten pretty good at eating most things, and luckily Suca tends to give me normal pieces of meat, so my soup had a chicken wing instead of feet. I ate alone, but the grandma felt bad for me, so she sat at the table with me and forced some skin and intestines into me.

Nayelli and I baked a ton of Christmas cookies, which were a big hit with everyone. We made the traditional cookies with the star and gingerbread man cookie cutters we had, then we also made peanut butter cookies with a chocolate center and gingersnaps. They all turned out well based on the ingredient improvisation! I now have some more cookie cutters (thanks Grandma and Grandpa!), so we already have plans for another round of cookies.

With Christmas passed, things have been more back to normal. I still don’t have a lot of work right now because the high school is on vacation and the doctor isn’t in the subcentro. I have been working on preparing for upcoming charlas on nutrition and sex ed, so have been working mostly on my own.

Since the schools are on vacation, the kids are all hanging in town during the day, so I’ve been spending a lot of time with them. They all adore Cora, which is great for all of us because they wear her out running around with her in the park whenever we leave the house. Nayelli continues to love Cora and we are both working on her training. She is now very good at sitting and sits whenever she wants anything (so you know she wants something when she’s just sitting and staring). She has also gotten pretty good at shaking hands on command, so she will be quite the polite pup! It is the more important and difficult ones we’re still working on: come, stay, and no biting! Luckily she plays really well with the kids and doesn’t gnaw on them, but my hands are a different story…we’re working on it.

At night I have been playing with the regular group of kids in the park. We play a lot of tag, hide and seek, and the other night I got to play their version of truth and dare/spin the bottle. They are a much more reserved culture here than in the U.S., so the only dares included giving kisses on the cheek, which is their greeting here, so nothing out of the ordinary. They love that I’m out there playing with them, and it’s fun for me and gives me something to do at night.

New Year’s was much more exciting here than Christmas. The preparations all started right after Christmas, which included building structures and putting together dolls. My family built a replica dump truck from wood and paper and dolls of all the brothers in the family. The dolls are like scarecrows, made from clothes stuffed with cardboard and paper. The dolls all have masks that are similar to paper mache and are usually goofy. There was a big party on New Year’s Eve in the market, which included music, dancing, games, contests, skits, etc. At midnight, the structures and dolls (now doused in gasoline) were all set on fire and there were big bonfires all around. Burning dolls of a specific person is believed to bring them luck for the new year. It was a fun night!

With all the vacations, I have been working more on the land with Zoila. The other day we put up fencing for the ducks-to-be. We are just waiting to pour cement for their pool, then we will each be getting two ducklings to accompany all the chickens up on the land. The machine that was supposed to till the plot for my garden just broke down, so we’ll see if it will be fixed soon or if it will become a project to do by hand. I have sent out some oficios asking for a few more supplies for the garden before we’re ready to plant. Luckily there is no critical timeline because planting season is year-round here!

Today is the first of four days of fiestas in Zhoray to celebrate 102 years of parroquialization. The fiestas include crowning of the “Reina de Zhoray,” or the queen of Zhoray from the high school, sports tournaments, a parade, and who knows what else! There has been a little carnival set up for a few days now outside in the market with two little rides and games for the kids, but I’m not sure what else is coming. It should be a lot of fun!

In the upcoming week, I have a hygiene and sex ed charla in the central school, a nutrition charla with the group of volunteers, and hopefully a successful meeting with the girls from the high school. A good Peace Corps friend, Katrina, is coming to visit next weekend and do a tech exchange to teach us how to make the wallets out of coke bottle wrappers and to learn a bit about the gardening here. It will be a lot of fun to have her here and share my life in Zhoray! The countdown until Mom and Dad get here is getting smaller – they will be here in just 3 weeks! I can’t wait, and luckily there is a lot going on between now and then to help pass the time.

That’s about all for now – I’ve got to run because little Cora stayed home in Zhoray today with Nayelli, so I have to get home to her! I miss you all had wonderful holidays and everything is going well in the States!

Kerry

Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

Christmas is already here – it seems to have snuck up. It has been a difficult week leading up to Christmas because I miss home much more than I thought I would, but luckily there are a lot of great things happening here in Zhoray to help keep my mind off of it!

The biggest news is that I have a new furry friend, Cora Cavanaugh. The volunteer nearest me, Brittney, gifted me a puppy for Christmas. She is an adorable little thing and so much fun to have around. As much as my family here questions why I didn’t get an expensive purebred, I saved Cora from being poisoned in the home she was in, and I couldn’t have hoped for a cuter pup! She is very young, probably 7 weeks old now, but seems to be doing well.  Her name Cora comes from the Spanish word for Corazon (heart) because she has a black, heart-shaped spot on one side. It has been an exhausting first week with her because she’s still a little baby and cries a lot at night, but she is definitely getting better. It is nice that she’s young because she sleeps a lot right now, so I can leave her in my room to go to work or hang out with the family for little periods at a time and she just sleeps in her bed. In another month she will be able to stay outside more, but she is still missing two rounds of vaccines, so I don’t want her near too many dogs because I know that the dogs here have not had their vaccines. While Suca doesn’t like her and Zoila pretends to not like her, Nayelli is in love with her. Whenever I’m not working, Nayelli is in my room playing with us or taking her to run around in the park with me. She was just the friend I needed to keep me company during the lonely times.

Work here picked up a tad bit, but everything seems to have stopped now for the holidays. I had a meeting with the health volunteers and 7 actually showed up, the most yet. We talked a lot about reorganizing the group and beginning anew with me in charge instead of the doctor. There were many ill-feelings towards the group because it has been poorly organized in the past, but I think they are slowly understanding that I am fully committed and they shared a lot of ideas about things they want to work on and learn. We are only going to meet once a month for now because some of them have to travel so far to get to meetings that it isn’t possible to come more often. Once projects begin, though, hopefully some of them from the center will want to work more. My group with the girls didn’t have quite as much success because not a single girl showed up to the first week of meetings. I knew it was not good timing because it was the week before the holidays, so I’m not too discouraged and will just try to start again when they are back in school. The garden is progressing slowly, but we should be ready to plant within a few weeks!

As far as the holidays go, a lot has been happening. Last weekend was the Christmas program organized by the Cooperativa. I was selected as one of the judges for the Princesita contest there, which is basically a beauty contest. It was an interesting experience seeing these tiny girls dressed up like dolls, but they all won prizes and seemed to have fun. After the Princesita election, we had mass outside at the Cooperativa, then there were sports competitions for the men all day, so people just hung out a lot in the market. I want to mass again that night for the first night of Novena, the series of services leading up to Christmas. We had a little procession up to a house near the subcentro where mass was held. In the last week, I have been to mass 4 times with much more coming tonight, tomorrow and Christmas. The new priest in town is really great and I like his sermons, and the services and music are really pretty in Spanish, so I have been choosing to most of the times when Suca and Nayelli go.

On Wednesday we had the big Christmas fiesta for the entire parroquia (county). The kids from all the schools dressed up as Christmas characters from the nativity and there was a huge procession from where the virgin is to the church. Hundreds of people were in the parade and the outfits were great! There were a lot of “Mary’s” on horseback with babies, live donkeys and sheep, and my favorite were the little kids dressed as sheep! While most people were in church, I helped the subcentro decorate and organize the stage for the Princesita contest (yes, another). The contest was for girls 6-8 years old from the whole parroquia. The contest took a few hours because we hired clowns to come out during “judging” to entertain everyone. The clowns were a huge hit and stayed for a long time. After the Princesita contest, there were tons and tons of little games and contests for the kids. All of the authorities had organized to buy toys, so all the kids who were there received at least 1 Christmas present, which is the only one many of them will get. It was a really fun day and I’m glad that I chose to stay in town for Christmas and see it.

I had a nice Secret Santa exchange and dinner in Azogues with the subcentro staff last night, and we have holiday party for the whole Azogues area next Friday, which should be fun. Not much else has been happening here, just holiday preparations and celebrations.

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays and sending my love from Ecuador!

Kerry

 Baby Cora :)

A Few More Pics