Crappy Resilience

For the past week, I’ve been debating whether to share the following story.  It’s not one of those fairy tale, life-is-a-pleasant-adventure-in-Ecuador stories, but it is something that needs to be told because the hard lessons are the ones that we learn from the most.

Last week, while my parents were visiting, we were robbed.  It wasn’t an intense robbery at gunpoint, nor was it a story where we realized the next day that some things were missing.  Almost the moment it happened we realized that a backpack had been taken and yet we were powerless to recover it.  It began with poop being thrown at us, and then the Andean drug that it contained, burundanga (scopolamine), kicked in and made us compliant with any suggestion of those who were robbing us.  First they feigned kindness—pulling out tissues to help us clean off the poop.  But moments later they had whisked away the backpack and left us still half covered with crap.

As soon as I realized what happened, I tried to chase them down, yelling in Spanish “Thieves!  They stole my backpack!”  I even chased a bus a whole block only to find that they weren’t actually on that bus.  By now the backpack and the camera, jackets, and umbrellas it contained are long gone, but the memory remains.  I didn’t want to forgive them at the time for doing something so despicable.  I didn’t want to trust anyone anymore, and because of the drug they used, all I wanted to do for the rest of the day was cry.

But with time come perspective and the ability to forgive.  And as hard as it is to believe, I also have to admit that God let this happen to us for a reason.  At the same time He protected us from anything worse happening.  The struggle to move on from experiences like this one reminds me time and again that we live by faith.  We live each day with the faith that an earthquake or tornado won’t suddenly destroy our house.  We live by faith that our job will still exist tomorrow and that crops won’t fail to extent that we can’t find food.  Far too often we take these things for granted.  And then every once in a while, the earthquake hits or there is a car accident or someone robs us and our world stands still for a moment.  It’s hard to move on and be optimistic.  Sometimes we need to cry it out and be angry at the world for a while.

But then there comes the time to move on.  We call it resilience—bouncing back from whatever happens.  In reality, it isn’t a quick bounce but instead slow, feeble steps toward solid ground.  Walking down the street again, smiling or making small talk on the bus—these are the very things the worst Thief wants to steal.  But I refuse to let him steal my joy.  As long as God gives me breath on this earth, I’m going to live with joy and will not cave into fear, especially fear of those who cannot touch my soul.  Yes, I’ll be careful and prudent, but Jesus never said that following him would be safe or easy.  He promised us something better—that he will never leave us nor forsake us.  And that’s why I can walk by faith.

Waterfalls

For the past two weeks in Ecuador it has been raining.  I don’t mean the cloudy-all-day-no-sun rain, but “winter” aka the rainy season, Ecuador style.  Every morning I wake up to a brilliant sun and any clouds that existed at 6am are burned off by 8am when I’m headed to the bus.  To an outsider, it would appear that rain showers would be impossible.  But between noon and 1pm, without fail, it starts raining—sometimes with a downpour and thunder and sometimes even with hail.  If you ever want an example of the phrase “appearances are deceptive,” I’ve got a great one—Ecuador weather.

The upshot of all this is that more rain=larger, faster rivers=better waterfalls.  Last weekend, during Easter break I spent some time with a family in Pintag, and we hiked through a river canyon to several spectacular waterfalls.  From now on, when people talk about the beauty of Ecuador, these waterfalls will be one of the things I think of, along with the volcanoes, jungle, and patchwork fields on mountainsides.  So, come along for a picture tour of the hike out to the waterfalls.

And not to overlook my countdown...

1 day until my parents arrive

65 days 'til I meet a new niece or nephew in Michigan!

Now let the waterfall tour begin...

Hiking down into the river valley

The adventurers - on a more well-beaten trail

The first waterfall - more of an occasional, rainy season addition to the river below

Another small waterfall

Under the waterfall (pretending that we like the ice cold water!)

Valeria and her sister stand on a tree beside the river

We came across some horses on our hike, and someone convinced me to mount this one bareback

First river crossing (the second was up to my waist!)

Wilson went fishing for river trout every chance we got along the way.

The first major waterfall

Second major waterfall

The Waterfall!  We could hear it a 1/2 mile away!

Lunch break at 2pm on the return journey.

Looking down on the largest waterfall in the distance.  It started raining right after lunch, so we opted to hike straight up the canyon wall, with some bouldering and scrambling included.  We arrived back at the house 6 hours after we left and completely exhausted.

Fanesca

After responding to the question "How is Easter celebrated in Ecuador" about 30 times, I decided it was urgent to upload some pictures and tell the story of fanesca.  Although there is much more to the Easter celebration (parades, vigils, and probably other things I don't know about), fanesca is one thing that is uniquely Ecuadorian and, honestly, it fascinates me.

For anyone who doesn't like reading much, the short explanation of fanesca is "a soup made of lots of legumes and fish and served during lent, especially on Good Friday."  And here is the picture:

For those who want the whole story, here it goes, with help from random Ecuadorian friends, wikipedia, and a Spanish website (which actually tells more versions of the story and includes a recipe)...

The origin of Fanesca goes back beyond the arrival of the Spanish and the introduction of Christianity to South America.  Indigenous people used to make fanesca (called uchucuta in the native tongue) to celebrate the the spring equinox, but with the advent of Christianity, Ecuadorians switch the "special significance" of the soup to more religious themes.  Although there are innumerable variations on the soup, the typical recipe leads to a green squash zapallo and milk broth in which 12 types of hulled legumes and  fish are cooked.  Depending on who you talk to, the 12 grains either represent the 12 tribes of Israel or the 12 apostles, whose testimony nourishes the world.  And as you might have already guessed, the fish represents Jesus.  Some of the grains/legumes are given special significance.  For example, chochos (firm white beans) are bitter and normally have to be washed for about a week before eaten.  Thus they represent the bitter betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot.

The chochos used for our Good Friday fanesca

My Ecuadorian fanesca experience began with a bus ride out to Valencia near Pintag, a farming community outside of Quito.  A family had invited me and my coworker, Edwin, to join them in making fanesca, which is a family event comparable to Thanksgiving because a) the whole family gets involved and b) everyone is STUFFED after the meal.  People joke that you don't need to eat for three days after a bowl of fanesca soup.

We actually arrived after most of the work was finished, but I learned how to take corn off the cob with my fingers instead of a knife, and then took pictures of all the ingredients, to the amusement of my hosts.  They also allowed me to pose by the pot of boiling soup to pretend that I knew how to cook fanesca.

Cleaning up after the legume-hulling party with a bucket of potatoes for the fanesca in the foreground.

The leftovers from the real work of hulling, completed before my arrival

Edwin and I help take corn kernels off the cob

I'm stirring the soup over a wood stove (and actually standing right next to some guinea pigs!)

More ingredients: fava beans and the corn I helped to de-cob

peanuts in a bag next to a pot of liquefied garlic and green onion (which is called white onion here!)

Lentils

Peas...and that concludes the legumes.  Maybe there were only 6 apostles!?

Fish...fresh trout from a nearby river! Yum!

Around 1:30pm, everything was ready, and we sat in a large circle around a tiny table to enjoy the soup.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the aji, aka hot sauce.  That bowl on the left was completely devoured in about 20 minutes!

As is typical in an Ecuadorian lunch, the soup is just the appetizer before the segundo(second plate)/seco(dry, in contrast to "wet" soup)/arroz(rice, referring to the fact that the entree comes with rice about 95% of the time).  I suppose arroz wouldn't be the correct word this time around, because the segundo was molo, described in English as mashed potatoes with hard-boiled egg and avacado on a bed of lettuce.

Last but not least comes a dessert of either arroz con leche (rice with milk) or higos con queso (figs with cheese).  The first is more appealing to most gringos, but I beg to differ because the higos are boiled to perfection in honey, cinnamon, and cloves!  This picture actually comes from an experience on the Santo Domingo medical brigade I helped out with--no one else near me wanted higos, so they all offered theirs to me.  Don't worry, I didn't finish them all.

They gave me arroz con leche in a cup that reads, "I [heart] my Mom." So True!

Surrounded by 4 servings of higos con queso

One of 2 servings I actually finished.

Well, now you have the whole story, and I'll add to the previous list of upcoming blogs a post about waterfalls.  Let's just say that waiting 3 days to eat after fanesca was impossible after the nature hike the next day.

Three Weeks in Review

My apologies to any still- faithful blog follower—three weeks without a single post is quite pathetic.  I find it interesting that just when I have so much to write about, I end up being nearly too busy to write anything.  I hope to change that soon, and you can look for a number of blog posts in the coming week to detail the interesting and exciting things that have consumed my time since I last wrote.  In the meantime, here’s a 3-week review, with details to follow.

Week 1: Medical Interpreting

Thanks to a stint working as a Steward for the World Communion of Reformed Churches, I can inform you of the difference between translating and interpreting.  In my line of work, most of my bilingual skills go into translating—taking the written word in one language and transferring it into another.  The key word is written (or I suppose, typed)!  Interpreting, on the other hand is all about listening and speaking, and most importantly, remembering in between.  I had never spent a prolonged amount of time facilitating the verbal communication between two groups, so agreeing to do so with medical terminology mixed in was a bit of a stretch (bringing  back memories of AP bio—my last life science class).  I can now say that I have interpreting experience, though translating entire 5 minute run-on paragraphs in a satisfactory manner is still a struggle.  I like to think it would be for anyone, though.

Week 2: Quito Training Graduation and Las Mercedes Business Plan Reviews

I got back from medical interpreting on Friday evening so that I could attend the Quito business training class graduation on Saturday.  That class was a bit of a whirlwind because the Partners Worldwide local affiliate that I work for, Partners for Christian Development – Ecuador (PCD-E), decided to teach the entire class in 3 full Saturdays, instead of 12 mornings.  The class went extremely well and I think we will keep the new format with some tweaks, but it sure helped to make the last month fly by.

That Wednesday my co-worker, Edwin, left for another trip to Las Mercedes.  He has been making monthly trips since January to teach the business classes, and since the March class, 12 people submitted business plans.  I helped Edwin review a couple, and he spent 3 days last week in Las Mercedes to hold a graduation ceremony and go over edits and questions on the business plans.  I’m looking forward to visiting personally either in May or June to see the results of all Edwin’s work.

Week 3: Looking Ahead

I never knew that April was the prime time to plan the next year, but I’m finding out quite quickly.  This afternoon we are reviewing the annual plan with the PCD-E board of directors, I’m gathering documents to renew my visa for another year, and plans are moving along for the annual visit from the Global Business Affiliate (US business supporters and mentors) that will happen in June.

In the meantime, I figure I might as well start the countdown to two other events:

11 days until my parents arrive for a week-long visit to Ecuador, and

75 days until I arrive in the US and get to meet a new baby niece or nephew!

I’m not usually one for countdowns, but these two events definitely are worth being excited about.  So there’s the quick summary of life as I know it, and watch for posts on Medical Interpreting in Santo Domingo, an Interview on Asomavision, Business Training in Quito, Businesses in Las Mercedes, A Weekend in Sardinas, and Fanesca--a Holy Week Treat.

Rucu Pichincha

Last week my friend Sarah called and asked if I wanted to climb Pichincha sometime this week.  My response was, "Sure, just tell me when."  She and another friend are leaving Ecuador in the next few months, so we're trying to get in a few last adventures before they leave.  As a result, I found my self in a cable car going up to 4100m (13,450 feet) at 9 o'clock yesterday morning.  At that point, I was pretty much at the highest elevation I had ever reached, but it was only the start of our climb.  From the top of the cable car we could look down on the ant-sized Quito skyscrapers and also had a clear view of Rucu Pichincha towering in the distance.  We started hiking along a clear trail, following the path of thousands who had made the trip before us.

About 3 hours later, we found ourselves at an impasse.  We had already passed the highest point Sarah had reached, and Alana and I had never attempted Pichincha before.  Looking around we found what looked like a pass and decided to go for it.  When we reached the pass, we didn't find anything else that looked like a path, and up above us there was only black volcanic rock.  Refusing to give up, we decided that the only way to go was up, and we started rock climbing.  There were always good holds and enough of an incline, but it definitely made me glad to have taken a rock climbing class in college.  A half hour later, I saw two poles up above, and we assumed that if there was anything to see, it must be that.

Success!!! We had reached the summit in a somewhat unorthodox manner.  About 5 minutes later a Swiss German couple who started a while after us showed up from a different approach, having found the actual trail with their high-tech climbing map.  Even though the clouds had rolled in and we couldn't see anything below us, it was thrilling to actually summit a mountain and know that we were at the top of at least that small part of the world.

Conquistadoras de Rucu Pichincha!

We concluded that we were tough mountain climbing women for having taken the path less traveled by, but decided to follow the Swiss on the way back for a safer descent.  By about 5pm I was back home, exhausted but content with my first real mountain climbing adventure!

Pausing for a picture on the descent as we follow the climbing-savy Swiss Germans