There are tapirs in the background, btw. I know, hard to see, but super chévere.
After we took the truck taxi back to the main section of Guallabamba, we walked around a little bit looking for a place to eat. We ended up at a pretty "fancy" restaurant. By "fancy" I mean that it cost more than $1.50 for an almuerzo. The town is apparently known for their locro, which is like potato soup. So Rachele and I shared the soup and a main course. The soup came with a side of avocado and cheese and boy was that stuff delicious. Total, the seven of us ate heartily for $23.50. Pretty chévere. We were also told by Daniel and Martha that we had to try out this thing called "custard apples." Turns out what they were referring to is a fruit that it is neither an apple, nor is there custard involved. It's a fruit called chirimoya. You break it open and there are large, fruit-covered seeds. It was pretty good, but almost too sweet for my liking. We finished out the trip at the ice cream store and then headed home. All in all I think I calculated the cost of the trip to be less than $12. Worth it? Heck. Yes.
Then on Sunday I walked to the Mennonite Church for their 10:30 service. It only took me 20 minutes to get there. Not too bad. Arrived a little early and didn't really know what was going on, but people could tell I was a gringa and it was my first time. They were all so very welcoming. There's another gringa there through Mennonite Mission Network. There's also a gringo there. I have no idea if he's there through a program or just for the heck of it, but he is one of the two guitarists in the church. The service was a lot like a typical Mennonite service. Singing, introductions, responsive reading, scripture, sermon, joys and concerns, etc. Turns out that the couple that founded the church and are the normal pastors are in the states right now studying at seminary somewhere. Couldn't understand everything that was happening in the service, but the atmosphere felt good. I knew this church was the one for me in Quito when we ended up singing "Tú has venido a la orilla," which is what us cousins sang at my Grandpa's funeral a little over a year ago. What are the odds? I'm definitely going to go back to that church throughout the semester.
Made it through another week of classes. Rearranged my schedule a little bit again. Dropped Social Problems in Ecuador. It's full of gringos, but basically everyone is International Relations/Studies. I'm just Biology. It was a little too much politics for me and the language was a little more advanced than what I was used to. I couldn't think of things fast enough to actively participate in class. I mean I don't really understand politics in English let alone Spanish. Haha. So I dropped it. Then I transferred from Advanced Conversation to Intermediate Conversation. It's been so long since I've actually taken a Spanish class that I find myself hesitant to talk because I don't want to make mistakes, even though I know that mistakes are the best way to learn. Anyway, Advanced Conversation sounds intimidating enough already that I thought that would be a bad way to start out. Intermediate Conversation fits in my schedule where Social Problems used to be, so now my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons as well as my Wednesday afternoons are open to volunteer.
Man, am I excited to volunteer, or what?!?! That is not sarcastic font. I am being completely serious. I am volunteering three afternoons a week in the valley of Tumbaco with an after-school soccer program for young boys anywhere from the age of like 10-18. It's the same program Greg worked with when he was there. Wesley, another girl in the BCA group is volunteering as well. On Tuesday the program director, Galo, took us on a tour of the area in the town where we will be volunteering. It is a very low economic section, but Galo said he doesn't like calling the kids poor because somewhere they have parents that are working and the kids have futures. He doesn't want to label them because they might feel hindered by a label. Very cool ideology. What's also cool is that the program is in the midst of doing paperwork that will officially make them a club! The program doesn't get any money from the players which makes it hard to buy equipment and rent a field, so their facility right now is a dirt field. When we were taking our tour, Galo would stop the car every now and then, honk, and then greet the kids who came out of their houses. He told them all that practice would start Thursday, and then the parted with their secret man handshake (manshake). I knew right then and there that dedicating three afternoons a week to this program would be well worth my time and effort. I wanted to be a part of this.
So I went to volunteer today after school. Galo and the trainer (coach), Andres, picked me up from the University and took me to the field. Andres is from Colombia and let me tell you, they have a way different accent from there. I can understand Ecuadorians. They talk slowly enough and enunciate. I had to have Andres repeat like everything. Same goes for the kid from the Dominican Republic. Couldn't understand half the things he said. That's OK, though. I'll get better. We ran around the field for warm up, stretched, and then did some basic passing and shooting drills. Then we scrimmaged for about an hour and I got to play with them. It was so much fun. They have so much energy, and some of them are quite talented for their age. All in all it was a very enjoyable experience and I am super excited to continue to work with this program. Daniel warned me that sometimes they can be a little disorganized because Galo is involved in like a bazillion other projects, but I'm flexible and patient so it'll be cool.
Going to Mindo this weekend.
Lizzie
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