Welcome to Huayrapungo...

It’s happened again. Somehow, I’ve managed to be here in Ecuador for 3 weeks and I still haven’t mentioned the kids I am here to teach (yes…I am actually teaching here and not just ziplining upside-down!)

So, without further ado…I’d like to introduce you to Huayrapungo, my school in Ecuador.

A few days before I left Guatemala, the project director, Dom, gave me a warning: Do not try to compare one project with the next. They are all completely different and that is what makes them all wonderful.

So of course, I nodded just as any good volunteer would do but to be honest, I was thinking “how different can they be? All kids who I can just barely understand. All adorable. All school.” Right? Wrong. Definitely should have listened to Dom.

Honduras was world’s away from Guatemala and sometimes, it feels like Ecuador is in a different galaxy altogether. And it is apparent even before you arrive.

So I have a 1.5 hour drive up to the school every day. They key word there being UP. We drive straight up the Andes mountains and to say the view is incredible almost feels insulting. On a clear day, I can see a snow covered volcano that is more that 5 hours away. That would be like being able to see from Minneapolis to Madison on a clear day. Can you imagine?

Of course, I’ve tried to take some pictures and of course, they do it no justice whatsoever…

About 20 minutes before we arrive at the school, we stop at this little house on the side of the mountain. Suddenly, about 9 kids from age 1 to 13 come racing out and pile into our van. And guess what. They are ALL siblings!

The big ones carry the little ones. The middle ones fight for the best seat on the van. And within 30 seconds, the entire van smells like a campfire.

Surprise, surprise, the view from the school is BEAUTIFUL.

But for any of you out there who have visions of Ecuador being warm, think again. It is freezing. Freezing. I mean like two long sleeve shirts, scarf, polar fleece, long underwear, jeans and sometimes a hat and mittens freezing. Huayapungo actually means “Door to the wind” (or something very close to that!). Moral of the story: If you ever decide to teach high up in the Andes mountains, bring a coat.

Now one thing that makes this school very different from the others is that it is a) tiny and b) it’s actually summer school right now so it’s even tinier! The entire enrollment of the school from 5-years-old to 14 is about 26 kids and during summer school, we average right around 15.

Also, for the last two schools, I have been teaching 2^nd graders. Sweet little second graders who still think their teachers are cool and learning is fun.

Now? I am faced with 5^th, 6^th and 7^th graders! Lucky for me, these kids are really great. But don’t get me wrong, attitude with pre-teens is universal and trust me when I tell you, I am SO not cool to these kids.

Teaching 6^th graders has had its challenges and it’s benefits.

Challenges:

• I think they are actually more advanced than I am at math. We are talking angles in a triangle, Algebra, the works. And it doesn’t help that it’s all in Spanish.

• My only real reinforcement tool I brought with me are little stickers from the Target sticker books. Now they're are worth their weight in gold for 2^nd graders. Not so much for these kids. Gotta figure something out there…

Benefits:

• It really is so fun to see that these kids are so smart! Sometimes I forget that they aren’t 8 and I can’t believe what they can do. It’s amazing.

• Every Wednesday is computer day. Now as a HUGE computer nerd myself, I cannot tell you how amazing it is to show these kids how to use a computer. Last week was the 4^th time any of my kids had ever even seen a computer in their lives. We have one, old computer that they all gather around. Just doing simple things like changing the color of a font or drawing a smiley face sends them over the edge. I seriously think if you showed these kids the internet or YouTube, they wouldn’t know what to do with themselves!

During the regular school year, local mother’s come up to cook for the kids. But during summer, the responsibility has been put in the hands of us volunteers.

Now while I was growing up, I had very reasonable parents. I didn’t have too many weird rules to follow. So when there were rules, I took them seriously. From what I can remember there were two rules in my household:

• Never use a knife

• Never play with matches

Now these seem to be good rules, right? But the problem is that as a 27-year-old adult, I still cannot cut a bagel or light a fire. This is a slight problem at the school considering we use manually lit gas stoves and big knives.

So, I am on “colada” duty every day. Colada is basically a hot, geletin drink we make for the kids every day with Tang. Imagine hot, Tang-flavored pudding. Anyway, that is my job and I make one mean Colada.

Also because it’s summer school, we actually only teach Monday-Wednesday. Thursday and Friday are maintenance days. We scrub walls, paint, paint more, we are working on a mural and clean the school. Thanks in large part to my iPod speakers, these are actually very fun days! Usually it’s just us volunteers but now and then, the kids help out…

So, there is a very basic overview of the school. Of course I will write soon about my amazing students and why they are all incredible. But for now, here are just some adorable pictures that I couldn’t resist posting…

xoxo,

Debra

Things you tell your parents about AFTER they are done…

Ok…so from the title of this entry, I’m sure you can all tell that I had quite an adventurous weekend that I’m not so sure my parents would have exactly signed the permission slip for. But here’s the thing…there are no permission slips here in Ecuador. Nope. No permission slips. No warning signs. No waivers. Just pure crazy adventure and I’m still here to tell about it!

So this weekend a group of 8 of us went about 3 hours away from Otavalo to a city called Mindo. Now this trip had always been described as really “chill.” I’ll leave it to you all to judge but somehow, ziplining and white water rafting don’t fall into the “chill” category. Ok…let’s back up to Saturday.

We boarded the bus at 8 in Otavalo. I had packed my backpack and a snack bag for the rides (which for any of you who have ever traveled with me, know that this is my most important piece of luggage…my “starvation food”)

Anyway, in the hustle of boarding the bus, I left my starvation food behind at the bus. Just to be clear, despite the fact that during the next two days, I would be flying among sharp rocks and jumping off cliffs tethered to a thin cable, realizing that I had forgotten my snack bag was possibly the most traumatic moment of the trip.

Somehow I made it to Mindo without starving to death (it was a close call). We checked in to our adorable hostel (I am really becoming a hostel connoisseur at this point and this one was great) and grabbed a bite to eat (thank god!).

After about 5 minutes to digest, it was off to zipline on teh back of a pick-up.

I’m sure for some of you, this feels like déjà vu. This is my 3rd ziplining experience since I started this trip but this one was definitely a bit different!

It started out the same. Strap on the “oh-so-fetching” gear, fit on your highly attractive helmet and laugh at the boys who are moaning and groaning about their gear and how it just doesn’t leave much room for error if you know what I mean.

For those of you who don’t…here are some pictures…
So we started on the first line and it was absolutely gorgeous. A long trip across the valley, above the cloud forest of Ecuador…amazing.

On the 2nd zip, the guides asked if anyone wanted to do the “Mariposa.” Mariposa means butterfly in Spanish so I figured, “That sounds nice…sure!” So I march to the front of the line and suddenly, they are switching my straps around, rehooking things, I have no idea what’s going on.

Before I know it, I am completely upside down. Yep…legs in the air, arms hanging below my head and off I went flying, tandem with a guide, across the clouds of Mindo. I think we need a visual here…
Needless to say, it was incredible. I’m not sure if it was the pure fear or the blood rushing to my head but I loved it…and even did it again on the last cable! Here’s a video…

Sorry Mom and Dad…I know that was probably scary to see…but there is more.

Usually, ziplining upside-down would be enough adventure for one weekend for this girl but nope, Sunday was still ahead of us.

But first, after recovering from the afternoon, we all went out to a great dinner in Mindo. After opting NOT to go to one restaurant that was just called "Burger":
As I was sitting there eating with the 7 other volunteers and our driver, I looked over at our driver (who is an Ecuadorian native) and took a serious double take…was this guy honestly wearing a University of Wisconsin-Madison t-shirt? YES!!

Crazy. Set off with the others and the most random Badger fan and set off for a night of salsa with the locals. One of the other volunteers is only 18 and this was a very big night for her…her first beer! Go Amanda…
Not too long after, the beer turned to water and after that, it was a piggy back ride home for Amanda.
We all headed back to the hostel for a quick few hours of sleep before our next big adventure. So morning came sooner than any of us wanted but we definitely didn’t have to worry about feeling tired on this trip.

We shoved some eggs down and off to “White Water Tubing.” Now I mentioned this earlier but Ecuador does not believe in waivers. Now for a girl who grew up having to sign away her life before playing on the Tanglen Elementry school playground, I always just figure, no waiver, no real risk. Wrong.

Basically white water tubing is when the strap together about 7 innertubes together with twine and send it down a CRAZY river of rapids full of huge sharp rocks, enormous turns and drops…oh and a waterfall.

So we strapped on our helmets (seriously, I have never spent so much time wearing a helmet in my life) and had our “lesson.” This “lesson” went something like this (in Spanish):

Ok…you sit here, yes? (we nod) Hold on to these ropes, yes? (nod) And if we say “fuerte”, hold on tight, yes? (we look terrified). Ok, let’s go!

Now hopefully you are getting a picture of this in your mind. So there are 7 of us (one stayed back…probably the wise one of the crew), sitting precariously in this tube contraption, we have two guides wearing boots, we are wearing stretch gloves and we are sitting among some insane rapids. Got the picture? Great.
Now…to that image, make the water about 3 degrees above freezing, absolutely no sun and a pretty substantial breeze. We were freezing! But I’m not even sure we realized how cold we were because at this point, we were all just pretty scared.
But off we went! And it really was AWESOME! Terrifying..completely and utterly terrifying…but awesome! There were times when I was either flying in the air holding on by nothing more than the pinky of my stretch gloves and there were other times when I was completely under the icy water but it was amazing!
The ride was great. But it was LONG! We were actually navigating these insane rapids in the freezing water for just under 3 hours!! So, when it was all over, let’s just say, other than just being happy to be alive, I was very happy to have some dry clothing waiting for me in the truck.

So we crawled out of our tubes on our very shaky legs and up to find this truck that was supposed to be waiting. But we had another surprise waiting for us…no truck! So there we are, soaking wet, freezing cold, still with no sun and plenty of chilly breeze and no truck.

After waiting for about an hour, one of the guides thought it was a good idea to go pick us some fruit to eat. Seriously, am I on Survivor right now? And as long as he was picking fruit, he picked a fruit that is essentially war paint inside and painted on all of us.
After about another 45 minutes of hypothermia, the truck appeared! We managed to change (not so discreetly) behind a towel into dry clothes and head back to the hostel.

We grabbed some pizza on the way out and back to Otavalo.

I realized on the ride that it was exactly one year ago from Sunday that was my last day at General Mills. One full year. I remember as I left my cubicle last year thinking that for the first time in my life, I honestly had no idea where I would be or what I would be doing one year from that date.

Well, I’m not sure I would have been able to imagine flying down icy waters in Ecuador with 7 complete strangers.

And you know what? I think I can say for the 2nd time in my life, I again have no idea where I will be one year from now. Let’s just hope it’s something that doesn’t require a parent’s permission slip!

xoxo,
Debra

What Debra misses most...

Ok...so I´m pretty sure that this contest was one of my worst ideas ever. Because rather than guesing correctly, most of you just made me realize all of the things I really do miss but hadn´t even thought about!

Anyway, only have a minute to blog so without further ado...here are the top 5 things Debra misses most:

1. TiVo/TV...if you didn´t get this one right, you either have never met me, have never talked to me or have recently had a bout with amnesia. Oh TiVo...I miss you so. Somehow my two channels (one of which only plays Spanish Telenovelas and the other, only Spanish game shows) just have not made the cut. I think the first time I hear that little boing sound of my TiVo, I may faint.

2. Coffee shops...somehow this trend has not caught on down here. I miss everything about my coffee shops. Sitting and reading in them, people watching in them...and perhaps most of all, the ridiculously, oversized cup of coffee they all serve in the US. Here, you get a real mug (who wants that?) that is about the size of a child´s play set. I think when I get home, I am going to carry around a large Caribou cup with a java jacket all day long just because I can.

3. Feeling pretty...so for the last 3.5 months, I have not warmed up a hair straightener, my fanciest shoes are flip-flops and I judge the cleanliness of my clothes by smelling them. THis is a far cry from the pretty darn fashionable, blown-out hair, high-heel wearing business woman of just one year ago. Don´t get me wrong, it is nice to just wear comfy clothes every day, but I do miss just feeling anywhere close to pretty. So while I carry my Caribou coffee cup all around town, expect to see me dressed up.

4. Walking around wihtout shoes in my house...actually, walking around without socks in my house...ok, fine...walking around completely naked in my house. Need I say more?

5. Having any say whatsoever in what I eat...So again, for any of you who know me at all know that I LOVE food...love it. Maybe even more than Tivo. And I´m also a "craver." Now I´m really not complaining. The food has been just fine...but I just miss being able to say, "You know what I´m really in the mood for?? (Fill in the blank)" And then going and getting it. Whether it´s Manny´s or McDonald´s, BBQ or Mac and Cheese...I have a lot of cravings to catch up on when I get back...

So there you have it. But like I said, thanks to all of you, I am now missing the State Fair, unlimited internet access, my iPhone...and, oh yeah...all of YOU!

So if you want to find me after I get home, just look for the naked girl with straightened hair, Tivo remote in one hand, Caribou cup in the other under a pile of take-out menus.

xoxo,
Debra

Just your "average" weekend...

I really don´t know what my problem is since I´ve been in Ecuador but blogging just seems like so much work! I´m sorry I´ve been a bit MIA...I will try to be better...let´s just blame it on the altitude and call it a day, shall we??

Ok, so another reason I haven´t blogged is that I just keep thinking, "Well, nothing that amazing has really happened." But today, I started scanning through my pictures of the last 5 days and realize that I seriously need to gain my perspective back. Over the last 5 days I have probably done more than I had for a years with of 5 days before this crazy adventure began.

Seriously...I need to adjust my idea of exciting or a weekend at home in Mpls could send me into a coma.

Alright, so rather than try to tackle all of the last 5 days at once, I´m just going to write about my weekend...and next entry will introduce my 3rd amazing project.

So the first piece of huge news is that I have friends! Yes...it took a few days but I have officially met the other volunteers and we managed to hit up Otavalo this weekend and have a great time.

On Thursday I visited an amazing waterfall with my Spanish teacher (this was clearly pre-friends Debra!) She made it sound like the place was just around the block...not exactly. After about 45 minutes of huffing and puffing, I could finally hear the faint sound of a water fall and it really was incredible.
We sat and enjoyed the tranquil waterfall and tried to catch my breath (still not totally used to this altitude...or at least using that as an excuse for the fact that I´m just out of shape...)

Breathe in, out...enjoy the waterfall...and then...about 150 kids showed up at the place on a field trip! So much for our relaxing Spanish lesson at a natural wonder...back down to Otavalo we went.
Friday night we hit up the town to say goodbye to some volunteers and also to celebrate another´s birthday. Well let´s just say that this birthday girl had one too many $1 shots (a side effect of everything being so ridiculously cheap here...).

Needless to say, I wasn´t thinking that this birthday girl would follow through on her plan to meet me on Saturday morning to do some touring around...but she stayed true to her name and this girl was ready to tour (more or less...)

So we hopped in a cab up to El Lechero which is a tree in Otavalo that is considered magical. Why? I have no idea. But we were going to see this magical tree. I brought along my trusty Lonely Planet Guide Book and looked to see what you are supposed to do once you get to this "magical" place...no such luck.

Caroline remembered something about seeing other people having pictures hugging the tree so we just decided to do that, snap a few pictures of the amazing view and scoot outta there...how magical huh??
Then Caroline and I headed to the market. Now if any of you have ever heard of Otavalo or have ever mentioned it to someone who has heard of it, it is unlikely that you have gone more than one sentence without hearing about the market. And it truly lives up to its reputation.

It goes on for blocks and blocks and literally swallows up the city every Saturday. It is a rainbow of necklaces, vegatables, alpaca scarves, traditional paintings and of course, people! It is amazing...
Feeling brave, Caroline even braved eating some street food...despite the fact that in less than 12 hours she was embarking on a 36 hour plane ride back to Austrailia...crazy Aussies...

Now this is not your ordinary street food. At least I know on my street I don´t often see an entire pig sitting on a spit and the person just cutting away chunks of it´s behind to serve to unknowing tourists and locals...had to pull out the kosher card on that one.

But Caroline did seem to live through the experience...or at least I think so!

So Saturday night was another fun night with my brand new friends (I seriously do feel like a military brat that just keeps having to move and meet all new people!) We classed it WAY up and bought ourselves some Coke and booze and made ourselves some lovely cocktails right in the central plaza in Otavalo...now that is class people.

On Sunday, Danai (yes...my friends even have names...) went to a nearby lake. It really was beautiful...
We took in the scenery and somehow managed to chat away the afternoon. We headed back to Otavalo and I think Caroline´s bravery had worn off on me...

No, I didn´t eat a pig´s ass. But I did partake in some street corn. This is no Minnesota State Fair corn (no...nothing can be as good as that...) but it was quite amazing. Big corn covered in butter and then topped with cheese...and I still am alive to talk about it!

So basically, it wasn´t climbing a volcano or tubing in a cave in Belize...but it was a great weekend. The first of many more I hope...

xoxo,
Debra

P.S...feel free to keep the "What Debra Misses" guesses coming...the contest is still open...and I´m loving the responses...