Week 4 arrived much quicker than I anticipated. But it came nonetheless, and I had a great week at work. I have the routine down pat now and was given more responsibility with the children, including leading creative paint time with the 8-12 year old boys which is more of a struggle to keep a paint war from breaking out. It was amazing to set the colors down in front of them and give them free reign. They kept waiting for me to tell them what to paint and it finally sank in that they could draw whatever they wanted. At first they would start copying what their friends were painting but eventually they all morphed into their own original work. All painted beautiful works and mixed colors like pro’s though at times they got a little carried away and a whole bottle of green would be mixed with blue. I wish this was an activity they got to do more often because they got to express themselves and all were so proud of their works.

My last day was a tough one because we were at my favorite market setting and it was hard to accept I wouldn’t be returning next week to see all the fun those kids would have. From playing a tag game to playing house with the little ones, the day went by all to fast. I did have a good little challenge before I left however when I noticed in the morning that there was a girl standing off to the side by herself. She wasn’t interacting with anyone and showed no interested when the professors tried to engage her. I went over and started out slow with the usual, “Hola amiga, como estas” and was met with a very mute response. After a few minutes I had her talking however in a very shy reserved voice. Turns out she was having a bad day, she came with her two sisters but she didn’t like the girls they were playing with and therefore refused to join. I told her that was fine but there were still so many other things for her to do and got her playing in a different game. She came back in the afternoon and was still a little standoffish with everyone else but would listen to me. I got a few smiles out of her and she lit up when it came to craft time. There is something about crafts that really speaks to children because I feel it gives them the power to control and create as usually most things are dictated to children such as when and what they eat, when they play, when they sleep, etc. She ran up to me at the end of the day to show me her work of art with this big smile on her face, one that I was luckily able to capture.

The weekend brought a 5:30 am wake up call as my roommate and I headed up to Cotapaxi, a large active volcano that has done massive damage in the past. It was only an hour south or so and it magically appeared when the clouds suddenly parted. The volcano loomed large and almost cartoonish in front of us. From there we drove a ways more then started our ascent on foot up to glacier which was about 1/4th of the way to the top. It took about two hours and was very windy but luckily I had purchased some alpaca gloves for $3 right before so I stayed nice and warm. We hiked back down to the van and from there rode bikes 10 kilometers down the gravel road that was washed out in several places leaving huge ruts. This made for pretty tricky conditions riding down and it was less than 1 minute before a tourist from Iceland ate it… hard. After that I elected to stay in the back and distance myself from the main group a little. It was such a peaceful scene and I really just wanted some quiet to enjoy the view and go at my own pace. On the way down I sat on some large rocks, met some wild horse and witnessed some interesting flowers. Great choice to take my time. Upon returning home it was a night of UNO with the family and then I said my goodbyes the next afternoon. I also remembered I really dislike repacking and had a challenge fitting the same amount of clothes into my two small bags. I will miss this family a lot as we had a lot of laughs but I also will be here for two more months and will be able to visit before my time is up. Nervous to be headed to my new family and job but I know its a feeling to embrace, something exciting about the unknown.

Upon coming down to Ecuador the last thing I expected was to lend my voice to a new robot led museum that is opening up in a little town outside of Quito… However, I guess I should always expect the unexpected as I brought to life the character of “Jatun” an ex cotton gin machine that guides museum visitors through exhibits. My journey to stardom started with a text from my program coordinator who asked if I would be interested in helping her brother with a “project” that required a native English speaker. I have always been intrigued by the word “project” so I naturally said yes. A few nights later I got a call in Spanish saying “We are outside your house and are here to pick you up.” Naturally I wandered outside and was met by a man named Diego (my coordinators brother), we exchanged names and then he opened the back of his work trucks doors and ushered me inside. I sat on the floor of course as the front seat was filled by Diego and a co-worker, and we chatted during our five minute drive to his house where upon arrival we bid his co-worker adieu. Then we pulled into the dark garage and he said, “I’ll let you out in just a minute” and then shut the door. At this point I was wondering what I got myself into but thankfully he was no kind of ax murderer and let me out in a few minutes.

Inside his house we went to his office space which basically reminded me of my friend Derek’s room. Had all kinds of computers and technology and felt very familiar. Then he explained how he runs an advertising and computer graphics program in Quito and dealt with some very high end clients. For example the robots that his company had put together and programmed to guide tourists through this new museum were un-real and like something you would find in Hollywood. Must have been millions of dollars. He then told me my role and how the robots needed an English option for tours consisting of English speakers. So I was relegated to a homemade sound proof booth (a small phone booth sized box composed of four foam walls) and with his lap top, I read a script I had never seen before, in a voice that had to sound like an old robot. Too easy. Not. Turns out reading a script is pretty hard and to make it a little tougher, the script had commas and periods in the wrong places to go along with randomly capitalized words. But I pushed through the mistakes and feeling of claustrophobia that exuded from my “torture room” as he called it and after two hours read a good chunk of the lines. During this, his wife made me biscuits and pudding which was very alright with me. I did return the next night to finish off one more reading which I nailed perfectly the first time! Two pages of lines and I hit it perfect, too good to be true right? Right. There was a line in the script where I had to say, “Excuse my Spanish accent, like the owners of this factory I am from Spain.” After the reading Diego said, “that was really good, but have you ever heard of the movie ‘Shrek’?” Turns out he wanted me to read it all over again but with the voice of Puss and Boots done by Antonio Banderas. Alright I said and I threw out a deeper, scratchy version of my voice that in parts had a very legitimate Spanish accent. In other parts not so much. But he was happy with it and I was free to go. He was very thankful as the exhibit was opening the next day and the President of Ecuador was to be among the first to preview it.

The next day was Friday and I went to bed all excited to go work with the kids and take them swimming. However I woke up the next morning with an extremely sore throat and a super fever, not my favorite way to start a Friday. I figured it was only a matter of time till I got sick as the previous two weeks I had been coughed on and wiped enough runny noses to last a lifetime. It finally caught me, and it wasn’t a kind sickness. Friday and Saturday were spent lying in bed going back and forth between burning hot and the chills. Sunday brought a little relief but by Sunday night the game was back on and I woke up Monday unable to go to work. As Monday progressed my fever went away but was replaced by a searing headache as well my gum hurt really bad behind my molar. I took my Ibuprofen and made an effort to go to work Tuesday because I missed the kids but soon realized I was in no shape to be there and didn’t want to get them sick so I returned home after an hour. On my trip home I managed to seriously misjudge my step onto a moving bus and fell flat on the floor upon my entry. The bus was filled to the brim and I got quite a few laughs but I laughed it off myself and dreamed of my bed the whole way home. Once I got home I investigated the pain behind my molar and discovered I had a huge cut in my gum which was causing my searing headache. I was falling apart. After a Wednesday full of a false alarm for surgery on my mouth and gargling lots of salt water, I finally made my return back to work with the kids Thursday and had an absolute blast! I was the only volunteer there so I took three of them swimming, rocked feeding time, and doled out all kinds of attention. I have one week left at this jobsite and am going to miss these kids something awful.

(This post contains no pictures of my work as we are not allowed to take pictures of the children for privacy reasons)

The start of week two found me sanitizing a ball pit and winning over the tia’s in the children’s home very quickly. When all the kids were down for nap time I asked if there was anything else I could do and the tia’s looked at the 800 plus plastic balls that sat in the ball pit. “Por supuesto” I replied (of course). Being a public health major I am all about sanitizing frequently contacted surfaces, especially in a home for kids and with a ball pit there are all kinds of germs that can grow in there. Anyways the tia’s loved this because it saves them a lot of time. While they ate their lunch and I cleaned we chatted, by the end of our hour and a half session Jackie had invited me to her house for dinner on my last day and Alicia was going to bring me roses to give to my family for Valentines day after I asked where I could find some. Very nice ladies who work EXTREMELY hard with minimal pay, yet they truly do it for the kids and say they wouldn’t do anything else. Its amazing to watch them work and quiet a crying baby or convince a 2 year old they want to eat their pea soup. As well they have changing baby clothes down to a science, they can change 3 babies in the time it takes me to change 1, though to be fair my baby wiggled a lot.

My absolute favorite thing about kids will always be this fact; they make you forget your own troubles in an instant. On my way to work Monday I had a little life drama playing out in my head, its fair to say I wasn’t in the greatest mood. Yet, the moment I walked into that small room with my 4 baby boys and they greeted me with shrieks and hugs, everything just disappeared. Children have this way about them that fills you up with all
Artsy rose shot next to the wall art in my roomArtsy rose shot next to the wall art in my roomkind of confidence and positive energy and it evolves from you giving them your energy and attention to start with. Its an investment and even when you are tired its the easiest thing to put on a smile and tell them how smart they are, or how beautiful they look because its true. I am working in this home for only a month, and while its only a month out of their lives, these early months are so important for them. They need to be held, given affection and stimulated in order for their brains to fully develop. 80% of brain development takes place from the ages of 0-5, and without proper stimulation and care, a child’s brain will fail to function at full capacity in the future. This is my job, to help out around the tias and find the babies that need some rocking before their nap, or a room full of kids who want you to chase them around. That’s what kids need and it feels great to provide it.

I managed to sneak 25 roses into my house to surprise my family for Valentines day! 5 for each lady and 5 for me naturally. Though after Valentines day, I met an old lady named Marguerite who lives on the property and helps out around the house. She slurs her speech and I can understand about 25% of what she says but I must have made a good impression during our first encounter. Ever since she just loves me and gives me big hugs and kisses, so I gave her four of my flowers and kept one for my room.

I have also found a Salchipapa restaurant nearby which is basically a combination of French fries, eggs, and hot dogs. Costs $1,80 and has a bunch of calories and fat that my body could desperately use. Working with the kids all day really wears you out. I have enjoyed getting some good workouts in with Marco as well! There is an old shut down airport about 2 blocks from my house and the city has since turned it into a park. Its a beautiful escape from the city and provides hundreds of people a safe place to exercise. Marco and I usually do two laps of about 5k each and then he leads me through a bunch of his exercises. Really nice to have a work out buddy but I have also been doing a lot of my own workouts on the jungle gyms that are all over the place. I am determined to put back on a little bit of the muscle I lost prior to coming to Ecuador!! Hopefully I can return to the U.S. with minimal rib visibility… Until week 7, CHAUUU.

Week 5 found me moving about an hour to the Northern part of Quito. I had become so accustomed to my old family, work, and area, but now it was time to meet some more people and learn something new. My new family consists of Marta (mom), Marco (dad), Vivi (older sister), Nicole (younger sister) and Julia, another volunteer who is from Seattle. Julia is the first person I have met from the west coast here and I have to say it is kinda refreshing to have an area of origin similar to someone else. All the other volunteers were from the east coast or Midwest. This family is really nice, active and loves to watch movies and just talk in general. I think this will be a good fit. I couldn’t start my new job until I had orientation which was on Wednesday, therefore I had Monday and Tuesday to get some laundry washed (needed to happen badly) and get a haircut. The Northern part of Quito where I am living is definitely different with regards to sense of security. There aren’t as many muggings as there are in the South and here I can walk around with a back pack and no one takes notice. Still I always know my surroundings and am aware of whats going on but it has been pretty nice to go work out in the park around dark and not have people telling me I should go inside and what not.

My 23rd birthday rolled around on Tuesday and my family threw me a sort of surprise party! It was pretty sweet of them after only knowing me two days but I feel pretty comfortable around them and they likewise as Nicole shoved my face in the cake when I blew out the candle. I did however get to return the favor the very next night as it was her 17th birthday and the honor was granted to me as a sort of revenge. I also found they love the tradition of belt whips for the age a person is turning. I received a mix of soft, medium, and pretty tough whips (mainly from Nicole and her bf Alvaro, who by the way loves Blink 182 which was a nice surprise).

Wednesday I went to my orientation at Para Sus Ninos (For his children), a Christian based home for kids that really impressed me. The facilities were spotless, maintained and there are about 4-5 children per “tia” (auntie) who take care of the kids which is great. Homes I have seen in the past had almost 15-20 children per tia. On average children stay 21 months before they are either reunited with their original family or adopted by a new one if there is no way to reunite them. It has been running for about 20 plus years now and has been a great place for children who were either abandoned or mistreated. I got to work with the kids the second part of the day and what an experience. I started with the baby house (0-2 year olds) and was placed in a room with some very little ones, the youngest being two months. There were multiple times where I found myself almost starting to tear up a little because they were just so sweet and helpless and its hard to imagine the situation where someone had to give them up or treated them poorly. Yet for whatever reason these situations happened and they are here now. Coming down to Ecuador, I wanted to experience just these types of situations and work on accepting some of these tough truths in life. In the past when a moment touches me or I am bothered by something, I tend to really think on it until it consumes me to the point where I will walk around for 3 days thinking on this problem all the time. This is something I would like to work through and being here with the kids, you cant let yourself be off in thought and consumed; you need to be present with them. Did pretty well for getting back on track my first day but am excited about improving over the next month. As I left the baby house I met two little boys, Carlitos and Emilo, who were getting ready to eat. We played a classic game of peek a boo and they loved it. To my joy when I saw them the next morning, the first thing they did was cover their eyes then try and surprise me, amazing how quickly they can remember a new face.

The first few kids of the day

Week 4 arrived much quicker than I anticipated. But it came nonetheless, and I had a great week at work. I have the routine down pat now and was given more responsibility with the children, including leading creative paint time with the 8-12 year old boys which is more of a struggle to keep a paint war from breaking out. It was amazing to set the colors down in front of them and give them free reign. They kept waiting for me to tell them what to paint and it finally sank in that they could draw whatever they wanted. At first they would start copying what their friends were painting but eventually they all morphed into their own original work. All painted beautiful works and mixed colors like pro’s though at times they got a little carried away and a whole bottle of green would be mixed with blue. I wish this was an activity they got to do more often because they got to express themselves and all were so proud of their works.

Math time with the older boys

Levi with the kids at toy time

My last day was a tough one because we were at my favorite market setting and it was hard to accept I wouldn’t be returning next week to see all the fun those kids would have. From playing a tag game to playing house with the little ones, the day went by all to fast. I did have a good little challenge before I left however when I noticed in the morning that there was a girl standing off to the side by herself. She wasn’t interacting with anyone and showed no interested when the professors tried to engage her. I went over and started out slow with the usual, “Hola amiga, como estas” and was met with a very mute response. After a few minutes I had her talking however in a very shy reserved voice. Turns out she was having a bad day, she came with her two sisters but she didn’t like the girls they were playing with and therefore refused to join. I told her that was fine but there were still so many other things for her to do and got her playing in a different game. She came back in the afternoon and was still a little standoffish with everyone else but would listen to me. I got a few smiles out of her and she lit up when it came to craft time. There is something about crafts that really speaks to children because I feel it gives them the power to control and create as usually most things are dictated to children such as when and what they eat, when they play, when they sleep, etc. She ran up to me at the end of the day to show me her work of art with a little shy smile on her face, one that I was luckily able to capture.

My little friend and her lovely fold painting

The weekend brought a 5:30 am wake up call as my roommate and I headed up to Cotapaxi, a large active volcano that has done massive damage in the past. It was only an hour south or so and it magically appeared when the clouds suddenly parted. The volcano loomed large and almost cartoonish in front of us. From there we drove a ways more then started our ascent on foot up to glacier which was about 1/4th of the way to the top. It took about two hours and was very windy but luckily I had purchased some alpaca gloves for $3 right before so I stayed nice and warm. We hiked back down to the van and from there rode bikes 10 kilometers down the gravel road that was washed out in several places leaving huge ruts. This made for pretty tricky conditions riding down and it was less than 1 minute before a tourist from Iceland ate it… hard. After that I elected to stay in the back and distance myself from the main group a little. It was such a peaceful scene and I really just wanted some quiet to enjoy the view and go at my own pace. On the way down I sat on some large rocks, met some wild horse and witnessed some interesting flowers. Great choice to take my time. Upon returning home it was a night of UNO with the family and then I said my goodbyes the next afternoon. I also remembered I really dislike repacking and had a challenge fitting the same amount of clothes into my two small bags. I will miss this family a lot as we had a lot of laughs but I also will be here for two more months and will be able to visit before my time is up. Nervous to be headed to my new family and job but I know its a feeling to embrace, something exciting about the unknown.

Cotopaxi through the clouds

My family