Building Character

Ecuador is a great place – it’s got big mountains and nice beaches, verdant jungle and a diversity of people, plants and critters that should make the rest of the world jealous. Still, the day-to-day can be a little…well…“character building.” This post is a tribute to those moments over the past few weeks in Jahuapamba that won’t make it into the scrapbook.

Jahuapamba School from Above

Day 1: Arrive at school, attempt to be inconspicuous with our bags by using the back gate. The “friendly” dogs refuse to let us in, alert the whole neighborhood to our arrival (we’re told they don’t bite…this is not true). The principal greets us, along with 12 chickens that live at the school.

We check out our apartment, ponder which room to sleep in, choose the one room without a gaping hole in the roof. We move the damp and mildewy foam mattresses out of one of the rooms with said gaping holes, and notice our bedroom doesn’t have a light. Time to go shopping.

Day 2: It rained last night, which means there’s a lake in our kitchen (N.B. by “kitchen” we mean “room with tile wherein more water enters from the ceiling than from the crusty sink.” It should not imply access to stoves, fridges, or other frivolous appliances.)

Day 3: Time and accumulation of personal grime has not inspired the shower to turn itself hot. Freezing water is not a problem in the tropics, but at 10,000 feet with the chill of wind through your walls, it’s not so fun. We move personal hygiene down on our list of necessities, and stock up on boxed wine.

Day 5: We work up the courage to use the school’s industrial sized burners. Matt turns on the gas, sticks a match near the stove, and proceeds to burn himself on an industrial sized fireball. But at least Jen has hot water for coffee.

Day 6: Matt nearly electrocutes himself trying to rig hot water for the shower (does anyone have expertise repairing electric showers from the 1970s? If so, let us know.). A scorpion introduces itself to us in our kitchen. We introduce it to a stick.

Day 9: The school’s 20-gallon pots and spoons the size of oars are not conducive to cooking dinner. One can only last so long on raw ramen and canned tuna (grapefruit and carrots if you’re Jen). Hence, we buy more wine.

Day 10: While we’re observing third grade math a stray dog wanders in. The teacher chases it away with a stick.

Day 12: We hear reggaton at 3:00 AM and wonder what is going on.

Day 13: It’s a wedding! And they’re still playing reggaton! We walk down the road to check it out, and some guests invite us in for a beer. We trade Kichwa words for English ones, turn down the offer of blood soup, and after a while continue on our walk. We pass at least six old ladies carrying 12-liter crates of beer to the party. Glad they won’t run out.

Day 14: How long do weddings last? How long can they continue repeating the same song between the hours of midnight and 4:00 AM? These are important questions for us.

Day 15: Wedding still going on. Surrounding villages running low on beer.

Day 16: Apparently weddings last four days. Fifth graders at school tell us it was a good time. It is also actively raining in our bathroom.

Day 18: The school’s dogs lead the other neighborhood dogs in a nightlong chorus. A cow also moos for three hours straight. We consider poisoning them all.

Day 19: We spot a tarantula the size of a fist in our hallway, heading towards the bedroom. Not cool. Matt plays St. George to the dragon with a hiking boot.

Day 20: This week is ruled by bugs, which apparently like to fly through the holes in our walls. Jen now has 22 bites on her right ankle.

Day 21: We are chased off the road by cows. Self-esteem suffers greatly. Time to go back to Quito.

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