Today (Sunday, September 30) is election day here in Ecuador. There are national and provincial assembly elections, no presidential election this year. I don't know much about the issues or the politics involved. But I do have some interesting campaign notes and stories.
- There are a ton of political parties here in Ecuador. And they all have a number associated with them- 3, 7, 11, 15, 29, 35, 60, etc. A lot of campaign signs don't even mention the name of a party or a candidate, just the number.
- We've observed several campaign "parades". Luke and I stood at the end of our driveway last weekend and watched as cars went past for probably close to 5 minutes with horns honking and political signs waving (I think that one was for party #s 35 and 15 supporters). It was cool and getting toward dusk and I was getting sentimental for the Solanco fair parade.
- At church last Sunday, the power went off during the service. So the pastor was speaking without a microphone. We were sitting in the back pew. The door to the back of the sanctuary is probably only about 10-15 feet from the main road in town. Another campaign "parade" went buy during the middle of the sermon. We couldn't hear anything but the "parade". The pastor even stopped talking for 30 seconds.
- One candidate's (for provincial assembly I think) name is Eduardo Escobar. I don't know anything about his politics or issues (other than he's with party # 29), but his name just sounds so "Ecuadorian".
Some other highlights of the past week:
Jadyn, Luke, and I took our first taxi ride since we were running late for preschool. It cost a dollar to get a taxi ride across town. Fortunately, most taxis in Shell are extended cab pickup trucks. So I just threw the stroller in the back and Luke and I walked back home.
Luke and Jadyn also had their first doctors appts this week. Having worked in the healthcare "administrative" field for so long, I was interested in some of the differences betweeen how things are done here vs. the U.S. That may be a topic for a different post. They're both doing well, but Jads is a little apprehensive about her upcoming shots.
We had a "guest" at our house this weekend. Sandy, our neighbors dog, stayed with us while they went to Quito. The kids seemed to enjoy having her around. We'll continue to gauge if we want to take her on as an extended houseguest when the Whiteheads go on furlough in January.
We had a tarantula crawling up the outside wall of our house yesterday. Jodie just grabbed it barehanded and gently put it back in the jungle. (the first sentence is true, the second is not- the real resolution involved a toy light sabre and a big rock.)
School continues to go pretty well for all of us. Jodie's working really hard and doing a great job. She's remembering how much she enjoys being in the classroom again, and also remembering how exhausted she feels on Friday nights. The boys are doing great too. They're reading lots, memorizing Bible verses, and getting to learn lots of fun, hands-on things for science.
Time for bed. Wake me up when September ends- or about 6 hours after September ends.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Espanol
Buenas Noches (good evening)!
One of the biggest cultural adjustments we've had to make while living in Shell is learning to speak, read, and understand the Spanish language. Here are a few notes & anecdotes about the learning process.
- I'm learning something new everday and starting to feel more comfortable with basic retail transactions. The vocabulary is coming along much quicker than the grammar and semantics. I probably sound like the Spanish speaking equivalent of the sterotypical Native American in old western movies.
-Micah repeatedly says his favorite class in school is Spanish. All of the students have Spanish class everyday. It's taught by a local teacher, Senora Salas, who has taught at Nate Saint for, I think, close to 20 years.
-Jadyn's attending a local pre-school two days a week. She sometimes expresses frustration because her teacher "always talks in Spanish". On her first day she saw one of the American physicians who works at the HCJB hospital. I asked Jadyn if Dr. Nelson spoke to her in English or Spanish. She said, "neither, she just talked to me regular."
-When talking to Jadyn's teacher's aide, she told me that she was a profesora of what I thought she said as 'bibia'. When I asked her what 'bibia' was, she looked at me like I had 3 heads. Then I realized that she was saying "Biblia".
-Speaking of the Bible, church can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming with the language barrier. Overhead/power point lyrics are helpful. There's a lot of repetition of vocabluary in worship lyrics and we're becoming more familiar with a lot of the words and songs. We're often able to pick out when the preacher gives a chapter and verse (I sometimes cheat by peeking over a shoulder in front of me) and are able to usually get the theme of the sermon from the Bible text even if we're not able to understand much of the interpretation/application. Power point sermon notes have been helpful too as reading is a bit easier than listening since you can do it a little slower.
- Luke's starting to say "hola" (hi) and "ciao"- pronounced "chow" (bye).
One of the biggest cultural adjustments we've had to make while living in Shell is learning to speak, read, and understand the Spanish language. Here are a few notes & anecdotes about the learning process.
- I'm learning something new everday and starting to feel more comfortable with basic retail transactions. The vocabulary is coming along much quicker than the grammar and semantics. I probably sound like the Spanish speaking equivalent of the sterotypical Native American in old western movies.
-Micah repeatedly says his favorite class in school is Spanish. All of the students have Spanish class everyday. It's taught by a local teacher, Senora Salas, who has taught at Nate Saint for, I think, close to 20 years.
-Jadyn's attending a local pre-school two days a week. She sometimes expresses frustration because her teacher "always talks in Spanish". On her first day she saw one of the American physicians who works at the HCJB hospital. I asked Jadyn if Dr. Nelson spoke to her in English or Spanish. She said, "neither, she just talked to me regular."
-When talking to Jadyn's teacher's aide, she told me that she was a profesora of what I thought she said as 'bibia'. When I asked her what 'bibia' was, she looked at me like I had 3 heads. Then I realized that she was saying "Biblia".
-Speaking of the Bible, church can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming with the language barrier. Overhead/power point lyrics are helpful. There's a lot of repetition of vocabluary in worship lyrics and we're becoming more familiar with a lot of the words and songs. We're often able to pick out when the preacher gives a chapter and verse (I sometimes cheat by peeking over a shoulder in front of me) and are able to usually get the theme of the sermon from the Bible text even if we're not able to understand much of the interpretation/application. Power point sermon notes have been helpful too as reading is a bit easier than listening since you can do it a little slower.
- Luke's starting to say "hola" (hi) and "ciao"- pronounced "chow" (bye).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
First day(s) of school, part 2
A few highlights of the week in Shell:
-We had more first days of school this week. Jadyn started pre-school this week. She's attending an English preschool (Shell Christian Preschool) 3 days a week and pre-school at a local Christian School (CELE- an acronym for Centro Educatavio Luz del Evangelio) 2 days a week. Jadyn already knew most of the kids in her "English" pre-school as well as the teacher, so she was pretty happy and excited to be there. She was a little hesitant when I left her yesterday at her first day of "Spanish" pre-school. But when I picked her up 4 hours later, she said that her first day was "great". She got a school physical from the HCJB pediatrician whose son is in Jodie's class.
-I've been teaching phys ed to Jodie's class. Since our house is so close to school, I run over to school and Jodie goes home. Then she comes back over a half hour later and I run back home. It's been pretty fun. We've played soccer, kickball, parachute, and some other fun games. I also know I couldn't be an elementary teacher. But teaching gym is a need for all the teachers, so we were able to get our house helper to stay a little longer so I can also teach phys ed to the 1st/2nd grade class & the middle school class. I'll probably start that new schedule next week. Does anyone have some polyester shorts or a whistle I could borrow?
-The hangar across the street has been very busy the last couple weeks. Alas (MAF) has been flying hundreds of school teachers to communities in the jungle region of eastern Ecuador. Some communities get one school teacher while others get a dozen (depending on their size). The pilots I've talked to this week are pretty worn out from flying and (especially) coordinating all of the flights.
-Coke Zero has arrived in Shell. The first shipment must have come in over the weekend because this week, all of the markets in Shell have been stocking Coke Zero. There's even a marketing push as I've seen a few Coke Zero posters around town. I've think I've only seen one bottle of Pepsi since I've been in Shell. So, for those of you, i.e. Dad & Beth, that think Coke is a 4 letter word, you'll need to pack some Pepsi or enjoy the water here.
-We had more first days of school this week. Jadyn started pre-school this week. She's attending an English preschool (Shell Christian Preschool) 3 days a week and pre-school at a local Christian School (CELE- an acronym for Centro Educatavio Luz del Evangelio) 2 days a week. Jadyn already knew most of the kids in her "English" pre-school as well as the teacher, so she was pretty happy and excited to be there. She was a little hesitant when I left her yesterday at her first day of "Spanish" pre-school. But when I picked her up 4 hours later, she said that her first day was "great". She got a school physical from the HCJB pediatrician whose son is in Jodie's class.
-I've been teaching phys ed to Jodie's class. Since our house is so close to school, I run over to school and Jodie goes home. Then she comes back over a half hour later and I run back home. It's been pretty fun. We've played soccer, kickball, parachute, and some other fun games. I also know I couldn't be an elementary teacher. But teaching gym is a need for all the teachers, so we were able to get our house helper to stay a little longer so I can also teach phys ed to the 1st/2nd grade class & the middle school class. I'll probably start that new schedule next week. Does anyone have some polyester shorts or a whistle I could borrow?
-The hangar across the street has been very busy the last couple weeks. Alas (MAF) has been flying hundreds of school teachers to communities in the jungle region of eastern Ecuador. Some communities get one school teacher while others get a dozen (depending on their size). The pilots I've talked to this week are pretty worn out from flying and (especially) coordinating all of the flights.
-Coke Zero has arrived in Shell. The first shipment must have come in over the weekend because this week, all of the markets in Shell have been stocking Coke Zero. There's even a marketing push as I've seen a few Coke Zero posters around town. I've think I've only seen one bottle of Pepsi since I've been in Shell. So, for those of you, i.e. Dad & Beth, that think Coke is a 4 letter word, you'll need to pack some Pepsi or enjoy the water here.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
A month of senses
Yesterday was our 1 month anniversary in Shell. Here's a brief glimpse of some of the sights, sounds, and smells here. (this may look a little familiar when you get your quarterly newsletter later this month).
Sights:
Mountains & Jungle-we see the Andes mountains to the west (we had a clear morning today with a great view of snow capped Sangay volcano from our driveway) of Shell and the jungle of the Oriente region of Ecuador lies to our east. A walk across the foot bridge in Shell also provides a good preview of the jungle.
A historic airplane- A replica of the piper aircraft that Nate Saint flew more than 50 years ago is the centerpiece of the recently rennovated town plaza.
Sounds:
Rain- although August was a relatively dry month by Shell standards, we still hear lots of rain falling outside our windows on the metal roof.
Airplanes- our house is just across the road from the runway where MAF, Ecuador military, and many other planes take off and land all day long.
Roosters- there is a large rooster community in Shell and we often hear “cock-a-doodle-doo” when walking through town (especially early in the morning).
Smells:
Bread- There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh baked bread from one of the many bakeries (panaderias) in Shell
Must- With all of the rain in Shell, it’s a constant battle with mold and must. Most of the closets in our house have lights to help keep things dry.
Sights:
Mountains & Jungle-we see the Andes mountains to the west (we had a clear morning today with a great view of snow capped Sangay volcano from our driveway) of Shell and the jungle of the Oriente region of Ecuador lies to our east. A walk across the foot bridge in Shell also provides a good preview of the jungle.
A historic airplane- A replica of the piper aircraft that Nate Saint flew more than 50 years ago is the centerpiece of the recently rennovated town plaza.
Sounds:
Rain- although August was a relatively dry month by Shell standards, we still hear lots of rain falling outside our windows on the metal roof.
Airplanes- our house is just across the road from the runway where MAF, Ecuador military, and many other planes take off and land all day long.
Roosters- there is a large rooster community in Shell and we often hear “cock-a-doodle-doo” when walking through town (especially early in the morning).
Smells:
Bread- There’s nothing better than the smell of fresh baked bread from one of the many bakeries (panaderias) in Shell
Must- With all of the rain in Shell, it’s a constant battle with mold and must. Most of the closets in our house have lights to help keep things dry.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Back to School
Jodie, Shea, and Micah had their first day of school at Nate Saint Memorial School today (pictures to come). Jadyn, Luke, and I atteneded the opening chapel too. We sang a fun little (a little cheesy, but fun) song titled "The Shell Song" complete with motions and sound effects. It's sort of the school's "theme song". I'll try to get the complete lyrics posted here, but it starts out "The grass is always greener south of the equator . . . " After the students (around 30 students total- K-8) and teachers went back to their classrooms, the parents had a short meeting and prayer time.
Jodie and the boys all seemed to have a pretty good day. Jodie has 6 students in her class(2 4th graders & 4 3rd graders). There are 9 students (4 2nd graders & 5 1st graders) in the boys class. One of the fun things about the school schedule here is that everyone gets to go home for an hour and 15 minute lunch. So the three of us at home get to see the three of them halfway through the day.
Jadyn, Luke, and I had a good first day of our new routine with Daddy as "Mr. Mom". We made a couple trips into town and stopped at the post office where we had three packages and two letters waiting for us. I think we must be pretty popular because we were walking past the post office (I wasn't planning on stopping until the way back from the store) when the "mail woman" stopped me by name (I was impressed) and told me that we had some packages.
I'll try to get back to my average of 1.7 posts per week.
Jodie and the boys all seemed to have a pretty good day. Jodie has 6 students in her class(2 4th graders & 4 3rd graders). There are 9 students (4 2nd graders & 5 1st graders) in the boys class. One of the fun things about the school schedule here is that everyone gets to go home for an hour and 15 minute lunch. So the three of us at home get to see the three of them halfway through the day.
Jadyn, Luke, and I had a good first day of our new routine with Daddy as "Mr. Mom". We made a couple trips into town and stopped at the post office where we had three packages and two letters waiting for us. I think we must be pretty popular because we were walking past the post office (I wasn't planning on stopping until the way back from the store) when the "mail woman" stopped me by name (I was impressed) and told me that we had some packages.
I'll try to get back to my average of 1.7 posts per week.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Lost and Found
These three stories aren't on par with the ones in Luke 15 (although one involves Luke Skywalker and another Luke Richardson), but we had a few neat "lost and found" incidents this week.
* Shea brought his Luke Skywalker action figure to church on Sunday and left it in a desk of the Sunday School room. When he realized this Sunday afternoon, it was mildly devastating (is that an oxymoron?). We weren't sure we'd ever see the young Jedi again. On Tuesday though, we stopped at the church on the way back from the playground to check if it had turned up or if it was still in the desk. The secretary was busy, so the pastor helped us out and opened up the room for us. No luck. Then he went back to his office and got on the phone. When he got off the phone, he asked us to wait a few minutes. Shea's frined was with us and helped with the translation and let us know that someone may be bringing it over. A short while later, a boy rides up on his bike and delivers the toy to us. Shea yelled out a very heartfelt "GRACIAS!!" as the boy rode away.
* Shortly after arriving home from the playground and the church, I realized that we were missing Luke's "sippy cup" that we had brought along. This was very mildly devastating to me. I was almost certain we'd never see the small plastic cylinder again. But later that afternoon, Kristen- a fellow MAFfer- drove up with Luke's sippy cup. She explained what had happened. Kristen and I chatted briefly at the playground as she was walking by. When she came back past the playground after we left, a young boy ran up to her with the cup and told her we had left it there.
I love those two examples of the benefits of generous, honest people and a small town! This last story is more an example of the frustration and laughter that comes with having a toddler in the house.
* Tuesday evening, Jodie couldn't find a notebook that contained a lot of her school plans. I'm not sure where this ranks on the "mildly devastating" scale. Probably somewhere between the first two. Jodie and I looked and looked but couldn't find it. On Wednesday morning, Jodie thought she may want to check in the garbage can. And lo, beneath the two folded up pizza boxes, there lay the green notebook. Delivered there courtesy of Luke Transport.
A couple other interesting stories/events of our week.
- Jodie and I are about to fall alseep Wednesday night when we hear a "thump", "creak" and "pitter patter". Jodie followed the pitter patter down the hall and finds Luke in the kitchen with the refrigerator open & looking for a drink.
- The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, visited Shell today. He flew into Shell, visited the hospital here in town, and then went to Puyo. This was President Correa's first visit since being elected earlier this year. We were able to see the motorcade as it drove through Shell
* Shea brought his Luke Skywalker action figure to church on Sunday and left it in a desk of the Sunday School room. When he realized this Sunday afternoon, it was mildly devastating (is that an oxymoron?). We weren't sure we'd ever see the young Jedi again. On Tuesday though, we stopped at the church on the way back from the playground to check if it had turned up or if it was still in the desk. The secretary was busy, so the pastor helped us out and opened up the room for us. No luck. Then he went back to his office and got on the phone. When he got off the phone, he asked us to wait a few minutes. Shea's frined was with us and helped with the translation and let us know that someone may be bringing it over. A short while later, a boy rides up on his bike and delivers the toy to us. Shea yelled out a very heartfelt "GRACIAS!!" as the boy rode away.
* Shortly after arriving home from the playground and the church, I realized that we were missing Luke's "sippy cup" that we had brought along. This was very mildly devastating to me. I was almost certain we'd never see the small plastic cylinder again. But later that afternoon, Kristen- a fellow MAFfer- drove up with Luke's sippy cup. She explained what had happened. Kristen and I chatted briefly at the playground as she was walking by. When she came back past the playground after we left, a young boy ran up to her with the cup and told her we had left it there.
I love those two examples of the benefits of generous, honest people and a small town! This last story is more an example of the frustration and laughter that comes with having a toddler in the house.
* Tuesday evening, Jodie couldn't find a notebook that contained a lot of her school plans. I'm not sure where this ranks on the "mildly devastating" scale. Probably somewhere between the first two. Jodie and I looked and looked but couldn't find it. On Wednesday morning, Jodie thought she may want to check in the garbage can. And lo, beneath the two folded up pizza boxes, there lay the green notebook. Delivered there courtesy of Luke Transport.
A couple other interesting stories/events of our week.
- Jodie and I are about to fall alseep Wednesday night when we hear a "thump", "creak" and "pitter patter". Jodie followed the pitter patter down the hall and finds Luke in the kitchen with the refrigerator open & looking for a drink.
- The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, visited Shell today. He flew into Shell, visited the hospital here in town, and then went to Puyo. This was President Correa's first visit since being elected earlier this year. We were able to see the motorcade as it drove through Shell
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Beautiful Ecuador
I had a couple opportunities this week to notice how beautiful a country Ecuador is. On Thursday morning, I got a phone call wondering if I wanted to go "canyoning" since somebody was sick and they had an open spot. Sure, I volunteered. An hour later I was on my way to a spot about 40 minutes west (toward the Mountains) of Shell. What is canyoning? Well, on this morning it consisted of moving down a canyon river by various methods- walking and swimming in the water and repelling ziplining, and jumping down waterfalls. It was a pretty incredible experience. Unfortunately, since we were submerged in the river for much of the time, I wasn't able to bring the camera along for pictures. The two photos below show the general landscape of the area and our group right before we started our trek.
Then on Saturday, our family went with another family to Ambato to do some shopping. The approximate 2 hour trip on the Ambato-Puyo highway (I use the term "highway" loosely- it's 2 lane for much of the way, 1.5 lane for the rest. With all sorts of turns, descents, tunnels, potholes, and a section where there's about 1 foot of shoulder between the road and a VERY STEEP drop off the side of the mountain. But Kevin told me the road is markedly improved since he first came to Shell less than 5 years ago. Now nevermind this part when you read on.) was a beautiful ride. There's one section between Ambato and Banos near the Tungurahua volcano that is especially scenic. Once again we didn't have our camera along but feel free to google "Tungurahua" to see some pictures of the area. We're driving on the side of a mountain and you can look across the valley and see another mountain... I can't really explain it, but it was pretty cool.
I just read tonight that Ecuador is the most geographically and biologically diverse country in the world (not quite sure how that is measured). Our location in Shell is wonderful- the jungle to the east and the mountains to the west. You're welcome to come visit us anytime!
P.S. - I received no renumeration from the Ecuador Dept of Tourism for the comments in this blog.
Then on Saturday, our family went with another family to Ambato to do some shopping. The approximate 2 hour trip on the Ambato-Puyo highway (I use the term "highway" loosely- it's 2 lane for much of the way, 1.5 lane for the rest. With all sorts of turns, descents, tunnels, potholes, and a section where there's about 1 foot of shoulder between the road and a VERY STEEP drop off the side of the mountain. But Kevin told me the road is markedly improved since he first came to Shell less than 5 years ago. Now nevermind this part when you read on.) was a beautiful ride. There's one section between Ambato and Banos near the Tungurahua volcano that is especially scenic. Once again we didn't have our camera along but feel free to google "Tungurahua" to see some pictures of the area. We're driving on the side of a mountain and you can look across the valley and see another mountain... I can't really explain it, but it was pretty cool.
I just read tonight that Ecuador is the most geographically and biologically diverse country in the world (not quite sure how that is measured). Our location in Shell is wonderful- the jungle to the east and the mountains to the west. You're welcome to come visit us anytime!
P.S. - I received no renumeration from the Ecuador Dept of Tourism for the comments in this blog.
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