On Thursday I will have been in Ibarra for a month! It’s flying by, that’s for sure. I was preparing myself for a tough and depressing transition, and although it’s definitely emotionally draining…It´s really been pretty wonderful so far. Let´s recap…
Week One: I wasn´t expecting the girls to remember me…but I walked through the door on my first day of work and they were jumping with joy screaming ¨Lesley!!!!!! Are you going to leave us again!?¨ I was glad to tell them no, and that they would be stuck with me for two years. As for my host mom, I was a little apprehensive and nervous to live with her. All I could remember was her nose in the air and the constant ¨Jesus¨. But she was very welcoming…and I quickly gained respect for her.
My first weekend there, they had a neighborhood meeting. There is this basketball court that´s fairly new, and it´s causing some problems. You see, there are these lights...bright lights…that stay on all night and keep some of the neighbors up. They also cause some of the electricity in the homes to go out. The other issue is that people from outside the neighborhood have been coming to use the court. I guess they are drunk and loud all hours of the night. So, my host mom was speaking for the side that wants the lights off early and the use of the courts restricted to those who live in the neighborhood. Seemed reasonable enough to me. But it was like World War 3 at this meeting. The chief of police and a few police men were there to mediate. And at first, every time my host mom tried to speak half of the group chanted ¨Presidente!¨so she couldn’t be heard. (She used to be the president of the neighborhood, so most don´t care to hear her opinion now that she´s not.) She´s obviously used to it though, because she maintained composure and made her point. And ultimately, her side won. I enjoyed the experience because it reminded me that no matter the issue, people in this country attack it with anger and passion.
Week Two: I have my first Ecuadorian friend/neighbor Javier. I might be a lot more depressed without him. And it´s refreshing to know I can have a male friend without all the obsession and ¨novio¨talk involved.
But to be honest…week two became kind of difficult. My host mom decided to take me to Yahuarcocha, a town just ten minutes outside of Ibarra that is famous for fish. There are tons of restaurants but we picked one that wasn’t crowded…obviously a bad decision but I didn´t argue. A few minutes later they bring out our food…an entire fried fish…face, tail, bones and all. But, like the trooper I have become after my Cuy experience, I ate away. It was really quite tasty, and the whole time I thought about how I would have to bring my family to experience it when they visit! Until…the next day. I started to feel funky. For nearly five days, I was miserable with double dragon. I ate nothing, and spent the majority of the time in my bed. I decided my family wouldn´t want to spend their visit that way…so we won´t be going to Yahuarcocha.
Nevertheless, the few hours I spent at the Hogar that week cheered me up. The girls can be quite entertaining, especially when they´re washing clothes. They sing all together, just like in ¨Annie¨. Except that they sing dirty Reggaeton songs. It´s my favorite part of the day. But then there´s Fabiola. Fabiola, for whatever reason, decided to hate me. She´s 14 and extremely moody…kind of like I was!! Anyway, she was trying every way possible to get a rise out of me. I just ignored her, because I figured giving her attention would only make things worse. But truthfully…she was brining me down. She had been one of my favorites! And suddenly I was the bad guy, and to make things worse she was turning the other older girls against me! I sat down with one of the nuns to express my frustrations, and sweet Sor Hilda told me, ¨We have all given up on Fabiola. She´s like that. She´s sick.¨ Even though the girl was making me crazy I suddenly felt bad for her. She has a few family members but she refuses to talk to them. She´s very obviously rebellious and seeks attention she never received at home.
Week Three: I was feeling 100% again after my week of intestinal hell. I needed the energy because there were now 40 girls at the Hogar. All had returned because school was starting. It was a little overwhelming at first, I still haven’t learned all the girls names but I´m working on it. And sweet Fabiola wasn’t making things any easier. Every time I walked by she would sing the chorus of a Spanish song, ¨You shouldn’t have come back¨. I ignored her. Thankfully many of the new girls enjoyed me, and I started to accept that the hatred she had developed for me might never go away. If I couldn’t get through to her, at least there were others.
But the next day as I was drawing with some of the girls, and in walks Fabiola…arms crossed and face in full scowl. ¨Lesley, we need to talk¨ she says. ¨Yes?¨ Suddenly her face changes from the devil to a little puppy…¨I´m sorry…please forgive me.¨ She almost made me cry. At that moment I decided she would be my special project. Who is better to help her than someone who understands what it´s like to be an evil psychotic child with the slight potential to become a normal functioning human being!! (Sort of…)
So anyway…I´m surviving happily with new motivations every day. And here we are...Fab and I and our angry faces...
Saturday night was the Miss Ibarra Pageant, and oh what a glorious event it was. Because it started at 7pm and lasted until midnight…I didn´t even stay for the talent/bathing suit/evening gown/weep and wave crowning action. But what I did stay for was really quite fantastic. It began with a series of dance numbers that lasted at least an hour. The nine contestants, bless their hearts, had surprisingly no rhythm whatsoever. My dance class and I were more in sync as 6 year olds doing the running man. But my favorite part was the obvious star of the dance program….some random tall lanky dude. Apparently he is the choreographer. I can only gather that they included him because he distracted everyone with his hip writhing stamina. I mean…it was just so weird! I thought these things were supposed to be about the girls! But there was this crazy guy on stage! If there wasn’t such gender discrimination in the world of pageants I´m sure they would have crowned him. Meanwhile in the crowd, in pure Ecuadorian style, there are people selling things. Water, cola, chips and…glowing devil horns?
Oh yes...they were a hit.
