Port Victoria and an Orphanage

Hello again!

 

So its been a very busy few days since I last wrote. Alicia and I no longer have unlimited internet access... it's rather pricey... Now we just have to buy credit every so often, so I will probably not be uploading very many pictures for a while since that uses up a lot of megabytes. Anyway, last Thursday after my morning class at Amani for the local kids, Alicia and I were planning to go to Port Victoria, a small town on the coast of Lake Victoria to visit her friend Janet, and Rose, Janet's sister would be going with us. This is a different Rose from the one I stayed with last week, by the way. 

 

We thought we'd have to take the public bikes and vans the whole way, which is always so so so hot and dusty and crowded and nausea inducing and would take three hours. But very luckily, Marcy, Alicia’s good friend who has a car, called us up and said at the last minute, I'm coming to get you! She really enjoys driving and was pleased to take us there quickly and comfortably in just over an hour and a half. Woohoo!  We were very excited. So we arrived around 2:30, just in time to settle in and rest a bit before lunch which is normally around 3.  They had a delicious meal prepared for us, then we walked down to the lake to see the "beach" and take some pictures at the shoreline. Oh it was beautiful, a clear, expansive lake, big green rolling hills on either side of the bay and some very jungley looking islands dotting the horizon.
I really wanted to jump into the cool water and swim to those little pieces of paradise, but having been severely warned against the illness-inducing hazards of still water in Kenya, I decided to just gaze at them longingly and take a few pictures. We went for a drink that evening against our wishes, being "hijacked," as we put it, to go out and have a good time and enjoy the Kenyan beer.  The people here are very serious about having a good time; it's IMPOSSIBLE to tell them you are too tired or too busy or too underdressed or unaware to go out when they are personally inviting you out of the kindness of their hearts. Luckily, we were firm enough about not consuming more alcohol than we deemed appropriately adequate when attempting to avoid ultimate rudeness in refusing to imbibe. It's very difficult, though, when the waiter brings you two drinks every time you order one. 

The next day Alicia and I helped Rose do some laundry down at the lake, accompanied by some very curious local children who were so fascinated by our ability to wash clothes just like everybody else that they just had to had to stand about eight inches away from us the whole time to make sure we were actually washing them properly.  A few were brave enough to reach out and touch my white skin, one actually felt my hair!  Being in a museum couldn't hardly make me feel I were under more scrutinization that when in front of a crowd of Kenyan children.  They are very cute though and they mean no harm, they're just curious After a few minutes we got them to talk a little, then they wanted their pictures taken and even decided they would all try on Alicia's sunglasses and pose for pictures. So cute!

 

 

After the laundry Alicia and I walked around the small town, went to the market to check out the second hand clothing piles, and eventually found a place to sit and enjoy a cold drink and talk the afternoon away. There was no service or internet there, which is always a little refreshing to me, so we just talked and shared stories and ate chips (fries) for our late afternoon meal.  Finally I wanted to see the rest of the "beaches" (not for sunbathing, just for selling fish), and maybe take some sunset pictures so we hopped on a motorbike and cruised on over, gathering a small crowd of children running behind us as we went. 


At the shoreline I took a few photos but by this time was so surrounded by kids I just laughed and tried to talk to them and just ended up decided to walk to the next beach in hopes it would be quieter.  So we set off walking quickly, the little parade of children numbering around 30 laughing and hopping and skipping behind us.  It's quite cute at first, but really makes me a little sad and also can be very tiring to be this popular. I don't envy the famous.



After maybe 10 minutes walking we reached a point that must have been forbidden or frightening and the remaining kids came to a dead stop at an invisible line and hollered their goodbyes. We were lost but didn't want to turn back just yet as the sudden quiet was refreshing and somehow intimidating. But we didn't want to miss the sunset so we turned back and found a young lady who was very happy to accompany us the other direction down a different path to the nearby beach. It was perfect! A small boat ha just come in and the storm clouds were rolling steadily over the mountain into the bay, the sun gently settling above the water. We sat and just watched the serene scenery, somehow being observed by yet another cluster of kids and the lady who brought us there.


After a few minutes we knew we'd be rained on shortly so we got up and the whole crew began to walk us back to town.  After the downpour began we tried to find a motorbike back to the house, and successfully hopping on, getting absolutely drenched with a combination of the open air speed the monsoon pouring down. Oh it was so dramatically gorgeous though, the view of the lake with misty cloudy fog floating above, combining with steam from the hot water being pummeled by the cold rain, thunder rumbling and lightening flashing... suddenly a rainbow broke out behind us over the hills, and as we reached the lakeshore and safety of the shelter the sun was just setting between the islands.  The whole experience took my breath away momentarily and as we absorbed it all, dripping wet, gasping from the exhilaration, we suddenly looked at each and grinned and whooped and high fived and exclaimed how lucky we were to be here right now in the gorgeous moment.  The nearby people were a bit confused but then seemed to recognize our excitement and just smiled and waved.




The rest of our time there was very nice as well, Janet and Rose are just the sweetest ladies, who have both had very hard lives. It was good to listen to their stories though and share in some of their memories, acknowledge their struggles and give our condolences.  They are happy though, and very hardworking and enjoyable women to be with.  Our ride back to Mumias the next day was a jumble of cars, vans and "buses", being sold from one to the next, paying extra for our "skin condition" and being stuffed into tiny spaces, sometimes without a seat or even room to see the road ahead.  We made it though! Three hours.




Sunday I went to Kakamega Forest, just for the day, to experience the Kenyan jungle! It was beautiful.  So amazingly filled with gorgeous singing birds, lots of monkeys and huge towering ancient trees.  I loved it.  I had an excellent guide, very knowledgeable and unafraid of just barging off the trail into the thicket in search of bird whose call he'd just heard. He worked hard to ensure I got the most of my four hours!  It was well worth it.

Monday and yesterday I spend at an orphanage to work with some kids who have HIV or whose parents died from AIDS.  Since the holidays had just finished last week there were not too many children there yet.  Many of them still stay with caretakers as they orphanage is still being built.  But they come every weekday for classes and the teachers are often staying there. The goal is to have the orphanage completed and open by June for about 30 ids to live there full time. Maurice, the founder, is a very ambitious man, a local Kenyan, who started this project a few years ago. He has bought the land, built the houses and planted the fields all with money from fundraising and donations from people in the community. It is excellently well run and I was happy to be their first official white visitor!  They have many plans for the future, one is to buy a dairy cow to earn additional income.  They also help the local women who have HIV/AIDS and I was able to meet many of them, speak with them and hear their stories. I also invited Amani members to come yesterday in order for them to meet and collaborate for future events and meetings. It was perfect to be able to connect these two Community Based Organizations, located just 20 minutes from each other. I know they will be mutually beneficial to each other, and I can't wait to hear how the two groups continue to grow!  The women from the Maurice's project were very pleased to hear that the Amani members have resources and encouraging information for people living with HIV. We spent the whole day yesterday talking, sharing ideas, and I played with the kids, doing yoga, inspiring their creativity and encouraging them to be helpful to each other and respect their differences.  It was a wonderful day!





Alright, I have another class this afternoon, a homestay tonight, and two classes tomorrow. Busy, busy! Just the way I like it  :)

Stay in touch, please, thank you to those of you that are emailing me, I appreciate it!!

Love, love, love
Maia

Homestay with Rose

Alicia has been a wonderful hostess for me here in Kenya, and has done just an excellent job setting up places for me to teach, and also coordinating a few overnight visits with some of the members who were so very eager to host me at their homes.  The first one was last Monday night with a very active and intelligent woman named Rose.  Rose has been very involved with Amani, and other organizations, for many reasons.  She has two children with Spina Bifida, which in Kenya is just nearly impossible to treat well and live with... access to wheelchairs and handicapped equipment is expensive and very rare.  Furthermore, just 8 years ago, Rose herself became handicapped after a bad fall that infected her leg with Tetanus.  The leg was removed after a 6 month struggle to control the infection and she now walks with crutches.  Her involvement in Amani as a person who experiences the struggles of living with a disability has made her a huge advocate for the group and keeps her well involved in the community. She is an inspiration to many. This is her and her daughter, whose legs were amputated at age 12.

After my Monday morning class at the EARC with kids with disabilities, Rose and I headed off to her town to spend the afternoon and I would stay the night.  First we went to a meeting of people with disabilities from her area, there was a man with a non-profit holding a meeting letting people know how they could get access to adaptive equipment and wheelchairs. After a few minutes listening to them speak Luhya and being stared at I was asked to stand and give a speech (??!).  I smiled and said where I was from and gave a quick overview of what I was doing, and made sure to compliment them on how they were doing a great job helping each other as a community and working hard to empower themselves as individuals. It was really moving to see all these people with sticks for crutches, broken down wheelchairs and other improvised materials to help them get around... Rose was saying how these meetings help people network with others to get new jobs and stay off the streets, keeping them from living life as beggars. This is the church the meeting was held in.

 

 

After the meeting we had lunch, chips (fries) and soda, and then Rose and I walked through the market, stopping at another meeting she had with a group who was trying to find a way to buy a machine to make bricks, since most of the people make their own bricks by hand and it takes weeks.  Then we wandered through the market and bought some food for supper.  It was here that I was asked by many women to take their pictures and several said they'd never been so close to a white person before!  Here's my favorite picture of the market:

 

 

Finally we headed off to Rose's house, a beautiful farm compound out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by gorgeous fields and open skies.  We had a small parade of children behind us by the time we arrived, and as we settled on the lawn to chat before the sun went own I just smiled at the gaggle of children gathered in front of me, scared and too shy to talk, but I talked enough and soon took out my yoga cards and was showing them a few things here and there. Rose and some family members (her daughters, I think) were just talking behind me, watching and laughing at the kids while cleaning the rice and chopping the veggies for supper.  Finally as we really got into the swing of the impromptu yoga class, (no translations necessary since my acting abilities were turned to "high") Rose took my camera and snapped a few pictures.  I'm very glad she did since the whole experience was just so special for me.  The kids loved it, they started to open up and be more comfortable, we just connected nicely and had so much fun playing and laughing.

 

 

 

 

Finally the sun set, Rose called me inside, the kids said farewell, and I helped and watched as Rose and her daughter prepared a lovely meal just over a small coal-fire pot on the dirt floor of the living room. It was delicious--fish, rice, tomatoes, onions, potatoes and scuma! I was tired after that and we had a nice cup of tea before going straight to bed!  It was a lovely experience, and so nice to talk to Rose more and really hear her story. It was very important to me to see and experience how rural Kenyans live, too!  Alicia and I just visited some other friends of hers in Port Victoria yesterday, and next week I have two more homestays so I am really getting the full experience.  I love it, and I think it is so important and makes them feel so good to host a visitor :)

 

Love love love,

Maia

Some Observations About Kenya

Kenya is a wonderful country. Western Kenya in particular is a very welcoming place, with people frequently bursting into song when something exciting happens or someone new comes to town. There is lots of smiling, lots of staring if you're a white person, and lots of "How are you?!?" being shouted by the little kids on the side of the road as you pass by, not expecting a real answer and only giggling if you ask them in return.  There is a lot to be grateful for, and quite a bit to be confused over, but it is all very Kenyan. Here are some of the things that have stood out most prominently to me so far:


1.  The way people talk nice and slowly, with lots of intonation, like when they say "sure" and it sounds like "shoe-ah".  They say Mm, when they agree with you, or "uh-uh" to indicate "Yes"... and always ask "how are you?" many times and reply with "fine, fine."  The mi of languages is also confusing... Kiswahili and Luhya are spoken by the locals, and everyone over 10 and under 60 has a good basic grasp of English and many sentences (particularly shouting matches) are punctuated by English words and phrases. 

I sat through this meeting with Rose (on the far left) and tried so hard to understand what they were saying but after almost an hour all I got were some stares and "How are You?''s from passersby.

2. No matter how often you shower or wash your face, you are guaranteed to wipe the sweat off your forehead and be left with a very brown hand from the collection of dust and dirt that has gathered.  Boda boda rides are the worst as you constantly pass trucks and vans and get caught up in a whirlwind of dirt.  It's kind of gruesomely satisfying allowing yourself to get that filthy though and have nothing you can do about it, especially when there's often no running water.



3.  As an agrarian culture with hardworking farmers, the food is all meant to keep people alive and working hard for as long as possible, every meal is laden with filling carbs and is treated to be the last!  Mountains of cornmeal mash (ugali) or rice are accompanied by fried flat bread (chapati) or double stacked white bread stuck together with butter. This is sometimes served with a spinach like vegetable (scuma), or cabbage and carrots (delicious!)  but rarely with other fruits and veggies. Luckily Alicia and I tend to eat only veggies at night and I have been starting my day with an avocado that I eat like a bowl of cereal and a couple tomatoes... it's so fresh and delicious!

 

 



4. The sky by day is fascinating, filled with gorgeous tumultuous clouds, especially when it is about to rain and the air is sticky and still.  However there is NOTHING quite like the sky at night. The other night when I slept at Rose's out in the countryside I was being shown to the outhouse by her daughter and I had my headlamp on to light the way. But as we walked out from under the cover of the trees I literally gasped with shock and startled the daughter badly.  I quickly said, "no, no it's okay," and shut off my light and just gazed up above at the astounding number of twinkling lights.  There was no moon that I could see yet, it was still early, but the sheer number of stars made it bright enough to see the silhouettes of the landscape and fields around us.  I stood there with my mouth open, gazing around, admiring the colors of the stars, the sparkle and great expanse of sky above us.  The daughter was a bit confused by my actions and I tried to explain but she just smiled and shook her head at the naïve "mzungu".

 

 

 

 

5.  The kids and toddlers are very wary of me, being a rare white person in their town.  Many people have only seen a mzungu once or twice, and an old lady came up and touched my arm the other day and then laughed so hard I nearly jumped out of my skin... the lady standing nearby translated and said this woman had never before touched a white person's skin!  Anyway, the kids are all a bit scared of us, which is difficult to understand and hard to handle, especially when they treat us as objects of interest to follow around town and yell at.  But the babies are so cute, and usually not nearly as frightened. I guess they haven't learned to be, which is good, and I try so hard to make them smile. It's really hard though!!  The rare moments are just precious.

 



 

 

Ok, that's all for now... I have a lot more to share about what I did this week, it was very busy!  I'm going to Kakamega tomorrow though and will try to write some more after that.

 

Lots of love!

 

Maia



 

 

Another Class, and a Few Pictures

Good Morning!

This will be a quick post as I have to go to the adult Yoga class this morning in Eshiakula, but I thought I'd put up a few more pictures. It's really nice to have Alicia to take a bunch of pictures for me, and she's very enthusiastic about documenting everything we do and helping to promote Amani! On Monday I taught a class for kids with disabilities at the EARC (Educational Assessment and Resource Center) that is located in Mumias.  We had a nice turn out, and the kids and adults all really enjoyed the class.  A few women from Amani also came to observe and participate since I am instructing them on how to continue with classes after I leave. That is one really wonderful thing about the members of Amani--they are very enthusiastic about learning the skills themselves in order to continue teaching and serving to others after we leave. Rukia is one lady, who is disabled herself, who will be taking over the kids' classes in the next few weeks. She is very excited for the opportunity, and Amani will pay her a small stipend to teach once or twice a week and bring classes to schools around the area. So here's a few pictures of things I have done and seen so far!




My first day at Amani!  Tony is holding the sign, he's just the nicest and most helpful guy ever, and Pamela is on the side, so full of energy and excitement and a wonderful dancer!

Beautiful cloth at the market in Mumias, I can't wait to buy some!

I was being carefully scrutinized by the gentlemen all lined up under the tree during market day.... It's impossible to be subtle about picture taking when all eyes are on you all the time simply as consequence for your "skin condition."

My first class at the Amani Center, we had quite an excellent turn out!

The kids and adults alike are very good at "moo-ing" during cow pose; it always makes them giggle!

Observers to my class with the disabled kids; the lady in the middle is Rose, an Amani member and I stayed at her house the other day.  The lady on the left was good about helping her little tot participate in all the yoga moves he could :)

A spontaneous class with the kids at Rose's house. They were so much fun! Language barriers are of little importance when you have smiles and laughter.

Thanks for reading! I'll write up a blog about my stay at Roses' house too, but I have lots to do here that has nothing to do with a computer so I'd best be off and running!

Love, love, love,
M

First Class at Amani

Good Morning!

Yesterday was a very exciting day for me, as it was my first day teaching a kids yoga class here in Kenya. Alicia and I slept in a little, got ready and left for Mumias at about noon to get cash for me from the ATM and look around the market before heading to Eshiakula where Amani is located. I was quite nervous today to start the class for kids yoga. I had no idea what to expect, and neither did Alicia. Now, in the US when I teach to kids I’m usually most concerned about how many kids will
participate, how they will get along with each other if they are different ages, and whether or not they will behave. Here, I was not sure what to be concerned about, but mostly I was worried they would
be too shy and not want to do anything at all, or that they would not understand with the language barrier! But, as it turns out I had nothing to worry about.

We had Tony translate for me, sentence by sentence which was different for me as I really tend to talk and talk, so it was a good challenge to figure out. And we had plenty of children show up, at least 20 kids! They just kept on coming and joining in and oh they were very good. They were so well behaved, honestly I’ve never had a group of kids that big and had absolutely NO behavior problems at all, not even one. The most exciting thing I had to address was the baby who fell over… Anyway, it was such a different dynamic, they were so attentive, and quiet and absolutely glued to me the whole time, even the 3 and 4 year olds! There was no talking out of turn (except from the adults sitting in back) and I had no trouble getting them to try out new poses and make silly sounds and just have a fun time. I would have even preferred a little more rowdiness and participation but it was still great. Everyone loved it and they all came up and said thank you at the very end, they were very polite and still a little shy. 

Amani is great center because we are not just going in once or twice to teach a class or two for fun, but we are hoping to provide these people and their children with the tools to make their lives better and to empower themselves to grow and learn. As people with disabilities, it is important that they feel able to accomplish things in their community and that they can feel better and more healthy on a

daily basis to complete their tasks and live and normal life. They have asked and asked for more stress reduction techniques and yoga has been their main focus. They have several women from the community who now teach the yoga, and I will be instructing and training another lady who will continue to teach the kids yoga lessons after I am gone. They feel so good about themselves when they learn new skills and can equally share and teach to others in their community. It is a very well-run Community Based Organization, and the people are so proud of what they have accomplished on their own and with just some start up help.

Today I teach a class to disabled kids, and then I will be staying the night at Rose’s house, which should be fun to really experience a Kenyan’s home and lifestyle! So I will write again maybe Wednesday. Alicia has been working hard to edit the video of my welcome party to Amani, and we will try to upload that here with a few pictures of the school and classes so far!

Thanks for reading,
Love love love
Maia

 

 

Here's the video of my welcome party to Amani! We had to cut it down quite a bit, it went on for almost 15 minutes! This one is just 3 :) It's pretty neat. 

Another trip begins...

Hello friends and family!

I thought I'd keep up with my blog on this trip since I haven't done a single thing with it in almost two years! I can't believe it has been that long since I have done a solo volunteer trip... I'm so happy to be back :)

Well, I am here in Ekero, Kenya, just outside Mumias, which is about an hour and a half north west of Kisumu, on Lake Victoria (the source of the Nile, I can't wait to see it!) I'm sitting in Alicia' cute house, which is located within a school/boarding house for three hundred deaf children. It's a very safe place to be living, as it is all teacher housing, and it is well guarded and set back from the roads. It's quiet, too, as long as the children aren't too crazy :) She has an internet modem on her computer that we can buy megabytes for which is really handy!  As long as there is electricity, anyway, which comes and goes quite frequently. Yesterday when we arrived it was pouring rain, we were soaked through to the bone after walking in it for ten minutes... or rather trying and failing to run with my huge backpack and small roller bag and her small backpack and huge roller bag whilst dodging puddles, pot holes, and cow poo. So needless to say it was rather a bummer when we finally got inside drpping wet and cold and there was no electricity! We had flashlights and headlamps though and managed just fine. I was ready to sleep anyway after my four days of continuous travel :)  After leaving Minnesota I had a 10 hour layover in New York during which I had to switch airports, but after I got into the Delta Skyclub  at JFK it was quite nice! Even nicer, as a standby passenger I was extremely lucky and got to fly first class all the way to Belgium!  It was phenomenal.  In Beligum I took a train to Lueven, spent the day and night with two awesome friends that I met in Peru (Thanks Elise and Leen!), too the train back to Brussels at 5:20am, took another train at 6:15 to Amsterdam, then got on my flight to Nairobi at 11 am.  That was 8 hours, I arrived in Nairobi and Alicia picked me up and we went to a hotel for the night.

The next morning at 8am we boarded a bus for Mumias scheduled to take 10-12 hours depending on road conditions. Despite the heat and crowded bus situation, it was really a beautiful journey. The scenery here is just phenomenal, it was so beautiful... Nairobi is situated up on a plateau, and as you go down to the start of the rift valley it is just breathtaking... the trees that had huge bright red flowers just perched on top, mixed with the funky fingerlike cactus plants that look like electrified hairdos, then the trees who's roots entwine with the rocks on the ridges, just clinging to the edge of the copper colored earth.  As we crossed the rift valley we were looked out at the arid desert mixed with grasslands, admiring the craters and mountains in the distance, and I was particularly loving the flat -topped trees that looked somewhat like acacia trees, when suddenly I shouted--Oh my gosh a giraffe!! Two giraffes, no three!!! And Alicia shouted, Where, WHAT WHERE??! And I pointed them out and we both just squealed for joy while zooming past these three gorgeously long-legged creatures, stretching nimbly up to the tops of the tall trees for a mid morning snack, just alongside the busy road.  We were very lucky to have seen them as Alicia had not yet seen even one her whole time here!

The journey was long, but we arrived gratefully before the sun went down, had a quick and delicious meal in a local hotel (restaurant) of chapatti (a flatbread), ugali (a mashed corn paste) and skuma (a green kale-like vegetable sautéed with tomato, garlic and onion).  Very traditional Kenyan food, it was quite satisfying.  We then started the ten minute walk to Alicias, moving quickly in the hopes to avoided the impending rain... the thunder and lightening started though so we knew we wouldn't make it but we had no choice but to hurry on. Once it started there was no point in doing anything else we were instantly soaked through to the bone!! I luckily had my cover on my backpack to keep it dry but my roller suit case was questionable as to its imperviousness to water, and I had to lean way over to protect my bag and camera bag. But with the wind there was really no hope.  It was A DOWNPOUR.  I have never been in rain that hard! I couldn't even hardly see and we were dodging muddy potholes and slipping on the slick dirt road, with thunder and lightening all around and a few minutes of hail, it was really incredible!  Hmmm.... welcome to Kenya! But I have since been told it was good luck to arrive to a new destination in the rain. A true sign or just being nice... who knows?  Anyway I believe I wrote about this above as well, so I'll move on :)

Today was an amazing day, just incredible. I don't even know how to describe it all!  Alicia and I got up around 8, and had a quick warm breakfast of mash and bananas and then got on a motor-taxi to head to the Amani center, which is 15 minutes away. We were under the impression that they were making bricks today to build the new center, but when we arrived the flagged us down to come inside to the center instead of going ahead to the new site.  So we got off and there were hugs and kisses and a big beautiful sign that said "Welcome Maia", it was so sweet.  The gave us each a "flower" (a sparkly lei) to wear and immediately started the singing and dancing ceremony!  They sang "Welcome Maia" and "Very nice to meet you Maia" and many other such similar phrases in English and in their local language luhuya (sp?) which is similar Swahili. there was a lot of clapping and dancing and so much smiling and hugging and handshakes... it was very nice! I was so excited to meet them, and what a beautiful welcome.  We went into the classroom then and I introduced myself and Josef translated for the people who don't not know much English, and Alicia talked a bit and they all clapped and sang some more.  We then went to visit the construction site, just 5 minutes walk down the road to see where they were building the new center and how the brick making was going. They are so proud of the work they are doing as a community, it is just wonderful to see their dedication and commitment. We then walked back and had some delicious tea and chapatti prepared for us, and meanwhile another lady had come a little late and wanted to sing and dance for me as well so it all started again! This round, they all brought out their gifts they brought for me.... many people came up and handed me bunches of bananas, loaves of chapati, a few huge avocados, a pineapple, some eggs... oh I was just in tears at this point because these people have so little and for them to give me such a generous gift, as small as it may seem, and all in bags too which are a precious commodity here.. I was just full of emotions. It may have been lack of sleep as well, but wow I was still so touched by their generosity.  I am so looking forward to working with them and hopefully able to give them back a few small gifts in return.  I start my work tomorrow actually with a class for the children of the members.  They are very excited to have some events for the children because so far everything has been for the adults, which is a good focus, but they are ready to expand. So this is very good timing! We have one class tomorrow, one on Monday and Wednesday and Thursday, and then a regular adults class on Tuesday and Thursday. I will be staying busy! 

After staying and chatting a while we came back home, I was so tired, and I took a nice two hour nap, and by then there was running water and electricity (miracle!) so I showered (finally!!) and we just made a delicious dinner of rice, carrots, cabbage, onions and tomatoes with chapati and avocados on the side. Yum!  Okay, time to call it a night. I will try to add pictures at some point but that takes a lot of internet time and money... I have a few already though and Alicia took video of my welcome party :)  Lots of love to you all, please send me email updates from home I love receiving mail!

Love love love,
Maia

San Juan

So this past weekend (really starting on the 21^st and still going on up until today, I believe) there have been mid-summer festivities all around Ecuador, more commonly known as San Juan.  Basically everybody gets extra fancy in their dress-up and lots of dancing, drinking and craziness ensue.  I survived! 

I went to Zuleta to celebrate with friends and to see where the most traditional of all celebrations occur since the Hacienda Zuleta is one of the only places in all of Ecuador that still has good relations with its community and so therefore the traditional partying happens.  What this means is that several groups, usually families, party it up at a house in the community then slowly make their way to the Hacienda Plaza with dancing, playing music and drinking along the way.  

 

I must add that I absolutely love these hats and I want one with a peacock feather.

Once at the plaza, the dancing continues, and a young girl who has been riding on a horse the whole way gives a speech to the owner and the family of the hacienda, mostly about gratefulness and honor (that's what I picked up on).

 

 

         The night before was also entertaining as all of the groups travel throughout the community, up into the hills and stop at houses along with way.  What I mean by this is that they do their singing, dancing and drinking in the streets and make their way into each house along the way, never stopping the singing and dancing. Once inside the house they are giving drinks by the owners who pour out a sizable ration for each person in the circle (and you never know what kind of drink it will be! It could be chicha, vodka, peach wine, watermelon schnapps... ).  Sometimes a plate of food is passed around, and meanwhile the circling and singing and dancing continue.  It’s a great dance, really, kind of shuffling along in a circle with your hands in your pockets or behind your back and then all of a sudden then you change directions, sometimes without warning until you run into the person in front of you.  All of this is done circling around either the musicians or the person that is handing out the drinks (sometimes both). Every now and then, especially when the beat picks up and you start a running shuffle, I feel like we are part of Alice in Wonderland when all the strange animals are running circles around the pelican on the beach and the water is rising and nobody pays any attention and they all get swept away by the ocean but they never stop dancing and singing and running in circles.  It’s very much the same, really. But still so so much fun.

 Well these are just a few samples of the hundreds of pictures I took over those two days. I'll put up more on Facebook soon, and also a few videos if I can manage (my disk space is getting full though-time to go home! haha).  No, seriously, I'll be home in just a few weeks!  

Lots of love,

Maia ;)