Sat, Sep. 27
Today was the first ‘normal’ Saturday that I have had since I arrived in Ecuador over a month ago. I woke up relatively early, for a Saturday, to finish my midterm- a very big accomplishment as it was a three part essay written in Spanish-which I promptly sent off to the professor by 9am. I had made plans with my friend Leo yesterday to go jogging this morning around the park across the street from my house. He came and we met Claire in Parque Carolina for our run. Being as I still can’t last very long in our high altitude we lapped it once and then sat down in the grass to rest and toss the Frisbee. As we were starting to play around a little boy, maybe 6 years old came up and asked if he could play, ‘Quiero jugar!’ Thrilled, we began to play with our new amigitio, Yon Marques, and were quickly joined by three other friends and a cousin: Eva (age 2), Jefferson (5), Paúl (4) and Maribel, (probably also about 6) The 8 of us played a small game of fútbol and I think that all of them could have beat me, even the smallest one, with a blindfold on. I was playing golie and when I let the third goal through Yon let out a big screamed in frustration, ‘Courtney!!’ All I could do was laugh! Haha
The game was followed by hours of handstands, wheelbarrow races, swings, ring around the rosie, songs, tickle fights and laughter. We were even joined at one point by another little girl whose grandmother asked if we would mind letting her join in the fun. After a while, sitting with Jefferson tightly wrapped up in my arms we began to ask the kids about their parents. I hadn’t really thought anything of it, but after a few hours of not seeing an adult I had begun to wonder if the kids we just alone in the huge park. It was neat to have Leo there also to help when I couldn’t quite understand everything they were saying. Yon Marques pointed out his father to me as one of the many men across the street selling sweets and other random trinkets to the oncoming traffic. He said that his papí no longer loved his mamí, although they still slept in the same bed. Yon asked me if I loved my husband, and I told him that I wasn’t married, but I hoped that someday I would love him very much. ‘That’s good’ he responded. Leo at this point began to ask the boys what they wanted to be when they grew up. Without skipping a beat, Yon, the six year old, told us that he was to help his father sell things because they had a lot of debt to pay off. Claire had been passing around the dried fruit that she had just received in a package from the states and so Yon’s speech was complimented by a ‘Que rico,’ o ‘Que delisciosos estos’ in between every other sentence. They where kids..chiquitos..but like so many of children in Ecuador, already so old. We left the park with huge hugs from each child and a promise to look for each other in the coming Saturdays. Its funny how with kids you only need 10 minuets and a soccer ball to be best friends. Just to play. Glorious.
But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Matt 19: 14-15
Leo and Claire spent the day at my house, doing homework, messing around with some salsa moves and just hanging out. Later that night I started talking with Leo about the elections that the country is going to have tomorrow for the new constitution. We talked about the difference between the political and social structures here in Ecuador and in the United States. The US knows no poverty like that of Ecuador. Americans, it seem, always have some sort of opportunity, whether this a soup kitchen in New Jersey or a job training center down the street from some friends who live in Chicago. There are places in Latin American where the people have no options, no outside connects, no dreams of change..only the reality of there lives in that moment which may or may not include shelter and food for the day. 50% of Ecuador’s population and 88% of those whole live in rural Ecuador, are considered poor. That is to say they, for a family of four (which most, if not all are much larger) incomes are under $357 per month. 61% are reported as not having enough for basic necessities including food, shelter, education and health.
I don’t think that I have talked much about the political situation yet in this country, but Ecuador is in the midst of a huge campaign for a new constitution that would push the country towards a more socialist society. Everyone here reads the news papers and the 6 news stations are the channels most frequently visited by Quitaños. Even with the excess of 446 articles there are many people who have also studied in detail the new components of the consitution to formulate strong opinions. Si o No..everyone will have something to tell you about the right way to go. The gratafi in the streets, posters lining the buses, radio commercial and even concerts benefiting either postions are insane. There was actually a rock band playing one night, singing a song with lyrics saying something to the extent of “I’m going to cry cry cry if the ‘no’ wins…du nu nu..You are so blind blind blind..” To explain a bit, on a very basic level, Rafeal Correa, the current president of Ecuador has formulated along with a constitutional committee, a constitution that moves Ecuador towards the left. If the ‘sí’ wins, Correa continues with his new laws, the rich people lose money, there are more programs for the poor, more fixed prices, etc. If the ‘no’ wins Correa resigns, replacing the assembly with its former members who were corrupt in every sense of the word, and things stay, more of less, the same.
I personally find Correa himself fascinating. Leo, a strong supporter of the ‘sí’ one day told me his life story. Growing up in a very poor family the president worked hard to make it to a university, received his degree in Economics at San Francisco and then headed off to the states to follow up with a PhD. In Champaign IL Correa completed his schooling before returning to Ecuador to teach at the same University. Among other things Correa lived for a year in a very small, highly underdeveloped community without even running water near Cotopaxi, engaging with the people there and learning about the poverty in his own country. The man speaks fluently Spanish, English, French and Quetcha. When I was in a research library a few weeks ago, I had unknowingly chosen to study in the same place Correa was scheduled to speak that afternoon. I was thoroughly impressed with his public speech and appearance. The last president who tired to go leftist died in a ‘mysterious plane crash’ coming back from the States. There is no denying that Correa has guts for the changes he is trying to make. As far as I can tell there is no reason not to trust the president who appears to have been, thus far, true to his word. However there are lots of new promises being made in his campaign that push many people to believe him to be a liar.
My family, for example would defend the ‘no’ with all of their lives. My mom will rant about how the people are blind and they don’t know what they are doing. They don’t seem to have much grounding for this opinion however other than the highly propagandized tv broadcasting. When I was listening to Correa speak I was so stunned at the arrival of the president that I sent my mom a text telling her that I was physically 3 meters from the president of Ecuador. The only response I received was ‘pégale.’ That is to say, ‘slap him for me.’ All I could do was laugh.
There are many complications and things to consider, but from what I can gather the ‘sí’ stands for some sort of change. No one would tell you that they are satisfied with the country as it is now and the ‘sí’ represents a hope for the next generation. It might not be perfect, but as Leo says, ‘it’s something..if you can’t think of anything better, let me know, but for now, we have to keep dreaming.’
Leo walked me through, as many people have, Ecuador’s political history in the past 20 years and the corruption and pain it has faced. We talked about immigration, racism, the catholic church and the kids we had met that same morning. He told me that when he was in middle school his father left for the states to work, the same situation that faces almost all families in this country. The impossibility of receiving a work visa forces desperate men into illegal work bussing tables and cleaning facilities after hours in a country where they often can’t communicate with anyone. Mr. Ortgega was gone for two years and Leo said that it got to the point where he asked his father not to email him anymore because every time he would open a message he would begin to cry. Better not to read at all. I thought about Ricardo, about the millions of immigrants that have families waiting for them, depending on them to make enough money our ‘land of prosperity’ so that they can return home.
It’s a scary though to venture outside of my secure democratic, capitalist world. ‘Socialism’ in the states is a tainted word, but maybe here it is a different world, in need of a different solution. In a system where policeman never enforce traffic laws, people have no incentive to obey regulation, children travel hours in bus to arrive at school in dirty, used uniforms and infants work on street corners juggling for money, someone needs to get involved. If this be the government, at this point, I say, let’s give it a try. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day. Sí or no? We’ll find out…
Today was the first ‘normal’ Saturday that I have had since I arrived in Ecuador over a month ago. I woke up relatively early, for a Saturday, to finish my midterm- a very big accomplishment as it was a three part essay written in Spanish-which I promptly sent off to the professor by 9am. I had made plans with my friend Leo yesterday to go jogging this morning around the park across the street from my house. He came and we met Claire in Parque Carolina for our run. Being as I still can’t last very long in our high altitude we lapped it once and then sat down in the grass to rest and toss the Frisbee. As we were starting to play around a little boy, maybe 6 years old came up and asked if he could play, ‘Quiero jugar!’ Thrilled, we began to play with our new amigitio, Yon Marques, and were quickly joined by three other friends and a cousin: Eva (age 2), Jefferson (5), Paúl (4) and Maribel, (probably also about 6) The 8 of us played a small game of fútbol and I think that all of them could have beat me, even the smallest one, with a blindfold on. I was playing golie and when I let the third goal through Yon let out a big screamed in frustration, ‘Courtney!!’ All I could do was laugh! Haha
The game was followed by hours of handstands, wheelbarrow races, swings, ring around the rosie, songs, tickle fights and laughter. We were even joined at one point by another little girl whose grandmother asked if we would mind letting her join in the fun. After a while, sitting with Jefferson tightly wrapped up in my arms we began to ask the kids about their parents. I hadn’t really thought anything of it, but after a few hours of not seeing an adult I had begun to wonder if the kids we just alone in the huge park. It was neat to have Leo there also to help when I couldn’t quite understand everything they were saying. Yon Marques pointed out his father to me as one of the many men across the street selling sweets and other random trinkets to the oncoming traffic. He said that his papí no longer loved his mamí, although they still slept in the same bed. Yon asked me if I loved my husband, and I told him that I wasn’t married, but I hoped that someday I would love him very much. ‘That’s good’ he responded. Leo at this point began to ask the boys what they wanted to be when they grew up. Without skipping a beat, Yon, the six year old, told us that he was to help his father sell things because they had a lot of debt to pay off. Claire had been passing around the dried fruit that she had just received in a package from the states and so Yon’s speech was complimented by a ‘Que rico,’ o ‘Que delisciosos estos’ in between every other sentence. They where kids..chiquitos..but like so many of children in Ecuador, already so old. We left the park with huge hugs from each child and a promise to look for each other in the coming Saturdays. Its funny how with kids you only need 10 minuets and a soccer ball to be best friends. Just to play. Glorious.
But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Matt 19: 14-15
Leo and Claire spent the day at my house, doing homework, messing around with some salsa moves and just hanging out. Later that night I started talking with Leo about the elections that the country is going to have tomorrow for the new constitution. We talked about the difference between the political and social structures here in Ecuador and in the United States. The US knows no poverty like that of Ecuador. Americans, it seem, always have some sort of opportunity, whether this a soup kitchen in New Jersey or a job training center down the street from some friends who live in Chicago. There are places in Latin American where the people have no options, no outside connects, no dreams of change..only the reality of there lives in that moment which may or may not include shelter and food for the day. 50% of Ecuador’s population and 88% of those whole live in rural Ecuador, are considered poor. That is to say they, for a family of four (which most, if not all are much larger) incomes are under $357 per month. 61% are reported as not having enough for basic necessities including food, shelter, education and health.
I don’t think that I have talked much about the political situation yet in this country, but Ecuador is in the midst of a huge campaign for a new constitution that would push the country towards a more socialist society. Everyone here reads the news papers and the 6 news stations are the channels most frequently visited by Quitaños. Even with the excess of 446 articles there are many people who have also studied in detail the new components of the consitution to formulate strong opinions. Si o No..everyone will have something to tell you about the right way to go. The gratafi in the streets, posters lining the buses, radio commercial and even concerts benefiting either postions are insane. There was actually a rock band playing one night, singing a song with lyrics saying something to the extent of “I’m going to cry cry cry if the ‘no’ wins…du nu nu..You are so blind blind blind..” To explain a bit, on a very basic level, Rafeal Correa, the current president of Ecuador has formulated along with a constitutional committee, a constitution that moves Ecuador towards the left. If the ‘sí’ wins, Correa continues with his new laws, the rich people lose money, there are more programs for the poor, more fixed prices, etc. If the ‘no’ wins Correa resigns, replacing the assembly with its former members who were corrupt in every sense of the word, and things stay, more of less, the same.
I personally find Correa himself fascinating. Leo, a strong supporter of the ‘sí’ one day told me his life story. Growing up in a very poor family the president worked hard to make it to a university, received his degree in Economics at San Francisco and then headed off to the states to follow up with a PhD. In Champaign IL Correa completed his schooling before returning to Ecuador to teach at the same University. Among other things Correa lived for a year in a very small, highly underdeveloped community without even running water near Cotopaxi, engaging with the people there and learning about the poverty in his own country. The man speaks fluently Spanish, English, French and Quetcha. When I was in a research library a few weeks ago, I had unknowingly chosen to study in the same place Correa was scheduled to speak that afternoon. I was thoroughly impressed with his public speech and appearance. The last president who tired to go leftist died in a ‘mysterious plane crash’ coming back from the States. There is no denying that Correa has guts for the changes he is trying to make. As far as I can tell there is no reason not to trust the president who appears to have been, thus far, true to his word. However there are lots of new promises being made in his campaign that push many people to believe him to be a liar.
My family, for example would defend the ‘no’ with all of their lives. My mom will rant about how the people are blind and they don’t know what they are doing. They don’t seem to have much grounding for this opinion however other than the highly propagandized tv broadcasting. When I was listening to Correa speak I was so stunned at the arrival of the president that I sent my mom a text telling her that I was physically 3 meters from the president of Ecuador. The only response I received was ‘pégale.’ That is to say, ‘slap him for me.’ All I could do was laugh.
There are many complications and things to consider, but from what I can gather the ‘sí’ stands for some sort of change. No one would tell you that they are satisfied with the country as it is now and the ‘sí’ represents a hope for the next generation. It might not be perfect, but as Leo says, ‘it’s something..if you can’t think of anything better, let me know, but for now, we have to keep dreaming.’
Leo walked me through, as many people have, Ecuador’s political history in the past 20 years and the corruption and pain it has faced. We talked about immigration, racism, the catholic church and the kids we had met that same morning. He told me that when he was in middle school his father left for the states to work, the same situation that faces almost all families in this country. The impossibility of receiving a work visa forces desperate men into illegal work bussing tables and cleaning facilities after hours in a country where they often can’t communicate with anyone. Mr. Ortgega was gone for two years and Leo said that it got to the point where he asked his father not to email him anymore because every time he would open a message he would begin to cry. Better not to read at all. I thought about Ricardo, about the millions of immigrants that have families waiting for them, depending on them to make enough money our ‘land of prosperity’ so that they can return home.
It’s a scary though to venture outside of my secure democratic, capitalist world. ‘Socialism’ in the states is a tainted word, but maybe here it is a different world, in need of a different solution. In a system where policeman never enforce traffic laws, people have no incentive to obey regulation, children travel hours in bus to arrive at school in dirty, used uniforms and infants work on street corners juggling for money, someone needs to get involved. If this be the government, at this point, I say, let’s give it a try. Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day. Sí or no? We’ll find out…
1 comment:
Girl, I am thrilled that you are having this experience. And you're opening our eyes, too.
You continue to rock.
(Hey, this old lady joined facebook! I'll look for you)
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