Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving away from home is hard to feel fully festive. There is no baking turkey for hours the morning of. There is no lefsa. No green bean casserole. I had plenty of turkey, but it just was not the same. This whole past week as been one of celebration, however. Monday some classes were canceled due to holiday preparations. Tuesday we celebrated Thanksgiving with the 3rd graders. One class dressed up as Pilgrims and the other as Native Americans (I was a Native American). We put on a huge feast for all the workers of the school (maintenance, cleaning staff, guards). Each worker received two cards of thanksgiving for all their work made by the students and then we ate a huge buffet of food. It was so much fun - it was the culmination of the American History unit the students had been learning and such a neat way to appreciate the staff. As if turkey weren't enough once in a day, we had Turkey dinner with our mission that night. It was simple, turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, yams, and homemade ice cream, but everything was delicious and that was enough of a Thanksgiving meal for me to feel like I hadn't missed out in the food department (with the exception of lefsa, green bean casserole, and pie - my favorite parts of the traditional meal). Wednesday we had only half a day of school and it was basically a party the whole day... Thanksgiving breakfast with the fourth graders, Feast of the Nations with the sixth graders, and then a whole school Thanksgiving Chapel. All of the parents were invited too, so the gym was packed full. The last half hour of the service, the director opened it up for students to share what they were thankful for. It was so precious to see many of the elementary students lined up waiting for a turn to share. The high schoolers shared too, although they were more hesitant initially. It was really special for the school and for me to see that aspect of sharing within the school family.
Wednesday night a group of us took a night bus to the beach. We rode through the night and arrived at our hostel at 6am. I immediately put my swimming suit on and went to check out the waves. If I can't be at home for the holidays, I think the ocean is the next best place. It was a gorgeous weekend of sunshine, swimming, and batidos and shrimp (served fresh on the beach). We also went on an awesome boat ride along the coast. It was a little tour boat with a motor. The way out was decently calm. We passed a nude beach, but there wasn't anybody out sun bathing and landed at a little fishing town about fifteen minutes down the coast from where we were staying on Same (Saw-may). We got to jump out and swim around in the middle of the ocean on our way back. The ride was a lot rougher on the way back, and Nicole and I, who were sitting in the very front, flew high in the air on several occasions as we fought our way against the waves. It reminded me of a really well done amusement park ride, with thrill, terror, water splashing, and the fear of getting your camera wet.
Now home, I am excited for the last three weeks of school before Christmas vacation. I think its going to be one party or celebration after another.
Juanes, el artista latino del año, came to Quito, Friday, the 21st of November, along with eight other artists from Ecuador and three from Mexico. We arrived before 4pm to get in line for the show. Juanes, the final performer, didn't begin performing until 11:25pm, while the first started around 5pm. We'd purchased General, cheapest tickets possible, and were sitting furthest from the stage, but apparently hardly anybody had purchased the next closest, Tribuna, so we had hope of being allowed to sit in that section. There were several false hopes, where everybody in our section of the stadium (probably 500 or so people) got up and started running towards the gates in mass confusion. To make matters worse, there were doors on both sides, so some people headed in one direction and everybody else in the other direction, which created chaos... and then back to our seats quickly, lest we lose our spot, when we realized the doors were indeed not opening. It happened a few times before the real thing actually took place. A friend and I ran out of the stadium with the masses. The guards were yelling to go to door 5, so we stampeded over there. Everybody pushed and shoved to get closest to the door. Then somehow we discovered we needed to be at door 6, so we took off again and led the group to the door that was indeed opened. We spread out our jackets and called the rest of our group to join us. The view was awesome and the music was incredible. The vice president gave a speech during Juanes' part of the concert and a messenger delivered a message from the president. My favorite part of the night was when Juanes talked about youth being the future of the nation, of the continent, of the world. The song he was about to sing is called Bandera de Manos, (flag of hands) that talks about a better world, united under one flag, the black, the white, the mestizo, the indígena, the campesino. The whole experience was really awesome, although I was exhausted by the time we got home at 2am.
Sunday, the 23rd, I went to a Liga game. They played in Casa Blanca against Barcelona of Guayaquil. It was going to be an intense game right from the start, because whoever won could go on, while the loser was done for. It was Liga´s chance for redemption against the Quito team (I can't remember if I wrote about that). It was crazy in the stands. We stood in the Liga section, but there was a few fans of Barcelona on that section too, and pretty soon nearly everybody in the section was throwing stuff at them and yelling "Fuera! Fuera! Fuera!" (Out!) Things didn't settle down after the game was done (Liga won!)... five people ended up in prison from the Barcelona fans, for vandalizing the bathrooms in Casa Blanca. The trole was also shut down for an hour after the game to avoid rocks being thrown and damaging their buses. However, some angry fans did their best to rip the fence open and tried to sneak in. We quickly got out of there, so I don't know how that ended. Its crazy the amount of passion that is felt for the team of choice.

   This is my 3rd grade class... there are 3 Ecuadorians, 1 from Tawain, 1 from China, and 2 from Korea.  I love them.

This is my 6th grade class.  There are 3 Ecuadorians, 2 Koreans, and 1 half Ecuadorian/half Korean.  I love them too.  
   Time goes so fast, I can hardly believe how long its been since I've written.  We've now had all 4 groups of orphans down to Peg's house once each.  The last group was really fun, because the kids were older (3 four year olds, 1 seven year old, and I'm not sure about the other) and thus more talkative.  We played dress up clothes with them, and they loved trying on different costumes.  The saddest part was the little boy who kept referring to his parents... assumably the parents he has imagined and dreamed about for his whole little life, while watching many of the other kids being adopted (there are very few older kids who are not special needs at the orphanage, because by that age, most have been adopted).  

   I went camping this weekend... sort of.  We stayed in a cozy cabin with a great fireplace.  Its always so nice to get out of the city and explore.  

   Tomorrow is a holiday - Dia de los Difuntos, which is more or less a day to remember the dead.  Colada Morada (a thick drink made out of many fruits and herbs... we made it during Spanish class and it took over 2 hours) and Guaguas de Pan (loaves of bread shaped like babies) are very common everywhere around this time of year.  

   We had a halloween party on Friday, which included the limbo and piñatas.  Unfortunately candy here just doesn't compare to the halloween candy in the States.  

Marianela 

Juan Josue

Marianela, Vicky, Andrea, Mateo, and Juan Jose   

Andrea
    In the 2 months I've been here I've been searching for a way to serve outside of what I do at school and with my small group that fits my heart.  Last night I finally found it.  I went with another teacher, Peg, to her home... we'd invited 5 toddlers and their tia (aunt, in Spanish, but she's not related) from the orphanage For His Children over for supper.  The orphanage is right above Peg's house.  The five little ones came walking down the hill with their tia.  Before the food was ready, the six of us were sitting around the plastic tables and they started playing with the middle circle thing, so I put my hand under the table and kept popping it out with my finger.  They loved it and laughed and laughed.  The trick came back to haunt me later when they started dropping their silverware and spaghetti down the openings.  They ate a surprising amount of food, considering how young they are (the youngest was one and the oldest is almost four).  I took Marianela to the bathroom about five times, I think she just liked the individual attention on the walk there and back.  Among other fruits, we gave them strawberries, which I think are really rare for them to eat, because they just loved them and wanted more and more frutillas (strawberries).  After he was done eating fruit, Juan Josue picked up his plate and started licking off the leftovers... a man after my own heart.  After supper we played in the living room for awhile and sang some songs together.  They are so precious.  

The big cross, at the top of Ilalo, a perfect lightening conductor. We seem so close to the clouds here.  We climbed up inside of the cross for a better view.  It kind of wiggles on the way up

Sarah, Amanda, and I on the top of Ilalo

Cotopoxi on the way up

   I hiked up Ilalo on Saturday with Amanda and Sarah.  Its a pretty small little mountain, but it has great views of the Valle de los Chillos and Cotopoxi.  On the way up it was the perfect, clear day, but by the time we reached the top it had clouded over, so we couldn't see Cotopoxi from the top.  After the hike we went to La Merced...   The park has been redone since I lived there four years ago - it looks so good.  We saw the remains of La Merced days (homemade firecrackers set up around the park, now blackened from the explosions).    One of the views from the top - it looks like a quilt

   After visiting La Merced we stopped to get Batidos (milkshakes) at my favorite batido place.  You feel like you're stepping into a jungle.  They used to have a monkey running free around the restaurant.  We ordered batidos and yuca fries.  

   Today was a big election in Ecuador... there has been a new proposed constitution and the vote was si or no; to pass it or not.  I don't really know what the old constitution said or what the new one says, but the Ecuadorians I talked to were for passing the referendum for the new constitution - wanting a change.  I read that Correa, the president of Ecuador, projects that the referendum was passed.  Elections in Ecuador are a big deal with a lot of campaigning - people driving around in trucks announcing their political views on a mega phone.  Correa was seen in McDonalds yesterday speaking for his cause.  There is the potential for strikes, crowds protesting, tear gas... although as far as I know this was a peaceful vote.  It is also a dry weekend for the country... the alcohol section is covered in the grocery stores and not available in restaurants.  If you show up to vote intoxicated you are put in prison. 

   I climbed Rucu again yesterday.  I love the opportunity to get out of the city and be in the open air.  As we got towards the top, it started snowing/hailing little pellets of cold white substance.  It was cold and then slippery.  It was a cloudy day, so we were moving in the clouds.  Amidst the gray white mist we were climbing through, the green of the ground seemed greener than usual.  After the snow, I could smell the soil.  I love how the change in the atmosphere heightens the senses.  

   Rain.  Every day, lately.  Not just rain, but thunder, lightening, and occasional brinks with no electricity.  

   Last weekend we went to the Marriott Hotel for our staff retreat.  It seemed a little extravagant to me, but it was really neat, because every employee of the school was invited, from the administration to the cleaning staff and maintenance workers - so for the weekend we were all pampered together.  My favorite part of the experience was the bathroom.  It was absolutely beautiful and I didn't have to adjust the water temperature after I set it (at home I am continually readjusting the shower, because one second its too hot and the next second its too cold).  In the short amount of time I was there I took two showers and two baths... there was also a beautiful bathtub.                

   Friday night we went to hear Pablo play at Cafe Libro with the band Sierra.  The show was really fun and the cafe was a really good atmosphere.  After the band was done playing, the floor was cleared and everybody started dancing.  They played a lot of fun latino music and at the end they played I Will Survive and the YMCA.  It was so fun to be on the dance floor with all Ecuadorians doing the motions to the YMCA.   

   Yesterday I hiked to the top of Rucu, a peak that is 15,414 feet above sea level (higher than any peak in the lower 48 states, I'm told), part of the Pichincha range.  Rucu means "old man" in Quichua, and it does look like the profile of the face of an old man lying down.  There were some thrilling parts, including the Paso de los Muertos (Pass of the Dead), with sharp drop offs an either side of a narrow, rocky passage.  I started out on the hike, expecting just that - a leisurely jaunt to the top of the mountain, using my legs.  I hadn't anticipated holding on for dear life with every part of my body.  It was awesome and totally worthwhile.  The view from the top was absolutely amazing.  The wind and being outside in open air without pollution was my favorite part of the day.  When we got back to the city I got a headache, partially from my sunburn, and partially from the exhaust smells.  I miss the country.      

           (Holding on for dear life across the Paso de los Muertos - although you can't tell, there are very steep drop offs on either side of me)                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

    (The summit)                                                                      

    My third grade class has recently started calling me Mrs. Peterpan, instead of Miss Petersen.  They think its funny and I think its cute, so I don't bother correcting them.  

    The other day I was talking to my second grader, who cracks me up incessantly throughout our entire class period... so I was laughing a lot.  She then proceeded to tell me, in Spanish, that when I smile, my eyes look Chinese.  The same girl, when I asked her what color my teeth are, said they are white and yellow mixed together.  Maybe I should stop drinking so much coffee.  

     

    

   

   

      

    Coming back to Ecuador has been like finding an old friend.  Each day spent here holds new discovery.  Ecuador continues to amaze me.  I love it.  

    Saturday was a World Cup qualifier game for Ecuador against Bolivia.  Amanda and I walked over to the stadium to soak in some of the atmosphere.  Once there we decided we wanted to go to the game, so we stood around for awhile trying to figure out how to get cheap tickets.  Suddenly two free tickets were handed to us... apparently a benefit of being the only white girls amidst a crowd of people.  Ecuador won 3-1. Every time Ecuador scored the crowd went wild and we received beer showers.  

    I went with Kim and Pablo to Santos Pamba, an extremely poor Quichua community (the Quichua people tend to be society's outcasts and do not have rights with the government, etc) in the very south part of Quito (1 1/2 hours south of where I live) on Sunday.  She has started a pre-school and kindergarten there - with the hope of adding a grade every year.  There is a church in connection with the school, so we attended the service and I got to meet some of the people from the community, including the teachers at the school.  This experience was one of the most tangibly evident of God's provision that I've seen.  He has taken Kim's dream and blessed it beyond her imagination.  Throughout the church service there were stray dogs wandering through the building (and we were on the second floor), because it does not have doors or windows yet.  It was also incredibly cold, because its up the mountain a ways, and again, no windows to block the wind.  The people were so gracious and loving towards me as a newcomer, and especially to Kim, who has impacted their community so deeply.

Compassion International will be coming into the community within a month to start a sponsorship program, which is a huge answer to prayer.

    This is a picture of Quito from Santos Pamba - the little hill in the middle is the Panacillo, and I live somewhere around the white cloud in the far north (around 30 miles away from Santos Pamba). 

                 

   

   After school Kim, Cherie, and I took a bus to the University Central area, to go to a copy shop. 1 1/2 cents per page.  The print shop is one of those hole in the wall businesses, up 3 flights of stairs, passing by one of those "treasure" stores that has every kind of tacky decorative crap you could ever imagine, on the first floor, a sketchy billiards room that smelled overwhelmingly like stale incense, on the second, and at last, our muy barrato print shop... and quite possibly the smiliest baby I have ever seen, who sat in his papa's arms, smiling so big his eyes almost disappeared.  It rained the whole time we were out.

   The electricity went out at school today.  I understand this is a common occurrence.  I didn't even realize until I went downstairs for lunch, since my classroom has a huge window with enough sunlight that I never turn on the overhead lights.  Which works perfectly for me, since I strongly dislike fluorescent lighting.  

   The school is situated on one block and the soccer field is on the next block over, connected by a second floor tunnel.  Two days a week it is my responsibility to stand by the soccer field entrance and greet the students as they arrive.  Apparently we have some prestigious students, or one in particular... the preschooler arrived in a suv with tinted windows and a driver.  A guard on motorcycle was following.  Moments later another guard on motorcycle arrived on the scene, apparently circling the neighborhood to check security - and every day, all day long, there is a privately hired guard sitting outside the school on his behalf, just in case.   

   Tonight was open house for the parents at the school.  Since I don't have a homeroom, I meandered between the third grade classrooms, meeting parents of my students.  I introduced myself in Spanish, giving a brief history of my life and what brought me to the Academia Alianza.  This was one of the most empowering moments of my life.  When I was done speaking, all of the parents applauded my Spanish, as if I'd given a highly inspirational speech, rather than linguistically stumbling through it.  I spoke further with more parents in Spanish... maybe its just the thrill of the job, but to communicate meaningfully with your students' parents in another language is elating.  ...I wonder if my students feel the same excitement when they speak in English.  

   I bought peanut butter today.  Ordinarily this would be a $5 investment for a jar of Jif.  My friend showed me a place in the market that sells homemade natural peanut butter for $1.70.  I think it's just crushed peanuts, but its delicious to my peanut-butter-deprived taste buds.

     

   In the past 22 years I have accumulated a few places that I consider home.  The farm I grew up on, the lake I've lived on the past 4 summers, La Merced, Ecuador, and whatever my present address is.  Saturday I went to La Merced, only to find myself a tourist in a world supremely familiar to me.  The buildings still the same, the woodsy smell conjuring memories otherwise distant, but the place no longer belonging to me.  I walked the same steps I've walked hundreds of times before, but I am four years removed from the home I knew.  

   I now live in Quito, a city of 2 million people.  I live close to the airport, so airplanes commonly fly past my dining room window.  On clear days, I have a view of Cotopoxi, a volcano situated south of the city.  Domino's Pizza is my next door neighbor, which is especially useful on Tuesdays - the two for one day.  There are 5 keys needed to get from the sidewalk outside to my apartment inside.  When the keys are forgotten at home, there is a compliant guard who is willing to let us in, regardless of the late hour.  

   My first teaching job is at an international school, the Alliance Academy, where I have found a very unique community.  I teach English as a Second (or third, or fourth) Language to second, third, and sixth graders.  I love my job.        

   This life I have chosen, this opportunity God has given me, I live in expectation of simplicity, struggle, adventure, challenge, and amidst love, joy, grace, and gratefulness.  

   I am not a blog reader, nor have I ever before been a blog writer.