'Phase I' of Brick Project Complete

We've been pretty busy here the last couple of days, but today we find ourselves with a little more free time than usual,and the weather has finally brightened up a bit as well - it's going to be our second day of legit sunshine since we've been here… definitely a different story than what we've seen here in January, when it's much warmer and less humid as well. And there were less jellyfish around. Still, this place is a relative paradise compared to what we're used to in the states.

Monday, we worked with Luis to construct a roof and a small concrete

platform for the brick making machine, and although some rain was sent to test out the new roof well before it was actually completed, it felt refreshing after working so hard for the better part of the day. Tuesday, more workers from town came to help out, and we brought the machine over to its new location and finished the concrete floor for the 'factory'.

Mariana and I then went over to La Casa del Niños for lunch, and afterwards acted as basketball instructors for some second graders and got to socialize with the rest of the kids during recess. Most children go to school here at about 7 or 8 until 12:30 or 1, depending on what grade they're in. Then some come to La Casa for further classes and whatnot from 2 to 5, sometimes staying until 7. The sisters really do a great job there, and I'm glad we'll be able to help them out in the afternoons. It's amazing how many of the kids there remember so many of our ND group by name... even those who came more than three years ago! One remembered Jon as "un chino flaco" (besides being one of his favorite gringos) and several are looking forward to seeing Tom again as well!

Today, we're free in the morning, and we'll be meeting up with Luis in the afternoon to (hopefully) make our first bricks! I'll update again as soon as I can!

January's Project

The pics promised in the last post will be another day or two in coming, but here are some pics of January's project, which has since been fully completed.  Check it out:

Arrival in Cojimíes

Wednesday night, we took a bus that left Quito at 11pm and dropped us off in Pedernales early in the morning. Then, we took a "taxi," which was more like a motorcycle with a bench attached to the back, to another place in Pedernales where we could catch a bus to Cojimies. We got to the other bus station and found a chiva waiting. Chivas are completely open, really loud music playing, and people sitting on top. The guy that collects the fare usually gets off everytime the chiva stops and jumps back on as it is starting to move. At first, we were not sure we would get off in the right place to go to the ranch but then Erik recognized it, and he waved his arm to indicate to the driver that we needed to get off. The chiva stopped, and we got out. We had finally arrived at the ranch.

- Mariana

Freddie (a familiar ranch-hand) immediately came out to greet us and help carry Erik's suitcase (which is almost as big as Freddie) to the house. Then we found Pedro (the ranch manager) and Josefa (the awesome cook) in the new dining area. We also met some of the Moss family and friends before heading to Cojimíes on another chiva to meet Madre Diane to talk about the brick project. We are going to first build a platform and a roof for the machine, get it in place, and build a

fence around it before manufacturing bricks. She helped us find Luis (a.k.a. Archi) at the machine's current location, and he seems very excited to have our help with the project. Then we met up to have lunch with the sisters and some more

Mosses and friends, who had been touring Cojimíes that day. We were then taken on a tour of La Casa del Niños, where the nuns hold after school and Catechism programs, helped make and put up some decorations in one of the classrooms, and played with some of the students there before heading back to the ranch with the others.

The rest of Thursday and Friday were spent in complete leisure and luxury with the Moss family (Bill, Rich & Leah and their two daughters, Mary & friends Helen and Mati), who were just about wrapping up a two or three week trip to Ecuador, and Sofia, a Canadian volunteer who's been with the sisters for a month already and will be there until August or so. We had some great meals, relaxed on the beach, made a trip to the internet cafe in Pedernales (didn't have time to post here though), watched the world cup, played cards, and basically just hung out. The Mosses and their friends are a friendly bunch and a lot of fun, so I'm really glad our trips overlapped a bit.

Saturday, we said goodbye to the Mosses and headed back to Cojimíes to buy the supplies necessary to start the brick business ( a lot of cement, some wood, nails, tin roofing, etc.). Luis also ordered some electric cable and rocks in Pedernales, and they should be in town tomorrow when we start working again. After buying the materials, we caught the last (sniff) USA game at a shop before heading back to the ranch for the night.

This morning, we went to the children's Mass in Cojimíes, and taught the kids some games and songs and sat in on one of their Catechism classes, where they taught us some songs as well. Then we had some delicious soup with the nuns and Sofia, headed for Pedernales and the internet cafe, and here we are. Hope you enjoy the pics!

-Erik

A Mi Lindo Ecuador

And now, a musical performance from our last night in Quito with the very talented Moran family. The song is called "A Mi Lindo Ecuador" by Pueblo Nuevo. Enjoy!

[Yeah, I'm sort of struggling on the left there, haha...]

Quito, Day 1

Spent a good part of yesterday just hanging out in Ilinizas, until it came time to meet Mariana over at the airport, since venturing outside with such a limited knowledge of español did not seem to be a good idea. Once reunited, we were picked up by the Morans (family friends of the Cuervos) and welcomed into their home, where we shared conversation, tv, wii bowling, and some Pilsener. I really enjoyed their company - they were very understanding of my lingual inabilities, and the younger ones took it as an opportunity to practice their English and help me to practice my Spanish.

After spending some time at their house, we were taken on a night-time drive through colonial Quito, and later treated to some delicious comidas típicas - empanadas and hot chocolate (with cheese at the bottom of the glass... surprisingly tasty) - at a very nice cafe with a great lookout onto the city lights below. The hilly terrain provides spectacular views, while the high elevation (2,850m, or 9,350') makes for some chilly nights... so the hot cocoa in June was not at all out of place.

This afternoon, we'll meet again to go to a museum or two, and then it's off to the bus station for a night-ride to Pedernales and then on to Cojimíes...

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Sadly, I didn't bring my camera last night, so no pictures to go along with this post... but I did find myself with more free time this morning, so I finished another jigsaw puzzle time-lapse video I'd started a few weeks ago. It's not Ecuador, but I'm going to share it anyway. The following reduces a good 8 hours of work to about 8 seconds:

[ The Shiner, by Norman Rockwell ]

On our way...

Yesterday was a long day at the airport... after waking up at 3:30am for a 6:10 flight that was cancelled, I ended up hanging out in Reagan National until 3:30pm, when my rescheduled (and also delayed) flight took off for Miami. The wait went by pretty quickly though, as the first half of the morning was spent trying to figure out how to make international calls so that I couldsecure shelter in Quito that night -assuming I ever got there - and the second halfwas spenthanging out with the one and only Sean Koehr, who randomlytapped me on the shoulderfrombehind while I was shopping for phone cards. Incidentally, he was on his way to Midtown in Chicago that morning. We grabbed some Potbelly's sandwiches for lunch and washed them down with a couple of root beers before we headed for our respective departure gates - which were temporarily the same gate at one point, as Sean's flight changed gates at least 4 times.

Anyway, I finally got to Quito around 10:30pm (Quito time), spent an hour in the customs line, and Spanglished my way into a taxi headed to Residencia Ilinizas, where my friend Jose Miguel, whom I'd met during our last trip, was on call to let me in around 11:30pm. I attempted to mingle with a couple of the residents for a few minutes, and finally, after 22 hours awake, 19 of which were spent in an airport or in a plane, went to bed.

Mariana tells me she made it to Bogota just fine, and I'll be meeting her at the airport this afternoon before we tour the city a bit and meet the family she'll be staying with tonight.

Welcome to our blog!

In just a week or so, we should begin posting stories, photos, and videos from our service trip to Cojimíes, Ecuador. We'll mainly be using this blog to let our friends and families know what we're up to down there, but anyone interested in learning more about Cojimíes is more than welcome to follow along.

For photos and video from past trips, as well as information about how you can help us with our projects financially, visit www.tinyurl.com/NDecuador. Thanks for visiting!