Agualongo

6/26: Agualongo

Angel, 4 with Oso the dog

We arrived to our new home in Agualongo yesterday afternoon.  We came fully laden with bags of groceries for the week.  This is how Tandana compensates host families - there’s no money involved.  Shopping for said groceries was great fun, and I could easily get addicted to it  - it’s amazing how much you can get for $20 here:  several lbs. of grains/beans (rice, quinoa, lentils, popcorn, pasta), bags of tomatoes, apples, avocados, oranges, peppers, onions, carrots, salt, sugar, bunches of onions, bananas and cilantro, garlic, a few bars of laundry soap, a few cans of tuna and a whole chicken.  I wanted to buy everything, it was so colorful and so much fun bargaining with vendors.   Tempted though I was to go ‘off script’, I did my best to stick to the shopping list provided.  I’m already looking forward to next Tuesday, though, next market day to see what deals I can make.  

My new family consists of Ramiro + Maria Juana, two young-looking, hard-working & joyful indigenous people and their 4 sons:  Mario, 17; Alex, 13; Cesar, 6; and Angel, 4.  They have 2 older children as well:  William, 21, who returns from his construction job in Quito on the weekends to stay with the fam; and Gladys, 18, who is married with 2 kids of her own and lives with her husband in a town the next valley over.  

The white roofs belong to a large rose plantation;
we found Ramiro at work in an adjacent field

Only Mario, Angel and Maria were home when I first rolled up.  The unavoidable awkwardness of welcoming a stranger into your home lasted all of 5 minutes until I suggested we take a walk and see the countryside.  Mario jumped at the out and suggested we walk over the hill to meet up with his dad at work in the fields.  Angel came with and we made the arduous trek over hill and dale to find Ramiro tinkering with his tractor and monitoring the irrigation of some freshly planted alfalfa.  He was way younger than I expected.  We said hello, made small talk about farming for a few minutes, and left it at that, there was daylight left to work.  Mario, Angel and I and turned heel and went back the way we came.  And this was my re-introduction into the slow rhythm of life in the country, regardless of what country.  There’s never anything going on, but there’s always something to do.   

Having grown up with 3 brothers, I feel right at home in this male-dominated household.  The accommodations are sparse to put it nicely, and it’s much colder than I anticipated (I could see my breath when I woke this morning at the break of dawn).  I’m glad I decided to buy this sleeping bag liner on a whim and bring it along, and I’m really glad I opted to be in a homestay.  My co-leaders, have been put up in the casa communal (the community center) which also houses the village preschool.  They have very little privacy, and while I have to sleep on a dirt floor, they have hard tile.  And while I have the din of my little family to wake to in the morning, they have the din of preschool starting.  I’ll take awkward over comfort any day if it means more sleep.  

Home sweet home

While my homestay is going well, some of the kids are having a tough go at it.  For some, the difficulties are self-inflicted.  Paul, especially is just a little too high strung/uptight and therefore an easy target for his host brothers who may or may not be bullies.  Breanne & Nate are very quiet/shy & seem to need extra encouragement to break the ice and insert themselves into situations.  I need to find a way to improve the sitch or at very least, show compassion and understanding.  This is, after all, a hard thing for which they’ve volunteered or been prodded to do by their parents.  I was like Paul somewhat when I was hi s age and can still be overly sensitive.  Perhaps I have something to share with this kid.  And maybe he’ll be receptive.  

Another student, Jamie, is doing fine on the homestay front, but her allergies are causing much discomfort - so bad she got 2 bloody noses today.  We’ve taken her out of her homestay for tonight and already symptoms have improved, but we don’t know what else to do - will call HQ in the AM for backup.  Jamie is one of my faves and has such a great attitude, but we may have to send her home if things don’t get better.  We’ll see.  

Dinner tonight was over the open fire again - soup with potatoes, pasta, broc., carrots, &  onions with a little cilantro and avocado on top.  Que rico.  The family is starting to warm up to me and I to them.  Deeper conversations lie on the horizon as my Spanish strengthens and comfort level grows.