Lorena in Ecuador!

Finally I got hold of a computer and can let you know that I am in ECUADOR!!!!
So, here are the latest news from the land of the equator!


The flight from Madrid was awesome, as I got upgraded to Business Class! I slept, ate and watched movies most of the time and I really cannot complain!!! Thanks Iberia :)
Landing in Quito was nice as the airport is right in the middle of the city and you can see the whole city and the surrounding mountains from above. At the airport I (finally) met my friend Giovanni who picked me up with his car and took me to my hostel, which was in the "gringo" (=word for american, but apparently used for all foreigners, especially if blond and with a backpack!!) area of the town, where you could easily think that you are in a seaside town in Europe (why do travellers always want to feel like home and hang around with each other?!! the hostel was lovely but really do not see the point of this...)

Anyways, we had a lovely saturday night walking around the historical centre of Quito and getting to know the city. The historical centre is stunning especially at night, reminds me a little of Spain, but none of the places I have seen in Spain can compare to its beauty. The rest of Quito feels exactly like...Naples!!! Crazy driving, old buildings, lots of noise, just a chaotic city like many others, nothing special but nothing that bad either, I think I was expecting it to be far worse! The only thing that I really cannot stand is the pollution, cars still use the old type of gasoline and you can totally smell it, it's really horrible and makes me feel intoxicated!
Another really sad aspect of the town are the street people, especially street kids. Some of them are as little as 3 or 4 and they are already selling stuff on the street, there was one who wanted to sell us chewing gum and I could not even look at him or I would start crying and give him all I had.
On Sunday we went to the "Mitad del Mundo", Middle of the World,. which is where the equator line is supposed to run, well, it's not the right one but it´s the touristic one :) I had a lovely fruit juice of a fruit called "Tomate de arbol" or something like this, delicious! Fruit here is amazing and most of it I have never heard of.

In the afternoon Giovi took me to the town of Conocoto where I now live, some 30-45 min outside Quito. The people from the foundation showed me to my home (I have a small flat within a family home, I am alone now but I think more volunteers will come) and the way to the nursery.
Guys, you have no idea, but I am now 100% Ecuadorian!! Every morning I have to walk 15min uphill to the town centre, take a bus with local people and travel some 20-30min throught the smallest villages to the remote village of Yanahuayco, which is where the nursery is. Taking a bus is the most authentic experience: there is no bus stop, you just walk down the street and when you see your bus coming you raise your hand, they stop there where you are; but the whole process is quite stressful especially in the morning as you need to be quite quick, the bus leaves as soon as you set foot on the first step, sometimes even before that! The door is always open and there is a guy who comes and collects the fare, 30c of a dollar, really nothing. When you want to get down you get close to the door, you say "gracias" (thanks) and they stop right there!!! I am really having fun with this!!

The nursery is a very intense experience. Some 30something kids between 6 months and 4 years old attend every day this little house on a hill which was built by the government. These kids are really poor, they have no parents or just one parent and the saddest stories. They are all quite native looking, with dark skin and those beautiful dark eyes and hair, I find them all absolutely gorgeous. They are nothing like the kids back home, so spoilt and dependent. At 2 years old they are already independent as a 4 year old back home; if they have an older brother or sister, these always take care of them with a great sense of attachment and responsibility, and generally speaking they are just much more grown up.
The nursery is run by local mothers who are about my age and already have 2 to 3 kids, they were all quite surprise to see that I am not married with kids!!! They are quite basic and they are not very organised with their day, most of the times the kids play all together with no guidance, apart from an hour or so when they do some activities like painting. However, they hardly have paper to paint on...I still haven´t given my charity money, I will probably try to buy what they need first, and leave the rest to the mothers at the end of the experience.
The day is really hard with so many kids of such different ages, they rarely split them in groups, I find it impossible to do anything with them as they are quite wild as well and don´t like to sit down for long times. For now I just observe and do as they do. I feel quite useless I must admit, because I feel I will not be able to change much for these kids and this nursery, and I honestly feel that what they need most at this stage is money. The toilets are in a horrible state, they don´t wash their teeth cause they haven´t received the dental kits from the government yet, and they play with very very old toys. Their faces are all burnt by the sun and the wind and not even the mothers in the nursery think it´s important to put any cream on...today I just felt like buying some bottles of sunscreen or at least nivea for these kids, but then I think, who am I to tell them how to raise their kids?
So, I am thinking a lot in these days. Comparing to the fussy way we raise our kids back home. In some ways, I still prefer the ecuadorian way.

Healthwise, I have not felt the altitude (maybe just a few hours out of breath on Sunday at midday, but could have been the sun) and I have not felt the jetlag, I sleep perfectly well, I eat whatever they eat (at home and in the nursery) and no signs of stomach upset yet. They are shocked in the nursery as they say I am the only volunteer who ever ate their food and drank their water!!! Enter Lorena!!! :) Plus, I love their food!!
The only thing is that I am exhausted from all this intensity and from the new weather (looks like a hot spring in italy: a bit chilly in the morning and evening, hot sun during the day, hasn´t rained yet) so I got a cold sore, a bit of cough and maybe fever today, nothing serious anyway.


Ok, time to go home now, it´s really dark outside and not really wise for the only blonde in town to get back home at night :)
So far so good: I love Ecuador and I love the people and I love this experience! Monday and Tuesday I will not work as there is some national festivity, so I think I´ll go camping and hiking somewhere outside Quito, will keep you updated and hopefully post some pictures!!
Big kisses to all of you, leave your comments if you like, I´d love to hear from you!!

Ps, I cannot check my mails regularly but I can check facebook from my mobile