"Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go..."

I am currently sitting at the computer in my house in Quito. The program at CIMAS ended yesterday, and I’m waiting for my mom to arrive at the airport. I am in disbelief that it really is the 13th of December, and that in one week, I will be saying farewell to Ecuador, and hello to home in the U.S. I am feeling such a mix of emotions right now that I am not sure I’ll be able to describe exactly what I am feeling, but I will do my best! :o)

I feel pretty terrible that I have not updated my blog since the 18th of November. I’ve been trying to think of a really great excuse, but I am not sure I have one! There was a period of time where I felt like I did not have much to say, that working at INNFA was becoming routine, but looking back, I realize that is far from the truth. Each of my days working at INNFA was completely different and beautiful in its own way. There were definitely days when more patients came than others, but each day was different nonetheless. I built some very special relationships with the psychologist, with the women that work at the centers, with the patients and their parents, and with the kids that came to the after school program.

My patients and my treatment skills definitely were tested on a couple of occasions when the psychologist decided attend meetings in a different town, leaving me to attend to the patients, and assuring me that I was qualified. The first time this happened, I was so nervous I vomited in the morning after breakfast, and did not go to work (hahaa). The second and third time, I did not have any sort of warning, which left no time for me to be nervous or sick. So, what did I do? I attended the patients, and I did well! :o) Of course it was a little awkward during the few cases that the parents do not speak at all, but I am pretty proud of the way that I handled the situation.

Although it was hard to say goodbye to everyone at INNFA, it was most difficult to say goodbye to the kids. I became pretty close to some of them in a short period of time, and I know it was difficult for them to understand why I had to leave, and why I could not just come back after Christmas. I do wish that I could be here to see them grow and become amazing people – they will definitely keep a special place in my heart.

During my last weeks in Otavalo, I became very close with my family. I talked to my mother every night over dinner, about anything, just like I do with my real mother. I picked on my little brother and he frequently burst into the room while I was working on my monografia to attack me with little balls made of gelatin-ish stuff. I spent the weekends hanging out with my sister and my cousins. Unfortunately, I was not able to see my dad much, but I still feel like our relationship grew during my last weeks. It was really difficult to pack up my bag with my sister, brother, and mom in the room looking at me with puppy eyes and telling me not to leave. But I had a really great last evening in Otavalo, and will not have to say my real goodbyes until Friday, when I take my mom there to see where I have lived and to meet my family!

I came back to Quito from Otavalo one week ago. I finished my monografia within the first couple of days, and I presented it on Thursday. I am really happy with the way that everything turned out and feel like I have gained a very valuable and unique experience. My relationship with Mary has been great since I´ve been back, which undoubtedly will make it even more difficult to leave. Unfortunately, the food has not improved…haha. It has been great to spend one last week with all of the wonderful people from CIMAS. These past couple of days I have said goodbye to some amazing people that have entered my life through this experience. Luckily, I will see many of them in Minneapolis…but there are many that I may not see for a very long time. I am thankful for each and every one of the people that were here with me – each for very different reasons, and although I am not equally close to everyone, I appreciate each one and know that I am blessed to have met them. The relationships that I have made here have definitely made this experience what it was.

As I am sitting here, I am thinking about how I was feeling 3 and half months ago when I was on the plane to Ecuador. I was excited and terrified at the same time. I was lonely and afraid that I would not make friends, but confident that this experience would change my life. There is no doubt that this experience has influenced me and changed my perspective on life in many ways, some of which I can recognize, and some of which I may not realize until I am home and have time to process everything that I have lived here. There is so much that I want to take home with me, so much that I do not want to forget. I want to take home the affection that I have learned to live here (beware of hugs!). I want to take home my new perspective on family…family as people that live for each other. I want to remember how I have learned that in so many situations that stress is not necessary, that sometimes we have to wait, and that sometimes things do not go at all how we had hoped, but that no matter what, everything turns out okay…or maybe even better than anticipated. I want to remember that relaxation is necessary. And this is only the beginning of the list of things that I have learned and will carry with me…

T-3 hours until Adventures with Teena and Jessica in Ecuador begins! :o) The following week will bring hiking, waterfalls, good food, shopping, catching up…and for me, translating! :o)

This is Jessica Schetter, signing off from Quito, Ecuador.

Abrazos!

I have a new favorite pastime ;o)

¡Holaaaa friends! Woo, it has been a while – but that´s because life is going very well and I just haven´t taken the time to slow down and write!

My internship is going very well. It is not as independent as I had envisioned, but I don´t mind that. It is hard for me do be doing my own thing while I am working with a psychologist, and I´m not exactly qualified to evaluate children. :o) I am definitely learning a lot, though. Most days after I am done working with Soledad I stay and work in the after school program. Although it makes for along day, I really enjoy just hanging out with the kids and seeing them smile.

After lots of thinking and indecision, I´ve finally decided on a topic for my monografía. I have decided to write about maltreatment/abuse within families, especially within the indigenous culture where physical maltreatment is seen as an acceptable punishment. Example: In the indigenous culture, if a child touches something that he or she is not supposed to, it is custom to burn the child´s hands. Soledad and I are working with a boy who cannot bend his pointer finger because it is so badly burnt. I just can´t even imagine that such treatment is accepted.

Maltreatment generally is not the principal reason that children receive psychological help, but I´ve noticed that many of the kids who come in for different reasons also suffer from difficult family situations – and the impact of the abuse really inhibits their development.
I am pretty overwhelmed with actually writing my monografía. Sometimes I feel like I have way too much material to read, and sometimes I feel like it is nearly impossible to find what I want to see…but that´s how school is, yes?

Weekends! Family time. Willingly though – I´ve already decided that 5 weeks is not nearly enough time with my family. But I´ve also decided that all I can do is take advantage of the time that I have. My sister is only home on the weekends, so we try to find bonding time when one of us is not doing homework. Last weekend we went out with our cousins to “dar vueltas.” Haha. Okay so, the phrase “dar la vuelta” has become one of my favorite Spanish phrases. Its literal meaning is “to turn around,” but really, it has many meanings..Like..turn yourself around, flip the tortilla, flip over a piece of paper, turn the car around…or, my new favorite, to “dar vueltas” around town, to drive around town, all night long, just to pass the time. And this is like…a legit nighttime activity. Obviously gas is a bit less expensive here! ;o)

This weekend one of my friends from CIMAS, Emily, came to visit, and we went out with my sister and cousins, dar-ed some vueltas, and went to the “pipas” (hookah). Emily and I taught them how to play the card game BS. On Sunday, while my sister was buried in books, I went with my cousin and his friend to La Cascada de Peguche, a waterfall which is about a 20 minute walk from my house. It was a beautiful sunny day, and the waterfall was lovely. It was a nice Sunday trek.

And now we´re back to Monday. I am trying to remain motivated to get work done on my monografía, and trying not to pay too much attention to how quickly the time is passing!

Sending love and hugs! :o)
Jessica

Cumpleaños(se) and Transitions!

Hello loves! :o) Woo…it has been just over a week since I last updated, but I feel like it has been much longer. My last weekend in Quito went very well. I spent lots of time with Mamita Mary and had some time to just relax and prepare to move to Otavalo. I definitely had that uncomfortable lingering feeling that always takes over with the anticipation of change.

Mary threw me a birthday fiesta on Monday night, my last night in Quito. I arrived home to find a beautifully set table and could tell she had been preparing all day. Really, it was picture perfect, and it was super hard to find that words to express my appreciation. She made a cake (from scratch!!) along with jello and strawberries, empanadas, and tea. Almost the entire family came to celebrate, as well as four lovely chicas. It really was wonderful, and I felt like a part of my family, which was great, but also kind of bittersweet as I knew that I was leaving the following morning.
I woke bright and early on Tuesday morning to say goodbye to mi madre quiteño, lugged my suitcase outside, and got into a taxi with Sophie. Aye, how emotional! At the same time, it was very comforting to have amazing friends that were going through the same transition. Anyway, we arrived at CIMAS to say our goodbyes to everyone, and got onto a bus with the 9 other people that are living in the northern region of Ecuador for their internships. I was the second to be dropped off and by the time we had arrived to Otavalo, I was ready.

My first 7 days in Otavalo have succeeded anything I could have expected. First, my family! I have a mom (Marcela) and a papi (Carlos). My mom works at INNFA, the organization that I am working for. My dad works in tourism and also in auto mechanics (I think). He has a 14 person van for transporting tourists. :o) I have an 18 year old sister named Karlita and she is wonderful. She studies in Quito during the week, so she is only home on the weekends. Last but not least, I have a 6 year old brother named Mateo…and he is wonderful! Being around him makes me miss my own little bro at home! We also have two dogs, and I do not know much about them, except that they are very loud and wake me up around 6 every morning.

Our house is…nice, not at all what I expected. It was a bit overwhelming at first because I am living in much better conditions than I had anticipated coming into this. There have been moments when I have thought to myself that maybe I should have pushed my limits further to live with an indigenous family or in a lower socioeconomic status. Instead of having regrets or becoming disappointed in myself, I´ve decided to make this a lesson in humility. It is already clearly apparent to me that “things” do not matter, and what is more important is the wonderful people that I have the opportunity to live with and learn from. I will not take my living situation for granted; instead I am going to learn as much as I can while I am here.

Not only am I lucky with my family, but with my internship as well. I am working with psychologist named Soledad, and I know that I am going to learn a ton from her. My first 3 days of work were mostly observing, but I have completely enjoyed it. I am experiencing something that simply could never happen in the U.S. The organization that I work for, INNFA, is a daycare for at risk children that is all throughout the country. They have programs for children ages 6 and under. Also, school age children come after school to eat lunch and to work on homework. I will be working at the center in Otavalo, and will also travel to communities nearby during the week. The majority of patients that come in come for help with speech therapy or stimulation. Some children do not have developmental problems, but their parents bring them in just for extra stimulation. We also work with children who are having behavior problems, family problems, or problems at school. I am already realizing how challenging a career in psychology will be, but I also know that I am going to learn amazing things while from Soledad and my experience with INNFA.

…I know this is long, but, my REAL birthday! :o) The beginning of the day was tough. There was not much to do in the house, the family was busy, and it did not feel like my birthday. I think it was because I´m not experiencing the beautiful fall weather that I usually see on my birthday. Of course it could also have something to do with being in another country… :o) But, the day became much better. Yes, I am spoiled, and had a second birthday fiesta. Three of my friends that are living nearby came to celebrate with me and we had cake, wine, and LASAGNA. Yes, lasagna! And it was DELICIOUS. At night, we went out dancing with my sister, a couple of cousins, and some friends of my sister…and it was wonderful! It is pretty lovely to have, as Marissa says, “insta-friends.” My cousins and my sisters friends are great! Eeps, I´m definitely looking forward to more good times while I´m here.

As always, I´m thinking of you all, miss and love you, and I´d love to hear from you!
Abrazos,
Jessica

Ciao Quito, Hola Otavalo!

Hello loves!

I only have time for a quick update, but I will do the best that I can! :o)

My last day of classes at CIMAS was Friday! Woohoo! We turned in our essays and had oral presentations and everything went very well. The rest of my weekend consisted of: unlimited wine and tapas, shopping for warm clothing, dancinnggg, church, and family time.

My host mom took me shopping on Saturday morning to get warm clothing because...believe it or not, I am cooold! Our mission was successful and I think I´ll be nice and calientita when I move to Otavalo...which is Tuesday, by the way..ahh!

As far as moving to Otavalo goes, I feel like I´m just going through the motions, slowly getting my things together and trying not to get emotional about leaving. Change is always a challenge though, and it really is too bad that I am leaving just as I finally feel part of my family, and I finally feel comfortable in Quito. I´ll miss being around my friends too. I feel like we have been spoiled for the last month, being so close to each other. I am sure that everything will go well, though. I am excited for a new experience.

Tomorrow night, Mary is throwing me a tea party for my birthday, since I will not be here for the real thing. She has made it a priority to do something special for me and I´m pretty excited about it...although I feel like maybe I should be having wine instead of tea for my 21st birthday! ;o) Haha, kiddding! She invited the whole family and I invited a few friends...I am pretty psyched for my Ecaudorian birthday. Woot woot!

Nooww I should be getting home...and next time, I´ll be in a new home :o)

Much love and thinking of you all,
Jessica

Impromptu Adventures, Banana Cake, and “Stressica”

Hello my loves!
(I wrote this Tuesday night..)

I thought about changing it up a bit and saving the weekend adventures until last, but that would not make much sense. I left my house early Friday morning to meet up with Sophie and Emily to start our journey to Papallacta…or so we thought. The plan was to spend a relaxing two days close to Quito, hike, and take advantage of some thermal baths…but that plan changed shortly after getting on the bus. We decided that we were not being adventurous enough and that we should take advantage of the fact that there is a jungle in Ecuador, and decided to extend our journey another 4 hours to Tena. We got off of the bus at a crossroads, and waited for a bus that would take us to Tena. After experiencing one of the most bumpy bus rides ever, we ended up in a cute little town in the Orient with 13 other students from CIMAS! I felt HEAT for the first time since I´ve been here and felt that I had finally arrived to the Ecuador that I had envisioned. ;o)

We visited a park where we swam in the Rio Tena and saw some jungle animals (monkeys, parrots, a TUCAN, snaaakes..eep, and some animals that I had never seen before). On Saturday we got up early to explore the town, then went to visit some caves in another town near by. Our guide taught us how to take advantage of the mud baths inside of the caves, and that we did! :o) When we were climbing up out of the cave, I thought I was in the middle of a movie. As we climbed up, we saw more and more light, and we climbed out onto land where it was raining…beautiful! Overall, a great way to spend our last weekend traveling together before we all move to our internship sights.

Last night, I attempted to make banana bread with my host mom. I was excited to show her one of my very favorite foods from home, but that is not exactly how it turned out. First, she did all of the cooking. She insisted that I do not know how to cook and that I should watch her so that when I get married someday I will know what to do. I thought to myself, “We are making banana bread, this is not gourmet cooking. I think I can handle it.” But I did not worry about it too much and let her “teach me.” She proceeded to let me know that we needed more butter than the recipe called for and added a TON of baking powder, some vanilla, and suggested that I put raisins on the top (note: our bread was put into a circular pan). I did not want to give in completely, so I put raisins on half…bahaha! Our creation turned out while, although not exactly the banana bread that I love…instead, we have more of a banana cake…but that works too! :o)

And that brings us to today. This is our last week in Quito, and unfortunately we have to write an essay before the week is over. The essay was supposed to be a group essay, but our professor decided that our track should write it individually, which is great, but I think I hit the biggest creativity block EVERR today. I thought that I had something great to write about, but quickly realized that my idea went way beyond the scope of what we have learned about education, so I decided to start from scratch. I secluded myself in the basement of CIMAS and listened to my ipod and I started to answer a list of questions that our professor had given us as a starting point. One of the last questions on the sheet was, “How has what you have learned in the track of education changed your perception of Ecuador/Latin America?” I´m not sure exactly why that question made me think, but it did. It made me think that I have learned a lot about this country, especially when it comes to education, and I think I have created a special place in my heart of Ecuador without even realizing it. It has been amazing to experience a developing country. But this country is more than developing…it is a country with aspirations for a better life, with motivation to make improvements where there are challenges. I am lucky to be here.

Well, I am off to bed in hopes of avoiding “Stressica” tomorrow! :o)

Abrazos,
Jessica

Spongebob + Outdoor Bed + Mosquito Net = Love

Hola mis amores!

Wowee, I cannot believe that it is already the middle of October! Time is flying by…

Last weekend I traveled with 3 other girls to Mindo, a cute little touristy town about 2 and a half hours from Quito. We got the last 2 beds at a lovely hostel called La Casa de Cecilia, and Cecilia took very good care of us! :o) Before we left for Mindo, Emily and I proposed the idea of camping out in a tent, and although we did not end up doing that, I think we got as close as possible. When we arrived at the hostel, Cecilia showed Emily and I to our bed…she opened the door to what looked like a cute 2nd floor balcony, until I turned my head and saw a twin bed covered in a bright Spongebob comforter with a mosquito net hanging overhead. Needless to say…we were pleasantly surprised.

The highlight of our trip to Mindo was a zipline tour through the canopy of the forest. OOooh my goodness --- so much fun and SO beautiful. We also went on a morning walk to see a butterfly exhibit and then went on a short hike to see a waterfall. We ate some pretty amazing food too…grilled cheese and REAL COFFEE. Haha. It was a nice relief from the food at home, although I think I am finally over my Ecuadorian food low and have been feeling hungry for the first time in weeks.

On Sunday, I spend the majority of the day with family. We went to visit my host mom´s brother for his birthday, then went out to lunch, and visited the Panecillo in the Historical Center of Quito. The Panecillo is a huuuuge, beautiful statue of the Virgen Mary. I really enjoy spending time with my family, and it´s kind of a bummer that I only see them on Sundays. I feel like I am finally starting to feel comfortable with them, but I will be moving to a new city in 2 weeks.

Beyond feeling comfortable with my family, I am finally starting to feel comfortable in Quito is well, and part of me is bummed that I have to leave the comfort behind to begin something new. In 2 weeks I will be living with a new family, in a different city, without any other students, working a new job, without anyone to vent to in English. Although moving to my internship is going to be a huge challenge, I know it is going to be an amazing experience. The transition might be difficult, but I think that I´m ready for it.

...I watched the presidential debates last night! A group of us got together at a friend´s house where we could watch them. Actually...13 of us piled on to her mom´s bed, which we broke. Yiiikes! Anyway, I am not the most politically educated person, so I was really looking forward to watching the debate to better understand what each candidate stands for. I have to say I was pretty disappointed, I could not get myself to focud on McCain´s ideas because I was too preoccupied by his disrespectful and sarcastic behavior. I know that´s part of politics, but I felt like I was listening to some sort of childish argument, not to a potential future president. I won´t say much more than that... :o)

I suppose I should study for my Spanish final now…
You all are always in my thoughts and I hope that life is going well.

Abrazos,

Jessica

Escuelitas, Baños, y Enfermedades

Hola mis lovelies,

I have once again failed at being a loyal blog updater. Maybe every 10ish days is a more feasible goal for me...bah, I´m trying!! :o) I have lots to write about, but I´ll try not to make this too much of a novel.



Last Wednesday and Thursday, the education students went on a trip to visit a couple of rural schools. First, we visited a school in Cangahua that went up to the first year of bachillerato (that´s like the second year of high school for us) and had 440 students. They gave us the most awesome welcome. About 10 of the students dressed in traditional indigenous dress and sang a couple of songs. It was a very humbling experience to see how excited all of the children were to see us there. We returned their welcome by singing them ¨Do Re Mi¨ from The Sound of Music, which we had practiced, full with motions, the entire busride there. Unfortunately, we did not get to spend a lot of time with the kids, but we had a very interesting discussion with the faculty about the challenges of bilingual education.





From there we travelled to a small indigenous community called San Clemente where we stayed the night with indigenous families. This was the part of the trip that I was most nervous about, but turned out to be one of the experiences that I am most thankful for. The community is absolutely breathtaking. Beyond that, the 135 families of the community work together to be completely self sufficient. They have built all of their own homes, raise their own animals (including CUY = guinea pig...a delicacy...so they say), grow corn, potatoes, herbs, grains...everything. We had the opportunity to sit and talk with the dad of the family about life in the community and also helped to prepare the meals (which were by far the best meals I`ve had here). I also experienced some natural medicine! The mom noticed that I was coughing so she warmed about some eucalyptus leaves by the fire and handed them to me to breathe the ¨fumes.¨ Who needs Vick´s Vapor Rub?? :o)

We also visited the school in San Clemente which went from kindergarten to 8th grade and had only 4 classrooms and 4 teachers. It claimed to be a bilingual school (spanish and kichwa) but did not have any bilingual teachers. We definetly did not have to look hard to see the challenges that the face. Despite the challenges, the kids all seemed to be genuinely happy and were very welcoming. Wonderful :o)

I returned to Quito on Thursday to sleep, then travelled to Baños for the weekend with some chicas...photos??

...up before sunrise to go to a mineral bath at the bottom of a waterfall

...at the top of Bella Vista...beautiful hike :o)

Oh AND...I bungee jumped off of a bridge!...I have a video to prove it...but that will have to wait until next time..haha...

After my fabulous weekend, I returned home to be horribly sick on Sunday and could not leave my bed. So I´ve spent the week regaining my energy and working on some pretty intense school stuff...I´ll admit that I may have gotten a LITTLE bit homesick. I feel like that´s an immediate consequence to being sick though :o)

I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying life, I´m thinking of you and sending hugs!

Ciao!

Jessica