This weekend was definitely a successful one! I totally dominated my adventure to Otavalo, although I may or may not have been quite nervous the entire day. I got a taxi to the bus stop way earlier than I needed to, and proceeded to get on the bus much earlier than I should have. When the "conductor" came back to collect money, I told him where I wanted to be dropped off and tried to stay alert so that I would not miss my stop. Luckily, the man next to me was paying attention when I said where I wanted to get off, so he made sure that I got off at the right place! I arrived in Otavalo at 1:30pm, an hour and a half before my interview…hahaaa. After asking a few people if they would direct me where to go, I found INNFA – a blue and white building with no sign indicating the name of the organization.
I interviewed with the psychologist of the organization, Soledad. She is a Clinical Psychologist and she spends a couple of days in Otavalo, and travels 2 or 3 days to nearby communities where she evaluates children that are facing challenges. She told me that as part of my internship I could travel with her and be present during evaluations so that I could learn more about how evaluations are done. Um, yes please?!! :o) The remaining time of my internship would be spent at INNFA in Otavalo where they have a guarderia (daycare) as well as programs for school aged children. I can definitely say that this sounds like a pretty promising experience, and I am really looking forward to it. As far as the city of Otavalo goes, I´d prefer to live in a smaller town, but I think by the time October rolls around, I will welcome a change from the huge city of Quito to something smaller, even if it still seems city-ish.
On Saturday, some friends and I went to the Teleferico, which is like a ski lift that takes people up the mountain, Pinchincha. After we reached the end of the Teleferico, we walked a bit further up the mountain, stopping every couple of minutes because a) because of the altitude we could barely breathe and b) the views were…breathtaking…for serious. We eventually stopped at a point where we were near the edge of the mountain looking down a huge green valley and out to the city of Quito. We realized that we truly were 4,000 meters up when we saw airplanes flying beneath us. Yep! Pretty awesome! :o)
Sunday was a good day as well. I have really come to look forward to Sundays. Every Sunday since I have been here we have gone to Mamita Mary´s son´s (Mauricio) house for lunch. His family is the one I met on my first day here. He has two kids, Brian and Brenda, and a lovely wife named Lorena. We had a delicious lunch and stayed to talk for a while. I just really enjoy the family time, even though I feel like I miss out on some of the jokes because I cannot keep up with the Spanish. It is just really refreshing to see the affection that the family shows.
At night we went to church (Mary, Sophie, and I)…also something that is an integral part of Sunday! Although the structure of the mass is the same as at home, being at church definitely feels a little bit different. It is very interesting to feel that I stand out at church – I have this feeling that people are looking me and wondering why I am there. I am sure this is just something that I worry way too much about, and I know that church is the last place I should feel that I don`t belong…but honestly, it`s a very different feeling! Despite that, I really enjoy the opportunity to go to church and I´m sure that soon I will feel more comfortable! :o)
This week we only have class for 2 days – tomorrow and Thursday I am going with the other education students to observe two schools and then to spend the night with an indigenous family!
Oh and YES, the Constitution was voted SI, as expected. Very exciting, but I don´t think any changes will be made at least for a couple of months.
Abrazos,Jessica
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment