No, not Santa Claus week...Holy Week!
This past week classes were held Monday-Thursday with Good Friday off. For many various reasons, this shortened week was much more difficult to endure than any of the prior normal weeks I have experienced thus far. A lot of emotional rides, bouts with homesickness, and teaching burnout speckled and tainted any holiness that this week is known for. I did make it to the end, though. I'm here, Sunday evening, transcribing my thoughts in this blog as proof.
Thursday evening, after the last classes of the week, a couple of friends and I attended a Guns N Roses concert here in Quito. It was a pretty big deal, both for the locals and us. We arrived a bit late, just missing the opening Ecuadorian band, but making it just in time for the hour-long wait before Axel took the stage. We were sorely disappointed to discover the only things for sale were ham sandwiches, chips and Coke. We would have to just sit on the field and wait...and wait...and wait. Nearing 10pm, Axel finally took the stage and began singing songs I had never heard of before. Supposedly they released a new album a year ago and this was their idea of "showcasing" their new musical creations. My back started to hurt and the typical mountain-air chill settled on the crowd. Axel + band ran around the stage, waving an Ecuadorian flag and butchering the Spanish language. Words like 'estamos' and 'veinte' (translated: 'we are' and 'twenty' accordingly) sounded like 'estamoose' and 'viento' (translated: indecipherable word and 'wind' accordingly.) After one particular amalgam of not-quite-Spanish words, he said, "Did I just order tacos or something?!" This might be funny if the concert was in Mexico, where tacos are in fact part of the cuisine. But we're in Ecuador and, as it turns out, there are cultural differences between the Spanish speaking countries. Their first set ended around 11pm and based on my constantly decreasing satisfaction with this show, I was getting ready to throw in the towel. After another hour and ten minutes of waiting, now 12:10am, I was more than ready to leave. But, for some reason, we stuck it out. We were determined to stay until we heard a)Welcome to the Junge, b)Sweet Child of Mine or c)Paradise City. Our $50 tickets were at least worth that! Finally, at 12:15am, the second set started. And I am so thankful we stayed. The megatrons were actually displaying more than one image/video, the pyrotechnics were blowing my mind, the songs were recognizable and, most importantly, Axel stopped talking. It was a real show. We finally left the stadium at 2am which was before the show was over and also before it started to downpour. Our timing was impeccable.
The next day, Good Friday, I took an impromptu trip to Otavalo. Otavalo is a small community but has the biggest artisan, open-air market in...Ecuador? South America? I can't remember the facts, actually, but it's quite impressive. There's actually a store in Saugatuck, MI called Otavalito (Little Otavalo) which sells all kinds of products that are from this very market in Ecuador. Anyways, I specifically wanted to leave on Friday and stay the night because I heard there is also this really interesting Animal Market that you can only see Saturday morning between 6am and 8am. So, feeling restless and adventurous, I took the 2-hour bust trip from Quito, leaving at 4pm and arriving at 6pm. I packed light for this trip as I was traveling solo, bringing only pajamas, toiletries, a book and my iPod. After checking into this pretty sweet hostel, I wandered around the streets, observing all the Good Friday displays and activities. Apparently, Otavalo is known as one of the most Catholic/religious communities in Ecuador. After a while, I found myself on one of the main drags eating at this trendy organic food restaurant. I has just finished my Maracuya with rum and some nachos when in walks about 7 familiar faces - other teachers from CEC! At first it was a bit awkward with all the "why are you here alone?" type of questions, but then we all sat down and drank and chatted together. It was really amazing and bizarre to have this "small world" experience. Feeling a bit more rejuvenated and special, I headed back to my hostel, passing crowds of people who were celebrating Good Friday. There were people dressed as Jesus and soldiers, standing like statues on display, depicting various biblical scenes of Christ's crucifixion, people singing and worshiping in the streets and, right outside the doors to my hostel, a long procession passing through the streets.
The next morning around 6:30am, I went to the animal market. Finding the piglettes to be especially cute, I inquired as to their price. For only $35, I too could be a proud piglette owner. While this may be all the rage in Hollywood with types like Paris Hilton, I decided against it, leaving the piglette to be bought by some other buyer. Also for sale were cows, calfs, sheep, rams, cats, puppies, chickens (oh boy did they have chickens!), chicks, guinea pigs (the non-domestic kind. See: cuy), and rope. The latter being for the animals, I presume. I spent the rest of the day shopping around the artisan market, visiting Condor Park, hanging out with the CEC kidz and also running into more people I knew through the WT program. (What!? Small world again!?) Finally got back to Quito on Saturday night.
Today, Easter Sunday, I woke up rested and ready to join the Easter celebration here in Quito. I was so excited to go to church today, to do something that felt normal for me on Easter. I got up and made coffee, took a shower and got ready... then when I arrived at the church at 10:15 for the 10:45 service, I was told that they were only holding one service today, the 9:00am, which had just finished. I was crushed. I actually almost started crying. I just needed that so bad, I think. I was so ready and eager to be a part of that worship community and focus on God...and then I couldn't. I left, walking slowly back to the Trolle, feeling so distant and unfulfilled. Because, see, it's this day above any other religious holiday, which really defines what Christianity is for me. Everything else, any other tradition pales in significance. It's this idea of resurrection, of new life, of change and transformation, of Christ fulfilling his journey and creating a way for EVERYONE that sums up and single-handedly defines the Christian faith, and my faith as well. I believe that Christ conquered death...death in every sense of the word. And this is what gives me hope. So to not be able to spend this day focusing on that was somewhat depressing. I ended up taking that Trolle past my stop and all the way back to Old Town. I got out at Plaza Grande in the Historic District and just started walking around. There were tons of people there and I felt so alone. I wandered into one of the old cathedrals (can't remember the name) and just sat down. The sign on the door said No Tourists, but I figured since I live here, I'm not a tourist. Plus, it's not like I was taking pictures. Pretty soon more people started flowing in and, being the ONLY gringa in the place, I thought I should leave. I'm not Catholic and I'm not Ecuadorian and I felt this difference very strongly. But... I didn't leave. My legs wouldn't let me. So I just sat in the back row, like the loner, the outsider, like the minority, the one who didn't understand the priest and the one who didn't understand the Catholic practices, like the ones who Christ came to love. When the congregation stood up, I stood up. When the congregation sat, I sat. After the service, I left quickly. I headed back towards Plaza Grande, found an unoccupied bench and sat down. After a couple minutes of people watching, I put on my headphones and started listening to an old podcast from my church back home. It was calming to an extent, something to focus on and listen to but also something to make me miss home. After about 15 minutes, it started to drizzle so I got up, still listening, and headed toward the Ecovia bus. I paid the fare and boarded a bus, not sure of my destination. I rode for a while and then made the half-hearted decision that I should eat so I disembarked after Portugal Street and made my way to the ever famous Mr. Bagel: one of the only venues to sell bagels in Ecuador. A man opened the door for me at Mr. Bagel who looked familiar and spoke English but I didn't place him right away. Then I saw the table he came from at which sat three of my friends. That man was the father of one my friends! Of course! He came to the Guns N Roses concert with us. I quickly joined them and we chatted for a while. It was just kinda eye opening. This entire weekend...all the things I've done by myself, Otavalo and now, and despite my solo journeys, I've somehow managed to connect with tons of people I know. It felt like more than just fate or circumstance. It's like a nurturing that I just don't understand.
Well blog world, now my weekend is over and it's back to teaching. This week should be cake as tomorrow is review day, Tuesday is the written exam and Wednesday is the oral exam. Again, sorry for the down-time between updates! Turns out that being consistent is not my forte. Blessings to everyone and I hope you had a great Semana Santa!
PS - Just found out that April is Alfred Hitchcock month at the indy film theatre Ocho Y Medio. ..if I disappear for a while, that's where you can find me!
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