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| Living at the Lima airport during a layover on our way to Quito. |
Lately it seems like every time we turn around, there are new surprises everywhere we look. We thought there would be a mailbox at the LAX airport (there wasn’t) and free WiFi at the Lima airport (only for 10 minutes). We also thought we would be in a home stay, with just us and the family, and that we were done being sick. Oh, and we also thought that going to Ecuador meant leaving behind everything American.
How wrong we were.
There has been so much that has come as a surprise that I almost expect things to go wrong now. Or maybe not wrong, but definitely not the way we planned. I was out sick from Tuesday afternoon on last week, with a throat infection and bronchitis, and Tyler is still recovering from being sick in California. Talk about unplanned and unexpected things!
I remember my first meal at a church member’s house on my mission. She fed us papas a la huancaina, which is delicious, but totally unfamiliar to the American palate, and a bunch of other things that didn’t look at all familiar. Finally, she poured me a cup of deep purple grape juice that she had mixed in a pitcher. Grape juice! I was so excited to see something familiar that I took a huge gulp before realizing that it was definitely NOT grape juice, and didn’t taste like anything I was remotely familiar with. I feel like that’s a good metaphor for here. We’re in a completely unfamiliar world, but sometimes we run across things that are so familiar that it almost hurts to realize it’s not like it is at home. Like going to the bathroom in a normal toilet and then remembering the toilet paper needs to go in the basket, not the toilet, which makes for working sewer pipes and nasty-smelling bathrooms. Or hopping on the bus, which looks so similar to those at home, only to have someone come aboard and start asking for money, selling fruit or sweets, or performing on the bus. Things that wouldn’t really be tolerated, let alone encouraged, in the states.
And then, we have blindingly beautiful moments, like today when I took a child to her parents and as I was leaving she called out, “Ciao!” so I would have to turn around and smile at her one last time. Or the moment last Thursday when I was thoroughly sick of being stuck home alone in the same room being sick, and Tyler brought home roses. Or last night, when all the volunteers were talking and someone noticed that the sunset was especially beautiful. Suddenly there were several of us crowded onto the balcony to admire all the beautiful colors. Or when I first put on my birthday present, a beautiful bright blue poncho made from alpaca wool that is both incredibly warm and incredibly beautiful. (One of the other volunteers told me I look like an elf while wearing it. I’m not sure whether or not to take that as a compliment, but hey, at least I didn’t pick a Christmas-themed color, right?)
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| The changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. It occurs every Monday at 11 am. |
We’ve gotten lost in the city, gotten sick, and I’ve been cried on, flirted with, and both complimented and condemned. Our shoes get more stares than a purple zebra. I’ve gotten more glue on my clothes than you want to hear about, from the children’s projects, and at this moment my heart’s desire is for a long, steamy, high-water-pressure hot shower and a washer and dryer.
But at the moment, most of what I’m feeling comes down to something I feel like I’ve acquired over the past week and a half from living in Latino culture: when you don’t have anything else, you still have family. We’ve been able to talk with family in the opposite hemisphere, and always, no matter what, Tyler and I have had each other, and no matter what else may happen over the coming months, we both feel like as long as that’s true, we’ll be just fine.
CANTUÑA
On our first morning’s excursion, our guide, Luis, told us the stories of the cathedral and the nearby convents. My favorite was the story of Cantuña, the famous architect who was asked to build a convent. He was given one year’s deadline, but with all the other projects he had, he forgot about it until he realized he had only one day left until the deadline. So he made a deal with the devil. The devil would build the entire convent in one night, in exchange for Cantuña’s soul. But unknown to the devil, he took one of the stones at the base and hid it, so when the devil came to collect the next day, he showed him the hole and claimed the devil had not fulfilled his part of the bargain. The devil was cheated, and Cantuña kept his soul. The people were so impressed that they incorporated his story into the statue of the Virgin that now sits atop a small hill in the center of southern Quito. There is a snake at her feet, representing the devil, and a broken chain in her hand, representing how Cantuña cheated the devil and broke free of his deal.
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