In Training we’re learning about the different types of participatory tools that we can use to better understand our sites in order to assess how we can best serve our communities. One of them is called the 24 Hour Clock and it delineates what the average man or woman’s day is like. In many cases it varies between the average Ecuadorian man or woman (same as in the States, I’m sure) but for us, right now, we do almost everything together so our clock looks the same.
Here is a look at our daily schedule…
6:15am wake up
7:00am eat breakfast
7:30am catch bus “Collaqui”
8:00am start training classes at the PC Center
1:00-2:00pm eat lunch
2pm – 5pm more training classes
6:00pm get home and rest
7:00pm eat dinner & talk with our host mom
8:00pm-9:30pm talk, play cards with our host mom, do homework, and rest
10:00pm watch a little TV & go to bed
On weekends, our plans vary.
SATURDAY
On Saturday we got straight to work after el café so that we could learn how to wash our clothes on la piedra. It’s called, “the rock” because it’s basically just a cement sink basin with a flat top on which you beat, squeeze, and ring your clothes. Our host mom is a pro so she walked us through how to do it and reminisced about how her husband used to help her with the chores, as well. I would have liked to have met him from all of the great things we hear about him. Unfortunately, he passed away two years ago and as our host mom says, it’s good that we’re around to keep her such great company.
After we finished putting up the clothing to dry (and fixing one of the clotheslines that fell down from the weight of our huge load of laundry) we met our host mother’s eldest son and his family on our way to shop for lunch and craft supplies. We went shopping for ingredients so that we could treat our host mom to a lunch of homemade Mexican food. She loved learning how to make quesadillas, pico de gallo, guacamole, and black beans. Although it may seem like the same food to people in The States, Ecuadorian and Mexican food are not the same!
After almuerzo we did some homework and relaxed. Then, it was time to iron our dry clothing and put it away. Finally, we ate dinner, played cards, watched a little TV, and went to bed on the early side so we could wake up for Sunday’s festivities.
SUNDAY
We’ll have to do another post devoted solely to our amazing adventure on Sunday but suffice to say it was a big morning. We woke up early to go to a town called Calderón for the Championship game for the 14 and under boys’ soccer team. This is the first time that Tumbaco has gone to the Championships for the 14 and under team so everyone was very excited. Our host brother is an assistant coach for the team and our host mom’s grandson is on the team so we got to ride on the Team Bus.
The good news is it was an awesome day but the bad news is that we came out as Vice Champions after losing the game 3-2. In our opinion (and a lot of people agree) Tumbaco lost the game because of a bad call by one of the referees who called a penalty kick when it was really just good acting on the part of the other team inside of the goalie box. Players seem to learn from a young age how to play up potential penalties…
So, that’s basically our “24 Hour Clock” from this past week.