Emmett's futsala liga (futsal league)

For the past two months Emmett has played in a "12 year old and under" boy's futsal league.   I helped our friend, Yolanda, organize the league.   She contacted three other neighboring towns to organize teams to play at Guadalupe's concha (covered court) in the center of town.   This was convenient because all of the middle and high school kids go to school nearby in Guadalupe.   Futsal is played with a smaller (size 3) hard soccer ball.   Futsal is a very rapid game as the ball does not bounce much and play relies on very quick passes.   It can get rough as South American soccer playing seems allow a fair amount of upper body contact.    Emmett had lots of fun playing and at 10 years old, he is the youngest boy in the league.     Occasionally I would be recruited to referee, until I realized I could pay a local teenager to bear the brunt of contested calls.   Futsala is a fun game to watch and it gave Emmett the opportunity to make friends with boys from the surrounding towns.  

league participants and organizer Yolanda

intense pregame discussions

the games attracted a lot of spectators (girls!)

Dad refereeing 

pictures of a typical day in Guadalupe

Annalise and a friend's pet sloth "Rocky".   She is wearing the earrings that she made (Kate has a matching pair)

One way to get a cool breeze and some shade  (there was a child nestled between the two adults riding)

Rainy season has started and the river is quite higher

There was a large dance recital at the concha this week and dancers were practicing below our deck. 

Yet another local braid style for Annalise 

visiting nuns walking below our deck 

A local traditional dance exhibition which all the local school children attended.  

Eye Surgery team update

It has been a busy month for Kate.   Starting two weeks ago, the mission clinic hosted an eye surgery team from Germany.   This week will be the third and final week for the eye surgery team.   They are doing 11-15 surgeries per day (Monday-Friday).    Patients travelled from all parts of Ecuador to access affordable eye surgery ( cataract surgery is $40).   There were also patients who travelled from Peru.    Kate has been busy since the start of January providing pre-op exams for many of the patients.   Patients travel with their families for many hours, typically by bus, to access eye care.    Families arrived on Saturday and Sunday to reserve a place in line to secure access for an eye surgeon consultation.    On Monday morning when the clinic opened at 8 AM I (John) offered to help manage the crowd of about 250 patients and family members.   The line started sometime either Saturday or Sunday.    Somehow each person managed to keep a place in line over the span of 2 days (including nights).    The line started outside the clinic doors where there is a covered cement porch.    I don't know how everyone managed to sleep but there were lots of people with blankets.  I am sure it didn't help that it rained over the weekend.   On Sunday night, Amanda, the clinic RN, took the names of the first hundred patients.    On Monday morning I let the first 100 patients inside the clinic to register by groups of 10.   Mid-morning I distributed numbered tickets to the next 100 patients.    I then informed at least 50 people that they could not be seen that day.     For those patients not able to register on the first day, they had the option to wait another day/night in line for the chance to register the following day.   Needless to say, Monday and Tuesday mornings were filled with a lot of commotion, pleading and jostling to maintain a position in line.    The vast majority of people were patient and understanding under difficult circumstances.    After the first two days, the crowds thinned and everyone seemed to follow the established process of cueing and patient registration.   Kate and another visiting MD, (Dr. Phil, a pediatrician from LA/Georgia) saw all of the pre-op and general medicine exams for all of the eye care patients (and many of their family members, because those accompanying eye care patients took the opportunity to see the MD during the few days they were at the clinic.    This large influx of patients and family members changed the tranquil ambience of the mission and it seemed there were cars, trucks and taxis everywhere.   Enterprising locals erected a makeshift kitchen at the edge of the mission grounds next to the footbridge and sold breakfast, lunch and dinner.   It was interesting to see visitors' reactions to Guadalupe and I met quite a few people who refuse to walk across the foot bridge and took a detour over the car bridge.     The eye surgery team from Germany, Kate, Dr. Phil and the clinic staff provide an amazing service to hundreds of patients, many who experienced a vast improvement to their vision, a service that evidently they would not be able to afford without the services of the team at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission Clinic.    After witnessing so many frail and impoverished people endure difficult circumstances to access medical care, I am very proud of Kate.

makeshift kitchen next to footbridge

patients waiting to be seen outside clinic

dishwashing station at the kitchen

   

New Year's Eve in Cuenca

As Kate previously posted below, we spent New Year's Eve in Cuenca, a beautiful and historic city.   We stayed in a garden apartment near a river, close to the historic section.  To celebrate the New Year, Ecuatorianos celebrate with late night/early morning partying and the burning of "manigotes".    Below are a few pictures of some police/military "manigotes" which passed by our apartment.   Manigotes are stylized figures often made out of paper mache.    Manigotes often represent fictious characters, actual public figures or personal friends.   The purpose of burning them is to purge sins/bad luck and make a fresh start to the New Year     On New Year's Eve we toured the historic section of town and saw lots of manigotes with Ecuatorianos preparing to celebrate with music, dancing and drinking.    Consistent with our parenting style of early morning risers, we were happily in bed by 10 PM and missed most of the revelry.   Which is something we are not able to do in Guadalupe.   When we returned to Guadalupe, we heard that our adopted home town partied in the central square (a block from our apartment) until 6 AM

feeding a deer at the Cuenca Zoo

transept of New Cathedral in Cuenca

 other transept of the New Cathedral 

   

Main alter of the New Cathedral 

Emmett and Annalise playing in the river

Looking at a parrot at the zoo. 

police and army manigotes

burning the manigote which represented "Javier" the apartment manager

our neighbor partaking in the tradition of beating the manigote with a stick 

Cuenca

The mission clinic was closed during the week between Christmas and New Year's, so we took the opportunity to venture out and see the city of Cuenca.  Cuenca is about 7 hours from Guadalupe by bus (we broke up the trip into a couple of days), and is famous for its Spanish Colonial architecture. Like Quito, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of all the historic buildings and ruins.  The altitude is about 8,400 feet -- so it is high, and much drier and cooler than Guadalupe.  It really is a beautiful city.

Traditional Spanish colonial architecture 

 The light blue domes of the "New Cathedral" (built in 1800s) that are visible throughout much of the city

The raw brick facade of the New Cathedral.  The bell towers are short because of the design flaw that would have made it impossible for the building to support heavier towers 

Inside the cathedral -- beautiful arches, proportions and light 

Christmas lights over the river 

Flower market  

I love the way this old house is painted

There was a double decker tour bus, and the kids were super excited to get on -- we were not expecting their first double decker bus ride in Ecuador!

View of the city from a lookout point up in the hills

Some old Incan ruins in the center of town

They think this site was used to house Incan soldiers

On New Year's Eve, there is a tradition in all of Ecuador that people make some kind of a doll out of cardboard and paper.  Often the doll is holding a funny sign that talks about what has happened that year.  At midnight everyone burns their dolls in the street, as a way of letting go of the old year and welcoming better luck in the next.  The ladies at the hotel/apartments where we stayed made this doll that was supposed to be a likeness of their boss, Javier.  We burned him at 8pm!

Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Day in Guadalupe

Christmas Day in Guadalupe mostly felt like any other Sunday.    People seemed surprised when I said, "Feliz Navidad".   Other than the Saraguros performing a traditional ceremony outside Church after Mass, everyone seemed to go about their usual business after Mass and it didn't seem to be a climax of the holiday season like it is at home.  Although I would say that the presence of the Wikis outside of Church before and after Mass was a bit of a cultural disconnect for us.    Padre Jorge celebrated some Baptisms during Mass and we were invited to the family home of Mercedes's daughter (Kate and Annalise's beading teacher) to celebrate her granddaughter's Baptism.    We had some chicken, rice and cuy (cooked guinea pig).  

Two Wikis and a band played traditional Saraguro music 

Children performing a traditional Saraguro pole dance 

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Santa brought Annalise a traditional Saraguro outfit for her American Girl doll (handmade locally)

Emmett and his new Rubic's cube.   He usually wears a Rosary, not uncommon for teenage boys in Guadalupe 

Annalise with a new purse and earrings