More on OR

How can I describe orientation over the last two weeks without describing the paper? Pretty much it works the same way everyday. We meet in the morning after Spanish classes, which go from 7:00-9:00, and Therese and Kane start handing out lots and lots of printed information. One packet for how to deal with insurance if we get sick or find a way to get roundworm; one packet explaining the best way to use audio materials in an English classroom; one packet explaining where to go and when, but never really why. It´s amazing how we travel here. They write an address on the board and we´re expected to get to it. I´m glad I know how to use a map.

Orientation goes all day. Last week it went from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M., Monday-Friday. We´ve gotten a bit of a break this week because we´ve started practice teaching, which is a whole new barrel of monkeys. We have guest speakers too, like past volunteers and people who really know what´s going on in this country. On Wednesday this week, for instance, a woman originally from Slinger came to talk to the group about the history and political situation in Ecuador. Mary was one of these truly inspiring individuals. She´s been living in northern Ecuador since the 70s. She´s written one of the most complete historical accounts for this country and has been fighting the copper miners and oil companies that insist on raping Ecuadorian land to the north. At least from the figures she presented, the oil drillers have done nothing but hurt the economy here. Without knowing more about it, the only people to benefit from oil interests are an elite few; anyone lower on the ladder of prosperity gets screwed. Without the English-speaking skills Mary has imparted, it´s difficult to imagine how the indigenous people would have had a chance of defeating Big Oil in a modern court.

I´m running short on time because I have to be around for practice teaching in half and hour, so I thought I might end on some happy highlights. Earlier this week, it was Viviana´s, my host sister, birthday--I can´t remember what I´d called her in the previous post, but her name is definitely Viviana. I hate to betray how poorly I can really understand my family, but I am improving very quickly. Today is actually David´s, my host brother´s birthday. I picked him up a few DVDs as a present: 300, Pirates of the Caribbean and Back to the Future. I got Viviana a bouquet of roses for $4.00. Roses grow in the Sierra (mountainous region) of the country and are extremely cheap. I bought them from a small floral shop, but was disappointed to see an indigenous woman from the mountains later on, propped against the side of a building. The roses she was trimming were absolutely gorgeous, and I´m quite sure they would have been even more inexpensive than in the flower store.

Speaking of local businesses, for whatever reason, Ecuador mass produces DVDs as well. It only costs $1.50 for a modern movie dubbed in Spanish. Really, any viable business is worth pursuing here. I´m quite sure it´s not legal for people to be copying and distributing these DVDs by American copyright standards, but that´s exactly what they are--American standards. Many of the concepts we take for granted fall apart here. I´m not sure an Ecuadorian would even understand producing these DVDs as stealing like we do; I´d suspect they´d justify it using other arguments. Stores that sell these DVDs are absolutely everywhere, and almost every store has a different DVD collection to choose from. I´ve been asking around to see if anyone has Season 3 of The Office (many of the movies and series they sell are actually ones that still aren´t available for purchase in the U.S.; The Simpsons Movie, for instance, is already for sale here), but I haven´t had any luck with my request yet. I´m not sure anyone will ever have what I want. I have a feeling the Ecuadorians don´t have the same sense of humor we do. The most popular movies here are actually the action/adventure ones. Jackie Chan movies seem extremely popular, for example.

I had my first Salsa lesson today too. It was more laughing than dancing, but I did manage to figure out a couple of sweet spins before my hour was up. I´ll make you proud, Gee! The volunteer group is traveling to the mountains tomorrow to go hiking and take a dip in the thermal hot springs, so that should be pretty nice.