How Ecuadorians Celebrate Valentine’s Day

First I should note that this is purely my speculation, which most of you know, but since I get a lot of hits on the blog from people searching for “Ecuadorian Superstitions” I thought I should throw that disclaimer out there.

There are a lot of holidays in Ecuador. It seems hardly a month goes by without a parade or two. Many of the streets are named for dates, “10 de agosto” for example, and you can bet that if there is a street name then there was something important that happened on that day, and we will be celebrating it! I love holidays and reasons to celebrate so this always pleases me greatly.

Two holidays seem to be extra important here in Ecuador, more so than in other parts of the world. Of course when I say other parts of the world I mean the US, the only other country in which I have lived. Anyway, those two holidays are Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. The reason I know these two days are super important it the party that starts the night before each of these days. When I lived her in 2004, all the neighbors had parties the day before, starting around 7pm and going until forever. And when I say forever I mean 4 or 5am. That is some hard-core partying, especially for the day before the actual holiday. This year I was excited/nervous to see what Valentine’s Eve would bring.

When I put the kids to bed around 8:30pm on the 13th I heard a lot of male voices outside. I looked out the window and saw approximately 10 guys, probably in their 20s hanging around two cars parked across the street. They were talking loudly and I assumed they were on their way to party. As it turned out I was both right and wrong. They were already at their party. On the street. Starting around 10pm they started singing along to romantic songs they either brought or were being played on the radio. The group size varied throughout the night, having as few as 4 singers, and as many as 20 at some points. At one point a few gentlemen came to our gate and saw Aaron working in the front room and tried to convince him to come out. As he had been working 18 hour days for the past many days, he decided to stay and finish his work instead.

Meanwhile I covered my head with a pillow and wished for it to be morning already. The singing finally stopped around 4am, at which point I can only assume they were hoarse from their 6 hour concert. I have yet to ask my Ecuadorian friends why these dudes were all out singing, but my assumption is that were either mourning their single-hood or trying to attract mates by their karaoke skills. Either way, it was loud.

In future holiday news, only two days until Carnival, which here means a big water fight. With strangers. Who will pelt you with water balloons from moving cars. Or balconies. Or alleyways. Fun?!

Posted in ecuador, holiday | 2 Comments

Church Distruptions

Luckily today I am not talking about my children. Today I am talking about a giant black butterfly that flew into the chapel mid-meeting and did not disturb the meeting near as much as you would have thought.

Right now you are thinking about this big black butterfly. You are probably imagining something the size of your hand, right? Well start thinking even bigger. Find the nearest adult male (maybe that’s you, but I think only ladies read this blog) and put his two hands together with fingers extended. That is how big this giant black butterfly was. I had a friend growing up who was afraid of butterflies, as in deathly terrified. I used to think that was funny, but maybe her nightmares were made up of this big black butterfly in which case I think she is totally justified.

During the last speaker of the meeting suddenly a giant black thing flies in. It comes in the back door, and first Aaron thinks it is a bird. Then it flies up towards the front and it becomes evident that it is in fact a giant black butterfly. The speaker does not flinch or even seem to notice, but my kids immediately start shouting “butterfly!! MARIPOSA!!!” A few other people seem to notice, and the chorister suddenly pretends she needs to go to the bathroom and runs out. I should mention for those of you that are familiar with LDS chapels in the US, this one is about a quarter of the size, and was sparsely filled with maybe 50 people. So it’s not like the butterfly couldn’t be seen by everyone. Also all the walls are white, with a white tile floor, and light colored wooden benches. It was a bright day, this butterfly had nowhere to hide.

After a few minute of fluttering around, scaring a few and being not hardly notice by most, mothra landed up behind the speaker. When the meeting was finished Aaron and the kids decided to go looking for it, but much to their disappointment could not find it. On the way out our friend Lorena said “I hate those things. They have so much dust!” So apparently this is not that uncommon?

When we came home Aaron found our giant black butterfly friend on the internet. Apparently it is called a Witch Moth and based on the color was a male, although in some Spanish speaking countries this giant is also called “Mariposa de la Muerte” and “Mariposa Negra”. Because you know, if a giant black moth flies into your house then someone is going to die. Luckily no one has died that we know of. Plus I don’t think Ecuadorians believe that because as I said, only one girl seemed to be concerned by it. Anyway, now I am real sorry I don’t have a picture, because none of the pictures on the internets show how big ours was, although if you want to have nightmares about giant butterflies on your face you can click here. (thanks internets!)

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Wedding Ring

Sammy and Harmon have a good friend named Leah. When Leah’s mom decided to have another baby and it turned out to be a boy, the double wedding was set. This was a while back, but it’s important. As good parents should, both me and Leah & Andrew’s wonderful mother make sure to remind our children about their upcoming wedding. So sometimes I will say: “Harmon, when you get older, where are you going to get married?” He will then answer: “In the temple!” Then I will ask: “who are you going to get married to?” “LEAH!” This important brainwashing has been going on for at least a year. Sometime recently (before we left for Ecuador) Leah was asked who she was going to marry. I assume she normally answers “Harmon” but on this occasion she declared “A RING!” Girl has priorities! Both my children loved this, and since they already were obsessed with Aaron and my rings (which they always beg for but I never give them) they looked forward to their nuptials with greater joy.

Fast forward a few months. Every night as Sammy goes to bed she will hug you and tell you “you’re my best friend!” something she learned from Harmon a while back. It is ridiculously sweet and heart-melting, making you forget about all the trouble she caused in the day time. And will cause in 2 minutes from then when she is supposed to be sleeping. Back to the point. In the last week she has gotten obsessed with the topic of when she grows up she is going to get married and get a ring. When she is a grown-up she will be getting this ring. (Of course the list of who she is marrying includes Mommy, Daddy, Harmon, and Andrew…) So now, every night after “you’re my best friend!” she adds “I will share my ring with you. I will break it in half!” That’s right, my 2-year-old is so nice, she will break her wedding ring in half to share with me. And what’s more, she says she will break some for Daddy, and some for Harmon. At first I had my doubts, but after I have seen the way she shares her last bit of ice cream with me, I am starting to believe it.

Posted in sammy | 4 Comments

One Month In Ecuador

It is hard to believe we’ve been here a month. Ok, technically a few more days, but since we paid our second month’s rent yesterday, it counts. I am happy to report we have made pretty good progress in a month. Here is a list of our accomplishments for your condensed reading pleasure:

-Rented a house
-Bought some furniture (we would have bought more, but we don’t have any more money)
-Did 30 loads of laundry by hand
-Potty-trained Sammy
-Aaron got a job
-Started Preschool
-Learned how to make aji (favorite spicy dip made from tree tomatoes)
-Learned how to make rice at over 8,000ft
-Found some good ways to help OSSO
-Visited my favorite nun
-Helped my dad book his trip to visit
-Uploaded 12 photos
-Visited lots of great orphans

I’m not going to lie, this is kind of a silly list, but it could have turned out that we had a hard time finding somewhere to rent, and at this point we would be without a house, a job, money, and could quite possibly be discouraged and thinking about changing out return tickets to next week. So I call Month 1 a success. Can’t wait to see what Month 2 brings.

Posted in ecuador | 1 Comment

How to Sponsor a Child

I have been busy lately. Doing a lot of writing. But obviously not here. But where you ask? Oh, I will tell you. I have been writing updates on the beautiful orphans for sponsors! What? That sounds awesome, you want to read about darling amazing lovable orphans too? And see their pictures? And send them a little bit of money each moth??? GREAT! Here’s how:

Step 1: Go here http://www.orphanagesupport.org/sponsorships.html

Step 2: Read the information about all the great benefits you will get.

Step 3: Click the link to sign-up.

So easy right? Now for $30/month (or more if you are feeling extra generous!) you can be helping the sweet orphans in Ecuador! Maybe you are thinking “but Kelsey, I have so much more money just sitting around I need to get rid of!” I have that problem solved for you too. You can sponsor an entire orphanage! That starts at $1,000 a year, so perhaps your entire extended family/business/group of friends could get together and do it. What could be better than that?

(Did I sell you yet? Seriously, it’s super important and EASY! $30/month, just cut out one trip to Target and you will have plenty!)

Posted in ecuador, osso | Leave a comment

Aaron Didn’t Electrocute Himself Today

But he almost did.

You see, when we moved in we had two small electrical issues: 1. the light switch in the kitchen had three buttons going to three lights, but one button was missing 2. the bathroom light switch did not work. Number 1 was fine for a long while because there were two other lights in the kitchen, so not urgent. Number 2 was remedied by always using another bathroom, except when the kids needed to bathe (it was the only bathroom with a shower/bath area) when we would use a flashlight. You would think this would lead us to fix the bathroom quickly, but not so. A week after we moved in our landlord showed up with two new switches and said have fun, if you can’t fix it call me. Two weeks after that we had the Roseros over for dinner and I somehow got Rodrigo to fix the one in the kitchen. He made it look pretty easy, and didn’t even holler if he shocked himself, so today Aaron thought he could get project number 2 taken care of. Plus the flashlight batteries were just about dead, so it was time.

It is always very comforting when your husband says things like “I hope I don’t die” and “nice knowing you” and “I am pretty afraid of electricity” and “you shouldn’t watch, just listen for yelling” while working on an outlet wired with Ecuadorian wiring he has never seen before. Oh, and the breaker? Who knows where it is. Rodrigo didn’t have to turn it off so why not just go for it? Right, good plan.

After shocking himself several times (and me panicking in the other room) Aaron eventually declares he is done. Then he flips on the light in the bathroom and somewhere else in the house we hear a crazy buzzing noise. He turns off the light and has blown the power in the entire house. This is great because we couldn’t previously find the breaker, so now when we really need it we are out of luck. We search the house again, meanwhile hoping aloud that he hasn’t fried the fridge or microwave. Eventually we realize it must be in the locked box out front next to the meter box. But we don’t have a key.

After many unanswered calls to the landlord we go eat at our neighbor’s tasty restaurant and tell him our woes. He tells us how to call the power company. I call them and they tell me I just need to flip the breaker and that we (or the landlord) should have the key. Let me pause and mention how nice the guy on the phone was. If someone was calling me to tell me that they blew the circuit and what should they do, I would have been a bit (ok a lot) more condescending. So high-five to you awesome power company guy! By this time we have realized that our landlord is likely out of town for the weekend. Our kind neighbor shows me where his breaker box is (out on the street) and I tell him we don’t have a key. He shows me how easy his is to open without a key, and says if we need help he can come over.

We go home and I try to open the box. Ours has a pretty secure newer lock and it doesn’t go. I decide to try all the keys on the keychain again (I have tried them before) and one magically works this time. We find the magical breaker box, and as Aaron has fixed the wiring (we hope!) we give it a go. Nothing in the house buzzes or lights on fire and when Aaron tries to turn the light on again it works. We later plug in the fridge and microwave and are pleased to find our precious appliances are still functioning.

So, let that be a lesson to you. First find the key to the breaker box, then try and do your electrical work. Otherwise you might look like a fool to your neighbor, landlord, and power company guy. But hey, we now have light in our bathroom and Aaron is safe, what more could you ask for?

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Viva Aaron!

Today Aaron was offered a telecommute job. Woohoo! He will do a trial week and then they will either keep him or set him free. Hopefully the first. We are excited as it possibly means we can stay here for a while and not run out of money. Also it means maybe in a month we can buy a couch. Or a more comfortable bed. Or both. Either way, it is a blessing and we are very grateful.

Posted in aaron | 5 Comments

Dental Hygiene

Last night at 10pm:

Aaron: I brushed my teeth.
Kelsey: Congratulations.
Aaron: When was the last time you brushed your teeth?
Kelsey: Rude!
Aaron: So last week?
Kelsey: No! Today. Midday.
Aaron: Not one of those 10 second brushes like I saw you doing on Sunday before church.
Kelsey: Those are touch-ups!
Aaron: So last week?
Kelsey: Rude!
Aaron: How many times do you think you have brushed your teeth this year?
Kelsey: *thinking*
Aaron: So 3 before we came to Ecuador, and that’s it?
Kelsey: No! I was counting!
Aaron: Sure.
Kelsey: Like 48.
Aaron: Sure.
Kelsey: Rude!

Posted in aaron, true colors | 3 Comments

Sweet Reunions

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for a 9-year-old girl we know from church. I have known her and her mom since I was here the first time in 2004. While sitting on a bench watching the going-ons, I noticed a girl (ok, I suppose technically a lady) near me that looked really familiar. This girl had a cute little baby, so I assumed it couldn’t be who I thought it was, a girl I had known from the girls orphanage from 2004. Also I could not figure out how she would have a connection to the birthday girl, so that sealed it in my mind. Ten minutes later she called over to me and said “Kelsey, how old are your kids?” and then I laughed and realized it was her after all. Silly Kelsey, girls who are 18 in 2004 can be 25 in 2012 and have babies. Really really cute babies. We exchanged phone numbers and will hopefully soon be having a reunion party with all the older girls from 2004 who all have babies. And me, who also has babies. Sometimes it’s weird being an adult.

Posted in ecuador | 1 Comment

Where Have All The Pictures Gone?

Some of you have been wondering why I haven’t posted many (ok, any) photos. It’s one part lazy but the other part is I don’t take my camera. I have a big camera which I don’t like to tote around especially when it is just me and the kids for fear of losing it/getting it stolen/being an easier target/breaking it, but then I remembered I have a smaller camera for such occasions. So here are a few photos. And here are several more with our faces in them.

Additionally here is Sammy’s excellent dancing at a birthday party.

Posted in ecuador, sammy, Uncategorized | 2 Comments