Tuesday, December 27, 2011

¡Navidad in Montanita!




As a New Yorker, it was hard to feel like it’s the Christmas season without Black Friday style shopping insanity, blistering, nose-numbing cold, non-stop cheesy Christmas music blasting from every store and window, and tacky over-the-top decorations covering every house, tree and street. And all that usually starts in October! Montañita definitely has it’s own way doing things.

Along with the intense winter sun and beach weather came all the Christmas lights. Thankfully, unlike in the New York suburbs, there were no giant inflatable snow globs in front of people houses, or 15 foot Santa Clauses on the roofs. Decorations are on a small scale here, and walking through Montanita seeing the trees peaking out from windows, gave us cute little reminders of the season that finally made me feel like Christmas was coming.

A couple weeks before Christmas at the school, we got together at the school cabañas with the students to decorate the common areas and drink hot coco. Groups of friends got together to organize amigo secreto swaps, and by the time we had gotten all the lights up and the tree set, we were feeling in the spirit. As Christmas approached the local parties began to pick up. There were parties for every school in the area, every day care center, every clinic. Just walking down the street meant passing parts of town that were cordoned off for a Christmas fiesta. We had staff parties, homestay family parties, student parties, amigo secreto parties, and by the time the day actually arrived, we were all happy and exhausted.

For most of the office staff, and the students, this was our first Xmas in the tropics. The hot Ecuadorian sun, the palm trees, bikinis, plastic Christmas trees, and the lack of a pre-Christmas commercial frenzy, all seemed so different. But the spirit was the same. Family, togetherness, gift-giving (on a more reasonable scale), music and delicious food, all made this Christmas still feel like home. Only instead of digesting your big dinner on front of a fire with a hot eggnog, it was in a hammock on the beach with a Mojito in your hand!

Monday, December 26, 2011

Xmas at the Montañita Primary School

The primary school in Montañita is one of the local volunteer organizations that we work with. Our volunteers teach English to kids from 5 years old to 16. 

The Friday before Christmas, the Primary School threw a Christmas party that lasted the whole day! I made it down to watch the show and take some pictures:


The kids escape from the sun while they watch the performers and wait for their turns.

One little reina struts around the stage.

The boys from a Form 1 class have a game of musical chairs

Santa and Genoveva (the director of the school) give presents out the winners of the games.

Many of the girls were dressed like little princesses for this event. Even covered in frills and tulle, the girls were running around, playing the games with the boys in the hot midday sun.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Xmas at the Finka

The Christmas celebrations in our little corner of the world are in full swing. This past weekend, my friend Amela, the Medical Volunteer Coordinator and the Director of Finances at the Montanita Spanish School, went to a Christmas party of the year at Santa Maria del Fiat, the Finka for short.


First a little background. The Finka is a Catholic clinic and Church that is run by nuns who live on site. Hermana Ruth, the head nun and Medical Coordinator, is a small Ecuadorean woman with a big smile and an even bigger heart. The clinic, like most out here on the coast, is very basic, but they do wonders for the community with the limited resources they have. They have been running a kid's program for years, in order to improve the preventative care for children. Once a month children from newborns up to 5 years old come to the clinic for a free check up and medication. Every year, people from all over the world, including our school, go spend 4 weeks to up to a year volunteering at the Finka as nurses, doctors, medical students and specialist, pharmacists, or in their records department.


So back to the party. How does a small Catholic clinic do Xmas in coastal Ecuador? Well, it starts with a Mass. This was only Amela's second Catholic mass, so by keeping an eye on what her neighbors were up to, she was able to kneel, stand and sit at the right moments, though she started regretting her decision to sit right up in the front! Every little girl was in a frilly princess dress, and the little boys were in dress shirts and ties. One of the nuns in front pulled out a guitar started playing, and the small church was so full that when everybody started singing the sound was amazing.


After the Mass, there were cookies, and snacks. Amela brought candies and balloons for the kids from MSS, and the show began. There was a nativity presentation, and then a singing/karaoke game with the mothers. A group of señoras got up, sang along to a song, and then when the speakers cut out they have to continue singing and try to remember work it goes. As hilarious as all this was, it was made even funnier by the fact that the whole time, Mary and Joseph from nativity scene, were still hanging out behind them in full costume. They stayed there through a group of mothers doing a traditional dance, and through a children's show. The little girls and boys all strutted up and down the stage with their fancy outfits on, and Amela was made the judge to pick the best dressed boy and girl to be the King and Queen.


After all the shows were performed, snacks were eaten, and presents were exchanged, the first Xmas party of the year came to a close. This is my first Christmas here in Ecuador, and with all the parties at Montanita Spanish School, and with our volunteer partners like the Finka, it has been quite the fiesta. More Christmas fun to come, stay tuned!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Xmas with the Homestay Families

One of the options we have for accommodations our school, is that you can stay with a family in Montanita. Our families are amazing and we love them, so of course we had to throw them a Xmas Party!

Elsa and her daughter Andrea, hanging out on the roof of the school, enjoying the sunset and some refreshments. 


 Karen, our teaching manager and homestay coordinator toasting to all the amazing teamwork and to a successful new year. ¡Salud!


We talk Anthony, the school director, into holding the piñata for the kids. "I'll do it," he says, but only if you promise no one will be swinging sticks at me!"


¡Dulces!


We all gathered as the sun went down for a group photo. Thank you to all our homestay family's for opening their homes, hearts, and especially their kitchens (Cheers for home-cooked meals!), and giving our students an amazing Ecuadorean experience.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Beach Day in Montanita


We made quite the picture as we all walked down to the beach together all hand in hand; 40 primary school children from Montanita, 8 MSS students and 6 teachers from the Montanita Spanish School, and 5 of us staff member and some family that didn’t want to be left out of the fun. We were all heading to the beach for a game day with the Spanish school and a group of local children. The kids were so damn cute that I started snapping picture before we even made it to the beach. Some of our MSS teachers and students used the event as a learning opportunity and came down during the class hours reserved for “Language Application” to practice their Spanish. The kids aged from 7 to 13 years old and were so excited for a break from the normal routines of classes, and the chance to goof around with us extranjeros. We broke into smaller groups of about 8 niños with a few MSS students and a staff member to help with the Spanish. And then the fun began.


One group got a rope out and began a tug-of-war battle. On another part of the beach we set up 3-legged races and sack races. Further down, there were groups playing more traditional Ecuadorian games. The ninos and our Spanish teachers taught us the words to the song for the game in Spanish and we all joined in. We finished off the day with a giant game of Ameba Tag and El Gato y El Raton. I had forgotten how much energy kids that age have. After running and pulling and hopping around for 2 hours, I had bruises on my knees and my muscles were screaming. The niños who had been playing a lot harder then I had, were just screaming for more. After all the games had been played, and lunch had been eaten, we all grabbed hands again and escorted them back to school. Again, we must have made quite the picture; the same large group returning, but this time exhausted and completely covered in sand.

The Montanita Spanish School is not just committed to teaching Spanish right, but also being involved in the local community in a positive way. We do this through our volunteer program, and by having regular events, like this one, with our non-profit partners in the communities. It allows our students to really experience more of the amazing Ecuadorian culture, and our friends in the community to get to know us and our students. It was with these goals or community activism and cultural exchange in mind, we organized a day at beach to throw ourselves in the sand, practice Spanish, and be kids again.