San Andreas de Canoa

Hello Friends,

We've had a great couple of weeks here in Canoa, though somewhat anti-climactic. Some of you may have heard about the earthquake that recently hit the coast of Ecuador. Although it was a 6.6 you all probably heard about it before we did. It hit at 10.30 PM last Friday as we learned from our landlord Ricardo the following morning. As he described it, dogs were barking, kids cried, people ran into the streets and Ty and I...slept.

The following morning some great waves rolled in and Ty went out for an early morning surf session. He had all the waves to himself, a fact easily attributed to the thriving night life here. A friend told us yesterday however, that there was a Tsunami warning that morning which was likely more to blame for the lack of surfers than any debilitating hangovers. He'd noticed Ty out there and assumed that Ty was trying to catch the wave of his life. Thankfully the Tsunami never came, but the good waves lasted through the weekend.

When Ty and I aren't chasing waves around and simultaneously trying to hide our pale selves from the equatorial sun, we've both found some new projects to jump into. Ty has become a master handline fisherman, stocking our fridge and freezer with all sorts of fresh fish and contributing to the sudden and welcome spike in our ceviche consumption. Recently we also started polishing some tunes as our Spanish teacher --we finally began taking Spanish classes--invited us to play at the bar/restaurant/hotel where she works, during the ubiquotously popular "hoppy our" as it is known here in Canoa.

I've been spending some time volunteering in the local elementary school. My first day there I thought I was just going to observe and figure out a schedule-which two weeks later remains elusive. That first mornign it became apparent that observing meant teaching an impromptu art class which ended abrubtly when all the students in the school flooded the playground for reasons that still remain mysterious to me. I followed them out there and bumped into the 2nd grade teacher who beseachingly invited me to teach an English lesson to her class of 40. I can't imagine what her classroom is like with all her students are in attendence becuase with 35 it struck me as surreal and even apocolyptic. The chaos was exacerbated by the presence of the drum and bugle corp. practicing immediately outside our classroom, which lacks upper walls. Inside the classroom a particularly small and meek looking girl pounded on desks with a long 2x2--which I later learned the teacher used on her students' knuckles when they misbehaved--expressing the authority that I lacked. A little boy removed the top of his rusting desk and began precarously lugging it around the classroom with an undisclosed destination in mind. Meanwhile 2 other little boys had their hands around each other's neck and seemed to be applying pressure. An endless line of girls in groups of 2 had to use the bathroom and while they wandered out, a puppy and then a toddler wandered in. A boy awkwardly tried pushing the puppy up a girl's skirt while the toddler seated itself on teaching platform and sucked on its passifier, engrossed with the boys who were climbing the window bars. Similar scenes seem to be the accepted reality in schools here. So, if any of you parents and teachers have tips on your art, I could use your guidance.

I hope you all enjoy a tasty Thanksgiving surrounded by loved-ones.

Rosa