Settling down

It is difficult to believe but everything is going better than I ever dared to dream. I started teaching English to the kids of the village. People seems to be very grateful for that and very willingly answer my questions. They are also very demanding. I kind of understand, but at times it is difficult to balance my limited time resources and their demands. I guess it is my fault, as I always try to prepare as much as possible everything I do. What means time.
I never thought I would ever enjoy teaching to young kids. But in fact I am really please with them and with myself. I don´t know why but the kids really really want to learn. They even ask for homework. In the last class they started clapping when I told I have some homework for them. Can you believe it?

Currently I am working on some workshops for the adult population of the village. It is been really hard because I want every side (i.e. they and me) to get something useful out of them. Just to anticipate that one of the workshops involve some food! I will tell you more about this very soon.

We (well, mainly he) are recording the traditional activities that people still do in the village. He has made some amazing pics, and I sure there are more to come. I am so happy he has found his way, and he is really enjoying the whole time.

The family we are living with (a grandmother with her grandson) are very sweet. The lady is an amazing cook. Last week she even taught me how to make bread. Bread in Ecuador is far more elaborate than in Spain. The dough is made of flour (here they call it 'harina de Castilla', Castile flour), butter, salt, sugar (salt and sugar is a very common combination here for lots of different meals), egg and cheese (I am probably forgetting something). As you can see, our daily life is really pleasant, both in terms of the research but also in terms of the personal life. Every time we go out for a walk we ended up talking to lots of different people. I think I have never had that much social contact as I am having now!

Back in Ecuador!

Life is a funny thing. One never knows what it is in store. Two days after landing in Quito, I found myself eating pan amb tomaquet (bread with tomato) and dancing Sardanes, traditional food and dancing from Catalonia. By chance, we discovered there is a 'House of Catalonia' in Quito, and we phoned out of curiosity. We found ourselves drag into a series of events and celebrations the day after the phone call. Arnau is delighted with the coincidence.

Leaving aside this anecdote, things are working more or less as planned with the fieldwork. Apart from an annoying misunderstanding about the visa register procedure that will force me to go to Quito to avoid being fined. It actually involves a 10-12 hour bus journey (if no roads in the highlands have been damaged due to the rainy season), and a 4-6 day stay in Quito, right after entering the field. Hope it will not complicate things further.

I must confess I am actually enjoying myself. The weather is wonderful, the landscape is beautiful and people are nice and polite (although I anticipate it is going to take a while to go beyond that politeness). We have even run into a person we met while we were in Cuenca last summer! It was such a nice surprise.

The next days are going to be essential, and I going to negotiate my entrance to the field. At this point, I wonder why textbooks and articles always skip this part. The researcher is either about to enter the field and planning, or s/he is already in the field. I think they have missed such precious days in between. I will tell you about my experience soon.