Managed Chaos
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Day 10 - Back to the Beginning
Friday, July 22, 2011
Day 9 - Extreme Sports Ecuadorian Style
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Day 8 - Ecuadorian Playground...Here we come!
Today was a rather light day as far as events go. We packed and then had a pretty good breakfast at one of the restaurants we had eaten at before – scrambled eggs, hot chocolate, bananas, bread and butter, orange juice and other various edible foods. Might I add, it is surprising to me that the weather here in Limon is somewhat cooler than I expected. In fact, most of the kids and adults are wearing their sweatshirts. I expected hot (high 80’s) and humid (above 50%). What have gotten is cool and, not dry, but certainly not humid. It has to do with the altitude and air currents, but this is definitely different than expected.
We loaded the bus and left Limon for a place called Los Baños de la Agua Santa, or in other words, the Baths (hot springs) of Holy Water. These are located north of Limon about 8 hours’ drive. The countryside is beautiful, green and lush. Kieri did her devotional, excellent as always. After that, most of the kids napped or chilled. The only real excitement of the trip was Dr. Steve decided to operate on Toryn’s two ingrown toenails, one on each big toe. This took up the better part of an hour (we had to make sure it was a clean and sterile environment, etc) and a lot of the kids came forward to catch a glimpse of how it is done. Hopefully Toryn’s feet will feel much better now. By the way, our bus driver is actually very good and considerably more cautious than some we have had in the past – but even he could not avoid some of the bumps and ruts, so Dr. Steve did the operation while we stopped alongside the curb for lunch. Another surprising thing is the condition of the roads here in Ecuador. Most are in much better shape than some back home where we live, with the exception of some that were covered with recent landslides that are in the process of being cleared. So for the most part, it has been smooth sailing on the roads around here.
As we were getting close to Los Baños, we came across a place where you could pay a buck to cross the river gorge on a cable car for $1 each. So of course we had to do it. The cable car was 100 meters (about 330 ft) off the ground at its highest point and was 500 meters (1650 ft) long. On the other end, it went across the top of twin waterfalls. We talked the cable car operator into just taking us over the top of the waterfalls, then reversing and bringing us back. It was a thrill to be about 50 feet or so above the waterfalls, then as you came out over the gorge you could feel your stomach drop as you the waterfall/cliff fell away and you were 300 feet in the air! I hesitate to tell you parents some of the details of this diversion, but I it makes the event so much better. The cable car was very secure, but the door that allows you to get on and off was far from fiddle proof, so we had to make sure none of our group leaned on it as it was being pulled across the gorge. In addition, picture a guy essentially sitting down like he is driving and pushing the gas on a diesel engine and revving the engine to get the open topped cable car across and back. The whole operation would be an accident lawyer best dream.
Day 7 - Give and Get Back Tenfold
(Contributions from Jim Stark)
Still in Limon. The reception by the people here has been fabulous. They have taken us in and made us feel like one of their family. I believe having the Morningstar stay with various families in their homes was a very good move – the group has really come to know and understand a little of the culture of Ecuador in this way.
We were up not too early and dressed in grubbies. The objective of the day was to paint a local school – local meaning somewhere in the general area. It turned out the school was in a village named Yungantza around 30 minutes away, and out in the more rural part of the area. Very small school, only three classrooms in one building and a much smaller separate building that functioned as their library. The library had one wall with shelves on it, and with only maybe half of the shelves filled with books of various sorts. The school functioned to serve around 120 kids from the local area, from kindergarten thru high school. Last year there were 2 teachers, making $300 each from the Ecuadorian government to teach, but they were not paid so they resigned. What was left was the school superintendent (principle) and one other helper (I can’t remember his actual function). So these guys were the butcher, the baker and the candlestick maker all in one.
Once the paint and supplies were ready, the kids attacked the school with gusto. They did a very good job of knocking out the painting, finishing the whole thing in around 4 hours. The school wanted a mural on one wall, so Shane and Kieri came up with the idea of a sun surrounded by hand prints representing the sun’s rays. Most of the kids signed their names as well, so they left a handprint and signature as a piece of themselves in a remote part of Ecuador. Way cool!!
Lunch was served to the group – a traditional Shuar (local indigenous tribe name) lunch. It consisted of meal made out of palm tree trunk in the form of a potato, plus some fish and chicken. The palm trunk potato, fish and chicken were rolled up in palm leaves and slow roasted over some charcoal grills. They cooked the meal for the entire time we were painting, so by the time we were done with painting the school the texture and flavor were absolutely delicious and literally fell off the bones. Painting continued to about 3 pm. The group worked hard. Because the paint we used was oil based, we had to use some turpentine to try to clean up. Afterwards, Morningstar played games with all the students. It was incredible to see the way the young Ecuadorian kids were taking to ours. All of Morningstar came out of their shells and befriended these kids who have so little and seem so happy. It was a great learning experience for all of them
Then it was back to the bus and back to Limon. So the kids wanted to get cleaned up really good. We allowed them some time to do this, and then it was dinner time. We went to a pizza place – probably the only pizza place in a 100 mile or more radius from Limon. The pizza was actually quite good, and most of the kids consumed it hardily.
As a farewell to us for coming to their town, they had prepared a small production of their own. It was put on by some of the kids from Yungantza, so it was traditional Shuar dancing. The mayor of the town did some preliminaries, thanking us for coming, and then there were 3 gifts given: 1 to Elizabeth VanLueven for befriending the women of the Yungantza and promising to send Mormon missionaries to the community and books for the library. Then they performed 3 dances. Keep in mind that a slight rain was coming down, and this ending ceremony was held in Limon’s central plaza. But no one seemed to care, and a pretty good crown gathered to watch. The kids (and adult leaders) performed the first dance, and then they pulled in our kids and repeated the dance, teaching it to them. It was a blast to watch, and most of our kids picked up on the rhythm and steps pretty quickly. The same was repeated for the second dance, and then the third dance they did on their own. They thanked us again from coming to Limon. They said over ad over that we were the first group to come to their town to perform and provide service. They had others say they would come, but we were the first to live up to our word. We thanked them for being great hosts and mingled with the dignitaries and gathered crowd until Morningstar needed to get ready for the next phase of the evening - the Limon Prom.
The night was far from over. Our kids put on their Church clothes - all of them - and headed back to the Limon Colliseum/Gymnasium to dance the night away with the Limon youth. When they poked their head inside, it became apparent very fast that this was not a typical U.S. based prom. Entire families were present, dressed to the nines. A few older men approached our girls and asked them to dance. They turned them down most of the time. We watched every MStar person the entire night. They had instructions to leave at 11:30, but I think they lingered until 12 midnight. They had great stories to tell the next morning.
All in all, a satisfactory ending to a wonderful day. Tomorrow, we head to the extreme sports center of Ecuador - Los Banos, another 5 hours bus ride.
Day 6 - Great Expectations
Day 5 - Into the Sticks
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Day 4 - Ecuadorian Time
Let me first say that I am the first to admit that making Keri happy is no small feat at times, but when she is thinking first of her performers, the experience she wants for them on tour, and the expectations she has of traveling experiences, it is darn near impossible to meet those expectations. Let me also say that trying to understand what Morningstar is, the type of “tour” group it is, and the details that need to be coordinated to make a tour successful is also nearly impossible for someone to appreciate until they have been on a tour with the group. Let me give you a few examples. A normal tour group wants to learn about the details and history of the place they are traveling through. While Kieri wants the group to be respectful and appreciative of where they are, she also remembers better than most, what it is like to be 16 or 17 or 18. Trying to put together activities that are both entertaining and educational is an art that few have mastered. I know I haven’t. Our guides typically have to change their plans to create a better balance of fun with facts. A second example: most tour groups like down time. Kieri hates downtime. She has learned from years of doing this that down time is when teenagers do really stupid things. The more event filled and exhausting the kids are at the end of the day, the more likely they will actually sleep at night. Last example: the end of the day of a normal touring group is dinner. For Morningstar it is 1:00 am. Shows need to be broken down; kids like to play at the end of a long day. This means that 11:00 is the soonest the group will eventually settle down. If you let the group settle earlier, they are wide-awake for later in the night. So after explaining all of this, it typically takes about 4-5 days for tour organizers to “get” Morningstar and readjust their plan.
Ecuador presents its own unique challenges as does any country. When someone says the bus will be here in 20 minutes, it means 40. If someone says, “it will take us 2 hours to get there”, count on 4 – mostly because a landslide has blocked the road to where we are going. If someone says they have a tight schedule to keep, be sure talk over the tight schedule and fill in the loose 3-4 hours. Wanting to give credit to Victor and Jose, they have been more responsive and more adaptable than most others Morningstar have worked with in the past. They are working really hard to make sure details are paid attention to, communication is clear, water bottles are purchased when needed, venues are set up correctly and bus, boxes, and people all end up at the same place at the same time. They are already looking exhausted however. I hope they don’t quit on us.
Tonight is a performance in a beautiful theater. I personally can’t wait, as the first performance was a tough one to make sound good. The theater seats about 600-700. After breakfast Victor had arranged for a tour of a hat factory and some time in a local market for the group to do a little treasure hunting and shopping.
Our first stop was the Ortega Panama Hat Factory. This place was pretty cool. The process it takes to make the famous Panama hats takes days or even years depending on how fine the weave of the hat is. The hats were originated in Ecuador and exported to Panama during the building of the Panama Canal. The Ortega family was the first to create coops to outsource the making of the different stages, but having all coordinating and merchandising occur at a central point. This model benefitted the greatest number of people economically and created an industry that is still very successful alive today. We left the factory with a few Panama hat converts. Most purchases were in the range of $30-$70, but some hats in the store were over $1000-$3000.
We left the factory and headed to a local market. Everyone found something they couldn’t live without whether that was a switchblade, a very large spoon or a one of a kind bag. For Austin it was a jackpot, scoring 3-4 items that were the best finds he could imagine including a knife with hidden butane lighter. The artisan factor in Ecuador seems to be lacking in comparison to Peru, but there is still some great local handiwork to bring home. The people are very warm and open. It was a great day interacting with many of the locals.
We were then rushed off to visit an eco nature venue. Now I have to be careful here because Ecuador is at the front end of understanding how to tap into the eco tourism market, and what we saw at this location was interesting to be sure, but as we entered the venue I felt I was going through a Marble Valley School biome more than an established professional venue. In total, it was about a space of 1000 square feet that wound through cases of snakes, piranha, and a crocodile. It didn’t smell very good and in total contained less than 25 animals. But as I said, they will learn, improve and get better. We went from there to lunch and then to our venue to set up.
The theater was gorgeous. The building it was housed in was truly beautiful. The venue raised the bar for the performers and they met the challenge. The show looked twice as good as it did as any other time they had performed before. Costume changes, hitting solos and in-synch performances all improved dramatically. The audience was again very appreciative and responsive. They expressed they had never seen anything like this live and felt they had just been part of something professional and special. And most importantly, the kids felt like stars.