A New School Year (continued)

The twins first day of school was today and it began too early for my liking. (I’m still not used to the time difference, despite it only being two hours ahead of home.) After much last minute scurrying about, the uniforms for both Kelpi and Andrés were assembled and they would now get to wear them (along with their tracksuits) for the next school year.

After a short walk up the street, we arrived at Centro Educativo Andina School, where the commencement ceremony for the start of the new school year was set to begin at eight sharp. (It didn’t start until fifteen minutes later but we Ecuadorians aren’t necesarilly known for our punctuality…) The national anthem was sung, the teacher’s were introduced, and then the children were sent off to their classroom.

Arriving home, we enjoyed the delicious bread we had picked up and I had a quick cup o’ joe. Then my father and I went off to pick up Ameli from school.

Just like in the park, there are people selling random items from cigarettes to fruit everywhere on the streets as well as the buses. Today, we encountered the same man twice, both on the way to get Ameli and on the way back. He was selling these little sample packets of pastillas (pills) and what a spiel he had to give… In summary, his speech explained how parasites enter through the mouth, crawl through the bloodstream, and reach your brain, therefore causing all sorts of aches and pains. It was all Ameli and I could do to keep from dying of laughter.

Later, after picking the twins and Elías up and working out front, we went on an epic journey that seemed nigh impossible to complete, much less survive. Together, five valiant individuals (myself, Ameli, our mother, Sole, and Elías) came together and set out to complete this quest, searching for the most elusive relics of all time: the Blazer of Large Shoulders and the Large Pair of Heels. Nearly obstructed by yet another Vendor of the Pastillas, this time curing hongos, we searched far and wide. We succeeded, for Ameli’s sake, in finding her these items that were required for her more formal Monday uniform though we had to take a bus and multiple taxis in order to track down a store that had these articles of clothing in Ameli’s size since she’s so tall.

Once we arrived back home, victorious but slightly weary, I didn’t have much rest before heading off on the next adventure of sorts. My father and I soon arrived at Santiago’s house, an childhood friend of his, and we stayed there for about two hours, playing music and just talking about life. It was really inspiring because all three of Santiago’s sons play some sort of instrument and on top of that, they all dance with a traveling traditional dance troupe. Also, just playing music and sharing the moment with my father was really touching because I would have never guessed that I would be able to stand there, beside him, singing and having fun doing what we both love.

I really want to take advantage of every opportunity I have here, musically and otherwise, because I want to push myself to improve and to be enjoying my time here. I don’t often say it but I also want to make my father and my family proud. They are the reason I am here today and they have always supported me and if I can learn something new or make a difference, it would mean the world.

Ah well, I better draw this post to a close before it gets to sappy… I hope you guys are enjoying the blog so far and I hope that everyone is doing well back home. Good luck to Cross Country this weekend at the Ultimook, run fast and PR! Have a good night everyone 🙂

– Korayma