Life is getting interesting. People have been storming the stores and stocking up on food and medication. The majority of public events have been cancelled and school has been cancelled and we are all awaiting cuarentena (quarantine) as the government and health officials decide what to do. But in the meantime, life is still marching right along and we are staying positive.
La vida se está volviendo más interesante. Las personas están invadiendo las tiendas y comprando comida y medicina. La mayoría de los eventos públicos se han cancelado y ya no hay escuela y estamos esperando cuarentena mientras el gobierno y los oficiales de salud deciden que hacer. Pero mientras tanto la vida sigue y nos mantenemos positivos.
Bored and ready to get out of the house, David and I went to the Centro on Friday to walk around and we explored a museum or two during our time there.
Aburrida y lista para salir de la casa, el viernes David y yo nos fuimos al Centro a caminar y exploramos unos museos durante nuestro tiempo ahí.
We even walked into a fancy tourist plaza and I actually saw some people speaking English! (It’s strange hearing other people speak it here.)
Descubrimos una plaza turística y vi a unas personas que estaban hablando inglés. (Es raro escuchar otras personas hablando inglés aquí.)
We stumbled into a upscale chocolate store where there was a small group of businessmen and tourists enjoying the very fancy cacao products. Despite feeling slightly out of place, we sat down to enjoy some mochas and wow. They were the most delicious mochas I had ever had, with thick chocolate whipped cream and just the right amount of espresso.
Nos encontramos en una tienda lujosa de chocolate donde había un grupo pequeño de empresarios y turistas disfrutando de sus productos sofísticados de cacao. Nos sentimos fuera de lugar pero nos sentamos a disfrutar de unas mochas y wow. Fueron las mochas más deliciosas que he probado, con crema batida de chocolate muy espesa y la cantidad perfecta de espresso.
On our way back home, we passed a street called Esmeraldas which brought back memories of the experience I had lived just a few weeks ago.
I was almost robbed, again, but luckily a group of people yelled at the thief and he didn’t manage to get anything out of my backpack. Still, I was pretty shaken and we went back home quickly to drink some tea (the remedy for just about anything).
En camino a casa, pasamos una calle que se llamaba Esmeraldas y se me volvieron las memorias de mi experiencia que viví hace unas semanas.
Casi me robaron, otra vez, pero por suerte había un grupo de gente que gritaron al ladrón y no alcanzó llevarse nada de mi mochila. Igual estaba muy ansiosa y regresamos a casa rápido para tomarnos un tecito (una cura para casi todo).
We performed at an hornado solidario on Saturday with David and Agustín. An hornado solidario is a type of fundraiser where a bunch of hornado (pork) is served with mote and a bunch of groups come and perform.
Este sábado nos presentamos en un hornado solidario con el David y el Agustín. Un hornado solidario es una forma de recaudar fondos donde se sirve hornado con mote mientras unos grupos se presentan.
This was all for our friend Carlos, a professional dancer, who has been battling leukemia for almost five years now. The last time we came to visit, about four years ago, he was just finishing up with chemo and despite suffering from the effects, he gave my mother and I dance lessons and taught us choreographies that we dance in our performances to this day. He recovered for a time but last year he was told he has to get a bone marrow transplant and the operation would have to be done in Spain. Even with this news, he has continued to teach dance to us as well as many other people and brings joy to everyone’s lives by dancing in various dance troupes as well as competitively. Oh and this is all while he has been in college and finishing up his Tourism degree at the UCE.
Todo esto era para nuestro amigo Carlos, un bailarín profesional, que ha luchado contra el cáncer casi cinco años. La última vez que estuvimos, hace unos cuatro años, él recién estaba acabando con su tratamiento y a pesar de que seguía sintiendo los efectos, nos dió clases de baile a mi mamá y yo y nos enseñó coreografías que todavía usamos hoy en día. Se recuperó por un tiempo pero el año pasado le habían dicho que tiene que hacerse una transplante de la médula en España. A pesar de estas noticias, todavía sigue enseñándonos y a otras personas y alegre a la gente a través de la danza en sus grupos y competencias. Y él ha hecho esto mientras estaba estudiando en la universidad y acabando su título en turismo en la UCE.
If you would like to support Carlos and his family, there is a GoFundMe campaign where you can donate money which you can find here. Thank you so much and we are all very grateful for any contributions.
Si quiere apoyar a Carlos y su familia, hay una campaña de GoFundMe donde puedes contribuir dinero que puedes encontrar aquí.
As soon as we left the solidario, it began to rain but as you can tell by the photo, that didn’t stop people from performing at all. After all, it was all for an amazing individual who has given his all to the arts and the rain could not impede the love and support from all those around him.
Ya cuando regresamos del solidario, justo empezó a llover pero como puedes ver en la foto, las presentaciones no se pararon para nada. Después de todo, esto era para un individuo increíble que ha dado su ser entero a los artes y la lluvia no impidió el amor y el apoyo de todos a su alrededor.
On Tuesday, David and I went to the Metropolitano, in hopes of escaping the clutches of the city since our last time out had not gone as planned. However, we had just entered the park when a clap of thunder sounded and rain began to fall. During the two hours of the downpour of the storm, we hung out in a little gazebo with a random family and all we could do was wait.
Once the rain had been reduced to a slight drizzle, we began the trek down to catch a bus. We were hungry and had only eaten a bag of chips for lunch, so we went to a chinese restaurant and feasted.
David y yo nos fuimos al Metropolitano el martes, queriendo escapar de la ciudad porque la última vez que salimos, no nos fue muy bien. Pero, al momento que entramos al parque, escuchamos un trueno y empezó a caer la lluvia. Durante las dos horas del aguacero de la tormenta, nos quedamos debajo de una glorieta con una familia que también se habían quedados atrapados.
Cuando por fin se estaba escampando, caminamos abajo a coger el bus. Estábamos con hambre y solo habíamos comido una funda de papas para el almuerzo, entonces nos fuimos a un chifa y comimos mucho.
Anyways, I hope y’all are staying healthy and safe in spite of the circumstances. Let’s see what the next post brings!
Bueno, espero que todos estén sanos y salvos a pesar de las circunstancias. ¡Veamos lo que trae la próxima semana!
– Korayma
Ecuador: A Journey 
The mocha looks delicious. It puts Starbucks to shame. Everything is closing down in Oregon because of the virus. Be safe- Keep dancing and playing music!
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We will! Stay safe!
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Koryma,
Carlos seems like a pretty amazing and rad guy. I will be thinking of him and his family.
And that mocha looks SOO good. I usually do not like mochas (I am a latte person myself) but I would have ordered that in a heartbeat.
Is it typically this rainy/wet where you live during this time of year?
-Chloe’
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Thank you for the kind thoughts for Carlos and it really depends on the day this time of year. In that way, this place reminds me a lot of Newport 🙂
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