Hoop it up!

In the past week, I played in my first “official” basketball games since college intramurals. The school Athletic Director organized a Mami/ Papi Sports Tournament. The Mamis played basketball and the Papis played indoor soccer. The women Docentes (teachers) were invited to put together a basketball team. There aren’t enough men working in the school, so Ben was off the hook. Fortunately our team consisted of about 15 teachers, so no one had to run up and down the court too much. Just like back in middle school, my face was beet red after about 15 minutes in the game. I expected to be in better shape since Ben and I run regularly, but it didn’t prepare me for sprinting up and down a basketball court.

Maybe to your surprise, I wasn’t even the shortest woman on the team. While my basketball career ended quickly in the United States when most others outgrew me in middle school, the possibilities are better here for a girl my size. Ecuadorians are small in stature, so maybe I am considered “average” here in Ecuador. It was nice looking my opponent directly in the eyes. In each game, I only got about 10 minutes or less of playtime in order to share the time with my 15 player team. In the first game, I put up 2 points. We won the first game 25-4. The following games were closer matches, but we ended up losing in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, I scored no further points in the game, but I certainly scored some points with my fellow teachers who were surprised when I joined the team.

                                                         Our Cheering Section- My Students!

      

                                                                        

Are you ready for some Fútbol!

As many of you know, the US lags behind the rest of the world in it's appreciation for futbol or as it is known in the states, soccer. In Ecuador, futbol is second only to Catholicism in popularity and even that might be a stretch. Everywhere we have been we have seen futbol being played. We have seen "balls" of all sizes and shapes (including plactic bottles), players of all ages (no joke) and fields of all sizes and surfaces. If you go to the big park in Loja on Sunday you are likely to see futbol games in all directions with overlapping fields and goals made of whatever is handy. We once counted about eight different games from one sitting position in one section of the park.

So in an attempt to be culturally sensitive, we have decided to embrace this aspect of Ecuadorian culture wholeheartedy (perhaps Ben more than Sara). This is best recognized in our regular attendence at the local professional matches which take place every other Friday at the stadium in town. Loja's team is in the "B" league which is sort of considered the minor leagues here. Every year the winning team moves to the upper division and the losing upper division team moves down.

Lucky for us, Liga de Loja is quite good this year, so the games have been really fun to watch. So far we have been to about 5 of them. One ticket in the preferred section (there is an awning over the stands) costs $5, the 20 oz. beers $1.25 and (if you're so inclined) you can buy a knock off t-shirt for another $5. You could be an instant fan for less than $12. That would barely get you a Coke at a Sounders game. The only downside is that the seats are just concrete stairs and, if you're not careful, you could sit in gum like Ben did last week.

Yes the picture is crappy but so is the photographer.

Our only disappointment is that we can't understand all of the insults and profanity that the fans shout at the refs. For them, this is a big part of the game. Last week, when Liga was losing 0-3, the game turned into a one upsmanship of insults since the fans were getting bored with being the losing team. It went on for a good 20 minutes. We could tell when someone said something funny because the entire crowd would laugh, including our friend Eduardo. Ben has a list of bad words that he has been studying in an effort to contribute more. When in Rome.....

Its a boy!

We have been living in the same apartment for about 5 months now, and the Ecuadorian family who owns and lives in the building have been very kind to us. We have been on a couple day trips together, including family Sunday at their weekend home in Malacatos. However, it was still a complete surprise when they invited us for dinner and formally asked us to be their 11-year old son’s Godparents (padrinos as they call them in Spanish). Now, for sure, your mouth is gaping open at the moment, but we want to reassure you by saying “We are not his only Godparents.” There are many religious celebrations in the life of Catholics here and godparents are selected for practically every religious ceremony including baptism, First Communion, and marriage. For the occasion (La Primera Comunión), we borrowed some formal clothes from friends for the ceremony. The ceremony was held at the church on Saturday morning. The children had been rehearsing for the event all week, as well as having formal pictures made and programs with their photos prepared. There were approximately 60 children participating, and the church was packed. We filed in line with our godson, José Antonio, and tried to follow along in the prayers and taking of communion like good Catholics, a noticeable irony for a half Jew and a Methodist. We pulled it off quite well. José Antonio is rather shy, so little words were exchanged throughout the ceremony and evening. Slowly, perhaps he is warming up to us, and we communicate in Spanglish. 

The morning ceremony was followed much later by a formal evening dinner. During the afternoon, the family worked quite hard preparing flower displays, appetizers and wrapping gifts for all the guests. We were invited to help alittle. Dinner was served at a nice hotel in Loja for about 20 people, mostly family and a few friends. Again, we just did as we were told. We were seated at the “head” table with José Antonio and his parents. Although the event was to begin at 7pm, as is typical in Ecuador, guests showed up about 1 hour late, plus or minus, so it was a late night. His father made a speech, and we just hope we didn’t miss any special customs that we were supposed to follow as his new godparents.

The proud Padrinos

The family posing before the formal dinner

The next day, Sunday, we went with the family to visit El Cisne. It’s a small pueblo (community) within an hour drive of Loja. This community is perched high in the mountains, and it is a long, windy drive there. Not only were we a bit motion sick from the drive, but also took on dull headaches due to the bus exhaust we followed all the way up the mountain. Thank goodness for emissions testing in the US!!!! El Cisne is well known for its cathedral as well as the main attraction which is the effigy of the Virgin Del Cisne. She is well regarded in Ecuador for performing many miracles and thus has a loyal following throughout the country, but particularly in the Loja province. You can see her placed at the head of the altar inside the church.

Before we reached the town, you could see the blue steeples towering above the little community. The cathedral was well-kept and adorned with a substantial amount of hand-made floral garlands (as you can see in the photos). We chose not to get our pictures on the llama with a small monkey-size saddle strapped on the back or purchase plastic rosary beads, candles or toenail clippers with the Virgin’s picture on them. However, we did indulge in some peanut butter “bocaditos” (sweets) that sent Ben running to the hills on the drive home. Guess you aren’t supposed to eat three at one time. It certainly gave the family a good laugh, especially the kids. Thank God they keep a roll of t.p. in the car.