Rock concerts with Mom

Alright everyone, sorry I haven´t posted in several geological ages, but for the first time I´m going to use that famous study abroad excuse that I´ve just been too busy. With that in mind, I´m posted a couple quick stories before I leave for Baños in a half hour and then I´ll have a monstrous update on Sunday when I get back.

I´ll start with last Sunday when Charo and I went to what she described as "an indigenous women´s market in the park." This week is the fiesta de Quito and I was pretty sure that there was a large rock festival in the park she was talking about, but I also figured that she probably knew what was going on. So we climbed up to Parque Itchimbia and as we crested the hill, an field of thousands of moshing, black-clad Ecuadorian youth appeared before us. I started to think, "Uh oh Charo, what are you going to do now?" but before the thought could even form in my mind she was squealing, "¡Que lindo!" How could I have forgotten that Charo loves seeing anyone under 30 doing anything other than committing a crime? Not only did she love the amount of youth participation at the event but claimed to honestly enjoy the screaming metal...who is this woman?

That night when we got home we talked about Ecuadorian politics, as we often do, and both got a little teary as we talked about her hope for her country and the future of the Ecuadorian people. As I´ve mentioned, Ecuador is in a process of rewriting the constitution right now and the Asamblea Constituyente (the body charged with writing said constitution) was inaugarated last week. The assembly will be held in Montechristi, a small town in Manabí where one of the country´s greatest heroes, Eloy Alfaro, was born. Besides this pretty sweet symbolism, the placement also follows through on Correa´s promises of decentralization and political inclusion. So, Sunday was the inagauration and Correa gave his speech in front of Alfaro´s newly constructed tomb. He based his speech off a letter from one of Alfaro´s captains, telling his general, "don´t worry, everything is ok, we´re upholding everything you worked for." Imagine the power of that! Charo and I both agreed that the US could use a leader as charismatic and uplifting as Correa.

One final little story from the week, Juan Carlos called me son...which affected me much more than I would have thought. "Hijo" is kind of a general term of endearment but he never uses it like that and called me the other night saying, "son, we´re meeting in the house in 30 minutes." Nothing big or special, but I definitely feel as though this was like, my last step to being accepted and integrated into my family.

And with that I leave you to head to Baños. I´ll catch everyone up on everything when I get back on Sunday. Hope you´re all doing well, I´ll be back in a week and a half!

Coming soon: Cotocachi, Baños, more stories from fiestas de Quito, the impending termination of my program, and the ruination of my shoes