I see the gods in battle rage on high...
Thunderbolts across the sky...
I cannot move, I cannot hide...
I feel a silent scream begin inside...
Supernova´s village made the front page of the Ecuadorian newspaper “La Hora” after a torrential rainstorm flooded the entire area. The thunder was so loud that it literally shook the house like an earthquake. The swollen Amazonian tributaries swept away houses, farm animals and people, as the rain pounded down incessantly all night. Subsequently, the local authorities declared a state of emergency, qualifying the zone for national assistance. Bridges were damaged leaving us with no way to get out of the village for three days. And the entire potable water system was knocked out for 5 days. Luckily the Ecuadorian Civil Defense Service delivered some water to us via firetrucks, but by the time the five days were up I stank pretty bad and my sink was overflowing with dirty dishes.
In other news, I have recently begun teaching Natural Science at the village high school. I have taken over one of the Natural Science teacher´s classes while she is on maternity leave. I have 19 students, and they love to cheat! Before giving them an exam last week, I checked their hands and arms, and over 1/3 of them had written exam notes on those body parts. I sent them to the bathrooms to wash their hands, and then wore sunglasses during the exam so that I could watch them very carefully. Nevertheless, during the exam, I caught one of them cheating. I docked her two points for her dirty deed! The high school lacks resources, teachers often don´t show up for work (today I saw one of the teachers getting drunk at 6:34 A.M. with other villagers), and many of the students seem apathetic about their studies cuz they´re either hungry and/or don´t have the money to buy their school books. The formal education system in this country needs serious improvements if the country is to dig its way out of its socio-economic crisis.
I recently took a long 5-day weekend (national holidays, including Day of the Dead, All Saint´s Day, and Cuenca Independence Day) to travel to the coastal city of Machala, the Island of Jambelí, and the town of Zaruma. Machala is a chaotic, hot and dirty city, but the food is great. Jambelí is full of mangroves, a huge beach with live crabs crawling all over the place, and a boardwalk reminiscent of Venice Beach, California. Zaruma is a charming town on the western flanks of the Andes mountains, with lots of old wooden buildings and a beautiful central plaza.
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