Return Flight to Boston
I have a temporary flight arranged for July 8 overnight to July 9. Copa Airlines has been very good in allowing rescheduling free of charge. I can even reschedule 2 more times a no cost (I hope I don’t have to!). The flights will be American Airlines, with a layover in Miami. This is better than passing through Panama as originally planned with Copa, as it means one less country in the mix. The only challenge is that I have a 2-hour layover in Miami, and I’m a little concerned with timing - there could be delays due to airport changes because of covid. But, it remains to be seen if the flight even goes as planned. The good news is that Quito’s airport is opening at the beginning of June. And yet those plans can change if the virus flares up. We’ll see …
In the House
I continue living in the house with the same family. I get out regularly to the little parish house, where there is also internet. Here are some views of the house and property, along with the folks I’ve been living with. The first two photos are taken from the 3rd floor of the main house:
I’ve made some toys for the kids, and played with them every once in a while. I eat with the family, and several of us do an exercise program daily, but I try to keep to my own thing outside of short social times. I pay the family by electronically sending money to one their bank accounts, after which someone can go to an ATM in a place an hour away when they go for errands or for giving paid rides. It works out well, and it now takes only about 2 hours for the money to be arrive in the person’s bank account in Banco Pichincha. It costs about $8 to send $225, which works for now. (It actually costs me more than that to withdraw money from an ATM, so the fee is reasonable for this temporary situation.)
For Mother’s Day, I helped the kids arrange a little musical for their mothers, which everyone enjoyed. But I realized afterwards that no one thanked me, and also no one thought of offering to celebrate my own mother. It’s illustrative of why I had been deciding to move on from here before the quarantine, and why I’ll be glad to move on when I can.
B2B Next Steps
I’m developing my own next steps through finishing some online courses in entrepreneurship and publishing my reflections. I’ve also been sharing reflections in the personal posts on Facebook, to reach people who aren’t necessarily church people. It has gone very well, and I’m glad people are receiving a lift from them during this time. I’m considering a variety of follow up activities, listening to what that is becoming. One idea is leading an online workshop where people get to talk about their quarantine experiences with others in a supportive setting, using the framework of typical transition - endings, dwelling times, and new beginnings - as a stimulus to help contextualize and integrate stories into a whole experience. (In a faith context, we could choose from a few scriptural stories that relate to quarantine experience - any of the ‘40’ stories - to relate our quarantine to.) However, until I get back to Boston, I don’t have the consistent internet access to make commitments to people other than patient and understanding friends. Anyway, something is coming about, both directly related to the current pandemic situation and beyond.
I completed my first online Tree of Life workshop with someone in the States, and so there’s hope of being able to offer that to others as well. A small group format would be good to try at some point. Anyone interested in participating in either one-on-one or small group, drop a note and let me know.
I’m planning on completing a few more Food in the Desert video presentation reflections on reading the Gospels. These videos are fundamental to my own - and a fundamentally sound - way of reading, understanding, praying with, and finding food in the Gospels. One will be on the Good Shepherd, and the other on the Rock on which the church is built.
I mentioned before that I put together a really good video presentation in Spanish on my background story of coming to Chontal and Ecuador, for the people of Chontal. I posted it on Facebook, but only a few people watched it, though the feedback I got was that they enjoyed it and got a new perspective. The priest here didn’t seem too interested in viewing it, but I’ll send him the links at some point. :) I told the family I’m staying with that I’d be glad to share it with them personally whenever they want. They haven’t responded.
I’ve been gathering testimonials on the spiritual reflections blog, the books, workshops, and anything else. Thank you to many who have responded! The goal is to being to place those in a public place (respecting privacy) so that you and the broader public can see what others have experienced with the reflections, books, videos, and workshops. I’m hoping to move forward with that (there’s a lot to do!) in parallel with other things.
So, there’s a sort of reinvention of B2B under way.
Health
So far, I haven’t gotten sick here in Ecuador on this visit since arriving in December. That is the first time ever for me. I always get something, at least some traveler’s sickness after the first 2 weeks. But this time, thankfully, I haven’t had anything except a short bout of over-tiredness.
The exercise crew!
I’ve been exercising 6 days a week using the video exercise program that I have on my computer, joined by 4 others here in the house. We’re in our 11th week, and I’ve lost I'm guessing 10 to 20 pounds. I’m in great shape, except for my left hip, which is flaring up with bursitis.
I had an online visit with my primary care physician back home - one benefit of the pandemic is that everyone is now equi-distant from each other. From being here, I’ve developed a case of toenail fungus that is causing some problems. But through the meeting, we worked out a path for me to take and follow up when I get back. It was great.
The Pandemic Situation
My facemask. The Good Beaver - El Buen Castor
Ecuador is beginning to open up in stages, using a streetlight coloring system corresponding to different stages. It is done on a county-by-county basis, decided by each county itself (Ecuador has about 17 million people and 24 states, or provinces). Several counties in this area have gone from red to yellow. Quito goes to yellow on June 1. Ibarra, the capital of Imbabura, also goes to yellow on the same day. Today as I write this, my county of Cotacachi in Imbabura is deciding on changing to yellow.
I’m not kept informed by the family I stay with of what is happening in the pueblo, or anywhere else for that matter. It’s very strange. But it’s just not their way, they’re just not “other-aware” like you would imagine people would be. Or rather, they would be very uncomfortable initiating communication. But I find out about the pueblo from others, and about the state in the area and country from another friend who lives in Mindo and what I find from a Facebook group I’ve found, belonging to US expats living in the county of Cotacachi. (The city of Cotacachi, the seat of the county of the same name, is a huge destination for expat US retirees. It’s also about 4 hours by bus from where I am, there we are in the same county.)
The local leadership hasn’t done too much as far as showing interest in the people. They did bring in some supplies for seniors every now and then in the early stages, but since, there hasn’t been much presence. Many people here have left the pueblo to stay up in their farms. But plenty are still here. For example, if I were a leader, I would take a walk around the pueblo to every house once a week or two and just check up on people and say hello - see if there’s any needs, even if I already knew there wasn’t. It only takes about an hour to cover the whole place with stops and chats. I made my own trip around just saying hello while keeping social distance and mask on. How are you? Need anything? Anything changed?
Tiendas have supplies, and the internet and power have been very stable since a few weeks of instability in April. It is actually a very good place to be for a quarantine, outside of those negatives I’ve pointed out (the friction with the church and the authoritarian nature of the culture). The weather is 80 every day and sunny, with rain often starting at 4-5 pm. going off and on for the night. Natural environment, fresh food, open space. I’m very grateful for all of the positive aspects, and I sometimes fall into a comfort zone in them, only to have those frictions to show up! In some way, that can be life for everyone of course. But it also raises something important. My whole going to Ecuador was in putting relationships first. I would prefer to be where I am called - where relationship with God and others calls me - than in a place with geographic beauty or health. So, though I take the comforts here, I’m not getting too comfortable with them!
That said, here are some more details about here in the campo:
This hummingbird comes everyday:
A beautiful dragonfly
A social distancing horse
Why??? :)
A covid-safe fist bump. That’s a watuso paw.
Making frozen Popsicles - these are chocolate, made from cacao grown by folks up the mountain:
4-year-old Matias posing with the wood smoked pork ribs.
Mass at the house
Beautiful views of the cloud-forest effect here in Chontal:
Beautiful views from the 3rd floor of the house, overlooking the main stadium and the church:
In cities like Quito, there are more problems. With rent and a money-based economy (as opposed to more produce-based in the rural areas), and with tight quarters, the quarantine is very difficult. In fact, the people in the campo are less willing to open up because they believe the city folk are going to come pouring in and bring the virus with them! But Quito is struggling economically, and that is moving it to open up even though many are afraid of its readiness health-wise. There have been protests in Quito about opening and the overall policies of the government. Larger scale protests were recently planned, but were eventually held off because of the covid threat. But they are brewing. Back in October, the country shut down in protest of the government’s deal with the IMF to restructure debt with ascetic policies like removing 30-year-old gasoline subsidies. The indigenous peoples successfully led the protest and got a new deal worked out that avoided the elimination of as subsidies, but it was a deal that kicked the can down the road on the problem. In May, during the quarantine, the government essentially lowered the minimum wage by 60%. Basically, Ecuador is in an economic crisis and in danger of defaulting on its debt payments, being saved by a recent postponement by creditors. The huge debt built up from the previous president - who did a lot of development - has tied up the present and the future of the country. They were paying that debt to China with oil, but the oil price dropped significantly 4 years ago, and has really bottomed out now. So, Ecuador can’t raise money with its oil (it’s largest natural resource), and since it doesn’t have its own currency (it’s been using the US dollar since an economic crisis in 2000), it can’t administer monetary policy (change the money supply) to boost the economy like, say, the US does. If your major natural resource belongs to China and your money belongs to the US, you’ve got nothing economically. (Which is why the present government has turned to the IMF for bailing out.) Throw in a global pandemic toppling much healthier economies into recession or depression, and you’re pretty much screwed. And this is leading to social unrest that is beginning. I am aware of this as I am planning to leave…
New guidelines for airport operations are being published. The airport in Quito will open June 1, primarily making connections nationally and with the US. European flights will begin in July. American, Spirit, and JetBlue will begin on June 1 in Quito. My flight in July is with American, so maybe they will have kinks - and any cancellations - worked out by then. Returning to Ecuador will be more complicated in the near future, as one might imagine. Not only would a quarantine be currently required in some cities, but all travelers entering the country will need a documented test of negative covid in order to be admitted. I suspect that they will push airlines to check international travelers with Ecuadorian destinations before they board at their departure locations. But I don’t know what they’d do with you if you did arrive without that documentation. Maybe test you and fine you - and leave you to pay for your quarantine stay if you’re positive?
Financial
I have about $350 in cash on me right now, that I use in drips for very small purchases (about $10 a week), so that I have a chunk of cash on hand, and I have a chunk for when I set out to travel. If need be, I can most likely get more. As I mentioned previously, I pay the house where I’m staying electronically, at a cost of about $8 for the month. The monthly cost for food, lodging and internet is $235. I typically wash my own clothes, and make supportive purchases every once in a while (desserts, detergents). B2B has about $1800 in cash (not including the $350 I have on hand), while I have over $2500 in my personal account, so my accounts are not near an emergency state. I have enough financial resources for over 15 months living sparingly in quarantine - though I may go crazy! :)
As someone self-employed who supports himself - and B2B - primarily by consulting work, I’ve also applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance in Massachusetts, as the consulting work I would typically be doing after the planned return in April (that would support me and B2B) has been essentially eliminated (and impossible to do while I’m here anyway). So, I may be receiving some support that I can use personally as well as in the reinvention of B2B.
Quarantine on Mother’s Day: The Meaning of 40
Here’s a reflection I shared on Facebook publicly on Mother’s Day. I hope you enjoy:
There were a few posts that went around in social media about the word "quarantine", the number 40 related to the Bible and the year 2020, and how the numbers and words all seemed to uncannily fit together. Some of it was coincidence and a bit of superstition, but I see some truth in it, especially thinking of mothers.
Ancients were closer to nature than we are in modern civilization, and so they were good at using natural phenomena to help understand social ones. The ancient Hebrew people used numbers as one of the tools to relate the natural to the social. And the number 40 shows up in many Biblical stories familiar to most everyone.
After 40 days floating in an ark through a flood, Noah and his family step out to a new life and a rainbow. After 40 days on Mt Sinai, Moses comes down with the tablets that mark a whole new life. After 40 years in the desert, the Israelites enter the promised land and the men are marked with a sign. After 40 days in the desert, Jesus came out with a new mission amidst the sign of baptism. And in the Christian tradition, after 40 days of Lent, folks come out to celebrate the resurrection amidst baptism.
Why 40? Because that's the number of weeks of human pregnancy. The 40 is the connecting sign that means Hebrew wisdom saw these times of pause in the ark, in the desert, on the mountain, etc. as *pregnancies*. In the pause, an old life is being left behind and a new life is growing and coming to birth, followed by a sign to dedicate it.
Which brings us to the quarantine. And mothers.
"Quarantine" - a pause in isolation - does come from the number 40 in biblical references, though the pregnancy meaning probably didn't carry over. But in that timeless, inspired wisdom, a quarantine really is a pregnancy.
I think that, in these times of the great pause, the quarantine, lockdown or whatever we choose to call it, it would be great to have the wisdom of people who have first-hand experience of being pregnant to guide us. We need people who can see all the very weird and uncomfortable social changes, and begin to relate them to the weird changes that happened in their own bodies during pregnancy. We need people who have experience noticing and nurturing - loving - the new life growing inside of them, to begin to help us all better notice and nurture forth the good "new normal" that's preparing to emerge. We need the wisdom of people who have lived through the intense suffering that comes at birthing time, to begin to draw on that experience to help us stay focused and not lose hope when the intense social pains come (!). We need people who will help us to continue to love and embrace the new life even if it's not the prettiest or easiest at first, because they've loved their newborns that way. And, we need people who can help us process the situation if the quarantine doesn't actually end up giving birth.
We need mothers!
Mothers, today is your day, and I wish you a great day of appreciation. Heck, 2020 is YOUR YEAR! :)
The whole of human society is pregnant.
Show us the way.
“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.”