December Dreamin'

I'll be leaving this time next Sunday for 5 weeks--away from Quito, away from the faces and language and culture I've come to love, away from the girls who are learning that they can dare to dream dreams above and beyond what seems real.

We watched the movie "Rapunzel" with the Nuestro Jovenes girls.  There is a connection...Rapunzel was taken and held captive for a long time.  She wasn't abused but she was lied to about who she was (a princess) and about what she could be and experience in her life.  She could have caved in and believed the lies, but she didn't.  She broke out of captivity and went searching for her dream with a happy ending!  Many of the girls just dream of getting out of prison or the safe home, back with their families or "boyfriends".  That will happen, but then what?  What's the dream after that?  One by one, they risked sharing..."I want to design and sell clothes...I want to be business woman, a lawyer...I want to be a vet because I love animals...a choreographer and gymnist...I want to play a saxaphone...to travel...be a wife and mom..."  They are learning to dream, and it makes them come alive.

Happy talk, keep talkin' happy talk!  Talk about things you like to do! 

 You've got to have a dream!  If you don't have a dream,

 how you gonna have a dream come true...(song from South Pacific musical)

  

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill 

of things unknown but longed for still 

and his tune is heard  on the distant hill 

for the caged bird sings of freedom. 

  

    We will be moving soon!  Our museum home that we've grown so fond of will have a family member moving in on December 20.  We have a few leads on places, one of which is downtown Quito--more like a hotel feel which comes complete with housekeeping!  Nowhere will we have the spaciousness that we've had here!  We'll be relearning neighborhoods and bus routes, but that's just more adventure to come!

Saturday Jorge and Sabrina drove us to Otavalo market about a 2-hour drive from here.  Jorge was a once-upon-a-time  race car driver, and the experience with him driving felt exactly like we were on the race track!!   Sabrina's sister and family, husband Sebas and adorable children Elias & Paz (Peace:) drove in another car...Jorge & Sebas raced the whole way!  Talk about adrenaline on those narrow, winding, under-construction mountain roads!

We went to two different markets:  One was for the sale of animals--cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, guinea pigs, on leashes, in cages or baskets and crowds of people--the sounds and smells and sights overloaded the senses.  The other was more touristy!  Oh, how I loved both of them!  The photos here will have to tell the story best!

Otavalo Mercado

Tere, Elias & Paz with bunnies

Yes, we sampled these crunchy insects!

Beautiful Ecuadorianos!

National Geographic photographer I am!

Our beloved Jorge & Sabri!

Oh, Ecuador, this 5-week separation will be bittersweet!  Montana at Christmas will be rich family time as always, a refuge to be savored every time I'm there.  Ecuador is growing me in brand new ways, painful at times, but profoundly deep and purposeful.  The journey is truly the destination, and it is so very joyful!