Flexible

Flexible. Be flexible. That is what I am learning and re-learning and boy is it a hard lesson for me. I am one of those people who loves schedules, makes to-do lists, always carries my planner, and lives hour by hour. I like to make the most of my time and be as efficient as possible. Ecuador is not made for planners. It is go with the flow, be open to change, don’t count on things to happen as anticipated and be ready for anything. Today was one of those days where this lesson was huge.

We met in the lobby at 5:20am to leave for a small rural community 3 hours away. The coffee at the bus terminal should have been called sugar with coffee on top—rough start to the morning. Our supposed 3 hour ride was prolonged due to a 30 minute delay because the mountain road went down to one lane for construction. Once in the community we met our ascesores (local entrepreneur) and his niece. Our first task was to pin down the campaign (for selling eye glasses and other products) location and date. The campaign was supposed to be Saturday morning and the interns would then have the afternoon and Sunday off. However, when we were there it was decided that Sunday would be more effective selling in the church where the community gathers. Our free day has now changed which changes our tentative plans to travel an hour away, spend the night and trek and canopy (zipline) in the mountains the following day. Hopefully we can figure something else out. We then spent 2 hours walking all over the small community handing out fliers and spreading the word about the upcoming campaign on Sunday. I did a lot of smiling and handing out fliers while the impressive 13-year-old niece did the bulk of the talking. We were surprised when we had a man interested in buying a solar lamp and we actually were able to make the sale. He then led us to the school where he teaches and we went into the classrooms. The kids were fascinated by us and we told them our names, information about the campaign, and gave them fliers for their parents. Brilliant PR as we talked to over 75 kids in 30 minutes in a community that spreads the mountainside. We then aided as two BYU students interviewed our first customer about his experiences for the documentary these students are working on making about the MicroConsignment Model.

The interns recollected and were then asked to wait for 2 hours while the BYU students conducted interviews. We were initially told we would be back in Cuenca for lunch at 2:30 and have the afternoon off. Instead we didn’t leave this community until 2:30. We all piled into the back of a small pick-up truck, 11 people in the covered backseat and bumped down the mountain path. It was an unforgettable journey of physical discomfort filled with screams, laughter, and broken conversation and story-telling. We passed multiple cows, donkeys, indigenous peoples, waterfalls, streams, and dogs on the way. It was an unreal bonding experience. When we were finally able to straighten our legs upon arriving in the location where we were catching the bus, we found out the next bus did not arrive for another hour. We enjoyed some local coffee at a small restaurant which we single handedly gave more business than it has probably seen in a month. Our asesores made some calls and had us picked up for a quicker departure by none other than a cattle truck. All fifteen of us crawled in through the small door on the side and claimed our seat in this truck that looked like a combination between an army vehicle and a chicken transportation device. We spent the next two memorable hours standing in the back of this truck holding onto the poles for stabilization as we unsuccessfully dodge potholes traveling down the Andes mountains. The sights were breathtaking with a 30 minute window in which the towering mountains naturally led the eye to a sunlit green valley with golden laced clouds as the backdrop. Indescribable. We played sweet and sour with every single person we passed for two hours whether it was local children wandering, men chopping trees, women shepherding, or cars passing us. It was totally amusing and thoroughly entertaining for this easy to please bunch. I truly felt like an illegal immigrant crammed into the back of a vehicle, traveling through unchartered territory. What a crazy experience that I will never be able to forget. Only in Ecuador.

We returned at 6pm, famished, dirty, but shell shocked by the epic adventure we had just undergone. We rallied for a delicious meal and ice cream before heading back to the hostel to prepare for tomorrow’s consultations and just rest. This day was so far from ordinary I do not even know how to put it into words. I am still processing all that occurred. However, I do know that being flexible was a necessity and keeping a positive attitude about everything was key. I am learning to rely less on our “schedule” and see it more as a rough outline of what could happen. I hope I can keep this mind set and grow from this challenge.

Man. Picture me, in the back of a truck with 10 other gringos all waving our hands at once shouting “hola” and hoping for some sort of response from the woman waddling through the dirt path in the mountains with her huge wooden staff, three cows, and two dirty dogs. Toto, this is not Kansas anymore.

Hasta luego,

Cate