Adam Ericksen's Ecuador: Week 11 - The Children and The Soccer

On the road to San Mateo - about 15 minutes east of Aire Libre

Dearest Family and Friends

Happy November! I hope this letter finds you all in good spirits from a successful and relaxing weekend. My past week was pretty good. If I had to describe it, perhaps 2 notches beyond great and 1 behind fantastic. My Spanish is coming along and I am feeling much happier being able to be utilized as a person. I am also making better friends with my companion and with some of the jovenes out here in Aire Libre. In other news, I don’t know if I’ll ever grow fond of them, but I am getting used to bucket baths! That being said…mom, dad, if I come home and starting filling up pitchers of water for my showers please do remind me how the shower handle works. How are you all? How is the U.S. of A.?

What I really wanted to do with this letter was revert back to my system of describing life here in categories and I have 2 good ones picked out for you this week: the children and the soccer.

The Children: For a little bit of context concerning me, I’ve been around children my whole life as the oldest of 5 siblings. Often, with the raising of Nathan, I would lend a hand to my mom and, to be honest, I didn’t mind. I like children and I really, really love being an older brother. One of the things that I struggled with most while leaving for my mission is that I felt like I was leaving behind my role in my family and I was going to be expected to take up some other kind of responsibility in a different, more mature setting when I return 2 years older. But I’m realizing that I don’t have to stop being an older brother just because I’m not in my family’s immediate presence. I’ve found much solace through letters, supportive advice and humble prayers. I’ve also realized that my role as a big brother can continue in different facets down here in Ecuador. I’ve become this for some kids and I love it. Most of the kids go to school until about 11:30 in the day, which is pretty early compared to the States. The effect of this is that they all roam and gather in the streets with poletas and chupetes and nothing really to do. They love to chatter (and sometimes pester) with anyone passing by, especially me, “hermanito”, el gringo. But it’s all fun and really good for Spanish practice. The kids in church are also so kind and friendly to me and it helps me feel more at home. There’s this one little girl that loves to follow me around, tries to hold my hand always, and even comes to knock on doors with us at times. She’s about 7-years old. All the children are great.

The Soccer: Soccer is so much fun! Whenever there’s a big game on TV, everyone stops what they are doing, wheels out huge speakers and congregates in the street to watch. Every single front door is open, and every single person is present. As missionaries we are supposed to forego the things of the world to focus on the nature of our calling, including TV but its physically impossible to not follow the scores of the games here because whenever there is a goal there always follows a great deafening roar, rumble and cheer emanating throughout the city. Even all the passing taxis (the only people still working) honk their horns! The vibe and excitement of it all is so different and delightful, I love it! There’s two main teams here: Emelec and Barcelona (not Spain). The coast swings more Barcelona so, for the moment, so do I. I wish you all the best and hope you all enjoy a great week.

Elder Ericksen

Other tidbits this week:

Emelec and Barcelona are football clubs out of Guayaquil…Barcelona has the higher win percentage.
Packages seem to be taking a bit longer than expected to arrive. Lisa, grandma and others sent packages weeks before Adam arrived in country and they still haven’t made it. Adam is dying to receive a package.
The lady who washes Adam’s shirts uses a lot of bleach - the smell it reminds him of Marriott bedsheets and overnight trips with his grandparents.
Letters from home are keeping Adam grounded. He expressed concern in a couple of letters this week about losing himself in the work so much that he “loses” his personality. Special thanks to Mitch, Mikayla and all his friends for writing.
During a particularly spiritual prayer this week, Adam heard/felt a huge rush of moving air behind him followed by an enormous cockroach that landed on his arm. He “silently flipped out” and swatted it off mid-prayer, trying hard not to detract from the moment. It was super gross, more than 3 inches long. He and his companion had quite the laugh once they got out into the street.
If you thought the US was bad about early Christmas, the stores in Esmeraldas have had decorations up and sales going on for the past 2 weeks.
No one can pronounce Ericksen so they call him “Hermanito”
Today the guys hired a guide (complete with machete) and went to a place called “Tropical Jardin de Libertad (est. 1985)” in San Mateo about 15 minutes drive from our area. The jardin place was supposed to be a zoo but it turns out the zoo part was shut down a little while ago so it was really just jungle. There were lots of empty cages, “it was a little weird, I’m not going to lie. They had like plants in beakers and fish in the containers, lots of snakes in jars and other things I couldn’t tell what they were. I’m happy to be alive haha. PS – did you see machete guide person?”
Adam has really fallen in love with the coastal cuisine. He gave Nick a homework assignment this week to research and send him details on the following foods so he knows what’s liking so much. The one bad food in the area: cheese. The good:

Avena polaca - Polish oats – oatmeal, water, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, milk to taste
Patacones – fried green plantains
Marisco – shellfish in general, shrimp, crabs, mussels, squid, octopus, etc prepared many different ways but basically seafood stew
Tomate de arbol – real name is tamarillo, a fruit that grows on trees usually blended with chilis and spices in sauces; bigger and more seeds than regular tomatoes
Encocado de pescado – fish cooked in a coconut sauce; unique to the Ecuador coast
Pan de chocolate – chocolate Danish (I’m surprised he doesn’t recognize this from here, he must have had before)
Leche aguacate – avocado smoothie
Pan de manjar – bread with caramel; looks to be Nicaragua’s version of dulce de leech
Jugo de maracuya – passion fruit juice