Schtunking

SCHTUNKING is a Yiddish term that I just learned from Glenda, a fellow volunteer! It is pronounced by puckering one's lips as though you are about to kiss a chimpanzee! Also, it is loosely defined as the fine art of doing exactly what you want to do when you want to do it....or doing absolutely nothing at all!
This concept is anathema to most Americans who are usually trying to cram 15 activities into a given time slot. I plan to become an expert.

Okay, it' s early in the morning. I had a lukewarm shower followed by day old coffee. If I have to see another plate of rice and potatoes, I might stage a revolt. I feel the "ugly American" oozing through my pores. We are definitely a spoiled lot.

Anyway, I'm driven to post my perception of the children's center as seen through my American prism. First of all, I've been sick with some unknown malady which has stolen my appetite, made me achy, and stripped me the rosy glow of working with the kids. I still love them, respect them, just wish I could do more.

The irony is that this group of volunteers is very talented...3 nurses, preschool teachers, artists, musicians. They don't want our expertise; they don't want these Americans telling them the better way to do things.

Children at the center are expected to sit patiently as the tias organize their art activities, ETC.
In my life I've never seen children so well behaved. It's cultural to be able to sit and wait. American children would be jumping out of the window. The children of Ecuador are expert schtunkers! American children are rushed, over stimulated.

I don't know what the answer is. The children eat home cooked food; no processed food. And, they must eat it all. Food is not to be wasted.

On the flip side, the Ecuadorean kids are expected to adhere to the institutional schedule of the center. Center schedule trumps sleepy child. Food is rather shoveled into their mouths, but this seems to be the way of the culture.

Tias wash bibs on a scrub board outside. There are no microwaves, washing machines, copy machines. To my American experience, it seems like they do things the hard way. Yet, they are extremely industrious. Whereas Americans look for the easy way out; Ecuadoreans take the simple approach. Appliances break! Good for them.

I just need to accept their ways as legitimate even though they are quite different from my own.

Ecuadoreans schtunk...Americans (according to Samuel Coleridge) hear time's winged chariot always at their backs. Each culture has much to learn from the other!

Hasta Manana