My School's Christmas Program

In Ecuador this past year, December 23rd was reserved for school Christmas programs.  Students and their families flooded into the schools to participate in the fun.  At my small school, 
U.E. Agustín Cueva Dávila, the Christmas program 
was a whole-school event. 

To decorate, students were asked to make ornaments or donate some 
from their homes to add to a community Christmas Tree.

The program started with a grand procession by all the students representing their different classes. 

Ecuadorians love living history reenactments so the Juniors and Seniors paraded in 
and formed a living crèche overlooking the festivities.

The pre-school kids had the Little Drummer Boy leading their procession. 

Then they sang a few songs while the teachers sprayed foam, or "fake snow" to add to the
spirit of the season.  When you live at the Equator, snow mostly comes in a bottle! 

Other classes sang Christmas Carols, or performed choreographed routines to Christmas music.  It's normal for some crafty parent to contract or make all the costumes while each child pays their share. 

The staff joined in the fun with a musical number of their own.  

I missed rehearsal so I wasn't able to participate.

The 6th and 7th graders had been practicing a traditional dance for weeks, 

and they performed it beautifully.

Here they are posing for pictures with their dance instructor. 

Even the Parent's Association danced a famous jig called "Los Viejitos", or The Old Ones.

After all the performances, the students lined up by class and the new 

student government representatives passed out gelatin and candy for all to enjoy.

"Señora" and "Señorita Navidad" of Ibarra also came to the party to hand out bags of candy
to all the younger students.  The kids were in complete awe to have them at our school.  

Beauty contest winners are very famous here.

And finally, as in all Ecuadorian parties, the festivities ended with a dance party.  

Books were given to the winners.

And then we were free.  Eight days of vacation from school.  

And lots of holiday adventures for me to come!

School Events at Agustín Cueva Dávila

For my service this school year, I've been fortunate enough to spend two days at my first assigned school, U.E. Teodoro Gómez de la Torre (TGT), and three days at my second and much smaller school, U.E. Agustín Cueva Dávila (ACD).  Since the Ministry of Education sets a calendar for all schools to celebrate the same important days each year, I'm seeing many of the same types of events this year as I witnessed and wrote about last year.  However this year, for many of these events, I have made it a point to be at my new smaller school.  It's been fun to watch how they interpret the events differently.  
Here is a summary of key events that have happened this fall at U.E. Agustín Cueva Dávila. 

On September 26th, every school celebrates Flag Day with a lot of pomp and circumstance.  This is an especially important day for the Seniors around the country, because on this day they each make a promise to their flag to honor their country of Ecuador.  Also, on this day, the Valedictorian, or the Abanderado, of each school in announced, as this student has the honor of holding the Ecuadorian flag.  This student is the Abanderado for the entire year.  Those students who have grade point averages just below the Abanderado make up the court of flag bearers.  At TGT, over 350 seniors took this oath last year.  At ACD, there are only 8 Seniors, so the ceremony was much shorter!  

To kick things off, the entire body of students from the high school marched 

in formation and sang anthems for Ecuador and the City of Ibarra.
They had been practicing this for many days.
Their green sweaters and dark blue jeans are their school uniforms. 

And then the Seniors entered to the applause of parents, School and District Administrators,
as well as authorities from the city government and active military officers
who were overseeing the public commitment of these students. 

Delia was named as the new Abanderada of ACD, the smartest student in the school.  In this culture, they honor the parents of these high-achieving students as well, and her mom was tasked with tying on her special sash.  A representative of the military presented her with a flag. 

Then, she held the flag for each of her classmates to give their promise to Ecuador.

It was a proud moment for them all. 

During the months of October and November, students from 7th-12th grade formed groups and campaigned to be the next Student Government Advisory Board for all school issues.  For two weeks, students were given some hours out of classes to listen to debates between each of the groups and enjoy the campaigns (which means dance or foam parties in the courtyard).  Ecuadorians take their participation in their government very seriously.  (Remember the National Paro?  If not, see my Blog post from October 2019).  Voting is also mandatory in all elections.  What better way to teach the youth of this country about their citizenship and responsibility, but to hold very serious elections at each of the schools?  In addition to the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary and the Treasurer, students were elected into advisory positions encompassing Healthy Habits and Environment, Creating a Culture of Harmony and Peace, Inclusion for All, Prevention of Violence and Psychological Problems, Developing Life Skills, and the Integration of Sexual Education. 

To certify the winners of the election, a special ceremony was held in November.  The students took an oath in front of parents, teachers, administrators and government officials, who in turn signed the official papers.  This is a far cry from my very short experience with Student Government 
when I ran for President of my 8th grade class under the slogan, "What the Heck, Vote for Beck!"  
I didn't win. 

Again, parents are also honored in these ceremonies.
Here is Juan José's mom tying on his official sash. 

The leaders of the new student government: Delia, Juan José, Adely and Luisa. 
Delia, our Abanderada, is also our new Class President. 

In addition to special ceremonies, certain days are designated for emergency simulations 

or drills.  Since all buildings are made out of stone or concrete, fire drills are not necessary.  

Instead, students are taught to evacuate their classroom during an earthquake, 

and immediately form circles to take attendance and start an organized game. 

Other students are trained by the local Red Cross to administer first aid as needed.
During these drills they have to convince their friends to be victims
so they can practice their skills.

During other weeks, the Ministry's calendar requires all schools to integrate a theme into the curriculum.  Administrators and teachers get to decide how that will happen in their particular school.  For example, in November, a week was dedicated to learning about people with physical challenges.  The teachers at ACD decided to hold a variety of short events throughout the week.  On Tuesday, all high-school students watched two short films with characters who had physical challenges.  They compared and discussed their experiences and that of these characters.   

On Wednesday and Thursday, citizens who are blind, deaf, or unable to walk were invited to speak about their experiences at an all-school assembly.  The man who was deaf, and spoke in sign language, captivated the students as they hung on his every translated word. 

On Friday, the teachers tasked each class to create a game that forced students to 

"walk in the shoes of another" by simulating a variety of physical challenges. 

For example, if you didn't have the use of your hands, how would you eat an apple
or paint?

If you didn't have the use of your legs, how would it feel to need the help of your friends?

If your eyesight was compromised, how could you play soccer, or other games?

I was really touched by the empathy and inclusiveness my students showed for others. 

Finally, as we are coming upon Christmas, there have been many different programs 

to honor the traditions of this holiday.  First, most every classroom has made some effort 

to decorate or create a belén, or crèche.

Our music teacher (with the accordion) has also been hard at work parading students 

all over town to various schools and bandstands for Christmas programs.  

If you can believe it, this is the concert stage in the food court of the bus station 

- and it's a very popular venue.  

Our school can't afford any instruments, but the student's voices are lovely.  

Making Humitas; a Recipe and a Family Tradition

Over the past few months, we've joined Jose's parents, Victor and Josefina, a few times to help them with their corn harvest.  Well, to be more precise, they mostly pick and we mostly eat.  Corn grows year round here and in late October the first ears were ready to harvest again.  So, we headed out in the field and got a lesson from 

Victor on how to pick only the ripest ears of his yellow corn. 

Margarita and I helping with the harvest.

Then we headed back to their farm with bags full of corn.

After picking about 75 ears, we shucked and boiled them in a big pot.  Now, I'm from corn-country, and I like corn-on-the-cob as much as anyone, but when Ecuadorians boil a pot of "choclo" as they call it, they expect to eat!  Little Pablo ate 11 ears!  Choclo is smaller and has a little bit different texture than US sweet-corn, but served with salt, 

a block of Queso Freso cheese or a spicy ahí sauce, the ears do seem to go down quickly.  

After several weeks of harvesting small batches of his corn to eat and gift to family, 

Victor announced that the corn still in the field was at a perfect state for making humitas.  

So, we headed over to their house again for an Humita Party! 

Humitas, or corn cakes, are a favorite staple of the Ecuadorian diet.  They are eaten for breakfast sautéed in a little oil, or steamed in the late afternoon/ early evening to nosh with a café.  Small little restaurants abound- often assembled in people's front walkway 

or garage- ready to serve humitas to anyone passing by.  

People swear by specific recipes and their deliciousness!

After a lot of discussion and tasting on the part of Margarita and Faby, 

we ended up (more or less) with the following procedure and recipe:

Recipe:  Homemade Humitas

Step 1:  Pick bags of choclo by hand fresh from the field

Step 2:  One person shucks and saves the clean inner-leaves for the wrap

Step 3:  Four other people de-kernel by hand for almost two hours

Margarita, Faby and Jose's sister Veronica help Victor and Josefina with the corn.

Step 4:  Two adults and two children wash and grind the kernels in a traditional molino, or mill.

Alex and Pablo are helping with the molino.

I expected the ground corn kernels to make more of a dry corn meal,
but what came out was a very wet mush. 

Step 5:  To this mush, add:
24 eggs
1/3 of a small can of baking powder
2 cups melted butter
1 cup sugar
*1 super giant wooden spoonful of salt

*Before adding the salt, you can reserve some of the mush to make sweet humitas.  Simply add more sugar and a bag of anis seeds.

Step 6:  Stir all ingredients together with your hands.

Faby is demonstrating how to mix it all together with your hand.

Step 7:  If you don't have a big enough stove, or you are making a lot of humitas, start a fire
in the kitchen for a second pot to steam.

Wilo is starting the fire.

Step 8:  Gather a lot of volunteers around the pot of mush.  Drop two spoonfuls of corn mush into a clean corn husk and wrap up like a packet. 

Margarita, Josefina, Faby and Alex are showing me how it's done.

Step 9:  After you have many packets made and the fire is ready, layer the husk packets in a giant pot to steam.  Use a pot with metal shelves to space out the layers, or use more husks to create layers between the humitas.

Step 10:  Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and steam for 30-35 minutes on a stove or over an open fire.

Step 11:  The humitas are finished when the mush has formed a cake inside the husk.

Step 12:  Enjoy your humitas with coffee and Queso Freso Cheese.


This recipe makes more than 100 humitas...
                                                           which is just right for a family to eat and share!