A Storm's A-Brewin'

Some things have started in motion that could potentially change the way I live and teach down here in Ecuador. I've been teaching at the University of Cuenca since I got down here in September and have been on a volunteer stipend the entire time. This has been fine, except for the fact that I, and the other volunteers at the university, haven't been paid in the last two months. And we're coming up on the third.

Every time we ask what's going on we're told there's something else we need to do. There's some other paper that needs to be photocopied and sent to a different director. Or, they're simply working on it. But that's not good enough. By our own American standards, working for two months without any pay is an outrage. If it happened in the United States, people would have striked or quit long ago. But we're in a foreign country and we have to realize that things work differently down here. When trying to understand why teachers here didn't strike when they weren't paid, I had to imagine that they could come from a place where strikes bring fear. It could get you fired, beaten, or imprisoned. After all, that used to happen in the United States too with the Pinkertons.

But we've been trying to get our money and have been demonstrating patience, but it has finally run out. After talking with my director from my program, we were told that if we aren't paid by Friday to not show up for work on Monday, essentially striking. It turns out the university is in breach of our contract, because it has been written that if we don't get paid after 2 months we don't have to show up for work. And never mind the fact that they were paying us $20 short every month.

I have no problem with not showing up for work if I'm not going to be getting paid for it. I've been extremely patient. I even continue to go to meetings every Monday even though they are pointless. We have to sign in, and if you don't they take away $10 from your pay, but from what pay? They don't pay me to begin with. But still I go.

And what makes the situation even stickier is how it is playing out with the department. My director in Quito was talking to my director at the university, and instead of trying to be accommodating and understanding, the director at the university was saying that we would be in breach of the contract if we didn't show up. Even though they are the ones breaking it to begin with. As I've said time and again, this is just part of living in a different country and culture. It's not something that you can control. Yet it's extremely frustrating. How are people supposed to live if they can't even be sure of getting their fare pay?

I'll continue to check the bank account and hopefully we'll be paid before Friday, because I'm not really sure what the next step would be after Monday if we need to stop going to work. I'd feel badly for the students too, because they are caught in the middle unfairly. The countdown is on, the ultimatum has been given, and now we need to sit and wait it out.

More Football and Strike Action

I was pretty sick all weekend, so all I had to look forward to was watching the NFL Championship games on Sunday. I was pretty disappointed to find that ESPN International wasn't showing the NFC Championship game. Instead, a soccer game was being shown. Luckily, however, the AFC Championship game was shown later that night. It was nice to watch the game, and since I'd known who had won the NFC game, it made it interesting to know that this last game would determine the Superbowl. I still find it funny that the Spanish commentators say "touchdown" like they would yell "goooooooool." I had nothing invested in either team, but it was fun to watch.

And now back to the strike news. The heavily anticipated indigenous strike against the new mining law that is set to start at midnight will undoubtedly affect how we are able to get to our conference on the coast. Getting to the coast from the mountains is a hassle as it is, without added problems from road blocks and picket lines. Under no circumstances are we to cross a road block. It could be a really bad situation, because apparently we have to go to the conference no matter what, even if the roads are completely sealed off. Since there are only a few roads in and out of Cuenca, our options are pretty limited.

It's an interesting situation, because we are told that we must find a way to the conference. However, we are also forbidden from crossing any road blocks, and if we feel unsafe we are instructed to return home. So we find ourselves in a catch 22. There's even talk of classes being canceled tomorrow because some of the students won't be able to make it into the city from the surrounding areas. That would in turn create more problems for me because I'm already missing classes from Wednesday to Friday. And this is all towards the end of the semester. Things are about to get pretty interesting here.

So Many Strikes, So Little Time

There have been a lot of strikes and protests lately. I get email updates from the U.S. Department of State to warn about any potential danger, and in the last week I've received at least 5 different emails warning about potential trouble. The majority of the protests and rallies have been aimed against the Israeli Embassy in Quito, and the planned rallies usually are scheduled to move towards the American Embassy after they harass the Israeli's for a while.

There is another reason for protests as of late as well, however. Recently a new mining law was approved, and it has caused outrage in the indigenous community, who feels that the mining will destroy the land on which they live. President Correa has 10 days to ratify the new law, and the protesters are hoping to get his attention in time to nullify the law. As a result, many roads, specifically on the way from Guayaquil to Cuenca, have been blocked by protesters. Some bus companies have suspended service, and already 1 police officer and two journalists have been kidnapped.

Today was a big day in Quito, as President Correa gave his State of the Union address, a protest against Israel and subsequently the United States was to be held, students protested lack of funding for education, and the indigenous once again protested the new mining law. The alert from the State Department today essentially gave a schedule of places and times not to be near the action, leaving you to wonder if you would have to actually stay in your house the whole day to avoid trouble. Now, I live in Cuenca, far from Quito, so I can't say with confidence what happened up there. But I know how it is affecting me down here, 10 hours away.

I, as well as the other volunteers in my group, are supposed to go to a Mid-service conference on the coast next week. Staying at a hotel a little south of Puerto Lopez, some of us who live farther away were planning on leaving on Wednesday to get there nice and ready on Thursday for the conference. Getting to the coast is kind of a hassle, and as a result some of us were looking into taking a private bus, which would be safer and more convenient, yet more expensive. After vacillation over whether nor not to take the bus, we now seem left with little options because of a new, scheduled strike.

On Tuesday no buses will operate and all major roads will be closed. I don't know if it is true for the entire country, but it is for the surrounding areas near Cuenca and Guayaquil. This poses trouble, mainly because it is an indefinite strike, meaning it starts Tuesday, but could last for a while. Ultimately, getting to the coast could be harder than originally thought. The expensive bus might be our only choice, that is if we can still take it. You don't want to cross a picket line here, especially if you're a group of gringos. It just shouts out trouble.

So for now we have to figure out what we will do. If the strikes are an indication of anything, it's that things are far from over. And whether or not you could call it instability, at least they're giving us a heads up. This is just part of the process of living in a developing country.