Though this story is about running with pigs, i thought I'd add a sweet shot of a friendly Ecuadorian cow. Photo credit: Katie Swan
One thing I’ve come to expect during my time in Ecuador is the unexpected. Each Sunday we make a plan for our week with Pastor Ivan but it doesn’t always turn out like we planned. Sometimes plans change, sometimes there is a miscommunication.
For example, the first week we were told we were going to the river to swim and bathe, and then going to Nueva Esperanza (New Hope) for a church service. Great! The girls were excited to be clean and look feminine, so we all brought our skirts and nice top to wear to church. The miscommunication came in when we realized we were hiking to Nueva Esperanza, a 40-minute excursion straight up the side of a mountain. Oops! Miscommunication.
Today was different. We had a change of plans. Really, I should say I had a change of plans. Angela, the gal from church that cooks lunch for our group, came by the house as we were getting ready to go to the work site. She sat next to me on the bench and started telling me something about her pigs. Pigs are normal things to have here in the jungle; they act as a garbage disposal and provide extra income.
What I gathered from her frantic Spanish was that she needed someone to help her with her pregnant pig. I didn’t know if it was in labor or if it had just had it’s piglets but I knew she asked for my help. Of course I would help, that’s why I’m here right?
So, we take off down the road toward the worksite. I’m still quite confused at this point. There are pigs at the worksite, are those hers? How will I meet up with the rest of the group? How long will this take? Who knows, just go with it.
We made a stop at a neighbor’s house and I waited for about 10 minutes by the road. My team had also left for the worksite and had passed me at this point. Then, Angela reappeared with on of the largest pigs I have ever seen. Was this the pig she was talking about?
Now, Angela is about 5’3” and weighs about 120 lbs. She’s tiny. Imagine her attempting to control a giant pig that is attached only by a rope around its neck. I quickly realized why my help was needed. So we took off. Angela held the rope and walked along one side of the pig, I was on the other. A swift swat on the butt got the pig to trot along.
To give you an idea of how petite Angela is, here's a picture of her and her daughter (Estefani) cooking us some fish soup.
We did this for ¾ of a mile until we got to the worksite. Whew! That was interesting. Glad we made it! Just kidding. We only waved to my teammates as we trotted on by. Apparently the pigs at the worksite weren’t Angela’s. We were walking with this big chancho (pig) all the way to Angela’s farm (which I had no clue where it was).
By this point, the pig was ready to run. So that means we have to run too. My pulled quad from the last blog post is getting better- I almost have full range of motion back, but running in my rubber boots was not exactly in my recovery plan.
But there I was. Running in my rubber boots, down a road, in the middle of the jungle, in Ecuador, with a giant pig attached to a rope.
I started laughing. I mean, how funny is this?! Angela looked over at me with a big grin and said, “Buen ejercicio, no?” meaning “Good exercise, right?” Yeah…
PS, after run/walking behind this pig, I quickly realized it wasn’t a female if you know what I mean…
We passed La Floresta, the small community where we played soccer and did home visits, so I knew we were about 2 miles from our house. And we just kept running. Believe me, we got some funny looks. Gringos get funny looks regardless, so add a pig pulling a tiny Ecuadorian lady and you’ll get some heads turning!
Angela kept saying, “Ya llegamos, ya llegamos,” which means “We’ve arrived, we’ve arrived.” 10 more minutes of swatting the pig and trotting behind it, we finally did arrive at her farm (best estimate, 4 miles from home).
The pig swiftly lead Angela down the muddy hill to the pig pen where two other pigs were squealing away. She asked for my help in disassembling the boards so we could put our pig in with the others. I was surprised the pig wanted to be put in a pen, usually they want to get out of the pen.
And then it hit me.
Ooooooohhhhhhh. Now I know why Angela was talking about her pregnant pig. She doesn’t have a pregnant pig and she wants one. Thus why we were walking with a male pig… Got it.
We got the pig in the pen and boarded it back up. Great! Job well done! Now let’s go back to the work site and meet up with the rest of the team.
Not quite. Angela stepped up on the fence and started watching them. Really? We’re going to watch this? And we did. Because I know I have some younger readers, I’ll just say I learned some new Spanish words and had a real life lesson on the birds and the bees. The lesson lasted about 20 minutes. That’s right, we stood there and watched for 20 minutes. What was I to do? There was no where to go, nothing else to do…
When it was all said and done, we left the farm and started walking back to the work site. Although this change of plans was a little bit more than I bargained for, I started to wonder why God would have me have this experience. With the sun brightly shining above us and the sounds of the jungle in the background, we began to talk.
We talked about many things as we have done almost every day after lunch. I often sit in the kitchen with Angela and Nancy and chat about life, about being women. Angela referenced the message I gave at church from Matthew 7. She asked about the narrow gate and how sometimes life is very difficult and it’s easier to choose the wide gate.
Angela is 22 years old. She has a 4-year-old daughter, Estefani, and her husband works deep in the jungle for months at a time. Her great-grandfather, whom she lives with, owns the farm we went to. Her mother is no longer living. Her father’s not in the picture. Grandparents? Not quite sure. I think the only income she has is from her pigs and her cooking.
I couldn’t help but wonder what my life would look like if I was born and raised here.
Tenemos vidas diferentes, pero tenemos lo mismo Dios. We have different lives, but we have the same God. That’s what I told Angela. We referenced Scripture that assures us the things of this Earth are fleeting and our time here is but a wave tossed in the ocean. We reached the work site and she gave me a big hug, despite my sweatyness.
“Gracias hermana!” Thank you sister! she said with a smile. Then she was off to the house to start cooking us our lunch. I returned to the work site feeling content with the divine appointment God had orchestrated for the day. Thank you God.
This is life in Ecuador. Unexpected. Ever-changing. And relationships mean everything.
