M.J. on my B-day

Update time!

So let me fill y'all in on what's been going on in my life these past few days (or has it been weeks?). I'll start with my last week in Cangahua and give you all the highlights up to my birthday for the sake of organization.

First off, I won the VAC election! I think that the rice crispy treats I made as a bribe is what really did it thought.

As for the last week in Cangahua, to show their/our appreciation, the PC threw all our host families a picnic on the last Friday we were in the Cayambe area. Some of the girls volunteered to do a traditional dance, then there was a group who played a native song, and then, most importantly, we ate! Every community was responsible for bringing a dish and the PC provided 2 pigs. Notice I said pig, not pork. That's because they didn't bother to de-head/de-leg/de-anything these pigs. However unappealing, it was actually the best pig meat I've ever had! But I digress... So my community brought deviled eggs, 200 deviled eggs to be exact. My kitchen smelled the entire weekend. And sadly enough, only the Americans ate them; my guess is that the Ecuadorians were scared by the literally-translated name, huevos de diablo. Regardless, The Family Appreciation Day was a major success, evidenced by my host mom crying, saying, and I quote: "voy a extranarte, come todos" (I'll miss you, you eat everything). Not quite sure how to take that, but it seems like a compliment...

So then the next day we all packed up and went to Quito for the last days before swearing in. It basically involved a bunch of paperwork, coffee breaks, and different (fun) drinks every night. Then came swearing in. It was a pretty cool ceremony, hosted by the ambassador, at her fabulous house... I mean mansion. We all took the oath, signed the paper and ate bagels with salmon? cream cheese (actually delicious).

After the ceremony, we were all whisked away by the PC to our respective sites. So here I am.

Then came my birthday. I woke up, read my cards (tell g-ma I got her's please), and then William came into town, and to make a long story short we hung out pretty much all day long. Highlights included: a great mixed CD, michaladas/wine, guacamole and taking a picture with Michael Jackson himself, live, in-person, no joke.

Then on Monday, yesterday, I kinda began my job. The university is still on vacation so I'm going to the Minesterio de Inclusion Economico Social (MIES for short, and I refuse to translate cognates for y'all) this week. However, today the lady didn't show up, in true Ecuadorian fashion. Off to see William instead!

And now you know the rest of the story!

OH!!! My address changed. Please spread the word. Now its:

Jason Holliday

Casilla 06-01-692

Riobamba, Chimborazo

Ecuador, South America

Planet Earth

(maybe you can leave the last part off)

I also put some more pics on flikr. They are in no order whatsoever, but check them out anyway!

Bones, Boiling water and camera Banging!

Overall I´ve been having a great time since my last post. To start things off, I dropped my camera, which I previously thought was broken and viola, it started working again! Okay, maybe I didn't drop it, but smacked it on the floor out of anger. Either way, I have a camera again!

We finally got back from our tech trip to Riobamba, and we have been so balls-to-the-walls busy that I really haven´t had time to update! Highlights from the trip included seeing the oldest church in Ecuador and going to creepy catatombs (not catacombs). We took really hot showers, and ate in restaurants so nice they cost up to $6 a meal. Also, I met up and had a wonderful time with X (name obscured to protect the innocent), and my heart is still aflutter! So yes, good ole times in Riobamba!

The Saturday after we returned Joy and I went on an adventure with my host brother. We rode in the back of a truck for around and hour WAY up into the Andes (pics coming soon); it was so far up that on my map of Ecuador we crossed two altitude lines, landing somewhere above 4000 meters. He took us to these really nice hot springs called Oyacachi, which can only be described as magical. The water was quite hot and the pools were extremely clean. Also, unlike the rest of the Andes, this part was super-lush; I kinda felt like I was in a jungle. Needless to say, it was exactly what we needed after a long week of travel and work.

When Joy and I got home from that we decided to cook a traditional American dinner for my host mom. The menu was meatloaf with cole slaw and potato salad. Unfortunately when we returned from the store, we discovered that my lady´s oven is purely decorative… So in the spirit of improvision I made meat loaf patties, which were a bit hit (she´ll never know the difference regardless)! We also sent plates of to Joy´s family and the neighbors, who all seemed to like it. It really made me realize how much I miss cooking!

I'm a little nervous because tomorrow we´re having elections for the Volunteer Advisory Committee (VAC). Basically one representative from each program in each ómnibus picks a volunteer to represent them in tri-annual meetings, akin to student council. If you didn't figure it out, I´m running and want to win. I'm expecting prayers from all y'all ;)

Speaking of nerves, we move out of Cangahua this weekend, and swear-in early next week… eek! I cant believe that training is so close to being over!