These last few days have been pretty wild! On the upside, I've gotten to experience, up close and personal, a side of Ecuadorian culture not readily available to tourists.
It all started Wednesday morning at 3:50am, when my host mom and her daughter woke me up in a panic. Her mom had been sick since I've been here, and apparently that night she had taken a turn for the worse. So its really early in the morning, I'm disoriented, and they're both crying and asking me if I could give her mom an injection. In Ecuador, you don't need a prescription to buy a needle or IV medication, so she wanted me to go with her to her mom's house to put some random stuff in her vein. Like I said, it was early, I wasn't thinking clearly, so I panicked and agreed.
Bad idea, right?
We walked together to the house, where she led me to the room where her mother is laying, and sent her brother off to buy the supplies at a 24 hour pharmacy. I don't know if words could describe this scene... The room was really dark, only lit by those cylindrical religious candles, all with different saints on them. It also looked like the family had gathered every Catholic icon they could find to adorn the room: tons of Virgin Mary and saint statues, pictures of the Pope, a poster of The Last Supper, Bibles, a mug with 'Our Father' written on it, anything you can imagine. The mom, this little old lady, was hunched-up on the bed, completely covered with blankets so that only her face was exposed, and on the bed with her was another woman who was rubbing the her body with a baby Jesus figurine. The room couldn't have been larger than 10X10ft and was stuffed with family members, most of whom were kneeling around the bed praying the Rosary. The other family members were standing around holding Catholic icons and prayer cards either crying or muttering prayers. Needless to say, this unnerved me a tad bit, and I was awake enough by this point to realize I was in WAY over my head.
So when the brother finally gets back with the needle, they gave me the stuff and I started opening the packages and filling the syringe. Luckily someone suggested that we take her BP first, which was low, something like 70/40. The same person then asked if it was too low to give an injection in the vein, to which I said "YES!" I then invented this total BS reason about why it would be really bad to give a shot to someone with low BP, and successfully evaded giving the her shot. At this point it was like 5am so I hung around for a few more minutes, said a prayer with them, and got the hell out of there.
I then went home to go back to sleep and unfortunately she passed away later that morning.
Now the first thing that surprised me about her death was how quickly everything took place. The Wake was that same evening, which I didn't attend because I had gone to work and didn't even find out she had died until the next day, Thursday, which, surprisingly, was the same day as the funeral. So everything happened, literally, within 26 hours.
*A little aside, Mom, you would have been proud that I upheld your tradition. I made a big platter of tuna fish finger sandwiches and got them to the family before any other food had arrived.
Anyhow, I was able to attend the funeral, which I thought would be a typical Catholic funeral to which I was accustomed. HA! How naive! I should have known something was up when it wasn't even in a church. Here they have funerí as, which are basically small buildings specifically for the purpose of hosting funerals. It was a Mass, but I'll highlight the major differences I noticed:
~~> The music all came exclusively from an electric piano. Not that I have something against electric pianos, but instead of someone actually playing it, there was just a person who played the songs already programmed into the piano. It made it a little hard for the people to sing to, but no one seemed to mind. My favorite song was definitely a hymnal set to "Hey Jude."
~~> In the middle of Mass, the Priest asked for a show of hands of who wanted to take the Eucharist. Out of the 100 or so people there, only 15 put their hands up and took Communion. I'm assuming the Priest's reasoned waste not, want not?
~~> During the Homily, my host mom, wailing, left her chair (no in this place pews) and threw her self on the casket, crying. No one seemed to think anything of it, including the Priest, who kept on talking.
~~> After Mass, men carried the casket all the way to the cemetery, which was about 7 blocks
away. There wasn't a police escort either, and we walked through the streets, blocking cross-traffic, with three cars following us, waiting for us to get to the graveyard.
When we arrived at the cemetery, there wasn't an interment ceremony wither. Also, this cemetery wasn't green and pasture-like like ours in the USA, it was all cement structures that you place the caskets into. So the men just hauled the casket into the pre-assigned slot, and the cemetery workers immediately placed a tablet over the hole and mortared it closed. Although it was pretty dramatic, after talking to William, I think I got off fairly easy. One time he went to a funeral and when they arrived at the graveyard, they had to all wait around while the family members dug the hold in the ground. Overall, however, it was pretty traumatic.
So traumatic, in fact, that one of the deceased lady's daughters was crying so forcefully that she couldn't catch her breath and passed out. They called an ambulance and she's in the hospital right now.
All in all, I think I acted pretty cool throughout the whole thing, despite the fact that I had NO CLUE what the hell was going on. The only error I know I made was when I signed the guest book. I miss looked-up the word for pray (razcar) with prey (cazar) and wrote in there, "Sorry about your mother, I'm preying upon your family's loss."
Hopefully they wait a while before looking in there...
Friday, September 11, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
FOOD!
I think this week I'm gonna share with y'all a little about the food in Ecuador. For those of you who don't know, Ecuador is divided into three regions, the coast, the sierra (where I live) and the jungle. Each region has its own unique cuisine, and I'm only talking about the sierra, as that's all I have experience with.
Starting the day we have breakfast, which is really a sad event here. If there is one thing I miss about home, its the huge breakfast feasts we had at our house. I could kill for grits, eggs, sausage with biscuits. But oh no, not here! The normal thing to eat is 1 hard boiled egg or a piece of bread with little cheese. This is usually served with a delicious homemade juice and coffee. A common juice is tomate de arbol (tree tomato) which does not really taste like tomato at all, but it is red and thick. For me, the juice is the only saving grace at breakfast. But here comes the really tragic part about breakfast: always served with instant coffee. Although Ecuador produces some of the world's best coffee, they generally export it all the USA, and drink the horrible powdered stuff. Needless to say, one of my first purchases here was an espresso macchinetta (my French press didn't make it here all in one piece). So that's how we (unsatisfactorily) start the day.
Moving on to lunch and dinner. Both are generally the same, although there is a long lunch hour here and its generally the larger of the two meals. Lunch is always started with a soup of some sort, which for those of you who know me well, know how much I adore a good soup. They usually aren't too hardy and here are some of the best ones according to my taste:
*Creama of papa- basically cream of potato soup
*Encebollado- made with various fish flakes in a light veggie stock
*Sopa de locro- a heartier stew with meat, veggies and unknown yummy spices
*Sopa de quinoa- quinoa is an oat, smaller than Quaker oats, but with a stronger flavor
*Rebanado de verde- Very typical. Its made with large, green, non-sweet bananas
Then comes the second platter. Its always served with white rice, and usually some potato variety or yucca. I never really cared for plain white rice much, and now I can't stand the site of it. I have eaten more here, in these few months, than in my entire life! But I digress. There're usually limited vegetables served, although I do get carrots or beets every now and then. Lastly, here are some of the better main dishes:
*Guatita- bits of cow stomach in a potato, peanut sauce
*Fritada- fried pork served with boiled mote (similar to hominy)
*Bolones- the green banana smashed into balls, stuffed either with a bit of meat or cheese then fried
*Salchipapas- french fries served with deep-fried hotdogs
Unlike Mexican food though, Ecuadorian food is generally bland and not at all spicy. Luckily, however, every meal comes with aji. Now this is possibly my favorite thing of all Ecudorian food! Its a spicy sauce made from blended tomates de arboles, aji (the native hot pepper), and cilantro. I go through bowls of this stuff every meal!
As far as acquiring the ingredients to make these foods, most people do their fruit and veggie shopping on market day, so they are usually fresh, not canned or frozen.. Market day in Riobamba is Saturday, and its a crazy free-for-all; an attraction in its own right! There are vendors crowding the streets, shouting their prices and selections, trying to outdo their neighbors. Also, haggling is expected, something which I've gotten progressively better at. One of my favorite things is to buy everything from the same lady then ask for a yapa (gift) to guarantee I'll return to her next week. So far I've managed to get for free a tomato, avocado, bunch of cilantro, 5 ajis and a small bunch of bananas. Not too bad for a white boy!
And that's a day in the life of Ecua-food!
Starting the day we have breakfast, which is really a sad event here. If there is one thing I miss about home, its the huge breakfast feasts we had at our house. I could kill for grits, eggs, sausage with biscuits. But oh no, not here! The normal thing to eat is 1 hard boiled egg or a piece of bread with little cheese. This is usually served with a delicious homemade juice and coffee. A common juice is tomate de arbol (tree tomato) which does not really taste like tomato at all, but it is red and thick. For me, the juice is the only saving grace at breakfast. But here comes the really tragic part about breakfast: always served with instant coffee. Although Ecuador produces some of the world's best coffee, they generally export it all the USA, and drink the horrible powdered stuff. Needless to say, one of my first purchases here was an espresso macchinetta (my French press didn't make it here all in one piece). So that's how we (unsatisfactorily) start the day.
Moving on to lunch and dinner. Both are generally the same, although there is a long lunch hour here and its generally the larger of the two meals. Lunch is always started with a soup of some sort, which for those of you who know me well, know how much I adore a good soup. They usually aren't too hardy and here are some of the best ones according to my taste:
*Creama of papa- basically cream of potato soup
*Encebollado- made with various fish flakes in a light veggie stock
*Sopa de locro- a heartier stew with meat, veggies and unknown yummy spices
*Sopa de quinoa- quinoa is an oat, smaller than Quaker oats, but with a stronger flavor
*Rebanado de verde- Very typical. Its made with large, green, non-sweet bananas
Then comes the second platter. Its always served with white rice, and usually some potato variety or yucca. I never really cared for plain white rice much, and now I can't stand the site of it. I have eaten more here, in these few months, than in my entire life! But I digress. There're usually limited vegetables served, although I do get carrots or beets every now and then. Lastly, here are some of the better main dishes:
*Guatita- bits of cow stomach in a potato, peanut sauce
*Fritada- fried pork served with boiled mote (similar to hominy)
*Bolones- the green banana smashed into balls, stuffed either with a bit of meat or cheese then fried
*Salchipapas- french fries served with deep-fried hotdogs
Unlike Mexican food though, Ecuadorian food is generally bland and not at all spicy. Luckily, however, every meal comes with aji. Now this is possibly my favorite thing of all Ecudorian food! Its a spicy sauce made from blended tomates de arboles, aji (the native hot pepper), and cilantro. I go through bowls of this stuff every meal!
As far as acquiring the ingredients to make these foods, most people do their fruit and veggie shopping on market day, so they are usually fresh, not canned or frozen.. Market day in Riobamba is Saturday, and its a crazy free-for-all; an attraction in its own right! There are vendors crowding the streets, shouting their prices and selections, trying to outdo their neighbors. Also, haggling is expected, something which I've gotten progressively better at. One of my favorite things is to buy everything from the same lady then ask for a yapa (gift) to guarantee I'll return to her next week. So far I've managed to get for free a tomato, avocado, bunch of cilantro, 5 ajis and a small bunch of bananas. Not too bad for a white boy!
And that's a day in the life of Ecua-food!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
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!
Monday, August 10, 2009
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!
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!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Riobamba!!!
I finally made it back from my site visit, and all I can say is WOW!!! As it turns out my PC adventure is not going to be quite as rustic as I thought...
The city itself is much bigger than Beaumont, which I know isn't saying too much. However, its crammed in a much smaller area, giving it the feel of a much larger city. It has all the conveniences that I could possibly want: shopping mall, 'super' grocery stores, HUGE daily fruit/veggie/meat market, Internet cafes galore, regular cafes, stadium, restaurants, movie theatre, night clubs, etc... Riobamba is also the old capital of Ecuador and is pretty old to boot, so it has an abundance of colonial government buildings and cathedrals. Nicely enough, most of these buildings are situated around quaint, landscaped parks with fountains and statues. Honestly, I kinda felt like I was somewhere in Europe! So the city is not exactly gonna be the 'living in a mud hut' experience I was prepared for.
And it gets even better!
I finally discovered what I would be doing for my job. I'm going to work at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH or Politecnica or Poli), in the Bienestar department. Basically this department is charged with the wellbeing of the students, of which there are 15,000. Hence, my job is health promotion for college students... I don't have to go out in the field, explain basic hygiene, or deal with children. Instead I work out of an office, give lectures to university students, help with studies and update Bienestar's website. How cool is that?!?
So, yea, my life pretty much rocks!
Except for the fact that tomorrow I have to give a charla over swine flu to the trainees. Apparently I have experience with contagious diseases (hospital work?), so I was pegged to give the talk. Its really not that bad, but I need to make some fun posters or something today so people don't fall asleep, given the inherent boredom factor of the subject. I pride myself on having captive audiences regardless of the topic! Silly games also go a long way.
We have classes all this week and then we leave on Sunday for our tech trip. We're going back to Riobamba for a week to do God-knows-what. So pretty much that's my life in a nutshell!
ps I finally uploaded pictures on flikr, so check it out!
Attention HSLC members: READ! The book is not that long! It would be nice to have the meeting when I get back from the tech trip.
The city itself is much bigger than Beaumont, which I know isn't saying too much. However, its crammed in a much smaller area, giving it the feel of a much larger city. It has all the conveniences that I could possibly want: shopping mall, 'super' grocery stores, HUGE daily fruit/veggie/meat market, Internet cafes galore, regular cafes, stadium, restaurants, movie theatre, night clubs, etc... Riobamba is also the old capital of Ecuador and is pretty old to boot, so it has an abundance of colonial government buildings and cathedrals. Nicely enough, most of these buildings are situated around quaint, landscaped parks with fountains and statues. Honestly, I kinda felt like I was somewhere in Europe! So the city is not exactly gonna be the 'living in a mud hut' experience I was prepared for.
And it gets even better!
I finally discovered what I would be doing for my job. I'm going to work at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH or Politecnica or Poli), in the Bienestar department. Basically this department is charged with the wellbeing of the students, of which there are 15,000. Hence, my job is health promotion for college students... I don't have to go out in the field, explain basic hygiene, or deal with children. Instead I work out of an office, give lectures to university students, help with studies and update Bienestar's website. How cool is that?!?
So, yea, my life pretty much rocks!
Except for the fact that tomorrow I have to give a charla over swine flu to the trainees. Apparently I have experience with contagious diseases (hospital work?), so I was pegged to give the talk. Its really not that bad, but I need to make some fun posters or something today so people don't fall asleep, given the inherent boredom factor of the subject. I pride myself on having captive audiences regardless of the topic! Silly games also go a long way.
We have classes all this week and then we leave on Sunday for our tech trip. We're going back to Riobamba for a week to do God-knows-what. So pretty much that's my life in a nutshell!
ps I finally uploaded pictures on flikr, so check it out!
Attention HSLC members: READ! The book is not that long! It would be nice to have the meeting when I get back from the tech trip.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Triste
Ok guys, this is gonna be a short one because I don't like to dwell on sad things... So what am I sad about? Well many things- this has not exactly been the best week for me.
First off, my friends and I did a little clothes shopping on Sunday and I discovered that I've gained weight. Not that I had a scale, but I could see a pooch in my belly.
Then, on Monday we had our second LPI (language test) and I bombed it! They do an interview, and they asked about my old job. As it turns out I didn't know any of the vocab for the lab i.e. agar plates, bacterial cultures, syringe, plasma, centrifuge etc... So of all the people in Cangahua, I was the only one who didn't advance a level.
Monday the ambassador visited and gave a little speech (which is actually a positive point). However, when I was getting ready that morning I found out my camera was broken. So now I'm trying to plot a way to get a new one, but that bummed me out.
Then today my best friend that I've made in Cangahua (Alex) early terminated because she missed her family and friends too much. So that really sucks because I spent most of my free time with her... Also, it got me to thinking of how much I miss y'all back home!
Sooooo, to make myself feel better I'm writing this and listening to sad music. For some strange reason feeling worse seems like the best way to feel better...
ps there was a little riot in Cayambe yesterday; everyone is okay except a few people who were exposed to tear gas.
First off, my friends and I did a little clothes shopping on Sunday and I discovered that I've gained weight. Not that I had a scale, but I could see a pooch in my belly.
Then, on Monday we had our second LPI (language test) and I bombed it! They do an interview, and they asked about my old job. As it turns out I didn't know any of the vocab for the lab i.e. agar plates, bacterial cultures, syringe, plasma, centrifuge etc... So of all the people in Cangahua, I was the only one who didn't advance a level.
Monday the ambassador visited and gave a little speech (which is actually a positive point). However, when I was getting ready that morning I found out my camera was broken. So now I'm trying to plot a way to get a new one, but that bummed me out.
Then today my best friend that I've made in Cangahua (Alex) early terminated because she missed her family and friends too much. So that really sucks because I spent most of my free time with her... Also, it got me to thinking of how much I miss y'all back home!
Sooooo, to make myself feel better I'm writing this and listening to sad music. For some strange reason feeling worse seems like the best way to feel better...
ps there was a little riot in Cayambe yesterday; everyone is okay except a few people who were exposed to tear gas.
Monday, July 6, 2009
3rd of July
The super-nice PC Ecuador administration decided to throw us lowly Americans a Forth of July party this past Friday (instead of having classes). Everyone met in Cayambe at the same complex where we spent our first days in Ecuador. I have to say, that my 3rd of July was one of the best days I've had here so far!
A per Ecuadorian tradition, events like this start off with a reina (queen) contest. Each town had to pick a girl to represent them, and she basically competed in a beauty contest. My town, Cangahua (khan-gog-wha), went all out for the occasion. Our reina borrowed indigenous clothes from her family, and the rest of us dressed alike (with crazy hairdos) and chanted while our queen competed. Joy, our queen, had to parade in front of the 3 judges, then answer a silly question. Today, the country director for Ecuador told our language instructor that she was impressed by our team spirit. Needless to say, out of the 9 communities, Joy came in 3rd place!
After the reina competition, there was a soccer tournament between the different cities. Although I (the only male in Cangahua) haven't played in years, one of our players got violently ill and two of our players were over 50, we kicked BUTT! Ok, maybe not that good, but we did make it to the second elimination round! YAY CANGAHUA!!!
When the tournament ended we were treated to a traditional US BBQ, consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, all the dressings, potato salad, fruit salad, regular salad (VERY hard to get here), chips, guacamole, veggie kabobs, different cokes, sweet tea and a flag cake. We totally pigged out since everyone was getting tired of Ecuadorian food. Everyone except me because my mom is 1) a GREAT cook, and 2) not hosting me just for the money. After the feast, we played more games, hung out, and then a few of us went into town to get some beers. Its really cool because everyone in Omnibus 102 really gets along quite well.
The actual 4th was not quite as eventful. The Cangahuans we into the city (Cayambe) and had a very nice lunch (which cost $4!). Later that night when we returned, there was a big fiesta de san pedro in the park/city center. I met my host family and their friends there and danced my feet off. At around 10pm, there was a really neat fireworks display which was quite dangerous by US standards. Literally some of the rockets shot into the crowd! By this time we were tired and my fellow PCVs retired to my house and watched 'Sense and Sensibility': good movie! When everyone left and I could barely sleep because the band in the park played until 6am, and I live two houses from the park... I slept in the next day (Sunday) and missed the First Communions at church, for which I feel really bad because I told a girl I would be to see her :(
On a positive note, my mom's daughter opened a seafood restaurant close to my house. Apparently what this means is that when my mom doesn't feel like cooking, I get to eat there for free! So far I've had ceviche, shrimp in a creole-like sauce and two different fish soups (they are much better than they sound). Also, on the weekends, when they don't have to feed me lunch, the regular price is $2 per meal! Hooray for cheap food!
I think I'm gonna be pretty busy this week. We have a lot of integration homework which basically consists of us interviewing tons of people in the community to practice for when we get to our sites. I can't wait because on the 16th we finally get our assignments! I care more about working with HIV/AIDS than my location. However, I am getting a little tired of being cold all the time... Whatever, it doesn't really matter because I don't have a say in anything as with all PC operations ;)
A per Ecuadorian tradition, events like this start off with a reina (queen) contest. Each town had to pick a girl to represent them, and she basically competed in a beauty contest. My town, Cangahua (khan-gog-wha), went all out for the occasion. Our reina borrowed indigenous clothes from her family, and the rest of us dressed alike (with crazy hairdos) and chanted while our queen competed. Joy, our queen, had to parade in front of the 3 judges, then answer a silly question. Today, the country director for Ecuador told our language instructor that she was impressed by our team spirit. Needless to say, out of the 9 communities, Joy came in 3rd place!
After the reina competition, there was a soccer tournament between the different cities. Although I (the only male in Cangahua) haven't played in years, one of our players got violently ill and two of our players were over 50, we kicked BUTT! Ok, maybe not that good, but we did make it to the second elimination round! YAY CANGAHUA!!!
When the tournament ended we were treated to a traditional US BBQ, consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, all the dressings, potato salad, fruit salad, regular salad (VERY hard to get here), chips, guacamole, veggie kabobs, different cokes, sweet tea and a flag cake. We totally pigged out since everyone was getting tired of Ecuadorian food. Everyone except me because my mom is 1) a GREAT cook, and 2) not hosting me just for the money. After the feast, we played more games, hung out, and then a few of us went into town to get some beers. Its really cool because everyone in Omnibus 102 really gets along quite well.
The actual 4th was not quite as eventful. The Cangahuans we into the city (Cayambe) and had a very nice lunch (which cost $4!). Later that night when we returned, there was a big fiesta de san pedro in the park/city center. I met my host family and their friends there and danced my feet off. At around 10pm, there was a really neat fireworks display which was quite dangerous by US standards. Literally some of the rockets shot into the crowd! By this time we were tired and my fellow PCVs retired to my house and watched 'Sense and Sensibility': good movie! When everyone left and I could barely sleep because the band in the park played until 6am, and I live two houses from the park... I slept in the next day (Sunday) and missed the First Communions at church, for which I feel really bad because I told a girl I would be to see her :(
On a positive note, my mom's daughter opened a seafood restaurant close to my house. Apparently what this means is that when my mom doesn't feel like cooking, I get to eat there for free! So far I've had ceviche, shrimp in a creole-like sauce and two different fish soups (they are much better than they sound). Also, on the weekends, when they don't have to feed me lunch, the regular price is $2 per meal! Hooray for cheap food!
I think I'm gonna be pretty busy this week. We have a lot of integration homework which basically consists of us interviewing tons of people in the community to practice for when we get to our sites. I can't wait because on the 16th we finally get our assignments! I care more about working with HIV/AIDS than my location. However, I am getting a little tired of being cold all the time... Whatever, it doesn't really matter because I don't have a say in anything as with all PC operations ;)
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