“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
Phrase of the day: Oh my, Brian, El es muy bonito! Dice El!... Oh my, Brian, He is so handsome!Tell him!
Told!That was from my facilitator when I was showing her pictures of all of you.She said if you want a wife (and a 4yr old daughter), she has a home on the coast and a place in Quito… ha.The phrase didn’t actually happen today, it happened Friday, but my classmate reminded me of it when I saw her.(No worries, I couldn’t forget an offer like that).She and the class also said how good looking Rajib is, but no comments on pictures of me whatsoever.(I think they liked the ones at the pool… those sit-ups paid off! Zing).
Today was a huge day for the people here.All of the kids from kindergarten through high school danced in a parade.So we went to see everyone, but more importantly my little “sister”, Haydi.Her dance was naturally the best.All of the kids did local traditional dances, except for her school.They did Reggaton.Yeah, no idea how to describe it, but music like Daddy Yankee, if you know him.Definitely more club type music and dancing.All of the people liked it.And as you can see, I finally have a picture to show you! (Nathaly, Haydi, An??-don’t be surprised, Bolivar, Juan-cousin who is staying with us during his vacation).
And a few other pictures of the outfits:
Hope plans are coming along for the 4th!I’m totally going to try and plan something tomorrow when I see all of the other trainees.I wonder where I can score some fireworks?
“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
Phrase of the day: No gustas dormir, huh?... You don’t like to sleep, huh? (I’m sure that was bad Spanish)
Yeah, every evening my host mother asks me if I’d like to go to aerobics in the morning with her.I always pass because it’s so early, but this weekend I figured I’d give it a shot.
4:40am – Wake up.
Thankfully that still feels like 5:40 to me!So really not that bad.
5:00am – Aerobics.
It was nuts.First off, it was dark.(The sun isn’t up until about 6:45 or 7 here, and it sets at about the same).The aerobics took place outside in a park, and it was about 50 degrees or so (that’s your picture; it was too dark to actually take one).The ladies (I say “ladies” because 95% of the people were over 35 and female) move super quickly. So quickly that I could not keep up to save my life.If you know me pretty well, you know I can’t/don’t dance.Well the same goes for aerobics I learned!
6:45am – Shower / Get ready.
I’ll leave the details out, but it was pretty exciting.
7:30am – Begin washing clothes.
Another new experience!Not the washing your clothes part… I know how to put detergent in a machine (maybe not how much detergent, but still!)It went like such:
1.Pour detergent powder into a large bucket; fill with water and clothes, and let sit for an hour
2.Place clothing onto rock table and scrub bar soap onto clothes (really, more soap?)
3.Scrub clothes with brush
4.Use ridiculous amounts of water to get soap off of clothes.
5.Hang on lines to dry.
6.2-3 days later (because it’s cool here), clothing is dry.
Yeah, next time no double soap action when she’s not watching me.
8:00am – Breakfast.
The usual.Eggs, Bowl of fruit, Juice.(Nope, I’m not eating breakfast when I come home).
9:30am – Go to the market.
Host “mother” wanted to buy some things, so I went.It was a zoo.Like literally, animals, vegetables, fruit,and grains everywhere!
10:00am – Visit my host “parents’” job at the flower(roses) plantation.
After the market we went to the rose plantation.I would have taken pictures, but the security level there is pretty ridiculous. (next time though! I know what they look for now, haha).Thankfully I didn’t see any child laborers, so all was well.They actually work in the kitchen.They prepare breakfast and lunch for the workers… about 250 people.
10:45am – Wash more cloths.
Yeah, there’s no way I finished in 30 minutes.Not with all that soap!
12:00pm – Go to see the horses(and apparently bulls).
As part of the month long festival for San Pedro, today was a horse lasso event.There were tons and tons of cowboys in an arena.To my surprise, it ended up being a lasso-a-bull competition.Another new experience to add to my day.We left after they began to lasso the bulls; definitely not my thing.
1:30pm – Crucial lunch.
Soup with chicken, some type of beans, cheese, corn, rice, french fries (they love those here), and chicken.Yeah, those three plates/bowls are all me.This only happens on Saturday; usually I eat normal sized meals.
2:30pm – Realize washing clothes takes a gazillion hours here, but finally finish.
3:30pm – Meet up with some other trainees.
6:00pm – Somehow end up at a cock fight.
Yeah, no idea how that happened, but something new again, right?
6:10pm – Leave after realizing how horrible cock fights are.
Oh my that was bad.I guess if we had thought about what it was exactly, we wouldn’t have actually gone in, haha.
8:00pm – Homework.
Yeah, they like me in when it’s dark, so I figured I’d begin on our 20 pages of homework. Priceless!
Yeah, this was way too long, but if you made it this far, congrats!Let hear about your weekends.
“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
Phrase of the day: Tu amigos estan muy alto y blanco... Your friends are very tall and white
Thank you?…I was showing my host family a few pictures of friends and family that I brought with me.And by few, I mean like a 150.They really loved the pool at the Inn at Perry Cabin.Just wait till I break out my computer actually!
People here are extremely straightforward when it comes to certain things…
How much money do you make?
How much does your cell phone cost?
Do you have a girlfriend?Why not?
Why aren’t you married? (what? I don’t even have a girlfriend!)
Really, I have no problems with anyone’s questions, I just don’t know how to respond always, in Spanish no less.They were pretty funny though… especially because I only knew some of the people who asked me for like 3 minutes.
For the past two days we have all been meeting in a neighboring town for health and security training.And by "all", I mean all 66 of us.(That’s right, we’re down to 66.One of the girls in Health program decided this wasn’t for her).So far I’ve learned that I will almost definitely get some sort of worm (treatable with medicine) before I leave, and most likely get something stolen from me at least once… how exciting, ha.
Lunch here is huge.Usually soup (my favorite, ha), rice, potatoes in some form, and some sort of meat.Yesterday we ate at a “kiosk”… definitely not like a kiosk at Springfield Mall.(You can see the back-side of my head where we were sitting down to eat, so almost a shot of me!)
The town we are in is really nice, and definitely more like a place I was hoping to see.I went on a walk today during lunch and took a few sweet pics! (I forgot my wallet at home, so I figured I’d just walk around.Yup, I could have borrowed money from someone, but then I wouldn’t have learned my lesson, would I?.No worries, bubs, I eat huge breakfasts now… mostly because Peace Corps is no home or KAF… we get $3/day for lunch, so I better fill up whenever I can with my host family!)
Today we also played soccer after class on the field behind our school!That was probably the best trainee hanging-out time so far for me. (Less talking and more playing outside!)We of course played with some Ecuadorian kids who were pretty great, as well... and we also ended when the game was tied 2-2... Priceless. Some kids were pretty competetive, but it was fun for sure. In a few weeks we're actually going to have a tournament between our 13 trainee groups!
Oh, I’ll take pictures this weekend of people (including myself) for sure… there is some sort of Horse festival on Saturday, and on Sunday my little “sister” is dancing in another festival.This is the month of festivals… I’m not sure what happens the rest of the year on weekends???
“The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. Government or the Peace Corps.”
Phrase of the day: Soy de Virginia, el estado mejor en Estados Unidos… I’m from Virginia, the best state in America
Fact.And that is exactly what I told my Spanish class today during our first session…
I confirmed today that I definitely lucked out house-wise.For part of class we traveled to meet each trainees’ host family.Some homes were very fancy and had dvd players, playstations, internet, and all, while others barely had electricity and running water.My house is definitely closer to the upper half.As you can see by my rooms, plural... don’t mind the mess, please… I need to buy hangers or something.(Too bad you can’t come and visit right now… my bed is bigger than Rajib’s, ha).
Yesterday my host family took me all over the place.I went to church in the morning with my “sister”.It was pretty much the same service as a Catholic church at home, except for the fact everything was in Spanish and they played a cd of people singing hymns, instead of having someone at the church sing.It was a good experience.I’ll go again if it makes them happy.Or else I’ll probably sleep in for once.(breakfast is at 7am on the weekdays before class… and these dogs bark all night long… good times).
After church we went to a 4 x 4 event in the neighboring town.Pretty much the exact opposite of church!Tons of people, filthy from the mud, and many drunk.My host father loved watching the SUVs plow through the mud, and my little “sister” seemed to enjoy it too.She couldn’t see, so naturally I put her on my shoulders, and now the family loves me.Score.Always the little things… I’ll probably get more vegetables tomorrow or something!(I told them I love vegetables to hopefully avoid eating guinea pig).
Oh! I found out today my host mother works on a flower plantation/factory.She said the main export of Cayambe is roses.So next time you get a rose, think of Cayambe, because these ones are definitely going to the U.S.And guess how much they cost here!?!$1 for 25.Yeah, 25 is a weird number, but still.Try and forget that detail in case I buy you some if you come here.
Sorry for the lack of pictures of my host family… this isn’t the safest place right now, so I’m not supposed to do a lot of things (take a backpack outside, talk on the phone outside, have a camera in public, walk outside when it’s dark… I should pretty much just stay indoors, haha) (and I figured pictures in the house wouldn’t be very exciting).But hope you enjoy the ones of Cayambe!They are mostly taken from the roof… which I totally just found this morning.I saw stairs to it, and imagined it was another home, but nope!Just a open roof where they hang their laundry to dry.Speaking of laundry, that needs to happen soon.First for everything, right?Just kidding!
Hope things are exciting back home!Crazy stories to come from here, for sure… Tomorrow we are going to a nearby town called Ayoro… we’ll see what comes from there… hasta luego!
