(Sunday, September 26, Day 97)

"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 esta bien que yo pague mas por la merienda que por mi hotel cuarto este noche?... Is it bad that I paid more for dinner than for my hotel room tonight?

Definitely doesn't even matter! Today could not have been much better!

It began with a trip to Bahia in the Costa Norte; an open-aired bus that runs from San Isidro to San Vicente(near Bahia):
And by "in the Costa Norte", I of course mean "on top of the Costa Norte":
No worries, Bubs, it's probably safer than being inside. I mean, at least I can jump off if I see an accident coming. Plus, while holding on, my arms get a good workout as the driver dodges countless pot holes. Some views from the journey:
That was nice and all, but the best part (and real reason I went to Bahia for the night) was to talk to everyone that was at my house for dinner. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of my Dell-operator headset I used to skype you all. Traggic, I know.

We are going to have to do that much more often now that I set up an account. (Sadly, internet is still a bit slow in San Isidro for skype though, so we'll have to plan out times when I can talk to everyone on the same day).

Seeing as how I was not in rice-ville, I figured I'd go a bit crazy. I opened up my handy Lonely Planet guide, and ended up at Arena Bar for dinner:
My crucial meal began with a Mora Batido (Blackberry Fruitshake):
Followed by Ensalada de Frutas Tropical (Tropical Fruit Salad):
Pizza Vegetariana (Vegi Pizza):
And Frutas con Chocolate (Fruits with Chocolate Sauce):
Yeah, that was a bit ridiculous. It probably was one of the most expensive meals in Bahia, but also the best I've had in a month.

After dinner, I was lucky and was able to talk to some of you again on skype. By far, best day as a volunteer yet!

Flower picture of the day (Yes, I am trying to take crucial shots like Big Uncle!):
ps: If you are curious, I paid $16 for dinner and $15 for my hotel room.

(Thursday, September 23, Day 94)

"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, lo siento, no se como hacer la yoga-llama!... Nope, I'm sorry, I don't know how to do the yoga-flame!

The other day I was doing push-ups and plank on the high school field before dinner. Naturally, a few people saw me exercising. For the next 3 days, I heard various people in town talking about how I was doing yoga. Priceless. What is this, Street Fighter? Sure, I'm Indian, but my name isn't Dalsim.

Animals are going to have to be a project in the future. I'm not sure what about them specifically, but something. I'll probably try and start with respect, and then make my way down. Someone left three kittens in front of Kasie's house a few days ago. She decided to take care of them, and then the next day someone left three more! I know everyone is thinking it; where's Bob Barker when you need him??
On one of my water-selling outings with Mario, I saw my future house:
Imagine! That would be nuts. And I mean the one on the left, naturally. I probably can't even afford the one on the right, haha. (side note: I've noticed that everyone loves the blue mirror-like windows here. I think it's better for them because they don't need to buy blinds or curtains then).

Every night we go to an old man's place to sell water. It usually takes about 30minutes because he always tries to pay less than he owes. Yeah, he reminds me of the grinch. This is Jose Andres with the old man's bike-cart. (Jose Andres is a cousin from Spain who just moved in with my host family. His mom in Spain couldn't "handle" him, so he's living here for at least 6 months. Crazy. He's a good kid though; just needs to be entertained):
This afternoon was fun. We took a trip to my host family's farm. We hiked through the forest on their grounds for about 2hours looking for monkeys. No luck there, but we did eat a lot of fruit at least! They don't have many animals, but they do have plenty of fruit trees: tangerines, grapefruit, plantains, bananas, papaya, maricuya, and some other crazy orange varieties. Unfortunately, someone somehow erased all of my pictures on my camera as we were leaving, so no shots of those. I did take this of the drive on the way back though:
The next evening Mario's uncle brought this back from the farm:
Yes, ridiculous! I have no idea why he brought it back? I think he was hoping to show everyone before he killed it. No worries though, Mario told him it wasn't poisonous, so we let it go... five feet away from the house!

I bought this thinking it may be something like Big Auntie's crostada. No dice, of course, but it wasn't bad. It was more cake-like:
And I'll end with a flower picture; I have a decent number of them, and I'm sure at least my mom wants to see them. This was at their farm:
Have a great weekend!

(Saturday, September 18, Day 89)

"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:
Vamos a la finca por la cumpleanos de Amber!... Lets go to the farm for Amber's birthday!

Amber is Mario's cousin. And Kasie, the other volunteer here, lives in her home. She turned 20, I think? She's also due sometime this week, so that should be some excitement for the family. (Too bad I didn't get here earlier to teach sex-ed, right?). Her mom's house at the farm:
Surprise, surprise. Plantains anyone?
There was also pork, rice, and salad too. I stuck to the salad and plantains. I've come to the realization that I may have to become a vegetarian while I'm here. Definitely not a problem, but I'm still hoping for thin meat when I get home! (thanks in advance, mom and big auntie, haha). Oh, and lets not forget the oreo ice cream cake! (Yeah, Nabisco is making a killing here in Ecuador apparently):
I hung out with this little girl while we were eating. She reminded me of Hannah, Willy's youngest sister, when I had first met her years ago:
Mario is a lot like Rajib. He's the older brother, and he's always the one entertaining the kids. They all love him:
The drive was my favorite part of the day; it's a real treat when there's a blue sky here:
That being said, I'm excited for real seasons back in the States. Who would have imagined I'd be missing raking leaves? (Actually, that's probably not really a surprise). Hope you're enjoying Autumn!

(Thursday, September 16, Day 87)

"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:
Dormiste bien? [Si, menos el gallo a las medianoche, cuatro, y siete]... Did you sleep well? [Yes, minus the rooster at midnight, four, and seven]

What happened to roosters cock-a-doodle-doo'ing at sunrise!?!

I didn't think I would ever say it, but breakfast is somehow my favorite meal of the day now. But no worries, Bubs, that's only here (ha!). This is most likely due to the fact that it doesn't include:
(a) rice
(b) soup
(c) fish
(d) all of the above (Imagine how much I love these meals!)

Today was my favorite so far; plantains, bread, an egg, and soy milk!:
Thankfully, at least some things never change. Toyota's are still reliable, and all you need is some soap and an old t-shirt to wash your ride:
Still, some things are a tad bit different. It's not shiny because of Armor-All, it's shiny because Luis sprayed the hose into the car (ridiculous):
Mario is in Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, taking a course for his masters program. I still don't understand undergraduate studies here completely; I think it's kind of like India though. But for his masters, Mario has to take 40 4-day courses. That being said, Luis has been running the water business, and I've been helping him whenever I'm not working (aka pretty much all of the time, minus a few hours each day). Mario (and Luis) put all of this together:
Guess what?...
That's right! If you're eating Dole bananas, they may well be coming from San Isidro of all places. (No worries, there's no child-workers at this plantation)... and yes, I know the picture is blurry.

Luis is crazy, so one water-selling-run we stopped the truck and ran across this bridge:

(Tuesday, September 14, Day 85)

"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: Quieres jugar futbol mas tarde?... Do you want to play soccer later?

Understatement! Luis asked if I wanted to play "indoor" the other day, and naturally, I said yes. Their indoor is a bit different than back home. It's played outside on a concrete court with a tiny, but heavy ball. Yeah, I guess it's completely different, haha. The game still moves rather quickly because the court is small; aka lots of sprinting and quick passes. They play for money, a quarter a game usually, which is to pay for things like their phone bills. Needless to say, it gets intense. Definitely a bit too serious for me, but I'll keep playing when they ask. And yes, I was one of the worst ones there, haha. They have lots of fancy footwork, but as usual, they don't play extremely well as a team.
I've noticed some trends and habits (for guys) that I hope not to bring back to Virginia. Meaning, please slap me if I do:
- Napping after lunch
- Not playing outside because it's before 5pm, even if it's not sunny or hot
- Jean shorts
- Capri pants (thank you, Spain)
- Lifting my shirt over my stomach because it's hot (sorry ladies, no abs viewings... ha!)
- Hissing at someone to get his/her attention or just to say hello
- Honking my car horn to say hello to everyone I see out walking
- Dropping my orange peels on the ground as I walk around

A typical dinner for me: juice, rice, an egg, and yuca puree (the purple is mild-hot sauce):
The food is fine for the most part. No complaints on the taste, but it's super unhealthy. Nutrition will have to be another project in the near future. Right now most people just eat carbs/starch. Every meal has rice, fried plantains and/or yuca, and a little piece of meat/egg. Once in a while they will eat a few pieces of cucumber and have a tangerine. Thankfully, they do have a glass of fresh juice at least once a day. At first I thought it just may be a money issue, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I mean, they have a satelite dish with more television channels than we have back home!

AC0CBFC9-1A18-D3E5-8462-D65F00F0E7FE

1.03.01

(Friday, September 10, Day 81)

"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:
Mandae? Tienes 25anos y estas soltero; estas muy viejo! ... Say that again? You're 25 and single; you're so old!

I've begun meeting with my groups from the highschool in the afternoons. The kids are ridiculous. They are very different from the Sierra(Highlands... aka Cayambe), not shy whatsoever and much more forward. It's only been 3 days, but so far it's going well. They ask me lots of questions, but they get some work done too. They all graduate in December, so that's our deadline for most of the projects.

A picture of my counterpart, Javicito(Javier), finally. Yeah, everyone calls him that because he's on the smaller side... and by everyone, I mean his students too. I actually respect him more because of that... everyone here goes by his/her title because of his/her job or area of study for undergrad: Engineer, Economist, Professor, etc. But he doesn't believe in that system, so his students have to call him by his first name:
When Dengue season comes, I'll surely be getting it. I learned this week that the mosquitos here can somehow bite me through some of my pants. Silly! (The Dengue will happen though with or without the pants; I'll definitely be using tons of repelent either way).

Speaking of seasons, if possible, I wouldn't come to the coast any time from December to May :)

Mario and his water buisness. On an average day he sells about 40 bottles. I sometimes ride with him in the afternoon/evening to help him out/pass the time. (He is also trying to export coffee and chifles(banana chips) to the States with another man from town... pictures to come eventually, for sure. I'll definitely be bringing samples when I come home too):
One of Mario's aunts has tons of archeological pieces in her home. I'm hoping to explore the area soon with my tourism group to see if there could be any activities for tourists:
Lately, most nights here haven't been dreafully hot, so I've been walking around town to pass the time after dinner. (Yes, I usually get a batido at some point during my walk... I've now tried Mango, Peach, Blackberry, Berry, and everyones favorite, Oreo). They also have one called Tamarind? I'm just hoping that that's not the brown Indian sauce that you eat with samosas! Finally a picture of the better batido stand!... yeah, there are really only two. It's not better because it has a real sign rather than a white board with flavors, it's better because it uses real oreos, not fake-me-out ecuaoreos):
And this is the main square at night. It's pretty nice. Unfortunately, only the square itself is developed; the roads around it are once again just dirt. Supposedly the "state" government constructed identical squares in many of its cities to show that they are working to better the state. It's nice looking and all, but the people here don't feel that it represents them... I still enjoy it tons! (It has little patches of grass!... that's a luxury here!)
Happy Friday and Eid Mubarak!

AC0CBFC9-1A18-D3E5-8462-D65F00F0E7FE

1.03.01

(Saturday, September 4, Day 75)

"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:
Que, no hay luz hoy? [Mario: Viva Ecuador!]... What, there isn't electricity today? [Mario: Long live Ecuador!]

The past few days have been a bit rough, but thankfully Mario makes everything a joke! During the daytime we have not had electricity for the most part. Unfortunately, that means the town pretty much shuts down and it get pretty boring. And I suppose it's also a problem because that means we have no water, which is brought into the house with an electric pump, but not the end of the world. Thankfully power comes back by dinner time usually... whew! (I'm guessing they're turning off power on purpose to work on power lines or something, but no one knows for sure).

A picture of the batcave (filled with books, papers for my projects, and my electronics... I know, pretty classy! I'm just glad I got the white, not bright pink, mosquito net):
On Monday I met with the high school class again. All of the kids are great. They don't all care about doing the work, but they're the oldest kids in the school, so at least they're the best behaved. This past class I taught them how to plan a(any) project. It went amazingly/surprisingly well. Hopefully I knew what I was talking about actually!

On Tuesday there were elections for the student government. It was different. Instead of electing people for individual positons, the kids voted for which party they wanted. Hmm, I guess that's just like real life, so not that different I suppose! I helped out by passing out the ballots to the students in their classes, and then counting them afterwards.

I'm not sure what happened (once again, I know!), but it seems I may be getting an office with a/c, a computer, and internet! On Thursday, I met a guy named Tito who works for all of the Junta Parroquials(local governments) in this region. Don't worry, it's been 75 days here in Ecuador and I still can't say that word. Anyway, he likes all of the projects I am working on, and thinks I should have an office in the Junta here. We'll see what he can actually hook up, but I'll wait to see before I go and buy internet on my own.

One of my host family's super-funny uncles has been staying here for almost 2 weeks now. He initially came just for a weekend, and somehow stayed way past that. To help you picture him better, just think of Uncle Bacchu. He has similar jokes, mannerisms, and he's always saying crazy(hilarious) things to mess with everyone. He's finally leaving tomorrow, so his sister made him a farwell cake... it was pretty funny. She has definitely had enough of him. (Crazy uncle wearing Kasie's sandals):
The night got more ridiculous. Halfway through eating the cake, Mario realized that Robertito's birthday is tomorrow. We used our resources, aka a half eaten cake, and went ahead and surprised him. We totally cleaned it up a bit and put it on a different plate, but hilarious either way. (Finally some faces with some names: Diego(Karen's boyfriend), Karen, Luis, Robertito, Mario, Mitha):
Robertito lives in the bamboo/wood hostel just like me... way too many people on his bed at one time:
A tradition here, as well... but here you definitely get your hands held behind you:
Eventually we had a good number of people over. I'd name them if I could, haha:
Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!

ps: The cake was really yummy. I'm not sure what type it was, but it's definitely the best dessert I've had since Quito/Cayambe. (Yeah, they don't eat desserts here... which I'm sure I've complained about before, haha... traggic!)