"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: Estuvo muy chevere... That was baller.
Last Sunday, Kasie and I met with a group of women to talk about gender roles in their society. It was interesting, so we offered them the opportunity to meet weekly with us to discuss different topics and do something fun at the same time.
Yesterday we had our first meeting, and besides all of the guys that showed up for some odd reason, it was a success! Everyone seemed to be pretty interested at least:
That was most likely do to the fact that we were teaching them how to make banana bread and chocolate covered fruit kabobs:
Yes, I know, the chocolate is way too liquidy! Thankfully, it still tasted good. Resources are kind of limited here. There are hardly any chocolate bars, so we used chocolate powder, like you use for chocolate milk. For our fruit we used bananas, apples, strawberries, and pineapple:
The banana bread came out much better, so they were at least somewhat impressed with us:
It worked out well. We kind of created different groups for the different tasks, and all of the ladies(and boys) helped prepare everything:
Besides setting up, Kasie and I explained the recipe step by step, and helped them only when needed:
I don't know why this kid looks so mad? He's the one who chose to come to the women's group!
Actually, now that I think of it, his group made the chocolate! Maybe he sabotaged it? Kidding, I'm sure our recipe was just bad:
Nonetheless, everyone, all 30ish people, enjoyed the food greatly:
Now we just have to wait and see if the ladies come to our next meeting; we'll be talking about nutrition (and how not to make anything we taught them at the last meeting?). Cross your fingers, maybe they'll actually listen and I'll start getting more vegetables and fruits!
"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: Van a llamarse Arnold cuando iras a su casa!... They're going to call you Arnold when you go home!
Yeah, not quite. And by "not quite", I mean "definitely not". But we've finally begun setting up our gym!
That's right!... It may not be as flashy as the 'Perfect Pull-Up', but it still works pretty well. And I only say "pretty well" because the other day, one of the kids decided to jump and try to grab onto the bar, and somehow he broke his arm. Horrible. They all stay away now, thankfully. Maybe I should add some medical tape to it for grip? (The kids still have to stay away though).
We also put up some bars for 'dips'! Bamboo is pretty sweet; you can make so many different things out of it.
And that's not even the good news! I got a bike! And it's a Trek!! My favorite bike brand. (Probably because Rajib bought me a Trek when he got his first job out of college). That's like finding gold here. It works decently. The gears don't work and I need to fix the brakes (and remove those green extensions on the handlebars??), but that's really all. I'm "borrowing" it for my two years here too, supposedly. I told the kid who had it that I would buy it from him, but he wants it back when I leave. Works for me!
The day ended with another exciting water delivery with Mario and Kasie. We went to this cool house a bit outside of town. The house itself was whatever, but getting there was the fun part.
Yeah, it was more scary than fun. Bamboo is great and all, but it felt like it was going to break as we carried the water across it. And for my mom, as always:
"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 solo la playa es caliente!... The beach isn't the only thing that's hot!
American Eagle, what would we do without you?
No more chocolate milk for me! No wonder I've been gaining weight. (Yeah, I'll keep telling myself that). Seriously though, how did they even get that? I mean, I'm sure it's possible to have a GNC in Quito or Guayaquil, but we're not anywhere near those cities, and more importantly it's only in English!
So, I'm not sure what you do or do not know about sports in Ecuador, but it goes something like this. Soccer is the most watched and played sport here, minus in Cayambe for whatever reason. (Yeah, I'm still bummed that hardly anyone there watched the World Cup; lame!) The Ecuadorians have a national league, just like MLS in the US or EPL in England, and they are all very serious about which team they support. And when I say they are "very serious", I mean fans end up in the hospital on a regular basis. Some of the big teams are Barcelona (not Spain, but a team with that name from the coast) and La Liga from Quito. I like to stay neutral to avoid any altercations with intoxicated people.
Volleyball is the #2 sport here in Ecuador, but it's a bit different from the volleyball we're used to watching in the Olympics. (I'm just kidding, who watches volleyball!). Here, they play 3 versus 3; it's interesting. The kids put up a volleyball net the other day. They even put string on the ground for boundries. It's pretty serious.
And rounding out the top 3, unfortunately, would have to be cock-fighting. Although, I don't consider that a sport anyway!
Carrying my camera around is coming in handy. Not only can I take pictures, Mitha feels like she has to give me healthier food (aka vegetables!). It's a win-win situation for me.
Haircuts, $2. That may or may not be a good thing. This is just one of the 10 places in town. Ridiculous. It makes sense though, seeing as how we have a beauty school here and all. And all of the places are always packed; even at 9pm. People must get haircuts every week or something? Whether the cut is good or not, it's definitely a steal compared to back home.
In other exciting news, Amber had her baby! His name is Adriano(I'm pretty sure at least?):
And your flower shot of the day was taken as we were out home shopping. Ideally, I'll find something with a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, if not more rooms. We'll see how that goes though; homes are scarce here. Well, homes that I want to live in at least. I was really hoping this place was for rent, but no such luck:
Yeah, why is that lady climbing through the window!?! (I only noticed as I was looking at the picture on my computer, or else I would have asked).
"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: Estoy media segura que yo comi cinco porciones de pan de guineo... I'm pretty sure I just ate five pieces of banana bread
Yeah, I'm not proud of it!
Today we went to the baker lady's home to learn how to make banana bread. I know many of you already know how to make it, but I figured I'd share the recipe anyway. She's like Big Auntie and really doesn't worry about measurements, but I tried to give some (more or less). (And yes, I am hoping to learn how to make other baked goods from her in the future!)...
Ingredients:
8 small bananas (or 6 big)
4 eggs
2 (6oz) cups of sugar
3 1/2 (6oz) cups of flour
1 1/2 (6oz) cups of oil
Yeast (Some sort of rise agent. She used a package from Ecuador's Betty Crocker equivelent)
Vanilla
Butter
Extra bananas
Steps:
1. Mash the 8 bananas.
2. In a bowl, mix the eggs and sugar thoroughly.
3. Add the oil and a little vanilla, mix thoroughly.
4. Add the mashed bananas to the mixture, mix in by hand.
5. Coat a pan with butter (or use a nonstick pan?)
6. Coat the pan with a bit of flour.
7. Set aside a bit of flour for Step 11.
8. Add the yeast and remaining flour to the mixture, mix in by hand.
9. Pour the mixture into the pan.
10. Chop the extra bananas and add them to the pan. (Optional: Add chocolate chips!)
11. Coat the top with the remaining flour.
12. Bake. (Yeah, her oven knob doesn't have any temperatures. But I guess the usual 350 for 30minutes?)
13. Crush half of the bread instead of selling it to make a living.
It is definitely not my mom's with chocolate chips, but it's the best dessert in San Isidro!
"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: Jmm, en realidad, alguien saben como jugar billiar?... Hmm, does anyone actually know how to play billiards?
Nope! No idea whatsoever. We made it up though, and it was entertaining. Mario's uncle has a nice "bachelor pad" a little outside of town. The other day Mario, Kasie, Jose Andres, and I went there for a few hours. We played billiards and walked around his grounds a bit.
Unfortunately, we can't drive, or else I would be tearing it up in his uncle's jeep or beetle. (Some people drive here as if they're in a rally car race).
Speaking of driving, Gasoline, $1.60 per gallon. Only full serivce here though:
I've found my future apprenticeship for when I have free time! (taller = garage/shop)
I wasn't sure about it at first, but it was good... and only 50cents! Think beef satay at your favorite Chinese restaurant (I could totally go for some Tau-Tau right about now):
And finally, these were at his Uncle's home:
"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: Pienso que el mascota perro de Chupacabre meataco!... I think Chupacabre's pet dog just attacked me!
Absurd! It happened out of nowhere. But no worries, he/she didn't bite me, I just fell when he/she jumped on me. We do have our rabies vaccines, but I hear the post-bite shots are in the stomach, which doesn't sound very fun. Naturally, my love for dogs has only increased now. Right. My friend, Clint, runs in Cuenca with a rock in one hand and gravel in the other. I'm definitely going to have to copy him. Only a slight cut on my knee:
And yes, that was blood on my sock!:
Pedro went back to Spain the other day, so we had a farewell party for him before he left. (Lame! I guess that means no more beach/farm trips). But it was a good, long night. As always, there were tons of people over: 
Naturally, his face had to be shoved into the cake. I mean, you just can't have a cake without gracing it with someone's face before eating it, right? I'm definitely going in with my mouth wide open when my birthday comes around! (Of course I'm not telling them when my birtday is!) 
For dinner, we had PASTA! I'd like to say it was a nice change from the rice, but of course we had a side of rice with it; priceless (It was still a nice change, ha):
Uhh, I guess that's how they pour coke here? 
The next day was super warm outside. I'm guessing it wasn't anything compared to back home this summer, but it was enough for me. Luckily, I found an ice cream lady! 25cents a cone: Yeah, it wasn't really ice cream, but she had a flavor that was similar to strawberry. I'm going to talk to her more to figure out how she makes it, and then try to get her to try Big Auntie's recipe instead. Maybe we can work together to bring Baskin Robbins to San Isidro! (My real goal for this town). 
Oh my, that banana bread was good. Somehow I've become friends with a baker lady in town. And by "somehow", I mean I visit her every day for a dessert. Bad news for sure!
Flower shot of the day (This is in front of the house):
"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:
Estas seguro que no hay tiburones aqui? Por que no hay otras personas en el mar??... Are you sure there aren't any sharks here? why aren't there any other people in the sea??
Today was super long. I was busy, which is always a good thing here! Luis' friend, Pedro, is visiting from Spain, and that means the host family has to entertain him; score!
In the morning, we went to the high school. Yeah, I can see the high school from my bamboo room, and I do go there almost every day, but today was special. Today, each of the kids from the highest grade swore his/her allegience to Ecuador... if they wanted to. I'm not sure exactly what all happened during the ceremony, but I saw them kissing the Ecuadorian flag at one point.
One of students from my Strategic Planning class:
After lunch, we somehow ended up on our way to Jama, the nearest beach!
No shark attacks, thankfully. I guess people just don't like swimming?
There were some kids playing soccer on the beach though!
As usual, the drive was great! (Although sitting in the back of the truck does get a bit rough after a few hit pot holes).
I really like the random trees in the fields. They're just asking to be climbed. I'm holding off on actually doing it though, because I'm still scared of the snakes:
After dinner, we (surprisingly) went to play "indoor"!
Yeah, I know, it's super hard to see me. Not only am I darker now because of all the sun, I decided to wear brown for some odd reason? It was probably the best night in San Isidro to date, and more like the kind of night I am accustomed to.
Flower shot of the day:
That was most likely do to the fact that we were teaching them how to make banana bread and chocolate covered fruit kabobs:
Yes, I know, the chocolate is way too liquidy! Thankfully, it still tasted good. Resources are kind of limited here. There are hardly any chocolate bars, so we used chocolate powder, like you use for chocolate milk. For our fruit we used bananas, apples, strawberries, and pineapple:
The banana bread came out much better, so they were at least somewhat impressed with us:
It worked out well. We kind of created different groups for the different tasks, and all of the ladies(and boys) helped prepare everything:
Besides setting up, Kasie and I explained the recipe step by step, and helped them only when needed:
I don't know why this kid looks so mad? He's the one who chose to come to the women's group!
Actually, now that I think of it, his group made the chocolate! Maybe he sabotaged it? Kidding, I'm sure our recipe was just bad:
Nonetheless, everyone, all 30ish people, enjoyed the food greatly:
Now we just have to wait and see if the ladies come to our next meeting; we'll be talking about nutrition (and how not to make anything we taught them at the last meeting?). Cross your fingers, maybe they'll actually listen and I'll start getting more vegetables and fruits!
