i figured out how to put pictures up!

the previous post contains pictures!! so exciting!
the first one is a shot of the market on sat. morning in Riobamba. They sell fruit in baskets like that, and there were just so many colors, I had to take a picture.

the second one is me and my friends at a bar at the Ecuador-Uruguay futbol game which we lost. but don´t we look snazzy in our jerseys?

the third pic is of me about to eat cuy (whole fried guinnea pig!). my host sisters thougt it was weird that we keep them as pets in the us. they thought it would be hilarious if i gave him a kiss. so i did.

and finally, the last one is a picture of the view of ambato from my room. the volcano tungurahua is usually covered in clouds. it´s just to the right of the palm tree and too the left of that big hill that´s not covered in clouds. enjoy!

I can put up pictures!!!

Long Weekend in Riobamba!

This past weekend we had Friday off because of the independence day of Guayaquil. So my and my friend Lauren took the opportunity to travel to Riobamba to visit some other worldteachers who are living there. It was only an hour bus ride away! We stayed in a really cute hotel near the train station. That first night, Lauren and I went over to our friend Shelly´s house. Her host dad and his family and friends invited us over to drink agua ardiente quemado. Let me explain. Agua ardiente is a very strong alcohol made from sugar cane. Quemado means burnt. So we would mix the alcohol with some spices (that pretty much looked like pot pourri to me)in a stone bowl. then we would light the mixture on fire and stir in some sugar. when you turned off the light, the blue flame looked almost mystical. When the mixture is "quemada" enough, you blow it out, and add some freshly squeezed orange juice. The shots were pretty strong, but not impossible. Then shelly´s host dad put on some columbian traditional music and we danced for a few hours. He gave us a toast that was so heartwarming. He thanked us for coming to Ecuador because we were helping to teach him that we are all citizens of the world. It was really sweet. It made me really happy to be here.

Once we had taken enough shots of quemado, we went to the discoteca to dance the night away. There, my friend Lauren met a boy named Carlos who turned out to be a great find. Carlos is a professional tennis player who lived in Miami for most of his life. We pretty much spent the rest of the weekend with Carlos and his friends. They drove us Penipe, a small town that was once destroyed by the volcano Tungurahua that has amazing corn and cheese tortillas cooked on volcanic rock. They also took us to a bar that was closed to the public (but they of course had connections) to watch the Ecuador-Uruguay futbol game. It was a devastating game. We lost 2-1. We scored the first goal, and while we were still celebrating (I got sprayed with beer) Uruguay scored also. It was a serious aguafiestas (buzz kill). Then they scored on a penalty kick after the ref failed to call a handball violation on uruguay. It was a terrible loss. If we had won, we would have gone to the world cup for sure. Now we probably won´t go... But it´s ok, we still went out dancing that night anyway.

Lauren and I also went to the market on saturday morning. We saw clothing and handicrafts in one market, and we walked down the steet a bit to the food market. This is the most interesting. There are chickens and other unidentifiable meats hanging from kiosks. There are pieces of pigs chopped up tables, always with the head proudly displayed with something in it´s mouth. There were cuyes (guinea pigs) and rabbits split open down the middle so that buyers can inspect their insides. They looked more like animals for disection and research than for eating. The vibrant colors of all the fruits and veggies of the market assault you from all sides. There are women selling havas (beans) while nursing their kids. There are children with snotty noses walking around selling candies or fruits. The market is a crazy bustling place with more germs than any American mom would dare to imagine. It was definitely an experience. Don´t worry, I didn´t buy any dead animals there, or eat any of the fruit.

Our weekend in Riobamba was a much needed break from teaching, and it was great to see our friends from orientation! Plus we were lucky enough to meet some Ecuadorian guides for the weekend. I´d say the trip was a great success! Now it´s back to teaching at 7 am. ew.

family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten...

The other day, I discovered that Ecuadorians have a very different sense of family than we do. I sort of had an idea of this previously, but now, living with a close family, I really see it. Yesterday, my host mom, Marcia, asked me if I had spoken with my parents lately. I said I had. She said, if any of my daughters ever left me for a year, I don´t know what I would do. I then tried to explain that I think that idea of family is a bit different in the US. Just because I´m away from my parents doesn´t mean that I love them any less. (right, mom and dad?) She said, "yes I think that´s true. My brother lives in Italy, and when he left, it was so sad for our family." and she started crying! Right then and there! The thought, first of her daughters growing up and leaving the house, and second of her brother living in Italy was enough to bring her to tears. The idea of not being surrounded by her family, is heartbreaking to her. For clarification, the rest of her 5 siblings and their children all live within walking distance and they come over for lunch every day. Her daughters will definitely not be leaving the house until the day they get married. Could you imagine living like that in the US? Parents, I do love you very much, but I´d go nuts. and YOU´d go nuts! It´s just a different idea of what family means. Personally, I´m ok with our American culture. I´m fine with leaving the house at age 18 and being independent. (Funny, that was one of our vocabulary words, and it was the hardest to explain to my class, because none of my students are independent by American standards) But I´m very glad that I´m being exposed to different ways of living. This is why I feel so lucky to be accepted into this new family, because I know what family means to them. So being accepted as one of them comes with serious benefits in a country where I am considered alone because I´m here without any family. It also means that my host mom piles food on my plate and complains when I don´t finish it all. "You´re eating less and less!" and I think to myself, it´s because you people eat heapings of rice for lunch and dinner! but I´ll take it if that´s what it means to part of this family.

I almost forgot...

check out Ecuador in the news!!

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/10/02/ecuador.violence/index.html

This protest is supposed to be nationwide, but since I haven´t been traveling outside of Ambato I haven´t felt it at all. Actually, I did see one demonstration. It was just a bunch of people chanting in Spanish carrying a red flag. I just stayed away from it. You can read all about Correa and the reforms he´s trying to put into the education system and natual resource management in the article.. I won´t bore you with politics.

My first encounter with my new toilet bowl...

I got sick for the first time since I´ve been here yesterday. And no, I was not chuchaki (hung over). I don´t what I ate that didn´t agree with me or if I was simply dehydrated... but I felt like death for about half and hour, and then I puked and felt much better. So far, I´ve either had a great immune system or just been lucky. so many of the other volunteers were sick within the first week of getting to Ecuador. My stomach decided to wait until I was with my permanent host family. My poor host mom, Marcia, was so worried about me. She made me tea and made me drink it in bed, with all the covers. My host sisters too were very worried. They made sure I knew to get them in the middle of the night if there were any problems. They´re very sweet. Hopefully, I won´t get sick again for a while.

In other news, my class took their first quiz today. They whined and complained about it and asked me to give to them tomorrow. They said they spent the whole weekend studying. bullshit. I´m sure they did fine and I highly doubt they were studying all weekend.

I´m going to head home. I think I´ll start taking salsa dance lessons on wednesday.... just in case my stomach is not 100% better. ciao!

Animalitos!

I am no longer homeless! I have found a lovely family to live with. I have four host sisters, the youngest of which is 9 (turning 10 on sunday) and the oldest is 21. Dad works at a credit institution and mom runs the family business which includes running the reception hall which is the bottom floor of our house, and charging clients to use our INDOOR POOL on the weekends. The pool and the reception hall make up the bottom floor of the house. The second floor has a small kitchen, all 6 bedrooms and living room with a TV and a couch. Dad enjoys cock fighting in his spare time so we have some roosters that live in our house and love to crow when I wake up at 5:30 every morning. we also have songbirds in a little cage outside. Our dog, Fiona, recently gave birth to 6 adorable puppies, and I have not seen but I am told that we have rabbits and tilapia. I know for a fact we have cui (guinnea pigs) because I ate one for dinner last night. Cui is a delicacy here and they usually only make it for special occasions. Last night was special because it was my first time trying it. It was ok. It kinda tasted like chicken, but a bit chewier. It was difficult to eat (psychologically) because they basically fry the animal whole. When it is served on your plate, it still looks like a guinnea pig! You know, the one you had as a pet when you were little! My host sisters were making fun of me because I was really bad at getting the meat off the bone. It was an interesting experience, but cui is certainly not my new favorite dish.

I have seen lots of other animals around Ambato, which is odd to me because it is definitely a city! Yesterday, I saw a man herding 6 large white ducks and their baby ducklings down the street past a cell phone store and a bank. Today I saw the milkman. He walks a long the city streets with his 4 goats squirting milk into anyone´s glasses who wants to buy it! You can always tell when the milkman has come by because there are goat droppings everywhere. I finally managed to go for a run around my new neighborhood the other day and I ran past 3 cows. (It was a pathetic 15 minute run, I´m still not used to the alititude and my neighborhood is very hilly) I also saw hummingbirds on my run! They´re small and green with a very long tail. So pretty.

On monday, my class has their first quiz. I hope their ready! Have a nice weekend everyone!