This past week has brought several big changes...the end of orientation, the move to Ambato, the beginning of my teaching duties, and a crazy new haircut.
I was really sad to leave Quito, but my stay there ended with one of my best days in Ecuador so far. On Thursday morning, I went to my host brothers´ salon in the upscale Quito mall to be a hair model. I wasn´t exactly sure what this was going to entail, but I found out as the day went on, for 5 hours. In the morning I got my hair chopped off to just above shoulder length and colored. I went back in the afternoon for a makeup session. Then, I was led down to a stage on the main floor of the mall, where I sat in a chair and let the stylist cut my hair. While half the mall is watching, this woman is cutting my hair (without a mirror for me to see what is happening) and people are making surprised and happy faces. And, of course, there is commentary from the 2 MCs who work at the salon. I got a little nervous when I saw a 4-inch piece of hair fall to the ground, knowing that she had already cut about 6 inches off earlier that morning. (Ecua-snap!) Whoooaaa it´s crazy! I came out of this hilarious experience with a super modern, assymetrical haircut with blonde highlights and makeup that kind of made me look like a hooker. HAHA! The things I do for my host brothers...unconditional love, as Alex calls it. I have since washed the makeup off my face and have come to really like my haircut. I will put up pictures as soon as I get my camera cord in the mail. I also got a gift certificate for the salon as a thank-you, though I´m not sure I´ll be able to use it for much, considering that I think my haircut cost around $200 at a normal price. EEK!
That evening I cooked dinner for 7 people in my family and we had a really nice time. I made asparagus, goulash, and apple crisp. I realize that those things don´t really complement each other, but they are just 3 things that I eat in the US that I wanted to share with my Quiteño family. Pablo brought wine, I was thoughtful enough to decorate the table with some beautiful flowers (so cheap in Ecuador!!), and Alexito brought the most amazing macadamia-walnut cheesecake from Casolette again. I had a chance to show them some of the photos I brought from the US and I was so happy that everyone could come and share a final meal with me and the fam.
Friday I came to Ambato and I´m still getting settled in. My room is awesome - I have the whole third floor of the house with my own bathroom and a big bed. My family is very sweet and it´s fun to get to know them. Emily, my three year old host neice is really entertaining and I think I will have a lot of fun with her over the next year. I have already started my duties at SECAP by giving the entrance exams yesterday. There is a huge range of ability in a group of about 35 people, whom we will split into 2 intermediate and 2 advanced classes. I will teach advanced (level 6) and then move up with my students for 2 more semesters until they finish the 8-level English program. I´m pumped to get back in the classroom, though there are certainly going to be some challenges at SECAP because they are completely disorganized. On the plus side, though, the other volunteer and I have pretty much total control of the English program there and are free to do whatever we want.
For my cultural experience of the week, I went to the market today. It was Saturday morning so it was especially crazy!! The way it works is that you get a big grated bin that you set in the middle of floor and then pick through all these stalls and bags of fresh produce to find what you want. Nothing is processed or even given a cursory washing before hitting the store, so you just pick through a bunch of dirty boxes and bags. At first I was terrified because it´s a total madhouse and definitely not up to American sanitary standards (think whole pig roasting what is essentially a tin garbage can, intestines piled in a non-refrigerated dish, and sausage hanging from the pipes on the ceiling) but it was kind of refreshing to see everything in a more natural state. Definitely will be sure to wash, peel, and boil all that stuff!! As you get closer to filling your bin, it moves down the line and market workers start assessing how much you bought. Everything is by appearance, not weight, so I was told to pack the green beans tightly into the bag so it looked like there were less. We got probably 25 pounds of fresh produce, everything from sweet tomatoes to potatoes to carrots to bananas for $13.70. Awesome! We caught a ride home from a man who works at the market. His truck is at least 30 years old and really small, so I sat in the back and held on tight as we drove over the cobblestones back home.
Tonight I´m headed over to another volunteer´s house for board game night. Woo! All 5 gringos in Ambato in one place! We are opting for such a tame gathering because this weekend is a dry weekend. From noon on Friday to noon on Monday it is illegal to buy or consume alcohol, due to the referendum that will happen tomorrow. If anyone is caught under the influence in any way, they are put in jail and fined, apparently. I am pumped to see how all the political activity develops over the next couple of days! I´d be interested in seeing if any of this makes US news, so shoot me an e-mail if you see anything about the consitutional referendum or Rafael Correa´s successes or defeats to come.
Again, thanks for reading.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
A Great Weekend
Woohoo, this weekend was awesome.
Our trip to Papallacta was very relaxing. (Except for part of the bus ride where we were on what should have been a one-lane dirt road with a rock wall on one side, a cliff on the other, and a semi truck barrelling down towards us. Somehow the drivers of each massive vehicle managed to figure it out, but it was craaazy!) We did a short hike when we got there, which was kind of like walking through a fairy land with all sorts of vegetation and a beautiful river set in between huge green mountains. Then we went to the hot spring baths to hang out for awhile. Awesome! There is also a spot where you can jump in the river that comes down from the mountains, which I´m going to guess was about 45 degrees. We did that twice and then immediately ran back to the hot springs. After our baths, we got dressed in our comfy clothes and headed down the street for dinner. There are a couple cheapy restaurants in the town that the other vols said were delicious, but my host brother invited me to eat at a nearby hotel, which was more expensive but a great choice. Trout is the main cuisine there, so I ordered trout with a garlic sauce that was amazing. It also came with really fresh vegetables, wine-soaked cabbage, and seasoned potatoes. The mora-guanabana juice was also fantastic. Our meal was about $10 a person, which is total baller style in Ecuador. Usually our almuerzos cost somewhere between $2 and $4 with everything included.
Today I had more delicious food, thanks to the same host brother, Alex. After we played basketball, we decided to save the pan de yuca and yogurt for another time and went to one of his favorite restaurants. We ordered pizzas, salads, and desserts to go and took them back to Alex´s apartment to share. We had a perfectly seasoned and not too heavy white pizza; a pizza with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic; a salad with mango, ham, carrots, and several different types of lettuce; and a mexican-style salad with tortilla chips, black beans, and cheese. For desert we got 2 cheesecakes: almond-macadamia and blackberry. HEAVEN. It was another expensive meal ($25 for four of us, oh my god) but it was absolutely the best food I´ve had in Ecuador and still some of the best food I´ve had anywhere so far in my life. Sure beats an almuerzo of chicken and white rice, which is the standard here.
Basketball was really fun again today and I actually scored some points, which of course made the day even better! I was sad to miss a trip to Ibarra with Jenny and Pablo (my host parents) today, but such is life. Now I have the rest of the day to relax and I think I will watch some good old American TV - we have super cable here! - and read for awhile. The upcoming week is our last of orientation! It´s hard to believe that I have been her for almost a month already. My friend Jess and I, along with our field director, are going out with a bang though. Next Thursday we are all going to a salon that Alex and Javier (again, my host brothers) run/own/I´m not quite sure...to be haircut and makeup models. Should be really really entertaining!
I´m going to attempt to make some more phone calls, since no one out of 5 people answered the first time around. RAWR! But keep reading. Miss you guys! Come visit! Ecuador rules!
Our trip to Papallacta was very relaxing. (Except for part of the bus ride where we were on what should have been a one-lane dirt road with a rock wall on one side, a cliff on the other, and a semi truck barrelling down towards us. Somehow the drivers of each massive vehicle managed to figure it out, but it was craaazy!) We did a short hike when we got there, which was kind of like walking through a fairy land with all sorts of vegetation and a beautiful river set in between huge green mountains. Then we went to the hot spring baths to hang out for awhile. Awesome! There is also a spot where you can jump in the river that comes down from the mountains, which I´m going to guess was about 45 degrees. We did that twice and then immediately ran back to the hot springs. After our baths, we got dressed in our comfy clothes and headed down the street for dinner. There are a couple cheapy restaurants in the town that the other vols said were delicious, but my host brother invited me to eat at a nearby hotel, which was more expensive but a great choice. Trout is the main cuisine there, so I ordered trout with a garlic sauce that was amazing. It also came with really fresh vegetables, wine-soaked cabbage, and seasoned potatoes. The mora-guanabana juice was also fantastic. Our meal was about $10 a person, which is total baller style in Ecuador. Usually our almuerzos cost somewhere between $2 and $4 with everything included.
Today I had more delicious food, thanks to the same host brother, Alex. After we played basketball, we decided to save the pan de yuca and yogurt for another time and went to one of his favorite restaurants. We ordered pizzas, salads, and desserts to go and took them back to Alex´s apartment to share. We had a perfectly seasoned and not too heavy white pizza; a pizza with sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic; a salad with mango, ham, carrots, and several different types of lettuce; and a mexican-style salad with tortilla chips, black beans, and cheese. For desert we got 2 cheesecakes: almond-macadamia and blackberry. HEAVEN. It was another expensive meal ($25 for four of us, oh my god) but it was absolutely the best food I´ve had in Ecuador and still some of the best food I´ve had anywhere so far in my life. Sure beats an almuerzo of chicken and white rice, which is the standard here.
Basketball was really fun again today and I actually scored some points, which of course made the day even better! I was sad to miss a trip to Ibarra with Jenny and Pablo (my host parents) today, but such is life. Now I have the rest of the day to relax and I think I will watch some good old American TV - we have super cable here! - and read for awhile. The upcoming week is our last of orientation! It´s hard to believe that I have been her for almost a month already. My friend Jess and I, along with our field director, are going out with a bang though. Next Thursday we are all going to a salon that Alex and Javier (again, my host brothers) run/own/I´m not quite sure...to be haircut and makeup models. Should be really really entertaining!
I´m going to attempt to make some more phone calls, since no one out of 5 people answered the first time around. RAWR! But keep reading. Miss you guys! Come visit! Ecuador rules!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A Post for Mom
My mother has declared that it is time for a new post, so here I am. I came to the expensive internet cafe today because I wanted to load my pictures and this is the only one I have found so far that has an SD reader in the computer. On that note, I have a confession to make. For those of you who had commented on my previous picture about how beautiful and warm Ecuador looks...sorry, but that was in Puerto Rico a couple of years ago. Now, with my upated blog photo, you can see what Ecuador has to offer on the Equator line. We had a great visit to Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world) and that day it was warm enough to wear a short sleeve shirt. Don´t be fooled though; because Quito is at 9000 feet, it´s not hot. The days can be sunny and in the 70s, but nights get down to around 50. The Quiteños have a saying that the weather is like a woman - it changes its mind every 5 minutes.
Anyway.....
Last weekend was our first real free time during orientation, so I finally had time to relax. I got to sleep in, eat lunch at home with my family, and then my friend Jess and I went over to the house where some of the other volunteers are staying. We played cards and watched Flight of the Conchords and I was asked to stay for dinner. So much fun! Every night they have at least 10 people at their dinner table. The food was delicious and it was great to feel at home with another really sweet Ecuadorian family.
Sunday was another awesome day. I got some good exercise playing basketball with a bunch of other people for about 3 hours. Every weekend my host brother organizes the ´´baller´s club´´ at a court near my house. It was entertaining probably only because most people were just as bad as me. It was a ton of fun though, and I can´t wait to play tomorrow. After our game we are going out for pan de yuca (yuca bread) and yogurt. The variety and flavor of fruit here is amazing and so is everything that has fruit flavors in it, so I´m pumped to try guanabana and granadilla and taxo yogurt. After basketball last weekend, I was Ecua-napped into going to the peluquería with my host mom, Jess, and Jess´s host mom Myriam. (Ecua-napped is a term we use to describe when we just get taken somewhere by our families, generally have no idea what is going on, and it usually takes about 5 times as long as you expect. It happens all the time here and almost always ends with a good story.) Our Ecuamamas brought in their box of hair dye and colored their hair while Jess and I got manicures and pedicures, for $2 each. My nails now look ridiculous, painted bright red and with some flower designs, because in Ecuador you HAVE to get designs. I think the woman would have been offended if I said I just wanted a plain color!
Monday came and it was back to orientation, so life was hectic again. Even though I am exhausted when I get home at night, I really enjoy sitting and talking with my host family. My host mom is so goofy and fun and often talks in Spanglish to me. Her boyfriend Pablo kind of acts as my host father. He is really smart and knows a lot about politics, so we have some interesting discussions. There is quite a bit going on politically in this country and region right now, so I love to get an insider´s perspective. I´m sure the US news hasn´t spoken a word about the Ecuadorian referendum coming up that will either legitimize President Correa or deny him his biggest effort - a new constitution - and probably cause some unrest in the government. Maybe US media picked up on the situations in Bolivia and Venezuela, where they kicked out the US ambassadors. Correa has stated his nominal support for the decisions of Morales and Chavez, but Pablo seems to think that nothing like that will occur in Ecuador. There is no violence and anti-American sentiment seems to be very minimal in my experience. Life is generally quiet and calm in Quito, but there is political propoganda everywhere and people are excited to see what will happen in the referendum next week.
What else?? Oh, yesterday I had a classic Ecuadorian cultural experience. It was the last day of classes for my practice teaching at SECAP in Quito. Naturally, we had a party. Complete with boxed wine in class. HAHA!! We prepared an amazing version of Donna Summer´s ´´I Will Survive´´ for the talent show and rocked the auditorium. I had a great group of students and I will miss them for sure. As we handed out their certificates of completion for the course, I said thank you to my students and told them I was proud of their efforts and progress in the very short 2 weeks. While I was talking, my 70-year old student ran up to the board and wrote: Dear Teacher, Our Eternal Greatful. Definitely love those kind of moments. We stayed until about 10:30 and danced and drank and had an awesome time! I hope my students in Ambato are just as fun!
That´s probably enough for now. I am headed to Papallacta in about an hour for a day trip with some other volunteers. It is a little ´´resort´´ type of town about 2 hours east of Quito that has gorgeous hiking and hot spring baths that you can swim and relax in. Will write again soon!
Anyway.....
Last weekend was our first real free time during orientation, so I finally had time to relax. I got to sleep in, eat lunch at home with my family, and then my friend Jess and I went over to the house where some of the other volunteers are staying. We played cards and watched Flight of the Conchords and I was asked to stay for dinner. So much fun! Every night they have at least 10 people at their dinner table. The food was delicious and it was great to feel at home with another really sweet Ecuadorian family.
Sunday was another awesome day. I got some good exercise playing basketball with a bunch of other people for about 3 hours. Every weekend my host brother organizes the ´´baller´s club´´ at a court near my house. It was entertaining probably only because most people were just as bad as me. It was a ton of fun though, and I can´t wait to play tomorrow. After our game we are going out for pan de yuca (yuca bread) and yogurt. The variety and flavor of fruit here is amazing and so is everything that has fruit flavors in it, so I´m pumped to try guanabana and granadilla and taxo yogurt. After basketball last weekend, I was Ecua-napped into going to the peluquería with my host mom, Jess, and Jess´s host mom Myriam. (Ecua-napped is a term we use to describe when we just get taken somewhere by our families, generally have no idea what is going on, and it usually takes about 5 times as long as you expect. It happens all the time here and almost always ends with a good story.) Our Ecuamamas brought in their box of hair dye and colored their hair while Jess and I got manicures and pedicures, for $2 each. My nails now look ridiculous, painted bright red and with some flower designs, because in Ecuador you HAVE to get designs. I think the woman would have been offended if I said I just wanted a plain color!
Monday came and it was back to orientation, so life was hectic again. Even though I am exhausted when I get home at night, I really enjoy sitting and talking with my host family. My host mom is so goofy and fun and often talks in Spanglish to me. Her boyfriend Pablo kind of acts as my host father. He is really smart and knows a lot about politics, so we have some interesting discussions. There is quite a bit going on politically in this country and region right now, so I love to get an insider´s perspective. I´m sure the US news hasn´t spoken a word about the Ecuadorian referendum coming up that will either legitimize President Correa or deny him his biggest effort - a new constitution - and probably cause some unrest in the government. Maybe US media picked up on the situations in Bolivia and Venezuela, where they kicked out the US ambassadors. Correa has stated his nominal support for the decisions of Morales and Chavez, but Pablo seems to think that nothing like that will occur in Ecuador. There is no violence and anti-American sentiment seems to be very minimal in my experience. Life is generally quiet and calm in Quito, but there is political propoganda everywhere and people are excited to see what will happen in the referendum next week.
What else?? Oh, yesterday I had a classic Ecuadorian cultural experience. It was the last day of classes for my practice teaching at SECAP in Quito. Naturally, we had a party. Complete with boxed wine in class. HAHA!! We prepared an amazing version of Donna Summer´s ´´I Will Survive´´ for the talent show and rocked the auditorium. I had a great group of students and I will miss them for sure. As we handed out their certificates of completion for the course, I said thank you to my students and told them I was proud of their efforts and progress in the very short 2 weeks. While I was talking, my 70-year old student ran up to the board and wrote: Dear Teacher, Our Eternal Greatful. Definitely love those kind of moments. We stayed until about 10:30 and danced and drank and had an awesome time! I hope my students in Ambato are just as fun!
That´s probably enough for now. I am headed to Papallacta in about an hour for a day trip with some other volunteers. It is a little ´´resort´´ type of town about 2 hours east of Quito that has gorgeous hiking and hot spring baths that you can swim and relax in. Will write again soon!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
La Vida Quiteña
Hey Hey Hey...
The days have been busy in Quito lately. I wake up around 5:30 am to get to my spanish class, have orientation for the majority of the day, then teach from 6-8 pm and get home around 9. So forgive my lack of a new entry, but finally I have a moment to update everyone. Thanks again for the comments, its really awesome to hear from everyone. It also makes me feel like writing this blog is not a waste of time.
First, before I forget: I know my contact info now, for those of you who want to spend your energy and money to get ahold of me in some other way than the internet. I have no idea what it would cost for you to call me or mail me a letter, but it´s free for me, so I support your efforts fully. In Ecuador, we keep it simple:
Sara Maki
Casilla 18-01-1164
Ambato, ECUADOR
Phone number (from the US): 011 +593 (9) 548-4529
Highlights from the past week...
1. Went to a World Cup qualifier soccer game between Ecuador and Bolivia, which was fun! I learned lots of bad words and how to use them.
2. Got an orange peel thrown at me by a bus driver (what??? haha) and mustard squirted on my backpack (robbery scam avoided!!). In Quito, you just gotta roll with whatever, even though its so ridiculous sometimes.
3. I´ve been teaching an ESL class of about 20 students, which has been awesome. I looove being in front of a classroom and I can´t wait to move to Ambato where I will have my own students for a whole semester. (To my UB ELI students....I miss you guys!!!)
4. I learned that apparently grocery bags are dirty and you can only put them on the floor.
5. Got offered tongue for lunch, yikes.
6. Sat in a little tienda for about 4 hours and learned Spanish from my 3-year old host neice in Ambato. Not the best plan, since she says ¨puta¨(bitch) instead of ¨fruta¨(fruit). Still, though, her books are great resources and she actually speaks in Spanglish like me now.
7. Am trying to learn the Ecuadorian snap, which is impossible considering that its yourindex and middle finger that have to hit together when you flick your wrist.
8. Went to the Equator and took some excellent tourist-y pictures. Also saw a volcano crater that is north of the city.
I think those are the main things I can think of right now. And I have to get to orientation classes! Talk to y´all soon.
The days have been busy in Quito lately. I wake up around 5:30 am to get to my spanish class, have orientation for the majority of the day, then teach from 6-8 pm and get home around 9. So forgive my lack of a new entry, but finally I have a moment to update everyone. Thanks again for the comments, its really awesome to hear from everyone. It also makes me feel like writing this blog is not a waste of time.
First, before I forget: I know my contact info now, for those of you who want to spend your energy and money to get ahold of me in some other way than the internet. I have no idea what it would cost for you to call me or mail me a letter, but it´s free for me, so I support your efforts fully. In Ecuador, we keep it simple:
Sara Maki
Casilla 18-01-1164
Ambato, ECUADOR
Phone number (from the US): 011 +593 (9) 548-4529
Highlights from the past week...
1. Went to a World Cup qualifier soccer game between Ecuador and Bolivia, which was fun! I learned lots of bad words and how to use them.
2. Got an orange peel thrown at me by a bus driver (what??? haha) and mustard squirted on my backpack (robbery scam avoided!!). In Quito, you just gotta roll with whatever, even though its so ridiculous sometimes.
3. I´ve been teaching an ESL class of about 20 students, which has been awesome. I looove being in front of a classroom and I can´t wait to move to Ambato where I will have my own students for a whole semester. (To my UB ELI students....I miss you guys!!!)
4. I learned that apparently grocery bags are dirty and you can only put them on the floor.
5. Got offered tongue for lunch, yikes.
6. Sat in a little tienda for about 4 hours and learned Spanish from my 3-year old host neice in Ambato. Not the best plan, since she says ¨puta¨(bitch) instead of ¨fruta¨(fruit). Still, though, her books are great resources and she actually speaks in Spanglish like me now.
7. Am trying to learn the Ecuadorian snap, which is impossible considering that its yourindex and middle finger that have to hit together when you flick your wrist.
8. Went to the Equator and took some excellent tourist-y pictures. Also saw a volcano crater that is north of the city.
I think those are the main things I can think of right now. And I have to get to orientation classes! Talk to y´all soon.
Monday, September 1, 2008
Life is Good
WOOHOOO I was so pumped to see that I had 6 comments on my latest blog post. (Yes, mom and dad, I got your ¨test¨ posts.) Thanks guys!! =) Life is still great here in Ecuador.
Today I had my first bus ride commute through Quito...que loco!! My Ecuamami (host mother) walked me and another voluntaria to the bus stop this morning and yelled to the bus driver to tell him exactly where to stop for us. The ride there was only about a half hour, but the ride home was about an hour, including the time that we walked, which was about a third of the way.
A quick FYI for those who want to see some fotos de Ecuador: I forgot my camera cord. I am so used to just putting the SD card right into my computer that I didn´t even think about it. But I promise that as soon as I receive that from the US I will post some pics. Hopefully I will go back to my Ecuafriend Alex´s apartment soon so I can take a picture of the view from his place. It´s absolutely the most beautiful vista I´ve ever seen and I doubt that a picture will capture the beauty of Quito, but it is worth a try. The mountains are awesome....
Speaking of los montañas, I got my ass kicked by the altitude yesterday at our host family picnic. We had a great time playing frisbee and a bit of Ecuavolley, but once the soccer started I was wiiiinded. I really thought I was going to die, but I had to keep playing hard because the loser had to buy the beers. Needless to say, my team won! Ganadores!!! My host brother must not be too enojado still, because I think I am going out for drinks with him tomorrow.
Also mañana I will get my cell phone. I also got my address in Ambato today, though I forgot to bring it across the street to the internet cafe where I am sitting. More info to follow soon. I also need to set up a skype account. They have headsets here at this cafe so that will be okay sometimes! E-mail is so easy though.
I am gonna head back to mi piso to eat dinner, but will check in again soon. Hasta pronto.
Today I had my first bus ride commute through Quito...que loco!! My Ecuamami (host mother) walked me and another voluntaria to the bus stop this morning and yelled to the bus driver to tell him exactly where to stop for us. The ride there was only about a half hour, but the ride home was about an hour, including the time that we walked, which was about a third of the way.
A quick FYI for those who want to see some fotos de Ecuador: I forgot my camera cord. I am so used to just putting the SD card right into my computer that I didn´t even think about it. But I promise that as soon as I receive that from the US I will post some pics. Hopefully I will go back to my Ecuafriend Alex´s apartment soon so I can take a picture of the view from his place. It´s absolutely the most beautiful vista I´ve ever seen and I doubt that a picture will capture the beauty of Quito, but it is worth a try. The mountains are awesome....
Speaking of los montañas, I got my ass kicked by the altitude yesterday at our host family picnic. We had a great time playing frisbee and a bit of Ecuavolley, but once the soccer started I was wiiiinded. I really thought I was going to die, but I had to keep playing hard because the loser had to buy the beers. Needless to say, my team won! Ganadores!!! My host brother must not be too enojado still, because I think I am going out for drinks with him tomorrow.
Also mañana I will get my cell phone. I also got my address in Ambato today, though I forgot to bring it across the street to the internet cafe where I am sitting. More info to follow soon. I also need to set up a skype account. They have headsets here at this cafe so that will be okay sometimes! E-mail is so easy though.
I am gonna head back to mi piso to eat dinner, but will check in again soon. Hasta pronto.
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