It was my host moms birthday and i, like a good daughter made her a cake, it liteterally looked like a piece of rounded out shit but it tasted amazing. After they all laughed and took their first bites with extreme caution i got praise of how good it was and many smiles. Due to the good mood, my host mom, sister and aunt decided to go to a free concert held in a nearby city. It was tuesday night about 9 pm when we left the house. I did not exactly want to go since i thought it was folklore music and this just is not my jam. I was somewhat dragged along, not really expecting much but boy was i surprised.
We arrived at the outdoor concert wherr there were another 2000 costal ecuadorians eagerly awaiting the entrance of the main musician. While the pre show acts were still singing their hearts out at a loudly booing crowd my tiny little host family, tiny meaning short, pulled my arm through the crowd as far front as their little legs could take them. Now lets rewind. I almost 6 feet tall walk into a concert of ecuadorians, immediately i can see directly to the stage from the far back, i can even see the performers feet from my view point. I did a couple 360 circles and noticed the only thing i could see were tops of heads, i made eye contact possibly 3 times with little kids sitting on their dads shoulders. So as i march through the crowd with my tiny family the grumbles got even louder, since ever step i advanced, took away the sight of at least 50 people. Anyway i mede it through without any fights so thats positive. Meanwhile we are all waiting for this main performer named bilma palmar. At about 10 30 he arrived and the crowd went wild. Micheal jackson on his last tour wild. i was like wow this might be good after all. I saw the bass player walk on stage looking like he is right out of some awful emo band, and a tamborine/shaker player with the same getup. Then the guitarist with long curly hair that touches his shoulder blades and a swinging rag in his back pocket, a little 80s but i can deal.
Once the whole crowd was jumping and screaming bilma the bilma took the stage. In his have to jump to get them on black skinny jeans. Black printed t shirt that just fit over his 42 year old bear belly and accompaning man boobs. This was matched with a pair of three stripe white addidas and long blond hair fashioned in quintisencial 1985 bus driver mullet. Within seconds i was jumping with the crowd, who can applaud a man with that much confidence. For the next 2 hours he sang songs that everyone knew the words, and fist pumped at least every 5 minutes. He tried to sing some american rock songs like "if i stay or if i go now" but the all spanish speaking crowd was not so into it. Lets just say with his kareoke voice and lost sense of style the man knows how to get the crowd going. The alcohol was flowing like crazy and they could not get enough.
oh i love this place, but i really miss having other people from the states to share these experiences with
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
my poor mom
It has been a while, almost two months, so sorry kids, a lot has happened, so here is the condensed version.
I found my house, and was working everyday… now that’s a lie, my host dad Vicente worked on it everyday and I showed up for some gringo support. He was a savior. My family was coming about 3 weeks after I signed up for the house, with the plans that they were going to stay with me here for 3 nights or so. That meant we had to attach the side walls to the roof, build two doors, put a kitchen sink in and connect water, connect water to the bathroom sink, and make a drain for the shower. Also change the faucets, buy an oven and gas tank, and somehow find all those other house necessities, like a bed, dishes, pots, seats, maybe a dresser and so on. So I gave all that I could meaning money, and Vicente and my landlord got it ready. I lucked out hard core on my host family, they almost fully furnished my house and lent me three extra beds for my family that they borrowed from friends and neighbors. Oh, the biggest project of all this was to re do the bathroom, by laying tile, painting, finally buying a mirror, and I must say I cant stop looking at it :) Anyway during all this mess I found out I had an UTI, yeah I know lovely, and the same day also figured out I had head lice, it was an awesome day. I got some medications no problem, but head lice in Ecuador are like roaches, they can live through everything. I daily shampooed with the killing shampoo for like two weeks, and had my host sister pick through my hair two different times, two hours each sitting. I think they finally might be gone…
In my last two weeks at my host families house I was served guinea pig, deer, and multiple whole fish about the size of my man hand which I ate all with a spoon. Guinea pig is traditionally from the mountains of Ecuador but my host mom had two growing and one day the pet dog crunched them, so after many tears marina cooked them up, lets just say not horrible tasting but really not worth the work. There is nothing on those little shits. The deer my host brother watched die somewhere and by bringing it to a vendor he got some to take home and 30 bucks. I was not so pumped to have eaten a deer that died of an infected wound but what can you do. Then the fish, there are at least 500 bones in a fish the size of your hand, I am now an expert and probably can filet any size with my new found knowledge of their internal structures.
Highlight of the past two months was the visit of my parents. Super freaking cool. We built a roof on a gazebo in my park. Planted a garden, danced in the town square, in proto lopez we went whale watching and saw blue footed boobies, plus red footed boobies, and another not every colorful boobie. In mindo we went zip lining over the canopy of a cloud forest through a course of 8 lines, we went partners, upside down, superman style, all while I got to interpret the safety directions to my non Spanish speaking family, you can really get them to believe anything. We then went horseback riding, with my mom that is terrified of horses, my brother and matt that are about the same size of an Ecuadorian horse, and my sister and I who really have no prior experience. While the 15 year old guide was jamming out to his ipod, my brother legs were almost dragging on the ground, my mom could not get hers to move, and my sister and my horse were playing follow the leader, until they decided to race. And yes I mean full gallop race down a path with no care of who was on their back. I actually thought this was the end of my life, as I was bouncing up and down holding on for dear life and screaming, my sister was laughing while also peeing her pants a little, until finally they got tired or something and stopped. About 20 minutes later the guide caught up and brought us back to base camp. Only to find out that matts horse tried to not only brush him off on a tree but also tried to launch him off by jumping with the front two legs. I could not sit right for a couple days, but really “only in Ecuador.” We then went to the tena and got to see the jungle, with monkeys and a huge snake, and beautiful butterflies. Oh and I got to eat some really tastey filet mignons. Really awesome trip, next time any of you see my mom tell her you are proud, cause we kinda made her go through hell in Ecuador in all of our adventures. Did I mention we climbed vertically up a mountain side and repelled down the other side of shear rock wall. Mom your awesome.
So now I am back in my house, its great. One downfall, I have to learn how to cook from scratch, has not gone so well so far, but hey I will either come out of this skinny or the next Julie Childs. Tonight is potatoes, shrimp, and string beans :)
I found my house, and was working everyday… now that’s a lie, my host dad Vicente worked on it everyday and I showed up for some gringo support. He was a savior. My family was coming about 3 weeks after I signed up for the house, with the plans that they were going to stay with me here for 3 nights or so. That meant we had to attach the side walls to the roof, build two doors, put a kitchen sink in and connect water, connect water to the bathroom sink, and make a drain for the shower. Also change the faucets, buy an oven and gas tank, and somehow find all those other house necessities, like a bed, dishes, pots, seats, maybe a dresser and so on. So I gave all that I could meaning money, and Vicente and my landlord got it ready. I lucked out hard core on my host family, they almost fully furnished my house and lent me three extra beds for my family that they borrowed from friends and neighbors. Oh, the biggest project of all this was to re do the bathroom, by laying tile, painting, finally buying a mirror, and I must say I cant stop looking at it :) Anyway during all this mess I found out I had an UTI, yeah I know lovely, and the same day also figured out I had head lice, it was an awesome day. I got some medications no problem, but head lice in Ecuador are like roaches, they can live through everything. I daily shampooed with the killing shampoo for like two weeks, and had my host sister pick through my hair two different times, two hours each sitting. I think they finally might be gone…
In my last two weeks at my host families house I was served guinea pig, deer, and multiple whole fish about the size of my man hand which I ate all with a spoon. Guinea pig is traditionally from the mountains of Ecuador but my host mom had two growing and one day the pet dog crunched them, so after many tears marina cooked them up, lets just say not horrible tasting but really not worth the work. There is nothing on those little shits. The deer my host brother watched die somewhere and by bringing it to a vendor he got some to take home and 30 bucks. I was not so pumped to have eaten a deer that died of an infected wound but what can you do. Then the fish, there are at least 500 bones in a fish the size of your hand, I am now an expert and probably can filet any size with my new found knowledge of their internal structures.
Highlight of the past two months was the visit of my parents. Super freaking cool. We built a roof on a gazebo in my park. Planted a garden, danced in the town square, in proto lopez we went whale watching and saw blue footed boobies, plus red footed boobies, and another not every colorful boobie. In mindo we went zip lining over the canopy of a cloud forest through a course of 8 lines, we went partners, upside down, superman style, all while I got to interpret the safety directions to my non Spanish speaking family, you can really get them to believe anything. We then went horseback riding, with my mom that is terrified of horses, my brother and matt that are about the same size of an Ecuadorian horse, and my sister and I who really have no prior experience. While the 15 year old guide was jamming out to his ipod, my brother legs were almost dragging on the ground, my mom could not get hers to move, and my sister and my horse were playing follow the leader, until they decided to race. And yes I mean full gallop race down a path with no care of who was on their back. I actually thought this was the end of my life, as I was bouncing up and down holding on for dear life and screaming, my sister was laughing while also peeing her pants a little, until finally they got tired or something and stopped. About 20 minutes later the guide caught up and brought us back to base camp. Only to find out that matts horse tried to not only brush him off on a tree but also tried to launch him off by jumping with the front two legs. I could not sit right for a couple days, but really “only in Ecuador.” We then went to the tena and got to see the jungle, with monkeys and a huge snake, and beautiful butterflies. Oh and I got to eat some really tastey filet mignons. Really awesome trip, next time any of you see my mom tell her you are proud, cause we kinda made her go through hell in Ecuador in all of our adventures. Did I mention we climbed vertically up a mountain side and repelled down the other side of shear rock wall. Mom your awesome.
So now I am back in my house, its great. One downfall, I have to learn how to cook from scratch, has not gone so well so far, but hey I will either come out of this skinny or the next Julie Childs. Tonight is potatoes, shrimp, and string beans :)
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Boys
So don’t get too excited, my love life is anything but booming, it just that in the past couple weeks I have had some very interesting encounters with the opposite sex. Well, as you might have assumed by now, my life is a little lame when it comes to traditional North American views of having a fun night. The highlight of my weekends is normally having a movie night with my youth group. But the fiestas of my town came around, two weekends ago, and my night life took a huge upward surge. We had a beauty pageant, which I am highly considering entering for next year. There was also a burning of this large structure called the castilla, they start at the bottom lighting some small fireworks and then it progresses upward lighting of more spinning, twirling explosions for about two stories in height and at the end 4 or 5 huge fireworks get set off for the finale. Before this spectacular, they had a guy carry a fake cow resemblance on his head and called him the “vaca loco” meaning crazy cow. This was all somewhat amusing until I realized this fake cow structure was loaded with pyrotechnics that would set off at undetermined intervals as he was running through the crowd. This is where I will add no exaggeration, this vaca loco’s main purpose was to scare the shit out of everyone, make every small child cry, and grown men flinch as he seemingly tried to light the crowd on fire with his fireworks. Possibly one of the most dangerous events I have ever atteneded, not to mention there were no firefighters in sight, I just kept saying “not cool” as I watched the crowd scream in terror, but yes it was amusing. The last event of the three day fiestas is a big parade through the streets, I walked with the high school, it was definitely not very exciting.
Now for the good part, every night starting at about 10 or so there is a dance. For the more mundane music, there is a band in the street for the parents to get their groove on, and drink as much beer as possible. For the younger crowd there is this basement type cell, with all the lightings, and sounds of a night club. The cell is about the size of my parents family room that comes equipped with no windows, fans, or any type of ventilation except for the front door that is about the size of a Bilbo Baggins entry. I literally have never felt taller in my life, but across the very dark, incredibly hot space, I spotted a boy that also looked taller than everyone. Being my sometimes over conceded joking self, I told the kids I went with that I was going to make him my boyfriend. That night he had two girl counterparts so I laid off hoping I might get another chance. And I did. The next night, and last night of the fiestas, I went back to the dance cell, and tall boy was there, without girl counterparts. Within 20 minutes of my entrance he came over and asked me to dance (I guess my previous nights scope out/stare down got my point across) I danced with him until I was sweating, literally dripping, on to the ground and then took a break until he asked me to dance again. This whole process of dancing, dripping, cool down, happened about 4 or 5 times, it was then he asked me to go sit on the church steps, and talk, so I will cut to the chase. In about 20 minutes or so he told me he was looking for his soul mate and think he found it in me, and would really like to be my boyfriend. This all happened without even holding hands, nothing. I could not stop laughing and told him I would tell him in a week.
So I think I am going to lay low for a while, this was just way to much excitement.
Now for the good part, every night starting at about 10 or so there is a dance. For the more mundane music, there is a band in the street for the parents to get their groove on, and drink as much beer as possible. For the younger crowd there is this basement type cell, with all the lightings, and sounds of a night club. The cell is about the size of my parents family room that comes equipped with no windows, fans, or any type of ventilation except for the front door that is about the size of a Bilbo Baggins entry. I literally have never felt taller in my life, but across the very dark, incredibly hot space, I spotted a boy that also looked taller than everyone. Being my sometimes over conceded joking self, I told the kids I went with that I was going to make him my boyfriend. That night he had two girl counterparts so I laid off hoping I might get another chance. And I did. The next night, and last night of the fiestas, I went back to the dance cell, and tall boy was there, without girl counterparts. Within 20 minutes of my entrance he came over and asked me to dance (I guess my previous nights scope out/stare down got my point across) I danced with him until I was sweating, literally dripping, on to the ground and then took a break until he asked me to dance again. This whole process of dancing, dripping, cool down, happened about 4 or 5 times, it was then he asked me to go sit on the church steps, and talk, so I will cut to the chase. In about 20 minutes or so he told me he was looking for his soul mate and think he found it in me, and would really like to be my boyfriend. This all happened without even holding hands, nothing. I could not stop laughing and told him I would tell him in a week.
So I think I am going to lay low for a while, this was just way to much excitement.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Hot sauce and hair cutting
Since the beginning of June I have been baptized, became a god mother, and started to feel comfortable with my new home of Ecuador. Yeah its been a good month. Now for a little explanation…
My high school, where I am still “teaching” English three times a week has a yearly celebration called the Nobatada. At said celebration the senior class baptizes the seventh graders, who are the youngest grade in the high school. The baptism is a loose interpretation of what you would see in the church. One senior dresses as the father, there are a couple nuns and other bishops. Then there are three very important devils in tight spandex red outfits sucking on lollipops continuously grinding with the father. I cannot forget to mention that the father is also drunk and smoking weed. After a lengthy presentation of how uncatholic they can be the seniors bring the small innocent seventh graders forward one by one to give them the body of the Christ, being a candy ball with an inside of something grotesque. Each poor kids face turned immediately upside down as soon as one was shoved into his/her mouth, quite hilarious to watch. This year the high school has like 6 new teachers or something crazy, so they decided to make it a full baptism by calling all of us new-bees up. I took my place in front of the father, after I shaked my ass a little for the crowd, and then got to try such wonderful body of Christ, quickly realizing why all the sour faces, because the candy ball was filled with hot sauce!!!! Not sure if you have ever witnessed me eat anything spicy before, but I am one of those kids, yeah one of those who tears up a little, sweats, and looks like she is going to barf. I cannot even explain how awful it was, then they poured water on my head while I was wearing very thin white shorts, luckily they dry quickly.
As for being a god mother, every kid in Ecuador has the pleasure of having three godmothers. One for baptism, one for the first nail clipping, and a third for the first hair cut. Yeah, I am not kidding. This week I was blessed with the opportunity to be a godmother of the first hair cut for Francesco. I will preface this by, it did not go so well and will now explain with some imagery. Take my regular sized hands of a man, put some children’s school scissors in them, and then place a small child in front of them who cannot sit in one place for longer than a second, ok, let describe the kid more accurately like a goldfish, attention span of nothing and always on the move. Not to mention the hair was completely dry and the small child is highly irritated by anything close to his ears. After one snip I told them I did not want to continue on, oh but I did. Seriously, I felt horrible after I saw what I did to this poor kids head. Not one hair was the same length as the next and there is an obvious chunk missing the middle of his head in the back. But they told me I did great and today Francesco asked me to pick him up, we are almost friends.
Why am I starting to feel comfortable? It simple and for anyone that has lived with me for any period of time over a month will fully understand. I have started to only shower twice a week. I am on a Sunday, and Thursday ritual now. I might take another shower during the week if I do any type of hard exercise but even then it all depends on how long of a time period it is between the stopping of dripping sweat and reaching my house. If the equation leads to more than two hours, I probably wont shower. But again if you have ever lived with or near me this is no surprise. I have always like to savior my showers by not taking them often so when I do they are that much better. Plus the not having a mirror thing takes away that whole idea that my hair is greasy cause really I have no idea, and having to shower in ice water also does little to promote the idea of taking them more frequently.
Few other side notes: I got the opportunity to talk to one of the local prostitutes that works illegally in my town with some visiting med students. We learned some awesome things, like she gets tested monthly for STD’s and AIDS, she makes about $5 per visit, and told us she always uses condoms with her guests. She was also very grateful that we came to visit because most people regard her as trash. It was actually a really cool experience, so if you ever find yourself with some friends passing by the local brothel, take a break from your busy lives and talk to one of the ladies, it’s great. I also have started to play basketball with the kids in my town, let just say I might as well be Michael Jordan to these kids. They have no chance with my height and that I have been taught how to dribble. To negate their downfalls they have resorted to literally jumping on my back every time I have the ball. Very soon I will be have a small info sesch on the rules.
My high school, where I am still “teaching” English three times a week has a yearly celebration called the Nobatada. At said celebration the senior class baptizes the seventh graders, who are the youngest grade in the high school. The baptism is a loose interpretation of what you would see in the church. One senior dresses as the father, there are a couple nuns and other bishops. Then there are three very important devils in tight spandex red outfits sucking on lollipops continuously grinding with the father. I cannot forget to mention that the father is also drunk and smoking weed. After a lengthy presentation of how uncatholic they can be the seniors bring the small innocent seventh graders forward one by one to give them the body of the Christ, being a candy ball with an inside of something grotesque. Each poor kids face turned immediately upside down as soon as one was shoved into his/her mouth, quite hilarious to watch. This year the high school has like 6 new teachers or something crazy, so they decided to make it a full baptism by calling all of us new-bees up. I took my place in front of the father, after I shaked my ass a little for the crowd, and then got to try such wonderful body of Christ, quickly realizing why all the sour faces, because the candy ball was filled with hot sauce!!!! Not sure if you have ever witnessed me eat anything spicy before, but I am one of those kids, yeah one of those who tears up a little, sweats, and looks like she is going to barf. I cannot even explain how awful it was, then they poured water on my head while I was wearing very thin white shorts, luckily they dry quickly.
As for being a god mother, every kid in Ecuador has the pleasure of having three godmothers. One for baptism, one for the first nail clipping, and a third for the first hair cut. Yeah, I am not kidding. This week I was blessed with the opportunity to be a godmother of the first hair cut for Francesco. I will preface this by, it did not go so well and will now explain with some imagery. Take my regular sized hands of a man, put some children’s school scissors in them, and then place a small child in front of them who cannot sit in one place for longer than a second, ok, let describe the kid more accurately like a goldfish, attention span of nothing and always on the move. Not to mention the hair was completely dry and the small child is highly irritated by anything close to his ears. After one snip I told them I did not want to continue on, oh but I did. Seriously, I felt horrible after I saw what I did to this poor kids head. Not one hair was the same length as the next and there is an obvious chunk missing the middle of his head in the back. But they told me I did great and today Francesco asked me to pick him up, we are almost friends.
Why am I starting to feel comfortable? It simple and for anyone that has lived with me for any period of time over a month will fully understand. I have started to only shower twice a week. I am on a Sunday, and Thursday ritual now. I might take another shower during the week if I do any type of hard exercise but even then it all depends on how long of a time period it is between the stopping of dripping sweat and reaching my house. If the equation leads to more than two hours, I probably wont shower. But again if you have ever lived with or near me this is no surprise. I have always like to savior my showers by not taking them often so when I do they are that much better. Plus the not having a mirror thing takes away that whole idea that my hair is greasy cause really I have no idea, and having to shower in ice water also does little to promote the idea of taking them more frequently.
Few other side notes: I got the opportunity to talk to one of the local prostitutes that works illegally in my town with some visiting med students. We learned some awesome things, like she gets tested monthly for STD’s and AIDS, she makes about $5 per visit, and told us she always uses condoms with her guests. She was also very grateful that we came to visit because most people regard her as trash. It was actually a really cool experience, so if you ever find yourself with some friends passing by the local brothel, take a break from your busy lives and talk to one of the ladies, it’s great. I also have started to play basketball with the kids in my town, let just say I might as well be Michael Jordan to these kids. They have no chance with my height and that I have been taught how to dribble. To negate their downfalls they have resorted to literally jumping on my back every time I have the ball. Very soon I will be have a small info sesch on the rules.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Motor oil... what?
I officially have two and a half friends. They are a 17 year old, and 15 year old and a 14 year old boys in my town. The half is because i dont think the 14 year old would hang out with me if it was not for the other two. Well, I was pretty desperate one friday evening as i was planning my 10 o`clock bedtime and comtimplating whether i wanted to watch the only movie i have over agian and i heard some of the neighborhood kids outside so i went to join them. We got into conversation of bad words in english, and in this low, i have no life, i feel like a grandmom, i gave in and started to teach them the finer words in our lovely language. This of course escalated, of which i wont go into many details, but the one kid asked what you should use for lubricant, and before i could respond his friend said, well of course motor oil. Yes, he said motor oil. I almost lost my cool immediately but decided instead to use it as an awesome informal education moment. I quickly dispelled the beliefe that motor can be used, and that not only can you not use it but it might actually kill the girl. So if you were wondering what jrex was doing in Ecuador to help save the world, rest assure, that i am saving lives, dispelling one myth at a time. Oh and making some awesome friends.
Me and said friends are going tomorrow to buy seeds for the garden we are growing with the youth group, also buying movies and baking ingredients because this saturday we are playing movies for the town to raise some money and selling COOKIES!!! Not sure if i can describe how pumped i am for cookies its been a while.
My counterparts Aleida and Gonzalo gave me a bike so that i dont have to walk 25 minutes to school everyday, i rode it one day and now i cant sit down because my butt is so bruised from the bumpy dirt road and the bad positioning of my bones, I walked the bike back, my town laughed at me. I am going to see what i can do about a new more comfortable seat. Also i was invited to be apart of the high school baptism that they do every year where the seniors baptize the seventh graders. I asked what they wanted me to do and was told that i should be the devil. Beside the initial hurt i asked what the job of the devil was and it is to wear a very small red outfit with a tail and grind with the priest. I think i am going to dodge this one with all my effort. Not really in my plans to get down to reaggeton with a 17 year old student of mine.
Besides that i am eating a lot of fish, still dont think i like fish, but it goes down, and they are starting to give me smaller portions. not much smaller but anything helps.
Me and said friends are going tomorrow to buy seeds for the garden we are growing with the youth group, also buying movies and baking ingredients because this saturday we are playing movies for the town to raise some money and selling COOKIES!!! Not sure if i can describe how pumped i am for cookies its been a while.
My counterparts Aleida and Gonzalo gave me a bike so that i dont have to walk 25 minutes to school everyday, i rode it one day and now i cant sit down because my butt is so bruised from the bumpy dirt road and the bad positioning of my bones, I walked the bike back, my town laughed at me. I am going to see what i can do about a new more comfortable seat. Also i was invited to be apart of the high school baptism that they do every year where the seniors baptize the seventh graders. I asked what they wanted me to do and was told that i should be the devil. Beside the initial hurt i asked what the job of the devil was and it is to wear a very small red outfit with a tail and grind with the priest. I think i am going to dodge this one with all my effort. Not really in my plans to get down to reaggeton with a 17 year old student of mine.
Besides that i am eating a lot of fish, still dont think i like fish, but it goes down, and they are starting to give me smaller portions. not much smaller but anything helps.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Baby´s dont like mustard
I have mentioned before that i live with a family that has a one and a half year old little boy running around being a tyrant at all times. Me and him are not what you would call good friends, but we have this special pact. He loves food, and i always have extra, i also eat by myself inside cause my mom says i will get eaten by mosquitos if i eat outside sooo... little baby is always at my lap smiling to be fed, and what does he get? He gets rice, white lovely rice, and i get to bring my plate back with a little less food on it, could not have created a better solution if i tried.
So little baby boy, named Franchesco, is being weened off of breast feeding. But Franchesco really likes breast milk and i think just the whole aroma around the feeding time. Anyway, to get him to not appreciate his moms boob, she smears mustard on it and when he asks/cries for some milk, him mom pulls out her mustard covered tit and chases him around with it. Yes chases him around cause the whole family is there cracking up thinking this is soo funny and completely normal. I have to agree it is hilarious cause Franchesco really does not like mustard and just seeing the family laugh while my sister has her boob hanging out makes me appreciate my surroundings so miuch.
My family here on the coast has a washing machine, i was sooo pumped! Sunday morning i went to use the washing maching thinking, i have it made in the shade (aka not having to scrub my clothes by hand in the sun) After the cycle was over, my mom told me to bring my clothes over to the washing tubs and proceeded to have me scrub my clothes by hand. Four different times. and then a rinse out cycle. WHY THE HELL DO THEY USE THE WASHING MACHINE??? have not figured it out yet either :( quickly became not so pumped, oh and of course they find me completely amusing laughing at the sweat rolling down my face.
I was also taught how to clean a fish, and brought to the lovely sardine "factory" The main reason i never liked/ate fish is that horrible smell before it gets cooked, not sure the sardine factory helped, and when i say factory i mean a tin roof about 100 feet long with tables of fish under it and men and women descaleing, then chopping off their head, tail, and intestines, in such a rythmic fashion you cant peel your eyes away. They get 30 cents a bucket and can make like $15 a day which is awesome since monthly family income is around $180 per month.
Me and my family are bonding and in a couple weeks i think i am going to start teaching an areobics class... yeah call me bo banks i am going to put these ladies through some serious cardio hahahahaha
So little baby boy, named Franchesco, is being weened off of breast feeding. But Franchesco really likes breast milk and i think just the whole aroma around the feeding time. Anyway, to get him to not appreciate his moms boob, she smears mustard on it and when he asks/cries for some milk, him mom pulls out her mustard covered tit and chases him around with it. Yes chases him around cause the whole family is there cracking up thinking this is soo funny and completely normal. I have to agree it is hilarious cause Franchesco really does not like mustard and just seeing the family laugh while my sister has her boob hanging out makes me appreciate my surroundings so miuch.
My family here on the coast has a washing machine, i was sooo pumped! Sunday morning i went to use the washing maching thinking, i have it made in the shade (aka not having to scrub my clothes by hand in the sun) After the cycle was over, my mom told me to bring my clothes over to the washing tubs and proceeded to have me scrub my clothes by hand. Four different times. and then a rinse out cycle. WHY THE HELL DO THEY USE THE WASHING MACHINE??? have not figured it out yet either :( quickly became not so pumped, oh and of course they find me completely amusing laughing at the sweat rolling down my face.
I was also taught how to clean a fish, and brought to the lovely sardine "factory" The main reason i never liked/ate fish is that horrible smell before it gets cooked, not sure the sardine factory helped, and when i say factory i mean a tin roof about 100 feet long with tables of fish under it and men and women descaleing, then chopping off their head, tail, and intestines, in such a rythmic fashion you cant peel your eyes away. They get 30 cents a bucket and can make like $15 a day which is awesome since monthly family income is around $180 per month.
Me and my family are bonding and in a couple weeks i think i am going to start teaching an areobics class... yeah call me bo banks i am going to put these ladies through some serious cardio hahahahaha
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
of course it still runs
I am going to concentrate this post on my daily surroundings so whoever decides to read it has a better understanding on what i see everyday. I might get off track, sorry.
My little neighborhood is made up of 44 houses, not all of them are occupied, but there are 44 houses. They were placed in perfect order, 5 rows, with 10 plots in each, one is occcpied by a "park", another by a communuty center, another by a day care center, and a few others that have nothing on them. In two months i will be moving into the aforementioned day car center, fully painted with pooh bear, tigger, rainbows, and butterflies, but not gonna lie i am PUMPED! Why you ask... well the house i live in now is probably one of the more luxureous of the neighborhood. In total it is about the size of my family room including the bathroom in pennsylvania. It is cement blocks put together in a rectangle with a wall down the center splitting off the bedrooms. One side of the wall has a plastic couch, and a tv, also a bathroom with running water and huge shower, the other side was split into three rooms, mine is the middle. I originally thought that cement walls would be good sound barriers, but alas nope. They hear me every time i have explosive diahrrea, and i hear my dad snoring at night, though that just reminds me of home. What does not remind me of home, is a 1 and 1/2 year old nephew that i have. he is absolutely adorable and then he starts crying at 3 am. Still love him though, but i think i will love him even more from my own house. Hot water does not exsist, only water that was sitting in the pipes and the sun heated it up, but that ends in about t minus 10 seconds, never knew i would thouroughly enjoy a cold shower, but i do, i do a lot.
Other point. i would really really like to sleep until 9 am, and watch a movie in the middle of the day, or lay in a hammock reading my book. BUT (big but) my family is expecting so much of me, every day i wake up and they ask me what i am going to do, when i lack and awesome answer i see their dissapointment. I am living there for no rent and they feed me like crazy, so i really do need to prove my worth, but i cant wait to live in my own place. Oh and once i move i am buying a dog so i have an obligatory friend. Oh and i then get to cook for myself and maybe never eat rice again.
To get away from my town, that is to go to school, to get lunch, to get the internet, to see life, i have to either walk for 25 minutes and arrive soaked or take a truck. Obviously taking a truck is preferable, but they never come around, i end up waiting for an hour or more until a car comes so i can get on with my day. The cars here ligitametly look like they were found in a junk yard and with some gas and a high spirit they run. The other day i got a ride with my family in a short bus. Imagine, outside colored the brillant array of lime green, blue, and orange fringes. Driver sits on a lawn chair rigged to the floor, i sit on a metal bench. There are 5 full cracks going from top to bottom of the windsheild rigt infront of the dirvers face. The stick shift is just barely in reach of the driver if he stays in the low gears, reverse is out of the question, and obviously none of the meters on his dash have worked in years. Astonishingly enough I am comfortable.
Mothers day is a HUGE deal here. the school has a big program for all the moms to come, and as i witnessed, embarress themselves full time. The different grades make recycles outfits that the moms wear for a fashion show. They make them do potato sack races, and carry a lemon on a spoon in your mouth. Its two hours of making moms do ridiculous things, but they get presents for it. Then the whole weekend everyone gets wasted in celebration of their moms. I think i might try to bring this tradition back with me. They stay up drinking in the streets playing music, and dancing till around 4 or later. It was pretty incridible, as an outsider i kept having to remind myself that this is for mothers day. So i definietly drank one for you mom :)
Also if you read my last blog, i will let you know that i am not gaining weight. Not sure how it is possible but i recently saw a mirror, and got to see what i looked like. Havent really changed much, fit into my tight clothes a little better, and got somewhat of a tan going on. I can only attribute the lack of extra poundage on the extreme loss of daily water weight. but i am not complaining. I also went for a run yesterday and got chased for 10 minutes by a pack (10+) dogs, barking biting at me. I definetly peed a little bit as snapping mouths were only centimeters from my ankles, it was like i could already see the blood spewing. Made me run faster though, but probably not going to take that path again.
also i saw a real city, with life, and people, and restaurants of more than one food choice, it was incredible.
My little neighborhood is made up of 44 houses, not all of them are occupied, but there are 44 houses. They were placed in perfect order, 5 rows, with 10 plots in each, one is occcpied by a "park", another by a communuty center, another by a day care center, and a few others that have nothing on them. In two months i will be moving into the aforementioned day car center, fully painted with pooh bear, tigger, rainbows, and butterflies, but not gonna lie i am PUMPED! Why you ask... well the house i live in now is probably one of the more luxureous of the neighborhood. In total it is about the size of my family room including the bathroom in pennsylvania. It is cement blocks put together in a rectangle with a wall down the center splitting off the bedrooms. One side of the wall has a plastic couch, and a tv, also a bathroom with running water and huge shower, the other side was split into three rooms, mine is the middle. I originally thought that cement walls would be good sound barriers, but alas nope. They hear me every time i have explosive diahrrea, and i hear my dad snoring at night, though that just reminds me of home. What does not remind me of home, is a 1 and 1/2 year old nephew that i have. he is absolutely adorable and then he starts crying at 3 am. Still love him though, but i think i will love him even more from my own house. Hot water does not exsist, only water that was sitting in the pipes and the sun heated it up, but that ends in about t minus 10 seconds, never knew i would thouroughly enjoy a cold shower, but i do, i do a lot.
Other point. i would really really like to sleep until 9 am, and watch a movie in the middle of the day, or lay in a hammock reading my book. BUT (big but) my family is expecting so much of me, every day i wake up and they ask me what i am going to do, when i lack and awesome answer i see their dissapointment. I am living there for no rent and they feed me like crazy, so i really do need to prove my worth, but i cant wait to live in my own place. Oh and once i move i am buying a dog so i have an obligatory friend. Oh and i then get to cook for myself and maybe never eat rice again.
To get away from my town, that is to go to school, to get lunch, to get the internet, to see life, i have to either walk for 25 minutes and arrive soaked or take a truck. Obviously taking a truck is preferable, but they never come around, i end up waiting for an hour or more until a car comes so i can get on with my day. The cars here ligitametly look like they were found in a junk yard and with some gas and a high spirit they run. The other day i got a ride with my family in a short bus. Imagine, outside colored the brillant array of lime green, blue, and orange fringes. Driver sits on a lawn chair rigged to the floor, i sit on a metal bench. There are 5 full cracks going from top to bottom of the windsheild rigt infront of the dirvers face. The stick shift is just barely in reach of the driver if he stays in the low gears, reverse is out of the question, and obviously none of the meters on his dash have worked in years. Astonishingly enough I am comfortable.
Mothers day is a HUGE deal here. the school has a big program for all the moms to come, and as i witnessed, embarress themselves full time. The different grades make recycles outfits that the moms wear for a fashion show. They make them do potato sack races, and carry a lemon on a spoon in your mouth. Its two hours of making moms do ridiculous things, but they get presents for it. Then the whole weekend everyone gets wasted in celebration of their moms. I think i might try to bring this tradition back with me. They stay up drinking in the streets playing music, and dancing till around 4 or later. It was pretty incridible, as an outsider i kept having to remind myself that this is for mothers day. So i definietly drank one for you mom :)
Also if you read my last blog, i will let you know that i am not gaining weight. Not sure how it is possible but i recently saw a mirror, and got to see what i looked like. Havent really changed much, fit into my tight clothes a little better, and got somewhat of a tan going on. I can only attribute the lack of extra poundage on the extreme loss of daily water weight. but i am not complaining. I also went for a run yesterday and got chased for 10 minutes by a pack (10+) dogs, barking biting at me. I definetly peed a little bit as snapping mouths were only centimeters from my ankles, it was like i could already see the blood spewing. Made me run faster though, but probably not going to take that path again.
also i saw a real city, with life, and people, and restaurants of more than one food choice, it was incredible.
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