So as some of you may know I went back to the US for the holidays. I think the biggest shock was the cold! Woo wee was it cold! It was nice to see everyone, friends and family. I did not feel culture shock of any kind that I noticed. What I did feel was an immense amount of appreciation for all we have as Americans. But mostly I felt very lucky to have such supportive and great friends and family.
10 days went very quick and the next thing I knew I was back to work on the other side of the world.
April fools in Ecuador falls on the 6th of January, which is also my birthday. My host family was nice and bought me a small cake to celebrate the occasion. However they had a fun surprise for me. As I blew out the candles they instantly relit to roars of laughter from the family. This went on for several minutes and I have never seen them laugh so hard. I am sure my face expressed my embarrassment and frustration. Finally I just grabbed the candles and dunked them in water and that was that.
As if the trick candles were not enough… Isabel offered me a piece of gum after I had eaten my piece of cake and I should have known better. Sure enough it turned my tongue black as the night. This was also hilarious to the family and I could not help but laugh at myself. Laughing at myself has become a very important part of my life.
This time of the years is also the festivals for the Virgin Guadalupe here in Baños. It is a pretty exciting time to be here. There are frequent parades and lots of fireworks throughout the days and nights. One of the traditions I participated in was the trek behind the idol of the Virgin. Each barrio (neighborhood) decorates the street with balloons and palms to welcome here.
The trek is about 10 km and the streets were filled with people. Isabel called it a “rio de gente” (river of people) and that is what it looked like. It was estimated to be about 2,000 people.
Another fun aspect of the festivals is the plaza central has tons of little tent restaurants set up. Some serve different kinds of shish kabobs (these are great!). The most common one has sausage, green pepper, onion, hot dog type meat, steak and potatoes served on a plate with it.
Other places are a little fancier and have tables to sit at where you can order the typical two course meal. It is usually soup with a side of mote (boiled corn) and the second course is rice with beans and some kind of meat. The typical soup for this festival is sheep liver, intestine and heart soup. It is not too bad but it takes some getting used to. The limes served with it definitely increase the flavor and make it much more enjoyable. It has taken some time but I am finally starting to enjoy some of the food here I did not like originally.
Several carnival games and rides are also set up in the center. The Ferris wheel looks terrifying. I am not a big fan of heights, but this Ferris wheel in particular scares me. It looks very rickety and to top it off it is set up on the side of a very large hill. My imagination ran wild and I pictured it detaching while I was riding it and rolling down the hill all the way to Cuenca. So I passed on the opportunity to ride it.
Sorry it has been so long since I last updated! I am trying to get back on regular blog schedule.
Tristan....happy to see that you are doing well and learning to like all of the native foods so you don't starve to death. Winter is still with us, and the night time temps are still in the teens.
ReplyDeleteYour blogs are a wonderful way for us to live the life of a PCV, so please keep them coming when time permits.
Em and Greg went cross country by car and are now in their new place at Manhattan Beach in California. More and more of the family seem to be moving west....temps are nice, but maybe not the taxes.
Jenn and Eric are planning a trip to Ireland in mid-Feb so Jenn can take lots of pictures of things to paint. Should be a nice trip for them.......
Nanny is finishing up all of her entries into the Abbey art show, so now I have to frame all of them...keeps us busy.
Had dinner at Frank and Sue's last night....Eric and Jenn were there (your family dropped by for a drink)and we watched the Jets do a job on the Patriots.....what a game...Looked like Brady dropped to the ground a couple of time so he would have to take a hit....well, it cost them. Frank and Eric had some beer there.,..,.,expensive stuff that tasted like the one you gave me only it had a slightly bitter finish. Maybe you have the magic formula....yours was smooth.
Otherwise, please keep us in the loop.....Love and prayers.....Nanny and Grandpa
Hi Tristan,
ReplyDeleteNice update. I am glad to see you returned safely and are back at work. Did you know the Ecuadorian “April Fools” was on Jan 6? That was pretty cute. You must be fitting right in :-)
You are really escaping the cold now, 12F last night, low 20s for the high and this should continue, at least until mid week, then precipitation of some sort. That is probably not a good thing.
Where was the really cool panorama of you taken at the top of the blog?
Cheers,
Richard