Hey everyone, this is my first attempt at a video blog!
It is me and Isa (my host mother) killing, preparing and cooking a chicken, enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj4Kr0T3-BE
(Copy the link into your browser to watch)
If you find that gross, check out this article Rick sent to me about chicken nuggets...
http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/10/chicken-nuggets-made-from-pink-goo/
Monday, January 24, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Keep on bloggin'
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.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Justin Bieber seriously injured while not playing Beach Rugby
December 11-12, 2010
Sometimes in life, hard work goes unnoticed and worse, unappreciated. This weekend, that was
not the case.
We left around 11pm-ish Friday night to head to Manta for the Beach Rugby Tournament. Half of the bus belonged to us and the other half belonged to the other Cuenca rugby team. Like always, I slept for most of the ride.
Around 7 am at our hostel with a beach front view! Awesome! The weather was a little overcast and the heat of the day had not yet arrived.
While everyone got settled in I went in search of some fruit for snacks in between games. Like most things here, it turned into an adventure.. One of the Christians on the team joined me for the walk. The streets were pretty empty of cars and traffic which is not too strange for a Saturday morning. We followed the directions of walking 6 blocks and turning left away from the beach. When we did so, I found were all the people in Manta were.
The streets were lined with tent and other type of temporary store fronts selling everything. The scene reminded me a lot of the Italian market in Philadelphia but with wayyyyyy more people and cars and bicycle venders. Of course not expecting to find this treasure I did not have my camera. Within seconds we found a banana vender and then a orange vender. The orange vender tried to give us his worst oranges but we were having none of that and made him empty the bag he had filled and start over. In total I was nearly run over 6 times and most near misses were from bicyclists.
Around 10 am we all piled back into the bus to head to Tarqui beach where the tournament was being held.
The brackets were decided and one of the teams in our bracket was the Quito team that won the 7’s tournament this past weekend. It was not going to be an easy road if we were to win.
The first game we played was a bit lopsided in our favor. The next two games were barely won, by a margin of 4 points in one game and against the Quito team we won by 2.
We were all ecstatic to make it to the finals which happen the next day!
Before heading back to the hostal for some much needed food, we all went for a swim in the ocean. The water was a perfect temperature and there were some good waves. We even got to see some surfers in action.
My night was spent hanging out with some other PCVs who were in town for the weekend. We ate seafood at a beach shack and later sipped some beers on the beach.
Sunday…
The team was all warmed up and ready to go. Their energy and focus was clear, they had to win.
The Nomads are a much taller team, each one of their players had a good few inches on the players on my team. They also have a few foreigners on their team (French, English and American) who grew up with rugby.
The Nomads were the first score but they missed point after. Shortly after the Aguila’s answered back and made the extra points. 7-5
Late in the last half with the score tied 12-12 one of my players was sent to the sin bin for “being too rough” for two minutes with only a minute left. This was not good. The
Aguilas were visibly tired but needed to hang on for just another minute.
Sure enough they held out! There was some confusion on how to play out the game out. Most people wanted to do overtime/sudden death. However, the rule book states that each player on each team (only using the players that were last on the field) will have the opportunity to kick an extra point. The team who makes more of these kicks wins. Basically a hockey style shoot out. This was a surprise to everyone. But I had confidence because our best kickers were out on the field. But it was going to be tough due to the rather fast crossing wind.
The Nomads were up first and their kick was off. Christian V, was up for the Aguilas and his kick was good. The Nomads answered back with a good kick. Our next kicker missed and so did the Nomads’. Then Juan barely squeezed one through the uprights making it 2-1. The Nomads’ next kicker made it, shit, 2-2. It all came down to our last kicker Christian C. If he made this, the Aguilas would be champions. If he missed it, well, no one was really sure what would happen.
He lined up for the kick and struck the ball well sending the sand under the ball in the air. End of end the ball split the uprights. I could not believe. Christian fell to his knees and the Aguilas rushed to join him in celebration! Camera men were everywhere snapping shots, this was the moment the Aguilas had been training so hard for and it was finally here.
As each one of them received their gold Ecuadorian Olympic medal, I could see the pride in each one of their eyes.
These days, I will never forget.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
December 4th, 2010
We packed the 24 passenger bus full to capacity with people and rugby gear. The excitement was evident despite it being 11pm and a 7 hour bus ride waiting for us in the near future. This was my first game with the Aguilas Rugby Club of the University of Azuay.
We finally arrived at the field in Quito at 10:30 am ready to go! Rugby is usually played with 15 people on a side; however this was a 7’s tournament. Most teams entered two teams in the tournament and so did we.
I was very nervous because this was my first game ever as a coach. The guys on the team had put in a lot of work over the last few months and I wanted it to show on the field. Sure enough it did, the first team we played suffered a 29-0 loss at the hands of the Aguilas. The rest of the day had its wins and losses for our team. Overall the Aguilas took third place which is really good! The team has only been around two years; where as some of the other teams have players who have played their whole lives.
I was proud of the guys and how they played. But I was even more proud when one of the referees came up and asked if we played a lot of 7’s. I told him we did a lot of work to prepare for this tournament and they have worked very hard. He told me the hard work showed and that the team looked much better than when he last saw them play a year ago. I felt like a proud father.
The Aguilas were happy with the day as they should have been, but it was clear that they want to win it next year!
This coming weekend we are off to Manta for a 5’s tournament on the beach. Should be interesting, because I have never seen rugby played on the sand before! Some other PCVs are coming down for the weekend as well.
Sunday December 5th, 2010
I had to leave Quito the night before to arrive in Baños in time for the inauguration of the Home for the Elderly "Dr. Luis Yunga." Brad Mattan, the previous PCV in Baños helped secure a grant which provided significant funding to this home.
The event had a large attendance and the Bishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera was there as well. Several moving speeches were given and the elderly even prepared a dance routine. The ceremony was concluded with the cementing of a cross and two doves to the top of building. I took about 200 some pictures but do to time restraints and internet connection (and your time) I have only included the top few.
Monday December 6th, 2010
Today was my first day of giving my nutrition charla to elementary school kids. The school is in the same area where Isabel has her plot of land, Nero. Don Iban was nice enough to give me a ride out to the school. He insisted that I do not wear my seatbelt. We will not need those since we are not driving in the city.
I sighed and accepted the fact that I would never feel safe in an automobile here.
We arrived at the school and I must say it was very nice. I hadn’t set my hopes to high though, because it is in an impoverished area. I spoke with the head master and he gave me a quick tour of the grounds. I was to begin with the first grade glass.
I am very happy the markers were washable. The kids had a blast drawing vegetables, fruit and what healthy person looks like. They also had a lot of fun drawing on me and my clothes.
It was interesting to see the dynamics of the class, the boys were all very involved and the girls were very shy. Some spent the entire hour just staring at the marker and paper. No matter how much I tried they would not draw anything.
The second grade class had a lot fewer kids, but was much harder to handle. They were much happier running around punching each other and drawing shapes on their faces. Some even ran out of the classroom. I had officially lost control of the class after about 5 minutes. So
I decided to try a new teaching method. No more mister nice guy. You will draw fruits and vegetables and like it! Well. I was not that harsh, but I definitely showed signs of agitation and they could sense it.
They finally listened to the frustrated gringo and sat down. Then they had some fun drawing and writing their names after awhile.
It is amazing what a one year difference can have.
Since there is no real bus system I had to hitch a ride back to Baños in a camioneta (truck). The unfortunate thing with hitching a ride is you never get exactly where you want to go. At the end of the ride I still had a good 2 mile walk.
I enjoyed it
We packed the 24 passenger bus full to capacity with people and rugby gear. The excitement was evident despite it being 11pm and a 7 hour bus ride waiting for us in the near future. This was my first game with the Aguilas Rugby Club of the University of Azuay.
We finally arrived at the field in Quito at 10:30 am ready to go! Rugby is usually played with 15 people on a side; however this was a 7’s tournament. Most teams entered two teams in the tournament and so did we.
I was very nervous because this was my first game ever as a coach. The guys on the team had put in a lot of work over the last few months and I wanted it to show on the field. Sure enough it did, the first team we played suffered a 29-0 loss at the hands of the Aguilas. The rest of the day had its wins and losses for our team. Overall the Aguilas took third place which is really good! The team has only been around two years; where as some of the other teams have players who have played their whole lives.
I was proud of the guys and how they played. But I was even more proud when one of the referees came up and asked if we played a lot of 7’s. I told him we did a lot of work to prepare for this tournament and they have worked very hard. He told me the hard work showed and that the team looked much better than when he last saw them play a year ago. I felt like a proud father.
The Aguilas were happy with the day as they should have been, but it was clear that they want to win it next year!
This coming weekend we are off to Manta for a 5’s tournament on the beach. Should be interesting, because I have never seen rugby played on the sand before! Some other PCVs are coming down for the weekend as well.
Sunday December 5th, 2010
I had to leave Quito the night before to arrive in Baños in time for the inauguration of the Home for the Elderly "Dr. Luis Yunga." Brad Mattan, the previous PCV in Baños helped secure a grant which provided significant funding to this home.
The event had a large attendance and the Bishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera was there as well. Several moving speeches were given and the elderly even prepared a dance routine. The ceremony was concluded with the cementing of a cross and two doves to the top of building. I took about 200 some pictures but do to time restraints and internet connection (and your time) I have only included the top few.
Monday December 6th, 2010
Today was my first day of giving my nutrition charla to elementary school kids. The school is in the same area where Isabel has her plot of land, Nero. Don Iban was nice enough to give me a ride out to the school. He insisted that I do not wear my seatbelt. We will not need those since we are not driving in the city.
I sighed and accepted the fact that I would never feel safe in an automobile here.
We arrived at the school and I must say it was very nice. I hadn’t set my hopes to high though, because it is in an impoverished area. I spoke with the head master and he gave me a quick tour of the grounds. I was to begin with the first grade glass.
I am very happy the markers were washable. The kids had a blast drawing vegetables, fruit and what healthy person looks like. They also had a lot of fun drawing on me and my clothes.
It was interesting to see the dynamics of the class, the boys were all very involved and the girls were very shy. Some spent the entire hour just staring at the marker and paper. No matter how much I tried they would not draw anything.
The second grade class had a lot fewer kids, but was much harder to handle. They were much happier running around punching each other and drawing shapes on their faces. Some even ran out of the classroom. I had officially lost control of the class after about 5 minutes. So
I decided to try a new teaching method. No more mister nice guy. You will draw fruits and vegetables and like it! Well. I was not that harsh, but I definitely showed signs of agitation and they could sense it.
They finally listened to the frustrated gringo and sat down. Then they had some fun drawing and writing their names after awhile.
It is amazing what a one year difference can have.
Since there is no real bus system I had to hitch a ride back to Baños in a camioneta (truck). The unfortunate thing with hitching a ride is you never get exactly where you want to go. At the end of the ride I still had a good 2 mile walk.
I enjoyed it
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Captain Jack and his crew
Thanksgiving; hold the turkey
None of us had ever cooked mashed potatoes or stuffing from scratch before, but we tried it anyways. I must say, for not having a turkey, we had a pretty damn good meal. Cheese and crackers were the appetizers. Somehow guacamole made the list too (I think Julie had avocados that were going to go bad). Glazed pork roast was the protein of the meal and in my opinion was a much better and less drowsy alternative to turkey. I did not bring my camera, but I will try and get photos from others in attendance
(My neighbors have Christmas lights up, tis' the season)
Sometimes you meet people and you think to yourself “wow, that person was really nice.” And other times you meet people that make you go “holy shit, you are one fucked up person and I am definitely going to write this shit down because you sir are ridiculous.”
(Inca Lounge)
At the local watering hole I met an interesting character while waiting for friends to arrive. Now, I should probably change his name for the sake of the following information. And his name shall be, Sanders. Sanders is in his mid forty’s, divorced and has a daughter. Now, none of this really stood out, quite common in the US. It was not until he told me how he made his living for some time that I realized the can off warms that was opening before me. Now, the order of this was never entirely clear, but here goes.
He cooked and did meth in Mississippi for several years, while married to his wife of some years who had no idea about her man’s occupation. One night, apparently she got to be quite the bother. So he slipped a big old rock of meth in her coca-cola to shut her up. Sure enough she got a little freaked out and cleaned the whole house. She never found out what compelled her to do that. However, he did say he regretted it, but it was funny.
The time line got a little hard to follow after that. It was a little bit difficult to process what this complete stranger had just divulged to me.
Sanders managed to obtain a medical marijuana growing permit in Montana. Perfect candidate in the government’s eyes I guess. So that went well for awhile, growing, but he had some bills to pay. So he decided to screw selling it legally and just started dealing on the side.
And at this point I started to realize we were, in fact, actually having this conversation. Luckily my phone rang and I was able to leave the conversation and the bar. My friends were not able to make it so I hopped a bus home to process what just what happened.
During the course of the whole conversation, I also spoke with the bar owner, Mike. He is in the process of revamping a finca (farm) into a nice little country retreat for tourists. He invited me and a friend out to check the farm the next day.
Around 1pm my friend Jamie and I met up with Mike and a few of his employees to head out to the finca. We were introduced to a man I will refer to as, Captain Jack. He was an army sergeant back in the day and was in the Vietnam War. He drives a 1983 Chevrolet Jeep, not a car, he corrected me on this. He liked to brag about how it is comparable to any modern day pickup and how it could haul anything, if not more than anything than a pickup truck. I decided to keep my mouth shut and not say “I don’t think you could fit a dirt bike in here.”
(cool bug we found before heading to the Finca)
(Captain Jack)
So Jamie, Rachel, myself and Captain Jack got into his jeep to follow Mike in the other truck. Within minutes we lost the other car and Captain Jack started calling Mike for directions every few minutes. Captain Jack has lived, worked here and driven here for 14 years; you would think he would know how to get to the only national park within 15 kilometers of Cuenca. Now what was even more frustrating is he would not listen when we would say hey, Cajas is just down that road. “No, Mike said he lived on the backside of Cajas and this is how you get there.” He said several times. Mike never said that.
Meanwhile, Rachel has BEEN to the Finca twice and he ignored her polite direction suggestions. After about the fifth or so phone call (while driving a manual) we could hear Mike on the phone saying I exactly where the Finca is and Captain Jack was quick to scold Mike on not knowing how to give directions. The rest of us in the car could not help but crack smiles and shoot glances at each other trying not to break out in laughter.
We finally arrived at the Finca and it was pretty exciting to see even though the rain had begun. We were instantly greeted by the two dogs Mike inherited with the farm. The biggest of the pair was recently named General but the younger one had not been named yet.
Before Mike gave us a tour of the Finca, we tossed a case of beer in the stream to cool down because the fridge he ordered had not arrived yet.
(greeted by the general)
(as if Captain Jack was not strange enough, one of his hobbies is digging for gold. I honestly could not make this up, and I even have a picture to prove it)
(view from the back door)
(living room)
Once things got loaded in and the beds were built, Captain Jack broke out his homemade rum. For those of you who don’t know, Captain Jack is cheap rum available in the US. This homemade spiced rum was 70% and it tasted like it.
As we sat around the fire sipping river cooled beer, we all tried to avoid the rum. Captain Jack had his first glass and it was after he finished, that I had another “holy shit, you are one fucked up person and I am definitely going to write this shit down because you sir are ridiculous” moment. It was like something out of a movie. With just a drink in him, Captain Jack was back in Nam and telling us war stories. He told us about the people he met and other things most of us did not care to hear about. Then with the next glass he became an offensive old bigot, but no one said anything because he did not really understand that the things he was saying were bad. It was like when a child says a curse word, you cannot get mad at them because they have no idea of what they are actually saying.
His wife (who is Ecuadorian) called during one of his rants. We informed him that his phone was ringing. Captain Jack does not hear all that well sometimes. His response was “fuck that woman, I’ll be home when I feel like it.”
Jamie and I decided it was time for us to be heading back to Cuenca and one of Mike’s employees was ready to leave as well. Captain Jack was quick to offer us a ride and we accepted because a taxi would be around $6 (almost 2% of our month budget. Hindsight is 20/20. It began to rain. Bad sign.
As we drove down windy unlit roads in the car (sorry, Jeep) older than both Jamie and I, there were a couple of random swerves. Captain Jack played it like he was just avoiding potholes. Another clue that something was askew was when we hit a large speed bump at 20 mph sending Jamie and I airborne in the backseat (no seatbelts in the backseat, of course).
“Sorry about that fellas, didn’t see that.” He apologized
It was not until he nearly rear ended the big fucking blue bus in front of us that he explained himself after we all shouted “what the fuck?!”
“So guys, I really only have one good eye. My right eye doesn’t see all that well.
And as a result I don’t have the best depth perception”
“yeah, I’ll fucking say.” I thought to myself as I said a quick prayer.
“Just tell me if I might hit something.”
Don’t worry Captain Jack, we will.
We were close to our destination at this point, but not close enough to feel out of the shit storm that had descended upon that jeep.
I could not resist asking how that happened. Although I should have asked why the
hell he decided that kind of information was not important prior to entering his jeep.
Turns out a grenade was the cause of this partial (probably mostly) blindness.
We finally made to the city and he dropped us off. I laughed for a few minutes and then was thankful we survived. I owe the big guy for getting us through that one.
None of us had ever cooked mashed potatoes or stuffing from scratch before, but we tried it anyways. I must say, for not having a turkey, we had a pretty damn good meal. Cheese and crackers were the appetizers. Somehow guacamole made the list too (I think Julie had avocados that were going to go bad). Glazed pork roast was the protein of the meal and in my opinion was a much better and less drowsy alternative to turkey. I did not bring my camera, but I will try and get photos from others in attendance
(My neighbors have Christmas lights up, tis' the season)
Sometimes you meet people and you think to yourself “wow, that person was really nice.” And other times you meet people that make you go “holy shit, you are one fucked up person and I am definitely going to write this shit down because you sir are ridiculous.”
(Inca Lounge)At the local watering hole I met an interesting character while waiting for friends to arrive. Now, I should probably change his name for the sake of the following information. And his name shall be, Sanders. Sanders is in his mid forty’s, divorced and has a daughter. Now, none of this really stood out, quite common in the US. It was not until he told me how he made his living for some time that I realized the can off warms that was opening before me. Now, the order of this was never entirely clear, but here goes.
He cooked and did meth in Mississippi for several years, while married to his wife of some years who had no idea about her man’s occupation. One night, apparently she got to be quite the bother. So he slipped a big old rock of meth in her coca-cola to shut her up. Sure enough she got a little freaked out and cleaned the whole house. She never found out what compelled her to do that. However, he did say he regretted it, but it was funny.
The time line got a little hard to follow after that. It was a little bit difficult to process what this complete stranger had just divulged to me.
Sanders managed to obtain a medical marijuana growing permit in Montana. Perfect candidate in the government’s eyes I guess. So that went well for awhile, growing, but he had some bills to pay. So he decided to screw selling it legally and just started dealing on the side.
And at this point I started to realize we were, in fact, actually having this conversation. Luckily my phone rang and I was able to leave the conversation and the bar. My friends were not able to make it so I hopped a bus home to process what just what happened.
During the course of the whole conversation, I also spoke with the bar owner, Mike. He is in the process of revamping a finca (farm) into a nice little country retreat for tourists. He invited me and a friend out to check the farm the next day.
Around 1pm my friend Jamie and I met up with Mike and a few of his employees to head out to the finca. We were introduced to a man I will refer to as, Captain Jack. He was an army sergeant back in the day and was in the Vietnam War. He drives a 1983 Chevrolet Jeep, not a car, he corrected me on this. He liked to brag about how it is comparable to any modern day pickup and how it could haul anything, if not more than anything than a pickup truck. I decided to keep my mouth shut and not say “I don’t think you could fit a dirt bike in here.”
(cool bug we found before heading to the Finca)
(Captain Jack)So Jamie, Rachel, myself and Captain Jack got into his jeep to follow Mike in the other truck. Within minutes we lost the other car and Captain Jack started calling Mike for directions every few minutes. Captain Jack has lived, worked here and driven here for 14 years; you would think he would know how to get to the only national park within 15 kilometers of Cuenca. Now what was even more frustrating is he would not listen when we would say hey, Cajas is just down that road. “No, Mike said he lived on the backside of Cajas and this is how you get there.” He said several times. Mike never said that.
Meanwhile, Rachel has BEEN to the Finca twice and he ignored her polite direction suggestions. After about the fifth or so phone call (while driving a manual) we could hear Mike on the phone saying I exactly where the Finca is and Captain Jack was quick to scold Mike on not knowing how to give directions. The rest of us in the car could not help but crack smiles and shoot glances at each other trying not to break out in laughter.
We finally arrived at the Finca and it was pretty exciting to see even though the rain had begun. We were instantly greeted by the two dogs Mike inherited with the farm. The biggest of the pair was recently named General but the younger one had not been named yet.
Before Mike gave us a tour of the Finca, we tossed a case of beer in the stream to cool down because the fridge he ordered had not arrived yet.
(greeted by the general)
(as if Captain Jack was not strange enough, one of his hobbies is digging for gold. I honestly could not make this up, and I even have a picture to prove it)
(view from the back door)
(living room)Once things got loaded in and the beds were built, Captain Jack broke out his homemade rum. For those of you who don’t know, Captain Jack is cheap rum available in the US. This homemade spiced rum was 70% and it tasted like it.
As we sat around the fire sipping river cooled beer, we all tried to avoid the rum. Captain Jack had his first glass and it was after he finished, that I had another “holy shit, you are one fucked up person and I am definitely going to write this shit down because you sir are ridiculous” moment. It was like something out of a movie. With just a drink in him, Captain Jack was back in Nam and telling us war stories. He told us about the people he met and other things most of us did not care to hear about. Then with the next glass he became an offensive old bigot, but no one said anything because he did not really understand that the things he was saying were bad. It was like when a child says a curse word, you cannot get mad at them because they have no idea of what they are actually saying.
His wife (who is Ecuadorian) called during one of his rants. We informed him that his phone was ringing. Captain Jack does not hear all that well sometimes. His response was “fuck that woman, I’ll be home when I feel like it.”
Jamie and I decided it was time for us to be heading back to Cuenca and one of Mike’s employees was ready to leave as well. Captain Jack was quick to offer us a ride and we accepted because a taxi would be around $6 (almost 2% of our month budget. Hindsight is 20/20. It began to rain. Bad sign.
As we drove down windy unlit roads in the car (sorry, Jeep) older than both Jamie and I, there were a couple of random swerves. Captain Jack played it like he was just avoiding potholes. Another clue that something was askew was when we hit a large speed bump at 20 mph sending Jamie and I airborne in the backseat (no seatbelts in the backseat, of course).
“Sorry about that fellas, didn’t see that.” He apologized
It was not until he nearly rear ended the big fucking blue bus in front of us that he explained himself after we all shouted “what the fuck?!”
“So guys, I really only have one good eye. My right eye doesn’t see all that well.
And as a result I don’t have the best depth perception”
“yeah, I’ll fucking say.” I thought to myself as I said a quick prayer.
“Just tell me if I might hit something.”
Don’t worry Captain Jack, we will.
We were close to our destination at this point, but not close enough to feel out of the shit storm that had descended upon that jeep.
I could not resist asking how that happened. Although I should have asked why the
hell he decided that kind of information was not important prior to entering his jeep.
Turns out a grenade was the cause of this partial (probably mostly) blindness.
We finally made to the city and he dropped us off. I laughed for a few minutes and then was thankful we survived. I owe the big guy for getting us through that one.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
It's always sunny in Ecuador
Some days we (meaning some PCVs) wake up and wonder what are we doing here and are we really making a difference? Sometimes the evidence is right there in front us and other days it all feels like a waste. So where do we find motivation to keep moving forward and not give up. For all of us this motivation is as different as the reasons we signed up for the job in the first place. Some people are affected by different types of down points and some are affected by the same down points differently.
The Peace Corps. is often described as “the hardest job you will ever love.” I agree with this statement, but then again it all depends on what day I hear it.
So how do I deal with these down moments and low points? Play guitar, call someone and bitch about it, eat more rice than any one person should eat and quests. I have been on several quests and they are the following with results…
• Find a bar to watch American Football. Status: Achieved (added bonus of steak tacos)
• See a cock fight. Status: on going
• Grow a big barbarian-esk beard. Status: still growing
• Learn Spanish. Status: estoy trabajando
• Find a good pint of beer. Status: failed (conclusion; brew my own)
• Eat street food and not regret it. Status: Achieved
So I am kind of losing focus on the blog. What do you guys want to hear about? Drop a message please! Your input is of great value to the author.
A night Bus is defined as “a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers usally along a fixed route according to a schedule.”
The author defines a night Bus as a “a large motor vehicle designed to scare the shit out of all the passengers while traveling along whatever route (preferably with turns that require only half the wheels on the ground) works according to a pretty accurate schedule. Fully inflating wheels is optional. Bathrooms are for women only. Males should carry water bottles. Be advised, for both sexes it is highly recommended to take a few shooters of Pepto before your ride.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XghJuH6GSCo
The Peace Corps. is often described as “the hardest job you will ever love.” I agree with this statement, but then again it all depends on what day I hear it.
So how do I deal with these down moments and low points? Play guitar, call someone and bitch about it, eat more rice than any one person should eat and quests. I have been on several quests and they are the following with results…
• Find a bar to watch American Football. Status: Achieved (added bonus of steak tacos)
• See a cock fight. Status: on going
• Grow a big barbarian-esk beard. Status: still growing
• Learn Spanish. Status: estoy trabajando
• Find a good pint of beer. Status: failed (conclusion; brew my own)
• Eat street food and not regret it. Status: Achieved
So I am kind of losing focus on the blog. What do you guys want to hear about? Drop a message please! Your input is of great value to the author.
A night Bus is defined as “a large motor vehicle designed to carry passengers usally along a fixed route according to a schedule.”
The author defines a night Bus as a “a large motor vehicle designed to scare the shit out of all the passengers while traveling along whatever route (preferably with turns that require only half the wheels on the ground) works according to a pretty accurate schedule. Fully inflating wheels is optional. Bathrooms are for women only. Males should carry water bottles. Be advised, for both sexes it is highly recommended to take a few shooters of Pepto before your ride.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XghJuH6GSCo
Monday, November 8, 2010
Trout Fishing in Ecuador
6 am on Saturday and the alarm was blasting. I jumped out of bed and got dressed and checked to see if Clint was awake in the next room. He was, and we gathered our stuff and headed downstairs to meet Isabel and her son Edgar.
Clint is a PCV from my Omnibus (get with the lingo) who lives in Paute which is about 2 hours from Baños. He stayed in the extra bedroom so he could come along on the day’s adventure.
Edgar drove the family truck with Clint and I piled in on the same bench seating next to him which made for a cramped hour ride. Isabel and her sister road in the back of the truck (she insisted) and we picked up a few people along the way who needed a ride to the campo. And finally we arrived in Yanasacha. http://www.yanasachaweb.com/index_archivos/Page801.htm
Before we decided what we were to do, we ate a nice big breakfast of eggs, grilled cheese, toast with jam, yogurt (fresh from their cows!) and coffee. Once we were all fat and happy we came to a conclusion to ride horses to the lake and spend the day trout fishing. Perfect!
We went through a very brief instruction on how to ride a horse because all of us had ridden before. We then were all handed a horse and got on. However we mounted the horse from its right side and I always remembered getting on from the other side so it felt funny to me.
(My horse)
We rode up a very rocky road that the horses could not wait to get off of. Whenever they spotted a nice little patch of grass or dirt to walk on they would veer towards it to take a break from slipping and sliding on large lose rocks. I felt bad for mine since he had trouble getting traction on the rocks and so I just let him do whatever he wanted. He knew where we were going and I did not (equestrian autopilot). So I let him steer and I just checked out the great views and smelled the fresh air.
It is moments like this (engage hippie Peace Corps. mode) that make me wonder why people spend so much time hating and killing each other over trivial crap. As I was riding the horse letting him go its course while I just looked at the scenery I realized something. This is a metaphor for life in its most simplistic form. You can spend all this time and effort trying to control every little thing and miss all the great things around you. Just let it be and enjoy the ride.
This message has been said by many people, but it is nice to really realize it every once and awhile for yourself.
The four horsemen and their guide arrived at their destination and two of the horsemen were a little disappointed with the size of the lake. But that feeling did not last for long.
The fish were jumping out of the lake! I could see tons of ripples from the fish eating bugs and we all got really excited! Our guide started to ready our rods and lures and all I could think about was this one rule I learned about fishing when I was a boy.
“Now remember kids, what is the first rule of fishing?” Uncle Frank would always say.
“Don’t hook uncle Frank.” We would all shout back in unison.
The rods were ready and we were off to the races! Clint, Edgar and I made a bet that whoever caught the largest fish would win a free drink from the others. I was just hoping to catch a fish I could eat, but it is always nice to drink on someone else’s dollar.
After only a few minutes and several cast, bam! Fish on! It was a battle for the ages that only last about 15 seconds, top. Turned out to be the biggest fish of the day! I caught two, as did Clint but Edgar caught eight!
After many hours of sipping warm cannelasa (not sure on how it is spelled but it contains sugar cane alcohol and is served warm) and fishing we called it a day and headed back to the lodge to feast on barbequed meat and some of our freshly caught trout.
We ate our big feast of a lunch and we all agreed that it was in our best interest to utilize the hammocks for a good half hour nap.
For the ride back, Clint and I sat in the back of the pickup sipping some more cannelasa celebrating a good haul of fish and a good day.
Now, not every day of my PC life is spent fishing, riding horses and sipping drinks in the mountains. I do actually “work.”
Clint is a PCV from my Omnibus (get with the lingo) who lives in Paute which is about 2 hours from Baños. He stayed in the extra bedroom so he could come along on the day’s adventure.
Edgar drove the family truck with Clint and I piled in on the same bench seating next to him which made for a cramped hour ride. Isabel and her sister road in the back of the truck (she insisted) and we picked up a few people along the way who needed a ride to the campo. And finally we arrived in Yanasacha. http://www.yanasachaweb.com/index_archivos/Page801.htm
Before we decided what we were to do, we ate a nice big breakfast of eggs, grilled cheese, toast with jam, yogurt (fresh from their cows!) and coffee. Once we were all fat and happy we came to a conclusion to ride horses to the lake and spend the day trout fishing. Perfect!
We went through a very brief instruction on how to ride a horse because all of us had ridden before. We then were all handed a horse and got on. However we mounted the horse from its right side and I always remembered getting on from the other side so it felt funny to me.
(My horse)
We rode up a very rocky road that the horses could not wait to get off of. Whenever they spotted a nice little patch of grass or dirt to walk on they would veer towards it to take a break from slipping and sliding on large lose rocks. I felt bad for mine since he had trouble getting traction on the rocks and so I just let him do whatever he wanted. He knew where we were going and I did not (equestrian autopilot). So I let him steer and I just checked out the great views and smelled the fresh air.
It is moments like this (engage hippie Peace Corps. mode) that make me wonder why people spend so much time hating and killing each other over trivial crap. As I was riding the horse letting him go its course while I just looked at the scenery I realized something. This is a metaphor for life in its most simplistic form. You can spend all this time and effort trying to control every little thing and miss all the great things around you. Just let it be and enjoy the ride.
This message has been said by many people, but it is nice to really realize it every once and awhile for yourself.
The four horsemen and their guide arrived at their destination and two of the horsemen were a little disappointed with the size of the lake. But that feeling did not last for long.
The fish were jumping out of the lake! I could see tons of ripples from the fish eating bugs and we all got really excited! Our guide started to ready our rods and lures and all I could think about was this one rule I learned about fishing when I was a boy.
“Now remember kids, what is the first rule of fishing?” Uncle Frank would always say.
“Don’t hook uncle Frank.” We would all shout back in unison.
The rods were ready and we were off to the races! Clint, Edgar and I made a bet that whoever caught the largest fish would win a free drink from the others. I was just hoping to catch a fish I could eat, but it is always nice to drink on someone else’s dollar.
After only a few minutes and several cast, bam! Fish on! It was a battle for the ages that only last about 15 seconds, top. Turned out to be the biggest fish of the day! I caught two, as did Clint but Edgar caught eight!
After many hours of sipping warm cannelasa (not sure on how it is spelled but it contains sugar cane alcohol and is served warm) and fishing we called it a day and headed back to the lodge to feast on barbequed meat and some of our freshly caught trout.
We ate our big feast of a lunch and we all agreed that it was in our best interest to utilize the hammocks for a good half hour nap.
For the ride back, Clint and I sat in the back of the pickup sipping some more cannelasa celebrating a good haul of fish and a good day.
Now, not every day of my PC life is spent fishing, riding horses and sipping drinks in the mountains. I do actually “work.”
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