I thought I would sleep in until my host abuelita knocked on my metal door well before I planned to wake up. Breakfast! Today I found out my hunger is back, strong as ever. I finished my 'grilled cheese' sandwich, was offered another bit, and then another half.
The first most important part of the day was going to the grocery store (SuperMaxi... I have an urge to add 'pad' after that) with my host family to buy a few things for the house and a pile of spices I needed to make chana masala, my all-time favorite Indian dish and basically what I survive on in the United States. $9 later, I had what I needed. I also spent way too much on a book of Neruda poems at 'Mr. Books' adjacent to the Supermaxi.
Back home, I started settling into my homework for tomorrow (yes... trainees get plenty of homework) when my host mom came up to ask me when I'd be started lunch. I guess it's lunch I'm making, not dinner! Got all the ingredients together, started my usual routine, and made it. It turned out a bit different - not as spicy and the chickpeas a bit too soft. But in my opinion, it was fabulous. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough. Especially in a culture where lunch is the big meal of the day. My host family seemed to like it at least...
And next, laundry. Without a washing machine, laundry is done on a piedra... a rock. But it's more like a cement table with a faucet. My host mom showed me how it was done, and it takes ages of muscle work to get clothes cleaned. Apparently I didn't do a good enough job getting the suds out, so when abuelita came home, my clothes went into her washing machine.
In between doing the laundry, it was already dinner time so I helped Paola and Mateo make pizza from scratch inspired by my left over tomato paste. While it was cooking, I tried doing my homework - reading Made to Stick and my Spanish book. I have so little time to get Peace Corps homework done, it's ridiculous. The pizza was amazing though a bit heavy on the oregano. I finished my first piece and Paola asked if I wanted a second. Oh, yes. I gobbled the second piece down faster than the rest of the family could ever start their second pieces, which had to be the first time I wasn't the last one done. Carlos looked from me to my plate and to me again, shocked. Mmmm, American-like food.
The laundry was finally done so it's hanging outside now. With all the constant rain, I wonder how long it'll take them to dry?
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Slacking is my favorite.
Sounds like I mostly got rid of the fever but a lot of other aspirantes are getting it. For those in my group who feel sick, hope you all feel better soon. You will, it's just really lousy for a little while.
For me, though, the world is a much happier, more beautiful place now that it's not an icebox of nausea.
I tried to take Friday easy because I still had a little bit of a very low grade fever going on, but thankfully it never came back. Most of our morning was spent talking about general safety, and to demonstrate the lessons, we performed skits showing bad and good behavior (PC here is huge on skits). We talked about the EAP, the evacuation plan in Ecuador, and several aspirantes performed a puppet show about what to do and what not to do when PC goes through the stages of EAP in an emergency.
And then the fun really began.
Kelley, a PCMO, arrived to talk to us about diarrhea.
First, though, a funny story. Later that night, having dinner with the host family, my host dad asks what we did today. So, very timidly, I said we talked about diarrhea. He thought I said we talked about theories. Theories about what? he asked. Ohhh, no. Not theories. Diarrhea. He seemed disappointed.
Anyway, Kelley gave a humorous talk on poo and related illnesses. And the worst part - worms. I'm hoping I can avoid them completely. Maybe that wasn't the worst part. The worst part might have been that the talk was right before lunchtime.
A large group of volunteers around Ecuador came to talk with us privately, without PC staff, so we could ask them our personal questions without fear of repercussions. I think it was time well spent and I got a lot out of it.
Now the best part, where the title of this entry comes from - a couple aspirantes brought their slackline kits with them, so two were set up in the very large walled-in yard of the training center. While a bunch of people played soccer, I and others slacklined. And it felt SO AMAZING to get back on the rope. It's regrettably been over a year since I last did it, but I'm happy to say it's like riding a bike - it comes right back. My balance is a shaky and my muscles are way weak so I can't do an on-line start, but it'll come.
Today was Saturday, and yes we had class at 8:30 a.m., which means I got up at 6 a.m. Class on Saturdays is culture and language, so we worked in our small language groups on grammar and the history of Ecuador. During break, I laid in the sun and soaked in the warmth, fully appreciating what a beautiful day it was. Finally, I can feel it!
Morgan & I & others had plans to wander around Tumbaco afterwards to 1) find food (apparently there's a vegetarian restaurant around here somewhere?!), 2) find a champa (a waterproof jacket, I think?), 3) find sandals and sneakers. We lost the other interested people and couldn't exactly find the restaurant, but we ran into Ricky and a bread/ice cream store at the same time so things were great. We were having little other success, though, so we tried the mall which is a loooong walk in the direction of Quito. I think we spent about an hour looking through all the books in Spanish. One, a Neruda poetry book, I almost bought. I wanted to buy Latitudes Piratas (the posthumous Crichton book) but it was $23. Ouch! No.
Once more, no luck. But we did buy some ridiculously amazing spaghetti alfredo with a salad for $4. It was the definition of ginormous, and we probably should have shared.
I wandered home around 6ish, no problems with the host family. All is well.
Tomorrow: wash clothes 'on the rock' as they say.
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! It's also my half birthday. Weird.
For me, though, the world is a much happier, more beautiful place now that it's not an icebox of nausea.
I tried to take Friday easy because I still had a little bit of a very low grade fever going on, but thankfully it never came back. Most of our morning was spent talking about general safety, and to demonstrate the lessons, we performed skits showing bad and good behavior (PC here is huge on skits). We talked about the EAP, the evacuation plan in Ecuador, and several aspirantes performed a puppet show about what to do and what not to do when PC goes through the stages of EAP in an emergency.
And then the fun really began.
Kelley, a PCMO, arrived to talk to us about diarrhea.
First, though, a funny story. Later that night, having dinner with the host family, my host dad asks what we did today. So, very timidly, I said we talked about diarrhea. He thought I said we talked about theories. Theories about what? he asked. Ohhh, no. Not theories. Diarrhea. He seemed disappointed.
Anyway, Kelley gave a humorous talk on poo and related illnesses. And the worst part - worms. I'm hoping I can avoid them completely. Maybe that wasn't the worst part. The worst part might have been that the talk was right before lunchtime.
A large group of volunteers around Ecuador came to talk with us privately, without PC staff, so we could ask them our personal questions without fear of repercussions. I think it was time well spent and I got a lot out of it.
Now the best part, where the title of this entry comes from - a couple aspirantes brought their slackline kits with them, so two were set up in the very large walled-in yard of the training center. While a bunch of people played soccer, I and others slacklined. And it felt SO AMAZING to get back on the rope. It's regrettably been over a year since I last did it, but I'm happy to say it's like riding a bike - it comes right back. My balance is a shaky and my muscles are way weak so I can't do an on-line start, but it'll come.
Today was Saturday, and yes we had class at 8:30 a.m., which means I got up at 6 a.m. Class on Saturdays is culture and language, so we worked in our small language groups on grammar and the history of Ecuador. During break, I laid in the sun and soaked in the warmth, fully appreciating what a beautiful day it was. Finally, I can feel it!
Morgan & I & others had plans to wander around Tumbaco afterwards to 1) find food (apparently there's a vegetarian restaurant around here somewhere?!), 2) find a champa (a waterproof jacket, I think?), 3) find sandals and sneakers. We lost the other interested people and couldn't exactly find the restaurant, but we ran into Ricky and a bread/ice cream store at the same time so things were great. We were having little other success, though, so we tried the mall which is a loooong walk in the direction of Quito. I think we spent about an hour looking through all the books in Spanish. One, a Neruda poetry book, I almost bought. I wanted to buy Latitudes Piratas (the posthumous Crichton book) but it was $23. Ouch! No.
Once more, no luck. But we did buy some ridiculously amazing spaghetti alfredo with a salad for $4. It was the definition of ginormous, and we probably should have shared.
I wandered home around 6ish, no problems with the host family. All is well.
Tomorrow: wash clothes 'on the rock' as they say.
Also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! It's also my half birthday. Weird.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Shoppingphobe hates shopping.
Tautological statements aside...
I spent the day digging through clothes at the local mall to find business casual tops. I found: nothing. I'm not packed, nor is everything I'm packing in one spot. And I have five days left. Oddly though, this is normal for me. Things don't happen until it's last minute, REALLY last minute. I'm just not in the mood yet, and I'm not panicked enough to get it all done.
I really wish I'd just get on it though.
I spent the day digging through clothes at the local mall to find business casual tops. I found: nothing. I'm not packed, nor is everything I'm packing in one spot. And I have five days left. Oddly though, this is normal for me. Things don't happen until it's last minute, REALLY last minute. I'm just not in the mood yet, and I'm not panicked enough to get it all done.
I really wish I'd just get on it though.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Heeey it's snowing. Again.
COUNTDOWN: 16 days
It would be more fun if I didn't have to drive back in it.
Oh wait, it's lake effect snow now. HORRAY.
Laurie and I spent a good part of today driving around in the stuff, and we thought it was over so we escaped to Cafe Firefly. I filmed a lot of it, including a bit of Laurie trying to drive her motorcycle in 4" of fresh powder. Obviously (I hope) it was just a joke. Hilarity does ensue. It also starts with a delightful folk French tune.
The snow is now just heavy flurries, but the roads are totally coated. I'd like to say that thankfully I have a Jeep, but that doesn't necessary mean much.
I made another 'Peace Corps purchase' yesterday - three bras. Something tells me that's not enough, but seriously, $66. For three. Ridiculous. I'm quickly running out of money and it sort of scares me. Once the snow clears up, I'll be visiting the local resale warehouse for some 'new' shirts.
It would be more fun if I didn't have to drive back in it.
Oh wait, it's lake effect snow now. HORRAY.
Laurie and I spent a good part of today driving around in the stuff, and we thought it was over so we escaped to Cafe Firefly. I filmed a lot of it, including a bit of Laurie trying to drive her motorcycle in 4" of fresh powder. Obviously (I hope) it was just a joke. Hilarity does ensue. It also starts with a delightful folk French tune.
The snow is now just heavy flurries, but the roads are totally coated. I'd like to say that thankfully I have a Jeep, but that doesn't necessary mean much.
I made another 'Peace Corps purchase' yesterday - three bras. Something tells me that's not enough, but seriously, $66. For three. Ridiculous. I'm quickly running out of money and it sort of scares me. Once the snow clears up, I'll be visiting the local resale warehouse for some 'new' shirts.
Monday, January 10, 2011
The art of shopping (or evading it)
COUNTDOWN: 23 days
What's new - not much. A couple packages arrived, including my Ecuador climbing/hiking guide (sobering how unlikely a climb up Chimborazo, etc., will be for me... but still fun to read about, at least), and two pairs of pants by Mountain Hardwear. These pants are especially wonderful because of the material they're made of - a super-stretchy, water-resistant fabric. So they're great if you gain a little weight or lose a little too. Unless they're too big, which for me, they are. The waist is almost perfect, but the legs are incredibly wide and long. I'm hoping they'll shrink at least a little bit in the wash, but another benefit to these pants is they don't change size, and after two years of heavy use, they still look new.
I finally kicked myself out the door to do some shopping. I highly dislike shopping. I'm well aware that shopping fills only a fraction of a percent of a void better filled by more meaningful activities. My mom has (had?) a shopping addiction that I almost caught, except department stores actually make me very nauseous. So, meaning to go to Algonquin for the one-stop mall, I managed to go in the very opposite direction to the stores along Route 14 in Crystal Lake. Towards the top of 'things I most hate to shop for' are sunglasses. None ever fit, and if they do, they wear out almost immediately. And I do feel goofy in 99.9% of the glasses I try on. I shop for black, silver, dark gray sleek frames... so of course I ended up buying pink-framed glasses. PINK. Pink is the opposite of every criteria of mine, ever.
Next was Borders to take them up on their 33% off coupon for a Spanish book that focuses on informal conversation. The book would probably even be handy in English - how many times have I been at a loss for words of praise or interest? It's not that I'm not interested, I'm just sick of saying 'wow, awesome, cool, sweet, nice, etc. etc.' So it'll be nice to be conversation savvy in Spanish.
Next... I got bored of shopping and ended up in Cafe Firefly for a drink.
Success!! Er... well... *relative* success. My kind of success.
I'm in the middle of accomplishing another of my tasks on the Great Big List of Things I Need to do Before I Leave: organizing photos on my lap top and deleting ones I don't want/need. I'm finding some fun ones I forgot about, like:
Dad trying out the new snow blower on our driveway, late 2009 or early 2010?
Where I feel most peaceful, centered, optimistic - on mountains. What is it with mountains? It's the wild places that make us feel human. Where they remind us we're vulnerable, that life is ephemeral but still important. It's not about conquering the mountain, it's not about conquering yourself, it's about finding freedom and total release. Huh... maybe I should post some Henry Miller stuff next.
Sevendust guitarist, 2010. One of my favorite activities is shooting concerts. This night, I discovered how difficult it is shooting metal bands - the strobe lights are constantly flickering, so I resorted to rapid fire shooting with white balance adjustments. I got a bunch of good photos, but this one stood out the most. Right before the guitarist was white washed in blue light, at the perfect moment, I caught him.
What's new - not much. A couple packages arrived, including my Ecuador climbing/hiking guide (sobering how unlikely a climb up Chimborazo, etc., will be for me... but still fun to read about, at least), and two pairs of pants by Mountain Hardwear. These pants are especially wonderful because of the material they're made of - a super-stretchy, water-resistant fabric. So they're great if you gain a little weight or lose a little too. Unless they're too big, which for me, they are. The waist is almost perfect, but the legs are incredibly wide and long. I'm hoping they'll shrink at least a little bit in the wash, but another benefit to these pants is they don't change size, and after two years of heavy use, they still look new.
I finally kicked myself out the door to do some shopping. I highly dislike shopping. I'm well aware that shopping fills only a fraction of a percent of a void better filled by more meaningful activities. My mom has (had?) a shopping addiction that I almost caught, except department stores actually make me very nauseous. So, meaning to go to Algonquin for the one-stop mall, I managed to go in the very opposite direction to the stores along Route 14 in Crystal Lake. Towards the top of 'things I most hate to shop for' are sunglasses. None ever fit, and if they do, they wear out almost immediately. And I do feel goofy in 99.9% of the glasses I try on. I shop for black, silver, dark gray sleek frames... so of course I ended up buying pink-framed glasses. PINK. Pink is the opposite of every criteria of mine, ever.
Next was Borders to take them up on their 33% off coupon for a Spanish book that focuses on informal conversation. The book would probably even be handy in English - how many times have I been at a loss for words of praise or interest? It's not that I'm not interested, I'm just sick of saying 'wow, awesome, cool, sweet, nice, etc. etc.' So it'll be nice to be conversation savvy in Spanish.
Next... I got bored of shopping and ended up in Cafe Firefly for a drink.
Success!! Er... well... *relative* success. My kind of success.
I'm in the middle of accomplishing another of my tasks on the Great Big List of Things I Need to do Before I Leave: organizing photos on my lap top and deleting ones I don't want/need. I'm finding some fun ones I forgot about, like:
Dad trying out the new snow blower on our driveway, late 2009 or early 2010?
Where I feel most peaceful, centered, optimistic - on mountains. What is it with mountains? It's the wild places that make us feel human. Where they remind us we're vulnerable, that life is ephemeral but still important. It's not about conquering the mountain, it's not about conquering yourself, it's about finding freedom and total release. Huh... maybe I should post some Henry Miller stuff next.
Sevendust guitarist, 2010. One of my favorite activities is shooting concerts. This night, I discovered how difficult it is shooting metal bands - the strobe lights are constantly flickering, so I resorted to rapid fire shooting with white balance adjustments. I got a bunch of good photos, but this one stood out the most. Right before the guitarist was white washed in blue light, at the perfect moment, I caught him.Maybe I'll post more another day.
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