New eyes

Even though I know I’m a month late, I would like to send out a message to my dear Dad for Father’s Day. Alas, there is no Father’s Day song here in Ecuador, and I’m not creative enough to write one. But I do want to recognize that without his support and love I would never have made it this far, in life or in the Peace Corps. So gracias, Padre, y te amo!

Everyday first thing after waking up, I slip on my running shoes or favorite rubber boots and greet the day with a run or hike, accompanied by my two loyal buddies and surrounded by the glorious mountains of the Andes. And everyday (at least in the morning) I thank my lucky stars that I get to live in and be a part of this beautiful place. But after living here for a little over a year, I find the fresh eyes which first greeted this country have started to grow cateracts (figuratively speaking), brought on by the routine of daily life and work. Which is one of the reasons why visitors are so wonderful: not only do I get to visit new places, but they help me shed my lenses and re-appreciate the little quirks of daily life in Ecuador.
The last visitors were no exception. During their first few days in Ecuador we explored Old Town, the beautiful historic center of Quito. I took them on my usual rounds; the Basilica, a few of the museums, Parque Elejido, but during the way we experienced so much more than what I had planned. On the way to the Basilica, Rose and Karl took me on a side trip to visit the bottle frog (a great idea for a recycling project):



and unique columns of the La Compania Church:



Rose and Karl also pointed out that, if one were inclined, one could replace a broken high heel spike, tan leather, or print out a book using the printing press we discovered housed in a hole-in-the-wall store.

Upon arriving in Nono, the often depressing afternoon fog was transformed into a beautiful photo opportunity:



and the friendly gentleman who owned the hostal down the street turned out to host a wealth of fascinating Nono history worthy of any adventure tale (and made fast friends with Rose and Karl):



Rose also shared her talent as a physical therapist, much to the enjoyment of my neighbors.



Rose and my's 6:30am jogs introduced us to a world we never would have seen otherwise: the early morning fish market. Though the market lasted until noon, the activity peaked in the morning, and we were able to wander among rows of marlins,



trucks piled with sharks,



mounds of octopus,



and the vendors who feed the crowd. (The sheer numbers of fish dragged onto this little stretch of beach-this is a daily event- made me wonder how long our oceans will be able to feed us...)



We concluded our journey enjoying the amazing sights of humpback whales (albeit far-off) and boobies (blue-footed, red-footed, and nazca...and quite close).





They returned to the states, and I to my little town, able to see with clear eyes once again.

To Every Mother

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCl1KWSDbd8
Or search "Nono Happy Mother's Day" in Youtube


In the silence of this beautiful night
I am singing to you from far away
sending you happiness
Forgive me mother
and thank you for your patience
My weariness is deep but I sing to you,
accompanied by my friends
Happy Mother's Day
(Approximate lyrics...)

And especially to my mother,
I admire you.
I miss you.
I love you.

Eat your heart out, Mr. Bourdain

Dear Anthony,
I just want to start by saying how much I enjoy your show, ¨No Reservations¨. Though I grew up on a mainly meat-free diet, watching you risk your digestive health by popping a chunk of wild boar intestine still flecked with partially digested herbiage into your mouth inspired in me a sense of adventure (as well as a slight gag relfex), which I try to live by as I encounter the foods of Ecuador. I realize you already did a show on Ecuador right before I embarked on my stint here, but after living here for a year, I would like to offer some suggestions for your next piece, if you ever decide to return.
The locals here proudly refer to themselves as ¨carnivoras¨, a word which is fairly self explanatory. After participating in the preparation of and sampling some of their dishes, I now include myself in that category, a fact which might shock some of the folks back home. Top of my list of best Ecuadorian foods is a dish called fritatta, a lovely concoction made by frying chunks of pork in their own fat mixed with green onions, garlic, and salt.



Though the street fritatta is tasty, I highly recommend the homemade version, prepared from pork bought at the local butcher shop down the street and so fresh the trichinosis parasites are still wriggling. The smell alone of the cooking meat will draw surrounding neighbors like flies, whom you can then put to work washing dishes or peeling habbas (after offering them a dish, of course).





A less tasty but still interesting dish is ´cuero´, which means ´skin´in english. The skin of a pig is boiled and fried, then served with an assortment of side dishes. My favorite accompaniments are chochos, tostada, and tomatoes and onions with lime and salt.



Chochos are a type of white bean, and tostada is toasted and salted corn kernels (made the same way as popcorn but using feed corn instead). As always, it´s better to share these experiences with good friends (you can make them take the first bite).



Yuagra locro is favorite with the locals, and is a soup with a fairly innocent appearance. But don´t let that creamy facade fool you. Hidden beneath the surface are chunks of cow intestine, and sometimes blood is cooked right into the broth, though there are also occasions when the blood is served on the side, as a sort of gelatinous powder.



I´m sure you didn´t pass up cuy while here in Ecuador, Anthony, but just in case I´ll give that a plug as well. The practice of eating guinea pig might be a little repulsive to the folks in the states who think of these critters as cuddly pets, but, as a former guinea pig owner myself, let me say they are also quite tasty critters. Uncooked (and cooked), they do resemble rats, but don´t let that phase you.



Roasted on a stick and served with potatoes and a peanut sauce, they could turn even the most devoted vegetarian.





I could go on, but I think you have enough material here to fill up the forty minutes of your show. And if you are lacking, don´t forget the abundance of fresh fruits which are available on every street corner. A dollar will buy you five or six of the tastiest mangoes you will ever eat, or maybe four chirimoyas, a fruit similar to an avacado on the outside but ridiculously yummy on the inside, a sort of cross between a banana and an apple.
I hope this helps, Anthony. Here´s to good eating wherever you may find yourself next!

Welcome back!

After returning to Ecuador I started on a new installment to my blog, which sat in the ¨needs to be edited¨ folder for about a month before I read it again and deleted everything. It's probably not a great time to be writing a new blog, since I am tired, frustrated, and feeling a little emotional drain, but it's been too long since my last entry, so here it is folks.
The nearly two months since you heard from me last have been perhaps the most fruitful, frustrating, yet rewarding since coming to Ecuador. In December I spent Christmas with my entire family (sans one), held the two week old baby girl of a long-time friend, ran the trails of dear Wilderness Park with the old crew, fed my cravings for the Oven (twice), Chipotle, and green salads, and saw my cat for perhaps the last time. And when it was all over boarding the plane to Ecuador was hard, but not as tough as the first time, since I knew exactly what awaited me upon my return (about twenty Ecuadorians eager to tear my suitcases apart for the American clothes and two butt-wagging mutts).
A week into returning to my mountain life my camera fried when I plugged it into a virus ridden computer. A trip to the local mall in Quito proved fruitless, since the one store that carried the chip I needed was out, and wouldnt't get a new shipment until February (which in Ecuador could mean March or April). So, sorry, but no new pics for awhile.
I received an unpleasant surprise when I checked out my school\¨house for the elderly¨ garden and found a cow and her frisky calf frolicking all over the cabbages, carrots, beans, onions...or what should have been the cabbages, carrots, beans, onions, etc. Apparently a neighbor thought the FENCED IN land would make a great place to house her cow`. It did, but the result was that it didn´t make it a great place to grow things. After throwing up an emergency fence around the garden and talking with the neighbor, we now have a promising crop of vegetables peeking through the soil (and plenty of manure should we want compost).
After sitting on the idea for several months, some prompting by the local librarian started me baking and selling chocolate chip cookies on the weekends. So far the local kids have retained their excitment for the endeavor, joining me Fridays and Saturdays to bake. Of course, the promise of dinner and licking the bowl and spoons when we're done could have something to do with their enthusiasm. We sell the cookies in Susanna's store, and donate the proceeds to the library.
A cardboard box placed in a school room and embellished with some signs and stickers means we have a crude recycling program started in Nono. Though the kids are just collecting plastic bottles, I'm hoping with time we can expand to cans and paper, and recruit the older generations to start collecting.
Finally, this past Friday the father of my landlady passed away from prostate cancer. The cancer was present since before I arrived in Nono, and the past seven months he exhibited a slow but steady decline in health. The last month he was completely bedridden, and poor Susanna worked double duty taking care of her store and her father. Cancer is not a merciful disease, and in the last week before his death it reduced him to a being of skin and bone, resembling more of a holocaust victim than the kind and vibrant man he used to be. All day Friday the family and friends accompanied his body while it rested in the community center, and when friends left for bed the family stayed, leaving only to prepare for the mass and burial in the morning. This morning Susanna opened the store as usual, and is back to selling choclos, habbas, and her famous aji. A day elapsed between death and burial, and though I wasn't close to the man I feel slightly dazed by the rapidity of it all.
So, there you have it. The trials and triumphs of my first month back. Here's to hoping future months hold the same productivity, but with less stress.

Things I'm Thankful For

Updates

It's been more than a month, which means a new blog entry is overdue. Here's a summary of my life since I last updated.

I've adopted another dog! Or rather, he's adopted me. He followed Samina and I home about a month ago, and never left. I call him Buster, because the first thing I said to him was, "You'd better stay away from my dog, buster, or else!". I'm glad he didn't listen to me.






A few weeks ago I attended an "inter-parish encounter" in Quito, along with members of the local Nono government. All of the rural parishes in the Quito Canton advertised their best features for two days, with a show Saturday night involving dance numbers from each parish. About 30 people from Nono attended, which was about 15 more than were expected. We stayed at a camp run by a couple from Holland. Each parish had their own cabin. Unfortunately, we were not informed beforehand that blankets were not provided. In order not to freeze to death, we borrowed the costumes from the theater group and wore them as pj's.

We were the warmest bunnies there!







I have now experienced an authentic quincieniera, and it lived up to all of my expectations; food, drink, dogs, and dancing. The invitations stated the party would start at 6, then I found out that there was a Mass at 7 which came before the actually party. Of course, the Mass didn't start until 7:45. The ceremony was lovely, so much so that a local mutt decided to drop in. He checked out the priest, the alter, the birthday girl, then headed back out on his rounds. At one point I found myself humming "the Sound of Silence", which didn't make any sense until I realized the priest was singing a hymn (or something...) to the melody of "the Sound of Silence". Afterwards we walked the block to the community center, which was decked out in pink and white balloons and streamers. We danced, we ate, we danced some more, and sometime around 2am I decided to call it a night. A very good night.






On Nov. 2 Ecuadorians celebrate the "Dia de los Difuntos", or Day of the Dead. They eat colada morada (a hot thick drink made from rasberries with chunks of fruit- it's supposed to look like blood) and guaguas de pan ('bread babies'), and some visit the cemetery to pay respects to the deceased. My landlady's entire family visited for the weekend, and the house was overflowing with people. Her daughter made an enormous pot of colada morada, and we ate nothing but bread babies and drank colada for two days.

Not a Bad Day

On September 30, 2010, the police of Ecuador staged a nation-wide protest. In Quito and Guayaquil, streets were clogged with traffic, students were stranded at school, stores were ransacked and stripped clean. And in the closing hours of that Thursday the military evacuated the president from the police hospital in Quito amidst a dramatic gunfight. Meanwhile, in a little town not an hour away from the dramatic events which unfolded in Quito, this is how a certain volunteer spent (part of) her day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwryUc7fdFe

All in all, not a bad day.