I just got back from spending Christmas weekend in Guayaquil, with some friends of mine. Ivan and Tannya are students at the Alliance Seminary there and invited me to spend Christmas with them, since all of their family is here, in the Amazon region and they like to spend time with me (well, for Ivan it's more of a desire to tease and matchmake for me!) :) I had tons of fun, even though it was a shorter visit than I would have liked. If I had been able to stay another day, we would have gone to the beach and gone swimming (something I'm still not used to, swimming, OUTSIDE, in December)! But I had to be back at school and really had a ton of stuff to do to get ready for January, so it wasn't TOO bad. :) I didn't actually take any pictures, aside from when I went with Tannya and Ivan to the youth group that they're interns in, it was a weekend of watching movies, eating, hanging out and sleeping! (oh and talking with my family on Christmas morning, my nephew's a goof!) The strangest part, aside from not being with my family, oh and not getting my presents yet (it's not the getting of presents that I want, but to know what they are, surprises drive me crazy, if I know they're coming!) was the weather. I'm used to cold and rainy, wishing for snow, aside from one Christmas in the early 90s when it was warm and sunny and I wore a t-shirt outside. Guayaquil's definitely in the southern hemisphere, which means that December is the warm time of year! Although, it makes me laugh, since Ecuador's on the tropics, people don't really know what summer and winter are really about and call any time that it's raining winter. And, since December is also the beginning of the rainy season on the coast, it's called winter, even though it's much hotter and more humid with the rain! It actually wasn't as bad as I was led to believe the weather would be, there were a couple time I felt drenched in sweat from the humidity, but it was actually pretty comfortable, well, while wearing shorts and a tanktop! :)
So for some reason, I wrote this and never posted. Oops! :) Well, here it is now.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Random
Some random thoughts, sights, or questions I've had recently...
Is it bad that, while cleaning, I'm happy about the fact that there were more cockroaches in my kitchen than in my bedroom?
Am I sadistic to enjoy watching a cockroach squirming around on its back and not squish it, but kill it much slower with bug spray? Those things are creepy!!!
A lady was walking down the sidewalk, the other day, carrying several chickens by the legs, not so odd to think about, but then, as she readjusted them in her hands I realized that they were alive, as at least one started squirming and flapping its wings. I guess she wanted really fresh chicken! :) (Normally people carry them in a sack, plastic if dead and woven if alive.)
The other night a squad from the fire department was marching down the street, at about 9:30pm or so, and chanting, like I've seen the military do in movies. At least, I assume they were the fire department, the police, soldiers and firefighters all wear camo, but in different colors, the police in blue, soldiers in green and firefighters in red, and I think they were wearing red, although that late at night, it's kinda hard to tell. :)
I found chedder cheese at a new store in town!!! Life is great! :) Although, it's more mild than I prefer, it still has a slight cheddery taste, yum!
Is it bad that, while cleaning, I'm happy about the fact that there were more cockroaches in my kitchen than in my bedroom?
Am I sadistic to enjoy watching a cockroach squirming around on its back and not squish it, but kill it much slower with bug spray? Those things are creepy!!!
A lady was walking down the sidewalk, the other day, carrying several chickens by the legs, not so odd to think about, but then, as she readjusted them in her hands I realized that they were alive, as at least one started squirming and flapping its wings. I guess she wanted really fresh chicken! :) (Normally people carry them in a sack, plastic if dead and woven if alive.)
The other night a squad from the fire department was marching down the street, at about 9:30pm or so, and chanting, like I've seen the military do in movies. At least, I assume they were the fire department, the police, soldiers and firefighters all wear camo, but in different colors, the police in blue, soldiers in green and firefighters in red, and I think they were wearing red, although that late at night, it's kinda hard to tell. :)
I found chedder cheese at a new store in town!!! Life is great! :) Although, it's more mild than I prefer, it still has a slight cheddery taste, yum!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
FAQ
When I was first getting ready to come down here for 2 years, I sent out a list of Frequently Asked Questions that I kept getting from people. Now, almost 2 years later, I thought it might be interesting to do another one, but of questions that people here ask me, along with my typical response.
Where are you from?
~depending on my mood, how ornery I'm feeling that day, will change my answer, but it's usually a combination of: for the past year and a half, Macas, the United States, or Oregon. Which leads to the next question...
Oregon? Where's that?
~It's on the north Pacific, just north of California. Or, if they've said that they have relatives on the East Coast (where approximately 99% of Ecuadorians move to, based on my informal poll here), then I'll say that it's on the other side of the country, about 3 or 4 days driving in the car.
Do you like it in Macas/Ecuador?
~I love it here! It's so pretty and everyone's friendly. I also like living in a smaller community where you can know a lot of people.
Do you have an Ecuadorian boyfriend?
~nope, just friends. Which leads to the next question...
So you must have a boyfriend in the US, right?
~nope, just friends there, too. Which leads to the next question/suggestion....
You should marry an Ecuadorian and live here for the rest of your life!/Why don't you marry an Ecuadorian and live here for the rest of your life?
~I'll marry whoever God wants me to, whether he's from Ecuador, the US or somewhere else, I don't know. :)
What do you do here?/What are you doing here?
~I teach English at Emanuel Christian School. Which usually leads to either a comment that they know someone there, or me being asked if it's an evangelical school.
How do you get paid?
~I'm with a mission organization, which sends me money to live on.
Do you miss the States?
~I really, really miss my niece and nephew, one was just born last week and one turns 1 tomorrow. I miss having my own classroom and being close to my family, but I love being here, with many of my friends.
When are you going back to the States next?
~I'm going back the end of July. Which leads to the next....
When are you coming back here?
~I'll come back during vacations (there's no summer here, so saying during the summer holds little meaning!) for the students' graduation and for summer school.
How did you learn Spanish?/You speak Spanish really well for only having been here for a year!/etc
~I took classes in high school, just like my students are learning English and I was a Spanish kindergarten teacher for 6 years before coming here.
Do you like the food here?
~I love it! My favorite's maduros con quesillo (mature plantains with homemade soft cheese). :)
How can you walk barefoot?! (asked when I was dressed as a Shuar for the parade last spring)
~I'm from the country, I'm used to going barefoot outside, it's more comfortable! :)
Can you teach me how to make cookies? (mostly by students)
~I'd love to, but I don't know when I'll have time. (a few students have come by and made cookies with me and we always have fun!)
That's all that I can think of, off the top of my head, I'm sure I'll come up with more later. :)
Where are you from?
~depending on my mood, how ornery I'm feeling that day, will change my answer, but it's usually a combination of: for the past year and a half, Macas, the United States, or Oregon. Which leads to the next question...
Oregon? Where's that?
~It's on the north Pacific, just north of California. Or, if they've said that they have relatives on the East Coast (where approximately 99% of Ecuadorians move to, based on my informal poll here), then I'll say that it's on the other side of the country, about 3 or 4 days driving in the car.
Do you like it in Macas/Ecuador?
~I love it here! It's so pretty and everyone's friendly. I also like living in a smaller community where you can know a lot of people.
Do you have an Ecuadorian boyfriend?
~nope, just friends. Which leads to the next question...
So you must have a boyfriend in the US, right?
~nope, just friends there, too. Which leads to the next question/suggestion....
You should marry an Ecuadorian and live here for the rest of your life!/Why don't you marry an Ecuadorian and live here for the rest of your life?
~I'll marry whoever God wants me to, whether he's from Ecuador, the US or somewhere else, I don't know. :)
What do you do here?/What are you doing here?
~I teach English at Emanuel Christian School. Which usually leads to either a comment that they know someone there, or me being asked if it's an evangelical school.
How do you get paid?
~I'm with a mission organization, which sends me money to live on.
Do you miss the States?
~I really, really miss my niece and nephew, one was just born last week and one turns 1 tomorrow. I miss having my own classroom and being close to my family, but I love being here, with many of my friends.
When are you going back to the States next?
~I'm going back the end of July. Which leads to the next....
When are you coming back here?
~I'll come back during vacations (there's no summer here, so saying during the summer holds little meaning!) for the students' graduation and for summer school.
How did you learn Spanish?/You speak Spanish really well for only having been here for a year!/etc
~I took classes in high school, just like my students are learning English and I was a Spanish kindergarten teacher for 6 years before coming here.
Do you like the food here?
~I love it! My favorite's maduros con quesillo (mature plantains with homemade soft cheese). :)
How can you walk barefoot?! (asked when I was dressed as a Shuar for the parade last spring)
~I'm from the country, I'm used to going barefoot outside, it's more comfortable! :)
Can you teach me how to make cookies? (mostly by students)
~I'd love to, but I don't know when I'll have time. (a few students have come by and made cookies with me and we always have fun!)
That's all that I can think of, off the top of my head, I'm sure I'll come up with more later. :)
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Getting Home
I often walk home from school (and yes, I'm still living 14 blocks from the school), but at times I'll catch the bus, depending on how much I'm taking home, when the bus comes by, etc. If the bus doesn't come soon after I walk out of the school, I usually can walk home and be only a few blocks from the house before seeing the bus, so it doesn't really get me home much faster, which means the bus takes about 15-20 minutes to drive from the school to my house, mostly because traffic doesn't move all that fast on the streets here (unless you're in a taxi after 9pm and then you fly!) and because the bus stops A LOT to drop off and pick up people. We have bus stops, but the bus will also pick you up and drop you off apart from the official stops, so there's a lot of stopping and starting.
So Friday I needed to bring home about the equivalent of a ream of paper along with my computer. We're missing a teacher this week, so I had extra classes and extra papers to grade with less time to do it in, which means that I watched movies and graded most of yesterday! I left about 5:15 or so, thinking to get home at 5:30, eat something and start grading some papers. There were some high schoolers hanging out on the corner, after getting out of tutoring, and they were talking about a Pregón, the same type of parade where I dressed up as Shuar last year, but I didn't see anyone else hanging around the corner and ALL of the parades start out by the school, so I didn't think anything of it. The bus came by within a couple minutes so I got on and sat down. We started down the road and then, at the most annoying intersection in town, instead of going straight like normal, we turned left. I looked to the right and there were police blocking the road, so no one could turn right and at the next block over had a ton of people. I figured it was from the protest that I'd seen earlier that day, the taxi driver that took me back to school after lunch said that they were protesting for something to do with medicine, he didn't know and didn't have too high of an opinion of them, which I've found is pretty common. Anyway, I just figured that it was the same protest and that they hadn't disbanded yet, which seemed a little odd to me, but not too much so. So the bus went one block to the west from our normal route, but then came to the end of that road and we had to go back to the main road, but there again it was blocked from going the normal route (the school's on Amazonas St and I live on Soasti St, one block to the east, with the bus route following Amazonas for a few blocks and then turning onto Soasti, but Soasti was all blocked) and Amazonas was blocked because they tearing up all the streets bit by bit to lay down new pipes for the city's water/sewer system and the street we were on, to the west of Amazonas ended at the bus station, so there was no way for us to continue. So, the bus turned onto Amazonas heading back to the school and I started to get a little worried, but then the bus turned east, to the road on the other side of Soasti, which gave me hope. Macas has 3 streets that go the entire length of Macas: Amazonas, Soasti and 24 de Mayo. Amazonas and Soasti were blocked, but we were going to try 24 de Mayo. However, we could only get as far as the main Catholic church, before it too was blocked!! So the bus, again, turns back to the school and I asked the drivers if they weren't going to be able to get closer and they said that there was no way to continue on this side of the airport runway, but they would go down the other side of the runway. So we go back by school, which is at one end of the runway (my house is about halfway-3/4 down the runway on the other end). So the bus goes flying down the road with just one other passenger who gets off at the end of the runway, but the bus continues, without turning to go to the other side. I ask the drivers if they would be able to get to La Loma (my neighborhood) and they said that the would on the other side of the loop, so I hung out on the bus. We got to the end of the route, by the soccer stadium/track, leftover from the Ecuadorian version of the Olympics (province against province) and just waited. I began to wonder when, if EVER I was going to get home and debating the benefit of getting off and finding a taxi, since I REALLY didn't want to walk with all that paper in my backpack! Finally, though, the bus drivers got back on and started the bus up and headed down the road. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the bus headed down the east side of the runway, instead of the west (I live on the east)! There was hope!! :) At about 6:15 or so, I got off the bus, at my corner, ready to eat and rest. :) Not my normal trip home from school, but definitely interesting. :)
It was nice to be able to see the country around here, instead of the usual cityscape. The school's on the edge of town and I live on the edge of town, but between here and there, is all city, with a couple of empty lots where corn or bananas are grown, but not too much country, it's all houses, cement, cobblestones and telephone wires. But the other side of the runway isn't developed like this side, it's the poor, newly settled area, so it's mostly wooden houses on large plots of land, with lots of ferns and tall grasses and trees. So pretty!! Even though I wanted to get home, I really did need that time in the country. I don't get enough of that here, although, wherever I go i see almost completely unsettled mountains, so that does help. :) Ahh, the capabilities of the country to relax me! :)
So Friday I needed to bring home about the equivalent of a ream of paper along with my computer. We're missing a teacher this week, so I had extra classes and extra papers to grade with less time to do it in, which means that I watched movies and graded most of yesterday! I left about 5:15 or so, thinking to get home at 5:30, eat something and start grading some papers. There were some high schoolers hanging out on the corner, after getting out of tutoring, and they were talking about a Pregón, the same type of parade where I dressed up as Shuar last year, but I didn't see anyone else hanging around the corner and ALL of the parades start out by the school, so I didn't think anything of it. The bus came by within a couple minutes so I got on and sat down. We started down the road and then, at the most annoying intersection in town, instead of going straight like normal, we turned left. I looked to the right and there were police blocking the road, so no one could turn right and at the next block over had a ton of people. I figured it was from the protest that I'd seen earlier that day, the taxi driver that took me back to school after lunch said that they were protesting for something to do with medicine, he didn't know and didn't have too high of an opinion of them, which I've found is pretty common. Anyway, I just figured that it was the same protest and that they hadn't disbanded yet, which seemed a little odd to me, but not too much so. So the bus went one block to the west from our normal route, but then came to the end of that road and we had to go back to the main road, but there again it was blocked from going the normal route (the school's on Amazonas St and I live on Soasti St, one block to the east, with the bus route following Amazonas for a few blocks and then turning onto Soasti, but Soasti was all blocked) and Amazonas was blocked because they tearing up all the streets bit by bit to lay down new pipes for the city's water/sewer system and the street we were on, to the west of Amazonas ended at the bus station, so there was no way for us to continue. So, the bus turned onto Amazonas heading back to the school and I started to get a little worried, but then the bus turned east, to the road on the other side of Soasti, which gave me hope. Macas has 3 streets that go the entire length of Macas: Amazonas, Soasti and 24 de Mayo. Amazonas and Soasti were blocked, but we were going to try 24 de Mayo. However, we could only get as far as the main Catholic church, before it too was blocked!! So the bus, again, turns back to the school and I asked the drivers if they weren't going to be able to get closer and they said that there was no way to continue on this side of the airport runway, but they would go down the other side of the runway. So we go back by school, which is at one end of the runway (my house is about halfway-3/4 down the runway on the other end). So the bus goes flying down the road with just one other passenger who gets off at the end of the runway, but the bus continues, without turning to go to the other side. I ask the drivers if they would be able to get to La Loma (my neighborhood) and they said that the would on the other side of the loop, so I hung out on the bus. We got to the end of the route, by the soccer stadium/track, leftover from the Ecuadorian version of the Olympics (province against province) and just waited. I began to wonder when, if EVER I was going to get home and debating the benefit of getting off and finding a taxi, since I REALLY didn't want to walk with all that paper in my backpack! Finally, though, the bus drivers got back on and started the bus up and headed down the road. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the bus headed down the east side of the runway, instead of the west (I live on the east)! There was hope!! :) At about 6:15 or so, I got off the bus, at my corner, ready to eat and rest. :) Not my normal trip home from school, but definitely interesting. :)
It was nice to be able to see the country around here, instead of the usual cityscape. The school's on the edge of town and I live on the edge of town, but between here and there, is all city, with a couple of empty lots where corn or bananas are grown, but not too much country, it's all houses, cement, cobblestones and telephone wires. But the other side of the runway isn't developed like this side, it's the poor, newly settled area, so it's mostly wooden houses on large plots of land, with lots of ferns and tall grasses and trees. So pretty!! Even though I wanted to get home, I really did need that time in the country. I don't get enough of that here, although, wherever I go i see almost completely unsettled mountains, so that does help. :) Ahh, the capabilities of the country to relax me! :)
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Shower
Yesterday was one of the secretaries at school's bridal shower. Well, I suppose it was more of a couple's shower, since both came and the guests were of all ages and both genders. It was a lot of fun! I'd never been to an Ecuadorian shower before, so I had no idea what to expect.
It all started Friday afternoon when a couple from church stopped by the school. The husband is one of the pastors at church and his wife taught the 3yr old preschool class last year at school. They're also in charge of the Sunday School program, which the couple getting married is involved in. They came in to give me and a few others the invitation to Patricia and Christian's shower the next day. That isn't too uncommon, to be invited to something a few days or less before the event so I wasn't too surprised, just happy that I was invited. It's such a privilege to live here and be a part of people's lives, to see an Ecuador that most North Americans don't get to. Anyway, on the invitation was a suggestion of something to get them, so there wouldn't be duplicates and mine said disinfectant. So, on my way home from school I stopped and bought some good stuff that also is supposed to scare away cockroaches and bugs, too.
The shower was supposed to start at 5, but I didn't get there until 10 after, or so and they hadn't started yet, so I didn't feel too bad getting there late. :) About 5 minutes or so after I got there, we started. Patricia and Christian, the couple whose shower it was, were upstairs, in another apartment, with the little kids, while Lucia and Klever, the couple throwing the shower told us a couple things before they came down. Lucia said that one of the activities would be for Patricia to make Christian a salad and a cup of coffee, to show that she can take care of him, but that they were going to make sure the coffee had no sugar, without either of them knowing it, and that Christian would have to eat and drink it all with a smile on his face, to show that he wouldn't hurt Patricia's feelings. At least, that's how I understood it. :)
They came downstairs and Lucia and Klever's son had a game for us to play. We all got into a circle and held hands, except for 2, leaving a hole in the circle. The 2 on either side of the hole had to grab hands, leave the circle, find someone else to fill the hole and go back to their spot, leaving another hole. Then he was going to randomly start counting down from 10 and when he got to 0, the 2 on either side of the hole would have to pay penance. It was hilarious!! People forgot what they were supposed to do, so everyone else was yelling at them to run and find someone and every once in awhile it was 2 guys who had to grab hands, which inspired whistling and catcalls. We played a few times and then they decided that we had enough people who would have to pay penance. The first 2 had to stand and be puppets while half the group went up, 1 at a time, and positioned them however they wanted. :) The second pair had to dance like ducks, per majority vote of the group while the last pair had to dance a really silly kids song which ended with them stomping their feet, flapping their arms like wings and wiggling their backside like a duck or chicken or something!
Then they had Christian tell the story of how he and Patricia got together, while one lady kept warning the dads in the room to pay attention for when their daughters grow up! It was probably one of the most amazing stories I've heard, it sounds like it's straight from a fairy tale. He would come in to town to see her when she got off work, to walk her to the bus, half a block away. He'd wait with her for the bus and then go back to the country, walking at least a foot away from each other, but that 5 minutes was worth it, to him, to go into town to see her. :) This was all before they ever dated, then when he actually asked her to date him it was over the phone! They had everyone laughing so hard!
After that was the traditional dress the bride and groom. We got toilet paper and tape for her dress, while the guys got newspaper and tape for his tux. I was amazed at everyone's creativity! Patricia's dress reminded me of something from the early 1800s, like Pride and Prejudice or something similar. Then they put toilet paper sashes on a couple of the high school girls and made them the bridesmaids. Christian's costume was even better, though! He looked like a cross between an ancient knight and a robot. :) They even gave him tails in the back, and a pocket in front with a little flower sticking out of it. They made a hat for him, but I wasn't quite sure what kind it was supposed to be. At first I thought it was a bandanna, but then it looked a little like a VERY short chef's hat! Then I saw that they were giving him facial hair. At first it was just a Hitler mustache, but then that got removed and made into sideburns with a handlebar mustache and then one of the sideburns fell off, so he looked lopsided. :) After they were all dressed they had a mock wedding ceremony full of jokes and more puppetry. During the ceremony, a person stood behind each Patricia and Christian, pretending to be their hands. It reminded me of the skit we used to do at Sonshine about morning routines, or something, where the person behind has to do everything the person in front is supposed to do, without looking.
Later Klever read some comments about matrimony that were supposed to be funny. Most of them were, but there were a few where everybody just kind of looked at him confused. The one I remember the best was something like: archeologists make the best husbands because the older you get, the more beautiful you look to him! :)
All in all, it was hilarious and a great time! I loved the mix of ages, everyone from an 70 something retired missionary to 2 year olds were there, although the kids were mainly playing outside and upstairs, but those of us who were actually attending the party were a mix of a few high schoolers, some of us in our 20s, a few in their 30s and 40s and a few that had to be at least 70 or more! It was great! :)
It all started Friday afternoon when a couple from church stopped by the school. The husband is one of the pastors at church and his wife taught the 3yr old preschool class last year at school. They're also in charge of the Sunday School program, which the couple getting married is involved in. They came in to give me and a few others the invitation to Patricia and Christian's shower the next day. That isn't too uncommon, to be invited to something a few days or less before the event so I wasn't too surprised, just happy that I was invited. It's such a privilege to live here and be a part of people's lives, to see an Ecuador that most North Americans don't get to. Anyway, on the invitation was a suggestion of something to get them, so there wouldn't be duplicates and mine said disinfectant. So, on my way home from school I stopped and bought some good stuff that also is supposed to scare away cockroaches and bugs, too.
The shower was supposed to start at 5, but I didn't get there until 10 after, or so and they hadn't started yet, so I didn't feel too bad getting there late. :) About 5 minutes or so after I got there, we started. Patricia and Christian, the couple whose shower it was, were upstairs, in another apartment, with the little kids, while Lucia and Klever, the couple throwing the shower told us a couple things before they came down. Lucia said that one of the activities would be for Patricia to make Christian a salad and a cup of coffee, to show that she can take care of him, but that they were going to make sure the coffee had no sugar, without either of them knowing it, and that Christian would have to eat and drink it all with a smile on his face, to show that he wouldn't hurt Patricia's feelings. At least, that's how I understood it. :)
They came downstairs and Lucia and Klever's son had a game for us to play. We all got into a circle and held hands, except for 2, leaving a hole in the circle. The 2 on either side of the hole had to grab hands, leave the circle, find someone else to fill the hole and go back to their spot, leaving another hole. Then he was going to randomly start counting down from 10 and when he got to 0, the 2 on either side of the hole would have to pay penance. It was hilarious!! People forgot what they were supposed to do, so everyone else was yelling at them to run and find someone and every once in awhile it was 2 guys who had to grab hands, which inspired whistling and catcalls. We played a few times and then they decided that we had enough people who would have to pay penance. The first 2 had to stand and be puppets while half the group went up, 1 at a time, and positioned them however they wanted. :) The second pair had to dance like ducks, per majority vote of the group while the last pair had to dance a really silly kids song which ended with them stomping their feet, flapping their arms like wings and wiggling their backside like a duck or chicken or something!
Then they had Christian tell the story of how he and Patricia got together, while one lady kept warning the dads in the room to pay attention for when their daughters grow up! It was probably one of the most amazing stories I've heard, it sounds like it's straight from a fairy tale. He would come in to town to see her when she got off work, to walk her to the bus, half a block away. He'd wait with her for the bus and then go back to the country, walking at least a foot away from each other, but that 5 minutes was worth it, to him, to go into town to see her. :) This was all before they ever dated, then when he actually asked her to date him it was over the phone! They had everyone laughing so hard!
After that was the traditional dress the bride and groom. We got toilet paper and tape for her dress, while the guys got newspaper and tape for his tux. I was amazed at everyone's creativity! Patricia's dress reminded me of something from the early 1800s, like Pride and Prejudice or something similar. Then they put toilet paper sashes on a couple of the high school girls and made them the bridesmaids. Christian's costume was even better, though! He looked like a cross between an ancient knight and a robot. :) They even gave him tails in the back, and a pocket in front with a little flower sticking out of it. They made a hat for him, but I wasn't quite sure what kind it was supposed to be. At first I thought it was a bandanna, but then it looked a little like a VERY short chef's hat! Then I saw that they were giving him facial hair. At first it was just a Hitler mustache, but then that got removed and made into sideburns with a handlebar mustache and then one of the sideburns fell off, so he looked lopsided. :) After they were all dressed they had a mock wedding ceremony full of jokes and more puppetry. During the ceremony, a person stood behind each Patricia and Christian, pretending to be their hands. It reminded me of the skit we used to do at Sonshine about morning routines, or something, where the person behind has to do everything the person in front is supposed to do, without looking. 
Later Klever read some comments about matrimony that were supposed to be funny. Most of them were, but there were a few where everybody just kind of looked at him confused. The one I remember the best was something like: archeologists make the best husbands because the older you get, the more beautiful you look to him! :)
All in all, it was hilarious and a great time! I loved the mix of ages, everyone from an 70 something retired missionary to 2 year olds were there, although the kids were mainly playing outside and upstairs, but those of us who were actually attending the party were a mix of a few high schoolers, some of us in our 20s, a few in their 30s and 40s and a few that had to be at least 70 or more! It was great! :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Clothing
Walking down the street also is great for people watching! Some look as if they just came from the jungle, with big rubber boots all muddy, old baggy jeans for the guys and skirts for the ladies, carrying their babies in bright slings, barely holding them on, just tension and a big diaper! Then after them come people dressed no different than you’d see anywhere in the States, jeans, t-shirt, shorts, etc. Next to them could be a woman dressed up so much that she looks like she’s going to a fancy restaurant, but is really just getting home from work, wearing her uniform. And then after that could be someone dressed in their traditional clothing, that hasn’t, as far as I know, changed for centuries.
The first time I saw an indigenous lady in traditional clothing I had the hardest time not staring. Then the first time I saw an indigenous lady from a different village I again struggled with not staring. The clothes seem so foreign and exotic at first. But I soon realized that it's a normal every day thing for many to continue wearing traditional clothing all the time and not just at reenactments, like in the States. Now, I've gotten used to it and can even tell, to some extent, what region the lady comes from, based on her clothes. Most of the ladies in town, in traditional clothes, come from the areas around Riobamba and Ambato, in the highlands and wear long black or navy blue wraparound skirts with embroidery on the bottom. The most amazing part of it though, is the belt they use. It's a really long strip of brightly embroidered fabric that they just wrap around them a bunch of times, tuck in the end, and that holds up the skirt! I was slightly shocked the first time I saw a younger lady, around my age, dressed in the traditional skirt with a t-shirt on top and zip-up sweatshirt! The combination traditional and contemporary seemed odd at first, to me, but appears to be the way they've allowed themselves to "modernize" while still carrying on tradition. But after seeing them, I was still taken aback when I saw a lady from Otavalo in town. They're very easy to spot, since they always wear white, lacy embroidered shirts, with a double skirt underneath, at least that's what it appears. :) It looks like it's a tan skirt underneath with a black one on top.
I was beginning to think that all of the indigenous people from around Macas had completely assimilated, since the only ones I saw dressing traditionally were from the highlands, until I was getting ready to leave Macas the 2nd year I came down and was at the airport waiting for the plane to land. The plane was hours late and I looked out the window at the airport, and saw a crowd gathering to meet the incoming plane. That wasn’t the odd thing, though, but how some were dressed. It was all men in suits, but over half had yellow and red feathered crowns on their head and were wearing long loops of what looked like beads, but I knew were seeds. They were looped across their chest, crisscrossing their bodies. Others just had the seeds. My friend, who was with me, said that the feathered crowns were for the shamans or heads of the clan. They were meeting some dignitary, which is why the plane was so late.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Walking
As I sat and looked out my window on a little corner of Paradise, I was trying to think of something to write, since it's been so long and I have so many stories, that at the time I want to share, but as the days go by and I have no time, I forget the details and they're not as interesting anymore. And then along comes a guy pushing a cart and advertising his wares. His voice is loud enough that it easily carries up to me, on the second floor, with my windows closed, but I can't understand what he says. I look at him and see that in his handcart are coconuts and that he's selling coconut juice. And it reminds me of my walks home from school. I don't usually see the handcarts near my house, since it's not a commercial area and they don't really do as good of a business here, but there's many downtown, on nearly every corner, actually. It got me thinking, too, of the things here, that have become normal to me, but that are anything but in the States, or at least in Salem. :) So I tried to think of all the things that I've seen here in the past week, when walking home, or taking the bus.
The cobblestone streets at first made me feel as if I were in Europe a hundred years ago, but then I looked up and saw the tangle of electrical wires and realized that I had to be at least in the 20th century. :)
People are dressed in so many different ways, the styles are so much more varied than in the States! But that's a whole 'nother blog post.
The next block I'll most likely see one or more of my students, yelling "Teacher!!! Es mi profe! Mire mami! (It's my teacher! Look mom!) Teacher, teacher, hola!!" Sometimes they'll be walking along with their parents, other times hanging out on the front stoop of the store while waiting with their parents and other times with their head hanging out the car window as their family drives by. But nearly every single time I'm outside, I see at least one student or parent of a student.
Then I see a flat bed truck with wooden sides and a wooden pole above, running down the middle, sometimes with a tarp over, sometimes not. I never know what I'll see inside the trucks. A cow or 2, a horse or 2, even a pig or goats. But often the trucks will be full of people. If a trucks empty, people will often pull it over and pay to take them somewhere, if they're going in the right direction. I was surprised, last week, when I saw a particularly high truck with guys riding in it, well, not in, in, more straddling the sideboards, at least 2 stories off the ground, as if they were riding a giant horse! Usually they're on the bed of the truck :) but this one must have been full, either that or they felt like being more adventurous than normal!
One day I was sitting on the bus when it pulled over to pick someone up, totally normal, but up walked a boy carrying a chicken. Now this isn't really abnormal, but this chicken was alive and just tucked under the kid's arm like a football. It was really hard not to laugh, what with everyone from the States asking me if the buses are anything like the infamous chicken buses of Mexico and Central America. Up until then I'd seen many things get on the buses, both city and intracity buses, but never anything live, that wasn't human! People often get on buses carrying huge buckets, sacks of grain, machetes, sugar cane, all sorts of things, but I'd not seen a live animal before! Still haven't on the buses between cities, just the regular city buses, that really aren't all that different from Salem's city buses. :)
There are dogs all over the place, some confined behind fences, some allowed to roam free and some that are without owners. A lot of times they band together, especially at night. I'll often hear them after I'm in bed, all howling together. So, at first I didn't think anything of the 2 dogs I saw on the sidewalk last Friday. But then I looked closer. There was a tan one and a black one, but the black one looked a little weird. I'd already passed them, so I turned to look again. No wonder he looked a little funny! That was no fluffy tail, but a corkscrew pig's tail! He was a little piglet about the size of a terrier and running around with the dog. :) I guess he can eat the garbage from the garbage pails as easily as the dogs do, but it still made me laugh to see. Then of course, there's the millions of chickens, although not usually in the downtown area, but once you're not in the 3 or 4 blocks of main downtown, most houses have them. Although, most families keep their chickens behind fences, every once in awhile, they'll be out on an insect hunt, in the streets or sidewalks.
On nearly every block you see someone with a little stand, either stationary or rolling, trying to sell something. Whether it's the man carrying 10 brooms all strapped onto his shoulder, the lady with balloons tied onto a really tall pole, a man with icecream on a platter with a cone stuck on top, the rolling carts selling orange juice, coconut juice or nuts, or the grills set up in front of a restaurant, doorway or just on a corner with fried plantains, grilled plantains, empanadas or meat on a stick, you can nearly find just about anything you want from these roving salesmen. In fact, I think that might be the only way you can actually buy a book in Macas, aside from the school's bookstore and textbooks.
And that doesn't even take into consideration all of the little stores, each fairly specialized, that line the streets of Macas. :)
The cobblestone streets at first made me feel as if I were in Europe a hundred years ago, but then I looked up and saw the tangle of electrical wires and realized that I had to be at least in the 20th century. :)
 |
| Getting ready for a parade wouldn't be worth it if you couldn't string banners from the bucket of a front loader! |
People are dressed in so many different ways, the styles are so much more varied than in the States! But that's a whole 'nother blog post.
The next block I'll most likely see one or more of my students, yelling "Teacher!!! Es mi profe! Mire mami! (It's my teacher! Look mom!) Teacher, teacher, hola!!" Sometimes they'll be walking along with their parents, other times hanging out on the front stoop of the store while waiting with their parents and other times with their head hanging out the car window as their family drives by. But nearly every single time I'm outside, I see at least one student or parent of a student.
Then I see a flat bed truck with wooden sides and a wooden pole above, running down the middle, sometimes with a tarp over, sometimes not. I never know what I'll see inside the trucks. A cow or 2, a horse or 2, even a pig or goats. But often the trucks will be full of people. If a trucks empty, people will often pull it over and pay to take them somewhere, if they're going in the right direction. I was surprised, last week, when I saw a particularly high truck with guys riding in it, well, not in, in, more straddling the sideboards, at least 2 stories off the ground, as if they were riding a giant horse! Usually they're on the bed of the truck :) but this one must have been full, either that or they felt like being more adventurous than normal!
One day I was sitting on the bus when it pulled over to pick someone up, totally normal, but up walked a boy carrying a chicken. Now this isn't really abnormal, but this chicken was alive and just tucked under the kid's arm like a football. It was really hard not to laugh, what with everyone from the States asking me if the buses are anything like the infamous chicken buses of Mexico and Central America. Up until then I'd seen many things get on the buses, both city and intracity buses, but never anything live, that wasn't human! People often get on buses carrying huge buckets, sacks of grain, machetes, sugar cane, all sorts of things, but I'd not seen a live animal before! Still haven't on the buses between cities, just the regular city buses, that really aren't all that different from Salem's city buses. :)There are dogs all over the place, some confined behind fences, some allowed to roam free and some that are without owners. A lot of times they band together, especially at night. I'll often hear them after I'm in bed, all howling together. So, at first I didn't think anything of the 2 dogs I saw on the sidewalk last Friday. But then I looked closer. There was a tan one and a black one, but the black one looked a little weird. I'd already passed them, so I turned to look again. No wonder he looked a little funny! That was no fluffy tail, but a corkscrew pig's tail! He was a little piglet about the size of a terrier and running around with the dog. :) I guess he can eat the garbage from the garbage pails as easily as the dogs do, but it still made me laugh to see. Then of course, there's the millions of chickens, although not usually in the downtown area, but once you're not in the 3 or 4 blocks of main downtown, most houses have them. Although, most families keep their chickens behind fences, every once in awhile, they'll be out on an insect hunt, in the streets or sidewalks.
On nearly every block you see someone with a little stand, either stationary or rolling, trying to sell something. Whether it's the man carrying 10 brooms all strapped onto his shoulder, the lady with balloons tied onto a really tall pole, a man with icecream on a platter with a cone stuck on top, the rolling carts selling orange juice, coconut juice or nuts, or the grills set up in front of a restaurant, doorway or just on a corner with fried plantains, grilled plantains, empanadas or meat on a stick, you can nearly find just about anything you want from these roving salesmen. In fact, I think that might be the only way you can actually buy a book in Macas, aside from the school's bookstore and textbooks.
And that doesn't even take into consideration all of the little stores, each fairly specialized, that line the streets of Macas. :)
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Fun and crazy times
It's been pretty busy these past few weeks, with summer school, then getting ready for the school year and now, the first week of classes, so I haven't had much time to do anything other than get home, eat and read a bit before going to sleep. But here's a bit of what I've been up to. :) The first one is my friend and I playing around with my hair, it's actually long enough to almost sit on, but we were goofing around and pretended it was short. The 2nd is the adorable 5 day old son of one of the students at school. She's made wonderful progress this year, in her attitude (so I hear, I didn't know her at the beginning) and is amazingly mature. The last is one of my favorites, me riding!!!! A friend of mine's brother-in-law owns this gorgeous horse and invited me to go riding last Sunday!!!!! It's amazing how much I'd missed it. :)
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Church
Today was quite the interesting day at church. First of all, I left the house late and there wasn't any taxis for the first few blocks, but I finally saw one that was empty. Normally it's not a big deal, but leaving the house late and then walking for 20-30 minutes tends to make one REALLY late for church. :) When I got there there was a group from Canada, doing evangelism in Sucua, a town about 10-30 minutes from here (10 min if you drive your own car, 30 min by bus). One of the men preached and it was as if I was back at Salem Alliance in my childhood. We used to joke that the Canadians were taking over the church, since the head pastor, the worship pastor, their wives and all of the high school interns were from Canada. :) Plus they're from 2 different Alliance churches in Canada, so it was cool to hear someone with a similar background, doesn't happen every day! They even knew of Salem Alliance, I think, at least they appeared somewhat familiar with it when talking with them afterward.
At the end of the service, the youth/worship pastor got up and made a few announcements, one of which to let everyone know that the Shuar Bible is now translated and at the end of the month there's going to be a big dedication service for it, in Macuma. He invited everyone who wants to go to get together and form groups for traveling. After the service was over, I was talking with a couple who are going with a group of Shuar to the dedication and invited me to go along. I'd love to go!!! The entertaining part is that there are only 2 ways to get to Macuma, the fast way and the slow way. :) The fast way is by a 5 person plane. The slow way is to take the bus for a couple hours and then walk 3 hours, they're no roads! Lois, a retired missionary here, was telling us that part of the trail includes crossing rivers on logs and stuff like that. I think it would be awesome!! I just have to figure out if the timing will work out. It's on a Saturday, but it's the Saturday in the middle of getting ready for the school year. I think it would be absolutely amazing to be able to go! :) To get to be at the ceremony dedicating the Bible in a new language. I hope I can work it out.
Then after church, I went out to eat with a couple other "gringos" to a new restaurant. It has the exact same name as another restaurant in town and serves the same type of foods, but the other place is still open, so I'm not sure what's up. They're only a couple blocks apart, too, so I kinda doubt that it's a case of franchising or anything, but who knows. What was really funny was when we got there it was semi full, mostly with Ecuadorians, but there was one table of what looked like gringo tourists. That still throws me off, since I'm used to being the only blonde person around, it's almost as weird for me to see another blonde, as it is for the Ecuadorians! I never did figure out if they were from the States or not, though, since I couldn't really hear them speaking, and when I did it was a Spanish with an accent, it wasn't Ecuadorian Spanish, but it didn't have the cadence of a native English speaker, either. Then about 15 minutes later a group walked up, very obviously tourists, one girl even had an Ecuador guide book! I'm not quite sure why she had the guide book, though, unless it was for useful phrases, because there's rarely anything on the Amazonian region in the guidebooks, and if there is, it's mostly full of things in the northern jungle, there'd be little to no information on Macas. Hopefully she figured that out! :) So, they walked in and were asking for chairs, so that they could all sit around the 1 table that was open. Then the owner (I assume that's who it was, at least) walked out and had the other group of gringos move their table over (the 2 groups were next to each other). I assumed they knew each other until I heard someone say, "but we don't know each other". The guy told them that it didn't matter! It was sooo hard not to laugh really loudly!! :) The table next to us only had 1 guy and when he was done, the 2nd group moved over to his table, making me laugh even more. Those poor people! At least it provided me with some amusement at lunch. :) It was odd though, I think there were more gringos than Ecuadorians there, a first, I would imagine. :) It's actually getting more common to see whiter people on the streets. My first year down here, I don't think I saw anyone else, then the 2nd year I came, there were a few. This year I've seen some, but not too many. I don't usually see many gringos, unless I'm in Quito or Cuenca. I probably would when I go to Guayaquil, but I don't hang out in the areas that they go to, so I don't think I have, other than the missionary family at the seminary.
I really need to do better at taking pictures, but I keep forgetting to pull out my camera in class, and I haven't done anything outside of class to take pictures of, maybe this week, I hope! :)
At the end of the service, the youth/worship pastor got up and made a few announcements, one of which to let everyone know that the Shuar Bible is now translated and at the end of the month there's going to be a big dedication service for it, in Macuma. He invited everyone who wants to go to get together and form groups for traveling. After the service was over, I was talking with a couple who are going with a group of Shuar to the dedication and invited me to go along. I'd love to go!!! The entertaining part is that there are only 2 ways to get to Macuma, the fast way and the slow way. :) The fast way is by a 5 person plane. The slow way is to take the bus for a couple hours and then walk 3 hours, they're no roads! Lois, a retired missionary here, was telling us that part of the trail includes crossing rivers on logs and stuff like that. I think it would be awesome!! I just have to figure out if the timing will work out. It's on a Saturday, but it's the Saturday in the middle of getting ready for the school year. I think it would be absolutely amazing to be able to go! :) To get to be at the ceremony dedicating the Bible in a new language. I hope I can work it out.
Then after church, I went out to eat with a couple other "gringos" to a new restaurant. It has the exact same name as another restaurant in town and serves the same type of foods, but the other place is still open, so I'm not sure what's up. They're only a couple blocks apart, too, so I kinda doubt that it's a case of franchising or anything, but who knows. What was really funny was when we got there it was semi full, mostly with Ecuadorians, but there was one table of what looked like gringo tourists. That still throws me off, since I'm used to being the only blonde person around, it's almost as weird for me to see another blonde, as it is for the Ecuadorians! I never did figure out if they were from the States or not, though, since I couldn't really hear them speaking, and when I did it was a Spanish with an accent, it wasn't Ecuadorian Spanish, but it didn't have the cadence of a native English speaker, either. Then about 15 minutes later a group walked up, very obviously tourists, one girl even had an Ecuador guide book! I'm not quite sure why she had the guide book, though, unless it was for useful phrases, because there's rarely anything on the Amazonian region in the guidebooks, and if there is, it's mostly full of things in the northern jungle, there'd be little to no information on Macas. Hopefully she figured that out! :) So, they walked in and were asking for chairs, so that they could all sit around the 1 table that was open. Then the owner (I assume that's who it was, at least) walked out and had the other group of gringos move their table over (the 2 groups were next to each other). I assumed they knew each other until I heard someone say, "but we don't know each other". The guy told them that it didn't matter! It was sooo hard not to laugh really loudly!! :) The table next to us only had 1 guy and when he was done, the 2nd group moved over to his table, making me laugh even more. Those poor people! At least it provided me with some amusement at lunch. :) It was odd though, I think there were more gringos than Ecuadorians there, a first, I would imagine. :) It's actually getting more common to see whiter people on the streets. My first year down here, I don't think I saw anyone else, then the 2nd year I came, there were a few. This year I've seen some, but not too many. I don't usually see many gringos, unless I'm in Quito or Cuenca. I probably would when I go to Guayaquil, but I don't hang out in the areas that they go to, so I don't think I have, other than the missionary family at the seminary.
I really need to do better at taking pictures, but I keep forgetting to pull out my camera in class, and I haven't done anything outside of class to take pictures of, maybe this week, I hope! :)
Church
Today was quite the interesting day at church. First of all, I left the house late and there wasn't any taxis for the first few blocks, but I finally saw one that was empty. Normally it's not a big deal, but leaving the house late and then walking for 20-30 minutes tends to make one REALLY late for church. :) When I got there there was a group from Canada, doing evangelism in Sucua, a town about 10-30 minutes from here (10 min if you drive your own car, 30 min by bus). One of the men preached and it was as if I was back at Salem Alliance in my childhood. We used to joke that the Canadians were taking over the church, since the head pastor, the worship pastor, their wives and all of the high school interns were from Canada. :) Plus they're from 2 different Alliance churches in Canada, so it was cool to hear someone with a similar background, doesn't happen every day! They even knew of Salem Alliance, I think, at least they appeared somewhat familiar with it when talking with them afterward.
At the end of the service, the youth/worship pastor got up and made a few announcements, one of which to let everyone know that the Shuar Bible is now translated and at the end of the month there's going to be a big dedication service for it, in Macuma. He invited everyone who wants to go to get together and form groups for traveling. After the service was over, I was talking with a couple who are going with a group of Shuar to the dedication and invited me to go along. I'd love to go!!! The entertaining part is that there are only 2 ways to get to Macuma, the fast way and the slow way. :) The fast way is by a 5 person plane. The slow way is to take the bus for a couple hours and then walk 3 hours, they're no roads! Lois, a retired missionary here, was telling us that part of the trail includes crossing rivers on logs and stuff like that. I think it would be awesome!! I just have to figure out if the timing will work out. It's on a Saturday, but it's the Saturday in the middle of getting ready for the school year. I think it would be absolutely amazing to be able to go! :) To get to be at the ceremony dedicating the Bible in a new language. I hope I can work it out.
Then after church, I went out to eat with a couple other "gringos" to a new restaurant. It has the exact same name as another restaurant in town and serves the same type of foods, but the other place is still open, so I'm not sure what's up. They're only a couple blocks apart, too, so I kinda doubt that it's a case of franchising or anything, but who knows. What was really funny was when we got there it was semi full, mostly with Ecuadorians, but there was one table of what looked like gringo tourists. That still throws me off, since I'm used to being the only blonde person around, it's almost as weird for me to see another blonde, as it is for the Ecuadorians! I never did figure out if they were from the States or not, though, since I couldn't really hear them speaking, and when I did it was a Spanish with an accent, it wasn't Ecuadorian Spanish, but it didn't have the cadence of a native English speaker, either. Then about 15 minutes later a group walked up, very obviously tourists, one girl even had an Ecuador guide book! I'm not quite sure why she had the guide book, though, unless it was for useful phrases, because there's rarely anything on the Amazonian region in the guidebooks, and if there is, it's mostly full of things in the northern jungle, there'd be little to no information on Macas. Hopefully she figured that out! :) So, they walked in and were asking for chairs, so that they could all sit around the 1 table that was open. Then the owner (I assume that's who it was, at least) walked out and had the other group of gringos move their table over (the 2 groups were next to each other). I assumed they knew each other until I heard someone say, "but we don't know each other". The guy told them that it didn't matter! It was sooo hard not to laugh really loudly!! :) The table next to us only had 1 guy and when he was done, the 2nd group moved over to his table, making me laugh even more. Those poor people! At least it provided me with some amusement at lunch. :) It was odd though, I think there were more gringos than Ecuadorians there, a first, I would imagine. :) It's actually getting more common to see whiter people on the streets. My first year down here, I don't think I saw anyone else, then the 2nd year I came, there were a few. This year I've seen some, but not too many. I don't usually see many gringos, unless I'm in Quito or Cuenca. I probably would when I go to Guayaquil, but I don't hang out in the areas that they go to, so I don't think I have, other than the missionary family at the seminary.
I really need to do better at taking pictures, but I keep forgetting to pull out my camera in class, and I haven't done anything outside of class to take pictures of, maybe this week, I hope! :)
At the end of the service, the youth/worship pastor got up and made a few announcements, one of which to let everyone know that the Shuar Bible is now translated and at the end of the month there's going to be a big dedication service for it, in Macuma. He invited everyone who wants to go to get together and form groups for traveling. After the service was over, I was talking with a couple who are going with a group of Shuar to the dedication and invited me to go along. I'd love to go!!! The entertaining part is that there are only 2 ways to get to Macuma, the fast way and the slow way. :) The fast way is by a 5 person plane. The slow way is to take the bus for a couple hours and then walk 3 hours, they're no roads! Lois, a retired missionary here, was telling us that part of the trail includes crossing rivers on logs and stuff like that. I think it would be awesome!! I just have to figure out if the timing will work out. It's on a Saturday, but it's the Saturday in the middle of getting ready for the school year. I think it would be absolutely amazing to be able to go! :) To get to be at the ceremony dedicating the Bible in a new language. I hope I can work it out.
Then after church, I went out to eat with a couple other "gringos" to a new restaurant. It has the exact same name as another restaurant in town and serves the same type of foods, but the other place is still open, so I'm not sure what's up. They're only a couple blocks apart, too, so I kinda doubt that it's a case of franchising or anything, but who knows. What was really funny was when we got there it was semi full, mostly with Ecuadorians, but there was one table of what looked like gringo tourists. That still throws me off, since I'm used to being the only blonde person around, it's almost as weird for me to see another blonde, as it is for the Ecuadorians! I never did figure out if they were from the States or not, though, since I couldn't really hear them speaking, and when I did it was a Spanish with an accent, it wasn't Ecuadorian Spanish, but it didn't have the cadence of a native English speaker, either. Then about 15 minutes later a group walked up, very obviously tourists, one girl even had an Ecuador guide book! I'm not quite sure why she had the guide book, though, unless it was for useful phrases, because there's rarely anything on the Amazonian region in the guidebooks, and if there is, it's mostly full of things in the northern jungle, there'd be little to no information on Macas. Hopefully she figured that out! :) So, they walked in and were asking for chairs, so that they could all sit around the 1 table that was open. Then the owner (I assume that's who it was, at least) walked out and had the other group of gringos move their table over (the 2 groups were next to each other). I assumed they knew each other until I heard someone say, "but we don't know each other". The guy told them that it didn't matter! It was sooo hard not to laugh really loudly!! :) The table next to us only had 1 guy and when he was done, the 2nd group moved over to his table, making me laugh even more. Those poor people! At least it provided me with some amusement at lunch. :) It was odd though, I think there were more gringos than Ecuadorians there, a first, I would imagine. :) It's actually getting more common to see whiter people on the streets. My first year down here, I don't think I saw anyone else, then the 2nd year I came, there were a few. This year I've seen some, but not too many. I don't usually see many gringos, unless I'm in Quito or Cuenca. I probably would when I go to Guayaquil, but I don't hang out in the areas that they go to, so I don't think I have, other than the missionary family at the seminary.
I really need to do better at taking pictures, but I keep forgetting to pull out my camera in class, and I haven't done anything outside of class to take pictures of, maybe this week, I hope! :)
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