Saturday, January 24, 2009
Project Help
Just putting this link up to help my friend. He currently lives with the Tsachilas (refer to my penis statue hunting entry) and is trying to get funds for a reforestation project. The link is on the right under Other Blogs under Clay´s Reforestation Project.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
No Hay
The holiday season. I guess I should start from the beginning, all the way back to November and Thanksgiving. It has been awhile since I have updated here.
Thanksgiving – Cuenca, Loja, Vilcabamba
Thanksgiving was made up of a jaunt to the southern part of the country. I met up with a few volunteers, some living in Cuenca and others who were also en route to Loja. I think I have described Cuenca before, but it has the aesthetic of a European city. Of course it has the typical Ecuadorian feel to it, Porta cabinas and bootleg DVD stores all over the place, however it is not littered with garbage and borrachos (drunks). The most surprising thing was the fact that there is a microbrewery. Anyone who is familiar with me knows my fondness for good beer. Here in Ecuador, we volunteers have a limited amount of options when it comes to beer selection. Pilsener or Brahma, and the occasional super expensive “good” beers of Budweiser or Heineken. I digress. We venture into the microbrewery and see a selection. A stout. A red lager. A pilsener. A stout, I am in heaven. We order and as I have come to expect in true Ecua-fashion, we get a reply of “No hay.” No stout. No red lager. Our only option, of course, is the pilsener. Surprise! Luckily it was a great pilsener and not the same as the Ecuadorian version.
After Cuenca, I made a pass through Sarah's (another volunteer) site in Oña. Small town, cool volunteer house! Par for the Peace Corps course. Then onward to Loja for the Thanksgiving ceremonies. A football game in the city stadium, the best turkey dinner ever, and a robot apartment to celebrate it in! That sums up my turkey day. The local stadium is open to the public so we had a mini game of football, where our dominating team of Omnibus 99 volunteers ran some of the most memorable plays in recent sports history. Granted we ended the game in a tie, but everyone knows what team really won. After football we went back to Jason's (another volunteer from my group) robot themed house. There about 40 or so volunteers enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner.
High on triptophan and good spirits, the trek southward continued. Vilcabamba is about an hour south of Loja. The town is famous for its pampering of people. Full body massages for an hour and a half for about $15. I opted out of the massage and went on a four hour hike to the mountain peak that overlooks the whole area. What better way to end my Thanksgiving trip than with a local baile and reina competition. In my friend Andy's site of San Pedro de Vilcabamba, the local town beauty queen or reina competition was held the night we happened to be in town. Being the integrated volunteers and non tourists, we went and enjoyed the ridiculousness that is a reina competition.
After about 17 hours of bus riding later, I ended up back in Atacames and thus ended my Thanksgiving week.
Christmas and New Year- Atacames, Sua, Mompiche
December was a boring month. The only thing I got accomplished was a mural on the wall of my house:
http://picasaweb.google.es/lh/photo/nr8AU0iehyqwrj_4yE4fKg?feat=directlink
Christmas was low key for me, as it seems to be for Ecuadorians. A few volunteers around my area decided to get together and do a small gift exchange and dinner. No ham at my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve this time. Lasagna instead! Christmas itself was a relatively normal day by Ecuadorian standards. Not much was going on, so I went back over to Sua (where we did Christmas Eve) and had fried shrimp for a Christmas meal. Just like home!
The day after Christmas started the the revolving door of visitors up until the new year. From the 26th of December to the 31st, I was greeted with a new visitor(s) everyday. It was great, though. Two other volunteers visited with their siblings. As someone said it is amusing to watch another volunteer interact with their brother or sister. We only know each other in the setting of Ecuador and forget about the other social interactions that each of us has. Being a group of six people we decided to go to Mompiche (cool beach town near me) for the day. There we encountered another case of the “No hay.” Pizza place, pizza, “no hay.” Another restaurant, rice, “no hay.” Toilet paper, change for a dollar, “no hay.” Luckily the weather was beautiful, so the “no hay” epidemic did not really bring down our mojo. Back we went to my house to enjoy the next few days at my house in Atacames and meet up with other volunteers.
When everyone got here on the 31st, we all headed back down to Mompiche (yes, again) to celebrate New Year's. Black sand beach. Cabañas. Hammocks. Not a bad way to ring in a new year. All in all I ended up completely drained. A week of guests coming and going can do that to a person.
It was a great holiday season. Plenty to do and plenty of friends. However, the holiday season is definitely the hardest part of the year for most volunteers. Most people find themselves missing friends and family back in the States, especially as many other volunteers are visiting home or have visitors coming here. I am definitely glad I did not come home for the holidays, feels too soon, but I was feeling myself missing home during this period. Thanks to friends (hell, we are a family here) the holidays were made enjoyable. No big deal though, I will be home in April. The surprise is over, since my big mouth ruined it the other week.
Thanksgiving – Cuenca, Loja, Vilcabamba
Thanksgiving was made up of a jaunt to the southern part of the country. I met up with a few volunteers, some living in Cuenca and others who were also en route to Loja. I think I have described Cuenca before, but it has the aesthetic of a European city. Of course it has the typical Ecuadorian feel to it, Porta cabinas and bootleg DVD stores all over the place, however it is not littered with garbage and borrachos (drunks). The most surprising thing was the fact that there is a microbrewery. Anyone who is familiar with me knows my fondness for good beer. Here in Ecuador, we volunteers have a limited amount of options when it comes to beer selection. Pilsener or Brahma, and the occasional super expensive “good” beers of Budweiser or Heineken. I digress. We venture into the microbrewery and see a selection. A stout. A red lager. A pilsener. A stout, I am in heaven. We order and as I have come to expect in true Ecua-fashion, we get a reply of “No hay.” No stout. No red lager. Our only option, of course, is the pilsener. Surprise! Luckily it was a great pilsener and not the same as the Ecuadorian version.
After Cuenca, I made a pass through Sarah's (another volunteer) site in Oña. Small town, cool volunteer house! Par for the Peace Corps course. Then onward to Loja for the Thanksgiving ceremonies. A football game in the city stadium, the best turkey dinner ever, and a robot apartment to celebrate it in! That sums up my turkey day. The local stadium is open to the public so we had a mini game of football, where our dominating team of Omnibus 99 volunteers ran some of the most memorable plays in recent sports history. Granted we ended the game in a tie, but everyone knows what team really won. After football we went back to Jason's (another volunteer from my group) robot themed house. There about 40 or so volunteers enjoyed a great Thanksgiving dinner.
High on triptophan and good spirits, the trek southward continued. Vilcabamba is about an hour south of Loja. The town is famous for its pampering of people. Full body massages for an hour and a half for about $15. I opted out of the massage and went on a four hour hike to the mountain peak that overlooks the whole area. What better way to end my Thanksgiving trip than with a local baile and reina competition. In my friend Andy's site of San Pedro de Vilcabamba, the local town beauty queen or reina competition was held the night we happened to be in town. Being the integrated volunteers and non tourists, we went and enjoyed the ridiculousness that is a reina competition.
After about 17 hours of bus riding later, I ended up back in Atacames and thus ended my Thanksgiving week.
Christmas and New Year- Atacames, Sua, Mompiche
December was a boring month. The only thing I got accomplished was a mural on the wall of my house:
http://picasaweb.google.es/lh/photo/nr8AU0iehyqwrj_4yE4fKg?feat=directlink
Christmas was low key for me, as it seems to be for Ecuadorians. A few volunteers around my area decided to get together and do a small gift exchange and dinner. No ham at my grandmother's house on Christmas Eve this time. Lasagna instead! Christmas itself was a relatively normal day by Ecuadorian standards. Not much was going on, so I went back over to Sua (where we did Christmas Eve) and had fried shrimp for a Christmas meal. Just like home!
The day after Christmas started the the revolving door of visitors up until the new year. From the 26th of December to the 31st, I was greeted with a new visitor(s) everyday. It was great, though. Two other volunteers visited with their siblings. As someone said it is amusing to watch another volunteer interact with their brother or sister. We only know each other in the setting of Ecuador and forget about the other social interactions that each of us has. Being a group of six people we decided to go to Mompiche (cool beach town near me) for the day. There we encountered another case of the “No hay.” Pizza place, pizza, “no hay.” Another restaurant, rice, “no hay.” Toilet paper, change for a dollar, “no hay.” Luckily the weather was beautiful, so the “no hay” epidemic did not really bring down our mojo. Back we went to my house to enjoy the next few days at my house in Atacames and meet up with other volunteers.
When everyone got here on the 31st, we all headed back down to Mompiche (yes, again) to celebrate New Year's. Black sand beach. Cabañas. Hammocks. Not a bad way to ring in a new year. All in all I ended up completely drained. A week of guests coming and going can do that to a person.
It was a great holiday season. Plenty to do and plenty of friends. However, the holiday season is definitely the hardest part of the year for most volunteers. Most people find themselves missing friends and family back in the States, especially as many other volunteers are visiting home or have visitors coming here. I am definitely glad I did not come home for the holidays, feels too soon, but I was feeling myself missing home during this period. Thanks to friends (hell, we are a family here) the holidays were made enjoyable. No big deal though, I will be home in April. The surprise is over, since my big mouth ruined it the other week.
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