Scrambled eggs for breakfast two days in a row!

It has been a good while since I´ve written! The recent act of the rainy season actually being the rainy season has kept me from walking to the internet. Lo siento. A recap of the past week or so... Saturday – woke up and caught the buses to the leather capital of the world. Spent time seeing the city and talking to the people, then met up with some current volunteers for lunch. Fruit salad and a ham sandwich equals heaven. We rode out to one of the volunteer’s sites. It was good to actually see a site. Went to Gran Aki with Jamie to pick up some things, and we ended up buying cubes of cheese, ritz crackers and coke and kicking our new soccer ball, chris brown, home on the dirt road. It was great. It’s strange, because here the expensive cheeses are cheddar and Colby, etc, but in America, the expensive ones are the ones that are so cheap here. We sprang for some tasty cheese. I came home and my madre was here to take me to Maria Paz’s first birthday party. It was insane – clowns, facepaint, an enormous hello kitty cake, treat bags, and lots of people. They really make a big deal out of birthdays no matter what age you are. I enjoyed it. I think the funniest tradition here is that after the cumpleañera blows out the candles, everyone chants ‘que muere de pastel! Que muere de pastel!’ and then they shove the person’s face into their cake. Luckily they only held Maria Paz’s head to the cake and let her take a big bite, but they usually just push your face into it! I finished watching the first disc of 30 rock thanks to Nicole, and went to bed muy temprano. Sunday we went into town to get some good american lunch and drink some not so good ecuadorian beer. It was a good day. I bought a watch. Monday we learned about good plants to make herbal teas from and the uses for them. I thought it was pretty interesting since I drink herbal tea from a plant out back every night. We then traveled to another site to see these herbs in person and to see the other group’s garden. It was pretty. This week we have to make compost and finish our garden. We are going to try raised seed beds to see where our plants grow better. We are a little pressed on time to make a legit compost pile, but we’re goin to try our best. Ate dinner with the madre and hermana, my mom is really sad because apparently someone stole our sheep from the back yard, but she has a lead on where it may be and is gonna find it if she has to beat some people up to do it. We also have a new cat. It came over in a backpack the other week, and I didn’t see it after that, but it escaped from the roof and was in my sister’s room the other day before hiding under the stove and then in the silverware drawer. I think it might be back outside now, but it certainly does not want any human contact. My friend Jamie who lives down the street had the cutest kitten, but it got ran over because it decided the best napping spot would be in front of a wheel. So the parents replaced it with an even smaller cat. It is adorable. Tuesday we went to a neighboring pueblo again to make lunch – we made cheese empanadas, mote pillo, majado, fruit salad and tea/coffee. We finished off the day with a round of translated pick-up lines, and ended the day with a small celebration of St. Patty´s day. Wednesday we got to meet the ambassador and got our cell phones – so exciting! My numero is 011-593-9-488-5852. I can call and text within ecuador but I cannot call the u.s. however I can receive calls from the US and text there. So call me. We ate dinner at 6:00, and I got confused because it was so early! I think madre had to run out for something with her amiga. Finished off 30 rock to pass on to Jamie. Thursday was a chill day with a morning of language simulation tests/hanging out and playing an ecuadorian card game, cuarenta. It’s super fun. Had more health/assault talks and made our traditional ham sandwiches for lunch. We received our cook books today and I’m excited to finally get to cook for myself! Oh, and I got to eat a scrambled egg this morning. Not fried, not boiled. Scrambled. It was basically the most exciting morning so far. Basically. Friday was a normal day, but Thursday night was freezing! I’ve definitely put the long johns to good use lately, since its actually started raining in the ‘rainy season.’ We learned some reflexive verbs, ate pizza for lunch and worked in the garden for a bit in the afternoon, then it started raining. One of my sisters ducklings died because it decided to ‘play’ with one of the dogs, so we’re down to two. Oh well. The other two get to live inside the house now because it is so cold at night. I walked out of the bathroom this morning and they were hangin out in the hall! Saturday morning I learned how to wash my clothes on a rock then talked to mom for her birthday. Jamie and I went into town for a good hamburger and we saw alot of other gringos there. Abiding by the rule of six, we found other places to hang out! Sunday I went to town with my family because my sister, brother, and his wife were dancing and playing guitar in a parade. It was cool to see them in their traditional dress! My sister-in-law got sunburned like I usually am, and my padre said ah, two gringas in our house now! haha padre, not funny. Today was a chill day of class and tomorrow we finally get to find out where are sites are! I can´t wait. That is all, and just in case anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday (I realize it is three months away but let´s be real, I´m in Ecuador), I would love a new pair of TOMS (www.tomsshoes.com), preferably fleece lined ones. You´ll not only be helping me out with cool shoes, but you´ll be providing a pair for a child in need! It´s win-win. Ciao!

What a week. Monday was frustrating in class, but I came home and helped my family with the avas and watched a few telenovelas and felt much better. My host brother asked me if I had seen the movie ‘Sao’ and I said, no, I have never heard of it. And then he put it in the DVD player and it was Saw II. And I was like, oh, Saw! And they made fun of me. Sawww. Saaawww. Good stuff. It was also the first birthday of my host niece so we had cake and it was goooood. Tuesday was a gathering of todos, and we got our bank cards, learned more about how not to be robbed, and Jamie Nicole and I once again made ham sandwiches for lunch – amazing. The best part of my day was coming home and seeing a sheep tied to the gate. My host mom proceeded to sheer it in the driveway. Now, he’s chomping around in the back yard and baah’ing in the mornings. I figured out that I no longer need an alarm clock because mister rooster wakes me up at 5:00 without fail! Wednesday, we learned about typical dishes of the different regions of Ecuador and prepared our presentations for Friday. We have to speak in front of our facilitators and trainers in Spanish about our town – a map, the needs, a typical day for a man or woman, and a seasonal calendar showing when to plant crops, when school is in session, festivities, etc. I think our posters are the most colorful and awesome. We had lunch at the Kioskos (one of three options here) and it was tasty – fried egg, rice, tomatoes, onions, beans and fried bananas. Then we played a game with our vocabulary and Jamie and I were ‘las azadones’ but we lost. Oh well, after that we got to begin our garden. It’s on land the the other Sarah’s family owns (they also own a cheese/milk/butter/yogurt factory and the yogurt is amazing). We hoed the land, made raised rows for our crops, and planted lettuce, cabbage and tomatoes. Thursday we took a trip to a tree nursery. The land used to be owned by a mining company, but they found better ore over the mountain and donated the land to reforestation. It was pretty awesome. We were supposed to pack a lunch, but Jamie and I forgot – and had also promised Nicole we’d bring her a ham sandwich – so we improvised. Bread, cheese, stale crackers, and some borrowed Nutella. When we got back, we went to the gringo café for some French fries and spaghetti. We will return there on Sunday. Today, we learned about the different ethnicities in Ecuador, gave our presentation about the city (we did awesome) and then worked in our garden. My madre let me wash clothes this morning! I also got to meet the three new ducklings that live in the backyard with the sheep, pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, roosters, puppies, and dogs. Tomorrow is a trip to the leather capital of the world and Sunday is a day of rest. What a life.

Manana, voy a comprar a una vaca.

What a week! I can’ t believe I’ve already been in country almost ten days. It seems unreal that I am even here, after talking about it for ten months. It was a fun first week and I learned quite a bit! Thursday was our second official day of program training and we learned about the emergency action plan as well. No restaurantes were open for lunch, so Jamie, Nicole and I were resourceful and bought a loaf of bread with some lunch meat. Que inteligentes! The cheetos were probably the best part of the day, no lie. On Wednesday night, I got to help my madre make empanadas. She said I had to learn and then do it myself, all alone, the next night. Thank goodness she was kidding! I helped shape the dough into circles so my sister Catalina could put the mixture inside – the first ones we made had onions, egg, and other veggies and the second ones had a piece of orito (the small banana). They were amazing. Although Caty did make fun of my inability to make circles, instead, mine were oval-shaped pieces of dough. Oh well, they tasted fantastic. Friday morning, we had to be in town at 7:15 so we could travel to una finca de one of the host families. The farm was amazing – it is an organic farm and so there is no waste. We learned about elevated seed beds, compost, green houses, tree grafting, worm beds, and cuy. We even saw a cuy be killed at the end. I am definitely going to have a worm bed at my site – I hate worms but the idea of them making the soil so useful is extremely interesting. We traveled back to our town, exhausted from a day in the campo, but excited because I got to wear my brand spankin’ new yellow rubber boots! Jamie and I were very noticeable among all the green. Saturday, we went into town to get some pizza and cervezas. The girls decided to actually look like females, and I learned my lesson not to wear brand new shoes on a day with alot of walking! We found a pizza place and it was good - not as good as papa john's, dominoes, italian village, etc etc etc. Then we bought some Ecuadorian Pilsener. Again, not as good as Magic Hat, Corona, Bud Light, PBR, etc. We passed the afternoon conversing and tomando, and left around 7. Jamie and I headed home where my madre already had food on the table. My host dad, brother, sister-in law and niece were there as well. I went to bed early after watching another episode of Flight of the Conchords on my (ben's) iPod. Ben Hilton - you would find that show funny. You and Ryan. Anyways, today is el dia de las mujeres and my host dad took us into town for ice cream! He also bought me a beer at the super market and handed it to me outside, so I was the gringa carrying a bottle of Pilsener to the car. Jaja. I took a short nap because (no offense to Slice or Lipford) 'In Defense of Global Capitalism' isn't the most excited book to re-read. Or even to read for the first time. I am seriously regretting not bringing the fourth installment of Twilight down here. I need to borrow some books muy pronto! I woke up, and we ate cuy (guinea pig). It was a little salty, but I enjoyed it. (Sorry to any child who has one as a pet). Now here I am in the internet cafe, using wireless high up in the Andes Mountains! Nicole and John, other gringos are here too. Interested to see what we learn this week! -SK

Tastes like chicken...

Hola con todos! We finished our second day of language training. I now have a shiny new pair of yellow rubber boots to wear to the campo on friday! I am officially the first person of omnibus 101 to try guinea pig - it smells funky, but tastes like chicken and really doesn't offer a lot of meat. Oh well, I tried it because my host mom had to kill it yesterday...not much other news, classes are going well, everyone came yesterday for program training. I don't know much about natural resources consevation and yesterday's pre-test made that obvio. Entonces, debo regresar a mi casa para la cena. I wonder what it will be...rice? bananas? pollo? Una sorpresa! :)

Babaco, not tobacco.

This is my family's field in a neighboring town. There are papas, trigo, and avas. And cows. The next picture is from the field as well, but you can kind of get a peek of the volcano to the left of the clouds.

Today was our first day of language classes. We met at 8 and began discussing informal and formal greetings, fruits of Ecuador, and ate at the pizzeria owned by another woman's family here. It was pretty good, certainly a treat. After lunch, we walked around town to get acquainted and then boarded the bus to the larger city to test our skills at the mercado. We bought many interesting fruits that are native to Ecuador, and also bought some 'oritos' which are very small and sweet bananas. They were the highlight of my day. The bus only costs 16 cents! After we got back, we came to the internet cafe in town which we found has wireless, so I am using my own computer! Exciting, I got to skype with Dad, but he couldn't see me which is unfortunate because I haven't showered in two days. My family needed to buy more gas to heat the shower and couldn't do that yesterday. Anyways, tomorrow is our first day of technical training where the entire group comes to our city. We four ladies of our pueblo have a homework assignment concerning vocabulary about tools. I learned those words in high school, but that seems like forever ago. I'm sure it will all come back! Leave comments. I like to know who's reading my rambling :) Talk to ya'll again soon!

Everyone has a little bit of malaria...

From Friday February 27th... Day 2 of being in Quito – Woke up, had breakfast, went to the PC office and started another day of briefing on safety, security, etc. We also found out our language scores and got our site assignments to begin training. I am in a community where training actually takes place, so no bus rides for me! There are three others there with me and I am too excited. We got to travel to el mitad del mundo hoy, where the equator line is. Our guide showed us a few experiments to see if it was the true equator and yes – water indeed goes down the drain in different directions depending on which side you are on! We had an amazing lunch at a restaurant and we got to taste a bunch of the local fruits – the bananas were amazing. We returned to the office, had a program on natural resource conservation and then returned to the hostel for dinner. I can’t wait to get to my site to meet my host parents. I am excited to begin speaking only in spanish and learning more about the culture! Ecuador rocks. Today: I arrived to my host family yesterday and they are amazing. They are super helpful and are willing to teach me about ecuador, their culture and their language. I have a host mom, dad, two sisters and a brother who lives in Quito with his wife and 11 month old, but she stays with us on the weekends. Family is very important here, so I have met quite a few members of theirs. My family harvests and raises its own food:guinea pig, cows, sheep, roosters and chickens, wheat, potatoes, avas, onion, etc. and are very proud that they don´t need to buy anything. They do buy bread from the panaderia, and I am very grateful for that! Today I am here with my amiga Jamie who is also here in el pueblo. Her family is big as well! The mountains here are incredible, unlike any around Kingsport and absolutely breathtaking. My diet here constists of boiled eggs, rice, chicken, hot chocolate and bread. My host family has asked my a bazillion times if I have a boyfriend, and they think I have at least ten in the United States, but that won´t stop them from trying to marry me off to an Ecuadorian. (I have seen some cute ones...). The climate here is relatively hot but comfy during the day and very cold and windy at night since we are in the sierra. I asked my host sister if there are snakes aqui, and thankfully, there are not! Classes start tomorrow so that should be good and exciting. Ciao! -SK......

the first photo is from the mitad del mundo and the second is me, nicole and jamie at the mitad del mundo.