Custumbres custumbres! Tonight I went to the after party of a baptism. Yeah that’s right, in Ecuador baptisms have after parties. They didn’t call it that but that’s what I’m calling it.

We didn’t go to the ceremony because there was a minga going on. A minga is like a community service project. The community will agree to get together at a specific time for a specific activity. I’m not sure what the occasion was today. In other news our chancha had babies yesterday! Originally there were 12 but today one died. I was looking at all of them chowing down this morning and then mom got up and one didn’t move. And then she proceeded to sit back down on it. She’s not doing so hot. My family spent the afternoon today administering medications to her because she’s refusing to eat, entonces the babies aren’t getting to eat either. They’re pretty cute I have to say. I checked on them this afternoon and there was a real live pig pile going on. I might have to use that phrase more often now having seen an actual pig pile. Also, they do use the phrase “eat like a pig” down here. Also if you don’t want to make a pig of yourself at a meal you can just say “no quiero hecho un chancho.” Ok, enough of the pig phrases.

Not only did the chancha have her babies yesterday but we also had the sports day with all of the trainees back at CAAP. A bunch of volunteers came because this was also our opportunity to meet our big brothers/sisters. Unfortunately my big sister was unable to attend because overnight travel was temporarily banned for volunteers. In my understanding it’s the rainy season (that’s the story anyways) and the roads tend to get washed out, making traveling dangerous. I mooched off of other peoples big brothers and sisters and got my questions answered. We also had a futbol championship. 10 teams and we made it past level 1! Unfortunately Kendra was not in attendance. The doctors had her in the hospital for 3 nights pumping her full of steroids for her eye. I hope it gets better soon! Wearing sunglasses all the time must either be a real pain in the ass or super convenient, allowing you to sleep/creep on people all day without them knowing it. So we made it past level one. I am not used to this altitude still. I was sucking wind the entire time. Luckily they were only 20 minute games. Oh, and I got one of the 3 goals. Siiiick. I didn’t realize that we were playing championship stylie so I gorged myself at lunch and then had to go play again. We did not win round 2. Buuuuut the team that we played against ended up winning it all. Either way we all looked super awesome in our custom made shirts that only cost $4.25 each! From left to right: Reinita, Queso, El Volcan, Lorenza, Golosa (with a z), and Chiquita (Fernanda, Aaron, Laurel, Lauren, me, Kendra’s spirit). It was a super fun day. And we didn’t have potatoes, nor soup, nor rice for lunch. Such a sweet change! Its like a flashback to summer in the states!

We trekked into Cayambe to hit up Gran Aki after the games. I’m making breakfast for my family tomorrow: llapingachos. Its a dish with avocado slices, chorizones, a salad of beets, carrots and cucumbers, a fried egg, and also these potato pancakes which are called tortillas down here. I had to hit up Gran Aki and the market to pick up some goods. And of course ice cream. A trip to Gran Aki isn’t complete without a stop at the neighboring ice cream shop. After returning home we had some dinner. Well I had dinner while my family disemboweled a sheep. Third one for the day actually. I wondered why I was the only one eating and why everyone else was outside; I look out the window to see the sheep hanging from her feet and Papa in elbow deep pulling out all of the internal organs. The head was sitting on the ground with the hooves. Liliana came over to collect the goods from Papa which she then proceeded to wash on the same stone that we all wash our clothes on….yeah! That’s why the dogs love me! Maybe I’ll wait to wash my clothes tomorrow until someone else does. This is a Friday tradition. Kill some sheep. Clean off the organs. Cook them up early Saturday morning to sell at the market with the meat. Sell the skin and wool in Cayambe Sunday.
Lauren and her Ecuadorian fam fam

After I finished eating (somehow) I skiddadled off to Lauren’s house to make cheese. I like spending time with other families. I can talk about the same things that my family has already heard. Its like starting all over again! Back to the simple topics of conversation. Lauren’s mom let me try the cheese water (the water that separates out from the milk when you put the coagulant in it). I was about ¾ of the way done with the cup (by the way it just tastes a little like milk) when her sister tells me, don’t drink too much it will give you diarrhea. Awesome! To make my Friday night even cooler! Before I left for the night I realized that she was just making conversation; I would have had to drink the better part of the bucket to have serious consequences. Thank goodness. Lauren’s family is very entertaining. She has 4 siblings so there is always something going on. By 9:15 I had decided to head out. I grabbed my dog stick, or perro palo as I like to call it. The one thing my entire family said to me before I left for Lauren’s: be careful around the dogs. Good advice. My heart nearly failed me as a rounded the corner by the church. There are 2 St. Bernard crosses that like to hide in the shadows and jump out at unassuming gringas walking home after making cheese. I presented my stick and told them to buzz off and continued on my way. The entire walk home dogs are coming out the woodwork to bark at me. A couple started to advance toward me so I did the good ol pretend-to-pick-up-a-stone-to-throw-at-the-dog trick. Gets them every time. Its terrible that people actually throw rocks at dogs here but I’m glad that they’re expecting it so I don’t actually have to throw a stone to get the reaction that I want. I made it home eventually. About half way there I decided that maybe it’s a good idea to whistle so that I don’t catch any dogs off guard. There’s nothing worse than walking by a house and having a dog just charge you because they didn’t hear you coming and now have to make up for lost time. The whistling was good. I did some talking to Coyote when I got to our driveway hoping that he’d recognize my voice. Good boy recognizes his chew toy when he hears her. He’s only 7 or 8 months old and wants to play all the time but has no toys. I want to get him some rope or something. Anything would be better than my leg. My right is his fav. He never bites bites, only play bites but sometimes if my pants aren’t that thick or if he somehow gets my ankle those teeth sure do hurt.

Before going to class this morning I helped my family load up the truck for the market. Anything besides being in the house! I don’t care how rich you say those organs are: they smell terrible! I impressed Mom when I carried the tub of meat out by myself. I’m slowing trying to prove myself to my family. The tub o sheep: a good start. When I asked what next: oooh the table! Oooh no problem! We went to Ayora for the morning for more medical consejos. Only a 4 hour day which was nice. And we got our last vaccination! Yeah 3rd rabies shot! And we got our anti malaria meds because our site visits begin a week from tomorrow. Which means that we find out our sites on Friday….I’m amped. Anyway, we went to Ayora in the morning and then I got some fashionable gelly shoes that all the ladies have down here. They’re nice and flat, not that I’ll ever be able to look most Ecuadorians in the eye. I like them. They’re a nice alternative to my hiking boots and Sambas. We hurried back to Paquestancia because there was a bautizo underway. The ceremony started at 2 but my papa informed me that we would be going to the reception only because of other work that had to be done. I did some reading and started to prepare my vegetables for breakfast tomorrow. Around 6:30 we ended up going to the reception. The music was already bumping at this point. It started eerily the same as the velario (or wake). We entered rooms and were served mass amounts of food and soup which ended up in fundas to take home. After that the dancing began. Or continued. As Kendra, Aaron, and I entered the room people started altering their dance moves so that they could turn and get an eye full of the gringos that just walked in. I’m used to it, that’s fine. So we stood there for maybe a minute and then got invitations to dance. And drink. Drinking is different in Ecuador. No one brings their own drink. There is no BYOB in Ecuador. People walk around with beers and boxes of wine with cups and offer you a little bit by bit. A mouthful of wine here, a gulp of beer there. And not good wine. Wine that is flavored like apples, and pineapples, and strawberries, that you can buy for $1/liter. I’m expecting a headache tomorrow. It was a super fun time. There was a band and we were all getting our dance on. I understand how your fish in your fishbowl feels. I kept seeing flashes, because everyone is taking pictures of us. These 2 little boys stood, jaws on the floor, starting at me for probably more than 5 minutes. I understand the curiosity. If I lived in a community with a bunch of blonde haired, green eyed people my jaw would drop the second a brunette walked in. Its totally valid. Legit. It seemed like even the bugs were confused. Moths kept landing on my face. I know I’m taller than everyone else and have very white skin, somewhat like a light, but come on! Mom, you can rest easy. My mom here is just like you. I was whisked away very promptly at 9 PM. Bedtime. Kendra wanted me to stay and walk back with her family because they live across the street but Mom was not having it. I was ok with it. Totally ok. I had had enough of dancing and boxed wine. Not to mention I’m making breakfast tomorrow. Hopefully it will be a little more successful than the French toast. About a week ago I decided to show the fam how we do breakfast in the states. And they started cooking lunch about an hour after we ate. Great success…at least they claimed to like it. I’m making Ecuadorian food tomorrow. They should be down with it. One of these days I should pull the cobwebs (not really) out of the oven and try making pizza. My dad loves to say pizza. But its PEEPsa. I think sometimes he’ll just start conversations about it just to say the word. PEEPsa is on the menu to make before I leave.

The unnamed kitty cat.