Thursday April
11th, 2013. A couple of students chased after me earlier this week
on my way to the bathroom, and after I put down my defenses (switchblade), I
realized they were trying to get me to sign an invitation. I sort of got the
gist that they were inviting me to a lunch on Thursday but I didn’t fully
understand their out-of-breath, teenage Spanish enough to know what I had just
signed up for.
Pause: Oh my
god- my host mom just came in my room to give me candy. Awesome, right? WRONG!
It tastes almost exactly like Pepto Bismol, but worse, I think it’s actually
going to induce vomiting!
So I’m at school
today and there’s this teacher who’s a total joker and always tells me the
wrong things in Spanish and tries to convince me that they’re true and he says
we’re going to eat cuy (guinea pig) today for lunch. So I didn’t believe him,
of course. But it was true! I’d wanted to try this as it is considered a
special treat here so this was the perfect time. I found out that we were
celebrating Teacher’s Day! So I got a free sandwich, a coke, and a red rose
during recess and then half a guinea pig and 5 whole boiled potatoes for lunch!
But let me tell you- cuy was disappointing. The skin was so tough, I couldn’t
rip it with my hands and they only give you a spoon here when serving your
food, no fork or knife. It also had a faint fishy smell and there was still
hair on some parts of it. I picked it apart a little bit and moved it around my
plate, ate 5 potatoes for lunch, and then asked for a bag (which is customary
here). I thought I’d end up feeding the leftovers to the dogs, but when I
offered it to my host family, they were so excited! They ate it with our
dinner, which was potato soup followed by the main course of potatoes in a
sauce with rice. You can call me Spud.
So then! After
lunch, I attended some school meeting and then met with the principal, who
totally made my day when he said that my presence has made the school better,
in just one week. J Then I headed home and when I got there, my host
mom was already home, which was surprising because she usually gets home much
later. She got off work early because of Teacher’s Day (she’s also an English
teacher) and she decided she was going to take me to meet the mayor of our
town! What the famous! But he was busy planning a party so we’re going to go
back next week. So I headed into the library nearby which is never open when
I’ve walked by and I’ve been dying to check it out (no pun intended) since I’ll
be needing some good reading material, but to my dismay, it was the size of my
mom’s kitchen. When I asked if there were fiction books, I got a blank stare,
so I asked if there was literature and she had to search in the computer and
then handed me a tiny paperback about the literature of Ecuador. Bummer numero
uno. Then I went to the “post office” which is a tiny internet café that
happens to accept mail. I’ve been going in every day for the past few days to
see if the care package from my mom is here and every day I get the same answer
“mañana”. And today was no exception.
Bummer numero dos.
But then! When I
got home, I had cafecito with my host mom and she and I discussed a bunch of
really cool secondary projects that she can help me start. Then, my host
brother offered to teach me how to play soccer! (I signed up to play in the
first annual parents vs. teachers game tomorrow. I’ll let you know how that
goes.) So I learned the basics and had a lot of fun. Then after dinner, my host
brother read an Ecuadorian legend to me called “La Caja Ronca”, which was
supposed to be really scary and I played along.
Super awesome
day. I’m feeling pretty good about myself and my new life. I ran every day this
week, I’ve been eating healthy (when not eating 392,471 potatoes), learning a
lot, stepping out of my comfort zone, and living a pretty ideal Peace Corps
Pujili life. And it gets better! I’m going on a hike this weekend to a
waterfall AND hot springs! Can’t hardly wait.
Thank you for
reading. Thank you for caring.
Abrazos y besos.
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