A Cure for the Blue Box Blues

I don't like to brag about cooking but I've been cooking for about 10 years and now I cook all 3 (sometimes 4) meals a day for myself every day (except the occasional restaurant splurge) and this was the best dish I have ever made. Ever.

The pasta of my dreams

Okay this picture does not do it justice. In fact, this photo actually makes it look kinda gross when in reality, it was a flavor soiree to which my taste buds were cordially invited. (Too awesome to call it a plain ol' party in my mouth.) It's basically fancy mac n' cheese. Couldn't find elbow macaroni so this is mini bowtie pasta. It has mozzarella, smoked gouda, and sauteed garlic and onion with longaniza sausage and some crunchy crackers crushed on top (crazy crafty alliteration, no?). I baked it for a couple minutes but not actually long enough because it smelled so good I couldn't wait. I was also going to dice up some fresh tomato to put on top but that also became irrelevant once the fork was on its way to my salivating mouth.

When my uterus talks, sometimes I listen, and sometimes it turns out really, really well. Tonight was one of those times. Glorious. I want to thank the Academy for their support and my dear mother for sending me the cheese.

In other news, not too much has been going on in this neck of the woods. I went on a class trip to the Amazon last week, which was so much fun and I never want to do it ever again. Okay, that's dramatic. It was just really exhausting. I tagged along with the 8th grade class (which is 1 year younger than our 8th grade so the kids were about 12 years-old). This is my favorite class because the kids are really respectful and excited to learn English, but they're still young enough to have reckless fun without the "too cool" high school attitude.

We went for a nature walk by the Puyo River, went swimming at a big outdoor pool complex, and then went to a bird zoo. We left Pujili at 4am and got back at 10:30pm and those children talked, sang, and yelled the ENTIRE time. I envy their endless energy. (Super poetic tonight. Musta been the mac.) The swimming complex had a high dive! Hadn't jumped off a diving board since I was a kid so I immediately took the leap (lol). My friend/co-teacher was nice enough to take a photo of it.

nailed it.

I couldn't talk a single kid into jumping off even the low dive. Could be because only 2 of the 35 knew how to swim, but whatever... YOLO, amirite?! (Jk.)

I also made some chocolate crinkle cookies for the trip that were to-die-for! AND I made it the entire day without a single mosquito bite! That alone makes it a successful day in my book.

Other than that, I haven't been doing much. Sometimes I watch 3 hours straight of How I Met Your Mother. Sometimes I play with makeup and take selfies.

that pensive look (thinking about mac n' cheese)

Sometimes I go to rumba, sometimes I just dance in my living room. Sometimes I eat cereal for lunch and chifles for dinner. Sometimes I read OPB (Other People's Blogs) all night. (I'm down with OPB, yeah you know me.) My favorites are: The Bloggess, Gweenbrick, A Beer for the Shower, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency. Sometimes I take naps. And by sometimes I mean almost every day.

It's a glamorous life I lead but somebody's gotta do it. But really, they're always saying Peace Corps volunteers have way more free time than they've ever had before and will probably ever have again. I'm okay with it. I'm pretty good at entertaining myself even when I'm doing virtually nothing. I'm not claiming it doesn't get lonely. It does. But I'm getting better at enjoying my own company.

But I also get to look forward to MARK being here in 10 days!!! Adventure time! I'll write again after his trip and regale you with stories of travel and laughs.

Until next time... Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring.

Abrazos,
Chels

If the Gringa Jumped off a Cliff, Would You?

Sitting here, drinking a mango strawberry smoothie, thinking life is pretty sweet. And not just in my mouth.

Last weekend we went on a trip to Riobamba to hike and dance. We ended up walking and dancing but it was fun nonetheless. Mostly just nice to get away from the routine I've been inadvertently worshiping lately.

We walked around a lake called Laguna de Colta but there weren't really any paths so we walked through farms that apparently cultivate ferocious farm animals, railroad tracks, and a road. It was a beautiful day so no one was sincerely complaining.

I've been having fun with English Club on Monday afternoons and Kids Class on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 3 little kids followed me after class one day and begged to come to both sessions even though they're exactly the same (divided by age). I told them they'd probably get bored and they promised they wouldn't. Felt nice that at least 3 kids must enjoy it.

And yesterday my teachers and I went on an awesome day trip to La Mana in celebration of Teachers Day. It's a city in the subtropical region between the mountains and the coast so it's much warmer and greener. A lot of the wealthier people in Pujili have vacation homes in La Mana because it's only about 4 hours away but has a much nicer climate and a different lifestyle so everyone has been telling me since I got here that I need to see it.

It really was beautiful. So much vegetation and it was humid but not too hot. We hiked for about 30 minutes and we all complained like crazy about how much we were sweating and how many bugs there were. But we reached a set of 7 waterfalls and little pools in the river for swimming and it was so worth it. We saw 5 of the 7 waterfalls and swam and played, jumped off rocks, and slid down a natural waterslide. The water was a little cold but perfectly refreshing and so clean. We ate cueros (pig skin), tilapia estofada, cacao fruit, hamburgers, and batidos.

19 mosquito bites and a few beautiful memories later...

The Perks of Being a Homebody

This should really be titled "The Pros and Cons of Living Alone" but I recently saw "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and it was SO GOOD! If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. Right now. Go. Why are you still reading?!

Okay, so here are The Pros and Cons of Living Alone

Pros:

• There are no limits to the category "finger foods". I've been known to eat even soup with my hands in the comfort of my own home. 
• Clothing is always optional.
• Dance parties are frequent.
• Singing is encouraged in all rooms. My kitchen has great acoustics. 
• Naps happen. A lot.
• I can dirty up every single dish until I'm eating cereal with a 1/4 tsp measuring teaspoon and leave them all in the sink and no one will get mad, except me.
• The bathroom is never occupied when I need it.
• Saturday mornings= pancake time!

Cons:

•  Distractions are abundant. Because I have work to do in preparation for a big-deal presentation tomorrow, I have, instead, cut my toenails, drank some tea, cleaned my room (haven't seen my desk in weeks), found out what kind of sandwich I'd be according to a Buzzfeed survey (soggy bologna), annnnd wrote this blog post. 
• Sometimes I talk to myself. Then I have to rationalize why that's not crazy. Then I feel even crazier.
• Naps happen. A lot.
• There is no welcome committee consisting of a whiny cat or an awesome roommate.
• BOOOORRRINNNGGGG
• Sometimes I don't see my desk for weeks. My apartment is generally a mess. 
• There is no one to hold me accountable when I slack off. Thus, here I am.

Well, lookee there. The good outweighs the bad. I didn't even plan that.

BACK TO WORK, CHELSEA!

<3

Quarterly Report

Well, I’ve done it again. Neglected my poor blog. If my blog was a pet, it would have starved to death months ago. And that is why I have not kitnapped the two adorable baby kittens who appeared in my backyard. I want to steal them from my landlords SO bad, but I have been fortunate enough to travel often and thus, they would probably end up skin and bones like this pobrecito blog.

You know when you accidentally bite your tongue so hard, your eyes instantly well up with tears? Then, because it’s swollen, over the course of the next couple weeks, you bite it several more times when you’re chewing absentmindedly?! That’s not a metaphor for anything, I just wanted to let you know what’s going on in my mouth right now.

So at the beginning of January, I got to go on a pretty cool trip to Otavalo. I’ve been here before on a day trip, it’s the city with the giant outdoor artisan market. Remember?! 

I bought a beautiful tapestry for my future home, which I hope to fill with trinkets from travels around the world. And this time we got to visit a small tourist town a short bus ride away called Peguche that has a beautiful waterfall. And of course, we ate delicious food, not of the Ecuadorian persuasion.

We also got to visit a town nearby called Cotacachi, which has a lake called Cuicocha (say that 5 times fast) so we got to hike a little bit around the lake and it was gorgeously picturesque.

Peguche

Cuicocha

Then, in late January we got to do another super cool summer camp sponsored by the Embassy. This time, on the coast! It was awesome, right on the beach, with beautiful campgrounds and really great kids. There was some miscommunication that was super frustrating because it involved all native English speakers so it shouldn’t have been an issue, but it pretty much boiled down to some people not really wanting to work. They exist in every country. We figured it out and the camp was a success. And we got to stay for an extra night afterwards and party! One of my favorite girlfriends, Kat, came up from down South to do the camp with us so she got to stay at my house in between the planning sessions and the camp. We cooked yummy food, had a movie night, facebook stalked people, and gossiped about boys! I wanted to keep her forever but she had to head home. 

In early February, I went to the FUNNEST kids’ party ever! There were Chilean clowns, y’all! And they did MAGIC! I love magic. You should have seen me the first time I saw a magic show at Circus Circus in Las Vegas- I was amazed, appalled, and fascinated! And I was 22 years-old! Needless to say, my mouth was agape during most of the birthday party, and not always because I didn’t understand what was going on.

Then we also got to go on a trip to a place called Papallacta which is famous for its hot springs. They were sooo relaxing, the scenery was beautiful, and we met some nice people from Texas and Holland. (I know, I thought “nice Texans” was an oxymoron too…) While we were there, we decided to travel the extra 3 hours to San Rafael which is in the Amazon region and boasts the country’s largest waterfall. We took a very nauseating bus ride through the mountains, some of the volunteers taking swigs of some Czech vodka from some other nice tourists we met. We trek up to the tourist center to see a big sign saying the trail to the waterfall was temporarily closed! Womp wahhh! There had been a lot of rain and some landslides, making the trail too dangerous, especially the couple of bridges which had collapsed. So we trekked up the highway to get a view of the waterfall from above. It was less than impressive. But, alas, all we could do was laugh at our terrible luck.

San Rafael

In Mid-February, we celebrated my principal’s birthday at a beautiful hosteria about 30 minutes outside the city. This kind of event makes me love Ecuadorian culture. The importance of family really shines at parties, especially as we watch a video of the birthday boy’s life and even the cousins were in tears. Another volunteer and I danced for hours and ate tons of cake and as usual, felt so grateful for the friendliness of this family.

Then, later that week I received a call from my Peace Corps boss asking if I could come to the training center in Tumbaco for 2 days to help out with the new training group. I was happy to help and happy to see my Tumbaco family. Seeing the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed squirrel-like new volunteers gives me nostalgia and I can’t believe it was just a year ago that I was sitting where they are now. Visiting my Ecua family was SO very heart warming. Baby Aylin can say my name now and will tell you exactly who got her the Little Mermaid doll she carries around everywhere, and she is such an adorable little troublemaker. She makes me miss my nephew and niece so much, but it’s really nice to get some baby love. And I’m so proud of how far I’ve come Spanish-wise. Sonia and I can banter back and forth, giving each other shit, and I understand about 90% of the jokes. It was really funny when I asked her when she’ll know the gender of her baby (she’s pregnant!) but I used the words “male and female” that you only use for animals. I turned such a bright red, she had to stop laughing to ask if I was okay.

Finally, I went on a trip for Carnaval at the beginning of March! I begged two of my girlfriends who live in the South of the country to meet me in a city called Guaranda to celebrate. This city is famous for doing it real big for Carnaval. We spent 2 days there shooting people in the face with foam, throwing colored powder on each other, and dancing for hours. It’s a lot of fun! We stayed in a town about 40 minutes outside the city that is famous for cheese and chocolate and I bought a ton. Oh my GOUDA!

Que viva Carnaval!

Then, my friend Jazzy came and stayed at my house for a couple days and again, it was so nice to have girl time! She’s super fun and energetic and we even did rumba in my living room. This came at an especially good time because the 3 female volunteers who live near me are all finished with their service and moving on to travel adventures and then home. I will miss them dearly, I am now down to one government-issued friend nearby but we'll be getting a new volunteer next month. 

So anyway, just like the aftermath of all good trips, now I’m sick. I woke up yesterday feeling really achy and nauseous and now I haven’t stepped foot outside the house in over 48 hours, though I have probably stepped foot inside the bathroom at least 48 times. Gross, I know.

But writing down all these adventures really makes me appreciate them so much more. I can’t believe it’s only March and I’ve done all this. It’s good to stop and smell the roses… or at least, the rose-scented toilet paper. 

Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring. Sending my love to you all.


Update! Found the photo of my first magical experience:

wish you could see my face. you'll have to settle for my gorgeous highlights. I miss nice hair.

 

Tales of an Emotional Eater

Just in case you were wondering, when Chelsea is having a bad day, this is the solution:

That is a giant chocolate chip cookie, bigger than my head, with ice cream and chocolate on top. And that is Jason Mraz playing on my computer. And don't worry, that is non-fat milk.

Dad was supposed to come visit next week and I was getting super duper excited about it but I found out today that he has to postpone because of an infection. It's just awful timing because I'm working really hard to get some projects off the ground in the coming weeks so he'll have to come in May. It's definitely not the end of the world- he's still coming, just a little bit later, and I will just have more time next week to focus on the upcoming increasing workload, but MAN disappointments hit hard here. Even the little ones.

Thus, I turn to food. As my best friend rationalized it for me (as all good friends do), it's because there are fewer things to turn to here for cheering up and good food cheers you up. Right?! I'll take it.

I'll work out tomorrow.

Happy MANniversary

As in MAN! I can't believe I've survived living in a different country for one whole year. And MAN! All the places I've seen and people I've met have been enough to fill a lifetime, I can't believe it's ONLY been a year. MAN! I can't wait to see what this next year brings. MAN! I'm lucky.

A Tale of the Greatest Accomplishment of my Peace Corps Career

As many of you may have seen on my facebook status, I have not been a very productive human being since returning to Ecuador. (Or maybe you’re not even my friend and you’re just creepin’ on my blog, well, welcome! And I’m sorry.) I spent a good few days wallowing in my own homesick misery and eating everything in sight. But tonight I have done something to make up for all the wasted time of my entire life, I have accomplished a feat I never thought possible, a milestone so extraordinary, I had to immediately write a blog post about it… I made homemade tortillas! I know what you’re thinking, “what could have caused you to even attempt such a seemingly impossible challenge?” See above, I ate everything in sight. I only had half an avocado, some salsa, and some chocolate (see previous blog about living the dream of getting paid in chocolate). 

I guess I shouldn’t bluff you beloved readers (and creepin’ strangers), these weren’t exactly Mission or Guerrero quality tortillas. (God! I had to google “brands of tortillas” in order to make that reference, THAT’s how long I’ve been out of SoCal. Pathetic.) Mine were definitely not circular, but instead, a shape I can only describe as “tortillangular”. Also, the flour here automatically comes with baking powder mixed into it (do not ask me why) so the tortillas kept rising. So I suppose they’re more like pita, or naan. OH SNAP you guys, I made homemade naan! This is going in the history books. 

The taste is pretty much tortilla-esque though. If tortillas taste like crackers. I’ve already eaten three so that’s pretty much a testament to their deliciousness, not just that they’re edible. 

I took a selfie with one of my yummy misshapen tortillas because come on, who wouldn’t?! (Microsoft Word still says that “selfie” isn’t a word. It’s 2014, MS, get with the program. Literally.)

I know what you’re thinking, “didn’t you get flour on your camera?” The answer is yes. But it was worth it to document this significant day. Also I'm sure you're wondering, “can I have your recipe??” Why yes, you can! I’m about to turn this shiz into a food blog! WASSUP!

Homemade Naan/Tortillas 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour for the mixture

1 cup flour for everywhere else

½ teaspoon salt

¾ cup water

3 tablespoons oil

A shit-ton of butter because I only have a

Crappy frying pan

Method:

1.      Mix the flour and salt with the measuring spoon so that you don’t have to dirty any unnecessary dishes. Dishwashers do not grow on trees.

2.      Mix in the water and oil using said measuring spoon, give up because it’s too tiny, and use your hands.

3.      Let the mixture sit for ten minutes. Or 3 and a half if you’re impatient.

4.      Get out your apple shaped cutting board that is just a little bit too small for any task you assign it and flour the board, the rolling pin, your hair, the floor, under your nails, any items nearby, and your butt. (Sometimes you get an itch that you just have to scratch.)

5.      Grab little blobs of the mixture and flatten them as best you can using an empty wine bottle as a rolling pin. A full wine bottle can be substituted but really, shouldn’t you be drinking it by now if you’re following this ridiculous recipe?

6.      Try very hard to make circles with the dough, fail, settle on tortillangular shape. Or hexagaNaan, accordingly.

7.      Transfer flattened dough to the warm frying pan resisting the urge to spin it in the air like a stereotypical Italian pizza chef. (It will fall apart. Trust me. And I only know a couple verses of “That’s amore”.)

8.      Cook each side of the tortilla/naan until it resembles food.

9.      Nom nom nom.

My Mona Lisa.