I just got my mail from the last two weeks. The letters were fabulous, but I must say that Mom wins the prize this time. She sent a huge envelop complete with every spice in the book. I do not think any of us have much of an idea of how to use caraway and anise, but we are going to have fun experimenting. It will be an interesting week in the kitchen... Actually, we have been experimenting in the kitchen quite a bit. Aaron found the ‘ganas’ to make orange rice the other day. It was nothing a little cumin and onion couldn’t fix. Actually we may be working orange rice into our food repertoire. Marita has mastered an Ecuador favorite called Manestra (lentils), and Jenn makes a mean pasta sauce. Jeff’s night to cook seemingly always coincides with community cook night. (I think he enjoys a bit of direction in the kitchen).
A couple of weeks have passed since the last update... Somehow my personal journaling has taken a backseat to life and sleeping, so it might be a stretch to recall some of the details. I am still figuring out a schedule... I guess I was secretly hoping that my constant problem with a shortage of hours in the day would be cured when I crossed the Ecuador border. Not the case.
Marita and I ventured out to Felix and Auras house the other day and learned how to make Flan de Zapillo (Squash flan). Grandma, you would really like this. It is similar to your custard, but made with squash. We added cinnamon and cloves, so it really tasted like Christmas in your mouth. We decided that when we are homesick over Christmas, we will have to whip up some Flan de Zapillo. Aura’s daughter, Tanya, is a nurse in the center of the city. She is the first professional health care worker I have encountered in Monte Sinai! I am going to be visiting her more often to practice my medical vocabulary. She is super helpful and knows a lot about the Ecuadorian health care system.
Hector (aka Big Blue because of his blue eyes) owns a bakery down the street and gifted us some yeast the other day! We made a fabulous pizza, I must say. Dad, you would be super proud of our pizza crust. Word got out in the town that we make pizza, Mariuxi begged us to come over and teach her. I did not realize teaching meant cooking for her entire family plus the in-laws. Unfortunately, our pizza did not work out the second time. Big Blues yeast whimped out on us, and the oven died. The in-laws graciously choked down doughy, dense pizza...unfortunately we had really talked it up before hand. I tried not to notice Mariuxi starting a big pot of rice on the stove when we left. We are going to have to redeem ourselves with a different very American recipe that is hard to screw up. Any ideas?
We are slowly but surely building a presence in Monte Sinai. The store owners are loosening up and asking us what in the world we are doing here. Apparently Jenn, Marita, and I look exactly alike, so I never return home without receiving a couple hugs in the street from Maritas students. It is the kids that never let go of your legs that are the problem. I am going to have to chat with Marita about this... The nuns are rapidly claiming every bit of our free time. Last weekend, San Felipe Escuela had the Olympics’, which is apparently a tradition in elementary schools in Ecuador. It is really more like a beauty pageant than anything. My job was to keep 20 first graders who were caked in glitter and makeup in line while they waited to march onto the soccer field and perform a dance routine. Lucky Aaron got to be on the panel of judges. Marita had spent the two weeks prior choreographing and taught her second graders how to dance. After the dances, they had soccer games for teams of parents. Yes, parents are just as competitive (or possibly more competitive) here than in the States. I played with the 1st grade moms and Marita played for the second grade Moms. We had no idea we were getting into such a competitive mess - fingernails and all. But we survived. And I must say that my team won the championships!
The community garden in San Felipe is starting this week! We had our first meeting this Wednesday with Roberto who works in various communities teaching people how to raise sustainable gardens. Roberto is a difficult gentleman to work with-- Aaron and I have taken to calling him Roberto Huerto (huerto means garden). After church on Sunday, we are going to start cleaning the area and fixing up the beds. I started attending Catechism classes last week with the 9-11 year-olds. Unfortunately, the teacher decided to take a 30 minute phone call during class. Yes, I had my turn improvising in front of 20 restless kids in Spanish. They really like to play the game 50 questions about the US. Aaron did come and save me in the middle of my improv session, which I will forever be grateful for... It could be an interesting year in Catechism to say the least. On our way home from church, a neighbor gifted us three plantain trees! Aaron and I planted them along the fence in the yard. We asked for planting advice from several friendly faces on our way home and got many different suggestions for the type of dirt we should be using. We ended up planting them in a couple different types of dirt that we found in piles in the empty lot beside us. It is little experiment to see which neighbor really knows what they are talking about.
Our compost pile is thriving! This tropical heat breaks down the food super quickly. We are going to have organic fertilizer in no time. Most of our neighbors have compost as well. Candessa (the guard dog) is doing a great job guarding our pile, so we have not had a problem with rodents yet! We are keeping our fingers crossed.
Work is crazy as usual. Every day I learn a few more things about my job - many of which would have been nice to know in the beginning. The health brigade is coming up in a week and half. We are going to have 250 school kids coming to visit the pediatrician and get their teeth cleaned. We are also going to have a cardiologist, gynecologist, optometrist, psychologist, and general practitioner for the people in Monte Sinai. I believe I am supposed to be coordinating this. Every Thursday, I go to Monte Sinai with Carlos and Alexis for more home visits. These visits are going much better! I can do the majority of it on my own, but when the patients give me every detail of their medical history, I get lost quickly. I have been typing reports in Spanish for each case and presenting them to my supervisor. She tells me what medical specialist they need to see and if we can offer any other services. I love it, but it takes a good 45 minutes to type each report. I visited 6 houses last Thursday... That is a lot of reporting...
I have also ventured to the center of the city for HIV-AIDS training. Once I am comfortable with the vocab, I am going to be holding charlas (educational sessions) for women at Hogar de Cristo. We are offering free testing after the charlas. That means I need to practice breaking the news to people that they could have HIV - in Spanish. Delicate subject. It is going to be a few weeks before I am ready for this.
That’s all I have time for now. I have typed this blog 3 different times, 3 different days, and 3 different locations... Unfortunately I have stumbled upon some bad luck in the technology world. All the computers have viruses here (to be expected when using public equipment). I have another blog waiting in my journal, which I will attempt to type up tomorrow!
I think about you all very often. Much love, and keep fighting the good fight!
BECKY!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI miss you. But I heart your blog mucho :-)