December 19th...Christmas Time In Ecuador

Im about a month late in posting this...but im on Ecuadorian time....apparently CP time extends beyond borders!

Christmas time on the coast of Ecuador. A time for Christmas trees and Christmas lights, chancho and tamales, giant nativity scenes, shorts, sandals, and sunscreen, home-made-cardboard Christmas trees, praying the rosary for an hour on the porch of a friend’s home every night at 7 ET (no not Eastern Time. Ecuadorian time…aka 8 30) followed by tostadas (campo cheese and butter sandwich) and café……………………………………..and all of this in 80 degree weather—on a cold day. Oh how I love Ecuador.
December started out with a new apartment, freshly painted red, beige, and yellow walls (painted by yours-truly), new furniture and my first fridge. Many firsts. Of course all of this meant, that for the rest of the month I would be living on 50 dollars. And it was only December 3. If you ever doubted the possibility of living on 50 bucks for the month to provide food and entertainment…let me be the first to tell you…it is possible. Well in Ecuador, that is. Granted entertainment is defined as $1 bootleg videos and food as salad and canned tuna …but hey lets not get technical here. I suppose I should mention that I ran out of money for the month before I could buy a stove and gas cylindro, and therefore, have relied on my local market for fresh food that I can eat sin cocinando. Hence sandwiches and salads. Its actually been a great blessing in disguise because I have been able to lose some of the weight I gained from eating rice, yucca, tallarine, patacone, and chicken that make up the typical Ecuadorian almuerzo and merienda. (Side note: all but the chicken that is listed above is yes, you guessed it right, a carbohydrate! Hence the added weight) Anyways, I have been enjoying my tuna salads and well, salads and have actually become pretty creative with them. Luckily I found the most addicting crackers in Ecuador, with the help of my friend Nick, and have not been able to put them down since. Hey, there are a lot of other worse things I could be addicted to than the deliciousness of cheesy crackers that have become a great added flavor to the sometimes bland daily salad serving. I actually was able to mix things up this week, when my counterpart brought me an electric burner stove that he no longer uses. Only one burner works, but I have been able to make eggs in the morning. I got excited about making spaghetti the other day and began to walk to the local Tia to buy some pasta and tomato base but then realized I lacked the right pans. So until next month, it looks like salads for lunch, and tuna for dinner is on the menu. Definitely do-able, especially when your second Ecuadorian mother, Jovita, ( to be explained later) invites you to dinner for arroz con pollo, soup, and seco de pollo a few days a week---before our daily hour run.
Oh yes, for about a week now, me, Jovita, my two friends/daughters of my duena who live above me have gone running for an hour each day and followed it with Pilates and stretching. Now those of you who know me, know that I have never, EVER, been a runner. Komers can testify to the time we almost ran off the lacrosse field after running more than any of us would have liked. But I have actually found peace and release in running. It has become my time to think about my day, to plan the days to come, to think about my experience here, and to just relax. It gives me something to do, without really having to do anything---if that makes any sense. I think that’s one of the things that has spurred this new attraction to running---it gives my over-active mind that never seizes to stop thinking about the past, present, and future a time to release all of those built up thoughts and emotions and then allows me to release that energy through running. We’ve actually gained a small following, which is quite funny. We run around a circle, the Redondel, at the entrance of my town. Its about the size of half a track lap and has a giant statue of some guy named Don-something. Cars pass by in all directions---to the left is the camino up North to Guayaquil. To the right Machala. And to the South, my home—El Guabo. Yesterday, I noticed that there was a group of about 6 young kids hangin’ out around the Redondel. As I started my 25 lap (yes 25—I surprised myself too) the young kids started cheering, “Siga Flakita, Siga, Estas en Primer lugar”. As soon as I heard this, I couldn’t help but laugh to myself, remembering every sport that I’ve played—especially Lacrosse—each of them requiring running, and each with me trailing in the back, pissed and cursing anything and everything that had gotten me into the sport in the first place. A certain scene from college lacrosse played in my mind: the day that I woke up at 4:30 am to begin our early morning 3 hour practice as punishment for losing. I guess I should rephrase that sentence to 3 hour running and sprinting session as punishment for losing. As a more vivid memory, I remember almost running off that field with my bestee, Komers, as we cursed our coach for making us run, ourselves for getting into lacrosse, and the track-star runner who lapped us about twenty times. Good times! But now, I actually find myself running by choice, for enjoyment—and maybe this is the difference. Either way I have sort of joined this “Redondel running community” who I see every night. We then sometimes, stop by at the NiceCream to grab some ice cream on the way home. So this is my life here in Ecuador. Work—or so called work, meeting people and making friends, eating tuna sandwiches and salads with those delicious and savory crackers, running as kids scream “siga flakita,” eating NiceCream cones, hanging out with the kids in my barrio, and reading tons of books and Times Magazines. God…how I love Peace Corps.
I hope you all have a FANTABULOUS Christmas and ROCKIN’ New Years! Eat lots of yummy deliciousness. Ill be eating Chancho and Turkey with my Ecua-Fam, and then spending New Years surfing on a beach sippin’ something. Actually ill probably be drinkin’ the Ecuadorian national beer, Pilsenor, while playing a game of beer pong.
Merry Christmas,
Jess
And remember if any of you guys want to visit lemme know. I know it’s crazy out there right now with the economy. I hear it SUCKS Big Fat Wing Wang, but if you ever need a break and can take a break, my place is open! Three bedrooms, nice views, $1.50 lunches and dinners, cheap bus fare to travel, and great beaches!!!! The cheapest flight I have found is 500 roundtrip TOTAL!
Either way, ill see you in March!