Merry Christmas

Hey y'all! I had a pretty rockin' xmas this year, complete with surfing, french toast, and beers on the beach. I hung out with a few friends in Montañita, a fun little hippie surfing town on the coast. I'm sad I didn't get the chance to talk to family, cause there were phone troubles at the only international calling place in town. Nonetheless, It was a great day. And I took the time, while drinking a cold brew on the playa, to think of everyone at home, and feel thankful for the life I've got here. Hope you all are having a wonderful holiday season, and I hope to hear from you soon. Yes, you.

Nativity Scenes

As I mentioned earlier, nativity scenes are everywhere here in Loja. The ones in storefront windows or around town are fairly unexceptional, complete with very white looking figurines. However, the gigantor, elaborate nativity scenes in Lojano households are a little more unconventional. Almost every one is guaranteed to have atleast one thing that I'm pretty sure wasn't present at the birth of Christ. Like a giraffe, for example. Anyway, I was at a Christmas party yesterday and sitting among the figurines of pastoral animals and wise men was a little figurine of Boba Fett. It was awesome.

Reflections of a lonely Athiest

So, it turns out a lot of people in Ecuador are Catholic. And people looooove to ask you what your religion is unpon the first 5 minutes of meeting you. At first, I was afraid to tell people that I didn't believe in God, but now I've gotten pretty good at it. Last night, when one of my students asked me if I was Catholic, his jaw very litterally dropped in surpise when I uttered the phrase "Soy atea." I had another person, a woman in her 40's, say outright "But why? God exists, you just have to open your mind." She meant no offense, and I appreciate the frankness. Nonetheless, it's a lonely business being an athiest in Ecuador.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I just spent an hour with my professor class, teaching christmas carols in English...and it was awesome. I only wanted to use the lyrics as a vocab lesson and to talk about Christmas traditions in the US, but they insisted on singing every single one. Most often to the tune of Jingle Bells. I also taught them (not to be a raging feminist stereotype) "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar." One prof. got so into it, she was pounding the table as she translated it into Spanish for herself. Then they insisted on singing that one to, though thankfully not to the tune of Jingle Bells.

In general, I've been loving the use of music in my classroom. Part of my review for a test last week included students singing their favorite Brian Adams song, and my ears were blessed with the sound of "Everything I do, I do it for youuuuuuuuuuu" in a Spanish accent.

Anyway, I got off track. It is, actually, looking a lot like Christmas around here. We have an unofficial rule in the states that you can't decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Well, thankfully, there's no Thanksgiving here, so it's a Christmas free-for-all, starting in mid-November. My classroom has been decorated with fake Christmas trees and Christmas baubbles for way too long already. And there are nativity scenes everywhere. Feliz Navidad!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yeah, I know this post is almost a week late. But I had a great Thanksgiving down south, and wanted to wish the same for you. On Thursday, I celebrated with a burrito and a few margaritas. I had a great time asking everyone I knew what they were thankful for. It gave me all sorts of warm fuzzies. I said I was thankful that I had so many people I care about that I'm drowning in all the emails I'm trying to write to folks back in the states. :) Thanks for that. On Saturday, myself, my friend's host family, and 10 other North Americans got together and cooked a gigantor traditional Thanksgiving meal, sprinkled with some Ecuadorian highlights like colada morada. It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend. And it was great to talk to the fam. not only once, but twice, in two days! The rest of you reading this should take notes, and give me a call sometime. Anyway, happy holidays to you all!

oh, and on Friday, I saw some honest to god shrunken heads at a museum in Cuenca. That was pretty trippy.

Photos, again.

1. Thanksgiving day burritos and margaritas with Megan.
2. Sarah and Shelby making their contributions to the hand turkey collage we created before eating waaaaaay too much.
3. My student, Anabelle, in the Loja independence parade, looking thoroughly embarrassed by the fact that I'm taking her picture.
4. My professor class. Rocio, me, Silvana, and Olinda standing outside our classroom. Ignore the other gringuita.
5. ...And what independence parade is complete without a giant picture of the Virgin Mary?

Beauty Queens, football, and the Virgin Mary

I had the most Ecuadorian weekend, and I feel I really need to share it with y'all. Friday night I went and had a beer with a couple of my students at a bar called "El Abuelo," the grandpa. I topped off the night by grabbing a bite to eat at a missionary cafe called "El Sendero," literally "The Path." I try not to go there often, because it's the only other place where I find Gringos in Loja, and they're all missionaries, which kinda gives me the creeps. Anyway, I woke up early to go watch a parade on Saturday, celebrating Loja's independence. All the Lojano high schools marched, and I saw a bunch of my students. All of the girls in the high school marching bands wear these high heeled knee high boots, and I can't imagine how they manage to walk and play instruments at the same time. The parade, of course, included scantily clad beauty queens walking through the rain. And only in Ecudaor are beauty queens directly preceeded by a giant picture of the Virgin Mary. After the parade, I went to watch the Ecuadorian national team get their ass handed to them in football against Peru. 5-1. Ouch. That night I attended a birthday party for my friend's host mom, which was awesome. A bunch of old ladies sat around chain smoking and drinking whisky while her two sons entertained them with live music. And of course, what weekend would be complete without a visit to church? On Sunday, I visited El Cisne with my host family. It is possibly the poorest city I've seen in Ecuador, with possibly the most beautiful church I've seen in Ecuador. Oh, the irony. Anyway, This post has gotten too long. I promise my next will be considerably shorter.

Stalin?

So, I have an ecua-uncle named Stalin. And his son? Stalin Junior. Yes, he is named after the Russian dictator. Which is apparently somewhat common, because I also have a student named Marco Stalin. Oh, Ecuador.

Jessamyn Rocks

Jessamyn wins the totally awesome friend award for being the first person to send me chocolate from the US! Jessamyn, you made my month...or my week, however long it takes me to polish off the delicious chocolates you gave me. Thank you thank you thank you.

More Photos

1. Hitching a ride back from Cajas.
2. Megan, my newly discovered soul mate.
3. Charlie, who isn't quite as cool as Megan.
4. I am the first person to take this photo...ever.

Side note: I just realized all the pics I'm posting are of me and other gringos. That's because I hate taking my camera out in front of Ecuadorians. It makes me feel like such a tourist. But in the next batch of photos, I will try to include some of my ecua-families and my students.

Photos

1. Sarah and I looking irresistible after wading through the waterfalls in Mindo. Note the totally awesome Christmas socks.
2. Mixing Kalimotxos (box wine and coke) after a day of hiking in Vilcabamba.
3. The lovely ladies of Loja. My coworkers at the Universidad Nacional de Loja.
4. Pete and I hiking in Cajas.
5. Parque Nacional de Cajas. Friggin' beautiful.

Peanut Butter!!!

Today, I found a lonely, dusty jar of Jif reduced fat peanut butter at the grocery store!!!! Wooooo!!!!

I'm back

My appologies for the long silence. I was sick as a dog for the last couple weeks. I ate some homemade yogurt that my host mom may or may not have prepared with a moldy papaya. Anyway, I had to rush out of my morning class to go vomit, then returned to finish the lesson. I spent the rest of the day vomiting everything. Then upcgraded from constant vomiting to constant diarrhea for several days. Just as I started feeling better, I got the flu for a week. Besides the occasional moments of self pity, I was in good spirits the entire time. And now I'm healthy enough to go to my salsa lessons, so life is good. I was also healthy enough to travel to Cuence for their independence day celebrations. I partied like a mad fool, and did some Christmas shopping. I bought an amazing painting of a village with a giant volcano and a train travelling through the sky, with giant apples falling from the train. It's a trip. Actually, I bought it as a housewarming gift for Peter and Jacqueline...but it's just so awesome I might have to keep it for myself. Sorry guys! It doesn't mean I don't love you both.

American Culture in Loja

I was appreciating yesterday that I have managed to successfully move to a city without a McDonald's. I feel like this might be some sort of significant life landmark, since it'll probably never happen again. My victory is only slightly dampened by the fact that there is a KFC In Loja, which happens to be a chain adored by all Ecuadorians. Several cab drivers have told me it's their favorite restaurant. The uglier aspects of American culture that have infiltrated Ecuador include bad music (a la Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" and Celine Dion) and MTV's Super Sweet 16, which my host brother LOVES to watch while we eat lunch. Almost enough to make me embarrassed to be a North American. But atleast there's no McDonald's.

Haiku on Mangoes

Mangoes Everyday
Delicious Flossy Goodness
Get Out Of My Teeth

Women Can't Work Construction

Last week, I played two truths and a lie wtih my students as a way of reviewing the past tense. So I wrote three sentences in the past tense up on the board about myself, and without fail my students never believed "Before I moved to Ecuador, I used to work building houses." Ahhhhh machismo. How I love squashing your stereotypes.

I'm in Love

With Ecuadorian politics. And I thought I was going to miss US politics while I was gone. There was recently a national election in order to choose asambleistas to rewrite the Ecuadorian constitution. It is mandatory to vote in this country. If you choose not to, you lose your civil rights: you can't get a passport, can't get married, etc. And 2 days before every election, they have what they call "la ley seca," "the dry law," prohibiting the sale and public consumption of alcohol. All political propaganda is also banned during those 48 hours. Why? Because people actually care about politics. They're involved, and people have apparently died from getting into political arguments before elections. The last time someone died because of US politics, Aaron Burr was still toting a pistol. Ok, slight exaggeration. But it's still really cool to see political graffiti all over the city and to see people taking a very active interest. If you wanna know more about the election, I really enjoyed this article. It kinda reminded me of the California state recall.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7020420.stm