Friday included a fabulous potluck with some teachers from
the CEDEI. Everyone can cook very well! And since we’re all broke, it was a lot
of vegetarian food. On top of that, the potluck was held in the home of two of
the teachers (a couple,) and their house is absolutely gorgeous…they live in a
house separate from the owners, in which they have their bedroom, living room,
bathroom, and kitchen. The place is decorated with mementos from South America,
and there is a huge garden with avocado and lemon trees, spinach, and lovely
flowers. The owners live across the garden in their own house, and they have
three mop-headed dogs who are very sweet. Friday was also game day for some
football (which is what I call soccer now) and it was Ecuador (Cuenca) vs. Uruguay.
The dogs sported their Ecuador jerseys along with some of the other teachers. Guess
who won? Ecuador, of course! We watched the game on television and afterwards
as I was strolling down the streets with a fellow teacher, cars passed by
honking their horns and sporting Ecuador flags and shouting for the football
team. And I rooted along with them.
My friend and I stopped in one of my favorite cafés, where she got a coffee. I opted for some Colombian drink. It was non-alcoholic;
seemed more like a soy milk with cinnamon concoction, and I remembered it being
very tasty when my other friend ordered it a few weeks ago when I took a sip
from hers. But when I had this drink on Friday, five minutes later I felt
nauseated and dizzy and light-headed. The room was spinning and I felt gross,
and I had to run to the bathroom. This happened twice, and I finally put the
drink aside and went to a farmacia to
find some pills. I was out of sorts the rest of the night and got home and
plopped into bed at 10:30pm…but didn’t fall asleep until after 4:00am. I just
lay in bed hoping to fall asleep, although I was getting some cool visions for
future artwork (was that a side effect of the drink?)
I woke up at 6:30am to get ready to teach my Saturday class,
and things went well. They were being brats (as 13-year-old,s especially boys
do) but some experienced teachers gave me a pep talk during my break and I managed
to get their attention after that. Still learning the ways of a teacher, you
know.
After class I enjoyed a nice lunch with some teachers and
then we hit up the Mall del Rio, and discovered that this is where the ricos
hang out. It seemed reminiscent of malls in the States, although it was strange
to see a Subway and a KFC mixed in with the ceviche
places. We stopped by a visiting chocolate exhibit, which was pretty cool. A cuy made of chocolate…oh boy!
That night, I met with a new friend in Cuenca, and we passed
the time over dinner at a café, where we chatted about lots of things, all
fantastic! I eagerly await our next get-together!
There’s been a lot of rain this weekend, but today I met
with another friend (from Peru) who is also very kind. As I was waiting for her, some Ecuadorians and I chatted
in Spanish. They asked where I was from, and here I feel comfortable telling
the truth…soy de Filadelfia, Estados
Unidos. They were from Guayaquil (and one guy from Colombia) and they were
fascinated by me…a young girl travelling alone. ¿Sola? ¿¡Viaja sola?! After we talked, they needed a photo with the
gringa; I felt like a tourist
attraction…but it’s all good. I met with my friend, and I ordered a coffee
thinking it would help me stay alert, and it did, but even with milk, I still
am not keen on the taste of coffee. Oh well, no pasa nada. It did keep me awake though!
Later, a good teacher friend and I went to La Feria Libre, a
huge market that has pretty much anything you could want (or not want.) I
bought some plantains so that I could make some patacones, which turned out not horrible, but not great. I also
made some gazpacho which I am excited to
try. And I was thrilled to buy a nice big bag of mote! Finally; I’ve been in Ecuador for over a month and haven’t
eaten mote yet? What’s wrong with
me?!
The rest of the night is for typical Sunday night behavior:
a good book and lots of rest. Sounds good to me!
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