The One Week Countdown

Even though we´re pretty close to finishing up, there was still a lot to do. A couple of the competencies that we had to complete weren´t totally finished and we had to take the final language test.

One thing I forgot to mention in my last post was was that while we were in Riobamba we went to a German restaurant. It was owned by a German man and his Ecuadorian wife. The food was good (the beer even better), but it made me miss a couple of things. I´ve decided that I´m going to try and make Sauerkraut and pickles while I´m down here. I don´t know how it will turn out. Hopefully it goes well and I can find somebody to make me some brats.

Easter in Cangahua was interesting. I went to mass with another Gringo Trainee. We weren´t the only whites there though. there was a guy there that I´d have to describe as a middle-aged hippy. He had white hair, a nose ring, and was wearing goofy clothes while constantly taking pictures at the front of the church. Jeff and I were talking about how stupid the guy looked when he came back and sat down right behind us. With his wife! Ouch, I hope that they were French or something and couldn´t understand that we were ripping on him for 10 minutes. I couldn´t really make out what the Priest was saying all mass, but it was still interesting. They had some traditional dances and a procession of local products that were then blessed. Also, there were two baptisms and a marriage during the service. Both the ceremonies were short, but similar to the ones back home. After mass though, they took down the statue of Jesus from the Alter, changed his hands to ones with holes in them and then had another procession around the town with music and fireworks. Very different!

The rest of the week flew by as we were getting our final business and gardening activities completed. The business competency required us to think of a business and then do a feasibility study on it. My business was a hot sauce company and according to the study it would work. The garden on the other had didn´t fare so well. You did have a good view of the ground because it wasn´t blocked by any plants growing in it at all. Since the garden sucked, I have a couple months to get something going at my site. I´ll have time, so it shouldn´t be a problem. We also took our final LPI (Language Placement Index) test. This is the one that I had to get a five/ten to go to my site. I somehow got a 6 (Intermediate High). I think this was a little generous, but I´ll take it since I started with a Novice Mid score on my first test. The test I was more concerned with was the stool sample that I had to turn in. I hadn´t been feeling great for about a week, so the nurses asked me (and almost everyone else) to turn some pooh in. I didn´t think about it when they gave me the vial, but putting a small handful of poop into a plastic tube ain´t that easy. Actually it is pretty disgusting. Anyway, that test came out fine and unlike a couple of other PCTs, I don´t have intestinal parasites.

One of the last days of Spanish class we got to watch "The Last King of Scotland". I had been wanting to see this (and "The Departed", which I finally saw) for a while. Spoiler Alert!! The Facilitators wanted to show us an story of someone who went to a foreign country to help others and ended up doing more harm than good. This was supposed to be an example for us, but I thought to my self, "This guy become the personal Dr. to the President, had an affair with his wife, and made important political and economic decisions for Uganda. I have four months to try and get some radishes to grow! Good example."

I got some packages in the mail this last week too. Sam and Linda (Aunt/Uncle) sent me some much appreciated Easter Candy, toys for the kids at my site, and Cards gear. Jean and Kent (Cousin/Cousin-In-Law) sent me a Cardinals calender, and my Sister and Mom sent Easter Cards. THANK YOU!!!
(See what I did there...send me stuff and you get props on the Blog)

Finally the last day came at CBT. It was harder to say goodbye than I thought t would be because all the families were very emotional. I promised that I´d come back to visit during one of the festivals. Then the group jumped in the back of a truck with our stuff and we were off to catch the bus for Quito. Adios Cangahua I hardly knew ya!