Now, we´re cooking!

This week I got some of the best news I´ve received since being in La Libertad. Voted best PCV in Ecuador...no; My work down here actually showing results...not even close; Central heating being installed in my apartment...wishful thinking. No, the great news is that my family now has a BBQ pit. Carlos, my landlord/neighbor and I built it last week out of scrap metal and we cooked some chicken on it already. I had some spicy BBQ sauce that we put on it, and it was delicious. We can get some charcoal in town (the fancy "real" kind) cheap, so I plan to use the grill a lot. Next Saturday I´m going to grill some burgers for everybody (Saturday burgers is a Verhoff family tradition).

It was funny after we finished cooking, Carlos brought the grill into his kitchen to warm the room where we were eating. Not surprisingly, the house filled with smoke. The room was warm though, so I didn´t have to wear a jacket (nice because all my other clothes smelled like an ashtray afterwords).

Speaking of jackets, I got my Colegio (high school) teacher´s uniform this week. It consists of warm-up jacket and pants, shorts, a polo shirt and socks. Everything has the school crest or name on it. I actually really like the jacket, but I had to send it back to be altered. Now, the boys in the colegio are ag students, and the girls all have seamstress classes. One of the sewing teachers took my measurements, but the jacket came back HUGE. It was past my crotch! I showed them where I wanted it o go, and they have to cut off 8 inches. I wonder what it would have looked like if an ag teacher took my measurements.

Class at the Colegio was interesting this week. On Tuesdays I have three classes there (1 ag class and 2 gym classes). The kids goofed off the whole time we were working in the garden, and then when I was stretching before class with the older kids, the weren´t paying attention. I just turned around and walked home. That probably wasn´t the most professional thing to do, but I was frustrated with people (not just the kids) asking for help and then not putting any effort into whatever we were trying to do. Also, the "If you guys don´t work harder, I´m quitting" approach has worked well in the grade school. Anyway, I came back the next day and all the kids apologized and I had a talk with the teachers. They said that the next time I should just, "Pick up a stick and...". Well, I told them that I wasn't going to hit the kids (no matter how much I want to), so I´ll just have to be more forceful from now on.

NOTES:

- Went for a six mile run yesterday. Had over a 10 min/mile pace and almost coughed up a lung halfway through. I don´t think I´ll ever get used to running at this elevation.

- Happy B-Day Steph!

- Happy Wedding Chacho!