Stinky Jay

This has been a pretty dead week. I had all my classes at the schools and also a 5 hr meeting at the community bank (After 3 hours I "zoned out" because they were just arguing about the same things over and over). I did go down to Latacunga (1 1/2 hours south of La Libertad) to hang out with two PC friends and one of the guys´buddies from the States. We met up and went out to dinner. By the time we were done, it was too late for me to get back to L.L. I decided to spend the night at the same hotel the rest of the group was at. We went to the hotel to check in. Roger´s friends were married, so they wanted a room to themselves. Roger then said that we needed two more rooms. I said that I didn´t mind sharing a room with two beds if it was cheaper. Roger just looked at me and in front of everybody he said, "We had to share rooms twice during training, and I´m sorry Jay, but, you stink!". Wow! I guess I really can´t argue with that because Ecuadorian food, although it hasn´t gotten me really sick, doesn´t agree with me all the time. Anyway, it was good to see some friends, we had a good time, and I did´´t keep anyone up with my nocturnal funk.

When I was talking to Roger, I got some PC gossip that I missed during the days I was gone from our meetings the other week. Apparently, one of the girls in our training group is engaged to an Ecuadorian guy that she just met. I really don´t know (or care about) the details, but man, I can´t even get the people in my town to remember my name, and she´s getting life time commitments. Speaking of marriage, the big news in my family is that the 15 year old daughter of one of the Sisters wants to get married to an 18 year old guy. I don´t know the guy, but he has been hanging around trying to get the Mom to agree. Kids under 18 cant get married without parental approval, but I don´t think the Mom is keen to the idea. I´m staying out of it, but I think that no matter what happens, it is going to be messy.

Like I said, it was a dull week. The most interesting thing I saw was a huge brush fire in the hills over the town. It must have been 10-15 acres and with the re3d/purple sunset over the mountains and this massive ball of orange flames hovering in the distance, it actually was kind of beautiful. Luckily it burned out after about an hour and no farms or houses were destroyed.

It looks like things went OK with the election yesterday. The final results aren´t in, but the presidents party seems to have kicked major butt. I´ll give my thoughts on everything next week.

Note: I heard from a friend in St. Louis that the Discovery Channel series "Man vs. Wild" has a new episode based out of Ecuador. Check it out!

Since I don´t have a lot of stuff to write this week, I thought it would be a good idea to let you guys know what my normal diet is. So here (I know you are all excited) is what I´ve had to eat since my last post...

Sunday
Breakfast
- Nothing
Lunch
- Roast Pork with potato pancakes and salad at a restaurant in Machachi
Dinner
- 1/4 of a guinea pig with rice and boiled potatoes

Monday
Breakfast
- Nothing
Lunch
- 1/2 of a guinea pig with boiled potatoes
Dinner
- Minestrone (from a mix) with Rice, noodles, and boiled potatoes

Tuesday
Breakfast
- Nothing
Lunch
- Tuna salad sandwiches with sour cream and onion chips
Snack
- Chocolate chip muffins from a mix I brought from the States
Dinner
- Poached Tilapia with rice, sauteed vegetables, and tereyaki sauce

Wednesday
Breakfast
- Bread with blackberry jelly that I made
Lunch
- Leftover tuna
Snack
- Chocolate chip muffins from a mix I brought from the States
Dinner
- Pizza and lasagna in Latacunga

Thursday
Breakfast
- Rolls and a bottle of water in Latacunga
Lunch
- PBJ sandwiches (homemade jelly and Jiff PB from Quito)
Dinner
- Chunky Potato Soup(from scratch)

Friday
Breakfast
- An Apple
Lunch
- Leftover potato soup
Dinner
- Pasta with Vodka Sauce (from scratch)

Saturday
Breakfast
- Coffee and bread
Lunch
- Leftover pasta
Dinner
- Mushroom soup (from a mix)

Sunday
Breakfast
- Nothing
Lunch
- Salad (lettuce I grew, tomato, onion, carrot, hard-boiled egg, ranch dressing from Quito)
Diner
- Lentils, rice, and boiled potatoes

Note: Anything in italics is something I got from someone in my town or food the had at a meeting