Disorganized Nazis and Apathetic Royalty

As I mentioned in my last post, I was getting extremely low on clean clothes. It has continued to rain here every day, so I did go to Quito to drop my clothes off at a laundry mat ($10.90 for 24 Lbs.). It was nice not to have to beat them on my neighbor´s concrete slab, but they ruined my brand new Ecuador soccer shirt that was yellow and blue, and now is purple and gold (Go Cougars!).

My goal-less streak in South American soccer ended 33 minutes into my second game. It was a good shot and I didn´t have a chance, so I´m not too upset. We were tied 1-1 after the first half, but lost 3-2 with the other goalie playing the second half. We played the game at the field by my house, and this week there were actually a lot of fans watching. As we started, I got "heckled" by some of the fans about my height and pasty white skin. My first opportunity was a crossing pass that I grabbed out of the air (about 3-4 feet above everyone else) at the top of the box. A lot of the ladies behind the goal started yelling "Bravo!!". I was laughing as I went to kick the ball down the field and I shanked it...right into the back of one of my defender´s heads. They did not "Bravo" me again after that.

We had a meeting at the community bank this week to discuss bank matters and also an ides I have to start a "Producers Association" in La Libertad. Since pretty much everyone grows onions here, I thought it would be a good idea to group together to get a better price for supplies and instead of having 20 people selling onions next to each other every day in Machachi, we could have a few people sell everyone´s onions. My whole presentation boiled down to, "We are stronger together as a team". As I was talking, everyone nodded in agreement, but when I opened the floor for comments, a couple of people said that they didn´t want to work in a group because the lazy people wouldn´t do their share. As we went around, everyone said the same thing and that they just wanted money from Peace Corps to buy a cow, pig, or goat. This was the exact opposite of what I had in mind and I had already said that the funds would be only for "projects" and not for buying feed, seeds, etc. We are hopefully going to have another meeting next week, so I need to think of some new ideas, or this will be another work opportunity lost.

Another thing I had to keep me busy this week was helping my neighbor Carlos with some homework he had from an Excel course that he is taking through the Army. He had a spreadsheet with several problems (finding averages, tabulating ages, and creating a sample grade book). The last problem was actually difficult and involved Macros and complex functions. Carlos let me do all this on my own (I was happy for a mental challenge). The problem is that Carlos´computer runs a pirated version on Windows XP that I´m not familiar with (Instead of the Flying Windows on the screen as you boot-up, his computer has a scull and crossbones). It took a while just to find where all the functions wereand how to use them in Spanish (For example, "If" statements are called "Si" statements). I got it all done though, so score another one for my Spanish.

I´m glad to have other work to do because I haven´t done anything at the high school for two weeks and at the grade school for one week. They have been practicing for the ceremonies on February 27th commemorating the Battle of Tarqui (February 27th 1829 fought against Peru while Ecuador was still part of Gran Columbia). During the ceremony, the kids take an oath and the oldest kids kneel before the flag, kiss it, and say either "I swear" or "I promise". They practiced marching sequences all week and the day of, had the flags flying, the patriotic music playing and everyone in uniform marching in step ready to subvert themselves to the flag of the nation.

Right now, I´m reading a book on the roots of fascism. It goes into detail about how pageantry and conformity were big parts of fascist doctrine. Since I had that on my mind, the ceremony was a little erie, but I have to think the National Socialist wouldn´t have been pleased when the programs started 1 1/2 hours late and there were stray dogs walking through the formations.

The week before, the High School had spent

everyday practicing for their Beauty Pageant where they would elect the Queen of the High School. I was invited to be a judge and with

that came the honor of buying the Queen´s sash ($12). The pageant was typical for Ecuador and had traditional dancing, an evening gown portion, Q&A, and choreographed dance routines. The odd thing was that for all the preparation, the girls participating didn´t seem that thrilled. When they announced the winner, the Queen didn´t even smile. She definitely wasn´t going to get 15 yards for excessive celebration, but that´s taking "Act like you´ve been there before" to extremes.

NOTES:
- I did my taxes this week. It took all of 45 seconds to look at my Peace Corps W-2 and verify that I made WELL below the minimum required to file. In your face, gainfully employed!

- My buddy Jeff had a date with an Ecuadorian girl that he just met. They had lunch, played Volleyball with her family, and just hung-out. Ha called her later to say that he had a good time and wanted to do it again. She agreed and said that she had been, "Praying to God everyday to send her a husband". And they wonder why I´m single.