It has been a fun, satisfying, and depressing week in La Libertad. Last friday I went back to the small town outside of Latacunga called Tilipulo with my buddy John. This is the same town that we went to a couple of weeks ago (See Post- You Dirty Rat). I had asked the teacher there to have the kids gather some manure to act as a fertilizer for the poor soil there. When we got there, they showed us 7 huge bags of cow shit that they had collected. I was happy because this showed that they actually listened and were willing to put in some effort on their end. We hit the ground running and started digging and mixing in manure in a small area by the school to make some seed beds. I didn´t know how well things are going to grow there, so we are going to start off small (as you can see by the pictures). The kids and teachers were great and as they say down here Super Pilas or energetic. We planted lettuce, carrots, beans, radishes, beets, and cucumber seeds that John and I had bought in Latacunga ($3) and then I went over some basics of gardening because none of the teachers or kids had ever made a raised seed bed. I´m plan
ning on heading back after Easter to hopefully transplant the baby plants into some new beds that we will make. I also have a feeling that I´ll be doing more of this around the Latacunga area, which would be a good thing.
It was cool too that while I was in Latacunga before and after working, I ran into 10 people that I knew. I kind of feel "local" now because I will usually get a couple, "Hola Jay"s just walking around Machachi or Latacunga.
One of the 10 people I ran into was a former PCV who is in Ecuador teaching a mountaineering course. We had met while climbing up Illiniza Norte and now he is done with the class and traveling around for a couple weeks. He had spent the previous night in Latacunga and told me that he was spending another night because he met an Ecuadorian girl who wanted to take him out dancing. He asked me and John to come out too, so we met up later that night. Now, the guy was a PCV in New Guinea, so he spoke very little Spanish (I had to translate for his temporary "Girlfriend") and he´d only been on his own here for a day, but already he had met a girl. This reinforced the depressing part of the week.
I had three conversations recently with teachers at the grade and high school (which makes me think that they are talking about me). Twice separate teachers asked me if I was gay. I asked why they would think that, and they said that I´ve been here for a year and I didn´t have a girlfriend. They also compared me to the previous La Libertad PCV, Mike, and his many girlfriends (I asked Mike about this, and he said that wasn´t true). I didn´t know what to say because I couldn´t tell them that unfortunately I don´t find 29 year old overweight women who are 4 1/2 feet tall with missing teeth and no education and look like they are 50 to be my "type". I just explained that I was unlucky and left it at that.
The third conversation was worse. The Director of the grade school talked to me 1 on 1 for about 30 minutes about how I was wasting my life. He started with my lack of a girlfriend (the conversation was instigated by me mentioning that I needed to do laundry and him telling me that I needed a woman to do that for me), but then moved on to the fact that I rarely leave La Libertad. He pulled out a map of Ecuador and pointed out all the places I´ve never been to and implored me to, "Live! Enjoy Life!". He actually made some good points and got me thinking that I need to get out more. He then told me that money wasn´t everything and that I wasn´t in Ecuador to save a pile of cash. I had to disagree with this part of his argument because even if I saved up all of my $230 a month for 2 years, I don´t think I´d be able to swim in my money bin Scrooge McDuck style.
Also depressing is the weather. It has rained here literally every day for almost 5 weeks. The President just declared a State of Emergency on the coast because of flooding and there are massive land slides in the mountains in the south. Fortunately it is just a muddy inconvienience for me, but I think I´m starting to get Seasonal Affective Disorder. Every day we usually will get 5-10 minutes of sun. When I see the sun come out, I run outside a try to soak as much in a possible.
Like I said, it´s muddy here. There is a stretch of road on the way to town that is especially bad because they cut down the trees that lined the road and blocked the ditched with leaves and branches. I´ve been meaning to clear the blockage and hopefully get rid of some of the mud, but I know what people in town would say if they saw me do this. There is a very mentally challenged man in town who cleans the main road from the Pan American and may be the hardest working guy around, but he can´t talk and is kind of a joke. Anyway, as I was working, a couple of ladies from the bank came by and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was cleaning the road and they started laughing and saying, "You´re just like Sam!". Sam of course being the other guy, and them referring to him was not a compliment in their eyes. I helped the mud situation, but I´m not too happy to now have people referring to me as the gay, retarded gringo.
Because it has been raining so much, I haven´t been able to do laundry for a while. My neighbors actually built 3 new clothes lines because all their clothes have been hanging out to dry for weeks. I´m getting close to "Commando" time, so I´ll probably be heading to a laundry mat soon.
I went to the high school the other day for class, but as I arrived, the teahers were leaving. It was raining (of course) and one of the female teachers asked me for my umbrella. I told her no because I was using it. She got all pissed and said that it was customary in Ecuador for a gentleman to get wet before a lady. I then said that it was customary in the US for people who lived in a climate where it rained EVERY DAY to always have an umbrella. (I know that this is mean, but she´s a pushy B).
Back to the good news. I had my first soccer game last Sunday. I had expected to mainly watch the other goalie play and only get in during blow-outs, but when I got to the game, the coach told me I´d be starting! I got a little nervious seeing as I´d never played goalie before and the last time I had shin guards on was in the sixth grade (15 years ago). As we were getting ready to
start, the Manager came up to me and asked if I knew the rules. I said yes, but as he was walking away I yelled, "I can use my hands, right?". He didn´t think that was funny.
I played the whole first half and didn´t give up a goal! We were up 2-0 and switched out 6 people and ended up winning 7-1 (2 of our goals were accidentally kicked in by the other goalie). I was happy being the best out of the 3 goalies who played that game, but I need to work on my free kicks. I can actually throw the ball farther and more accurately than I can kick it. Also, we got our uniforms. Instead of putting the Cardinals logo on them, the Coach put the logo from an American Movers add that he found in my Cardinals GameDay magazine. Kind of funny to have "American" on the front of the jersey that I thought I´d be keeping as a memento of Ecuador.
ning on heading back after Easter to hopefully transplant the baby plants into some new beds that we will make. I also have a feeling that I´ll be doing more of this around the Latacunga area, which would be a good thing.It was cool too that while I was in Latacunga before and after working, I ran into 10 people that I knew. I kind of feel "local" now because I will usually get a couple, "Hola Jay"s just walking around Machachi or Latacunga.
One of the 10 people I ran into was a former PCV who is in Ecuador teaching a mountaineering course. We had met while climbing up Illiniza Norte and now he is done with the class and traveling around for a couple weeks. He had spent the previous night in Latacunga and told me that he was spending another night because he met an Ecuadorian girl who wanted to take him out dancing. He asked me and John to come out too, so we met up later that night. Now, the guy was a PCV in New Guinea, so he spoke very little Spanish (I had to translate for his temporary "Girlfriend") and he´d only been on his own here for a day, but already he had met a girl. This reinforced the depressing part of the week.
I had three conversations recently with teachers at the grade and high school (which makes me think that they are talking about me). Twice separate teachers asked me if I was gay. I asked why they would think that, and they said that I´ve been here for a year and I didn´t have a girlfriend. They also compared me to the previous La Libertad PCV, Mike, and his many girlfriends (I asked Mike about this, and he said that wasn´t true). I didn´t know what to say because I couldn´t tell them that unfortunately I don´t find 29 year old overweight women who are 4 1/2 feet tall with missing teeth and no education and look like they are 50 to be my "type". I just explained that I was unlucky and left it at that.
The third conversation was worse. The Director of the grade school talked to me 1 on 1 for about 30 minutes about how I was wasting my life. He started with my lack of a girlfriend (the conversation was instigated by me mentioning that I needed to do laundry and him telling me that I needed a woman to do that for me), but then moved on to the fact that I rarely leave La Libertad. He pulled out a map of Ecuador and pointed out all the places I´ve never been to and implored me to, "Live! Enjoy Life!". He actually made some good points and got me thinking that I need to get out more. He then told me that money wasn´t everything and that I wasn´t in Ecuador to save a pile of cash. I had to disagree with this part of his argument because even if I saved up all of my $230 a month for 2 years, I don´t think I´d be able to swim in my money bin Scrooge McDuck style.
Also depressing is the weather. It has rained here literally every day for almost 5 weeks. The President just declared a State of Emergency on the coast because of flooding and there are massive land slides in the mountains in the south. Fortunately it is just a muddy inconvienience for me, but I think I´m starting to get Seasonal Affective Disorder. Every day we usually will get 5-10 minutes of sun. When I see the sun come out, I run outside a try to soak as much in a possible.
Like I said, it´s muddy here. There is a stretch of road on the way to town that is especially bad because they cut down the trees that lined the road and blocked the ditched with leaves and branches. I´ve been meaning to clear the blockage and hopefully get rid of some of the mud, but I know what people in town would say if they saw me do this. There is a very mentally challenged man in town who cleans the main road from the Pan American and may be the hardest working guy around, but he can´t talk and is kind of a joke. Anyway, as I was working, a couple of ladies from the bank came by and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was cleaning the road and they started laughing and saying, "You´re just like Sam!". Sam of course being the other guy, and them referring to him was not a compliment in their eyes. I helped the mud situation, but I´m not too happy to now have people referring to me as the gay, retarded gringo.
Because it has been raining so much, I haven´t been able to do laundry for a while. My neighbors actually built 3 new clothes lines because all their clothes have been hanging out to dry for weeks. I´m getting close to "Commando" time, so I´ll probably be heading to a laundry mat soon.
I went to the high school the other day for class, but as I arrived, the teahers were leaving. It was raining (of course) and one of the female teachers asked me for my umbrella. I told her no because I was using it. She got all pissed and said that it was customary in Ecuador for a gentleman to get wet before a lady. I then said that it was customary in the US for people who lived in a climate where it rained EVERY DAY to always have an umbrella. (I know that this is mean, but she´s a pushy B).
Back to the good news. I had my first soccer game last Sunday. I had expected to mainly watch the other goalie play and only get in during blow-outs, but when I got to the game, the coach told me I´d be starting! I got a little nervious seeing as I´d never played goalie before and the last time I had shin guards on was in the sixth grade (15 years ago). As we were getting ready to
start, the Manager came up to me and asked if I knew the rules. I said yes, but as he was walking away I yelled, "I can use my hands, right?". He didn´t think that was funny.I played the whole first half and didn´t give up a goal! We were up 2-0 and switched out 6 people and ended up winning 7-1 (2 of our goals were accidentally kicked in by the other goalie). I was happy being the best out of the 3 goalies who played that game, but I need to work on my free kicks. I can actually throw the ball farther and more accurately than I can kick it. Also, we got our uniforms. Instead of putting the Cardinals logo on them, the Coach put the logo from an American Movers add that he found in my Cardinals GameDay magazine. Kind of funny to have "American" on the front of the jersey that I thought I´d be keeping as a memento of Ecuador.
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