The Poor Man´s New Orleans

Last week as I´m sure you all know was the begining of Lent. Lent here seems pretty much the same as the rest of the year (no fasting or giving up ice cream and Ding Dongs), but Carnaval, the time leading up to Ash Wednesday, is huge. It was the same last year in Cangahua, but now I´m a little more integrated and less busy, so I can appreciate it more. I didn´t write about it last year, so here is your description of Mardi Gras Ecua-Style. First, Carnaval lasts a couple of weeks before Fat Tuesday and consists solely of throwing water balloons, handfulls of flour, and eggs at each other. The stores also sell can of stuff like "Silly String" that people spray on each other. Although Ecuadorians love this, it seems to me that all we are doing is creating a lot of dirty laundry. I tried to avoid "Playing Carnival" as they call it as much as possible. This has saved me a lot of clothes washing, but it is a bit embarrasing walking in town constantly looking over my shoulder and then running away from pre-pubecents armed with the ingredients for a cake. I told my friends and neighbors that I only played on the last day of Carnival, so Fat Tuesday (School was out for Carnaval on Monday and Tuesday, so I was free) I put on some dirty clothes and proceded to get soaked and covered with flour. It was actually kind of fun chasing people around, but I was glad when it was over and I can walk the streets without fear.

Right before Carnaval, I tried to get down to Latacunga to watch the Super Bowl, but after waiting two hours on the PanAmerican for a bus (it usually takes 5 minutes), I figured that it wasn't my day, and I went back home. The big city on the other side f Latacunga, Ambato, has the biggest Carnaval in Ecuador, so all the busses were full of Quiteños heading South for the festivities. Long story short, I missed the best Super Bowl since the Rams won because half the population of Quito wanted to throw water balloons at each other in a different city.

Not only was Super Bowl Sunday and Ash Wednesday last week, but Thursday was also my one year anniversary in Ecuador. I have a lot of conflicting thoughts about this. This has been probably one of the least productive years in my life in terms of "work" accomplished, but I've learned so much down here that it is hard to comprehend. I remember the first day here, I tried to call home, but I didn´t know how to tell the guy at the hotel desk what I wanted to do. Now, not only can I do this, but I can also bitch out the guy when he tries to overcharge me! It doesn't seem like it's been a yearsometimes, and at other points it feels like I've been here forever. April 20th will be my one year anniversary in La Libertad, which is a bigger date because it also means I have only one year left. I'll do a little more reflecting before then and try to be more philisophical with my writing, but today there is too much stuff to write about.

Last Wednesday I went to Quito to help greet the new Omnibus. Omnibus 99 is another Sustainable Agriculture/Habitat group with about 50 volunteers. Like they did for us, a group of PCVs went to the airport to yell as they walked out of the terminal and hand them roses ($3 a dozen, so why not). My buddy Andrew and I are not big yellers, so we had a contest to see who could be the least enthusiastic. I think I won because I was depressed after I found out that the North Carolina vs. Duke game wasn't on TV in Quito (The real reason I came in town).

The next day I had my Mid-Service Medical Exam and dental cleaning. I got a clean bill of health (no internal parisites or cavities), but a lot of my friends are now on Fasigyn, a deparisiting medicine. Also, the girls had to go to the Gyno, which turned gave us some funny stories. The Dr. is an older Ecuadorian and apparently very nice, but his English isn't so great, so his phrasing comes off a bit odd. I've heard from three friends that after the exam he told them that they had, "A healthy cervix", "A perfect uterus", and "A beautiful vagina". I guess that´s better than the alternative.

Also, I asked the nurses to run a red blood cell count on me to see what living at 2 miles high was doing to me. I got the results back and have a hemoglobin count of 16.5. As far as I can tell the normal range for this is 14-18, so I'm not as high as I thought I'd be. If any of the urses out there can give me a better idea of what this means, I'd appreciate it.

After Quito, my friend Jeff came to L.L. for the night. We just hung out, made chili mac, and drank a six pack of fresh Budweiser (3 months old) that I found in Quito. The next day we went to Ambato to vist a friend that lives there. She has an awesome place in the city, and since most bars in Ambato have $7-$20 cover charges, we stayed at her place and watched pirated movies that we bought on the street for $1.25. It was fun, but I think we paid $0.30 too much for Rambo IV.

P.S. - The PC puts out a volunteer run newsletter every 3 months down here called El Clima or The Climate. There is a lot of stuff in it, and they print funny articles that PCVs write. I got two in the last issue, and the one that I think you all may understand more of is about the tendencay of Ecuadorians not only to breastfeed their children everywhere (Church, at meetings, on the bus, etc.), but also to extend the period of breastfeeding to kids that are WAY too old. The parts in red I added as translation.

GUIDE FOR NURSING MOTHERS

No matter what your opinion towards public breastfeeding is, a cause I feel we can all get behind is ending the public breastfeeding of children too mature to be partaking in this sacred activity. Therefore, in homage to the greatest American humorist of our generation, Jeff Foxworthy, I have developed a set of rules for nursing Mothers that I like to call, "Your kid may be too old to breastfeed if...". Enjoy!

If while sitting down, your child can stand next to you and eat lunch without problems...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If you are continually getting nipple cuts since your child got braces...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If while having a snack, your kid reads "The New Yorker"...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If your child enters a meeting you´re at and says, "Buenas tardes con todos, solo necesito un poco refregerio" "Good evening everyone, I just need a little snack"...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If your child is able to unbutton your shirt AND unhook your bra...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If your child´s lip stud keeps getting in the way...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If your child takes off it´s colegio High School uniform sweater before eating breakfast because they are afraid of getting milk on it...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If your husband is starting to get jealous...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If you have to be at your child´s soccer games to help ward off dehydration...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If you ever receive a text message that says, "Mom, I´m hungry"...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If you insist that your son shaves before dinner because his five o´clock shadow scratches...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

If feeding your son on the bus is especially difficult, because he is driving it...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!

Finally,

If your child claims that breast milk cures their Chuchaqui Hangover...
...your kid may be too old to breastfeed!