Chancho and Rotary

I woke up Saturday, December 12, to my brother Juan José yelling outside for me to open the door. A proclivity of his is to arrive in the wee hours of the morning, after my father has locked the door. The only ones with keys to the door are my brother Fernando and my father. So when Juan José gets locked out at 3:30 am, he whispers loudly from below my window "Logan, abre la puerta." This has happened maybe four or five times. Side story: one morning, after I had gotten sick, he came in my room and whispered his line, to which I responded by hopping out of bed and grabbing my glasses. I then realized that he was in my room with me, just checking on how I was doing. He got quite a chuckle from that. So now if I see him asleep I whisper "Juan José, abre la puerta."

Well, the point to him yelling for me this specific morn was because my family had hired a family business to prepare a whole pig for my brother Andrés' birthday. I snagged my camera and hustled downstairs in my pjs. There were about five people fixing vegetables and side food when a big meat truck pulled up outside the house. We opened the large door of the gate for cars and in came a man running with a pig on his shoulders, slamming it on the table outside. From this they prepared misturiado (a mix of the pigs innards), fritada (fried pig), chicharrón (fried pig skin), caldo de tubo (a nasty soup with a bunch of chewy pig intestines), and seco de chancho (the meat of the pig in a sauce served with rice).

After I saw the start of this production, I got ready and went to the Rotary club. I met up with other kids from Interact and with some Rotarians to present two houses to some very poor people in an underdeveloped part of Machala. After that, we all went to my counselor's shrimp farm with Rotary clubs near Machala. There, we also ate pig (caldo de tubo, chicharrón, and seco de chancho). We had a competition between Rotary clubs and the exchange students. This included 3-leg races, egg-on-a-spoon-in-your-mouth races, tug-o-war, hula hoop, a kayak race, top spinning, and sack races (I did that and won!). Headed home with Uncle Roberto and ate more pig at home for Andrés' birthday. So much PIG.

Insects

(This is a pretty random blog) Now since I go to school at 6 in the morning, I get up before the break of dawn. On some mornings, while I'm taking a shower (if we have water - sometimes when I turn the spigot, the only water that comes out is that that is already in the pipes. When this happens, I usually jump in and rinse my hair which is a mess from bed-head) bees come in and buzz around the light. They crawl in from the screen on the window and get stuck in my bathroom. This really bugs me because I have to dodge them when I'm taking a shower or brushing my teeth. One time there were six of them buzzing around! I exit the bathroom quickly and close the door behind me. After school when I come home, I find them dead on the floor. On the day with six bees, after school I found the six dead in the shower and three more outside of the shower. I never really was a bee guy. I mean, I like honey, but that's about as far as it goes (thanks Mitch).

There are quite a few mosquitoes here. I especially notice them when I'm sitting at the computer because they bite at my ankles. I think there has to be a hive under the chair or something because there are so many. My family has even sprayed the couches in this room - we joke that it asphyxiates us because the smell is so strong. Sometimes the mosquito bites get so bad that you can just see the red bites covering the exchange students' legs.

Cockroaches here are common on the streets. There are lizards here that eat the cockroaches. At first when I saw a lizard crawling on the wall inside the house, I was surprised and thought that it got in somehow. Araceli explained to me that they're fine. One morning when I was brushing my teeth, a lizard fell from the ceiling on my back then scampered away. I usually see one pretty much every day.

Kevin's Primera Comunión

Geovanna Morocho called me up a few weeks ago to see if I could join them in Kevin's first communion. So on Saturday (Dec. 6) morning, I got slicked up in some nice clothes, and Johnny picked me up. It was funny because we looked like twins: we both had blue oxfords, black slacks, and black shoes. On our way out of town, we picked up a flower display (I really don't know a good word for this. It's like a group of flowers on a wooden stand) for Kevin.

We went to Pasaje and picked up Johnny's great-aunt and sister, Jocelyne. We then went to a church in the nearby town El Cambio. We sat through the service (Geovanna spoke some), and the Father fed the kids their first communion. He got really serious at this point and said no cameras allowed because it's an intimate time between the kids and God. There were still a lot of photographers on the sides of the room taking photos. In the middle of giving communion, he went and sat down in his chair for like five minutes. He then had the photographers ushered out, and then he finished with the remaining youth. While waiting there, I found myself staring at this statue that reminded me of the statue in Nacho Libre that is looking down on Nacho when he is in the sanctuary drawing wrestling outfits.

Afterwards, we went to the Morocho's house and par-tayed on their terrace with family.

I stayed the night there in Pasaje, again. The next morning I ate ceviche (I LOVE this ceviche that they buy from across the street. It's the best one I've had, and we always eat it when I go to the Morocho's) and chilled around their house (Johnny usually helps work the store on Sunday). I went back home to Machala with Johny and Geovanna, where I made some mac and cheese with my nephews, neice, and neice's cousin. I showed them the noodle-stick-trick: you fling a noodle on the wall to see if it sticks (I flung it on the glass wall that extends above the stove)!

Rotary Zaruma

A couple of weeks ago Rotary took the exchange students (from Machala and surrounding areas) to Zaruma. First, we went to a little reserve for hummingbirds. I don't think they live in the wild in Europe because some students said that they don't have them. That surprised me because I'm used to seeing them all the time at Gramma and Papa's house in Owensville!

We then went on to the city of Piñas. We drove up this mountain with this gigantic cross that overlooks the city. We took some scenic photos and then went to a mine. We first watched a video and then geared up. We were funny-looking with the big rubber boots and helmets. We went in the mine, looked at the rocks, and listened to the guide. At one point he told us to move our hands in circles while facing the rock wall and then put our hands near the rock to try and harness the power of the rock. Some people said they felt something. I didn't.

We left to eat lunch at this little place, Doña Cleme. I had tigrillo and fresh orange juice. We went to the little shop and tasted some "bocadillos" which are like little sweets. They had some cool homemade things. An employee lady brought some of us to the balcony of her house where there was an impressive view of a little mountain-side city.

We went to downtown Zaruma and walked around for a little bit. There was a little festival thing going on. This included (for some reason) a giant inflatable corn - with which we took mimicking photos. We then regresed to Machala in our little bus with the usual bus driver, Diego!

Thanksgiving!

So we exchange students from the United States of America hosted a Thanksgiving for the other exchange students. I was set to prepare the pumpkin pie. Here there isn't canned pumpkin, so I went with Wacho to some market downtown to locate a pumpkin and the ingredients. He seemed to know exactly where everything was. We got spices and even got something that resembled a pumpkin (I don't think they're very common).

Wednesday night I made the pie crust (thank you for the instructions, Rachel) and prepared the pumpkin. I just cooked it in the oven and then scooped out the meat. The next morning I blended the pumpkin because I thought it was supposed to be more like pulp. I hauled my stuff over to Julie's (the girl from Denmark) house. Eventually more people came, and we all pitched in to make the feast. We decided to have chicken (which worked out fine) instead of turkey because the price for a turkey was redonkulous. I forgot my pie crusts at home, so I had to wait to make my pie until after we ate dinner when my brother dropped them off.

We had it all prepared and gathered around the beautifully set table. We held hands, said what we were thankful for, and then toasted. It was all so great! For most of them it was their first Thanksgiving. We had representatives from the USA, Germany, France, Denmark, Switzerland, and Ecuador.

We then filed through the buffet of food. We had chicken, gravy, two salads, yams (that were soooo delicious with marshmallows!), green beans, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, and bread. We feasted and talked around the big table. It felt so much like Thanksgiving despite the fact that we were away from our families and homes. It was weird. After dinner we had a little rest from food (I ran into the kitchen to make my punkin pie!) where we just talked to each other. We then had like six different desserts! How great is that?! The others said that my pumpkin pie was good, but I think the inside wasn't solid enough. I also cooked the seeds in the oven with some oil and salt. The employees were taking notes of the ingredients for the pie and the seeds. I think I heard them say that they want to sell them on the streets. I want to make some more pies because I have two crusts left, but I accidentally left them in Julie's fridge. I suppose they're still there.

Pacífico

So I wasn't really happy in my previous school, Santa María, so I was working with my Rotary counselor to change. My family here didn't know how much they could do and suggested that I work with Rotary to change, so I just took matters into my own hands. I talked with my counselor, and she has a son-in-law who is the son of the Commander (like the principal) of a school called Unidad de Educación Integral Bilingüe del Pacífico (UNEIN del Pacífico). I had talked with various people here, like Rotarians and the Morochos about good schools here, and they all said Pacífico was a good school. Also, next year Johnny's sister and brother are going to go to Pacífico!

One Friday, when my Santa María class went to Pacífico to vote for something, I snuck off to talk to the Commander about changing to his school. He said it'd be fine, so I was overjoyed. I talked with my counselor over the weekend, and I went with her the next Monday to Pacífico to buy my uniform and talk with the Commander. We got most everything worked out, and I was set to start Tuesday.

Later on Monday, I told my uncle that I was going to change schools. That was pretty difficult because he told me how Santa María was good enough for his kids and such. So I didn't have a way to go to or get home from school. Also on Monday, my brother Juan José came from Canada (he's married to a Canadian who had her exchange here in Machala years ago and has two kids) to stay with us for a few months. He asked me if I wanted to go see 2012 at the mall with him. I asked my parents, and even though it was late, I went! So we went at like 9 and it finished around midnight! Yikes. We got home, and I talked to my mother about how I'd get to school. Juan José offered to take me the next morning - how nice!

I got him up at like 6 and we left at around 6:30. Formation (when we stand outside in order and listen to the principal) at Pacífico starts at 6:50. I was a little late so I had to stand in the very front in a line with all the late people, facing the rest of the students. On my first day! Normally they take names but they excused me because I'm a foreign exchange student/it was my first day.

So now I've been in Pacífico for a while, and I like it! It's good because I'm in the highest grade (sexto) and in "Sociales" which studies philosophy, democracy, rights, history, etc. I ride a bus which is a crazy and fun experience but it comes to my house at 6 am! Also, school goes until 2:30 pm. It is a long day, but it seems to go faster because I'm in a fun class. There is another exchange student in my class, too. Her name is Kelsey and she is from New York, the state.

Canadians

Thursday of my little break, my Tío Roberto called me and he picked me up to go to the Rotary president's house because three Canadians came. We got there and there were a ton of people, Rotarians and Machaleños. I met the Canadians and found that they came to give out wheelchairs for which their district in Canada raised money to buy. They only spoke English, and those Rotarians who spoke English spoke very little, so I was the translator for them. It was crazy and confusing but fun.

We helped people move from their old chairs (mostly broken and old) into the new red ones and then took their picture. They were so thankful. One blind lady was talking to one of the Canadians and was trying to tell her something but she didn't understand because it was Spanish. I translated for her and she was so appreciative.

When we finished with this crowd (of about 25 people), we headed out to a mental hospital. It was very sad. The rooms had doors with locks, a bowl on legs for a toilet, and a bed. The Canadians were saying how horrible the conditions were, and the Rotarians were saying how the government doesn't help at all. It was quite eye-opening. They made two cakes for us that were delicious!

We then went to a Rotary-sponsored assisted living home. This had a nice atmosphere and was nice. We finished giving out the chairs and then went back to the president's house to eat. We had ceviche (yum!). I was running from table to table helping translate between the different conversations. The Canadians then headed out to meet up with the rest of their crew (of, I think, 28). What a fun event!