Catch-up: Exactly 4 Weeks in Cuenca.

Today marks the 4th week that I've been in Cuenca. I feel like much has happened but at the same time that not a lot has happened… I still have much of the city to see.

My Spanish has much improved since i got here, and it's more natural now to speak it! It's so wonderful. I've also gotten comfortable with going places by myself- a cup of coffee there or some pan dulce there. I've been looking for good places to just sit and write and read where no one will bother me. So far the University of Cuenca and coffee shops serve this purpose.

More cultural observations. Girls walk down the street arm in arm all the time. I love that. Muy cariñosas (loving). Also, friends always pick each other up when they go out- they go together, they don't all drive separately and meet up. Maybe this is because Cuenca is so small that it isn't a bother. Also, driving around the city on a Saturday night is a normal way to hang out with friends. Most people that I've met here have thought that I'm way younger than I am- 16 or 17. I think this is because I don't wear much make up, and Cuencanas wear tons of make-up. For that reason I think they look way older than they are! They also wear heels (called tacos) for every day wear. I asked Dad to mail me my heels.

Animals roam free all over the place. So far I've seen and chicken and a dog get hit by cars. The dogs here are like the deer in Maryland, except the dogs actually have owners.

What have I been doing?? Well, Friday, I went to a colegio (high school) graduation party. The other American boy's family invited me. They have 4 daughters and the mom is absolutely lovely. She is so sweet and kind. It was a fancy deal- in the Cuenca Tennis Club. Each family was seated at their own reserved table. We had to wait almost 2 hours to eat dinner, but it was worth it for some shrimp atop mashed potatoes, and then a nice round piece of steak with olive & tomato salad, another cheesy potato type dish with ham, and a roll of chicken which happened to roll off of my plate as I tried to cut my steak. We toasted to the graduates with champagne and then danced the night away… Wisin Y Yandel, Juan Magan, Chino y Nacho…todo.

Saturday afternoon we went fishing in Cajas. I was expecting a big lagoon with fishing poles, then found myself in a little pond area surrounded by stones with a fishing line connected to a stick in my hand. All you had to do was throw the string into the water and pull it back in with your hands. It started raining, but that didn't stop me from catching a nice trucha (trout)! Thank goodness I didn't have to take out the hook. I was the only one that caught a fish. Afterwards we went to a hueca (a hole in the wall restaurant) that couldn't have been more of a hueca. It felt like we were literally in a hole in the ground- the walls of the place were made of earth and it smelled like earth inside. We drank some canelazo, which is a drink that comes from sugar cane, and ate delicious mote pill.

Sunday I went to church for the first time since getting here! It was a Christian church, though it was no Covenant Life. Though the people loved the Lord just the same. It was so nice to be there. At the end of the service, I found myself being pushed to the front of the church to receive a prophetic word from a woman. She prayed over me as if it was the Lord speaking- and it was the Lord, I am sure. He met me. Helped me refocus my gaze on Him, amidst the distractions of being in this different culture.

After church I went to Yunguilla, a nearby town, with the Ortizes. It was so very typical Latino that 4 of us were completely squished in the back seat of their little red SUV for the hour ride that it was to get there and back. But we were laughing and laughing the whole way. While there, Michelle and I explored the area and climbed through barbed wire fences looking for this pond with crabs. We never found the pond, but saw lime trees and orange trees and raspberry bushes growing wild. It started to pour when we got back to the house- after the rain passed we all packed up and went back to Cuenca.

This weekend I experienced a wake-up call. I was gone Thursday-Sunday, doing things. And it was too much. And it caused a burden on my family here as well. So I need to cut back. Dad reminded me of my principal goals- to learn Spanish and to glorify God while I'm here. How do I glorify God? By being a blessing to my family and others around me. I bring my sin with me everywhere I go, and even here in Ecuador I'm learning how to lay down my selfish desires to bless others.

So tonight I went with the family to their church meeting. Then we came back dying with hunger and ate the trucha (along with eggs and rice of course) that I caught on Saturday. I couldn't clean it myself- the slimy fish is too much for me. But Nancy, mi Mami, pulled the guts right out as if it were nothing and cooked it deliciously.

So tomorrow I'm going to try and hit some museums. There's at least 10 of them in Cuenca, and my mornings are free, so I'll be getting out and exploring in the coming weeks. Must milk every hour for all it's worth!

Besitos a todos y buenas noches.

Honeymoon's Over.

Ok, so now real life in Cuenca is setting in. I now realize that I REALLY miss summer. Because here it does not feel like summer. It is roughly 60 all the time, and when it rains it gets cold and when the sun goes down it gets cold. The house has no central heating so a space heater is my only salvation. And earlier this week I awoke with a sore throat and have also had a little bit of a cold. Not to mention my nose ring seems to be disagreeing with Ecuador. But really, this is all I have to complain about- the weather. :) I just miss the sun! It's always cloudy. And the umbrella is just as necessary as the wallet or the cell phone.

What have I been up to? Well. A lot. If you've been following my pics on facebook, you would have seen pics from Corpus Cristi, the 7 day sweets festival that's held around the central park, El Parque Calderón. Also, on Saturday I was out all day on a paseo (road trip) to Chordeleg (known for it's gazillions of jewelry shops) and Sigsig (great name). These towns are tiny and mountainous, yet more developed than the others, such as Quingeo. I went with a bunch of old people. Haha. Well, people in their late 20's. :) But it was SO nice to be with some girls- the Luna sisters were so sweet and welcomed me into the group warmly. At the end of the day we went to El Cafecito- a very hipster-friendly cafe/hostal where lots of backpackers stay as they pass through. The papas picantes were delicious.

FRIDAY I went to Quingeo with Valeria, oldest Bustos daughter. She turned out to be way more adventurous than I expected. We found ourselves attempting to drive up steep mountain paths of dirt in a tiny V4 (or whatever the smallest engine size is) silver Chevolet. Manual. It was insane- I was seriously scared that we would get stuck there in the middle of no where. But we survived. And we ate some cascaritas on the way back. These are hard pig skins that are fired with a torch and cut off the pig right in front of your eyes. You prob saw the pic on FB- Yes, the huge pig body with the knife sticking out? That's what I ate from. But it was pretty good, actually! And the lady who made it only had like 2 teeth and was so super friendly. She asked me if I liked Ecuador, and I said, "Yes! Me encanta!" Then she asked, if I met a boy here that I liked would I stay in Ecuador? I didn't understand at first, then said, "Yes!" Then she proceded to point to a man with a beard behind her, saying that I should meet her son! No gracias. She was verry friendly though. I love how open and friendly EVERYONE is here! After Quingeo, back in Cuenca we went to Turi again- that town that's up high and has a view of the entire city. It's really awesome.

Sunday... Sunday was very laid back. I Skyped with about 5 people, and later that night helped Andrea with some muy feo deberes (homework) for her English class. It was about human rights and security and law... But I was glad to help.

Monday I had Andres for my English partner in the afternoon, then Santiago the next 2 days. It's been fun having these English conversations, but at the same time difficult. It's not like a class- it's VERY informal- just talking- so I always have to have some kind of topic that we can discuss. And it also messes with me, because when I leave the little room where we talk, I have to switch back to Spanish. It's not preferable but it gives me something to DO! Thus I am grateful. That day since Julio was bringing me home I went with him to the store and we bought the most random things- sprinklers, light bulbs, spongy material for his mami to make cushions, a beach umbrella. Must have looked odd. On the way, saw the discoteca on wheels- it's literally a bus. With smirnoff ice pictures all over it. Interesting. haha.

Tuesday night I took my first taxi into town from the house. Cost me 4 stinkin dollars. I didn't expect that. But I was glad that I was able to communicate with the driver and call the taxi radio and get where I needed to go! Anyway... Latinos are always late. We were all meeting up at the restaurant (Monday Blue, Mexican food and more, tiny place covered in pictures and blue and red paint) at 8:30. Well... I supposed that meant 8:45. But it really means 9pm. So I was waiting in there for the rest of the group to get there. Juan Andres, Julio, Michelle, Claudia (Michelle's friend), and fellow gringo Luke. Poor guy can't speak Spanish too well, but speaks it better than he did a week ago upon arriving. He was a champ for trying. But we had fun- chilling and eating and playing games. I taught them the statue game, and Julio was the only one that got it. For once I understood what was going on and the Ecuadorians didn't. :) just kidding.

There's more I could say, but my time is limited! More to come. Besos y abrazos a ti.

I've got some news for you. I'll prob be blogging only one or two times a week tops. I've noticed that when I get online, I get sucked into the big wide world of the world wide web. Then I look up, and realize I'm in an incredible beautiful and breathtaking city and country, and I ask myself, "What the heck am I doing online when I could be talking with people, eating Ecuadorian bread, or driving through the Andes mountains?" I'm also reminded of the challenges I have here- it takes more effort to communicate with people and to make friends here than it does in the US- hence, I start to feel sorry for myself and dread the next step... so the internet is my enemy. :)

I do have a lot of things to mention on here- PATIENCE! :D Look at my pics on Facebook!

There you have it.

I ATE CUY.

I´ve been pretty busy these past few days and not had time to get online! There´s so much to talk about and I only have a few mins left. I´ll write about everything else later- my students and such. For now, let me tell you about last night. Last night I ate cuy. Julio took me down this street that is lined with tons of cuy on sticks and entire pigs on some kind of wooden stand in front of the ´restaurant´. He asked me if I wanted to try it... I really wasn´t prepared at all... but I did. The woman cut the thing in half and gave us the back legs on top of mote and delicious tiny potatoes. ughhh cuy. The meat itself was fine- didn´t taste very different. But the texture of the skin was a bit much. SO TOUGH. They actually call the skin cuero, which literally means leather! ahhh I can´t believe I ate that thing. I crunched on its little bones. I even took a bite of the liver. Julio ate it´s feet. aahhh. Good thing I´ve never had a cuy for a pet. Don´t worry, I HAVE PROOF. He took pics on his phone cause I didn´t have my camera- I´ll get those up soon! But as we were leaving and paying the lady, her mama (a grandmother) asked her, ´the gringa did eat the cuy?´haha. Yeah, we were the only ones in the place so the entire family was watching us eat it from the other side of the room. So there you have it. I ate cuy.