El Día de Agradecimiento

I was thankful to celebrate Thanksgiving with friends American and Ecuadorian on Thursday. My friend Molly hosted a potluck dinner on the terrace outside her apartment, and a bunch of volunteers in and around Guayaquil came for the feast.

We had a turkey, and stuffing, and sweet potatoes, and mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies, and pumpkin pie, and apple pie – all the most important staples – so it was surprising that the general favorite Thanksgiving dish was the strawberry salad made by my friend Kelsea. Just goes to show how rare it is for fresh veg to find its way to your plate here. Kelsea had to soak all the spinach and lettuce and strawberries in a bacteria solution to kill any parasites, which we gringos must do any time we eat raw produce.



We had a good-sized gathering…





…and more than enough food to go around.

Oh yeah – the sweet potatoes here are purple.

Changing the subject, Ecuador has a national census every 10 years. From 7am to 5pm tomorrow (Sunday the 28th), everyone is under curfew and must stay in their homes while teachers and high school students go door to door conducting the census. The whole country has been under ley seca (“dry law” – no alcohol sales or consumption) since Friday night, just to make sure we’re all sober come Sunday. A little bit different from the way the census is done in the states!

On the agenda for tomorrow:
Watch the first four Harry Potter movies
Eat Oreos
Play with Anita la Gatita Bonita



Some of the kids found her abandoned on the playground a couple weeks ago and brought her to me. She is about four weeks old, I think, and has been living in a makeshift nest-thing in my room, toddling about and mewling and making messes everywhere.

But I’d like to know, How else can you respond when seven wide-eyed kids ask, “You’re going to take her home and take care of her, right?”