The Newb

One year ago - August 19, 2010 - I arrived in Guayaquil to begin my work as a Peace Corps Volunteer. When I got off the bus in the terminal, I was smelly and disheveled and wide-eyed, and I distinctly remember the conversation I had with the cab driver who brought me to my house, because he complimented me on my Spanish. That struck me as a premature judgment, because I anticipated innumerable instances in which I would make a fool of myself while attempting to communicate in this foreign language. (I was right.)

The best part about arriving in site was meeting the host family. And one year later, we're all still under the same roof, although I'm two stories closer to it than they are. Not too much has changed: Mariana has cut her hair...there are some new curtains in the bedroom...Fernanda, a sister who lives in Italy, is in town for the summer and has temporarily joined the gang.

I try to spend time with the host family, and usually this comes in the form of helping Marcelo and Andrés with their homework. But occasionally we find other things to do, like watch movies or go to the park...

...or bake cookies.

One month ago, we had a visitor with us on our cookie baking spree.

Her name is Sarah, and she'll be living with the host family downstairs starting TOMORROW.

Sarah hails from Ohio and likes Tony Bennett, spam with ketchup, and taking long walks on the beach.

Just kidding.

But she really is from Ohio.

This will be the family's third go-round hosting a Peace Corps Volunteer.

They say that the third time's a charm. Well, if this photo is indicative of anything, there are some crazy times ahead...

La Luna

How beautiful was the moon the other night.

When he was little, after our much loved great-grandmother passed away, my brother used to say that the moon on a night like this was Grandma's smile.

...she smiles down on me even here.

Día del Niño

Back in June, we celebrated el Día del Niño. I profile it here, just two months after the fact!

Día del Niño is a fairly simple concept: it's a day to celebrate being a kid.

We threw a big party at the Casita de Chocolate. There were balloons and candy and music and contests.

Oh, the contests.

There is always some sort of dancing competition. Couples pair off and give it their all, with one couple getting eliminated in each round.

See below for the final round in our dance-off and the audience's vote by applause for the winner. (You thought this sounded like a contest for adults? Think again. It's all the kids.)



I guess the little boy's somersault was the clincher.

Another popular contest involves pairing up and dancing on squares of newspaper. If either person steps off the piece of paper, the couple is eliminated.



Periodically, the music will stop, and everyone must step off their square of paper, tear it or fold it in half, and prepare for the next round.



By the end of it, the girl you see here wearing the pink shirt had loaded her partner on piggy-back style and was hopping up and down on one foot on her scrap of paper.

Fun first, safety comes later. That's what being a kid is all about.

Primer Grito de Independencia

See? Even Google is celebrating.

Holidays in Ecuador can get to be very confusing. The cities of Quito, Cuenca, and Guayaquil each have their own independence days celebrated as national holidays. Each city also celebrates the day of its founding, but only some are considered national holidays. In all three cities, and probably in more throughout the country, one sees these dates on the street signs of the main thoroughfares. 9 de Octubre; 6 de Diciembre; 10 de Agosto.

Today, August 10th, is the primer grito de independencia - first cry of independence - of Quito.

I don't know how they celebrate in Quito, but here in Guayaquil, we celebrate by moving the holiday to the 12th, which is a Friday, thereby creating for ourselves a long weekend and a perfect opportunity for a trip to the beach.

Sunburnt and Fancy Free

A day at the beach followed by extended birthday celebrations: Yes, please.

Here, she offered, let me help you take a bite of this delicious birthday cake I baked you.

And we all know how that turned out.

The birthday smash returns. It's all part and parcel of spending one's birthday in Ecuador, I suppose. Actually, using one's face as an icing receptacle turns out to be quite practical. Just take a bite of cake, then swipe and lick, and you're good to go.

Friends & Family of People Living Abroad: Take Note

There's nothing quite like receiving something in the mail with your name on it in a familiar handwriting with a return address that you know by heart.

Especially when living far from home, anytime anything comes for you in the mail is cause for celebration. And when it's your birthday, well - let me just say I haven't been this excited about getting presents since the days of waking up at 5am on Christmas Day.

It's so nice when a little piece of home finds you when you're somewhere far away.

And while, as one friend exclaimed, this year I got "a good haul,"

which I did,

it's still the people behind the gifts that mean the most.

Because, in addition to there being nothing quite like receiving mail with your name on it when you are living in a foreign country, there is also nothing quite like receiving a phone call from across the equator, or talking face to face with a familiar face via video chat through the interwebs.

Nor is there anything quite like waking up on your birthday to a knock on the door and a smiling friend handing you breakfast.

So I guess what I'm mainly trying to say is...THANK YOU to everyone for the wonderful gifts, kind wishes, personal messages, long distance phone calls, and skype dates. And front door delivery breakfasts. I know it cost money and - in some cases - technical troubleshooting on your end.

All your efforts - and all of YOU - are very much appreciated. I couldn't do what I'm doing without you behind me.

Feeling very loved,
And sending everyone some birthday mojo from south of the border,
Jordan

The Look of Incredulity

One of the features I recently discovered on Blogger was the "Stats" feature. This section of my blog allows me to see how much traffic my site gets, which posts have been viewed the most, from what countries people are viewing my blog, and - best of all - how people find my blog in the first place.

Does anyone know where the Isle of Man is?

I assumed that the only people who read this blog are my family and friends from back home, who may be interested in my day-to-day doings in a different country. And also maybe some top secret government official whose job it is to ensure that Peace Corps Volunteers write PC...Peace Corps, that is...things.

But the internet is not quite the vast, barren wasteland I took it to be. Vast it is, but it is densely populated enough that wanderers from Serbia to Guatemala have stumbled upon this teeny tiny little site.

How they get here, I do not know. Well...that's not entirely true: One of the best things about the "Stats" section is that you can see phrases people have typed into their search engines, phrases that eventually lead them to your blog. Some of the phrases make sense - for instance, "How to decorate for a kid's birthday party in Ecuador" - I can see how someone who typed that into Google would stumble upon my humble little blog.

Other phrases, while pleasant enough, are not quite as apparent in their connection. Take as an example the poetic "painted green walls in sunlight." Hmm, I think I'll use that someday.

Still others are right out, such as this one: "the look of incredulity." Four different people who typed this phrase into their search engines wound up here, and I seriously doubt if they found whatever they were looking for. This is all I have in the way of appeasing any future incredulity searchers:

And some phrases are simply insulting, such as "I do not recommend" - ouch.

Oh - one phrase that popped up recently, "How to hop a train turnstile," reminded me of something I needed to tell you. Sadly, it is not a tutorial on how to hop a train turnstile; rather, it is a slight correction to an assertion I made previously that all the guards in the Metrovia train stations are armed. They are not armed. They carry batons, but nothing more. I have been informed that the armed guards one sees outside certain businesses, or accompanying the armored trucks that transport cash money around the city, are actually private guards for hire, and that public guards are unarmed.

ANYWAY - back to the search phrases. What these people think upon being directed to this site, I can only imagine. But I hope the picture of the 41oz. bag of Starburst gives them a boost.