Learning to Be Cool

A while back, my Cool Aunt sent materials in the mail for this cool crafts project she thought would be cool to do with some of the teens I work with.  Cool, huh?  Given that the group of teenagers had somewhat splintered in April with the start of school and their varying schedules, we decided to meet during the weekends when everyone was available.  Not all the girls I'd worked with had met each other.  So, in an effort to make our class seem, like, so cool, I invited them all to my house for our first meeting.  Ten people confirmed their attendance with me the day prior.  Three people arrived on the day of.  Sigh.  Even after two years here...some things never change. 

Undeterred by this development, those of us who were present carried forward with the day's activity.  Our materials: strips of fabric and a hot glue gun.

The results:

Bee-yoo-tee-ful flowers.

Much candy was consumed in the process of making these, by the way. 

The evidence lies outside the frame of the camera lens.

Candy is cool, but what about headbands?

The girls seemed to be okay with the whole idea.

During our craft session, the girls told me the secret to being cool: Pizza.  Haven't you known that in the back of your mind for all these years?  You did!  You knew it all along!  Why did you doubt yourself?  Next week, because we need more people to come and because it is my birthday, we will be eating pizza.  Did it just get chilly in here?  Because the coolness factor went up by 100%!  (Okay so maybe I'm still working on the whole "being cool" thing.  Story of my life.)

Thankfully there are many cool people in my life, such as aunts who send packages and teenagers who hang out with me at my house.

And then there's this joke: Why did the hipster burn his tongue on the pizza? 

*For the elder generations who may not know what a hipster is, I can only hope to explain when I next see you face to face.  For now, I refer you to any young person wearing plaid, glasses with thick plastic frames, and an iPod and who looks generally disheveled.

Answer is in the Comments section.

Que vivan los Juegos Olímpicos!

Given that:

1) The 2012 Olympics opening ceremony occurred yesterday;

2) Believe it or not, there is ESPN in Ecuador;

3) Sports Planet (sports bar & restaurant) has giant iced strawberry lemonades,

Guess what I did yesterday?

Yes, I spent approximately 3.5 hours surrounded by television screens (when was the last time that happened? my friend asked in wonder) all broadcasting the opening ceremonies in London.  We couldn't understand anything people said because it was all dubbed over in Spanish and muddled up, and then later the restaurant people decided to play music and cut off the sound to the TV, and it just wasn't quite the same as watching it on the Peacock...but it was all okay!  Because seeing Kenneth Branagh as master of ceremonies with a tophat on made up for everything.  Mostly.  (I miss you, Bob Costas!)  I did have some questions about the whole thing though, namely:

- Can someone explain to me the significance of the hospital bed dance number?

- Who else forgot that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is North Korea's official name?

- How cool was the gigantic Olympic torch?!?!?!

- If you could describe each country's 2012 Olympic uniform in two words, how would you describe Ecuador's and the USA's?

I would say:  Ecuador - yellow jacket; USA - prep school

It's fun to be rooting for two countries.  Let the games begin!

On the Playlist: Guayaquil de mis amores

Julio Jaramillo was an Ecuadorian singer famous in the 50s, 60s, and 70s for his warm voice and soulful renditions of songs from various Ecuadorian musical traditions (pasillo, bolero, etc.).  He is now deceased, but his fame in Ecuador has reached Frank Sinatra-like proportions.

Below, he sings a love song to his native city of Guayaquil.

Happy Independence Day / Loor a Guayaquil!

One Day More...

...until the celebrations for Guayaquil's independence day.  There will be music.  There will be dancing.  There will be fireworks.

Today I arrived in the barrio to find the aerobics class dancing it up in anticipation of tomorrow's celebrations.  See below for further proof of how exuberant this group is. 

Bonus points to the lady playing air guitar on a Coke bottle!!!

Letter from a Stranger

The Peace Corps office in Quito sends out monthly pouches in the mail to all volunteers.  The pouches contain relevant information pertaining to us as a group or on an individual basis. 

This month, we received a pleasant surprise in our pouches: letters from people we did not know thanking us for our service.  Imagine my surprise upon opening my pouch to find the regular stuff, plus this:

A subsequent e-mail from the PC office revealed that these letters were written by university students from around the United States who had participated at the NACURH (National Association of College and University Residence Halls) conference, which brings together student leaders in order to share ideas and improve campus life.  The intent of the letters is "to show appreciation for the hard work that you do and encourage you through your service."

My letter, from a dude named Gregory, was particularly awesome because of the signoff (see below).

No, Gregory, YOU rock.  Many thanks for this encouraging and uplifting letter.  You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

You Rock You Rock,
jordan

Lost in Translation

I was walking around downtown Guayaquil the other day and a sign caught my eye:

It was a restaurant, with a sign reading "Le Sandwich," all cutesy and French, and below that, in Spanish, Placeres recién horneados.

My brain told me this meant, "Le Sandwich: Recently roasted pleasures."  I laughed.  But I wasn't laughing at the meaning of the sign, per se, so much as at the silly phrase my brain's immediate translator spit out.  "Recently roasted pleasures" - and what would that look like, exactly?

Then I started playing one of my favorite games: how to translate a phrase most accurately.  The meaning I thought of first - the one above - is more literal, as I think most immediate or off-the-cuff translations tend to be; your brain's just processing as quickly as it can and acts more like a dictionary than an interpreter.  The verb hornear refers to cooking something in an oven, so perhaps "recently oven-roasted pleasures" would be better?  Then again, it may also specifically mean "to bake."  What exactly does this restaurant sell, because you don't bake a sandwich, you bake the bread.  You could toast a sandwich.  Recently toasted pleasures? 

Here's where I had to stop being Sally Albright and depart from the words in front of me to get at the meaning behind them. 
Recién = recently = in the context of food, "fresh?" 
Placeres = pleasures = ...treats? 
The end phrase I came up with was "freshly toasted treats."  One thousand points to Jordan!  (That's why I like this game so much.)

Translation is a funny thing; when one looks at a sentence or a phrase or even a single word, it can point simultaneously in a slew of different directions.  Things may always sound a little strange to my foreign ear, as Spanish is not my first language.  And aside from matters grammatical, there may be cultural differences in terms of, for example, what is deemed appropriate or humorous in an advertisement targeting a certain demographic.  I must at least take the time, after the initial laughter (or head-scratching) has died away, to trace the possible paths each phrase points to and attempt to divine the meaning behind it.

And now I think I'd like a sandwich.

Fiestas de Guayaquil

Guayaquil's coat of arms

Well folks, the countdown has officially begun.  In T-minus 5 days, Guayaquil will celebrate its independence day.  The nearby high school's marching band has been practicing all week, making rounds about the neighborhood in formation.  Apparently somebody thought it would be a good idea to invite them to play in the nearby shopping mall; it was as if the place had turned into one large amplifier for an afternoon. 

As a form of participating in the celebrations, here's another selection from last year's El Universo video series, "Guayaquil en Un Minuto," showcasing the city from a variety of perspectives. 

This week, in honor of me being mostly broke, the subject is: lottery tickets.

Vendors may be found on pretty much any street shouting "El pozo, el pozo!" or "Lotería, lotería!" to hawk their wares.  As a PCV and also because I'm not an Ecuadorian citizen, I don't purchase tickets.  But the vendors and their cries are ubiquitous sights and sounds in the city, just another part of walking around that you get used to and eventually, inexplicably, come to depend upon and enjoy.