Life in Ecuador

The first few weeks in Ecuador were relatively uneventful. Suffice to say I spent the first week getting acquanted with prescription meds I brought from the states. I'm feeling much more...consistent...these days.

We are staying with a host family in Cuenca, Ecuador. The family consists of our host mother (Augustina), host father (Oswaldo), 2 daughter (Marie Amelia - age 6, and Ana Paula - age 2), their housekeeper (Mada - age 17), and Cookie the dog. The house is very comfortable and the walk to school is a healthy 45 minutes by foot or 15 minutes by bus.

In school we have two teachers. We start grammar class with Marie Elena at 8:00 AM and continue with conversation class at 10:30 with Ceasar. We´re done with school by 12:30.

After school we head back to the house for lunch. Lunch is the main meal in Ecuador. Additionally it is considered culturally important as family time. Considering breakfast consist of a piece of bread and dinner is some rice and a small piece of meat we find it beneficial to make it back for lunch.

Now a word about safety in Ecuador. By American standards, their is none. Two examples follow. Last week the first mall opened in Cuenca. Our host family took us as Oswaldo oversees security at the Mall. In a car the size of a Ford Fiesta, we packed in 5 adults and 3 children. No seatbelts. Kids on our laps. We had it pretty good. Many people arrived in the back of pick up trucks. Second example. Last week was a 10 day celbration for Corpus Christi. The celebration is marked by a daily fireworks display. As the crowd gathers the Vaca Loca comes out. What is the Vaca Loca? The Vaca Loca is a cow structure the size of a large dog. It is outfitted with fireworks around the exterior and super sonic sparklers in the horns. Men hoist the Vaca Loca´s onto their shoulders and then run through the crowds spewing fireworks similar to roman-candle-johnny-jump up things. Once the Vaca Loca has tossed all the spinning balls of fire into the crowd the horns ignite. This is where the super sonic sparklers come in. The terror continues as sparks are pointed directly into the crowd. All this while the crowd laughs and screams with delight. Seriously insane. I nearly avoided coming away with a souveneir scar. A roman-candle-johnny-jumpup thing attacked the side of my pants. I came away with a bruised hand and hole the size of a quarter burnt into my pants. No third degree burn to write home about but my pants look pretty tough.

To view some pics on Ofoto:
"Life In Cuenca."