Its has been awhile since I wrote on here. So far, I have done a lot of things since that time and have enjoyed myself greatly.
December has been a month of traveling. I went to Manabi for Christmas and ended up staying in my site for New Years, which I might add was a great decision.
School Holiday Spirit
I love my high school, specially the teachers and staff. They are so nice to their students and always thinking of new ways to push them academically. The week before Christmas was a busy week, with the students preparing for a nativity play and Christmas day the following day. I missed the Nativity play because I was baking Christmas cookies and oatmeal cookies for my students. I made 250 cookies, yup I did. I spent all Thursday morning and part of the afternoon baking, baking, baking. I never in my life baked so many cookies it was exhausting. But it was worth it, my students and teachers loved them. They ate them all and asked for more, haha, which made me very happy. I can finally say I am good at one thing in the cooking scene, that is cookies and cakes. Next year I am going to make Ginger bread cookies and ginger bread houses for my school, they love tasting my home made baked goods and it is fun learning how to make them. Swear to god it is an addictive hobby. If you have any great recipes for baked goods and healthy recipes for cookies/cakes/snacks send them my way, I would appreciate it so much – andyrich001@gmail.com or post them on my blog. Thanks!
Manabi – Puerto Lopez
I spent Christmas with the Loja girls and Katie in Puerto Lopez, Manabi. Most of our time was spent on a beach sun bathing and resting. We did go on a boat to see other islands near the small town of Puerto Lopez. We got to see blue footed boobies! It was so much fun, they are tiny birds. We got to spend time on a deserted beach on an island and I made my first Sandcastle with Katie's help :)
Christmas didn’t feel like Christmas to me. It lacked something, perhaps I was feeling a little homesick, perhaps I was missing family and friends. I honestly don't know. The Christmas spirit wasn't there for me, so I spent most of my trip resting and enjoying the beautiful coastal scenery and delicious seafood. Did I ever mention how much I love Octopus/Pulpo ceviche and fried calamari, I love it! And having Rum and Coconut mix drinks was such an added bonus. I think next year we will be back to spend a longer time in Puerto Lopez.
If you are traveling to Puerto Lopez, Manabi this time of year and don't have time to go to the big island and can't afford the $40, I suggest you take a $25 boat ride out to the smaller islands and other beaches. Hostels range from $6 to 10 a night and you can find good places to eat around the Malecon. Anyway, write to me if you got questions about Puerto Lopez or other places in Ecuador, mainly the coastal regions.
More pictures from our trip to Manabi:
New Year/ Ano Nuevo
All day Saturday I spent with my host mom buying fruits, an ano viejo figurine to burn at midnight, and getting some fritada for lunch. We also spent some time with her family, which are a very nice group of individuals, specially the grandma. While walking home we encountered roads blocked off. Apparently most neighborhoods block certain roads for soccer games. The teams are composed of the neighborhood men and women. Families come out and watch them play and enjoy a beer or two with each other. Some neighborhood have huge and I mean COLOSALL paper figurines, waiting to be burned. Apart from burning these figurines they also have many and I mean many New Year traditions. For luck, both sexes wear yellow underwear. Others eat grapes and raisins at midnight. While others put coins in rice, warp them up in gold paper and save them until the next new year. I only burned the paper figurine, it was shaped like a duck and it was about 3 ft tall. It was fun and just odd to see all of these small fires on all the roads happening, reminded me of some wartime movies.
I had a hard time with my emotions that day. I was waiting for midnight to come around I thought of my previous New Years with friends and family. While reminiscing on the past, I thought of one New Year I had with my parents, all of us were watching CNN New Year coverage and just sitting in the living room in our pjs waiting for the New Year to come to the reservation. It was the most boring New Year ever and I couldn’t care less. I don't know why but for some reason that memory made miss them dearly. I am glad I will be seeing them soon when I go to Bolivia to visit in March. I cant wait.
The host Mom and I :)
Sunday
Sunday, I spent all day cleaning my apartment. I needed to do laundry, it has been two weeks and I had so much laundry to do. Agh I hate doing laundry by hand but hell it needs to get done. Anyway, I hand wrote letters to my friends, which I have yet to send out. I don’t like writing I hate my penmanship and somedays I hate my writing, but I thought it would have a more personal touch then writing them an email. It also costs so much to send mail from here and it takes such a long time to arrive other there. …Anyway....
While looking for inspiration to write this blog, I read some of Pablo Neruda poems from the book I explain a Few Things, which a beautiful man gave to me as a parting gift. Thank you dear, it has brought a smile to my face every time I read a poem from that book.
I found a poem that I love and I am sure whomever is reading this will enjoy it as well.
Plenos Poderes – Fully Empowered by Pablo Neruda
I write in the clear sun, in the teeming street,
at full sea tide, in a place where I can sing;
only the wayward night inhibits me,
but, interrupted by it, I recover space,
I gather shadows to last a long time.
The black crop of the night is growing
while my eyes in the meantime measure the plain.
So, from sun to sun, I forge the keys.
In the half-light, I look for locks
and keep on opening broken doors to the sea
until I fill the cupboards up with foam.
And I never weary of going and returning.
Death in its stone aspect does not stop me.
I am weary neither of being nor nonbeing.
Sometimes I wonder where -
from father or mother or the mountains -
I inherited all my mineral obligations,
the threads spreading from a sea on fire;
and I know I go on and go on because I go on
and I sing because I sing and because I sing.
There is no way of explaining what happens
when I close my eyes and waver
as between two underwater channels -
one lifts me in its branches toward dying
and the other sings in order that I may sing.
And so I am formed out of nonbeing,
and as the sea goes battering at a reef
in wave on wave of salty white-tops
and drags back stones in its ebb,
so what there is of death surrounding me
opens in me a window out to living,
and, in a spasm of being, I am asleep.
In the full light of day, I walk in the shade.
In Spanish:
A puro sol excribo, a plena calle,
a pleno mar, en donde puedo canto,
solo la noche errante me detiene
pero en su interrupcion recojo espacio,
recojo sombra para mucho tiempo.
El trigo negro de la noche crece
mientras mis ojos miden la pradera
y asi de sol a sol hago las llaves:
busco en la oscuridad las cerraduras
y voy abriendo al mar las puertas rotas
hasta llenar armarios con espuma.
Y no me canso de ir y de volver,
no me para la muerte con su piedra,
no me canso de ser y de no ser.
A veces me pregunto si de donde
si de padre o de madre o cordillera
herede los deberes minerales,
los hilos de un oceano encendido
y se que sigo y sigo proque sigo
y canto porque canto y porque canto.
No tiene explicacion lo que acontece
cuando cierro los ojos y circulo
com entre dos canales submarinos -
uno a morir me lleva en su ramaje
y el otro canta para que yo cante.
Asi pues de no ser estoy compuesto
y como el mar asalta el arrecife
con capsulas saladas de blancura
y retrata la piedra con la ola,
asi lo que en la muerte me rodea
abre en mi la ventana de la vida
y en pleno paroxismo estoy durmiendo.
A plena luz camino por la sombra.
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One more thing i hope this year turns out to be a great year for all of us.
Don't forget to have fun, be silly, and enjoy life!
Ciao :)
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