Día 144 | Sábado, 23 de Mayo | 2009

Calle San Salvador...

Last night's goodbye dinner was truly great.  They fed us so well (all you can eat buffet) and it was just very calming to be able to feel the accomplishment of finishing the quarter.  My Andean Literature class performed a traditional Kichwa song, I played guitar as one of my mates read the Kichwa version of Dust in the Wind, and I also performed Nuestro Juramento (a song by Julio Jaramillo) solo. 

Today was the first day of sleeping in since I don't know when.  Slept until about 8 or 9 and then got some breakfast (the typical mandarin orange, two mini-bananas, and a cup of tea) and then I went up to my room to work on my book report that is due on Monday. 

The day passed on pretty lazily – I ended up taking a nap after lunch from 2 until about almost five.  I woke up on my own and then went out on the street to take this picture.  Here is a picture of my street here.  This is the view I saw everyday when I would go out to walk to class.  In the distance you can see the Coliseo – the main sport / political / musical venue in Cuenca.  Some nights, if there was a big concert or if Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa was in town, you could hear the shrills and shouts of the crowd from our house. 

Today was the first day I have started to realize that I will be leaving here in couple days.  The truth is that I feel so many emotions, I can't say clearly how I feel about it.  I will miss my family for sure though.  They have been really nice to me and I am so thankful.

My family invited me to a first communion party and I said yes.  The party started around 8:30PM and lasted until about 3:30AM.  It was held in a banquet hall that kind of reminded me of a YMCA except everything was decorated very nicely.  I danced Salsa and Merengue with quite a few little old ladies and then later I was asked to play some songs on the guitar.  At first I was really nervous playing for about 150 foreigners that I had never met, but after I thought about it for five minutes or so, I wasn't so afraid.  I played Stand by Me, Nuestro Juramento, Black Bird, and Cucurrucucu Paloma.  Everybody seemed to like it – it is weird that in South America the audience starts to applaud randomly in the middle of the song if they like what they are hearing – and I left the stage feeling nice and warm. 

After the songs, I danced with my sister Verónica.  It was a fun little Russian number called Moscow.  There were a lot of folded arms and choppy leg kicks.

Día 135 | Jueves, 14 de Mayo | 2009

Ceviche...

Today in our Andean Literature class we learned how to dance.  Our professor Lcdo. Lojano didn't give us the name of the dance (if there is one) but it was a lot a fun.  The movements were hard to perform and involved what seemed as arrhythmic movement.  Our class objective will be to perform the singing and dancing of a couple songs in Quechua (the native language of many Andean populations) for our despida (good-bye meal) that takes place next Friday.  It was a little strange to watch my professor dance.  The vision of him moving to music is the polar opposite to the quiet, motionless, and peaceful demeanor in which he lectures.  He possesses a very deep energy that usually comes in as harmonious and clear.  When one of my classmates utter an off-hand remark, he usually accepts it as if it were a good idea -- muy bien is what he'll say in response.  Everything is totally different though when the music sets it.  He shuffles his feet, waves his arms, and even though his rhythm seems a little off, he transforms himself and becomes part of the music.

Today was mostly a good day.  I feel really bad right now that I cannot be there for Caitlin.  She is going through some turmoil surrounding one of her classes but I think that she will be strong enough to pull through.  There are only three weeks or so left in the quarter, so I hope she can see how close she really is to finishing.  I love you, babe.  I am there for you always (even if I am here in Ecuador).

Also, I feel a little sad that I cannot be home to see Michael Hurley perform at Jeff's house.  That and I wish I could see the film that Jeff has made.  Things like this also make me miss home and friends quite a bit.

Today was the birthday of my host sister, Verónica.  She turned 26 and I got her a tiny little coffee/tea mug that says feliz cumpleaños (happy birthday) on it.  I think she liked it.  It is pretty much a tiny trinket that has no practical use.

photo later.

later:  here is a photo of the ceviche we made.  Ceviche is a kind of sea-food soup that includes tomatoes, onions, lime, ketchup, fish and it is really delicious.  We also fried some plantains too as a side.  This was all for our cooking class tonight.

Día 94 | Viernes, el 3 de Abril | 2009

Clase de baile...

On Seven Dudes Dancing:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....definitely the winter of despair.