It seems that the more
time we spend in Ecuador, the better the weekends get. This weekend started out
right with an eventful and fun Thursday evening. After class got out at 8pm,
Kels and I ran into our friend Isabel, who talked us into enjoying a nice
dinner out to celebrate the (almost) end of the week. We ate at a place called
Eucalyptus, a restaurant owned by a British ex-pat, with a beautiful
environment and even better food. I ordered the pad thai, that, although was
different from traditional pad thai, was still amazing. Our dinner ended
perfectly with roasting marshmallows over the fireplace, a great idea for a
restaurant that draws a mostly gringo crowd. After dinner Kels and I headed
home, excited to watch the ASU vs. UO football game online. Once we got home
though, and tried to enter the house, we realized the door had accidentally
been locked from the inside, leaving us no way to get in. We asked the señora
that cares for our house if she had any keys for the door, but after trying
several with no success, we began to lose hope. That was when I noticed the
window above our door that had no glass pane, and which we had covered using a
cardboard box. I looked at Kelsey, told her it was happening, took of my coat,
and climbed the bars up to the window. I was hoping not to do this in front of
the señora, but because she was still hanging around, I just went for it. I
ended up hanging through the window, reaching down to unlock the door from the
inside; not an easy maneuver. Needles to say, I felt like super woman; it made
the Ducks game and the ice cream bar I had bought even sweeter. Kels and I
ended up pulling out our knitting too, and were very satisfied both with our
evening, and the prospect of what we will be like as old ladies, knitting and watching
Duck football.
The next morning started
of with us meeting Isabel at Parque Calderon, the main square of Cuenca, with
plans to head to the bus station and then off to Gualaceo. Although I had heard
Gualaceo was pretty, the main draw to visiting this other town was simple; shoe
shopping. Everyone we had talked to had told us this was THE place to get shoes
or boots, and because all of my boots had been left at home, it was time to
venture out and buy more. We took a taxi to the bus station, and from there
caught a 60-cent bus to Gualaceo, about a 45-minute ride. The scenery along the
way was nice, and we were on a luxurious bus compared to the buses I had grown
accustomed to in Guatemala. 45 minutes later we were in Gualaceo, ready to get
our shopping on. We stopped first to get lunch, settling for a pizza place
because we couldn’t find any vegetarian almuerzos. The owner was nice and
chatty though, an Ecuadorian that spoke English well and had been to the States
before. After lunch we starting heading towards where we thought the shoe
shopping was, stopping only to take pictures of a whole pig being roasted (a
common sight here, actually). After wandering for a bit we came across the
central market, full of fresh fruits, veggies, and right in front of a
beautiful church. We took some pictures, but still wondered, where are all the
shoes? We almost thought the trip was a bust, with us wandering around, asking,
looking, and not finding more than a couple stores with shoes. Eventually
though, we saw a street sign that rung a bell, because the pizza shop owner had
told us this was the shoe street, so we turned the corner and decided to check
it out. And thank goodness we did; this was it, boot mecca. We spent hours in a
two-block radius, stopping in close to 20 stores, and trying on boot after
boot. By 3:30pm, we all had at least one pair of shoes in hand, and were ready
to head back to Cuenca, accomplished. We caught another 60-cent bus heading out
at 4pm, and I napped during the ride with a shoppers smile on my face. We
pulled into Cuenca close to 5pm, and Kels and I took a taxi home, had a quick
dinner, and headed to CEDEI Centro where I had class at 6pm, made better by the
fact that I was rocking my new boots.
Saturday morning was class
as usual, which went by at lightning speed again; we had to get through an
entire unit and peer edit papers, because their midterm was coming up the next
week. I was exhausted after class. Emily and I stopped for a good ‘ol slice of
Chicago Pizza (a pizza place near CEDEI Centro that serves a slice of cheese
and a glass of soda for $1, hard to beat), and then headed home for a quick
nap. After that it was mercado time, and a little bit of wandering around
Parque San Sebastián, enjoying a semi-nice day. That evening we went to our
friends Clara and Adam’s house for a get together and potluck. I think
sometimes when you’re in other countries, your ability to adapt to plain food
is a good thing; but sometimes, it makes you really forget what GOOD food
tastes like. Well at this potluck, we had a taste of GOOD food, and it was
amazing. Annie made a killer pad thai, Kat an epic bean dip, and Clara made a
potato salad and two fruit-topped cakes that were incredible. We ate until we
all had food babies, drank some beers, played ping pong, seesawed (yes, they
had a seesaw at their house), and watched the boys play soccer on a half-size
soccer field (complete with metal goals) in Clara and Adam’s backyard. It was
such a fun evening, and I’m still smiling thinking about all of the food. After
that we headed to the local discoteca, Zo, to do a little dancing before going
home.
This morning I met Isabel
at Parque Calderon again, and headed to church at Verbo with her and Jeff,
another teacher. Church was great again, where we sang some songs in Spanish I
knew in English, and listened to another sermon in their prayer series. Now
it’s time for a lazy Sunday; reading, sleeping, watching movies, knitting, and
maybe a little grading and lesson planning. This upcoming week at school is
finals week for my intensive class, and midterm week for my regular classes.
Although I’m sure the students are dreading the tests, I couldn’t be happier;
less lesson planning, and more time to sit, watch them take the test, and
lesson plan for the next week! Oh the life of a teacher…
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