So THAT'S what's wrong...

Every time Eliah and I head over to the University of San Francisco, Quito (USFQ) for a meeting regarding the community garden/recycling/agricultural learning center we’re in the midst of planning, I end up getting sick. Eliah has been spreading around the rumor that school itself makes me physically ill, which is absolutely NOT the truth, seeing as how I love the collegiate feel of that place almost as much as I love the English Department building at Vanderbilt. (I mean how could you not? Vaulted ceilings, stained oak panels, stained glass windows, spiral staircases, literature and poetry professors in every room...yes please). But yet again, yesterday we had a meeting at USFQ with a few different Ecology professors, and boom, this morning I had to attend our weekly meeting from the “comfort” of the downstairs bathroom.

Mark finally said enough is enough, it’s time to figure out what is actually going on (apparently he wasn’t as willing as Eliah to assume a jinxed college campus was behind all the sickness), and so we hopped into a cab and headed out to Quito. 5 hours later I’m back in my bed with my two new friends, Parasite and Amoeba, chillin’ in my intestines, glaring at the three big bottles of Pedialite BUBBLE GUM FLAVOR that are currently sitting on my bedside table and stand as the only liquids I’m allowed to drink for the next week.

And of course today’s the day Jocelyn decides to make Ropa Vieja for dinner. Woe is me.

In other news, I’ve decided to include a daily photo with each update. So at least you have something pretty to look at while thinking about parasites and amoebas.

Tune in tomorrow for the weekly guest blog, I promise it won’t be about being sick :)

Until Thursday, 

Holly

(the entryway to the Galileo Building at USFQ)

The Start of Small-Business Classes

When we first started through around the idea of a Daily Life Blog, everyone was a little worried that, come day 4, I would run out of things to write about and the blog would fade into the forgotten past, along with all-Spanish Wednesdays and certain feathered pets. Everyone clearly underestimated my ability to embellish tiny, insignificant moments into blog “worthy” entries.

As I sit down to write today’s entry, my mind is swimming with an overwhelming amount of moments to share with you all. From our morning chats with Susanna (the venta lady from whom we buy our weekly fruits and vegetables) to our encounters (and in Dunc’s case, fights with) certain street dogs, every day down here teams with stories worthy of sharing. Luckily, we have 11 more months to go...I think I’ll have the time to go there.

Tonight marks the beginning of the two week small-business start-up course which Dunc has been organizing tirelessly for the past three weeks; as I write this, those involved are entering into their fourth hour. Dunc has thrown his whole self into the project, walking around the neighborhoods every day for hours recruiting people, coordinating between the local Cooperative and the organization running the class, setting up meetings with everyone involved, arranging transportation to Sangolqui (the big town close to Conocoto in which the classes are being held), and making an exorbitant amount of phone calls following up with those he’d already talked to.

It is so exciting to see things come together as they have tonight; to be enacting our site’s mission of empowering those individuals taking part in the course, strengthening the local Cooperative institution, and building networks amongst the participants. The only downside to the program is that Dunc and Eliah will be missing from family dinners for the next two weeks, as the course runs from 5 to 9 every night. We will all have to exhibit a lot of self control to make sure there are enough leftovers waiting for them when they get home...I’m looking at you, girls.

Just as an aside, I’ve loved the comments you all have been leaving; they remind me how many people out there are invested in our house and work, which is uplifting and encouraging. Keep them coming!

Holly

Slow Returns

So it’s Saturday, and I feel like I owe you all something for my unexplained absence the past few days. The lack of Thursday and Friday’s contemplations would suggest another internet outage, but that’s not the case. Nor was I intimidated by Dunc’s homage to a certain carbonated orange nectar, although it was quite powerful. The actual reason was a horrible tussle with what we’ve assumed to be food poisoning. Without getting into any details (you’re welcome), let’s just say it was a small victory this morning taking my pillow out of the bathroom and throwing away my toothbrush (you taught me well, Mama).

Anyway, having missed out on the past two days in a haze of delirium, I’m slowly catching up with everyone on what’s been happening. From soccer games in the community to stressful visa complications; countless calls regarding the start of the small business classes this coming Monday (yeah Dunc!) to making three new Canadian friends, it’s been a full two days.

Friday afternoons always finds me in the kitchen cooking dinner for the group, sou-chef Mark tailing close behind and dreading the inevitable question “will you cut the chicken breasts from the rib cages?”. Usually cooking for 8 calls for about 2-3 hours in the kitchen, boiling huge pots of water, cutting and dicing a lot of veggies, detaching chicken breasts, mincing garlic cloves, juicing limes, etc. Seeing as how yesterday I was just returning from the land of the dead, Mark was still in Quito, AND we were having three extra guests (hello Canada!) for dinner, I headed to the kitchen at 2. I was moving slowly, ok?! After washing my hands about 40 times and dousing myself in anti-bacterial soap, I felt ready. From what I’ve been told, 5 hours later dinner was good (I was still on the strict ‘toast and gatorade’ diet), and the house was full of loud voices, hilarious stories, purple wine-stained lips, and an abundance of laughter. The perfect Friday week’s-end.

Below you’ll find my recipe for Cinnamon-Sugar Banana Bread, which was effectively devoured last night. Enjoy!

Cinnamon Banana Bread

Ingredients
* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup sugar
* 2 eggs
* 4 large bananas
* 2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
* 1 tablespoon butter, melted
* cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions
*Cream butter and sugar.
*Beat in eggs, one at a time.
*Mix in mashed banana.
*Sift dry ingredients together; stir into banana mixture, add nuts.
*Pour into greased 9x5x3 loaf pan.
*Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into loaf comes out clean.
*While cake is warm, pour melted butter over top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Holly

Wanna Fanta, Don´t cha Wanna...

(Today´s blog post comes from Dunc Fulton, a new MPIE PD whose mission this year is to put a bed in the kitchen...yes, THAT Dunc. He is a die-hard Tex Mex snob, has talked to just about every single person in all three towns about the small business classes he´s been organizing, and loves to listen to Holly tallk about Michael Phelps)

Following up on Holly’s promise several days ago, I will in fact devote my first guest blog entry to what is clearly one the greatest simple pleasures of living abroad: the glory that is Fanta. As I quickly learned 2 years ago during my first stint living abroad (when I spent a semester in Spain), the States just can not match the quality of Fanta that exists outside its boundaries. While strangely enough I am not a huge fan of soda in general, nothing beats an ice-cold Fanta out of a glass bottle. Fortunately, as I was able to discover one of our first weeks living in the Manna house, such a delicacy exists only a block away from our casa. One little street over, in fact, sits what is TV-commercial quality Fanta for only 20 cents a bottle! If there is to be a caveat, it lies in the fact that one must drink the Fanta inside the little tienda due to the high value of glass bottles in this country.

If, by chance, at this point in the entry you’re suddenly thinking, “Dunc must not understand that you can buy Fanta in the U.S,” I do actually realize this truth. However, there is an acute difference between your typical 7-11 plastic 20-oz. bottled Fanta stateside and the treasured glass-encompassed bottles that abound in Spanish-speaking countries. In case you were curious, a comprehensive Fanta hierarchy exists. As all wine connoisseurs out there surely agree, not every “year” for a particular brand is as good as the others. It is much the same with Fanta. Without further ado, here is the Fanta ranking in its entirety (ice-cold temperature is presumed):

1. Glass bottle (200 mL)
2. Glass bottle (500 mL)
3. Fountain soda with ice filled 1/3 way (although this can be a risky choice based on the syrup concentration
4. 2 (or 3) liter plastic bottle
5. 500 mL plastic bottle
6. Any size aluminum can
7. Warm = the worst. Not even worth it (any size / type of container).

Dunc

Fractions and Strawberry Cake

Today’s correspondence comes after an enormously satisfying dinner cooked by Jocelyn and Eliah; two types of enchiladas, tomato-rich guacamole, and strawberry cake. Yes please.

I started to write before dinner, but was in a somewhat foul mood and everything I tried to say came out sounding a tiny bit cranky. And by a tiny bit cranky, I mean very cranky. I blame the fact that Serena and I had just done a Billy Something-or-other Boot Camp workout; in preparation for our women’s exercise classes we’re trying to create different workouts, translate the directions into Spanish, and get into shape ourselves, which is proving more difficult than perhaps it should. An hour of squats, pushups and punch-kick-lunges was enough to make me want to jump out my open window. But now I’m well fed and the burning in my thighs has somewhat dissipated, thus I am in a better position to begin the daily blog.

As I write this, Seth and Dunc are singing (seriously jamming) to Ray LaMontagne in the kitchen while doing the dishes, Jocelyn is playing with our little baby birds, Serena is attempting to learn how to dictate workout moves in Spanish, Eliah is at a Cabina talking to his parents, Luke and Mark are in Quito sending off Carla (our fantastic Ecuadorian friend who just got a job in Denver, my home town!), and I am soaking it all in. Speaking of baby birds, we all talked this morning about the feasibility of keeping them, and Serena and I were defeated in an “anonymous ballot vote” 6 to 2 in favor of returning them. It is probably for the best, considering everyone has taken to calling the duckling "Bird Flu", but it will be hard to say goodbye to the little guys come Sunday. Even if they do crap more often than they chirp (which is quite often).

Anyway, today at Apoyo Escolar, I was working with Jonathan, one of our students, on fractions. Oh fractions. Not only have I had to essentially relearn how to do fractions (least common denominator, flipping the fraction with division, simplification... welcome back to Campus Middle School, Holly), Ecuadorian math in general is NOT the same as math in the States. The process is just different, and when you have someone who likes to guess what the lowest common multiple could be instead of actually working through the problem (ahem, Jonathan), this process becomes all the more important. Don't misunderstand me, Jonathan is a really smart kid. He knows how to do fractions. Not only can he do them, he can do them well. Even gets the right answers. (Like I said, smart). But he gets so frustrated that half the time he erases his work before he’s finished the problem even if he’s on the completely right track. If it doesn’t feel right to him, he whips out the eraser.

The first problem he attempted (complex factional addition) he did exactly right, ending up with the right answer. And then he erased it. All of it. To try again, in the same way. With the same result. And erased it again. I guess 14/15 just didn’t look right to him. 4 erasures later, I found myself sitting on my own hands so as to not steal his eraser and swallow it. But patience and reassurance won out in the end, and we eventually reached the conclusion that 14/15 was, in fact, correct.

Here’s hoping tomorrow we do long division.

Holly