halloween

Today is halloween. They don't really celebrate it down here, so we had our own little celebration in the house. Nigel organized it and she did an awesome job! (I will simplify it as there were many steps and they are not really important to the main point of the whole story which is that my team won.)

We were split up into 3 teams and each team was given 2 random household props that we were instructed to incorporate into a costume. We were also given $5.35 which we needed to spend exactly to buy other things to make our costume. The first team home and in costume won! We had a plunger and a mini white christmas tree and we decided to do the Statue of Liberty. We ran down the street, bought a roll of tin foil and a notebook, then stopped at the corner store to buy one bag of chips, 4 orange creamcicles, and 2 small chocolates to reach our $5.35 requirement, then ran home. We were the first to arrive AND the first ones done with our costume. We taped the tree to the plunger, made a crown out of a styrofoam plate, covered it all in tinfoil, including a tin foil toga and wha-bam! Statue of Liberty in our dining room. (PS I am particularly proud of the crown as I made it.)

Even though this is the first halloween I think ever that I haven't dressed up, I still had a really good time. Best. Activity. Ever.

back by popular demand

Today we went to the beach. There were these fantastic bicycles everywhere! I really wanted to steal one but figured it'd be hard to bring back to Cuenca, not to mention New Jersey. But I still want one. Take note, Christmas gift-givers!

The beach that we went to was in this fishing town and it was pretty run down. Apparently the beach had gotten really polluted so people stopped coming and lots of businesses closed because of it. Lucky for us, however, they just reopened the beach recently so we got to enjoy clean sand and wonderfully warm water without any crowds at all! Although a crew of camera men did follow us around because they were doing a story on how the beach had just reopened and all that. I thought it was kind of creepy and didn't like being filmed as I swam in the ocean or walked out in my bathing suit. Bleh.

BUT! One of the advantages was that there were several buildings for sale and I have a weakness for rundown buildings that are for sale. I just want to buy them and fix them up, but without taking away from their inherent charm. Maybe one day I will have enough money to buy houses all over the world and make them beautiful again... Or just live in them for a while and enjoy the atmosphere in random cities for a few months to a year at a time. You know, wherever my heart leads me.
After swimming my friend Nigel and I relaxed in some beachside hammocks and read our respective books. It reminded me of the Hammock Hut in Costa Rica.
Apparently the area we drove through on our way to the coast is home to the largest banana plantation in the world. There were banana stands all the way home. They completed me.
There were also stretches of cocoa beans along the side of the road drying out. They put them there because the asphalt conducts heat so they dry faster. Clever, but probably not very sanitary... But awesome things are usually not very sanitary—you know, tattoos, piercings, salchipapas, and cocao beans. It's all there together.

guayaquil

Today we went to Guayaquil. It was a day filled with lots of sun, temple grounds, a lady stalker, flora and fauna, an unsolicited phone number, hijos solteros, skin advice from a stranger, crying from laughing so hard, delicious meat, oreo chocolate ice cream, important bathroom signage, river strolls, truck honking, live iguanas, screaming, giggling, 444 stairs, wind, 3 ducks, founding fathers, pirates, and an anchor.

It was a busy day.

the first real day

The first two days are the hardest. If that is true then today and tomorrow will be the worst.

So far it is kind of true. The work at the orphanages is super easy: sure I'm tired after but you would be too if you were looking after eight 2-3 year olds for 5 hours in the morning and then seven 4-5 year olds for 5 hours in the afternoon. I have no problem with the orphanage work, at least so far. Some weird Ecuadorianisms (or at least orphanage-isms) are as follows:

1. The little kids eat normal food, not baby food. They drink out of adult sized cups and bowls and use adult size silverware. And, for the most part, they don't spill!
2. They don't use wipes when they change the kids' diapers. If they are just wet you change the diaper and don't wipe them at all. If they are poopy you wipe most of it off with the diaper then put their bums in the sink (the same sink they wash their hands in, PS) and wash the rest of it off. You can wear a latex glove. Then you dry them off with a towel used for just this purpose and put on a new diaper. I did this today.
3. The kids wear tons of clothes. Every morning they wear a onesie, a shirt, leggings, pants, socks, shoes, and a jacket. They are worried that if the children are underdressed they will catch a cold.

So yeah, the kids are totally chill and I like them a lot. The voluntarias... well, they are girls. Mostly from Utah... Culture shock again, let's just say that. Oh my life.

I have made friends with this girl whose name is Whitney but goes by Nigel (can you see already why we're friends?). We had a nice long talk today about our shifts at the orphanages and boys and life and I like her. I am glad she is here.