June 8
Sunday morning coffee and Paul Simon singing You can call me Al. Last few months have been cockroach invasion— I mean almost every night I would wake up with a cockroach running across my face ( and I even tuck my net under my mattress- they must have tiny tools). Now it’s not the worst thing– they are not rats, black widow spiders or scorpions but they suck. Anyway– as seasons change so do my insect problems- before the cockroaches were mass amounts of ants, flies, mosquitos and now......... ( drum roll please)............ crickets/ grasshoppers! Which are by far the best insect to have except that they jump high and come outta nowhere and they don’t mind jumping on me which always freaks me out. But they are kind of cute and so we live here together in harmony.
Last week my friend had her baby shower which I helped with and it was really quite an experience for me. I’m not really a big fan of organized social events with games and forced participation but everything is still new to me here and I wanted to help out so I went happily. 
Sunday morning coffee and Paul Simon singing You can call me Al. Last few months have been cockroach invasion— I mean almost every night I would wake up with a cockroach running across my face ( and I even tuck my net under my mattress- they must have tiny tools). Now it’s not the worst thing– they are not rats, black widow spiders or scorpions but they suck. Anyway– as seasons change so do my insect problems- before the cockroaches were mass amounts of ants, flies, mosquitos and now......... ( drum roll please)............ crickets/ grasshoppers! Which are by far the best insect to have except that they jump high and come outta nowhere and they don’t mind jumping on me which always freaks me out. But they are kind of cute and so we live here together in harmony.
Last week my friend had her baby shower which I helped with and it was really quite an experience for me. I’m not really a big fan of organized social events with games and forced participation but everything is still new to me here and I wanted to help out so I went happily. 
Here in Ecuador there exists the hora ecuatoriana or the Ecuadorian hour which any Ecuadorian appears to instinctually understand while foreigners flounder. It’s the concept of showing up an hour or four hours or even days late to any given event or meeting and it’s okay, you don’t need a pass or an excuse or anything- you get to greet everyone and sit down and that is that. So while the party started at 2:30 even the guest of honor didn’t show up until 4:30. I actually really like the hora ecuatoriana because you don’t every have to do that American thing of being in a crazy hurry where you shove food down your throat and run like mad to your next destination. But this sense of time is tricky because sometimes it is implied that you better be there on time and everyone else gets this but I miss the hint and show up late and feel like an idiot. Anyway the party got started around 5:30 and involved games where you couldn’t cross your arms or legs and if you did the girl that sees you can still your flower pin ( which they gave at the beginning) needless to say I lost my flower pin at about 6:00.
To my credit I actually arrived at 2:30 so I had to compete longer than the other girls. There were games where baby food was feed using blindfolds,diapers where pinned on paper babies, peach wine was drunk from baby bottles, the Mom to be’s belly was measured with toilet paper etc and all of this mixed in with random dance sessions where cumbia and merengue were blasted and all the ladies got up and shook it. Later dinner and cake were served and all the presents opened. It was a nice party ( even for a girl who is not that into organized social gatherings). 
My mom and sister came and visited for the last two weeks of May which was wonderful! The spent four days in Palmar where they got meet lots of people and really get to know the town. The people of Palmar really reached out to my family and we barely had to cook a meal because someone was always bringing us fresh fish or inviting us to lunch. The kids from Neo Juventud took my family for a boat ride through the mangroves and threw a welcome party where we sang kareoke and ate so yummy food. The ninos brigadistas came and met my family and we played some games and the kids had a great time practicing their English. On Wednesday we attended the festivals of Saint Rita our saint which involved a really long outside mass, burning castles and the vaca loca which is a cardboard cow that shoots off fireworks and the castle is a huge structure with spinning flaming starts that shoot off fireworks as well. Afterwards is a community dance and a dance for the younger generation. After Palmar we ventured up the Ruta del Sol where we stayed a great eco-lodge and went to some beautiful beaches after that we headed to the Cuenca in the Sierra. Cuenca is an idyllic city that brings to mind eastern Europe and parts of Spain. It was really great having my family here and so hard to say good-bye at the airport. Well— there is so much more to say but I am going to stop here. 
