Painful

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Well, once again dental problems have struck. I thought it was the same tooth I had work done on, however, it appears as though I just have an infected gum. Let me tell you that it hurts like hell. The dentist cleaned it out and said that it should get better in a few days, but if it doesn't then I have to return to Puyo (another 5 hour trip one-way) so that he can try a different course of treatment.

These problems always seem to happen on weekends when I can't see the dentist. Dental pain is the worst ever.

Other than that, it was a good weekend. Sue and I went out to FRATES and cleaned the center's kitchen and I worked on fixing some plumbing problems. We enjoyed out time there and then took a dip with Umberto in the river that flows near the center. We had planned on spending the night out there, but we had to return to Puyo to meet up with a friend.

Our friend, Ryan Daily, is one of our favorite PCV's from our Omnibus, but he is calling it quits and heading back home after 6 months. He just doesn't like it here. I am sad to see him go, but happy that he is making the decision now, instead of hating it for another 21 months. He is going back to Wisconsin to try his hand at being a carpenter. Anyhow, he came to see us on his way back to Quito and we had some drinks and pizza and chatted all night about our fun and not-so-fun Peace Corps experiences.

The next day, we saw him off and we returned to FRATES for a little fiesta. The trip out there was interesting to say the least. About 15 of us, including food, piled into a pick-up truck and went out there. We didn't know anyone in the truck except for Katie, Katherina, and Pablo. Most of the people were friends and/or relatives of Pablo. The fiesta was a going away party for Katherina / she is done at my office this Wednesday.

We arrived at the center and dropped off a mound of food. Umberto was there and was stressed out, because people had failed to mention how many people were coming and whether or not he needed to make food or not. All told, there were about 25-30 people there. Andrea and her family eventually showed up, as well as, a number of indigenous people from the community near FRATES. Most of them, were being trained by Umberto on how to make pizza and pasta for guests - this is his plan for bringing food services to the FRATES center in the hopes of drawing more tourists.

The day was mildly stressful, mostly because my tooth hurt, and partly because there was no organization what so ever. I brought the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies and they were a big hit with the kids and the indigenous people from Vecendores. They had never tasted anything quite like it and they kept saying que rico (how rich). They asked for the recipe and instructions on how to make them. Who would of thought that Chocolate Chip cookies would bridge the cultural divide? The kids kept eating them instead of their dinner, so I had to apologize to all the parents for spoiling their appetites.

After we all ate, the pick-up truck and Pablo's friends took off, stranding us at FRATES. It was a shitty move on their part. They also took the beer and wine that Andrea and Katie brought, in other words, it was not theirs to take, yet they did anyhow. Luckily we were able to cram into Andrea's car - it was a tight fit and I had to ride in the way back on top of people's bags and the leftovers.

I spent 5 straight days at FRATES and I need a break from there to regain my senses. There is so much to do out there - I have to focus my energy and resources so that I can be as effective as possible.

Until next time,
Jeremy

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