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South America » Ecuador » West » Portoviejo
December 18th 2007
Published: December 18th 2007
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EyesEyesEyes

Here's the eye of my friend Diego. He has a thing for taking pictures of eyes.
Hey!

I suppose I should wish you all a "Merry Christmas," but I keep forgetting it's December. It just doesn't feel like Christmas down here. Try as I might, I just have no joy, no thrill that Christmas is coming. No singing, no snow, no getting ready for the Christmas concert at school right before break, no skiing, no hot tea, no cozy fires (oh, there's fires here, but they smell bad). Instead it's hot, dry, and...sunny. There's some cool stuff that's happened in December though.

I managed to get to Quito for the "Fiestas of Quito" the first week of December and they were pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I didn't take ANY photos at all, but not without good reason. I just don't feel comfortable walking around with my camera in my pocket there. I've heard too many stories. Has a certain feel to it too...anyway. It was really a spur-of-the-moment decision. I just woke up one morning and said, "Hey...I'd like to go to the Fiestas of Quito." Luckily my mom's sister lives there and has a son my age named Ferdinand and we gel pretty well. Now I have friends there that I can hang out with
EncebolladoEncebolladoEncebollado

Mmm. One of my favorite things to eat here. Encebollado is a hot stew of onion, cilantro, lime, fish, salt, pepper, and other things that make it wonderful breakfast in a...plastic worm container? Yes. That's what they put food to go into. Plastic containers that look like something used to carry worms or leeches. Ha.
thanks to staying at his house and going out with our friends. An excellent guy. I'll take lots of photos the next time I get to Quito which will hopefully be soon. Anyway, the nice thing about Ecuador is that impulse trips are easily arranged, so the next day I was on a bus to Quito in the morning. My aunt picked me up at the station and I was immediately transported to a fiesta. We ended up crashing a party at a mansion where one of my cousin's friends lived. The party was a birthday party for the friend/fiesta of Quito. It was pretty awesome. The house was absolutely monstrous. There was a large tent in the back where there where lots of immaculately white tables, a live band playing cumbia, really amazing food and drinks, and these cool heaters that they use in Quito. The heaters look like street lamps, except they're more like gas fireplaces. On the top is a large inverted metal dinner plate that reflects the heat down and heats the cool air a little bit. We ate some really good seafood and listened to Cumbia until it was pretty late. What else about Quito.
1.50 Lunches1.50 Lunches1.50 Lunches

Set lunches in Ecuador range from 1.00 to 2.50. A plate with rice, lentils, meat, salad, yuca, and ají; and a cup of fresh juice. Ah. Nothing better in the sierra.
The next day my friend Jo from Ibarra came to visit which was awesome. We bummed around the Mariscal-Sucre area, ate some food at a Mexican place, talked a lot, had some real coffee (finally), and ended up on a chiva later in the evening. Walking around the Mariscal was pretty fun. It's also called "gringolandia" for the large amount of gringos that hang out there. Ha. All the gringos have dreadlocks, huge backpacks, long beards (males), and a ruffled appearance to them like they've been sleeping in their clothes. I think that a lot of them are just passing through Quito for the day. Interesting though. We ended up sitting on the grass in a park and watching this woman swing her kid around by the arms to play with a soccer ball. That was interesting to watch. However, I never really do feel comfortable sitting on the grass in Ecuador. There's too many stray dogs and drunks that frequent the parks. There's hardly any good coffee in Ecuador. All instant. Quito and Guayaquil are probably the only places you'll find a good cup of coffee. All the rest is shipped out. My aunt picked us up and we
CorvicheCorvicheCorviche

Some sort of platano dough wrapped around a piece of whitefish and fried. Add ají and you're set.
caught sight of a "Chiva" which is a large truck that has benches in the back, a roof overhead where a band plays these patriotic sounding songs for Quito, and an abundant supply of flags that say "Viva Quito," whistles, and canelasso (a spiked hot apple cider). The chivas drive around Quito during the fiestas with loads of people blowing the whistles, waving the flags, drinking canelasso, and with the band playing on top. They go through New Town and Old Town with the people in the back yelling "Que viva Quito!!" Pretty entertaining stuff. Luckily, because Jo and I are gringos, we got to get on for free when we were stopped at a light. Being a gringo does have its advantages. I think my cousin, our friends, my uncle and aunt, the parents of a friend, and I went back out into town that night again to look for another chiva, but just ended up standing around drinking canelasso for a bit, then going into the Mariscal to walk around. There were fireworks and lots of college students. Pretty fun. The next day my cousin, some friends, and I went to the tennis club in the afternoon. That
Empanadas and AjíEmpanadas and AjíEmpanadas and Ají

Empanadas from Ecuador. This is the coastal style. It's a platano dough again. Empanadas verdes is the more specific name. There's another style in the sierra that's completely different. More light and with less filling. These are filled with beans, meat, and cilantro. Ají is kind of like a weak salsa.
was fun even though I didn't play tennis. Really nice club. After that I went to Quicentro (a really big mall in Quito) to bum around and explore. Cinnabon, coffee, The Hobbit in Spanish, and sourpatch kids were what I got out of that. Some of the things I miss from home. Ha. I heard some really good music too. They played quite a few songs from Corelli: Concerti Grossi Op. 6 which I think I already highly recommended and I'll recommend again. It's all I listen to here besides some other works from the baroque and some cumbia. Ask my dad for more specific details on the cd if you're not sure which CD to get. I looked it up on the internet, but I think I'm lacking some more specific information to pinpoint the exact album I'm talking about. Anyway, heard that, was bumming around the mall which seemed so different from the rest of Ecuador, and then I went to meet my cousin in the Mariscal area again. While there I had a nice long chat with a Colombian waitress who'd served us the night before. That was cool. A nice, rewarding conversation in Spanish with her
GuaricheGuaricheGuariche

It takes a lot of time to get enough crabmeat to make one bowl, therefore, guariche is one of the more expensive items you'll find on a menu in Ecuador. Quite good though. You can only eat it about once every two months though. It's weird. It was amazing when I had it and an hour later I couldn't stand the sight of it. Hmm...not sure if I like it enough again to eat it. Cola, lime, and chifle too. Standard excellence.
about a lot of cool stuff. The next day I left for Otavalo in the morning in order to get to the Saturday market that it's famous for. There I did a lot of walking around, just looking at all the crafts that are offered there. It's a really cool place. I visited some friends from Ibarra and we went out for amazing sandwhiches. Mmm. I bought the poncho in Otavalo after a rather long talk with the vendor in Spanish, that was fun too. Sunday I went back to Portoviejo.

Since then I've just been waiting for school to finish. Went to Manta to eat encebollado, then went to Montecristi to visit the Alfaro museum. He was Ecuador's greatest president. Did some really great stuff.

For those of you interested in the political scene here, it's pretty interesting. The President Rafael Correa, La Asamblea Constituyente, and Los Congresistas are at war. They all hate each other and they're all trying to "kill" one another. The Congress is something that The President and La Asamblea hate because it's incredibly corrupt and doesn't do anything. It just sucks money away from the people of Ecuador. La Asamblea also hates
OtavaloOtavaloOtavalo

It's the only photo I have of Otavalo because I was alone and not feeling too comfortable taking photos but I assure you the next time I'll take more.
Correa because he wants to be a dictator. For now, La Asamblea and Correa are teaming up to dissolve The Congress and reform the country, but I'm not exactly sure if Correa is in full agreement with La Asamblea because they also want to get rid of him, so it's more likely he's just doing it to appease them. Anyway, they're ganging up on the congress, they're going to dissolve it, a whole bunch of new reforms to the country are going to be made, La Asamblea wants to dissolve the presidency...or maybe they just want to impeach Correa. I'm not sure. Anyway, that's a big mess. That's why they constructed the shrine to Flavio Alfaro on top of that hill in Montecristi though. A symbol of the model government. Yep. Cool stuff.


I went to the birthday party of my best friend's grandma last night and that was a blast. The coolest part was talking with her uncle about the undercover work he's done, like when he went into the jungle in Northern Ecuador on the border of Colombia as a "cocalero" to try to bust cocaine dealers connected to FARC or something like that from
ChoneChoneChone

Hometown of my host father. This is what small town Ecuador looks like.
what I understood. Really interesting stuff. I hope to talk to him more. Another cool part of talking with him was that I knew he was from Quito because of his accent. I can now distinguish the accents here from the different parts I've been in. It's pretty fun. I sometimes talk like a serrano too. I really do love the serrano accent though. I hope I can keep that up.

Bus drivers. I've figured out the bus system here in Portoviejo and take the bus to wherever I go. It's only 25 cents and gets you to where you going. It's not as fast as taxis, but it's a lot cheaper. Yeah, that's what happens when you live in Ecuador: you get cheap. I can't stand thinking about what things from America cost. "I payed a dollar for a coke?! What the heck was I thinking!?" It'll definitely be a culture shock when I get back. Here it's: 25 cents on the bus, maybe 10 cents for a bag of water (yes, bags are widely used here for liquids), 10 cents for an ice cream, 30 cents for Avena Polaca (an chilled oatmeal drink), 6 cents for a
CacaoCacaoCacao

This is what cacao looks like before the innards are taken out, dried, the white film is taken off and they're kind of a dark reddish color. You can see large piles of cacao beans on tarps in the streets. To "eat" cacao you simply find a ripe pod, smash it open, scoop out the beans which have a tasty film on them, and suck on the beans until there's no flavor and spit them out. Interesting flavor.
piece of fresh, warm bread; 25 cents for a glass bottle of coke, 25 cents for a bag of mangos and salt, the list goes on. Meals are really cheap too. A heaping plate of amazing chancho (pork), rice, salad, yuca, ají, and a cup of fresh juice is only 1.50 to 2 dollars. A large bowl of seafood is 3-4 dollars. This all also leads to the importance of small change. I find myself hanging on to my nickles and dimes with my life because I never have them when I need them. One dollar coins are also used here in place of the bill most of the time. Needless to say, everything is different. Where was I...oh yes. Bus drivers and their cobrador. Well, they're like a superheroe duo. The driver is usually this huge guy with really short, spiked hair while the cobrador is a small, skinny, really quick young man that runs up and down the aisle collecting money. The "Bear" (the label I've assigned to the drivers) usually seems like a man with a short temper. He's in the hot, dirty, smelly bus most of his day, every day except Sunday, and he's usually pissed
Spider.  We love you Spider.   Spider.  Get rid of.  Spider.  Step on Spider!  Spider.  He is our hero.  Unnhhh.Spider.  We love you Spider.   Spider.  Get rid of.  Spider.  Step on Spider!  Spider.  He is our hero.  Unnhhh.Spider. We love you Spider. Spider. Get rid of. Spider. Step on Spider! Spider. He is our hero. Unnhhh.

He's there every night. My little bathroom friend. Kind of creepy though I guess. I do get kind of lonely without him....
off. All he needs are a very large cigar, a dented bowler hat, and huge, very hairy forearms. That would make his image perfect for me. The "Squirrel" (cobrador) meanwhile has all of his free time divided between hanging out the bus door looking for potential passengers and yelling: "Suba, suba, suba (Get on!)!! Baja, baja, baja (Get off!)!! Suave, suave, suave (drive smooth for the older people getting on and off)!!" and goading the bus driver on by yelling: "Vaya, vaya, vaya (Drive man!!)!!!" I love it when I get a really loud Squirrel that won't be quiet. I get to my destination sooo much faster. Once we were going to enter the right lane of a boulevard, but the Squirrel saw a parade in front of us and immediately started yelling at the driver to get into the other lane. The left lane. We then proceeded to accelerate as fast as we could to get to the nearest break in the boulevard to avoid the oncoming traffic. They make a good team. The Bear and The Squirrel. There's also the guys I call the "Watchdogs." You'll park anywhere, anywhere at all, and there's some guy with a dirty
PonchoPonchoPoncho

This is what the Otavaleños wear. Really warm and comfortable.
washcloth, a baseball cap, and a whistle that'll be there to guide you into the parking spot. Then he'll lounge around by the cars, I'm not sure what he does with the rag, if he wipes off stuff on the cars or what, but when you leave he'll guide you out, and then he expects to be paid. Usually you give him like 50 cents to a dollar if he's nice and is helpful backing you out into traffic or something. Othertimes guys just show up when you get into your car to leave and ask for money without even having watched the car. They "guard" the cars from harm...I guess. In Quito it makes more sense I guess, but in Portoviejo everyone knows everyone, at least that's what it seems like. Well, that pretty much concludes my blog. Merry Christmas. Wish you all the best.


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My CursoMy Curso
My Curso

6E. Good group of kids.
MontecristiMontecristi
Montecristi

We were on a large hill overlooking Montecristi. This is what the coast looks like. Dry.
Max and IMax and I
Max and I

My uncle's dog. Put her on top of a street vendor's cart and she can't get down.
Mr. AmazingMr. Amazing
Mr. Amazing

Everyone loved my food.
Grease MonkeysGrease Monkeys
Grease Monkeys

There's a bunch of guys that just sit here, talk, and work on cars all day. Every time I walk by they shout my name "Daniel!" Yes. Daniel, Nataniel, Nataiel, Nathali and Natalian. Those are my various aliases I go by in South America. Never Nathaniel.
MontecristiMontecristi
Montecristi

My cousin, my uncle, and I. Very windy.
Christmas DinnerChristmas Dinner
Christmas Dinner

The food the exchange students made.
Dressing upDressing up
Dressing up

Yeah. Turns out it was a formal Christmas dinner. I wore a t-shirt with "Wisconsin" on it and a hat with "Berkeley."
Mr. AngryMr. Angry
Mr. Angry

This kid is soooo angry every morning. It's great. Then he falls asleep on me until we get to his school.
LuigyLuigy
Luigy

Riding in the back of our Inspector's truck to go to the funeral of the husband of our English teacher.
ArturoArturo
Arturo

Another guy in my class
My streetMy street
My street

This is what Portoviejo looks like in general


19th December 2007

Xmas
Merry Christmas You may not have snow but we have plenty here. Over 20 inches so far and it isn't even winter yet. Wish I could send you some of the white stuff. Looks like some pretty girls there. Have fun. Uncle Dan
21st December 2007

haha you know the whole time I was reading your blog I kept thinking of questions to ask you but it was just so long that I don't think I can remember any of them. Oh well, I hope you're having a good time and strangely enough I do understand your feeling toward the spider.

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