Mentira!

6-26-11

Last night was another crazy Ecuadorian party that included lots of dancing and Pilsener beer.  The party was right next door to the grandparents house and everyone in the surrounding area was invited-though only about 30 people were present.  As always, the dancing didn’t begin right away and it was awkward.  Picture a white tent set up with plastic chairs set around the perimeter for people to sit in and just look at each other while they eat food sitting on their laps.  No one really talked, but music played in the background at least.  However, it was an interesting dynamic because everyone knew each other; but no one talked.  After a while, people started dancing (me included) and the booze kept flowing.  This was the exact same as the other Ecuadorian party I’ve been to, as while you’re dancing, someone offers you a shot-like amount of beer that you take (or don’t) and continues onto the next person.  I’m starting to dance better both in meringue and salsa music, so it’s a lot more fun to dance with people.  

This morning I was actually able to sleep in without many disturbances (dogs, crying, roosters, doors slamming, etc).  My host mom made scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, and a mora Batido for breakfast!  Afterward, I helped her carry all the “compostable” food (absolutely nothing gets wasted here) to feed the pigs that they own.  The little pigs are so cute!  I hadn’t seen the pigs since the momma gave birth.  This afternoon, the whole family and I went to their corn field (they own land further away from here) to pick the ears of corn.  This was quite an adventure because I had never picked corn before and also we had to dodge enormous, colorful spiders in their huge webs between the stalks of corn.  The family all seemed to like to scare me, saying “Jolie, watch out!” as I was picking ears of corn.  It is safe to say that I’ve gotten my fix of spiders in the last few days.  We picked corn for about 2 hours; the sun intense as to burn my forearms (luckily I was wearing a hat).  I loved being outdoors, helping out with chores that needed to be done.