Olmedo

Well it´s now been 2 weeks in Ecuador and almost one week with my new host family in my CBT (community based training) site. I´m living in a very small pueblo of a couple thousand people called Olmedo. It´s higher elevation than Cayambe and we have an even better view of the volcano which is awesome. I´m here with the rest of the Avanzado language group which consists of Miguel, Jacobo, Jack, David, Katy, and myself. It´s a good group and we´re all having a blast during and after our Spanish classes. I live with a lady, Doña Edita, and her daughter Mariella in a house in the back of a little clothing/shoe tienda. Doña Edita´s parents live next door to us and I pretty much see them most of the day. We have a kitchen, a good sized dining room (where our group has Spanish classes), and my room which is really quite big. I have 2 beds, a couch, and 2 big comfy seats. We´ve had a couple movie nights in my room but really by 9:30 we´re all ready to go to sleep because the days are so full. Dinner, a beer, and about an hour and a half of free time and it´s time to sleep! Behind the house we have a little personal farm where coliflor, brocoli, lettuce, potatoes, beets, beans, and much more are all grown. We also have about 20 chickens and about the same amount of guinea pigs, which I am ashamed to say I still haven´t eaten. I still have time though!
Before more on Olmedo, I want to back track a bit to the trip we took as a group to La Mitad del Mundo (The middle of the world) at the beginning of training. The is a park where the equator passes through the earth (clearly marked) and there are all kinds of wierd things there to see and do. For example, when standing directly on the equator, it´s possible to balance an egg on a nail standing straight up. Yes I did it and yes I got a certificate for doing it. Who wants some?! My next favorite thing was when our tour guide demonstrated the difference in water revolving on each side of the line. He took a small tub on a stand and filled it with water on one side no more than 6 inches away from the equator and when he pulled the plug the water spun clockwise. He did the same thing 6 inches away from the other side and it spun counter clockwise. Here´s the kicker though: He put the tub directly on the line and when he drained the water it didn´t spin at all but just fell straight out. The next trick is a bit harder to explain but I will do my best. The guide told me to hold the tips of my thumb and index fingers together as hard as I could so that he could not pull them apart. I did it and he couldn´t pull them apart. Then he had me stand directly on the equator and do the same thing. When he pulled this time, I had no strength and could do nothing but watch my fingers come apart without a fight. I almost cried I was laughing so hard. By far my least favorite part of La Mitad del Mundo was the intense sunburn I got that lasted for 3 days! Overall a great time though.
OK FASTFORWARD TO OLMEDO.....
So we´ve been spending our days in Spanish/Culture classes from 8am-4pm and then we are free to hang out with each other, our host families or just walk around the town (which takes no time at all). Today I went with Doña Edita to her other farm to feed her calves, pigs, and guinea pigs. She also has 5 tiny puppies there and a little boy named William came with us and bought one today for 2 dollars! I want one so bad but PC did specifically tell us not to get a dog during training so I should comply. Some days we go to the field and play soccer or do these ridiculous excersises that Miguel taught us (not fun at this altitude at all). I can barely run for 3 minutes yet withough feeling like I´m dying. Most of the time I just hang out at home and talk to Edita and try to improve my comprehension and speaking skills. I´m her 6th PCV so she knows the deal and is really cool about everything. She keeps me well fed (too well fed) and jokes with me when I help her in the kitchen because men DO NOT cook in the homes here.
Last Sunday I helped Doña Edita, her family, and neighbors move stones to a path where they are building a new road. This sort of thing happens one day every weekend and is called La Minga. La Minga is basically a weekly communal work day where everyone in all the towns gets out to work on public projects that benefit everyone without getting paid. It´s a tradition that goes back a few hundred years I have learned. Everyday is fun and everyday is a challenge. No one here speaks a word of English and everyone has lots of questions to ask of the ¨gringitos.¨ It´s a fun curse to be the center of attention.
Tommorow we go to Ayora to meet with the rest of the PCT´s and share information on our respective CBT sites. Should be interesting to hear what everyone else´s sites are like. I know ours is the best and we wrote a song to sing to the rest of the group to describe how badass we and Olmedo really are. Anyway that´s enough for know. Love to all and thanks for reading. I´ll post pics soon. Ciao!