It's already Christmas in Loja

Just thought I would share that it has been full-on holiday season for at least 2 weeks now. Houses are decorated for Christmas (lights, lawn decorations, little cute stuffed reindeers on doors), all the stores and markets are selling Christmas decorations and paraphernalia (plates, hand towels, ornaments, etc.), all the hotels have trees up, and we have even heard commercials for holiday air freshener! I suppose since they don't have Thanksgiving to go inbetween, they might as well get into the Christmas holiday spirit for 2 months! Unfortunately, Adam and I won't be doing a tree this year (a pitiful looking plastic one goes for about $50) but perhaps I will splurge on a stuffed snowman to put on our door. And I am going to have to hunt down some holiday music (like Jingle Bell Rock) to get me in the mood!

Posta Civica de la Lojanidad

Over the weekend, Adam and I participated in an annual event in Loja called the Posta Civica de la Lojanidad, where the mayor and his wife, along with the Reina (Queen) de Loja, Srta. CASMUL, the Reina de La Feria, and many other reinas, visit barrios across the city from 7:30am until 8pm. Posta is a "relay", so essentially we were doing a relay across 16 barrios.

In Ecuador, being a reina is a big deal. The reinas do a lot of community service work in their barrios or in the city, and they also help host events (such as the Posta Civica). And if you are trying to figure out how you become the Queen of Loja...well essentially it is through a beauty pageant- with talent shows, swimsuit competitions and speeches. Adam and I weren't fortunate enough to attend the Queen of Loja competition this year, but perhaps next year we can endure the whole process, which, from what I heard, went until 3am this year!

The Posta was full of trumpets, high school bands, lighting of 16 torches, singing of the Loja anthem, and speeches from the presidents of the barrios, the reinas of each barrio, and the mayor of the city. Since all the barrios are pretty far apart, we rode in a caravan of busses. For the first several barrios, Adam and I rode in the same bus with the mayor, his wife and the reinas. But with each barrio we visited, we collected more reinas and other special guests, so we switched to the empty bus with Adam's compañeros. Overall it was a good experience and we were amused by some of the entertainment during the day. I´ll post later the video of the performance by "Marcia y las Chicas de Miel" (aka Marcia and the Honey Girls). Who would have though gals in go-go boots and mini skirts would have shared the stage with some of the the traditional dance performances. And at the end of the night, a woman sang to the mayor- the poor thing sounded like a howling cat in the streets. It was truly amazing.

Adam looking super chipper for 7am on a Saturday morning

Students from one of the local colegios (high schools)

Our mayor giving his opening statements

The Reina de Loja giving her speech- check out that crown!

Not sure what this was all about, but they were hanging about 20 feet in the air... possibly a form of advertisement for the tienda nearby??

In some of the barrios, the BonIce folks were out selling their frozen delights (think Otter Pops, but with yogurt versions too). Adam and I enjoyed our guanabana and fresa flavored treats because the Ecua sun was out in full force yesterday!

Carrying the flag of Ecuador while the school band played

The mayor and his wife, surrounded by the reinas

Adam watching one of the ceremonies from the bus (scorching Ecuadorian sun wears you out!)

A lot of the barrio reinas did this when lighting the torch (they just threw the thing in, instead of holding onto it, lol)

Marcia y las Chicas de Miel (Honey Girls)

So this is work in the Peace Corps...

Adam and I had a lot of ideas of what our work would be like in the Peace Corps. Adam envisioned computer labs, setting up internet in rural communities, community gardens, and trash and recycling programs. I imagined making artisan crafts with women's groups, talking with jovenes about other cultures (maybe doing a world map project), developing service projects for the university students, and setting up community library or reading programs. These projects might be possibilities for the future, but until then, we have been keeping busy with other types of work in the Peace Corps, such as:

1. Visiting a family and doing a talk about hygiene, showing the kids how to brush their teeth, and then doing a minga "work party" to wash all 14 kids' hair with anti-lice shampoo (one of the kids had picked up lice at school and when they came home, spread it to everyone else since they all lived in such tight quarters).

Walking up muddy hills with bags of donated clothes

The kids excited about the new clothes

Learning proper brushing techniques

Alvania teaching the tongue brushing technique

Starting the hair washing process

Little babies do not like this at all

Pobrecita (poor thing) shivering after the cold water bucket bath

Alvania and Carmita with some of the family after they were all cleaned up and in their new clothes!

2. Driving all day dropping off letters to schools in the middle of the mountains to share information about INFA and how the Centro de Proteccion de Derechos can provide support and assistance. Since they are so far out, but still within our canton, we are trying to make sure that they know we can offer workshops, activities, etc. for parents, children and families. And while we're out in the middle of the mountains, we might as well take a break to catch some trucha (trout).

Swiss volunteer Philippe with Juanito, our INFA driver

Taking the hook out... Alvania and Carmita wouldn't touch it

Carmita with her fishing pole and her prize trout

Juanito preventing his fish from getting away

All the fish we caught

3. Playing bingo for a community fundraiser using corn kernels (and for snacks you could buy salchipapas...which are french fries covered in mayonaise with a hot dog on top!). CASMUL works with communities and often they will do fundraisers like bingo or selling comida tipica. We had fun but it was rough on our sleep schedule since it started at 9pm and we finished up close to 2am.

The woman above is Gloria, Adam's counterpart and our host mom that we lived with for the first month in Loja

4. Learning how to make our very own puppets so that we could use them to teach lessons to smaller children (it's much more interactive and more fun for kids than listening to adults share messages about childrens' rights). I have to say, I was really impressed with how our homemade puppets turned out, and some of my colleagues are awesome with their puppet voices and acting!! Plus, I have never sewed in my life so it was great practice!

Carmita and Julisa with their puppets...check out their clothes!

Cecibel with her puppet

And my puppet "Andres"! He has good headbanging yarn hair! And to think that he started out as just pieces of felt, cotton stuffing and yarn! I was impressed!


Video of some of my coworkers doing a skit about a kid trying to make some money on the bus by singing some songs. Unfortunately a fairly common thing here in Ecuador.

5. Hosting an open house in the Plaza de la Independencia (aka San Sebastian) and making origami with tons of unruly kids. And passing out "bookmarks" that took Eri, Philippe and I over 5 hours to make. We had to cut out almost 150 shapes from "fomex" and then write MIES INFA CPD on each one, and then glue them to popscicle sticks. Originally they were supposed to be buttons to pin on, but we had no supplies for that. So bookmarks they were! Though kids here don't read for fun so not sure what they will use them for.

Philippe cutting out the stars

So this is what 3 volunteers can accomplish in 5 hours

Our bulletin board with information about CPD

Elizabeth showing how to make a talking bird

I think facepainting Spiderman is universal

Philippe trying to teach origami to all these kids...kinda tough!

6. Making bats (murcielagos) out of egg cartons with the kids at the orphanage and explaining to them about Halloween and the cultures and customs that we have in the US (dressing up in costume, knocking door to door, saying "Trick or Treat" and getting candy). They don't celebrate Halloween here so it was an interesting concept for them. (no pix)

And just for kicks, this is how Mickey looks in Ecuador. Something just isn't right:

Getting our eat on!

It seems that one of our favorite hobbies is eating, so why would that change in the Peace Corps? Although we don't have access to all the same foods as back home and we miss out on some old favorites (like breakfast sausage, baked beans, Indian food, and good sandwiches), we still manage to get our eat on.

Recently we had a pot luck gathering at Eri's apartment (she is the JICA volunteer in my office). Each of us brought a dish to share. Eri made a sweet Japanese chicken & potato dish as well as something she called "rice ball", her fellow JICA volunteer from Saraguro (I can't remember his name) made gyoza, Adam and I made thai beef and basil, Ximena made Ecuadorian ceviche & guata (tripe in a peanut sauce...no me gusta) and Phillipe made a Swiss apple pie. We were supposed to bring a dish from our native country...but Adam and I were really wanting to make beef and basil because we had encountered albahaca (basil) at the local market, and it only shows up once every few weeks. Next time we will make something like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, baked mac 'n' cheese, or burgers and potato salad.

Eri cooking her potato and chicken dish

Rice balls wrapped in seaweed

Eri's friend and Ximena with all the food

Eri offered beer, Pepsi, tequila and sangria as beverages! I had Pepsi and it was great!

Table full of good eats

Eri and Phillipe (the Swiss volunteer in my office) cutting the Swiss apple pie...yum!

Adam and I spend a good chunk of our monthly living allowance on food. Surprisingly, we have still been under budget. Aside from cooking thai beef & basil (with help from the bottle of fish sauce Susan sent us), we have also cooked bbq pulled pork (thank you pressure cooker!), picadillo, tacos, steak sandwiches, and various stir frys, among other things. This week on the menu is chicken and steak fajitas, beef stew in the pressure cooker, and maifun (from the noodles my parents sent me). I'm afraid we don't make a lot of Ecuadorian food, as we have found it to be a bit on the bland side (the main seasoning used in Ecuadorian food is salt). Plus we can get it for cheap during lunch so why would we make that at home?

Picadillo with black beans, rice and tostones

We also recently splurged on a blender and Adam made good use of it by making fruit smoothies (fresh pineapple, bananas, oranges and strawberries!). From what I hear, fruit in the sierra is way more expensive than it is in the coast (apparently folks on the coast have mangos and bananas falling from the trees in their yards so they never pay for them). We spend about 50 cents to $1 on a pineapple, 4 cents for each banana, and practically the same price as in the US for strawberries. So it can be a little pricey but it is worth it for the amazing smoothies Adam can whip up.


I also found a recipe online for making our own dumpling (guizhi?) wrappers so today I gave it a try. It was fairly easy to make the wrappers, it just takes time to roll them out and flour them so they don't stick together. Ground pork, green onions, and Napa cabbage are easy to find in Loja, and with our new bottle of sesame oil from Ambato...I was set. Adam really enjoyed them and I was super happy. That was one thing that I have been really craving...and this just brings a little taste of home for us!!

Preparing the dough (2 cups flour, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/4 tsp salt)

Filling (ground pork, green onions, napa cabbage, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper)

Don't my wrappers look so "rustic"?

Adam enjoying the finished product with some sriracha sauce from the US