Tuesday, November 11, 2008

I am just NOT OK with Prop 8. 

Sunday, September 21, 2008

watchin' grunge leg drop new jack through a press table

Listening to Weezer, one of my first and oldest loves. Looking forward to the start of a new year. Life is good...real good.

Love to all, and to all a good night -


Jen

Monday, July 7, 2008

Otavalo

Arrived in Otavalo via autobus yesterday, with the rest of the volunteers. We´re staying at Hostel el Geranio, which is the home of the Cifuentes family. Gilberto Fuentes, the patriarch, is also the principal of one of our schools and the founder of the Village Education Project. The family is incredibly friendly, and the other volunteers are fantastic.

Saturday night was spent playing pool (quite poorly) at a bar in Quito. Although machismo is abundant in most of Latin America, I found that come-ons are easily deflected by mentioning mi novio and speaking in a straightforward, unequivocally non-flirtatious manner. So against odds, I ended up having a good, non-sketchy time.

Today was myfirst day in the classroom! I´m teaching English in Spanish, which is difficult given the total suck that is my español. But the students are inordinately well-behaved, and understand that their profesoras are learning Spanish as they learn English. There is much laughing and a good deal of learning accomplished on both sides.

More later, but for now, ¡que les vaya bien!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Highlights from yesterday

Big day of walking, much of it unplanned and uphill...

Breakfast was a simple eggs and bread affair. Afterward, I attended part of a service at the Church of San Francisco. Around 95% of Ecuador is Catholic - a legacy of Spanish colonialism - and iglesias, regal and ubiquitous, dominate the architectural scene of old-town Quito. San Francisco is Quito's oldest church, and mass is every morning from 7 - 11. Once filled with religious succor (to the extent that a staunch nontheist can be infused with the spirit of God), I climbed up to the Basílica del Voto Nacionál - a Gothic inspired dedication built with stone lizards, turtles, and birds in lieu of gargoyles. The Basílica comprises three towers in total, two of which you can scale, si tienes cajones. The ascent was great fun, at one point involving crossing a rickety wooden plank before climbing three sets of ladders. To reach the clock tower required climbing up a seemingly endless spiral staircase. I spent quite a while at the very top, enjoying the view of El Panecilllo and Volcán Pichincha.

Climb to the top:


The two towers:


And one more:

Inside the Basílica:

View from the top:

[A brief note on Quito's surrounding geography: To the west lies Pichincha, one of many active volcanoes in Ecuador. El Panecillo, or "the little bread loaf," is a nominally shaped hill to the south at the top of which stands La Virgen de Quito. She's quite spectacular: crown of stars, eagle's wings, perched on top of a dragon which is perched on top of the world.]

For lunch I did a bit of shopping at the Mercado Central (Central Market), which was a glory of sights and smells. I have yet to try Ecuador's most notorious plato típico - roast guinea pig, or cuy. Then, I struggled with post-lunch grogginess while walking the length of the Old Town up to El Parqué Itchimbía, which involved multiple flights of stone steps. Another breathtaking (quite literally, Quito's altitude makes climbing stairs no mean feat) view from the park.

Back at the hostal, I met a fellow viajero, a mid-thirties-ish woman from Hong Kong. She took two good looks at me before asking "Chinese? So you speak Mandarin???" Thus I met Irene, who took leave of her job, her mildly disapproving family, and her boyfriend of ten years to travel the world. "It's so good to finally meet someone who speaks Chinese!" (Spoken in Mandarin, of course, and amidst protestations of my deplorable grasp of the language). We ended up going for drinks at the Café Mosaico, by Itchimbía (yes, even more climbing of stairs, but well worth it for the atmosphere and the...view. It seems I had vistas on the mind). I had canelazo, a local favorite made with aguardiente (Ecuador's liquor of choice, made from sugar cane) and hot fruit cider. Suffice it to say it burned like hell and I won't be trying it again.

All in all, a day well spent. Good food, good conversation. Adventures and misadventures. Life is good.

love to all,

Jen

P.S. Here are some funnies.

KFC? Really??


This one is for someone special (cough cough dorky)...you know who you are. Roughly translated it reads " [apple icon] iPhone 3G. The iPhone that you've been waiting for. Soon."