550 Days

550 days was the total amount of consecutive days that I spent outside of the United States. Or more simply put a year and a half. However, for some reason it sounds more impressive when you state the amount in days which I realized as I was filling out my custom form when we landed in Miami. It is hard to believe that much time has passed since I started this adventure of mine.

My trip home to the States was really enjoyable and just about the right amount of time. The actual travel to get from El Retiro Ecuador to Nashville TN was about 36 hours once it was all said and done with a twelve hour bus ride and an eight hour layover in Miami. The actual time on an airplane though was only about seven hours spread between two different flights. Not too shabby.

I got into Nashville very late at night three days before Christmas which gave me one day to go out and explore the American culture once again as I refused to go out anywhere near the malls on Christmas Eve. Christmas was spent with my family in Nashville with my mom, dad, and brother. It was a lot of fun as always when we get together.

Then the day after Boxing Day I left Nashville to head up North. Over a period of five days I drove from Nashville TN to Cleveland OH, Midland MI, Lima OH, and Sydney OH back down to Nashville just in time to see the ball…or in Nashville’s case the guitar…drop for New Years Eve. In an odd way I really enjoyed all of the driving which was give or take 1500 miles and took about 24 hours. It reminded me of all the driving that I used to do and after not having driven for a year and half it was rather enjoyable to just turn on the radio and sing out loud to songs that were new to me at least. It was also really great to see my friends from back home and worth the drive. However, with this said I was ready to be back in Nashville once it was all said and done.

From there my trip back to the States really entailed two main things – Stupid TV programs and a lot of food with wine and cider to go along with it. I guess you could put some shopping into that mix as well. While I was home I managed to gain ten pounds which was worth every single pound. Plus I managed to lose all of it when I got back to Ecuador so it was a win-win for sure.

I can’t really say that much surprised me when I went back to the States. I mean, the culture between the States and Ecuador is very different and there are different aspects to both cultures which are positive and negative. The one thing I will say is that it really made me realize that for better or worse my life is here in Ecuador at the moment. I have accepted the Ecuadorean culture and embraced it as a part of my life even if there are certain aspects of it which drives me crazy sometimes. So when I went out to a bar I thought it is very odd that people weren’t constantly dancing all of the time or that buying a drink for $5 is normal because you won’t be able to find any drink for under $2 like here in Ecuador.

Once it was time to head back to Ecuador I was ready to get back to my South American home and get back into my daily routine of life. The actual trip back to El Retiro was just about as painful as the one to the States. But this time instead of being greeted by my family I came home to my cat.

My house was pretty much how I had left it with a couple more spiders and cockroaches having moved in. The other new aspect to my house was that a couple of roosters decided to make their new home the three foot space between my house and my neighbor’s walls. And it just so happens that my bed is literally placed on the other side of this wall. Now after careful consideration, I fully believe that I am capable of killing a rooster or a chicken for that matter. A pig, lamb, or cow I am not so sure that I could. But give me a rooster or a chicken and I have enough hatred in me that I really believe I could kill it with no guilt.

You see these roosters, or any rooster for that matter, have no concept of time. That wonderful old saying of having a rooster for an alarm clock is a load of crap. A rooster will crow all day and all night at any time they feel like it. These particular roosters decided it was best to do most of their noise making between the hours of 4 and 7 a.m. I was not very enthusiastic about this at all as one might guess. I have grown used to the noises of living in the Ecuadorean country where there is no such thing as a noise violation, but these roosters were something else.

So for a little over a week I woke up around the hours of 4 or 5 a.m., went up to my roof, and promptly dumped a bucket of water on these roosters to get them to move out of the area between the two walls so I could attempt to go back to sleep. Now the kicker is that my water doesn’t restart in the morning until about 5 a.m. So it got to the point where I filled up the bucket the night before so that I would be sure to have a full bucket to dump on them in the morning hours. Moral to the story, if you have problems with roosters, just dump water on them and they will eventually get the point that they are not wanted there.

Speaking of animals, my cat Tito went into heat while I was back in the States meaning it was time to get her neutered when I got back to Ecuador. This process was more complex than I thought it would be as I thought the hardest part would be getting her calm enough to do the surgery in Machala. The difficult part however was taking care of her the week following the surgery. Never having a dog or cat before, this was definitely another experience for me to caulk up. I am just glad that it is done now though and I don’t have to worry about having kittens or the wrath of her in heat ever again.

Other fun random things that I have seen since I have been back in Ecuador include a monkey tied to a window swing back and forth with a leash around its waist and a dog in a rice bag with only its head showing on a bus. With the monkey I thought it was a mechanical monkey on a string that swayed back and forth. But with a closer look I realized it was an actual live monkey on a six foot string tied to a window. The dog in the rice bag just made me chuckle as he tried to get out of the bag and the owner had to shove him back in and re-tie the string so only his head was out of the bag and he couldn’t run away. Almost as good as a cage I suppose.

Now I am back into the swing of life once again which is really rather slow paced at the moment since it is the “summer” months until April. I am teaching a Basic English summer camp class twice a week as well as a self-esteem class once a week with local youth. Other than that, most of my time is spent running, studying GRE words, going to the markets, cooking, hand-washing clothes, watching movies, and taking naps. I also managed to lose my toe nail again because of running although this time it has decided not to grow back quite right for the time being.

Upcoming events include Carnival at the start of March which basically means that people throw water, eggs, flour, and whatever else they can find at random people walking in the streets. They also take daily trips to which ever river or beach is closest. So this year I think I am going to go to Guaranda which is known from their Carnival activities instead of just getting randomly soaked in the streets. I also have my birthday in March where I am planning on going to Cuenca for a couple of days as long as I don’t get Dengue as a birthday present again.

A definition of Carnival from the PC office: Carnival is a fun time in Ecuador but security risks do increase during this holiday period. Local tradition may include excessive alcohol consumption and water balloon games that can be dangerous and can cause you to be annoyed, so please be patient and avoid confrontation if water or foam is sprayed on your person.

Gotta love it because it is so true.

We are currently in the hot/rainy season which means VERY hot humid weather with more mosquitoes and landslides. I am going to post some pictures on Facebook of the effects of the rain as well. I have decided that Ecuador has two seasons that should be called the hot season and the very hot season because that is all there is where I live.

However, the humidity and heat makes taking afternoon naps apart of your daily schedule as you can’t help but become tired with the excessive heat and sun. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have definitely adapted the concept of “asi es la vida”, “no pasa nada”, and “ya mismo”. Basically it all means, sit back, relax, don’t worry, and I’ll get around to it when I get around to it. It’s a hard life, but someone has to do it.

Once again...this is way overdue!

So I just thought that I would take a quick moment to post a short blog stating that there will be a longer one in the near future yet to come. My trip home to states went very well and was enjoyed by all I do believe. Christmas and New Years with my family were very relaxing and enjoyable. And although it was hard to leave it also felt right to leave as I have realized that my life is here in Ecuador now for better or worse.

I am currently in the months of vacation which means that I am doing the equivalent of summer camps. This also inevitably means that I am teaching some classes of English along with some self-esteem courses. Three times a week I am doing these camps and the rest of the time I spend running, eating correctly (which means often trips to the markets), studying GRE words, and watching movies...it is a hard life...but someone has to do it :)

More soon to come, I promise!