¡Estoy Chuchaci!

I was in a cafe across the street from my school when I wrote this Thursday afternoon. I battled fatigue this morning to make it to school. It was a serious trial... but that's what happens when you are at the discotheque too late.


Drinks in Ecuador are dirt cheap:
Rum and Coke, 1.50
Pint of beer, 1.00
Mojito, 2.50
Peace of mind... priceless

The food here is what all ethnic restaurants in Duluth try to be, but at half the price. I bought a plate of carne desmechada con verdura encima de tortilla for 2.50. Its basically shredded beef and vegetables atop a tortilla. ¡Que Saboroso!

The traffic laws in Ecuador are merely suggestions, not actual laws. Crosswalks and such painted on the street serve better as art than actual rules. It's cutthroat. All the drivers are crazy...

Cuenca is full, absolutely full of wild dogs. No dog catcher methinks. In El parque de la madre, near my house, there is literally a pack of at least ten dogs that hang around all day. L and I were walking back from the bar last night and several started chasing and barking at us. Haha...

Meanwhile, in el parque de la madre they don't jog, ellos trotan. La marcha is kind of like speed walking, so it looked funny the first day I was here.

The first almuerzo, or lunch that L and I had became an inegdota -- a strange situations that can be a funny experience. During el almuerzo you get dos plato (soup, main course consisting of rice, meat and sometimes veggies), and un postre (or dessert). L and I finished our soup and the main course hadn't come yet. We didn't know there was a main course, so we thought, "Is this all there is, we're starving?!" Our host family had a good laugh about that. Inegdota.

For lunch today the soup was caldo de pata. It's a chicken broth that has, among other things, cow hooves. It was not something I would normally order, being that it had a strange flavor, but you gotta eat!!! My host father told me that it is a typical Cuencan dish. L enjoyed it more than I did.

Cuenca has their Carnaval starting now. It entails the people throwing water at each other in the street; from buckets, bowls, glasses, water pistols, bombas de agua (water balloons), from the balconies, from the streets, kids outside of schools and even complete strangers. It doesn't matter who you are!!! Kids threw water at me down town twice... yesterday. It is a fun holiday though. I've already bought my water pistol as the biggest days for this are February 3, 4, and 5th. ¡Que chevere!

I don't think that holiday would go well in Duluth in January though...