About Me
- Name: Well
- Location: Washington, DC, United States
I'm not good at journaling. But I do like my Mac. And I often have random bits of ideas float through my head that I wish I could pin down in a portable format. Hence, this blog: a place for outward commentary, and digital logging of things I might want to remember later.
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Sunday, January 30, 2005
I almost forgot this one! This is the panoramic view from almost-the-top of Mt Mojanda
New Pictures:)
---For the pics, SCROLL DOWN and start from the bottom. I forgot they show-up in reverse order.----
It is Sunday afternoon which, as we all know, is reserved for homework, but I of course am procrastinating. But really, isn't it more important to y'all that you be able to visualize my Ecuadorian experience than that I read about how postmodernism changed the way we know what we know and why we think we know it? Thought so:).
I have pictures of my house, my host relatives, and the gorgeous trek up Mt. Mojanda. Plus, this week we got to meet Diana's sisters! (Diana is an Ecuadorian friend from Quito who goes to Goshen). We went and visited with them one evening, took them gifts Diana sent with us, and had fun chatting about what Dianita was like when she was little. Good stuff. Ah yes, there is also the pic of my stitches, which come out tomorrow.
This weekend was low-key. Raq and I went to see a bad, but free, independent film called La Coronación (The Coronation), and pretty much cooked a mini-feast Saturday evening. We made argentine empanadas (umm, kinda like hot pockets I guess, filled with meat or cheese but oh so good), and an argeninte dessert called alfajores; I think it may have been worth living with her for 2 years just to try these;). I made my catalán favorites too: pan con tomate and mató i mel. This week is school and such, and on Friday we leave for a research station in the Amazon!
I heard it's snowy for many of you. It was a little chilly here too today, like 56ºF, and it rained really hard for about 5 minutes. Stay warm!!
--Don't forget to SCROLL DOWN FIRST, then back up---
It is Sunday afternoon which, as we all know, is reserved for homework, but I of course am procrastinating. But really, isn't it more important to y'all that you be able to visualize my Ecuadorian experience than that I read about how postmodernism changed the way we know what we know and why we think we know it? Thought so:).
I have pictures of my house, my host relatives, and the gorgeous trek up Mt. Mojanda. Plus, this week we got to meet Diana's sisters! (Diana is an Ecuadorian friend from Quito who goes to Goshen). We went and visited with them one evening, took them gifts Diana sent with us, and had fun chatting about what Dianita was like when she was little. Good stuff. Ah yes, there is also the pic of my stitches, which come out tomorrow.
This weekend was low-key. Raq and I went to see a bad, but free, independent film called La Coronación (The Coronation), and pretty much cooked a mini-feast Saturday evening. We made argentine empanadas (umm, kinda like hot pockets I guess, filled with meat or cheese but oh so good), and an argeninte dessert called alfajores; I think it may have been worth living with her for 2 years just to try these;). I made my catalán favorites too: pan con tomate and mató i mel. This week is school and such, and on Friday we leave for a research station in the Amazon!
I heard it's snowy for many of you. It was a little chilly here too today, like 56ºF, and it rained really hard for about 5 minutes. Stay warm!!
--Don't forget to SCROLL DOWN FIRST, then back up---
Raq and I at the lagoon in front of Mt. Mojanda (the one behind us isn't the one we climbed)
A very happy Mayra, and her mom Nina (Diana's niece and sister)
One more flight. This is the 3rd floor, looking into my room. Marianne's room is just behind us.
Follow me upstairs please. This is the family room/Patricio's studio. Yoli and Patricio's bedroom is just behind us.
Past the entryway, is the dining room, which also leads out to the garden. The living room is behind us, and the kitchen is just to our left.
Thursday, January 27, 2005
School days
For the academically-minded, I have at last, after agonizing up to the last minute of the drop/add period, chosen my classes. Here then, is my weekly schedule...quite pleasant really (I hope), tho definitely full of the written word. Good thing I like to read:
Monday
11 Introduction to creative writing (short stories)
1 Ecuadorian short story
3-4 Salsa club (not for credit)
Tuesday/Thursday
10 Postmodern Literature
11.30 Latin American- U.S. Relations
1 Hispanic American Literature
2.30-4 Taw Kwon Do (not for credit)
Wednesday
1 Ecuadorian short story
3 -4 Salsa club
Friday
11-12.30 Intro to creative writing
If I'm not buried in books and papers when the semester really gets going, I'll be sure to fill in more details about the university sometime. Happy studies to all my fellow students...
Monday
11 Introduction to creative writing (short stories)
1 Ecuadorian short story
3-4 Salsa club (not for credit)
Tuesday/Thursday
10 Postmodern Literature
11.30 Latin American- U.S. Relations
1 Hispanic American Literature
2.30-4 Taw Kwon Do (not for credit)
Wednesday
1 Ecuadorian short story
3 -4 Salsa club
Friday
11-12.30 Intro to creative writing
If I'm not buried in books and papers when the semester really gets going, I'll be sure to fill in more details about the university sometime. Happy studies to all my fellow students...
Puntos y sabores
Well this week I got 4 stitches (¨puntos¨), finally finalized my class schedule, made choc chip cookies, salsa'd, read a Colombian novel of unrequited love, went to a Mennonite church and met its 20+ members, played with my host niece and nephew, ate some incredibely good mango icecream, wrote a short story, and chatted with my host parents about the current sociopolitical situation in Ecuador and the world abroad, to name a few hilites.
Since the stitches incident was possibly the most random event of the week, (and b/c my parents are reading this) I´ll explain further. The university happens to have very lovely, very smooth tile floors. It´s great fun actually, because you can go sliding from one class to another if you get a good start. Unfortunately, you can also go sliding unintentionally when there is a sudden change in slippery-ness from one passageway to another... If, for example, you are hurrying to class from Newton to Davinci because the labs don't have printers (which you didn't realize until today), so you have to go to the campus printshop to get a hard copy of the paper you have to turn in 3 minutes from now, you may find yourself with the sudden realization that the little polished mosaic-like tiles on the sloped entrance to Davinci are especially suited for sliding. This realization may be less than pleasant, however, if it comes in the form of a sudden face-to-floor encounter with said tiles as you scurry around the corner. This is how I came to find myself walking back out of Hispanicamerican Literature as soon as I'd turned in my paper, to consult with the mirror about my minor injury. I wouldn't even have thought much about it, but after Ana Carolina gave me a wierd look when I sat down in my desk, I noticed I was bleeding. Once I cleaned it up a little, I was going to head back to class, but when I saw it in the mirror, I could tell it had just split cleanly along the edge of my jawbone. ¨Well chuta*. That's gonna need stitches.¨... So I ambled (now tile-wise) on down to the campus clinic where the nice doctor sewed me back up in a few quick minutes. It's just a small scratch really, right under my chin, but my host mom and Nieves (the BCA program co-director) were both very cute and mom-ish about it. And Raq was totally squeamish when I told her the details which was pretty entertaining. Who knew she was so sensitive about even the mention of blood? Anyway, the stitches come out on Sunday and I'll probably have another little scar to tell the story of one of the few injuries I've had in my 20 years of life.
Hope the routine of daily life for you all is broken by less physical distractions;), and that you're staying warm. Much love
*refer to ¨Ecuatorianismos¨
Since the stitches incident was possibly the most random event of the week, (and b/c my parents are reading this) I´ll explain further. The university happens to have very lovely, very smooth tile floors. It´s great fun actually, because you can go sliding from one class to another if you get a good start. Unfortunately, you can also go sliding unintentionally when there is a sudden change in slippery-ness from one passageway to another... If, for example, you are hurrying to class from Newton to Davinci because the labs don't have printers (which you didn't realize until today), so you have to go to the campus printshop to get a hard copy of the paper you have to turn in 3 minutes from now, you may find yourself with the sudden realization that the little polished mosaic-like tiles on the sloped entrance to Davinci are especially suited for sliding. This realization may be less than pleasant, however, if it comes in the form of a sudden face-to-floor encounter with said tiles as you scurry around the corner. This is how I came to find myself walking back out of Hispanicamerican Literature as soon as I'd turned in my paper, to consult with the mirror about my minor injury. I wouldn't even have thought much about it, but after Ana Carolina gave me a wierd look when I sat down in my desk, I noticed I was bleeding. Once I cleaned it up a little, I was going to head back to class, but when I saw it in the mirror, I could tell it had just split cleanly along the edge of my jawbone. ¨Well chuta*. That's gonna need stitches.¨... So I ambled (now tile-wise) on down to the campus clinic where the nice doctor sewed me back up in a few quick minutes. It's just a small scratch really, right under my chin, but my host mom and Nieves (the BCA program co-director) were both very cute and mom-ish about it. And Raq was totally squeamish when I told her the details which was pretty entertaining. Who knew she was so sensitive about even the mention of blood? Anyway, the stitches come out on Sunday and I'll probably have another little scar to tell the story of one of the few injuries I've had in my 20 years of life.
Hope the routine of daily life for you all is broken by less physical distractions;), and that you're staying warm. Much love
*refer to ¨Ecuatorianismos¨
Monday, January 24, 2005
Garden between Galileo, Newton, and Davinci (campus buildings at the university)
