Tomorrow´s the big day

Tomorrow, I start my job.

Because of Labor Day, we have had a bit of a three-day week down here (I think it was a three-day weekend everywhere in the world, except in the US).

That was nice because it has given me the opportunity to ease into life in my site. I have spent the last two days wandering around the town to get a sense for things. Here are a few my musings from my adventures.

Stickball?

I didn’t know Ecuadorians knew much about baseball. I don’t think there are any native Ecuadorians in Major League Baseball (at least, I haven’t heard of any). But I guess with ESPN Deportes and Beisbol del Noche Domingo (Sunday Night Baseball – White Sox-Rangers tonight), there is some cultural awareness of the game,

On my first afternoon of wandering around my community, I came across a game of stickball.

Well, it was a variety of stickball.

And like any good game of stickball, these kids adjusted the game to fit their environment.

There were only six kids on each team. Because of space limitations in the intersection (or a misunderstanding of the rules), they only played with three bases.

The distance from first base to second base was about double the distance to the other two bases, so most outs were force outs at second because the runner couldn’t get there fast enough.

In addition, the batter could decide whether or not to run out a hit ball — after hitting the ball and seeing where it was going. If he thought he had a chance to reach first (or that the runner on first had a chance to reach second) he would choose to run. Otherwise, the at-bat would continue where it left off before.

Maybe this is how you play cricket. I don’t really know.

I’m sure that I will revisit this baseball game in subsequent posts. I would say the possibilities here are endless, so stay tuned.

Pounding the pavement

In my two months of training, I never made time to go out running.

Most mornings, I had to be on the bus by 6:15, and I didn’t get back to my house until 5:00. And the days that I didn’t have class all day, I wanted to spend time with my host family.

Maybe I’m just trying to come up with excuses for why I didn’t take advantage of living at 10,000 feet above sea level and build incredible lung capacity or maybe I was actually busy all the time.

Either way, I wasn’t going to allow that to happen at my new site.

On my second day here, I went for my first jog. Because it was my first time out in a couple of months, I didn’t have the endurance that I’m used to. So I went out for about twenty minutes. My legs ache today.

I guess I had to start somewhere.

It’s like a sauna here

Behind the synagogue, I might argue that the shvitz (sauna) is the most important institution in the Jewish community.

It is where the community comes together to, well, shmooze and shvitz (sweat).

But there is a major difference between the shvitz being a community institution and the community being an actual shvitz.

That’s what we’re going through down here. In many ways, I feel like I am living in a sauna.

It’s very humid, and I’m always sweating. I would use the term perma-sweat to describe things down here. There is always a layer of perspiration. After taking a cold shower (down here, it’s one of the best sensations), it takes about 12 minutes for the perma-sweat to return.

I have been told that to expect this humid weather eight months out of the year. The other four have been described to me as “fresco” (fresh).

I love fresco.

Talk about diversification

Down the street from my house is a store that advertises as a funeral parlor, which is true. The store has all the ornaments you would expect from a funeral-arranging service. I don’t really know what they are called, but they carry a wide variety of gold, shiny things that look like they have some part in the funeral.

But that’s not all this place is carrying. Funeral parlor is a pretty reliable business. I mean, people die. It’s a market that is always in demand. But in the case that people aren’t dying, this store is prepared.

In addition to the funeral gear, they also have a calling booth in the store. This is another reliable market. People always need to make phone calls, especially in a culture where the second biggest contributor to the GDP are remittances from family members living in other countries.

If that isn’t enough, this store has invested in another stable market — ice cream. In front of the store, there is a giant cooler, carring all of the best from the Pinguino brand.

If you thought phone calls and funeral services were staple products, they are nothing compared to the ice cream demand in this sauna.