Guata

Hola!

My second week in Ecuador was chock full of events, sleep not being one of them! I've been lucky enough to not have any stomach issues yet. My family's been pretty good at boiling all the water and cooking/peeling all of the fruits and veggies. About 6 people weren't as lucky last week though and spent most of the week affixed to the toilet sipping rehydration salts. The nurses have assured us all that it’s coming though, so I’m awaiting my gastrointestinal fate! On Thursday, we spent the whole day in training going over every type of gastrointestinal issue, mosquito-transmitted illness, and skin disease that we could potentially expect. Who knew there were so many distinct types of diarrhea! Everyone’s favorite by far was the 20+ daily bathroom visits and rotten egg smell emanating from your skin that comes with a giardia infection. The four types of worms that you could get and the fungal skin infections sounded appetizing as well. All were described in extremely graphic detail. Yum! Dengue fever sounds like a blast too. 10 days straight of fever, aches and light sensitivity – They basically described it as the flu times ten. We also got out malaria meds that we’ll be required to take if we end up living below 1500 meters above sea level. These are the once-a-week pills that are known for causing extremely vivid dreams and nightmares. The once-a-day Malarone pills that don’t have many side effects aren’t prescribed since they’re reserved as a treatment in case anyone was to get malaria.

The other classes this week consisted mostly of a ton of Spanish and cultural training. I feel like I’m not getting any better at the Spanish, but everyone else feels the same way, which is good. The trainers claim that it will just come at some point, so we’ll see. On Friday, we had our first full-day technical training session, which was a ton of work but also a bunch of fun. My group built an A-frame greenhouse, learned a bunch about agriforestry and soils, planted an organic garden, and learned about some plant propagation techniques. We ended the day with some lukewarm beer at a local joint in Tabacundo.

The food last week was good, although I’m definitely getting sick of rice already. This past weekend, my family made some Patacones, which are basically slices of plantains that are fried, smooshed with the bottom of a mug, and then fried again (because they didn’t absorb enough oil during the first fry!). We also made some banana fritters, roasted choclo (a starchy corn) on the fireplace, and some sort of steamed beef, tomato, and onion dish that was made from beef that was cut right off the unrefrigerated carcass of the cow hanging behind the counter in the butcher shop. The variety of fruits and vegetables that are available at the outdoor markets in town is unbelievable. I’ll try to grab some pictures next time I’m there. The mutant heads of cabbage that are about 2 feet in diameter are pretty crazy. Today for lunch, I had a whole trout, rice, lentils and some unknown exotic fruit juice for $1.25.

The “guata” that my family made one night though, does not rank highly on my list of great food experiences… My host mother put the plate in front of me and I asked what it was. “Guata,” she replied. Hmm… “What is guata,” I asked while picking over the unknown chunks smothered with a yellowish brown sauce. She said it was “oveja” (sheep). I thought, “Ok, I can do this… it’s just mutton. I’ve had this before.” So I started to eat it, but couldn’t get over the squishy, rubbery texture. I asked again what is was and again she said guata. So, I ran to my room quickly and looked it up in the dictionary. “Andes - Belly,” it said. At that point my gag reflex kicked in when I found out my plate had a pile of diced sheep stomach lining on it. I returned to the table, and attempted to eat more of it, but I was literally gagging on every bite, and just concentrated on the rice and oregano tea she had made. The whole time I was thinking, “OK, what am I going to do with this guata?” The dogs were on the roof, so that option was out. Then when my host mom finally got up, I did it. I swiped the remaining guata off the plate with some napkins and shoved it into my pocket! Later when I returned to my room, I put it in a plastic bag, tied it up, and disposed of it at class the next morning! I made sure to leave two little pieces of it on the plate though. When I brought the plate into the kitchen my host mom asked why I didn’t finish the last two pieces. I told her that the texture was different than what I was used to. After some more polite back and forth, I think she got the hint that I don’t like guata!

Aside from the guata, the rest of the week was pretty benign. I showed my host family iTunes on my laptop and they now think my favorite band is ABBA since that’s the first album that popped up when I opened it. On Thursday I had to sit through a whole DVD music video of ABBA’s Greatest Hits! Other than that I learned how to trim the front lawn with a machete and how to wash my clothes on the family’s washing stone (which stretches clothing out to about twice its original length). On Saturday night a bunch of us went out to a club in Cayambe called Recuerdos (Memories) which plays 70’s and 80’s tunes mixed in with salsa and merengue. We had a blast and it was nice to be able to interact with people that are not in the 11 and under demographic like the kids in my host family. (I think we’ve watched Toy Story in Spanish about 4 times already.)

Hope you enjoy the pictures below!

Building a small A-frame greenhouse

Setting up a small organic farm

Enjoying lukewarm beer after a long week