Monday, December 26, 2005
Bagel Brunch for Christmas
On Christmas Eve I witnessed a family gift exchange that in its chaos was much like my family´s hannukah gift exchange. They differed in that here in Quito there were a lot less boys, more babies, and more excitement over clothing. The only reminder that it was Christmas Eve and not Channukah was the tree, carols sung in both English and Spanish (the translation of rudolf the red nose reindeer is rodolfo the special reindeer), and the traditional turkey dinner eaten at 10:30 pm. Getting dressed up and prepared was also a full day event. I broke the cardinal rule of the Tufts Coalition against Pointed Shoes, and was forced to borrow a pair of pointed boots. As a cofounder, I am disgraced.
Sunday morning, walking into a beautiful house in the suburbs of Quito, I stood shocked and began to salivate. I was surrounded by trays piled high with bagels, breads, cheeses and lox. LOX! Where was I? Freshly squeezed orange juice and an endless supply of champagne was passed around. Soon homemade waffles appeared off the griddle.
One could easily has been confused and mistaked themselves for a Jewish kitchen except for a lack of complaining, clutzy accidents, and a a big plate of jamon serrano in the center of the table (yet if you learn anything in spanish speaking countries, its that ham is not meat!).
Ecuadorians know how to celebrate holidays and provide Jewish mothers everywhere with dangerous cookoff match. Without knowing it, they also made me feel a little closer to home.
Sunday morning, walking into a beautiful house in the suburbs of Quito, I stood shocked and began to salivate. I was surrounded by trays piled high with bagels, breads, cheeses and lox. LOX! Where was I? Freshly squeezed orange juice and an endless supply of champagne was passed around. Soon homemade waffles appeared off the griddle.
One could easily has been confused and mistaked themselves for a Jewish kitchen except for a lack of complaining, clutzy accidents, and a a big plate of jamon serrano in the center of the table (yet if you learn anything in spanish speaking countries, its that ham is not meat!).
Ecuadorians know how to celebrate holidays and provide Jewish mothers everywhere with dangerous cookoff match. Without knowing it, they also made me feel a little closer to home.
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Ecuadorian Time and Terrain
I will never cease to be amazed by the South American transportation systems. While you can count on waiting 45 minutes at the US embassy to replace your stolen passports, and restaurants advertising a 5 oclock opening, only to start serving food at 7, you can always count on your bus to leave on time and arrive around the given duration.
This can only be for the extrordinary intelligence and talent of bus drivers. For every bus we have taken has been full. This does not mean that upon leaving the station all seats are taken, but rather the bus will make at least 10 stops to allow people to get on and off, cramming passengers in the ailse. One hour of a three hour bus ride you may circle the city at a speed of less than 10 miles per hour. The bus may have to make bathroom stops because the bathroom in the back of the bus happens to be locked. The bus driver will get you there on time despite pissing puppies, crying babies, vomiting gringos, vendors getting on and off promising "seco de gallina MUY caliente" and miracle workers selling herbal remedies that cure all: tiredness, sickness, even pregnancy.
Also remarkable about the Ecuadorian transportation system is that a 14 hour bus ride is only a 35 minute flight. UnlikeAmerican airlines, these short flights still provide a snack.
So why take a bus? The snacks, the vendor speeches, the terrain changes (within 20 km you can go from coast to selva to arid plains to mountains), donkey spottings and surprise stops.
In our travels over the last weeks we have:
Become south america pizza experts.
Woken up covered from head to toe with red spots in San Jose.
Eaten a large amount of Cuencan ice cream.
Traveled in a police car.
Spent over two hours in a police station.
Bowled twice.
Walked mountains, jungle swamps and busy roads.
Bumped randomly into 4 people we met on different occasions in Villcabamba.
Heard the name Timothy Leary at least 4 times in 2 different towns.
Eaten a mango daily for 11 days.
Bought 3 mangoes for 50 cents.
Been to 3 airports, and 5 bus terminals.
Done laundry.
What will happen next is anyones guess. Que sera, sera.
Note: This long overdue blog entry comes at a high price, the highest in South America yet, in the tourist destination of Baños.
This can only be for the extrordinary intelligence and talent of bus drivers. For every bus we have taken has been full. This does not mean that upon leaving the station all seats are taken, but rather the bus will make at least 10 stops to allow people to get on and off, cramming passengers in the ailse. One hour of a three hour bus ride you may circle the city at a speed of less than 10 miles per hour. The bus may have to make bathroom stops because the bathroom in the back of the bus happens to be locked. The bus driver will get you there on time despite pissing puppies, crying babies, vomiting gringos, vendors getting on and off promising "seco de gallina MUY caliente" and miracle workers selling herbal remedies that cure all: tiredness, sickness, even pregnancy.
Also remarkable about the Ecuadorian transportation system is that a 14 hour bus ride is only a 35 minute flight. UnlikeAmerican airlines, these short flights still provide a snack.
So why take a bus? The snacks, the vendor speeches, the terrain changes (within 20 km you can go from coast to selva to arid plains to mountains), donkey spottings and surprise stops.
In our travels over the last weeks we have:
Become south america pizza experts.
Woken up covered from head to toe with red spots in San Jose.
Eaten a large amount of Cuencan ice cream.
Traveled in a police car.
Spent over two hours in a police station.
Bowled twice.
Walked mountains, jungle swamps and busy roads.
Bumped randomly into 4 people we met on different occasions in Villcabamba.
Heard the name Timothy Leary at least 4 times in 2 different towns.
Eaten a mango daily for 11 days.
Bought 3 mangoes for 50 cents.
Been to 3 airports, and 5 bus terminals.
Done laundry.
What will happen next is anyones guess. Que sera, sera.
Note: This long overdue blog entry comes at a high price, the highest in South America yet, in the tourist destination of Baños.
