Sunday, July 13, 2008

Papas fritas for breakfast? Well it´s with salad...

This morning I was awoken by Juan, my host dad, yelling for me to get up and eat breakfast. As I stumbled into the kitchen, Sonia, my host mom, was cutting up potatoes. She yells (because since I am learning Spanish I am also deaf) ¨CORRIE--QUIERES PAPAS FRITAS?!¨ I was like uhhh...french fries for breakfast? ¨NO...CON ENSALADA TAMBIEN!¨(no, with salad too)...apparently salad justifies the french fries for breakfast. It was funny....and yummy.

Yesterday I went to a graduation party with the fam. It was in a house that was not quite finished, so it was just cement walls but no windows or doors. They did have the chimenea going, which was a bit warmer. We ate platefuls of pork, danced and sang. It was fun. No one asked me to dance :-( It´s hard being a gringa...

Afterwards, we all piled into the back of Juan´s red pick-up truck and drove to Ibarra. We ate some choclo (BIG ASS CORN) off the street and picked up some pots for the floreria. It was fun. We also got to see a beauty pagent and were able to witness the crowning of the reina (my money was on the one who won).

Friday, my mini group of Me, Casey and Miriam took a ¨field trip¨to Cotochki--the site of Pre-Incan pyramids. It was pretty cool. We had to take a bus to this dirt road and then walk up the road to the ruins; luckily a very nice Belgian couple offered to give us a ride. Thank god they did, it would have taken us at least 2 hours to walk to the site. Their gracious ride offer reminded me how much I love traveling and meeting people. We translated for them at the site while they gave us a ride home. At the ruins, it wasn´t as much pyramids but big mounds of grass (kind of like Serpent Mound for those in Cincinnati). Saw a ton of llamas...beautiful!

Enjoy some pictures!!


MY FAMILIA! From top left: Dominic (cousin), Jazmin (my sister), Chica (cousin´s name I can´t pronounce), Marcelito (cousin), and Ginger (my other sister)



Dance party!!! Me and Juan jammin´


Bingo Night at the Moinas...it was probably the most intense I´ve ever seen Bingo get (Sonia and Juan, Ginger in the yellow jacket and Jazmin)




View from the car on the way to Otavalo...yes, ladies and gentlemen those are the
ANDES MOUNTAINS!


Me herding llamas in Cotochki


Casey, Me and Miriam---the Ayora girls. Us at Cotochki; from this view, you can see Quito.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey corrie! i enjoy your blog! looks like your having some amazing experiences and its still so early! i'm verrrry jealous!!

Emilie Wolfson said...

hello corrie! reading your blog is the most fun I have had at work so far. I am so glad to see that you are having an awesome time. Loving the picture of you herding the llamas, and all the gorgeous posts about the Andes mountains. I'm thinking about going to costa rica in next winter for 2 weeks, not quite 2 years but I am excited about it. Missing you kid!

Anonymous said...

Great to see you look so happy and having fun. Be Safe. xo

Anonymous said...

Hi Corrie. I am so amazed by you and what you are doing! I particularly enjoyed seeing pictures of your host family and reading about your experiences with the people. Hope the excitement continues...

Doth Brands said...

is it possible for me to come visit at some point? I could easily devote 2 weeks to the trip.
If I start planning now, it will def happen.
Let me know if this is an option. I know that at some PC sites visitors are only encouraged at certain times.
Nikki

gregoryderek said...

were any of those llamas named tina and eat casserole? just curious. miss you tons, talk to you soon.

love,

brother bear

Anonymous said...

Hey cork board! just read this post to my friends and we were all laughing bout the french fries for breakfast :) miss you!

Kristi said...

oh my god corrie, sorry this is the first time i'm reading your blog, i lost your email with the address, now i know the name i'll never forget it!! i LOVE your posts, i can hear your voice in all of them and all of your descriptions make me smile and MISS YOU. i also miss you helping me with spanish.. i met a friend of erica's who studied abroad in equador and all i could do was talk about you. p.s. my favorite pic os of you herding llamas... something we could do together when i visit??

Anonymous said...

corrie! its andy reed, remember me?! your family came over for dinner the other night and told me about your blog - amazing stuff! hope all is well and enjoy yourself, but by the looks of it you sure are!