Eraser Knows Best

Mama C. and Tia

I gave a quiz to my students this Thursday.  It was difficult and many of them hadn't studied and weren't too keen on studying in class.  Thus I wasn't surprised when I saw one of my students writing 2 possible answers to the question, on her white, rectangular eraser.  After which she proceeded to drop the eraser.  Whichever answer showed, well, the eraser knows best.  Brilliant.

Maybe it's high time to talk about my family here again.  I have pictures of everyone but my homestay brother.  He is very quiet and does not say anything but "hola" to me.  Therefore, I don't want to disturb him and bother him by asking for a picture, so you will just have to use your imagination, or facebook him.


My homestay mother here, as always, is wonderful.  She continues to give advice, cook, and make me feel very welcome in her home.  I have really been blessed by being able to stay with her.  She understands that I am going to have different priorities, different schedules and different ways of living my life.  She is flexible and caring. 

Rocio

The oldest daughter is Rocio.  She is very chatty.  She speaks a lot.  And quickly.  When I first met her, I couldn't understand a word she said.  Now that I have lived here for 2 months, well, I think I might be up to 40% understanding.  But probably not much more.  She jumps from topic to topic, is always smiling, is always active, has a very positive attitude, likes to invite me places and make me feel involved.  She has many projects and I can't keep them straight.  What I really like about Rocio is that she knows many people and cares about them all.  As we walk down the street together, people are always coming up to her and saying hello.  She has no fear of people and they enjoy her.

Searching for Thermals

The second daughter is Maria Cecilia.  She is much different than Rocio.  Maria Cecilia is much quieter, calmer, more traditional.  She works during the days so I do not see much of her.  Only for short periods of time on the weekends.  As she is quieter I do not know her as well.  Only that she is currently studying to be a school teacher, though as of yet, she is not sure what subject she would like to teach in the future.

Also, Mother Cecilia has a few siblings.  Every other weekend, one of her sisters comes over for the day.  They cook together, work together and eat together.  Usually this lasts Saturday and Sunday.  She is amiable and kind as well.

The youngest child is Hernan Santiago.  My mysterious brother.  He isn't mean, just very reserved and not interested in starting a friendship with me.  Maybe because I am the 5th gringo they have had in their home and he is sick of his mother inviting people into his home? Maybe he is just young and shy? He is an engineer.  A quiet and sciency kind-of guy.

So that is my family.

Cooking Eggs

On to adventures.  Yesterday I had a great Friday.  After class in the morning I went to Banos de Cuenca with 2 friends.  Our first task was to find the small volcano there that issues hot water.  The air is crisp, it was cloudy, the grass was a lush green, and it felt like the first days of fall.  My friends had told me that in the water you can cook eggs! So we purchased three, and went searching for hot water.  We found very small streams where the water was very warm, but not quite boiling.  We damned up the water, covered it with rocks and placed our egg inside the rough neolithic incubator.  No luck.  After 15 minutes, the egg was quite raw.  We eventually went on to some private property, found some more hot water, soaked our eggs and left them there in repose while we did some more adventuring.  In Banos de Cuenca there are very nice thermal pools. And one super fancy hotel that services rich clientele.  I told him my parents were coming to visit and which point he became very amiable, gave me a great tour and showed off his place.  If you want to spend some money on a nice place: http://www.hosteriaduran.com/contenido.php?idM=1&idP=0&lan=1. 

We went back to our eggs.  They had a thin layer of white inside, but nothing much to write home about.  We didn't eat them.  But we did eat chocolate covered frozen bananas we found at a nearby restaurant.  Delicious.

Anticipating Cuy

 I went home.  I went to class at night.  And then after class, I went out to eat cuy with a student of mine.  The delicacy of Ecuador.  Spoiler alert: Cuy isn't my new favorite dish.  I ate it all, but it wasn't quite like a rack of barbeque ribs.  I ate it.  The company was great.  I got to hear about my student and her life in Ecuador, Holland, and the best places to visit while I am here.  Enchanting. 

Anyone know a good ice-breaker? He doesn't look interested in making friends...