However, watching football in Spanish was weird to say the least.
4toy10. What?!? Oh...Cuarto y 10…4th and 10…Ahhhh…
Castigo?!? Castigar…to punish…castigo…penalty. Ok…
All of the stats were like this too, it became a game to tranlate…eventually they played an English announcer over the Spanish announcer’s picture. Just about everyone in the “Sports Planet” was English speaking…however, not all American. I didn’t even talk to any Americans…some Dutch and a Swiss guy…funny though, one was decked out in Packer gear. We did miss the commercials. Sad. The same four or five commercials played over and over at each break. However, youtube fixed this and we saw the standouts from a laptop screen.
One of our Peace Corps Doctors came to visit my site. Not to exciting, she just checked out my house…made sure I wasn’t living with farm animals and that I had people to go to if there were problems…stuff like that.
Last Friday, I got a call from one of the Ag managers, and he said “Oh by the way, congratulations on the grant” and I said “Does that mean I got it?”…apparently it does! Yay! The real reason he called was for me to help with the "tech trip" portion of training with the new volunteers. Some of them will visit my site to see an irrigation project…sweet. Good news Friday and a fun weekend to look forward to…Best day in Peace Corps so far.
Carnaval is huge in my neck of the woods and is two weeks away. Guaranda has one of the largest festivals in Ecuador and people here are very proud of that. It is like the New Orleans of Ecuador. There is a Carnaval song that has been playing nonstop for a few weeks now and I think I am going to break a stereo before Carnaval is over. This also means, everyone is preparing...painting houses, organizing dances, finishing construction, and making large batches of moonshine...
The community bank has quickly fallen to the wayside. I had a meeting at 2pm on Sunday. I thought there was some new interest…a few young people came to the first meeting and I had been stopped in the street from people asking questions. However, at 2 there was only one lady and at 2:30 there were two. My counterpart was not there (he is usually punctual). Then some of the farmer’s group people start showing up…for another meeting. Then my counterpart did to. He had scheduled another meeting at 3 to plan Carnaval stuff. He had told people not to come...but did not tell me this. Maybe we will try again…after Carnaval.
Today, he told me to come to his house at 1pm to talk about the grant and community banks. I got there on time and sat there for an hour before I left. I saw him later in the street and he had no idea he had said that to me. He told me that people don’t like to go to things before Carnaval…But he wants me to help him paint a mural in the park before Carnaval…”Can I do this tomorrow?"...ummm...What about the grant I am finalizing tomorrow?
I told him I am having friends stay with me during Carnaval. He has asked them to come for Wednesday and be a part of the parade…I think he wants us to do a dance (which is traditionally done). Ha! I think we should make a Mardi Gras float and throw beads, candy, and jello shots…How is that for the 2rd goal of Peace Corps (which is, by the way, "Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served").
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