It occurred to me the other day that I don't think there is such thing as a Latin song that isn't meant to be danced to. And oh have we been dancing. It seems that once a week dance lessons break out in my kitchen. Most recently it was Friday night when my language group came over to make mashed Comotés, purple Ecuadorian sweet potatoes, for a potluck. The boxed fruit wine was flowing (somehow worse than it sounds by the way) and by the time we finished dinner, my host mother had of course asked the new guests if they liked to dance. -- A note of warning to my PC friends who read this and have not had the privilege of meeting my host mother, if you answer yes to this question, she will, without fail, command my 16 year old host brother to set up his speakers and mp3 player and teach y'all a few moves. This is her desired response. If you answer no, I imagine she'll give you a remarkably poignant hurt disappointed look developed not only from being a parent, but also years of being a high school teacher. Seriously, it's impossible to not feel like you've just failed her -- So the speakers came out, the dancing commenced, and a good time was had by all. Each of the three ladies in the group had a tutorial with Abrancito, who has taken a fair amount of dance classes, and is quite good to my untrained eyes. Just another night in the Casa Luna.
On Saturdays we have a half day of Language and Culture class. Yesterday this meant a personal evaluation with our facilitator, sitting on the roof of our training center with a view of the entire mountain encased valley discussing a chapter we read about the indigenous groups of Ecuador, and the potluck. Rough life let me tell you. After class I went home, watched Glee, which comes on at 2:15 in the afternoon on Saturday, and got my hair cut, which was less interesting that I hoped it would be, though came out better than I figured it would. Last night we had a surprise birthday party for one of our volunteers, which migrated to a bar called "Shawarma King," which to the best of my ability to tell does not serve middle eastern food. The Gringo dance circle drew the attention of pretty much everyone, and at some point the attention ended up on me. Now, you might be thinking that this happened because I'm 4 1/2 feet taller than the average Ecuadorian, and maybe you would be right, but at the end of my turn in the spotlight I received a round of applause from the entire bar. This one is going on the lifetime accomplishment list.
On to bullet points
*My parents figured out Skype tonight. My Skype name is natbalder. I like talking to people, you should add me and we should be friends.
*I translated for a half an hour of my parents talking to my host mother. Good times.
*On thursday we had to teach a lesson at a local primary school. My group taught about food chains and energy flow. Aside from not being sure how to communicate certain points, it wasn't that different from other teaching I've done.
*Tomorrow I leave for Cotacachi, about 3 hours north in the mountains for a technical training trip. I'm pretty stoked about it.
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