The Joys of Traveling (Warning: TMI Possibility)

Okay friends, maybe I only THOUGHT I liked traveling. Maybe all that stuff from before is bologna. Maybe I’m in WAY over my head and have been for the past 5 weeks!!!!

First off, I LOVE people, especially people who are different from me. I’ll have to blog later about my Cuencana bestie, Lorie, and her very handsome green-eyed brother, Oscar.

And I LOVE the Spanish language. It sounds so incredibly beautiful to me. The next time you guys hear someone speaking in Spanish (not street Spanish), listen closely to how the voices will go up and down, higher and lower. Like a song. I’m working on singing my Spanish. Maybe it’ll happen once I stop thinking so grammatically.

So I love people and I love Spanish, but as far as leaving the U.S. to make it happen….haha let me just say I’m thinking twice about it! And that’s a lot for me to say, because I wanted to go on this trip more than anything. Seeing new sights is another upside to leaving your comfort zone.

BUT….…there’s definitely a downside.

Sometimes, as time goes on, you get braver and decide to do things and go on trips just for the sake of living. That’s why when Lorie asked me to go to La Troncal with her, I didn’t think twice.

It was….an experience. It was a small little market town, the kind with motor taxi drivers (motorcycles pulling a cart), people yelling things in the streets as they sell their items, and non-existent doors. Everything is wide-open. I don’t think I have seen anything quite like it….though Laredo, Mexico comes to mind now that I think back on it.

Anyway, upon my return from La Troncal, things started to go a little….CRAZY.

I first noticed the bumps on my skin probably Wednesday. I was changing my shirt and along my waistline I found about 15 small red bumps. Now for those of you who know me, germs and the unknown world of sickness have frightened me greatly for as long as I can remember. When my mom first asked me about whether or not I was afraid to travel alone to Ecuador, I told her “mmmmmm of robbers and traveling far away? No. But, of sickness, yes.”

Gah!! I NEVER have unknown bumps on my skin, so when they miraculously appear, I know something is up. Then, I noticed them on my arm, then I noticed about 9 more on my ankle, and 3 more on my other ankle, and to my grand dismay, there were even a couple (two to be exact) on my pompis. Now for those of you who know what pompis is, great….cause you’re either my family or Sara or Sandra. For those of you who don’t know what pompis is, don’t worry this is TMI already!!!!!!! AAAAhhHHHH by this point, I was freaking out!! I laid my burden on Sonia who wanted to see EVERY single one so she could diagnose me. This involved me running from her screaming as she grabbed at my clothes trying to undress me. Her diagnosis: she didn’t know what they were and decided that they might be pulgas. Oh no, I’m a dog. I have fleas in my bed. Pulgas = Fleas

This was not good to hear in my already frazzled state of mind, so I scanned my sheets, but Sonia told me I wouldn’t be able to see them. She said I would have to wait to see if more bumps popped up on my skin.

Great, just great. I have to sleep with the fleas again.

Well…the mystery continued. “Is that another one on my calf?!” I didn’t know. “Had that been there before, Self?” Still didn’t know. I was stressed, so I took myself to the secretary and told her I needed to see the school doctor. She had a humorous look on her face and asked if she could see them. So of course, I showed her and she proceeded to take me to the school director. They took me into the bathroom and closed the door (while everyone else in the foyer was staring at me wondering what the heck was wrong with me). Both Susana and Maria Cecilia laughed at me and told me that they were….drum roll please…..MOSQUITO BITES. Stinkin’ lousy mosquito bites. Supposedly, this always happens when new peeps head to the coast. They come back with the bites of a certain type of mosquito that makes its home only in coastal areas. They don’t itch much and take about a week and a half to disappear. Yep, my symptoms exactly. And know what else? Come to find out Lorie had them too. Grrrrrrrr…

If only it stopped there….

Anyone know what an amoeba is? The parasitical (I may have just made up the word parasitical) kind?

I don’t understand! My first four weeks here were great! But the fifth week is the week of DOOM. Too bad someone didn’t warn me about the “fifth week” before.

I was sick this past weekend and Sonia thinks I have an amoeba. She said I must have eaten something (this supposedly happens a lot to newcomers) which made me sick and left me with an amoeba. I don’t even know if that is supposed to be plural or not! So if you guys are reading this, please pray that I don’t have an amoeba. In order to be sure, I have to take a very uncomfortable exam. So now, I must play the waiting game. And I’m also not very good at being patient. OOOhhhhhhh how we take the peace of mind for granted!!

Do I like traveling? I think NOT! Well, at least in this moment anyway. Moments change and along with them, feelings.

Next Friday. Si Dios Quiere….next Friday, I’ll return to the good ol’ (or ole’) states of America.

I’m beaming…..

¡CUY!

I did it. I can now call myself a true Ecuadorian.

Just imagine a cute cuddly furry little hamster look alike named…..Stuart. No, better yet, Ralph. Sometimes things happen to our pets. Like…you have to replace Ralph because he got sucked up by a vacuum, or he just somehow got lost in the house, never to return.

Or….someone in Ecuador ATE HIM. That someone being…me.

Did you know that guinea pig “cuy” is a delicacy here? It took me three weeks, and I’ve known this whole time that before I went home, I absolutely needed to try the finest of Ecuador. Do as the Cuencanos do right?

So, I ventured into a restaurant whose name I cannot remember, with a bunch of new Americans who just arrived this past weekend. We met at the Escalinata, and walked through lovely downtown Cuenca, past the cathedral, through Parque Calderon, and into a fancy shmancy restaurant that was way more expensive than any other.

After ordering drinks, they took us to the back where the guinea pigs were being roasted on sticks. Straight through the mouth out the back part. Take a looksy. 

Yes! We are about to sink our teeth into some fiery roasted bbqd pet. Sorry Ralphie. 

Can you see his little claw here? He is being served (for a high price I might add) with some "mote" and a potato like substance. That's the yellow clump of something you see there. 

As for his taste....I was expecting chicken, but he had a very distinct flavor that I wouldn't call one of my favorites. His skin, however, was very tasty - better than the rest of him. 

I didn't eat very much....but still.....

Traveling. Experiencing. Tasting. Unforgettable!