Apr 2007

Well we promised we'd do more profiles of some of the kids here so here are three more precious children that we love.

This is Daniela, age 2. She is by far one of the easiest kids in the orphanage. The best way to describe Daniela is that she is a lady. Everything she does is very prim and proper. At dinner she sits very straight and eats her food nicely with a spoon while the other kids at her table use their fingers and make a mess. She is a girly girl and loves pretty things. When she wakes up from her naps, she likes to sit in my lap and hold her teddy bear. She doesn't say much, but when she does speak it's in this cute little high-pitched voice. Daniela loves to observe the world around her. She loves to intently look at nature, such as a new flower in bloom. She also loves to be held. She is one of the few kids who like to sit in my lap and lean her head against my chest. She rarely cries, even when one of the other kids antagonizes her.

This is Edison, age 2. Edison has Down syndrome but that hasn't stopped him from being one of the most active kids at FHC. Edison reminds me of a rolly polly bug. He loves to be dirty, and that's why he likes to be outside where he can get the dirtiest. I think one of his favorite activities is actually to eat dirt. We are constantly stopping him from eating it. He also loves the swings and playing in a toy house the orphanage has. We love Edison because he is so happy all the time. Sometimes he will begin to cry but stop after a few seconds, as if he's forgotten why he started crying in the first place. He also loves for us to hold him. When we come to the toddler house, Edison is always one of the first kids to run up to Pete or me and stretch his little hands towards us. Edison can be mischievous. During meal times he sometimes puts his food in the bowl of his table neighbor, Brayana.

This is Juan Jose age one year and 9 months. He is the second youngest kid in the toddler house and is a quirky little kid. The picture above is showing one of Juan Jose’s famous half-smiles. Juan Jose is a serious child, and a full smile from him is rare, but when something amuses him he will give you this particular lopsided smile. Juan Jose is very independent for his age, and would rather do things alone most of the time. One of his favorite things to do is to destroy anything that is neat. If there is a box of toys put neatly away, you can rest assured that Juan Jose will have them scattered over the floor in no time. He thinks it’s funny when we tell him to pick up the toys. Another funny thing Juan Jose does is how he acts at meal times. During a meal when Juan Jose is served something he doesn’t particularly care for he will obey his tias by putting the food in his mouth, but he won’t chew. He will put more and more food in his mouth until it puffs out his cheeks. He ends up looking like a begrudged chipmunk. It makes me laugh every time!

So that concludes our second portion of “Meet the Kids.” These are my favorite sections to write and I hope it gives you a better understanding of how much we enjoy these kids.

Ok, Pete tells me it isn't that big of a deal that there are so many words in Spanish that are very very similar. After all, in English we have 'picture' and 'pitcher' (say them out loud). But still, it fascinates me how there are so many similar words in Spanish. I frequently mix them up so I thought I'd share some of them with you and you can imagine the funny sentences I might have said mixing up these words....plus you might learn some new Spanish vocab....
Hombro (shoulder)
Hambre (hungry)
Hombre (man)
(in case you're wondering I have actually said, "I am very man." instead of "i am very hungry" and I have also said, "my man hurts" instead of "my shoulder hurts.")
Llover (rain)
Llorar (cry)
Llenar (to fill)
Llevar (to take)
Llegar (to arrive)
Ok I realize that some of these sound similar and some will not sound that similar but...they can mix you up if you're tired.
Sacar (to take)
Secar (to dry)

Pagar (to pay)
Pegar (to fight)....imagine the possibilities... "I would like to fight you this much...." instead of pay

Sentar (to sit)
Sentir (to feel) ..... I have said "he sits sad."

Another common mistake that we make as Americans (I made it when I was in Argentina) is to say "embarazada" for embarrassed. It actually means "pregnant."

Finally the all time low mistake that didn't happen to me fortunately but happened to friend of mine was to use the word "excitada" for excited. The word "exitada" does mean "excited" but in a more, how shall I put it, bedroom-style way. If you ever want to say "I'm excited" use "emocionada" which doesn't mean emotional, but 'excited' in the non-bedroom sense.

As you can see, the thing about Spanish is that not pronouncing a vowel correctly can really mess up what you're trying to say. In English we can say, ‘necessarily’ or ‘necessarily’ and people can easily decipher what we mean. Looking at some of the words I posted above you can see this is not the case with us and Spanish. Thankfully the people here are very forgiving and most of the time they know what we mean, and we are getting better at our pronunciation.

I (Pete) have begun driving in Ecuador, where the lines and signs don't really mean anything. I was nervous that I might not be able to understand some of the signs in Spanish, but that is not a problem because there aren't many signs. Most of the street name signs are posted on buildings on the side of the road, so even with a passenger it can be hard to tell which street your crossing. Some street name signs are as far as 100 yards from the street corner... on a small yellow house.
The 3 basic rules of driving in Ecuador are that the driver in front has the right away, even if he wants to swerve into your lane as you are passing; pedestrians never have the right away, especially at crosswalks, but sometimes on highways if they are carrying something; and you can apparently legally break a traffic law as long as you first beep your horn- For example, a bus or taxi can run a read light as long as they beep their horns first. Oh, one more rule, and I think people would drive slower here if they all new this rule: If you injure someone while driving, you can be thrown in jail.
No one pays attention to the lanes because the drivers have figured out that they can fit 3 cars on a two lane road. One nice thing though is that cars will give a courtesy beep when they are coming up to pass you.
We don't have our Ecuadorian drivers licenses yet; we can drive with our US ones for 30 days from our arrival. Even if we had no license, the de facto police policy says that a five or ten dollar bill can normally serve as your license.
Today Tesha and I drove to the Red Cross to get blood tests to find out what type of blood we have. (I'm A negative, can't I sell mine?) They print your blood type on your drivers license here (duh America, why haven't we thought of that?). It cost us $2.50 to get our blood tests done. I think that's about what doctors in The States charge if you lick an extra one of those popsicle stick things that they stick down your throat.

We've been adding more photos on Webshots, but they've been added to existing albums. I'm not sure if Webshots tells you which albums have been recently updated. I know we've updated "Pool," "Toddlers," and "Preschool" this week.
-Pete

Well Pete and I achieved one of our goals this weekend....making some Ecuadorian friends! Actually we met one of them; her name is Fanny, last Sunday at church. She speaks English well and even spent time going to school in Minnesota for undergrad. We decided to meet up this last weekend at a mall in Quito called Qui Centro. It's about as modern as you can get for malls, they even have L'Occitane. Fanny brought her sister, Ivet, and her boyfriend, David. They were all so nice! We only spoke Spanish the whole night which was great not only for practicing but I think it did wonders for our confidence as well. They took us to a great little Ecuadorian restaurant and then we went cosmic bowling.

Throughout the night, we were able to learn some very interesting facts and opinions about Ecuador. This is all through the perspectives of well-educated, 20-something-year olds. It was a very eye-opening night for Pete and me so I'm going to share their thoughts with you with a disclaimer: I am not saying these are my opinions and I'm not saying this is the whole story on all matters.

Presidents: We talked about their new president, Rafael Correa, and what they thought about him, his relationship to Hugo Chavez and his relationship with the US government. Here's their opinion: Rafael Correa is the first president in a long time that actually ran for office and won fairly and conventionally. They say that it gives them hope that he will actually make good on his promises to help end corruption and give more to the lower classes. They say that he is not like Hugo Chavez, and that actually they are having some difficulties with Chavez right now because Correa is trying to control the Columbian guerrillas and terrorism that occurs on the border between Ecuador and Columbia. Finally, they said that one of the reasons the US doesn't feel supported by Correa is because he did not want to make a deal with President Bush to take up arms against Columbia. According to them, President Bush approached President Correa and asked him to help the US fight Columbia to get rid of its terrorism and drug problems. Correa said that he is interested in protecting Ecuador, but not unnecessarily making war with other countries.

Elections: Today Ecuador had elections to vote on whether or not to start an assembly to take the place of its current Congress. According to Fanny, the Congress is very corrupt and they are hoping that making a new assembly will help control corruption. An interesting thing about Ecuadorian voting is that everyone is mandated to vote. Everyone has these official voting cards they have to carry with them at all times. It's like the equivalent of our drivers' licenses (although they have those too). When they leave the country they have to show their current voting cards to the authorities. Their voting percentage is above 70% (much better than the US). Another interesting thing about Ecuadorian elections is that 2 days before an election, no one is allowed to drink alcohol. They are not allowed to sell it at restaurants, stores and people aren't supposed to drink it in their homes. From what I understand this is for two reasons: So that everyone voting has a clear mind, and also out of respect for the country.

Wow, so that was a lot and it was only a fraction of the conversations we had. Last night was like a crash course in Ecuadorian history, politics and culture.

Fanny and I are going to get together possibly next week at her Mom's house so they can show me how to cook more receipts from the coast (her mom is from the coast). I'm excited.

Since coming to Ecuador, I have now had the opportunity to cook two dishes from an Ecuadorian cookbook that FHC director Melinda gave me. I thought I would share them with you all in case you're bored of your old recipes and want to try some new ones.

1st Recipe: Shrimp Ceviche

(You might have already tried Ceviche before but I found this recipe to be really good.)

1 lb Shrimp, peeled and cleaned
6 Tblsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp salt
1 Red onion
1/2 Tblsp fresh lime juice
1/2 green pepper
1/2 large tomato
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
6 Tblsp ketchup
2 Tblsp olive oil
1 Tblsp minced cilantro

Cook shrimp for 1 minute in 2 cups boiling water. Strain and save 1 cup of the cooking water. Mix lime juice and salt in a large, flat, non-metallic container. Marinate shrimp with lime juice in refrigerator for 1 hour. Cure onion with 1/2 Tblsp lime juice. To cure, cut onion in half, slice each half as finely as possible so you have thin strips. Rinse strips. Thoroughly rub salt into onion. Marinate for at least 10 minutes. Rinse onion strips several times to remove excess salt. Squeeze out water. Add lime juice.

While the onion is marinating, dice green pepper and tomato into small, thin pieces. Add onion and vegetables to marinated shrimp. Mix in the reserved water and remaining ingredients (I mixed them all together first in a separate bowl and then poured them over the rest of the ingredients).

It's best served with Rice. (although the Ecuadorians eat it with popcorn)

2nd Recipe: Cazuela Verde

You may have to look hard for some of these ingredients but it's a very tasty meal. Cazuela is a plantian and peanut stew. Serve it hot out of the oven with a plate of rice and cut lime.

1 big tomato
1 red onion
1/2 white onion
1 green pepper
2 cups water
2 tsps alino (ingredients under)
- 1 Tblsp garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp ground Cumin
- 2 Tblsp Water
- 1 pinch of salt
1 Lb fish fillet (we used Dorado- a very mild fish and it was delicious)
2 tsp cumin
Salt and Pepper
3 green plantains, peeled
(if no plantains are available substitute 2 very green bananas for each plantain)
1/2 cup peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Take the first 6 ingredients and puree them with 1 and 1/2 of water. Then pour pureed ingredients into a pot. Rinse blender with remaining 1/2 cup of water and add to the pot. Bring to a boil.

Make alino by placing garlic, cumin, water and salt in a blend. Blend until smooth.

Add 1 Tblsp alino to the pot. Stir. Simmer to form a thick, dry sauce, about 25 minutes. Now wash fish and cut into 1 inch pieces. Rub with remaining alino and dry spices.

Prepare plantains. This is done by cutting off the ends and then running the plantains under hot water (this is because the insides are sticky). Slide your thumb beneath the sliced skin, along the outside of the curve, while holding the plantain under running water. Cut plantains into 1/2 inch rounds. Blend until liquid with just enough water to cover plantains (about 2 cups). Blend peanut butter with one cup of water. When refrito is ready, add liquefied plantain, peanut butter and 1 tsp salt. Stir continually until mixture has thickened and changed color, about 20 minutes.

Fill one large ceramic or Pyrex baking dish with half the mixture. Add fish on top. Cover with remaining mixture. Make sure you do not fill the dish too much or it will overflow. Bake 40-50 minutes. The Cazuela is done when a crispy ring forms around the inside of the dish.
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Well that's it for recipes for now. This week I'm trying to make something called Llampingachos. I'll let you know if it's any good.

Love, Tesha

Several times now after eating a meal at a restaraunt we have been given after-dinner-cough-drop-mints! The first time I (Pete) thought our waitors were playing a prank on the Americans, but by the 3rd and 4th time, I knew something was just weird. Today's lunch was topped off with a "candy" cough drop that was "mint/chlorophyll flavor." CHLOROPHYLL???

Today we went to Mitad del Mundo ("The Center of the World"). It was fun to stand in both hemispheres and make jokes about which way the toilets would flush, which season it was, etc. The Equator is only about 20 minutes ($5 by taxi) from our house.
By the way, if you didn't know, they use the US dollar here, so that is convenient.

We've been doing pretty well on eating Ecuatorian food lately. We actually did have Ecuatorian breakfast our first day, but it was mostly hashbrowns and eggs, but with a different name. Last night Tesha made shrimp Cebiche (not to be confused with Cerviche or Corviche). We ate it with rice as the Tias suggested, but the Tias told Tesha that Cebiche is customarily eaten with popcorn on the side.

Today in Mitad del Mundo for lunch Tesha had Ecuadorian breaded shrimp and I had "Llapingachos a la Fritada." I'm not really sure what part of my meal was classified as Llapingachos, but it was good. Ecuatorians seem to like to eat a wide variety of foods with each meal.
Happy Easter,
Pete

Since we've been here a little over a week now, we're really getting to know some of the kids. Over the next year we're going to do little profiles of each one so you guys can better understand how wonderful and special each one of these kids are.

This is Marianela age 2 and a 1/2. She quickly captivated my heart with her mini afro, beautiful lips, large eyes, and delicate features. She is by far the most laid-back kid at FHC. It's like she's was born naturally cool. When all the kids are screaming and crying, she just sits back looking on at the organized chaos around her. We've only seen her cry once and it was brief. One funny thing about her is that she is the slowest eater. The tias are constantly getting after her during meal time for not eating. It's hilarious because if you watch her you can see that she remembers to eat, and then gets engrossed in watching everyone else eat, and then forgets again. She appears very individualistic but at the same time she is sweet with the other orphans and likes to share. Last week when I woke her room up from their naps for dinner, she helped all the other kids make their beds.

This is Andres age 2 and 1/2. He has the sweetest face and loves to smile. Andres was the first kid to make Pete and I feel welcome at FHC. Clark Vaughn, the orphanage owner, was giving us a tour of the orphanage on our first day and Andres came right up to Pete and grabbed his hand. Since then we've worked with Andres almost everyday. He always wants to sit in one of our laps, and during dinner he wants us to sit right next to him. If I even get up for a second to help with the other children, Andres will ask me to sit back down. He also loves to test us at dinner time by pretending to eat his food. He loves to try and make us laugh by making silly faces at us during dinner as well. He seems to be a naturally happy kid.

This is Brayana, age 1 year 5 months. She is a beautiful little girl with almond shaped eyes, and straight black hair., Pete and I think she might be a little bit Asian, but no one knows for sure. Pete and I call Brayana La Torbellina which means Whirlwind in Spanish. We gave this to her because she is a feisty, bouncing ball of energy. She never walks, she always runs at full speed. She loves to laugh. She is also extremely ornery, especially at dinner time. During dinner she will dramatically eat one bite then ferociously shake her head to and fro. It makes all the other kids at her table laugh. The tias are constantly having to reprimand her at dinner because she wants to make jokes instead of eat. When I tell her: "Come Brayana" (Eat Brayana). She will smile at me and shake one little finger as if to say, "I'm not done with my show yet." It's very hard to get frustrated with such a lively little ball of joy. She also really likes Pete. On our first day, she ran into his lap and stayed there until we left.

I really had to limit myself to only picking three kids for tonight because there are so many wonderful kids at the orphanage that I want to tell you all about. They are all beautiful and unique. We will do another profile blog in the next couple weeks.
-Tesha

I (Pete) bought some sugar cane at the grocery store after seeing Ecuadorians walking around munching on it and it is my new favorite thing. It's refreshingly quenching and it seems like a good compromise between mothers and children- kinda like Kix cereal, only for after lunch dessert. Mothers can feel like their child is getting apple-like nutrition, while the kids think they are eating sweets.

It's Holy Week (Semana Santa), so there is a lot going on in the historical part of Quito this week. I read in Quito's newspaper that the city is trying to become more known for Semana Santa activities, like other South American capitals. (You may have learned about some of the Hispanic Holy Week traditions, such as the parades (the ones with the tall pointy hats), in high school). On Palm Sunday we walked around the historical center, which was packed with Ecuadorians. We saw about 5 other American (maybe Canadian) couples or groups, and after the first two we decided not to make eye contact with any other Whities to avoid the "hey-we're-both-caucasion" smile.

We've met pretty much all of the children at the orpanage now (I'm still afraid of the babies). We can really tell that all of the children are craving love. A lot of times children we hadn't yet met would run right up to us and hug our legs. A 5-year-old girl, Jessica, who had just woken up from a nap, walked right up to me when I was sitting down on a couch, climbed on to my lap and wrapped herself in my arms.
Also, for some of the kids, we're the first white people they've ever been in close contact with. Today when I was playing with two 4-year-old boys, they poked me all over my face and asked me "te duele" ("does this hurt").

Tesha and I are adjusting well to the altitude (9,300 ft.). We've been doing mini-workouts in our living room. Our health has been really good so far.

-Pete

We've switched to a new website for our pictures. The address is:
http://community.webshots.com/user/peteandtesha

Also, the website for the orphanage is:
http://www.forhischildren-ecuador.org

-Pete

Well we've almost been here one week, and Pete and I are amazed at how much our Spanish has already improved. Daily, we are reminded of words we've forgotten. Pete says that you know you're fluent when you can have full-blown rapid-fire arguments in Spanish, so we've been practicing by having "Non-fights" in Spanish. Example: Today we "argued" about whether we should eat cereal or eggs for breakfast. We ended up just laughing at how bad we are at rapidly conjugating sentences, but with any luck we'll improve.

Tonight we gave our first musical performance for Casa Fe (that's the house for the older kids and the severely challenged kids). Casa Fe has 4 non-special needs kids who are all about five years old. All of the kids seemed to like the music. We sang in English some oldies like "The itsy bitsy spider" and "Amazing Grace." Amazing Grace really calmed the kids down. We invented motions for all of the songs and the kids seem to enjoy following along.

I also wanted to say this for all you single and married women out there: I would like you to know that there is nothing sexier than when a man plays with little kids. Pete spoke of his "second girlfriend" two-year-old Evelin in a previous blog, and let me tell you that watching little Evelin run into his arms immediately; seeing Evelin and Pete play together outside, watching Pete take her in his arms and bring her into a shady spot so she wouldn't get too hot; seeing the absolute adoration and trust in her eyes as they played together....wow it really tugs at my heart. I am so incredibly lucky to be married to such a caring man. It's amazing to me how all the kids seem drawn to Pete. One child at Casa Fe, Vilma, has cerebral palsy and is absolutely in love with Pete. She only has to look at him and she starts cooing and smiling.

More later.
-Tesha

P.S. Correction: Pete said that we went and saw a movie called The Family of the Future...what he meant was "Meet the Robinsons" (he didn't know that's what it was called in English.) It's a good movie and we recommend it.