Thursday, March 31, 2016
il Pirata pizza
Marsha and I "found" a pizza place last time we were in Olón for a Bible study with Delia, and I was eager to return this time around. Thought our study ended up being cancelled, our trip to Olón wasn't a complete waste. We bought bus tickets to Guayaquil for the next morning and enjoyed delicious pizza once again at il Pirata.
Not a very good picture but this little girl was cute as a button as she fiddled around with the bicycle in front of the house next door
YUM!!!
The one drawback to this restaurant is the resident cats who spend the entire meal under your table waiting for a handout and meowing pitifully.
Dolphin sighting
Sorry. They were too fast and too far away for my camera. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Last Wednesday when Marsha and I were getting ready for our next study on the porch of our "beach house" in Cadeate, I glanced up and saw a dolphin jump. Wow! Not every day you see something like that! First time in my life actually. I assumed that would be the end of it. However, the dolphins had something else in mind. Marsha and I watched the ocean for a good 15-20 minutes, watching dolphins appear here and there, swimming, jumping and playing in the waves. It was a good thing the time for our study was flexible!
I had about 20 pictures on my phone that look essentially exactly like this as I tried to capture jumping dolphins. There is no evidence in any of them that I was successful. The view is great anyway.
Climbing higher in the "tower" next door
Looking out the other way
Looks like we're a ways up!
Looking down on the house where we actually stay
That hammock is my absolute favorite spot!
Looking straight down from the top balcony
Don't fall!!!
Another completed rug
When I left to come to Ecuador, I left at least one unfinished project behind - the rug I was working on for the entry area at Mom and Dad's. When Grandma and Aunt Rhonda came to visit me in December, I asked them to bring the rug along so that I could finish it at some point before my next home visit. When I learned that Mom and Dad would be coming this summer, I decided that would be a good target finish date. As it turns out, being sick for a week helped speed things along on the rug-making front. The rug is 33 inches in circumference and was completed on March 21, 2016. I can't wait to see what it will look like in its new home one of these days.
Sunday afternoon excursion
After lunch at the Chinese restaurant, the Guzmán family and I drove to a Mirador overlooking the city of Guayaquil. We chose one with fewer steps than some and enjoyed both the view and the breeze up above.
Making a train to get to the top
I join in
Nearly to the top
The last step
Standing right at the base of this statue and looking up is quite a scary sensation. It feels like the towering Jesus is going to fall right on top of you!
That big grassy area toward the back is the airport.
My hosts for the weekend
If you divide this up into three rows, the names are as follows:
Row 1 - Ruth, María
Row 2 - Moisés, Jorge
Row 3 - Luísa, Ronny
It's at Moisés and María's home in La Martha where Marsha and I keep our extra things. Their three children are Jorge, Luísa and Ruth. Ronny is Luísa's boyfriend.
Horsing around
All for me???
On Sunday after meeting, the Guzmán family took me out to eat at a nearby Chinese restaurant. I ordered chicken with vegetables. It was't too pricy, so when my plate came, piled high and wide, I was shocked! All of this is for me??? It made for a good lunch and supper too.
Cuy
Otherwise known as guinea pig
The head
I think that white thing sticking out (left front) is a tooth. And perhaps those are smaller teeth lining the mouth on top as well. This must have been a big one!
My piece
I was fortunate to get a hind quarter, complete with claw.
I'm not sure which part this is. I may not want to know.
Eating cuy is an interesting experience. There are definitely better (and worse) ways to prepare it. This particular pig was boiled. As I was digging in, I attempted to remove the skin (to which some hair was still clinging) in order to reach the meat. The older gentleman to my left noticed my struggle. (It was quite tough!) "Oh no! You eat the skin too," he informed me. You do??? Gulp. Okay, I'll give it a go. Turns out, my piece was mainly skin. It's quite thick and has the consistency of, pardon my language, rubbery fat. I ate a few bites of it, trying to cover up the texture of it with lots of potato. In the end, I emerged NOT a victor. I dug down to get to as much meat as I could and declared myself full. "Didn't you like it?" the daughter asked me. "Oh, it was fine. I just can't eat all the skin. It's a bit too greasy for my stomach." So, if you ever make the trip to Ecuador, I definitely recommend that you try cuy. It makes for a good story, and if it's prepared "right," it doesn't even taste too bad. :-)
Taste of home
Okay, so the title of this post is not actually accurate. These beautiful corn fields do not provide a taste of home - more like a look of home, but that's not quite as poetic or catchy (or something). Anyway, I love to see them on a rare occasion and usually end up snapping several pictures of the exact thing so that I can post them on my blog and you can see them too. Oh wait. I guess you see quite a few of them there. But aren't they a sight to behold??!! :-)
