I´m following Correa´s example and not paying my foreign debt either....sorry mom and dad

Should be interesting to see how this one pans out.

So, updates since last blog:

Thanksgiving went pretty well all things considering. Those things that should be considered are the fact that I didn´t have the ingredients that were originally called for, that the oven didn´t work, and that I was greeted with shock by the family when I told them my stuffing didn´t contain 5 different types of meat....all I can say is that I can´t WAIT for the christmas dinner here....5 meat stuffing? Are you kidding me? We also broke out the classic strawberry wine for the special occasion....all in all a pretty good meal.

In sadder news, one of our outside dogs had to be put down a couple days ago. It was a very moving experience to watch the family do everything in their power to provide for the dog, and her presence is definitely missed by the family, especially by the other outside dog, who is now especially affectionate when people come outside and seems very lonely. I´m not sure that´s exactly the best mindset for a guard dog...

I´ve been having a lot more interaction with other English teachers and professors recently. First, Katherine and I were asked by Jon´s ex-mother to be judges for a spelling bee at her bilingual school...which was quite the experience. Especially since there were words very badly misspelled on the master list (anyone know what hand-glinding is? Because neither did the students). There were three separate competitions, elementary, middle, and high schoolers, and we got there and, in pure Ecuador fashion, were basically expected to run the whole thing, stating the rules, calling out the words, deciding how to use them in a sentence, and dq´ing those who did not spell them correctly. At the end we got a tour of the school, and I wouldn´t be surprised if I did other things at that school.

Then, last night, we had our office xmas party, which was nothing like the stereotypical office xmas party....I was looking around for a photocopier all night to no avail....What we did do was start off with a party game, which included rythm, and I ended up winning!!!! That´s right, in a game involving moving one´s body I ended up beating out a subset of the culture known for hips that do not lie. My victory was shortlived however, because I immediately gave up any respect I´d gained when we ended up dancing for real... The dinner was pretty sweet tho....they love their meat here, and one thing I´ve noticed about the group dinners here is that they´re pretty much all made up of meat. We had chicken, beef, pork, and sausage, and the side dishes were a banana and a bit of yuccccccccccca.... Then we had our "secret friend" gift exchange, where by pure luck and no manipulation at all the two gringos out of the 30 or so people ended up having the other one as our secret friend....pure luck....no manipulation whatsoever....hmmmmm.... However, Katherine got me a sweeeeeeeeeeet barcelona jersey (ecuador, not spain), and a set of ping pong balls. Anyone who might be sending me an xmas gift feel free to include some solo cups, and you will help me bring beer pong to Ecuador!

I had my first Ecuadorian migraine here...took me out of commission for the entire day...and was immediately diagnosed as due to the 2 beers I had the night before....The Ecuadorian family medical system is very interesting here....diagnoses do not have to have any scientific reason, and the remedies are just as strange. Did you know that you´re not supposed to drink milk with a sore throat?

Things here continue to go very well, I have a steady schedule of doing crossword puzzles (I´m beginning to do the ones in spanish in the newspaper), watching movies, and playing lots and lots of cards. Arlene and I now play a rotation of 40, speed, tubes, and Egyptian ratscrew....too bad you can´t really play capitalism with two people...

Hope everything´s going well back home, and happy almost-holidays!