How to Make Chocolate

We made chocolate while we in La Y. Clara, the German volunteer, showed us how to do it.

It's a fun process, and a lot more work than I thought!

Here's how you get chocolate:

First you have a cacao tree. They are native to the tropic regions of the Americas, and only grow within 20 degrees of the equator.

There are wild cacao trees growing all over the area around La Y.

Cacao pods, not fully ripened.

Ripe cacao pods are yellow. Inside, the cacao beans are covered in a white fruity pulp.

The pulpy beans sit for a few days while the while pulp ferments, a necessary process. Supposedly it removes the bitter taste.

(this picture taken from the internet)

Then, the beans are laid out to dry for at least a week, preferably in the sun.

When it's not rainy, we've seen piles of cacao beans drying like this in Quininde.

(this picture taken from the internet)

Beans after being dried.

The beans are roasted for about an hour. Then the thin brittle shell of each bean is removed. We did this process by hand. It took a long time.
Roasting turns them a nice dark color and brings out the chocolate smell and flavor.
You put the beans into a grinder like this, crank the handle....

....and you get this! Chocolate!

{I'm sure the Hershey factory uses a much more refined process.}

It was fun to make, but in the end the chocolate tasted like burnt wood. When we made hot chocolate with milk and tons of sugar, it wasn't too bad!

More La Y

This month we spent nearly two weeks in La Y, the longest stretch for Owen and I. It's always a little challenging getting there and adjusting to the different life there, but our two weeks weren't too bad and we caught up on a lot of sleep. Josh's work load at the clinic was on-and-off busy, and he was thankful there weren't any life-threatening or middle-of-the night emergencies.

The rainy season in this part of Ecuador starts in January and goes until sometime in May. So we got quite a few serious rains while we were there! It would rain so hard on the tin roofs of the houses that it was often deafening and we could barely even hear ourselves talk. And lots of rain also=lots of mud.

This is the preferred footwear during the rainy season due to the mud, even little kids have tiny boots.

Some video of the rain:

We know everyone really looks at the blog for pics of Owen so here are some classics. Owen saying 'hi' with one of our nurses, Katy.

Owen does pretty good at sitting up on his own now.

Everyone loves a bucket bath with rain water.


Lots of way cool bugs. Even Owen got a kick out of them.


Owen makes friends everywhere he goes.

Here he is with Orrlei and Adrian who call him 'Owen Chiquito' and would come up to play almost every day.

More friends in La Y. Clara, a German volunteer, and two local kids Myelin and Anderson.

Mommy and the monster

Daddy and the hammock man

Melanie got another spa pedicure.

Josh put on a suturing workshop with some borrowed sutures and a cow leg from the recent village slaughter. He did this for Clara who really wants to be a doctor.

This time there seemed to be a bunch of creepy crawly bugs. We thought we'd share by showing some of our favorite pics of our many legged friends.

(and check out Josh's sweet lambchops in the background)

Here's a big pseudoscorpion Melanie found on an early morning trip to the bathroom.

A rather large centipede that joined us in the kitchen one night. {disgusting}

A *little* tarantula friend.

This is the formidable conga ant that supposedly has the most painful sting in the insect kingdom. Don't worry, we didn't let Owen near it!

Pretty moths

One of the large jungle snails that are all over

Owen Meets Rice Cereal

We were going to wait until Owen was 6 months old to start him on solids, but decided we was ready to get a taste of some delicious food. We started with rice cereal. We think he needs a little more exposure before he officially decides that solid foods are yummy!

Reflections

We've been living in Ecuador for over three months now, and I thought I'd write some of my reflections about our experience thus far.

I can't imagine moving to a third-world country is ever easy, for anyone (except maybe if you've already lived in a third-world country). And yet, here I did it, with an 8 week old baby nonetheless! People often say they can't believe we are doing this, and half the time I can't believe it either. Who willingly puts their life on hold to move a newborn to a third-world country? Not very many people apparently.

But life is now settled in Quito and is somewhat routine. Josh hasn't always had enough work to make it completely routine. And I don't feel quite as crazy anymore. I've met enough other crazy Americans who have moved here for whatever reason, and when all us crazies are together we tend to think we're normal.

We can kind of get lost in our own American life we've created in our apartment, and we often forget we are even in a third-world country. We have cable TV with NBC, ABC, and CBS. We have internet. We cook American meals. We have Kraft macaroni and cheese and Oreos, how much more American can you get? It's nice to have some of the comforts of home to help with the culture shock. Things I don't usually eat back home I crave here, just because it's made in the US and I know it's available. Though a small box of Entenmann's is $7 or $8! Don't think we'll be getting any of those.

Every time we leave our apartment we are reminded that yes, we are indeed living in a different country! Life here is very similar to what we're used to, but there are some minor and major differences that have taken getting used to. There are things we're still trying to get used to. It's all a part of the culture shock. I wouldn't say we are still in the shock phase of culture shock. Culture shock has different stages and I'd say we're in the Gradual Adjustment stage. We've already been excited about everything new, we've already experienced irritation and pointed out all the problems. Now we're slowing understanding the way things are, and the culture is feeling more natural. I still don't agree with everything, but it's just the way of life here.

Things I've taken note of:

*pedestrians have no right-of-way on the streets. watch out or you'll get hit. the cars don't like to slow down.

*there is no sense of time--ugency of time, importance of being on time, efficiency with your time. things routinely start late (unless it's church, which for some reason starts 5 minutes early).

*you must check your bags at any large store. the stores have lockers or cubbies at the entrance. if you try to walk in with your bag they'll grab you and make you give them your bag.

*guards wearing bullet-proof vests, and often carrying guns, stand in front of all banks, and many stores, even inexpensive restaurants.

*it's often difficult to pay for things with $10 or $20 dollar bills (US currency here). and if the total isn't an even dollar, (ex: $4.37) they'll always ask if you have the cents amount ($0.37) so they don't have to break a dollar and give you change back.

*kids (and adults) often spend their entire day selling gum/cough drops/candy/corn/beans/bananas on street corners.

*everyone (well, mostly the women) greets one another with a kiss to the cheek

*you can't push your grocery cart through the checkout line. the bag-boy bags your things, loads them onto a different cart, and they always help customers out to their car. this is so they can get a tip. unless, of course, you don't have a car and you have to carry everything home.

*they don't sell any candy at the grocery store checkouts, usually just razors, toothbrushes, and batteries.

*when eating at a restaurant, they never just bring you the bill. you must always ask for it. and they don't take your drink order first, usually with the main order.

*rice is served everywhere. you can order it at KFC and McDonald's.

*all the babies are dressed like they're ready for a snow storm--layers and layers. the temp is usually in the 60's or 70's.



These things aren't bad. Just different. Things we've had to get used to and are pretty much used to by now.

Most the people here are all very nice (everyone but the theives who stole our things). It has been so great getting to know the people here and getting to know a different culture. It is so eye opening! It makes me appreciate everything back home SO much more! Especially the English language. I don't think I'll look at things in the US the same way ever again. At least I hope I don't. I hope I always appreciate everything so much more.

It has been so great to get to see the country of Ecuador, the beautiful mountain highlands and the greener, denser (though disappearing) jungles closer to the coast. (We still haven't made our way to the Amazon region, but we hope to). We've been able to see things because Josh hasn't had a lot of work. He wants work and isn't real happy about his situation, but because of a combination of poor management at FHN and too many doctors available and lack of good communication, he's had a lot of down time. In order to stay busy we've tried to do and see as much as we can. We've decided we like the mountain highlands better than the humid jungles. We love the fresh air, the fragrant smell of the trees, the cool breezes, the great hikes. We have loved trying new foods--within reason. (I won't dare touch most foods sold at their markets!)

We have more fun trips planned, in hopes of getting the most out of our experience here. We want to enjoy the next 5 months and want to make good memories of Ecuador. It really is the experience of a lifetime! During the times I feel bored, upset, or lonely I try to remember how lucky we are to have this experience. And, it's especially nice to not be in the US during this awful recession time. No jobs to worry about losing, no house payments to make.

So, even though this whole experience hasn't been easy, and Josh hasn't had consistent work, and I'm sometimes in Quito by myself when Josh is working, and traveling around in buses isn't always fun, and sometimes we get a little sick from the food, and we miss our families, I am happy and grateful for the experiences we are having. And overall we are having a great and fun time!!

New fruit for the week

This new fruit we tried this week is really good.

It's called a Yellow Pitahaya, also known as Yellow Dragon Fruit.

(as opposed to regular Pitahayas, which are pink or red)

It grows on a cactus vine, and is native to Central and South America.

It's easiest to eat by cutting in half and then easily scooping out the white flesh with a spoon.

The tiny black seeds are also edible.

It has a very refreshing taste- not too sweet, not too strong. It reminds me of a watermelon in ways, but with a texture more like a kiwi.

So if you happen across one of these, try it. I'm sure you'll like it!!

p.s.

Have you ever seen corn on the cob that looked like this? The kernels look like sharp teeth!

more videos

We finally were able to get good video of Owen rolling over, from his tummy to his back! He can now roll from his back to his tummy, but we don't have any video of that yet.

Daddy having some fun play time with Owen:

Five Months Old

The past five months have been so fun with Owen, and it's fun to look back and see how much he's changed. It's amazing how babies literally change overnight! There are many days when out of the blue he does something new. I am so happy we have him here with us in Ecuador, otherwise I don't know what I'd do with all my time! It is a joy to be able to spend so much time with him.

Here's what he's been up to this past month:

*Everything goes in the mouth. Everything. We call him our little bull dog because when he wants something he'll shake his head back and forth and nearly attack the item he wants.

*He love to grab things. Especially hair. I might have to start wearing a ponytail every day. He's really good at grabbing and picking up his toys.

*He can pull his pacifier out of his mouth, then put it back in.

*He pays much more attention to things...he watches what I do, he notices when I leave the room and sometimes even fusses or cries when he can't see me, he'll twist and turn his head around just to be able to watch the TV (we're going to have to start limiting TV watching time!)

*He had made his bedtime between 6:00 and 7:00, but still wakes up at least once a night to eat, and lately twice a night.

*He usually goes down for naps easily during the day, but in the afternoons he fights it as hard and long as he can. He'd rather stay awake and play. At night he goes down easily after reading him "The Going To Bed Book."

*He likes to sleep with his arms out of his swaddle, his arms up by his head.

*He rolled over from his back to his tummy. Only once so far. He loves to turn and lay on his side though.

*He still loves being outside and it often calms him right down.

*People tell me they think he's growing hair. I sometimes wonder if they just say that to be nice.

*He is pretty vocal. He often jabbers to himself, laughs at my silly faces and voices, squeals in delight, screams in frustration.

*He laughs when I blow on his belly.

*He loves it when other people come up to him to talk and smile at him. He loves the attention and usually gives a big smile back.

*He's been eating a lot more as of late, and we just might have to start some rice cereal this month!

hopefully this won't be his reaction when we start solids...

New Year's

We spent New Year's Eve at Hacienda Guachala, 1 hour north of Quito. This is the oldest hacienda in Ecuador, dating back to 1580. It was converted into a hotel in 1993. It was a fun place to stay...it had an indoor swimming pool, hammocks to relax in, horses, hiking, plus an entertainment room fully equipped with a pool table, pingpong table, direct TV, internet, books, and a fireplace.

This is an old church on the property, and it's about 100 years old. It has been converted to a museum and inside were a bunch of old pictures of Ecuador and also other places in the world.

The hacienda is located in beautiful Andean country. Nearby is Volcano Cayambe, the third tallest volcano in Ecuador, but we were never able to see the top because it was always covered in clouds.

That night they had a special dinner and a New Year's celebration. They had promised a pyrotechnic show, and they had this strange spinning thing that let off firecrackers and such. It was pretty cool.

They also built two big bonfires. They kept us toasty warm during the cold night.

We learned about a couple new year's traditions of Ecuador. I'm not sure if they're specific to Ecuador, or if other countries do these as well.

First of all, they say goodbye to the Old Year, or "Anyo Viejo" (sorry can't type the letter 'enyay' from my computer) by burning it. The Old Year is usually represented by a life-size dummy wearing a paper mache mask. We had a mini dummy, and it didn't have a mask. But at midnight, we threw him in the bonfire! This represents the burning away of any misfortunes and bad memories that happened in the old year, and you look ahead to new hope and happiness. We burned away all our memories of the thefts we've had here in Ecuador (we've been a bit unlucky).

The other tradition is to eat 12 grapes at midnight. One grape for each month, and all your hopes, wishes, and desires will come true in the new year. Josh really enjoyed his grapes. :)
This was Owen at midnight....
he totally slept through everything, even all the loud music they were playing!

....but he is quite cute when he is awake.

New Years Day we walked about a mile north of the hacienda to the equator, where they had this monument.

It's designed as a sundial, and all the lines and the eight-pointed star have special meanings, all of which I find somewhat complicated, but it is all really cool.

Owen took the oportunity to stand on the equator again. He was much more cooperative than the last time he stood on the equator.

Happy New Year everyone!!!