Wednesday: I met my
friend at the prison at 8:30 this morning, after which another sister met up
with us for census work in a nearby territory – which I inherited since the
recent division of service groups. We
met a nice man and had a pleasant conversation with him. At noon, I left to come back to my house to
pick up something for my bible study that I had forgotten at home.
Forgetting things at home is a real pain, because it’s never
convenient to just “swing by” and pick it up.
I arrived home around 12:45pm, heated up some lunch and ate quick and
then left again at 1:15, so I could make it to my study by 2:30.
A word about food etiquette here: It is considered rude and somewhat offensive
to decline food that has been prepared for you.
Of course, for a person like myself with a mile list of food
intolerances, this presents a challenge :(
So, I arrived precisely at 2:30pm and my study had so kindly
prepared lunch; a garlic shrimp pasta.
What’s a girl to do? As she set
the plates down, it only took one look at her face for me to know the answer –
smile graciously and eat it. Note to
self: Benedryl.
It didn’t take long for the wheat effect to kick in. My nose
felt stuffed up within 20 minutes – I could just picture the color changing
from pink to brighter red. Just about
then, she came out with a small dish of ice cream with bananas and chocolate
syrup. I psyched myself up: You can do it! Thank goodness it was only one scoop!
After the study, which ran a little overtime, I rushed to
the other end of town to meet up with a sister for another bible study before
the meeting. Thankfully, both she and
her student were also running late.
Traffic in Quito could be a blog in itself…
Then, we caught a bus to the meeting. By the time we got there, I was feeling so
tired, like I’d been running and rushing all day long. I was confident though that the sheer noise
alone from my gurgling intestines would keep me awake and alert throughout the
meeting.
I left quickly after the meeting and caught a taxi
home. $4.00! I told him it’s normally $3.00 at night
(which I normally split with another sister) and he wanted to argue with
me. Fine, mas rapido, por favor. Way to
take advantage of a girl in a hurry.
I mopped the floor and then fixed some plantains when I got
home (quite possibly my new favorite food, next to avocados, of course). I feel that after two months, I have finally perfected the art
of making them myself J
As I sat down at the table (also my desk) with my plantains,
I discovered that my internet wasn’t working.
I went through the typical diagnostics on my computer, reset the
wireless router, power-cycled the modem, etc., etc. Nothing was working. I decided that was a problem best left for
tomorrow and went to bed.
Thursday: I got up
around 5:30 this morning and threw in a load of laundry, then went to wash a
few dishes in the sink. My kitchen sink
drips/ leaks a little, unless I turn the handle real tight, especially the hot
water. When I went to turn on the hot
water, the handle spun, and water started to drip from the handle instead of
the faucet. Great! So, I washed the dishes in cold water, then did
a few more things around the house, scratched at the mild rash of hives I’d
developed from eating shrimp the day before, prior to covering it with this
“healing cream” I brought from the States, messed with my laptop and internet
again (still not working) and then left to meet up with some friends who were
coming in from Cuenca (yea!).
It was the couple I had stayed with during the Circuit
Assembly. They had some business in
Quito and I was glad to be able to return a favor. I arrived at the terminal/ station at 7:30,
but unfortunately, their bus didn’t arrive until 9:00. It’s hard to tell with these overnight buses
and it often depends on how frequently your driver stops during the night. We stopped at a café for breakfast and then I
walked with them to their appointment.
Then I hopped on the bus and went to the grocery store to
pick up a couple of items. No sooner had
I put the first item in my cart, than I got a call from them saying they were
finished. We had all anticipated that it
would be hours, due to the typically long wait time. They met me at the supermarket and then we
walked to my house together.
I decided to try to make the tomate juice I had enjoyed so
much the other week. My tomates looked
to be ripe so I gave it a shot.
Here are some photos:
First – the tomates de arbol, or tamarillos.
Next, separating the skin from the flesh of the fruit. The texture of the tomate is much like a
kiwi.
Peeled tomates
Chop, chop, chop
Next, add water and stevia (you didn’t think I was going to
use real sugar, did you?) and blend.
This blender is not good for much. I suppose that’s why it was a
free gift with my appliances.
Finally – Tomate Jugo!
Mmm – delicioso!
I went into my room to get some of the extra towels out of
the closet when I looked up and saw a scorpion.
He was actually stuck; his claw being wedged between the top of the
closet and the ceiling. I didn’t know
where he came from, how he got there or how exactly he became stuck like
that.
I sprayed him with my natural kitchen cleaner and hoped it
would prove toxic to him. He squirmed a
bit, and then I tried to ‘sweep’ him down with the broom. His little claw was hooked in there good! I tried scraping along the ceiling with the
thin side of a dust pan. He fell to the
floor. His legs were still twitching a
bit, but here are a few photos:
If I had internet at this point, I would have been googling
scorpions to find out whether or not he was poisonous… but alas, still not
working.
My friend arrived around 5:30 and kindly called the cable company for me. They were able to remotely reset the modem and I was back in business!
We then went out for dinner together and had a nice time despite the terrible service. When we returned home, however, another scorpion in the bathroom! I know my guests must not have believed me when I said I've never had them in the house before. I was so embarrassed (and a bit creeped out)! We did a thorough check of closets, drawers and beds before going to bed tonight and I tried to seal off any obvious openings where they might be coming into the house. It occurred to me that perhaps they had been in that mulch I purchased the other day when I re-potted my herbs... hmm. Regardless, they were not welcome to stay! I will be buying some insect repellent tomorrow for sure. Although I learned that all scorpions are venomous, this particular kind of scorpion is not deadly. To a human, the sting is equivalent to that of a bee sting - well, that's good news I suppose. Sweet dreams...
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