Okay, so there have been a number of times that local folks ask me “what I do?” or “what is my work?”…While my real job is to help Todd with his job (as a secretary, maid, hand-shaker, networker, sexual minx for Todd, or whatever else)…I also have my own projects too.
I always like to say that I’m a writer. Not that that my “hobby” thus far has made us any money, but I feel pretty confident these days with 55 posts under my belt so far on this blog to say: “I am a writer” in Spanish.
Turns out I’ve been saying all this time “I am a desk” (escritorio).
To Todd’s credit, he pointed out to me that at least I’ve been saying I’m a female desk (“escritoria” –we’re not even sure now that is a word in Espanol).
The word for a “writer/female” is “escritora”…Just one itty bitty letter difference, but BIG distinction in Espanol.
One of my Ecuadorian local friends kindly pointed out this “minor” error to me recently.
Sort of like all the times I would call myself “estupido” (stupid) about something, which in fact, at times in parts of South America can also sometimes mean “asshole”…
Great – just great – I’ve been walking around calling myself a desk AND also occasionally an asshole too.
My Espanol still officially sucks.
For the last year or so, Todd and I have been discussing getting tattoos (which would be a first for both of us) to commemorate our marriage a little over a year ago (in the Estados Unidos, after almost seven years together at that time), and since neither of us care to wear rings or officially change our last names (which hyphenated would be something like Frost-Hebert – yes, dignified in writing, but say that out loud….equals “Frostybear”*). Anyway, we haven’t quite decided when or where to do this, but probably not at this Montanita location. I’m pretty sure all those beers lessoned the pain of this guy’s procedure.
I’ve mentioned before my respect for Ecuadorians’ resourcefulness and ingenuity. As just another example, I’ve included pictures (and video below) of our friend Jorge and his sons, Teo and Carlos, working on a construction project adjacent to their street-side tienda. Todd and I watched with admiration a few weeks ago as they were moving cement beams (that had to weigh at least 500 pounds each) from one location to another. It gave us a whole new appreciation and insight as to how the ancient pyramids of Egypt were built (or the statues - "moai" - scattered and moved around Easter Island miles from the rock quarry) probably were accomplished.
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| Improvised benches on the soccer field. |
Additionally, I couldn’t resist adding a couple of other pictures of Ecuadorian inventiveness. There really is an attitude of “waste not, want not” here; one that we’ve more and more embraced since living in Ecuador, and a subject I’ll probably expound on more in a later post.
These next pictures are of a cardboard ceiling held in place with nails pounded through beer bottle caps (I guess as "washers" of some sort). I´m not sure the first picture shows this clearly, so I also am including a close-up.
* "Indio to Idyllwild"
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