Tuesday, July 26, 2011

The straight shave

If you have been following this blog over the last few years, you will know that I am fascinated by facial hair. As I was shaving last night, I realized I hadn't blogged about another facial hair-related occasion that happened a few months ago. Excuse the delay, but I feel this is something that belongs on this blog.

When I was home in May, I was growing a pretty healthy beard, but I was ready for a fresh start. I was talking to my friend on the phone, and I mentioned that I was thinking about shaving my beard (what do you talk about with your friends?). He said he was also at that stage with his facial hair.

So I asked him if he wanted to go to get a straight razor shave.

This was the most common form of shaving before the development of the disposable razor in the 1950s, and I feel it was an integral part of barber shop culture that I missed out. Apparently there is only one barber in the Detroit area that offers this service - The Lincoln Barber. Luckily, this is also where my friend went to get his haircut throughout his youth, so he already had a good rapport with the barbor, Jeff.



Before he even started removing my facial hair, Jeff gave it a nice, long look. Then he said in his Russian accent "You grow a nice beard." Not too many people have complimented me on my beard growth, but I don't know if you can get a high beard-related compliment than from a barber. It's like Joan Nathan complimenting your kugel.

This man has seen thousands of beards in his life. Do you think he says that to all of his customers? Maybe. But I want to think he actually thought I had good growth.



So then he applied the lather and covered my face in a hot towel to open the pores. Then he went to work, giving me the best shave I had ever had. For the next couple of days, I would rub my face to feel how soft it was.



I also spent the next few days saying "You have nice beard" in my generic Eastern European accent.

If you would like to learn more about the straight razor shave, the YouTube will provide a nice little video.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

On nicknames

In Ecuador, nicknames typically describe your appearance.

If you are skinny, you will forever be called Flaco.
If you are chubby, you will forever be called Gordo.
If you are light-skinned, you will always be Suco.
If you have cat-like eyes, you will be called Gato.
If you have squinty eyes, you will be Chino.
If you are dark-skinned, you will be Negro

When your nickname doesn´t describe your physical appearance, it could describe one of your family members.

If you have a hot sister, other guys will probably be called cuñado (brother-in-law).
If you have a hot daughter, other guys will probably be called suegro (father-in-law).

Because I'm not privy to these kinds of conversations with Ecuadorian females, I don't now if they work both ways. I'm not sure if women call girls with hot brother cuñada (sister-in-law) or mothers with an attractive son (suegra).

I would venture to say that they don't, but I'll try and do some research to confirm this hunch.

Otherwise, your nickname could be some shortened version of your first or last name. Or in rare occasions, your friends could actually call you by your name. But this is quite rare.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Another state of exception

Last time Ecuador declared a state of exception, the police went on strike and might have held the president prisoner. It was a pretty unnerving time.

Ecuador declared another state of exception this week. The reason: tainted moonshine.

In the last few days, more than 20 people have died and more than a 100 hundred hospitalized after consuming bad alcohol.

From what I have read of America's alcohol consumption and production before prohibition, Ecuador seems very similar. There are several locally produced forms of hard liquor that go unregulated by the government. It is very common in the countryside where extremely potent beverages can be purchased for next to nothing.

These are often made by fermenting sugar cane in an "artisan" manner. I don't really know what they mean by "artisan." I assume they just throw the sugar juice in a vat for a few weeks and forget about it.

Apparently, someone must have messed up in making puro, as it is often referred to here. And instead of producing ethyl alcohol, they made and distributed methyl alcohol.

Ethyl alcohol is the alcohol used in alcoholic drinks. Methyl alcohol is used in the production of formaldehyde and antifreeze. Consuming as little as 10 ml of methyl alcohol can lead to blindness.

So the government has suspended all liquor sales for the next three days, and the army is authorized to stop any sale or production of these beverages.

Hopefully this sad situation resolves itself in the next few days, and the government can identify the source of the tainted booze and clean up the operation of these moonshine businesses.

As was the case when the beer company nearly shut down its operations, I'd be worried if this prohibition on booze sales continues much longer.

Friday, July 15, 2011

The dog ate my home work

I normally spend my Thursday nights baking challah for Friday night dinner.

Some of my coworkers asked me to teach them how to make the challah. So instead of baking bread in my apartment last night, I figured I could use the kitchen at work for the cooking class and take home the final product of the lesson (The Spanish phrase getting many things done with one action would be "de una").

The activity got off to a great start. It was my coworker's first time every making bread, and she was really excited when we were mixing the ingredients.

We left the dough in a pot with a glass top out in the sun for the first rise. The dough must have tripled in size. It was pretty outstanding.

Then we braided the loaves and set them out to rise again. But we decided to let them rise on the counter in the kitchen instead of out in the sun.

When I went back into the kitchen 40 minutes later to turn the oven on, the loaves weren't there.

I looked around the kitchen for evidence. Maybe someone had moved them. They had been having some issues with pests in the kitchen. I checked in all the cabinets and in the oven. Nothing.

On the ground outside the kitchen, I saw some pieces of crumpled up tin foil that might have been used for the bread.

What kind of animal would be able to climb up on the counter and grab the tin foil?

The only animals at the Peace Corps Training Center are a pair of dogs. One of them is so pregnant she can hardly move. The other has at least four bad legs, a bad hip, has a huge head, can't stop slobbering, and can barely walk up steps. He usually needs someone to give him a boost to get up the steps.

I didn't think that either of these dogs could scale the three-foot counter to reach the foil.

I walked around outside and saw the floppy dog taking down the last bit of dough.

At least someone enjoyed my challah this week.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Quito and its running culture

When I was living in Arenillas, I would jog in the mornings.

It was a great way for me to be active and kill the time between when I woke up at 6:00 a.m. to the scent of my neighbors burning plastic and 8:00 a.m. when city hall opened.

A small group of people would also walk/run in the morning along a stretch of highway on the outskirts on town, but for the most part, the other Peace Corps Volunteer in Arenillas and I were the only people in town who recreationally ran more than five kilometers.

I'm pretty sure most people thought we were nuts.

So when I moved up to Quito at the beginning of June, I didn't expect to find a thriving running culture. I was wrong.

Five days after I got up here, nearly 20,000 people participated in the Ultimas Noticias 15 km run.



The streets were packed with runners and lined with spectators along the entire route. It was really refreshing to see people so interested in fitness.



This isn't a once-a-year thing. People run in Quito all year. There are tons of people who run in the park near our apartment every morning. On Sundays, they close off one of the main north-south roads to motorized traffic and only open it to bikers and runners.

I'm not exactly sure where this comes from. Ecuador's only Olympic medalist is speed walker Jefferson Perez (and you do see a several speed walkers in the park), but I don't think he inspired a running revolution. The Ultimas Noticias run has been happening for over 50 years now, and Perez won his medal just over a decade ago.

Last week, I participated in the Quito half marathon. This was only the event's fifth year, so it doesn't quite have the following of the Ultimas Noticias run or the Mitad del Mundo Medio Maraton (which is held in November and apparently attracts over 10,000 runners) but it was still a good experience.

My roommate and I have been training for this race for the last few months. It was the longest run she had ever participated it, and I was excited to run this distance at altitude.



You can see my excitement in that picture, which was taken a little over halfway through the race.

I was really pleased with my time and am looking forward to participating in other upcoming runs. For the next couple of weeks though, I'm going to let my legs recover and take it easy.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Cómo se hace jala

During the time I lived in Arenillas, I baked challah every Friday night for shabbat dinner. My friends in Arenillas really liked the bread and have wanted to learn how to make it. So I put a little how-to video on the YouTube.