Shake It Up

Last night was the last day of orientation and thus we embarked to the Bodeguita de Cuba to celebrate. It turns out that "Cuban" Ecuadorian food isnt too different from normal Ecuadorian food....basically a whole lot of rice, some kind of bland meat such as a chicken leg, fresh and delicious blackberry juice, a leaf of lettuce with some chopped tomato that may or may not make you sick, and a side of carbs (most likely potatoes, yucca, or fried plantains, which a bitter green starchy banana). As the groups collected at the warm, tropical restaurnat located in the neighborhood natives call "Gringolandia" or "White/Foreinger-person land", we reflected about the past 4 weeks and spent some much needed down-time getting to know each other better. The real fun came after the meal when the lights were suddenly dimmed and bottles filled with rice were distributed around the room to keep time with live music that had commenced unexpectedly. After having struggled our way through over 75 hours or TEFOL training and over 50 additional hours of both cultural and language training, we gringos got crazy with those shakers. We shook it to the left, to the right, and even banged it on the tables. We shook it with all the passion that had been building up over the weeks as our Ecuadorian counterparts outdanced us at the clubs, discos and family gatherings, mocking our sense of rhythm. And we didnt stop there. We keep on shaking it right outta that restaurant and across the street to a local pub about the size of a walk-in closet where we proceeded to order skunked gigantic bottles of beer for $1 and sing happy birthday with the locals. We then headed back onto the street, still shaking it, until we found the nearest karoake bar. And Ecua-karoake isnt your average karoake either. It is filled with blantly wrong English translations that pop up on that screen, and a program that actually rates your performance based on a program that matches your pitch and tone to the original artist. And did I mention that there is one of these establishments on every corner? The people here are obsessed. After Kane´s rendition of "You´ve Lost That Loving Feeling", my best effort at "Rhiannon", and Mike´s "I´m Too Sexy For My Shirt", we had not just shaken up that karaoke bar, but the entire city. It was so great to bond with these amazing people and give the Ecuadorians a run for their money. I wonder where the nearest karoake bar in Ibarra is? I guess I find out tomorrow, when I arrive.