El clasico del astillero

As some of you are aware, starting with some friends I made in college, then growing when I was in Spain, and even more so when I was in Costa Rica, I’m a soccer fan (or football as we should call it). So, before coming to Guayaquil, I did some research of the big teams in the city and in Ecuador, and figured out who I would cheer for. It was pretty easy. The two huge teams in Guayaquil are Emelec and Barcelona (there’s on more top flight team, but it’s not a big deal). I’m a Real Madrid fan, whose arch rival in Spain is FC Barcelona (the team in Guayaquil named themselves after the Spanish club and adopted/stole their logo). So, it was Emelec. Even better, Emelec plays in Estadio George Capwell, named after the American businessman who was elemental in the early operations of the Empresa Electrica de Ecuador-the national power company. Em-El-Ec a sort of acronym of the company’s name was used as a nickname, and the team used it. Originally, the team was made up of workers for the company. Like a true American, Capwell built the stadium for baseball, but the workers were not interested, so eventually the stadium was converted for use by the soccer team (or so the story goes). 

(before the game, the stadium filling up)

So, my second week at work I sent out a short introductory email to all of the local staff. Our office of about 30 people is 2/3 Ecuadorians (although a few of them have double nationality (US/Spain). I did include in the email that I was going to be an “Emelecista” because I can’t stand FC Barcelona. This won me some friendly responses, and apparently caused a bit of stir with some Barcelona fans. Hopefully no one was too angry. But, Byron, one of the young guys in the office, chatted me up because he’s “Emelecista a la muerte” or ‘Emelec fan until I die.’ He asked me if I’d be interested in going to the Clasico del Astillero, or Shipyard Classic, which is the big game between Emelec and Barcelona. They play 4 a year, but it’s still a huge deal. The rivalry is so intense that lots of police are involved and sometimes the opposing teams fans have been barred from entering (like if you have blue shirt on you can’t come in). Barcelona has won the league 14 times, Emelec 12. El Nacional (a team from Quito) has 13 titles. Emelec is two time defending champion though. 

(through the fence, the real fans singing)

Emelec’s stadium is under construction, so it was played at a national stadium used for tracks and more often, concerts. Byron picked me up, then two of his friends, then we bought 10 beers and parked a few blocks from the stadium, and cooled off with a few brews before the game. We had pretty good seats, in that we were right next to the section for the “real” fans/hooligans-whatever you want to call them. The people that stand up the whole game, wave flags, and chant/sing every five minutes. The game was great for us, as Emelec won 2-0. They scored in the 72nd and 84th minutes, and Barcelona had a few good chances late, so it was an exciting second half. 

(the yellow section is fenced off for the visiting fans)

Even more excitement came after the game. We rushed out of the stadium, as it’s well known that the opposing teams fans (in this case Barcelona) roam the streets after the game looking to torment the other team’s fans. Like physically. Back when he was 16, Byron got caught up in this mess with one of his friends, they didn’t hurt her, but they punched him in the face enough that his braces cut up his gums and his shirt was covered in blood as he stumbled away. So, we were on the lookout-this same friend was with us. So, we walked quickly towards the car, every other corner we’d see people running towards us (other Emelec fans evading the punks) and we’d turn and jog along with them. Needless to say my wallet and phone were in my hand. We did this for about 10 minutes. Then we turned a corner and could see a pickup of Barcelona fans cruising down the road-so we actually were running this time. We stopped about two blocks later-but amid the confusion had lost his two friends. We looked around for them a bit, then made it back to the car.

Byron’s phone was dead, and he didn’t have a charger in his phone. He didn’t know his friend’s number, nor his Facebook password, so I found her on Twitter and sent a few tweets and direct messages. We drove around a bit looking for them, but eventually he took me home. His two friends had kept on running, and jumped on a public bus, then got off at a mall-and only then took their phones out of their purses and called a taxi. She, logically, didn’t check Twitter until she was home. I can’t wait to go to the next game!!!!

(heading out of the stadium)

Mi casa

One of the biggest perks of the Foreign Service is that you get free housing. The housing is sometimes owned by the State Department, but I think generally they have the houses on long term leases. Foreign Service personnel come in many varieties, some married with three or four kids. Some in semi-retirement “second careers” and some young and single like me. A combination of security concerns and high standards (by other folks, not me) leads this housing to be super posh. And most houses are ready for at least a couple with a kid or two, so there’s lots of extra space for a lonely single guy like me. A funny quirk is that some American (buy America act) furniture company supplies all the furniture for all Foreign Service housing worldwide. So, it may be a different type of house in a totally different environment, but everyone has the same tan/green/yellow couches. Not only do I not have to pay rent anymore, but I’ve got my own bathroom, walk in closet, full size fridge to myself and very nice brand new washers and dryers. Please keep paying your taxes. 

One thing you may note are the bars on the windows, and the cage that surrounds the upstairs bedrooms. Security is a big concern for our residences, more so in some countries than others, yet the standards are pretty much the same worldwide, so our homes are outfitted with additional security measures. Most of them don't cause many issues, so it's a nice have-especially in a town where home robberies are fairly common, it's nice knowing there's really no feasible way of breaking in without causing all sorts of damage and noise. 

Sorry about the lighting, I took the pictures at night.

My house is in a (loosely) gated community called Puerto Azul. It has somewhere around 8,000 residents and a wide variety of housing. There are veritable mansions with tennis courts and 6 car garages. There is also a big apartment building and a few sets of 1-2 bedroom townhouse complexes. Most of the houses seem to be of the 3-4 bedroom single family home variety. Very few garages as you’d think of them in the U.S., but more just carports. Almost every house has a cement wall or wrought iron gate, or combination around the entire property. Some houses have very well manicured gardens and yards. There are also a fair amount of vacant lots, overgrown with weeds. I’ll do a neighborhood tour blog at some point.

My house has three bedrooms, each with a full bath and walk in closet. One is downstairs, right off the front doorway. The other two are upstairs. It has an open foyer and stairway. The main floor includes the kitchen, breakfast nook, laundry room, a storage room with a tiny full bath attached (maid’s quarters), a family room, and dining room. There’s a back patio, with paving stones and a garden along the wall. Patio table and chairs included. The State Department does set up the houses with a welcome kit, which includes things like some flatware, pots and pans, toaster, microwave, broom, small trash cans, and things like that. Once my final shipment arrives, I give almost all of those things back. Or so is my understanding. 

The other bedroom upstairs came with a bed, so that’s the guest room. The one downstairs has only been entered once or twice since I moved in, to put some extra stuff in there, and to take the picture below. I’ll explain more about shipping things in the Foreign Service in another post, but needless to say that all of my pictures and maps for the walls haven’t arrived yet. So, you see the house mostly as it came, except for my room, which is still pretty sparse though. Because of the ample storage space in my closet, I have almost nothing in the two dressers. Just some books, files, and magazines. But I have file cabinets coming for those. 

The house is in pretty good condition, there are few parts of the kitchen where you can tell they kind of just slapped the cabinets together. It’s tile floors throughout the house. There are wall air conditioners in most of the rooms. I feel super fortunate to be living in such a nice place, it’s quite a luxury. Hopefully my shipment will arrive sometime soon so I can feel a bit more at home (and have some bowls-there were oddly none in the flatware provided). 

From top to bottom, we move from the bottom to the top of the house. Don’t get lost. The front doorway (taken from the family room), looking up at the cage, the landing at the top of the stairs, the second bedroom, the second bedroom’s walk-in closet, and the bathroom. 

The living/family room and the dining room. One of the big chairs was up in my room, but I liked it better down in the family room. My TV will go on the left side of the picture, where you see a little DVD player on that cabinet. The dining room table has leaves to expand it, but there are already five too many chairs. 

Sorry, not the greatest pics, some of the angles are a bit hard to get. But this is the downstairs bedroom, and the walk-in closet that is off of the bathroom. 

Top, from the kitchen, looking into the laundry room. Middle, looking from the laundry room into the storage room and bathroom/maid’s quarters. Bottom, the downstairs bathroom.

The kitchen. Each photo taken from the same spot, just turned around. To the left of the middle picture is the breakfast nook. Or to the right of the top picture. The laundry room is opposite of the breakfast nook. That's all, thanks for scrolling all the way to the bottom. 

Iguanas and poor Internet

Soooo, it’s not totally my fault that I haven’t posted an update in so long. It’s mostly my fault though. I did mean to post something on Sunday, but until today (March 11) my internet was woefully slow and often barely working. But, I was able to get that fixed. It’s actually a story with a bit of a twist. Last week I received a call, just a day or two after my internet was installed, from TVCable, the main phone/internet/cable company here. But they were calling to install a phone in my supervisor’s house. I was confused, but told them I wasn’t her, that my installation had already happened. 

Then, last night, I get a call looking for some random person. I have them repeat the name, and realize they are attempting to say the name of another guy that works at the Consulate. I told them I wasn’t him, but that I do work with him, and I offered to give TVCable his phone number. The caller was quite gracious, and said that my name was listed as the contact person for the Consulate’s account. I’m guessing that maybe because I’m the most recent person to have filled out a contract that mine is on the top of the pile. So, I told him that I shouldn’t be listed as the contact, gave him my coworker’s number, and tried to allay his fears that my coworker couldn’t understand Spanish by saying that he could call the office tomorrow (and gave him the number) and that this coworker had an Ecuadorian assistant that could translate. There are certain jobs in the Consulate that don’t really require any foreign language skills, so, I wasn’t sure what my coworker’s level was. While I had the guy on the phone I complained about my poor connection, he analyzed my account, said he thought he knew that the deal was. Tonight my internet is back to normal and the same rep called me back confirming he’d solved the problem. I’m hoping he removed me as the contact. 

Oh, I promise to get to posting more about my house, job, moving here, and some fun anecdotes from talking to 70 or 80 different people a day about why they want to go to America. Eventually that number is supposed to be more like 110-120 people, but I’m told I’ll get faster as I get more experienced. There actually is quite a bit to learn. So for now, here are some pictures of iguanas. There are lots of iguanas in Ecuador. I’m hoping none get trapped in my room like happened in Costa Rica, but, based on how many I’ve seen, it’s certainly a possibility.  

This chubby guy was hanging out at the park across from the cathedral. Which is sometimes called ‘Parque de las iguanas’ but only had 5 or 6 the day I visited with a colleague.

Another resident of "Iguana Park"

 

The other day a colleague of mine hosted a get together with other Returned Peace Corps Volunteers at her house, and we invited 8 or 9 current volunteers to enjoy some beers, bbq pork sandies, potato salad, coleslaw, and apple crumble with ice cream-which was a nice treat for them for sure. We were lounging by the pool when this guy came exploring.