Basta lluvia YA

This week has been dominated by RAIN! I mean, I'm used to the rain after so many PNW years but still, my idea of moving to a tropical country (one named after being on the Equatorial line!) was that if it was going to rain, it would at least be warm and that there would be toucans and monkeys around. It has been raining up a storm here (haha), and it's freezing! It's exactly like living in the PNW except,

a) people use umbrellas here and
b) there's no indoor heating and
c) I have limited hot water.

The umbrella this is fine by me (why DON'T we use umbrellas in the PNW?), but the heating thing is a serious issue! In general, homes here don't have indoor heating (or cooling systems, for that matter) so the "put another sweater on" technique is the only warming technique. For example, I am currently wearing two pairs of socks with a heavy crocheted slipper-like sock on top of those, a t-shirt with a long sleeve shirt over it and a hooded sweatshirt, a scarf, leggings under my pants, and I'm under a blanket. No joke! You might remember that my apartment has lots of windows and there are more windows not pictured, so cold air enters easily into the apartment, making it rather igloo-like with this cold rain! On top of that, I have a hot water heater that's on a timer to save energy, so I have limited hot water time ranges (and max. 5 minutes in the shower before the hot water tank runs out- hey, it's 2 minutes more than in Chile!) and hot showers aren't always a possibility.

Today is a good example of what is expected in the PNW and what I was not expecting in Ecuador:

I woke up, ate breakfast, read about the Colombian conservative party in the 20th century, and got ready to meet a friend to walk to the Parque La Carolina to participate in a free aerobics class set to techno/reggaeton/electronica music. It wasn't raining, and the sun was even shining! I put on a sweatshirt (that I later took off), and we walked to the park. As a side note, these aerobics classes are amazing! They're led by one of several incredibly fit, 55+ men, and set to music that you don't usually hear 55+ men listening to. It's totally public, but there's a big group of mostly women all participating so it's easy to blend in. If you're lucky, you'll see women dressed like this (I saw her when I was in Ecuador a few years ago and merely watching the aerobics class):



Anyway, we went to the class, did lots of leg lifts and some complicated mambo steps all set to a bumpin' rhythm, and even managed to do the cool down stretches, when suddenly without warning, it started to DOWNPOUR. The only thing to do was to take refuge under a (sadly, almost leafless) tree with other park-goers. We waited there for at least 15 minutes, hoping the rain would pass, and then ended up getting sopping wet as we ran around in the rain, trying to find a better tree. After eating ceviche de chochos (beans, toasted corn, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, etc. included, no actual seafood) we ran again, soaked to the core where we luckily nabbed a taxi to take us home. Upon arriving home, I couldn't even warm up with a nice shower (I used up all the hot water with a morning shower), and was forced to put on the ridiculous amounts of clothing previously mentioned.

I've been drinking tea, reading more about limited democracy in Colombia, working on an essay, and drinking more tea to stay warm ever since.

This was kind of a roundabout post, but I hope that you all are staying warm back home. I heard rumors of snow in the PNW? That's when you REALLY need indoor heating, or a fireplace.