Bragging about money

My bedroom view.  It smelled of burned oil.

My budget in Ecuador:  $6/day.
And I usually enjoyed my lifestyle.

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I'd lived there about 7 months already, and was quietly frustrated with this white guy who was constantly bragging about how many thousands of dollars he pulled in on his real estate deals.  He spent rolls of cash on beer and in bars and ate out at real restaurants all the time, unlike me.  My $1.50 rice-based lunch on street carts was good and filling, as were plantains for breakfast, but I sometimes wished I had more money to eat like a lower class American.
One day this guy asked me to hang out with him and his friends.  I told him I didn't have the money to get burgers and drinks.  He said he would buy.
He didn't buy, and I was stuck with the $4.50 bill.  I was shocked and offended and said nothing.  Pennies to him were almost a day's budget for me.  I couldn't afford it.  That was the last time I bothered to go out with him.
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I lived with Maira, a local woman my age.  I am SO blessed to have found her!  We shared a bedroom in an apartment right off a main street.  My bedroom view was a auto shop which reeked of burned greese.  They started yelling at 7 am.  And boy was it dusty...



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I vividly remember the words told to me as I was pulled aside.  We were standing in Manta, Ecuador.
My friend said I was a bit too noisy in telling people about the money I had.  The money I had???

Ventilation is holes in ceiling cement blocks

My income was about $50 a week, and I rarely spent money on anything.  I hadn't even purchased a fan to push air around my stagnant 100+ degree apartment.  I skipped the $25 paragliding session in Crucitas, the $20 whale watching boat tour leaving from Manta, ate the local ice cream only once a month ($2.25 a cone!), and God only knows how many other amazing, "cheap" activities in the name of budget.
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Minimum wage in Ecuador is $200 / month.  Often construction laborers work 10-12 hour days and are paid $10.  They do not have money to put shoes on their children's feet.
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I suppose I was shocked because, in my opinion, I was living a fairly humble lifestyle.  No souvenirs, super cheap apartment in an awful location ($40/ month, next to an auto garage), no shopping in the mall or even the Safeway-like grocery store.  I taught part time at Wall Street Institute, a local English school.  They were fair to me, in relation to local wages, and I am grateful to have had the employment. 

Beautiful Mayra

I never internally resolved this comment.  Perhaps my understanding of living meagerly on a tight and small budget will never measure up to that of the middle class in Ecuador.  Or perhaps, I promised my friend a burger and simply forgot to buy -

 The bathroom was so small my knees were touching the opposite wall while I was peeing.  I lived kiddy-corner to the police.  One block away, a couple was held at gunpoint during the daytime.  (Further motivation to leave for Colombia.)   In front of my aparrtment was a playground.  I loved it!  And I kept my belongings in garbage bags until I built shelving.

January flowers - Believe it!

I feel so blessed.  We had an extravagantly warm and long winter here in Salem, Oregon.  And January?  Well, aside from my hundreds of daffodil and crocus bulbs poking up, I have three plants in full bloom, one weed in bloom, and another shrub on the way!  The day is 45 degrees and cloudy, fog lies over the entire city, and the lawn is still blanketed in dew at 3:30 in the afternoon.  A lovely sight indeed.

It appears the slugs are also up and wanderin'

Daphne - I am SO excited to enjoy their fragrance!

From Danyelle

This bush is so fragrant I can smell it across the yard

I deeply enjoy the beauty of this delicate nuisance!

All photographs - Pura fotos -

 Santa Marianita, Ecuador.  A quiet beach town.  Un pueblito callado.

There are about 30 photos - please click "read the rest, plus pictures!" to see all.

Hay como 30 fotos - haga clic "read the rest, plus pictures!" para verlos en completo.

I am keenly aware that I've not published photographs from my trip to Ecuador.

Yo sé que no había publicado casi nada de mis fotos de Ecuador.

Here are a few - Mostly boats with names, a few showing "scaffolding" made of bamboo on a "high rise" in Manta, and the local beer retailer.

Aquí quedan algunos.  La mayoría son los barcos, algunos con la construcción 

de edificios de bloque en Manta, y donde puede comprar la cerveza en Manta.

Salud, y Feliz Navidad -

La Rosita

The Vegan Diet: Day 26. Raw smoothies without the green.

My favorite foods:  Mom's three homemade chocolate chip cookies.  I also enjoyed my quinoa with steamed veggies, and a fresh berry and banana smoothie.

I decided not to put fresh spinach in my fruit smoothies.  I'd prefer to save the virgin taste of the fruit and just eat the spinach in a few handfuls on its own.  I tried adding the spirulina - Abut 1/2 tsp.  It overpowered the flavor of the entire smoothie!  I was disappointed.  Isn't there an easier way to eat healthy? 

I stopped taking my multivitamins because they made me gag.  I purchased adult gummy vitamins so I can easily down my vitamins. (They include B12!)   Whatever it takes.  I still down my O3 fish oil (eneric coated) every day because I know my body needs it.

Off-diet:  Mom's cookies.  Leftover biscuits 'n gravy.  Cheese on some garlic pizza.  (Was there chicken on that pizza?  Sometimes I forget I'm consuming meat.  It's so automatic!)  I'm too tired to recall if there was anything else.

The Vegan Diet: Day 25. Quinoa = sweet success

Thankfully, today was an easier day.  I finally finished all but one green smoothie from four days ago by adding V8 fruit juice.   Sigh.  I suppose I ought not feel too bad.  Any step forward is a good step forward in this journey!

Favorite dish of the day:  Quinoa and steamed veggies.  The Quinoa grain is surprisingly sweet, and quite simple to make.  (Similar to rice)  Quinoa is, by all accounts, a powerful grain.  It's full of protein.  I'm sorry I didn't begin to eat it sooner.

Off diet:  Leftover french toast from Word of Mouth Cafe from yesterday :)

I'm sick.  With a bad cold.  Ironically, the cold came on the day I was eating the very healthiest ever, and after several days of eating completely within the dietary restrictions.  Interesting.  Yes, drinking volumes of fluids, ginger, honey, lemon juice, et all. Tonight, I will sleep with my new friend NyQuil.  Screw all the health nuts who think pharmaceuticals are the death of us all.  For me, may God bless them for giving me sleep.

The Vegan Diet: Day 24. Amazing list of pantry items you ought consider...

Word of Mouth Cafe, 140 17th St NE Salem.   That's where I committed treason, sin, and betrayal.

I ate the Trucker's Plate, with biscuits and gravy (butter, sausage, cream), prime rib hash browns (beef, potatoes), and I subbed my two eggs for a cup of yummy fruit.  At least I did something right.  And then I borrowed bites off my friend's plate:  Creme brulee french toast.  (sugar, milk, eggs.)

It was evil and OH SO amazing.  Fortunately my organ system didn't shut down.  I did eat healthy things, too.  But they were far less interesting.  I am faithfully eating one avocado and one O3 capsule a day.  One must stay consistent, you know.

Next:  An unsolicited blog "guest re-post."   It's by Bonzai Aphrodite, and it's all the vegan food items she ate in seven days.  What an amazing variety!  Skim to the bottom to find her comments, and check out her site!


Seven Days

Banana
Pineapple
Mango
Strawberries
Mandarin oranges
Blueberries
Raspberries
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
Peanut Butter
Coconut Butter
Tahini

The Vegan Diet: Day 23. Boo on super green smoothies.

I didn't finish yesterday's green smoothie samples.  And I'm not enthused about doing so tomorrow.  They're simply too dense.   Tomorrow I will try to combine it with V8 fruit juice at 1:1 ratio.  Hopefully I will be able to chug it down...  At the moment, even my kale salads are almost gagging me.

Best dish (of mediocre options):  A raw salad.  Kale, mushrooms, broccoli, and zucchini with a splash of balsamic vinegar.  The vinegar is a bit sweet.  Pleasant.  Also, I enjoyed a vegan, low sugar fruit bar from Great Harvest

Off diet:  A sample of GH fruit bar and GH lemon bar :)  It was too tempting... 

I'm not sure how I will eat all the kale before it goes bad.  At the moment, I'm missing packaged food.  Sigh.

The Vegan Diet: Day 22. The Dr. Robert O. Young green smoothie

I masterfully completed my mission:  A giant taste test of Dr. Robert O. Young's green smoothie.  Check out my 8 varieties below.
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Best meal today:  Oatmeal, unsweetened coconut, pecans, and dried cranberries.
Off-Diet:  None!  Day two at 100%!
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I believe I've lost about 3 lbs in the last three weeks.  I'll attempt to remember to weigh myself in the morning.
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I am still strategizing on how to repair my sleep cycle.  At times I cannot fall asleep, at times I cannot stay asleep.  I typically begin to sleep deeply at about 6 am.  If I have a particularly sleepless night, I often choose to sleep in for most of the morning.  If I do not, I feel awful and in a great amount of pain for the entire day following.
Any suggestions?

Actions already in place:
1.  1/4 dose of the active ingredient in Tylenol PM (Meaning I do not take any Tylenol)
2.  New mattress topper.
3.  Addition of a PVC tent at the foot of my bed to relieve the weight of the blankets on my feet
4.  Electric blanket to not wake up cold.
5.  Melatonin.  3 mg at midnight
6.  No chocolate after 5 pm.  Perhaps caffeine is keeping me up?
7.  No water after 11 pm.  I often awoke needing to urinate.  I don't have a better solution...

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Dr. Young's base:  Kale, spinach, celery, parsley, and cucumber.  

The first blend was chewy chunky.  I think Robert juiced his... and I'm stuck with a blender.
Tests:
Base + 1/2 apple
Base + 1/2 apple + cinnamon
Base + 1/2 orange
Base + 1/2 avocado

Results:  I found the apple and avocado palatable.   The others were undesirable.  I entirely forgot banana, and would have also tested berries if they were in season.  Right now berries are simply cost prohibitive.
...And then I was reminded that I ought to add almond juice to the base.  New mixes:

Base + 1/2 apple + cinnamon + hazelnut chocolate = FANTASTIC
Base + 1/2 orange + almond milk = I actually began to heave.  Yuck.
Base + 1/2 orange + hazelnut chocolate = tolerable.

I barely drank half of what I made.  It's heavy stuff.

Today I also ate leftovers from yesterday's turmeric skillet and a pb&j.

The Vegan Diet: Day 21. Ice cream + Spriulina

A good day.  Valentine's Day.  My girls loved on me and the gents were kind. 

Favorite food:  I made a sweet potato, parsley, super turmeric, coconut milk, broccoli, onion, wilted lettuce, and cilantro skillet.  I tried to cook it using coconut oil, but that was a miserable fail - the sweet potatoes needed to really be cooked.  So I added water.  That seemed to do well.  I put it all on rice... YUM.  I'm not yet ready to face the kale.  It looks scary.

Turns out sweet potatoes are pretty freaking good!  I wonder why my mom didn't cook with them when we were growing up.

Tab, now I see why J is tired of coconut milk.  The flavor is powerful.  Nice, but it will soon become repetitive. 

My PB&J on sprouted bread was really nice.  The bread smells sort of... weird... but tolerable.

Spirulina in V8:  Tolerable.   Dense.  I'll start on one teaspoon per day.  Word on the streets is that any more could "cleanse" your system rapidly.

And Jen gave me Coconut Bliss Chocolate Ice Cream for V-day.  How lucky am I???  And so I sat at home, watching The Godfather, munching on a very small portion of ice cream.  (It's rich.)  Thanks, girl!

Off-Diet:  Hmmmm.   Nothing comes to mind...  At all!  I must have had a perfect day.  That, or I'm too tired to remember.

Love you -

The Vegan Diet: Day 20. All new foods.

Today was my journey to Life Source.  1.5 hours and $126 later, I have a mammoth pile of organic food.  I resigned that it would be acceptable to spend a lot of money.   I did.

The photograph foods I purchased today and have never purchased before.  All are organic.
Back row:  Basalmic Vinegar, Rice Dream milk, Almond milk, vegetable broth, chocolate hazelnut milk, canola oil (I meant to purchase saffola!).  Front:  Kale, turmeric, amaranth, coconut, quinoa, sweet potato, rutabaga, spirulina, and parsley.  Not photographed: coconut oil for cooking and sprouted bread.

My efforts toward green smoothies begins tomorrow.  I still need to research if I will just blend the kale raw, or if I'm supposed to cook it.  I will try to follow Dr. Young's kale, cucumber, spinach, celery,and parsley green smoothies.  I'll add extras like spirulina and turmeric to taste.
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