Author: Newley

Back in Cuenca
Had a great time. Details on the trip soon. Our new term starts tomorrow morning…

No Postings for the Next Week-and-a-Half
I’ll be away from the Web for a while–some friends and are are leaving tomorrow to do some traveling. Our (very tentative, very flexible) itinerary includes Quito, Ibarra, and Esmeraldas. Should be fun.

Newley.com has been assigned to the Ecuador category in the very cool OscarJr.us project called “Blogs Around the World.”

Byron Moreno, the controversial (okay, really really bad) Ecuadorian referee I mentioned here and here, has quit.

Funny stuff.

Chris D. takes issue, and does so hilariously, with my assertion that I’m learning how to cook:

“He is truly a master chef. I happened to turn on great chefs international the other afternoon and they were highlighting newley in his small kitchen in cuenca.

N: “now I might not have a real chefs knife, but this $1.75 knife I got down at super maxxie, the local grocery store does just the trick”

MYSTERIOUS WOMANS VOICE THAT IS ALWAYS ON GREAT CHEFS (MW): “available by mail order at newley.com. This knife is a wonderful addition to any kitchen.”

N: “well, i guess I will make some pasta for you. I start with ragu sauce, put it in a pan and slowly heat it. It took me a while to learn that I could actually control the amount of heat on my gas stove. Used to be I just had to cook everything on extreme high heat, but a friend of mine visiting from the states showed me how I could do some fine adjustments with the knobs on the stove. Basically, just add some extra onions, garlic and really anything you want and it really makes the sauce taste better.”

MW: “add 1 chopped red pepper, 1 cup porcini mushrooms, 1 yellow onion and 5 to 6 garlic cloves”

N: “I basically just throw this big pot on the stove with some water in it and crank the heat up to high. Once it’s bubbling I just add whatever kind of pasta I have laying around. Oh yeah, water takes longer to boil here cause we are at high altitude.”

MW: “bring 8 cups water to a rapid boil. Add one teaspoon olive oil and a healthy dash of salt. Cook pasta until just tender, drain and serve immediately”

N: “since I can’t really get decent cheese down here i either skip it or use this really weird tasting, rubbery cheese that from the wrapper claims was made in holland. horse crap, it’s made somewhere in ecuador. you can get cheddar or provolone…the shit all tastes like the same rubbery concoction.”

And Benny C. simply sends the following cautionary words:

“I’m worried about you cooking, please stop. In all likelihood, you will hurt yourself.”

My Burgeoning Culinary Skills
Anyone who knows me can testify that I’m a terrible cook. Or actually, it’s much worse than that: I don’t cook. I simply don’t do it.

But things’ve changed. With no TV or Web connection in my apartment, I’ve been forced to find new sources of amusement. Thus, my culinary skills are burgeoning of late. My friend Chris. D., who really knows his way around a kitchen, visited last month and showed me a thing or two. And I’ve been experimenting on my own, as well.

My most recent masterpieces include guacamole; a salad featuing tomatoes and cucumbers and onions and olive oil and balsamic vinagrette; pasta sauce from scratch (shocker: not from a bottle!); a burrito containing rice and beans and green and red peppers and other good stuff; and the other night, I delved into the world of puddings. Believe it. Up next: gardening. And then possibly knitting. I am truly a Twenty-First Century Man.

Deportivo Cuenca 1, Barcelona de Guayaquil 0
I witnessed a great soccer game last night. Or actually, I witnessed a somewhat dull game last night–but one that was played in an electric atmosphere.

Deportivo Cuenca, currently 4th in the table, shocked the first-placed Barcelona de Guayaquil by the score of 1-0. The stadium was way oversold; my friend and I stood and watched the action from behind a tall, barbed wire-rimmed fence, right next to a bunch of camouflage-clad Ecuadorian soldiers. A good time was had by all.

Will Congo Be the Next Rwanda?
Thousands of innocent people are getting slaughtered in the Democratic Republic of Congo. (In fact, 3.3 million Congolese have been killed in wars in the last five years.) And the UN isn’t doing anything about it. (And obviously the US isn’t, either. There’s nothing to be gained from committing troops to save Africans.) Nicholas Kristof says our “children and grandchildren may fairly ask, ‘So, what did you do during the African holocaust?'”

You Have Got to be Kidding Me
Japanese costumes for cats!