Gringo Sabe

Life in Zuleta is filled with many small acomplishments that otherwise would just get absorbed and discarded in ones daily life. Such as the constant way the guys I work with in the garden test me, when I get it wrong they happily step in and help the gringo who knows little. But when I get it right and they say "Gringo Sabe" or "Esta Tecnico", then I feel good. I have not had to prove my manhood this often since High School and it is hard and strange, but rewarding when it works. It is hard to pound a 4 inch nail into old wood when you have three or four Ecuadorians watching every strike of the hammer. All part of life out of my natural element.