Every Last Bit

I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed with how much Ecuadorians tend to savor every last bit of what they have. They may have very little of something, but turn it into something much more grand than it ought to be, especially with food. For example, one papaya here can be used to make four days’ worth of juice for breakfast for one person. My host mom will only cut one-fourth of the papaya to use for juice, and then just let the other three-fourths sit in the fruit basket until the next day when it’s time to be used. In addition, my host-family, as well as most Ecuadorian families, tends to make a big pot of rice in the slow cooker, and use that same rice for multiple days of meals. I have never seen my host-mother put leftover rice in the fridge, as we would back home, but rather keeps it in the slow cooker until the next day, so all she has to do is click the “Warm” button when it’s time to eat. And when there are little scraps of food left from various meals, they are all piled onto one plate for a few days, and once the plate is full, it’s given to the rooster next door to eat. These people don’t waste ANYTHING. It’s amazing.

One last example, not having to do with food, relates to the garbage system. In our Cuencan family, we have a paint bucket for a garbage can, and plastic grocery bags are put in them as a substitute for garbage bags. The bags are then stuffed until you literally cannot put a single ounce of rice more in them, and then they are taken directly to the edge of the street for the garbage men to pick up. Honestly, that’s really not a bad idea. Thinking about back home, garbage bags can kind of be a waste, considering we already save every single plastic grocery bag we have, and yet never really use them for anything. And who really fills the regular garbage bags up all the way? Observing how every last bit of everything is used and filled here has made me rethink my use of things. It has really inspired me to be more cautious of my waste and conservation back home.