B.K. Might as well be walking on the sun

Might as well be walking on the sun

That was the first thing to pop into my head in lieu of having this crazy sunburn that circles around the back of my neck and onto my chest. If I wasn't fairly tan at this point, it would never bother me, but it feels like my entire neck-head was placed on my body as a mask. But that's ok! Because I can fix it with even more time at the beach this weekend!

This week has been non-stop presentations and tests, and oh boy am I excited for it to be over. I have been in a fetted love with my theatre class of actuacion all semester but then I feel a little bit...unprepared for the show that we'll be presenting tonight? At 7:30 there will be a montage of 6-12 plays that will happen in accordance with the will of God, none of which have a connection to any other one, and none of have a scene change that is accomplished in less than 3 minutes. Not that I'm bitter or peeved, I just have never been in any sort of production that has been so...haphazard. Of course there is never a production that has ever been ready on the opening night of a show, but then I've always had a sense of anticipation to the oncoming hour of the curtain being drawn. Tonight I just want to go home and sleep. Tomorrow my other theatre class of voz y movimiento will be presenting an abstract piece incorporating our own dreams (spoken in haphaphappy spanish!), song, rasabox techniques (which were made in India, COOL), and dressing/undressing; all in the main hall of the school! Now that will be a capstone to such a long week.

Tomorrow afternoon, 32 of us gringolandians head off to Papallacta, a man-made series of holes in the ground which make it easy for shmoes like me to sit down and get the energy sapped out of them by thermal springs. Oh how torturous life is!

Lastly, it has been on and off for me the past two weeks whether I have wanted to come home or not, but then here comes the break down:

-I finally learned how to speak spanish comfortably, even if I'm not perfect, I'm better than crappy.
-I know I'm going to lose my abilities in Spanish over time, which is something not to be confused with awesome.
-I am going to miss people, lots of people, Ecuadorians, North Americans, and especially some Switzerlandians.
-I'm honestly kind of scared about reacculturation.
-I am relatively poor now. I am relatively happy.
-What does someone do on breaks from school anyway?
-Living in an apartment again when I get back to school, kind of missing out on that community thing.
-Class. Class is going to be something hard again.

But then these are all the negative things. Certainly, I will love seeing friends and family again, but then how easy will it be to get out what I've been accumulating inside me over the past 5 months; when I came back from Albania I was told that stories will eventually end with people having a glazed look in their eyes, finally coming back into reality with the presentation of the line "and so I hope to go back someday."

There's a lot to wrestle through with the landing of my plane back in Florida and I will definitely not be comfortable, but I look forward to the adventure of coming home. Someday it might just not affect me.

B.K. 34:12

B.K. Clandestiny

Last week I came back from my home, it smelt of pizza crust and dirt. I met people that I had never seen before, but it felt like I had finally arrived at the family reunion that I'd been missing for always. Standing at the shore I was swallowed by the salty waves - wanting to drown in my own paradise amidst the wind-whipped trees and mottled buildings that once stood at the beaches as proud hotels before hurricanes left them as ransacked refuges for drunkards and horny teenagers. The morning rose on Sunday as I walked through the streets alone without a sense of direction; never having been so lost, never having felt so right about where I was supposed to be. I'll go back there someday, I'll know my family and claim that sense of belonging that I've only had a taste of - much like a deer that has it's first savoring of a salt lick; a guilty pleasure that satisfies a carnal longing while at the same time putting it right in the line of fire. I think of that place everytime I look at the sand now. I remember the happiness of the people and the life of not having material pleasures everytime I see the faces of the homeless. I forget what needs to be changed because life there was simple but still in longing; an existence of self-perpetuated longevity that has worked for decades. I recall the smoke of a cigar from a man who sold old pocket watches in the street, cascading up his face in a fluid sort of ephemeral beauty; dissapating into the air like a stone sinking into the ocean. I remember the cotton soft sky. I will go back and find a resting place for my ashes.

B.K. 25 Days Later

Currently Listening We Run This By Missy Elliott Lose Control see related I was on a plane from Ecuador to the United States. I had gone everywhere and done everything that I had hoped to do, and then some. I knew how to hold my own in Spanish, being able to get more information than just the location of the bathroom. I had made children happy. I had made grown men smile. I had made cuban women laugh. I didn't have to miss my mother and sister anymore. I didn't get upset about getting change in pennies and nickles on the bus. I had gotten a little tanner. I fully appreciated having a blue passport that entitled me to go anywhere in the world. I was grateful that I was not born into slavery, poverty, or malnourishment. I stopped turning into rice. I said good bye to some of the greatest people I had ever known in my life. I was still happy. I planned on coming back.

B.K. This entry is not about McDonald's

Welp, I was partially right about the Galapagos Islands. But then that's what I get for liking mountains more at this point in my life.

For those who don't know, I like to think of people in one of two ways, mountain-folk and beach-folk. I don't really think you can effectively stereotype the sort in a "you must be a silly introvert / impudent extrovert person," but then I don't think you can really like being on a mountain or at a beach equally. So if you think you do have one of those un-biased respects for these two beautiful settings, pick a side and get off that fence!

Of course there were penguins, and a seal decided to swim with me. These are the highlights, I would happily take one of each home just so I could show you how much fun the two can be, but then I do not own a swimming pool or a bathtub large enough to keep them happy.

1 Week later I sit at a computer in a district of Quito known as La Mariscal, it's the place where all of the foreigners come to drink and party and be loud at night. And I'm not as comfortable as I used to be here. I think I've developed an aversion to the touristy parts of life, the areas that are mainstream and common to the norm. I enjoy the gritty and foreign, the things that people would like to avoid normally - and I don't just mean non-pricey souveniers and trips to foreign places; but also the dark alley-ways and uncomfortable conversations with strangers that no one likes to start because such folk are 'poor' or 'dangerous,' or 'want nothing to do with you'. All the same I have never felt comfortable in shopping malls. When I used to work at Bath and Body works I would go home most nights feeling a sense of self-commercialization, which in no way I want to start downplaying America through ranting about big corporations, but then after 4 months away from home I have come to another realization. In knowing who I am and having a slight understanding of the things I am repelled from, I have come to know that America is a great, great country. Granted there are a few horrible things that revolve around corruption and a seemingly endless lack of care for those in less-fortunate conditions on a national and global level, but then there is so much more to be praised about that nation.

I've had talks about politics in the States, and how much they suck and deprive other countries of benefits for the sake of personal gain - and those are things I can't defend or agree with, but I can say that it has still worked. Things like Free Trade Agreements that seemingly benefit 3rd world countries by giving them global market prices for products are hated outside of the States by many because it still ensures enormous profit for the companies involved while those on the lower end continue to just make ends meet. But then not all actions can be meant for the sake of evil by the hands of the wealthy.

More important than money though, let me say something about people. I have also talked with people here about the condition of a class system. What I have realized through this is that in America, everyone is equal regardless of finance, race, or employment - far beyond that of many, many, many other countries out there. Here at the university of Quito, people are considered unworthy of dating if they receive a scholarship. For those of you at Messiah College who are paying $30,000 dollars a year to go to school, feel special becuase as one of the top 5 schools in Ecuador, the students of the University of Quito pay a mere $10,000 dollars a year to receive their education. The school is populated by the wealthiest of Ecuador's top families, who though I hate to say it, would come off as your stereotypical University of California student, just as opinionated against the student whose family can not afford to pay for them to go to school completely, imagine that where in the States people are praised for their scholarships, for their good grades and citizenship. Also with racism and prejudice, where it is a daily pass to see derogatory statements written about people from all types of walks on garage doors and brick walls, such is not publically tolerated in the States anymore. But I have to stop there before I make statements that can be overgeneralized.

The United States is not perfect by anymeans, I have never been one to think that and I never will. But the one thing that I can assert with more confidence than not as to what the States has been doing better with more than ever is that of respect. I talked to a woman here who told me that when her son was 18 he went to the States to finish high school. Near the end of the school year her son called home and said that he was going to stay in the States to go to college. The mother of the child, distraught as one might imagine, asked feverishly why? The son replied that in the United States, he was treated like anyone else deserved to be treated: that he could make a living scrubbing toilets and still be looked in the eye, greeted with courtesy, and respected as an individual that he ever would in Ecuador. And that still applies here with maids, indigenous families, and especially the poor.

There is a drastic separation of worlds here in Ecuador, just as there was in Albania, more so than I ever thought about the States - where there are the richest poor people in all of the world. Here you can cut the class system with a chainsaw and find just a stark number of people making the effort to mesh them together. The impoverished beggers, the middle class strugglers, and the upper class loungers: full of the wealthy and the non-residential tourists.

I applaud tourism though, it does wonders for the economy in whatever country it is implemented, but then I think there's so much more that could be done with it. I will be going to the most special place in the world for me in 5 days time, but I'll probably have to refer to it by a different name though for evading legal liability in the future. I'll tell you if I figure out what more can be done with that tourism when I get back.

B.K. I'm going to Turtle Island!

That's right, tomorrow morning at 7:00 I'm going to the 5 islands where Charles Darwin himself became famous because he landed on an island, found lots of animals and plants and started screaming "THEY'RE GROWING INSIDE ME!!!" Later he was quoted for evolution, or something like that. Anyways, in all honestly, I'm not that excited. Seriously, you should be lecturing me about how I am not taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity being given to me to go to a secluded natural reserve where I can stand at a foots distance away from a sea hawk without it killing me or flying away. I mean, there's a 300 year old turtle named Lonely George who's just waiting to die as the last of his species (Apparently there's like 13 species of sea turtle, who'd'a'thunk'it?). I sin against all biologists for my lack of interest in the islands, but you know, I'm sure things will be different when I get there. Shoot, there ARE penguins! They're not real penguins and they look more like puffins in my opinion, but I'm sure some scientist out there said "look, a penguin! Let's key it!" So that's something to look forward too I suppose. Who knows, I might even buy a t-shirt. For someone else.

Yesterday There Was an Earthquake

I survived two, count 'em, TWO earthquakes! They happened around 11:00 in the morning, and at the time I was just waking up on a couch. At first I thought it was just really crazy wind beating against the glass door, but thenit occurred to me, "hmm, there is no wind outside." So now I need to make a t-shirt that goes along the lines of "I survived..." wait a tick...they don't name earthquakes. Great. Omgosh but wait it sounds preeeetty cool in spanish. I can see it now...

That would be SO sweet and money inspiring. Actually, the quake wasn't nearly that bad, it was maybe a 4.0 on the richter scale...even if I have no idea what that means. But I mean STILL, who would of thought that Ecuador was on a fault line!?! I mean besides all of those people who saw Tungurahua coming. Speaking of Ecuadorian volcanos, I might be going back to that one this coming weekend in the city of Banos - by far my most favorite city of Ecuador to date (ie: the one that I was pretty much trapped in a mountain for one weekend past). There I will buy buckets of $.25 Guayaba candy...which is kind of the quintessential delicacy for every person who ever was addicted to Fruit Roll-Ups as a kid, keep my bicycle off of mountain paths, and maybe even hug a cougar.

Revelation:

I have been to two countries outside of the United States in the past 21 years (not including Canada, although they are just as much a country as any one else). And what has come to my attention is the idea that everyone wants to be the United States. I can't generalize this with every country, but I feel like there's a great majority of city-states that desire to be westernized and, well, american. I see this on television, where the majority of movies and tv-shows are broadcast in english with spanish subtitles, I see it in the clothing lines, I especially hear it in the taxis and on the buses. The big thing with Ecuador is that there is still an overwhelming amount of national pride, which is something I admire because it's never been something that I've worn on my sleeve for the states. But all the same, popularity seems to coincide with wealth, and nations are no exception.

And politics:

The first round of elections in Ecuador ended yesterday too. So come November, the people of this country will have to decide between one cantidate who does public healings in the name of God and has been rumored to pay people for their votes at the voting stations; and another who wants to supposedly change the national currency (again), and has been rumored to be in cahoots with an over-zealously corrupt president from 2 elections ago. To quote my ecua-mother, "poor country, poor poor country." Yay government.

B.K. The October Effect

I was told before I left for Ecuador by a, 1, Crystal D. that the month of October would happen and I would not like it. Eventually during this month, the majority of my companions and myself would start to miss things from back home, get frustrated because it wouldn't seem like we would be advancing that much with our language abilities, and pretty much tired all around in general.

Well I know a couple people that this "October Effect" has already hit relatively hard, and see it happening to myself as well. I was walking down the street last week and smelled autumn; I don't know if it was the combined smells of street food, ecuadorians, and car exhaust or what...but I remembered auburned maple leaves lying across the lawns at messiah college, the onset of snow and calm in the air, and big puffy jackets adorned by the masses. It made me want to go home and drink hot chocolate. But then a honking taxi was quick to pull me out of my daze and encourage me to stop standing in the street.

I am excited to go home, I can't deny that. But at the same time I have a lot to look foward to in the next 2.5 months. There will be trips to islands, waterfalls, and maybe even canyons, relationships to fortify, and hundreds upon hundreds of photographs to take. The thing that I'm more worried about is when the December Effect takes hold, and I won't want to leave. I hope you are all doing well and feel more and more loved each day. Go buy someone a cookie.

B.K. The City of Guayaquil

-smells like poop-poo
-sells clothing for very cheap, kind of one of those "everything in this store has something wrong with it" deals.
-sells really good sandals for next to nothing
-has a pirate ship, WITH a hearty crew
-includes populous that will try to get you into their car so that they can take you for a ride through the city...or back alley-ways where you might get robbed (We salute your valiant attempt Wilmer!)
-has some REALLY good artists on the boardwalk
-has some REALLY trifling restaurant attends on the boardwalk when it comes to table space
-comes fully equipped with chicken empanadas
-reminds me profusely of the movie Bladerunner
-pales in comparison to the city of Cuenca
-held "la feria" on sunday, where you could go and buy all sorts of kitchen appliances for blowout prices. gnarly.
-had fiestas of independance yesterday...somewhere
-is not the solution to world hunger. We're still working on that one.

I have a very interesting discolored patch of skin on the left side of my chest. Maybe it will not kill me. More details inside specially marked packages of Trix cereal.

Kernals of Wisdom

The great equalizers of life are faith and death. I was privledged to be born in a country that gave me inherint rights and a blue passport. Others are born into slavery and famine in the countries of Africa. But we can all find a common richness and comfort in our faith and inevitably we will all die. The issue with faith is whom will be more likely to have a deeper, more intimate understanding of their faith given their lot in life?

100 years from now, no one is going to care how comfortable my life was or how much money I had.

There is a saying in Tibetan scriptures: "Knowledge must be burned, hammered and beaten like pure gold. Then one can wear it as an ornament." So when you receive spiritual instruction from the hands of another, you do not take it uncritically, but you burn it, you hammer it, you beat it, until the bright, dignified color of gold appears. Then you craft it into an ornament, whatever design you like, and you put it on.

People are afriad of the emptiness of space, or the absence of company. It could be a terrifying experience to have no one to relate to, nothing to relate with. The idea of it can be extremely frightening, though not the real experience. It is generally a fear of space, a fear that we will not be able to anchor ourselves to any solid groud, that we will lose our identity as a fixed and solid and definite thing.

Sometimes imodium is not the solution.

"Surrender" means acknowledging the raw, rugged, blumsy and shocking qualities of one´s ego, and giving them up; opening up one´s self completely, trying to get beyond fascination and expectation.
_______________________________
In other news, I drank a $.55 liter of milk today. What was the manliest thing YOU did in the past 24 hours?

B.K. Good morning October, I was lost in the woods last week.

Here marks the beginning of the 3rd month in my adventure in another world. Right now I am sitting in a 3rd story computer lab on campus, listening to the delightful chords of a flute from across the great wall that divides this campus from the rest of Ecuador that is playing one of those wonderful sort of classical ¨good morning to the world¨sort of things that were composed by Johann Sebastian Bach or maybe even Bethoveen.

But it wasn´t always this way.
Last week at this time, I was waking up from one of the more tumultuous experiences I´ve yet to have in a foreign country...and let me tell you, there´ve been about 3 of them. But this one, was by far the most entertainingly scary.

It all started last Saturday, when Kristen said to me...

Kristen - "Hey Trevor! Hannah just invited us to go to BANOS, where they have all sorts of fun sporty things!"
Trevor - "Let's roll!"
(2 hours later)
Kristen - "Hey Hannah, we're ready, let's go!"
Trevor - "Hey who are those guys¿"
Hannah - "ECUADORIANS! Here's David, Ephraim, Jonaton, and my german roommate Julianne.
All - "Hi!"
Hannah - "okletsgonow!"
(5 hours later)
All - "Yay Banos!"
Julianne - "Hey guys tomorrow lets get bikes for the day so that we can go and see the waterfalls w/o taxis!"
David - "So sweet!"
((Sunday Afternoon))
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "Ok, $4, $4, $4, $4, $4, $4, $5 for each bike"
Trevor - "Hey why do I have to pay an extra dollar for my bicycle!?!
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "Because it is special and blue!"
Ephraim - "LOL!"
(A few minutes later after our heros have been flying downhill through the city, dodging cars and children)
Hannah - "Oh my gosh nature is SO pretty!"
Jonaton - "Guys I think this is the way we need to go in order to get to the waterfalls, up this ominous path"
Kristen - "Sweet lets go!"
Jonaton - "And then before the waterfall there should be a bridge that we can go BUNGEE JUMPING off of!"
Hannah - "How much does it cost?
Jonaton - "ONLY TEN DOLLARS!"
Trevor - "Yay!"
(30 minutes later while getting on and off their bikes to go over mud and rocks on a steadily rising course...)
Julianne - "Oh wow I am SOOO happy that I wore sandals today"
Ephraim - "I kno!"
Jonaton - "Careful guys, the path gets pretty narrow up here, you might want to get off your bikes."
(Moments later)
Julianne - "OMG IM FALLING OFF A CLIFF!"
David - "OMG"
Jonaton - "OMG"
Ephraim - "OMG"
Trevor - "OMG"
Hannah - "Let me take a picture!"
Julianne - "OW OW OW OW blood and adrenaline and lots of jagged pointy rocks"
David - "I don´t like them either!!"
Trevor - "Wow that was a close one"
Jonaton - "Ok giez lets go!"
Kristen - "Look out it´s a cow!"
Hannah - "Where did that come from?"
David - "I don´t know, poke it with this stick to get it out of our way!"
Kristen - "ahh it´s pooping!"
Jonaton - "HAHAHA!"
(After another 2.5 hours, our heros stumble across a little hut inhabited by a little man and woman)
Hermit man who lives in the mountains - "Oh my gosh guys, you must be stupids to have bikes up here"
Trevor - "I kno!"
Jonaton - "Hey do you know where we can find a bridge around here"
Hermit man who lives in the mountains - "Sure dudes! Just keep following this path for another hour, it's there!"
Trevor - "Thanks dude!"
Hermit man who lives in the mountains - "Totally!"
(One hour later)
Ephraim - "OMG where are wee?"
Julianne - "In a cow pasture of course"
Trevor - "EWW I TOTALLY JUST FELL IN POO"
Hannah - "H4rH4rH4r!"
Cow - "H4rH4Rhr$4!!!¨!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Jonaton - "Ok guys, we´re running out of day light, I say we keep going in this direction because that man said..."
Kristen - "Let´s go!"
(A few minutes later, while traveling on a narrow and barely lit path)
Jonaton - "Ok guys, there´s no way that we´re going to get back to civilization on this narrow and dimly lit path..."
Trevor - "...while only having a single cellphone flashlight"
Jonaton - "So you guys stay here and we'll go find food, water, and help...you know, things we don´t have!"
David - "OK!"
(Moments later, Jonaton and Trevor abandon the rest of the group to go find necessities)
Trevor - "Watch out a donkey!"
Jonaton - "I´ll hit it with this stick!" "Hahaha! That showed it!"
Trevor - "UGH I HATE MUD!"
(Meanwhile)
Kristen - "UGH I HATE COLD!"
Hannah - "It's ok guys I brought this blanket made with space age technology"
Julianne - "Will it feed us?"
Hannah - "No, but it WILL keep us warm...or me warm, provided that Im in the middle because it´s mine"
David - "Dude, 15 lb bikes in the mountain are not cool)
Ephraim - "I kno!"
(Meanwhile...1.5 hours later)
Trevor - "Yay, we found the bridge across the river that separates us from civilization and edible things!"
Jonaton - "I´ll call the red cross for help!¨"
Red Cross - "Hello red cross, how can we save you again?"
Jonaton - "Hi we´re tourists that are stuck in the mountains of banos and we need help to get out of here"
Red Cross - "..."
Jonaton - "Hello? Hello? son of a gun..."
(Minutes later after Jonaton calls back to prove that he wasn´t making a prank call after all)
Red Cross - "Ok, just checking, we´ll be there in 10 minutes"
(40 minutes later after Jonaton and Trevor have climbed a mountain to reach the main road and a small town)
Red Cross - "OK we´re here, all 14 of us, now let´s go find the rest of you!"
Jonaton - "What?"
Red Cross - "That´s right, you expect us to find these people by ourselves?"
Trevor - "mmmmm...."
(Meanwhile)
Julianne - "Hahaha! I don´t have any tampons!"
Hannah - "LOL!"
Kristen - "OMG LOL!"
David - "...what?"
Ephraim - "HAHAHA!"
(1.5 hours later)
Kristen - "we are save'ed!"
Red Cross - "Ok guys, lets go!"
(45 minutes later)
Red Cross - "OK, lets leave the bikes right here"
Jonaton - "But they aren´t ours"
Red Cross - "That´s ok."
David - "...but we rented them and have to take them back to the owner"
Red Cross - "That´s true"
Jonaton - "And we can´t just go back and expect them to let us stay another night without them!"
Red Cross "okletsgonow"
(1.5 hours later)
Kristen - "Yeah we´re back in BANOS!"
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "WHERE ARE MY BIKES!?!"
Ephraim - "We left them in the forest on the mountain where we were, the red cross told us to."
Red Cross - "Yessum."
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "Oh ok."
Hannah - "Can we have a room for the night?"
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "Sure thing."
Hannah - "Can we also have a discount?"
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "OH MY GOSH ARE YOU BEING SERIOUS!?"
Hannah - "I uh..."
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "LOL got ´cha! Sure, you can each have a discount :)!"
(The next morning around 8.25 a.m.)
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "YOU HAVE 3 HOURS TO GET MY BIKES, GO NOWW!!!"
David - "It´s 8 a.m.!"
Jonaton - "We went to bed at liek 4!!!"
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "Oh ok, you guys can sleep in until...how about 1?"
Jonaton - "Gee thanks dude!"
Owner of Hostel who Rents out Bikes too - "No problem!"
(And then around 1 o clock, our two ecuadorian hero liek men went off to move all 7 bikes from the woods to civilization through the use of a cable car that just so happened to be located nearby the bikes.)

In this, I salute the Red Cross of Ecuador and kick every mosquito in the mouth. I am so happy that Malaria is not a real disease.

B.K. The rainy season is coming

Currently Listening A Funk Odyssey By Jamiroquai see related It made me sick for a little bit, but now I'm on the mend. I was told that I would be in Ecuador while the rain was bountiful, but for the first seven weeks it was nowhere to be seen. Quito was just a hot, sweaty city. However as of about 3 days ago, the rain started to fall. And although I have never been a fan of apartment life, there's just nothing better than a cup of tea, a rainstorm, and the breeze that it sends to cascade over your face through the window. I kind of want to live in Ecuador forever when it rains, and I kind of want you all to be here too. _______________ In other news I was almost assaulted yesterday by three men. Fortunately, my humongous stature terrified them when I puffed myself up like a blowfish. Being a sea creature rocks.

B.K. The Word of the Day is: Locura

Actually the word of the day should be Pubes rather than Locura...but then here comes the sitch:

This morning in theatre class our teacher was continuing to teach us how to 'lose ourselves' and 'stop thinking about what we're doing.' To do this he asked for volunteers to go up in front of the rest of the group and begin doing the first thing that came into their minds when he said any given word. I was a little scared of having to say "no entiendo la palabra," so I decided to sit this one out. Others went and were asked to act out words, things like inquieto, estupidez, carino, and locura (which is something I gather to mean really really crazy). When people were asked to respond to locura, one started to run around the stage, flailing their arms, laughing hysterically, dodging in and out of curtains. Another began to have a tea party with a non-existent entity. Our teacher however was not content with their acting methods. So he stood up in front of the class and started to explain what he was wanting us to do.

Over the past few classes we have been learning about sensory memory and how we have the inherint potential to suddenly become another person based on the memories and emotions evoked from a particular way our body may be positioned. Any-hoo the teacher, who I like to call Wolfy to my non-him friends, was explaining about how the hardest thing for an actor to do is snap into a character and then personify their personality at the drop of a pin.

He then went on with, "so when I say locura..." at which he began to scream at us from a crouched position, like a madman would then do I suppose, he continued shouting incoherent phrases, lashing his tongue about, all the while approaching us. He then gestured towards his crotch with both of his hands and began to pull down his pants while standing in front of a female student.

Although no penis was seen at this occasion, a good 'ol handful of pubes did make a special appearance. He then pulled up his pants, and began to back away while spitting at her, as good a stage-spit as anyone could ever give.

It was kind of admirable really, I mean, in the states and at Messiah College, a man would get fired for that kind of behavior. I myself wouldn't want Wolfy to ever lose his job, the man is amazing and has such balls to be able to do that kind of thing. He's been in a ton of movies and plays and has undergone a butt-load of martial arts training. Here is a picture of him that I found online that featured him in a movie translated as "Ayahuasca Dreams."




Kind of sweet, no?

B.K. Spanish Like Jazz

Every night this week there has been a Jazz concert happening in the old part of the city, and every night it gets better. But what's the thing that keeps me coming back? It's dirt free. Although, when I think about the drunks that get escourted away by the police during the breaks between songs I feel a little bit of myself frown. Because the drunk people who hang out in public around here are ever so friendly, and all they want is to dance and share your wine.

Unfortunately, la policia dice "no."

This weekend is the celebration of Mexico's independence, you should remember this to have a reason to party. Because everyone is always looking for a way to justify their actions :)

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I officially miss pizza. I had a slice of it a couple of days ago and I got this big fat nostalgic slap in the face from this summer when my room mates...which was at least like 8 or 9 people would order from Papa John's and watch movies or play computer games or just hang out. Wait...now that I think of it, I miss my ameri-friends. Damn you consumerist hunger!

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I've been having a couple problems with my host mom, she's told me quite a few times in the past "your spanish is horrible," but then I guess that comes with the non-beat-around-the-bush communication tactics that I've been so comfortable with in the states. The program director was telling me the other day when I went to cry about it that once upon a time there was a girl who came to Ecuador on a previous program who weighed around 300 pounds. Well as luck would have it for her, she met a boy in Ecuador and they formed a relationship. He invited her to a dance, and as most women might say at these sort of junctions, she exclaimed "I need to get a dress!" (because honestly, who goes to Ecuador and takes a dress for a formal dance? Not me!). So in the process of getting said dress, she went to a tailor who ever so gracefully said to her "I'm not going to make you a dress! You're very fat!" Needless to say she was kind of pressed for the next few days. But a happy ending comes with how she finally did get something to wear and went to the dance with her boo!

The moral of the story: Although they sometimes use more words to get a point across, sometimes Ecuadorians can come off as a little mean.

Please add Nutella to the list of my current addictions, it's getting pretty serious.

B.K. Dear World Traveler

When you leave the safe and sound prospects of your American borders, please be sure that you have contacted your bank about leaving the country, or else they might cancel your credit card. If this happens though, be sure to make friends with the bank tellers that you'll be encountering in your new home-abroad. You may also consider finding free events to entertain yourself with for the evening, such as Jazz concerts in the ancient part of the city, and be sure to stock up on street food; for the price of a cup of coffee (that you of course will never buy from starbucks), you can enjoy a heaping portion of papas fritas, meat, and all the pink/white sauce your tummy can handle! Just be sure to watch out for your new potential friends, dysentary and giardia.

Actually, street food is a slight addiction for me these days, but I don't think the Bible says anything about it...

B.K. And now for a funny joke!

-Knock Knock Who be dat? -Trevor's House Trevor's House who? -Trevor's House who got flooded by Hurricane Ernesto SNAPE KILLS DUMBLEDORE PG 506 OMGLOL!!! Although honestly, worse things have happened in life :)

B.K. I climbed a mountain the other day..

Actually I rode the teleferico...which is one of those "sit in this basket while we give you a ride up this steep cliff that you would otherwise kill yourself doing on foot." While I was up there I discovered a quietness that I thought could never exist in Quito. Up over a ridge, away from all of the attractions of the mountaintop themepark they call Volcano, away from all of the quaint little coffee shops that sell tea and soup, away from the other gringos that were taking photos and laughing about how fun it would be to pee off the side, I found the clouds. I found the cold, quiet bliss that makes mountains the only other thing that could compete with oceans. An alternate paradise of isolation and cleanliness, devoid of human life except for trails and the remnants of campfires. They call that mountain Pichincha, and I will be going back someday to camp in it's hills. However I might not take a camera, because apparently theres a mucho mad number of muggings and robberies recorded annually. Yay adventure!

B.K. This morning I was walking down the sidewalk...

and a man driving a motorcycle came onto said sidewalk from the street behind me. He started to speed up and wouldn't you know it, decided to drive right at me. Well, wouldn't you know it, my natural instinct to be like Bruce Lee kicked in and I popped to the side in some sort of honkey martial arts position. Much to my surprise I deterred the madman to the point of making him slow down his motor-bicycle...only to watch him throw a newspaper over the 8 foot wall behind me.

Paper boys these days.

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And now for a debaucherous fact:

Yesterday the rest of the some 270 estudiantes de intercambio arrived and we had a talking to by a counselor here at the school. He pretty much explained the merits of having unprotected sex, being involved with drug trade, parasites within the digestive system, and alcohol. The majority of subject was a big red flag of "no no," and "don't do that," but provided that the majority of exchange students studying here for the next 4 months are not from a school that floats along in it's own happy bubble (which is something that is exceedingly termed here), the man explained that because of the high altitude it will "take you a lot less alcohol to get high, in fact you might feel like your 11 years old again after just a couple drinks." Now here's the fancy fact: I've met at least 3 Ecuadorians (all of age 19 or less) who have expressed to me that on various nights, they had consumed in excess of 20 plus beers with friends or fathers...and had they not told me I would have taken them for completely sober. I can't even begin to imagine the conditioning behind such a feat, the only thing I can compare it to is studying to become a monk; you live in the mountains and it takes you years of practice and discipline to reach a point of excellence within your mind and body that other men often envy and pine to reach themselves...except you're stumbling everywhere and quite possibly vomiting, something I'm pretty sure they teach against in densely monk-populated areas.
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And now for a moment of reflection:Today marks the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and that means something to me.

B.K. (untitled)

I think guitars are pretty swell. I also think spanish teenage boys are pretty amazing and willing to drag foreigners around with them anywhere. I'll tell you what though, once all of this is over I am going to miss eating german chocolate - in fact I might have to start an international trade business if they don't start selling Kinder in the states.

I only have one more day of these intensive spanish language classes, after that I start big kid school with hundreds upon hundreds of rich Ecuadorian fellows who will no doubt forgive me for my salvation army wardrobe. And my biggest problem in the next coming week is whether or not I should take a bread making class.

Hooray for low-stress inducing environments!

B.K. Things that can live in your body

This weekend I'll be heading off to the amazon jungle with the rest of the BCA kids, and if there's one thing I've been warned about it's been that I should NEVER pee in the water. Mainly because of a glorious little friend who lives in the river who would love to enter my orifices and hang around with me forever. After a little rummaging around wikipedia, I found this piece of fan-mail:

The candirú or canero (Vandellia cirrhosa) or toothpick fish is a freshwater fish in the group commonly called the catfishes. It is found in the Amazon River and has a reputation among the natives as the most feared fish in its waters, even over the piranha. The species grows only to a size of an inch in length and is eel shaped and translucent, making it almost impossible to see in the water. The candiru is a parasite. It swims into the gill cavities of other fishes, erects a spine to hold itself in place, and feeds on the blood in the gills, earning it a nickname as the "vampire fish of Brazil".

It is feared by the natives because it is attracted to urine or blood, and if the bather is nude it will swim into an orifice (the anus or vagina, or even in the case of smaller specimens the penis - and perhaps deep into the urethra). It then erects its spine and begins to feed on the blood and body tissue just as it would from the gills of a fish. The candiru is then almost impossible to remove except through an operation. As the fish locates its host by following the water flow from the gills to its source, urinating while bathing increases the chance of a candiru "homing in" on a human urethra.

So remember amigos. When in the amazon river. Never ever pee and swim simultaneously.

B.K. 30 Hours for a beach

This has been a most rewarding weekend to say the least.

On Friday night, 7 of us from the group decided to take a 6 hour bus ride out to the beaches of Esmereldas, for a nominal price we boarded a motor coach and set off for, simply put, the greatest adventure in the history of the world ever.

10:33 p.m. (Friday) - Departure from Kristen's residence with 3 members of the group for arrival at bus depot "Trans Esmereldas"

10:58 - Arrival at "Trans Esmereldas" makes known that the presence of the other 4 members in our group are nowhere to be found. Text Messages are dispatched to retrieve sleeping group members. Waiting inside sultry-hot bus station ensues.

11:15 - Remaining group members arrive with tickets in hand, bus number for some reason not being included on ticket stub.

11:30 - The ceremonial ascent and descent from various buses eventually seats us in the correct motor coach. Conflict thereby ensues when 'Man with child A' requests to have my seat. Local transit authorities intervene to direct man to a different bus.

12:00 a.m. (Saturday)- Coach number 186 departs full from transit station for non-stop drive to the beaches of Esmereldas.

12:10 - Transit authority wearing a Marlboro jacket turns on television for complimentary early-morning movie: "White Tiger." Hours later, the sounds of gun shots, sex, and martial arts action can still be heard throughout the bus.

12:44 - Loud denizens on back of bus begin conversation.

1:40 - Air pressure and heat culminate to the point of making babies on board the bus cry.

2:33 - Child sitting beside me becomes uncomfortable and uses my ribs as an elbow rest.

2:40 - Complimentary early-morning movie: "White Tiger" begins playing for the second time.

3:24 - Sordidly hot.

6:00 - Arrival at beach town of Tonsupa. Contact brother of group member named Andres nowhere to be found. Ceremonial wandering of the streets comenses. Strings of families are found heading towards the beach as well.

6:14 - Group haps´ upon very...friendly, dogs.

6:40 - All vacancies are full in all nearby hotels as a result of the holiday weekend. Calling Andres and his friends directs our group back out to the main strip. At strip, calling Andres directs our group to the direction of the beach. Desire to carry bags becomes markedly low on behalf of group members.

8:32 - After meeting Andres and finally finding a hotel, group departs for beach. Arrival at beach is met by a Ford Bronco parked "por la playa" with 4 people dancing on the roof. Unconscious locals are everywhere.

9:05 - After making camp on the beach, members depart for different activities. Some for the water, some for exploration, and still a few for tanning in the sunless sky. The pacific ocean proves to be surprisingly warm.

9:14 - I step on a hermit crab. I catch it and name it Frederick.

9:17 - Frederick is dropped into the ocean through shoddy passing.

9:33 - Rescue party finds Frederick, promptly removes him from the unsafe waters to the cool resesses of the beach.

9:40 - Unbeknownst to rescue party, Frederick is released by animal rights activist named Heather :)

10:30 - Group decides to fork out the shekles to "ride the banana" (a super-fun ya-ya inflatable rocketship that people ride through the water on).

10:40 - Ankle injury exchanged for head injury with Kristen upon flipping of banana boat by driver.

11:07 - Group returns to stable land. Hunger becomes prominent.

12:20 p.m. - Sun comes out to keep me company while rest of group wanders into the city for sustenance. Tanning commences.

12:40 - There's a very loud and annoying clown on the beach. He's making a lot of sound and has an army of children following him..all along the beach, for an hour from now.

1:14 - Hunting party returns with outrageously full box of shrimp and rice. Operation stop being so freaking hungry begins.

1:17 - Nearby flapping of towel by beach patron results in sand compromising the integrity of shrimp and rice lunch.

1:18 - Operation stop being so freaking hungry continues. Unfortunate inability to eat everything results in leftovers.

1:40 - Group of nearby men with beer initiates conversation about alcohol, the united states, women, and homosexuality.

2:08 - Departure from beach. Leftovers of glorious ambrosia are forgotten. Shrimp and rice of the gods is consumed by men with beer. Upon walking back to the hotel, it becomes known that the only available bus leaving town for the weekend is to come at 11:55.

3:00 - Tickets purchased at notably higher prices.

3:14 - Inordinately fun killing of time begins, with pools, hammocks, friendships with owners of hotel, and round'about good times had by all.

5:00 - Still having more fun than you could ever imagine :)

9:00 - 4 group members depart from hotel for night life at beach.

10:46 - I go stumbling through the dark streets of Tonsupa trying to find the missing group members, get to the beach, get lost in crowds of people, fall down on a dance floor, and return covered in dust and some sort of odd goo that crawled on me while I was in the street.

11:03 - Stress begins to mount with the approaching time of 11:55 creating the necessity to clean the apartment, say goodbye to the neighbors, kick out the locals, pay for the room, find the missing group members, and get to the bus station in half an hour. Easy.

11:28 - Missing group members finally show up at the gate of the hotel, proprietor of the hotel starts collecting money from each person, others are freaking out, a rat starts crawling up the fence and everyone staying in the hotel wakes up so that they can come out to see it. Members of the group start leaving, the hotel owner keeps locking and unlocking the gate, the people who were missing finally get their things packed and the rest of the visitors of at the hotel start playing with the rat.

11:45 - The entirety of our group finally gets to the bus stop, with 10 minutes to spare.

11:56 - A bus shows up, but it's not ours.

12:07 a.m. (Sunday)- Where the crap is the bus.

12:08 - A drunk man is carried to the bus station and lies down in the street with his arms sprawled out to his sides.

12:14 - Oh there's the bus. Oh wait, it's not ours either.

12:18 - Passed out man burps. I have a friend take a photo with me standing behind him.

12:23 - Our bus has arrived! Let's get on it! Bring the drunk man with us and put him in the back! What's this? There's a crack in the window, it's so very cold!

1:40 - Driving through mountains in a non air-tight bus proves to be insatiable while wearing shorts. Surprise surprise toes, you have frostbite. Fortunately, we took care of that with unconsciousness.

2:30 - Tactic of unconsciousness is still failing.

5:30 - Arrival in Quito is met with a shady man driving a volvo who attempts to convince us that he is a taxi driver.

5:34 - Real taxi is found, drive is made, house is reached, journey into the unfamiliar is made complete.

TOTAL SLEEP: 3 hours EXPENSES: 57 u.s.d. PHOTOGRAPHS: 37

Although it might come off as a bunch of bad experiences loaded into a cannon, fired into a chicken coop and then reassembled into something that resembles Metamorphasis by the great Salvidor Dali himself, I really enjoyed every moment of it. Of course, lessons teach that different beaches and better planning are sometimes a great thing to have.

Of course, 30 hours of spontaniety never killed anyone in Ecuador.

B.K. Dear Spanish Language...

...In one and a half months, I will be inside you.

And now for some of the more simple pleasures of life:

ºThere is no better bread in the world than that which you might have made for you in the mornings by an older Ecuadorian mother.

ºWearing shoes is over-rated. So is wearing jackets, and having hair, and not saying hello to strangers.

ºMountains are wonderful. Has anyone ever asked you that question of "would you rather live by the beach or on a mountain?" You should think about it, I myself don't know what I'd prefer at this point in time.

ºThe ardently intoxicating smell of warmth, much like the kind you get on your skin after lying in the sun for a little while.

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I talked with a friend about volunteer opportunities while here in Ecuador. She said that she didn't want to get involved with some established organization like compassion international, but rather that she'd like to work with people that aren't provided for.

And then she told me about a woman that her host family knew about who lived just outside the city with no one to care for her. According to her, the woman has 7 children, two of which have been the result of being impregnated by police officers.

B.K. Most Important: Cuba through the eyes of the locals

Honestly, this entry is pretty much just for me as a concrete place that I can certify what I now know about Cuba from the lips of Nieves, my program director´s wife. The other side of the story begins with the relationship between Cuba and the United States during the 1950´s. At the time a man named Batista, like so many others in his position, was the dictator of Cuba. Furthermore, relations between Cuba and the States were of a pleasant nature, mainly because there was the existance of immense fruit trade between the two. However, similar to most dictators like him, Batista was corrupt and exported as much as he could from Cuba with the intention of investing the funds he received in himself. Not to be held in exemption, when told that Batista was "a son of a bitch," the States responded in a manner of "well at least he is OUR son of a bitch." Also in the 1950´s, Fidel Castro was studying in the United States (as a result of being born into the upper-middle class). And in the process he came to the realization that the trade agreements between his home country and Cuba were of a not-so-good for his people sort of arrangement. Thusly, with patience and careful planning of guerrilla tactics with the infamous Che Gueverra, Castro led a small group of soldiers against Batista's forces, and on the second attempt of a Coupd'Etet, secured his position as the leader of Nationalist Cuba. According to my teacher, Castro then went to the United States asking for help; his country was in shambles and people were starving. But Cubans who had fled from their home country to Florida after the overthrowing of Batista shouted out to the States that Castro was a communist (mind you, at the time there was severe tension between the States and everything with the label `communist`on it). Accordingly with this rumor and the fact that many corporations had been aversely impacted with the removal of international trade with Batista, the USA denied Castro's request and sent him back to Cuba empty handed. It was at this point that the Soviet Union decided to reach out and offer Castro help for his situation. It was at this point that Fidel had no better choice but to accept communism as the infrastructure of his country for the sake of not facing economic collapse. Many people in Ecuador think of Castro as a hero in his time. Of course, things have changed with age and power. But then what could he have done given his circumstances? And just how bad is Cuba at this point in time? Castro is near death, his brother will be soon to follow, the country is riddled with doctors and tourism, and all I can do is wait until a door opens. How un-fun waiting is.

B.K. There's only so much a man can do on an international keyboard

It´s been 3 days since I´ve arrived in the city of Quito, Ecuador, and honestly I´ve been pretty nervous about it. My host-mother says that if I´m not careful I´ll get robbed in the streets, my program director says that if I´m not careful I´ll get robbed on the bus, and my program director´s wife says that if I´m not careful I´ll get robbed at the school. So essentially the biggest thing to worry about at this point is pirates, which is something I´m perfectly fine with.

Learning spanish has been challenging and fun, but rather than talk about boring things like that, let me start off this blog with some facts that will totally make you want to come to Ecuador too!

- A good sum of 5 liters of water...which has to be enough for AT LEAST 2 days, can be bought for .75 cents. Do you remember the last thing you ever bought for less than a dollar? Was it from a candy machine in a grocery store? That´s right, you should come to Ecuador!

- Clothing is pretty much next to free. Leather jackets and belts and bags and socks from local artisans go for cheap, and are relatively child-labor free! When I find out that this isn´t true though, I´ll be sure to mark it from the list.

- There´s a great deal of poverty and homelessness (at least 60% by the last rumors I heard) within the city of Quito alone, and no one has the power or time to help. Like the States, there´s a fraction of the population that has all of the wealth, and the rest are left to struggle through life.

The latest change in my life has to do with giving money to people on the streets. It´s stupid. It´s dangerous. And I want to do more of it. I don´t have much of an issue with the whole "you can´t trust them because they´ll just use it to go get drugs and liquor" argument; that action of theirs isn´t really up to me, and to ask them "are you going to go get drunk with this money" is outright silly to ask. My only dilemma with the act is the fact that if I do it, people might take me for a walking bank, and more of that whole pirates-in-Ecuador thing may be sure to happen...which might not actually be as fun as it sounds.

Tact would be a wonderful thing to have. Unfortunately it´s one of those few things I can´t get for cheap around here.

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On a more somber note, if you actually took the time to read this, thank you. You are one of those few people that I really miss and can´t wait to see again. I hope you´re having a great time in the States and that you feel loved and happy. May everyone you meet leave your company feeling a little better about life.

:),
Trevor