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!