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.