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