Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Fire, water, burn

Well, well, well. Some things have been going on since my last post, not much. It has been very hectic since my last post. Let me see. The bank in town was robbed and someone got away with $150,000. That’s like a bagillion dollars here in Ecuador. Something very sad did happen, one of the people that I am working with passed away from a car accident. I went to the funeral and stood by everyone, it was very unexpected and sad. He will be missed by the community. The funeral was different than the states, but I really don’t want to get into it. It was a weird time.

I did go to Quito to take care of some business. Nothing too much there, but last weekend I went to Puerto Lopez for a day and a half. It was very beautiful. I had the opportunity to go fishing and caught like 8 fish. I don’t want to brag but I did catch the biggest fish. Some other people that were there did catch some giant sea turtles on accident, but don’t worry they were released unscathed. They were not even pulled out of the water. I then saw some whales and did a little snorkel action. There is an island that is close to Puerto Lopez, which is supposedly like a baby Galapagos. I did not have the time or money to check that place out, but I do think I will be regresandoing, that’s Spanglish for returning. The island is definitely in my future. I really liked it and kind of wish I was a little closer to the actual coast. I mean I live in the coastal region, but the actual coast is so far away. It’s all good though.

I am really not sure what to do right now. The man who passed away was going to help me with presenting my project to the mayor, but now I got to figure something out. I think I am going to bring in a new idea about putting trashcans all over the city. I don’t have enough time right now to get the tree nursery started before the wet season. I think two types of trashcans would be a good idea, organic and inorganic. After we have some of the garbage separated, we can maybe start a giant composting project near the landfill. These are just ideas, I don’t know, I just don’t know. Haha. Anyway, mom and dad if you are reading this, you need to by your tickets to come visit me and let me know the exact dates. Also, since I am somewhat bored I will finish this post with a list of things I want yall to bring me.

1. My playstation 2 with all the games they can find. You can take the games out of the cases and put them in a cd folder. A giant cd folder could be great considering I buy dvd’s like a mad man. Oh, and a sharpee.
2. Beef jerky or some means of making jerky. My counterpart will be impressed with this. I gave him beef jerky a couple months ago and he freaked out. Since then, every time he meets a new American, he asks them for beef jerky. It’s strange, but funny.
3. A book on how to make beer and some freeze-dried hops. I understand if you do not want to bring this, I will just buy it when I return. But seriously, buy this. I need to make an IPA.
4. Books, books, and books. I look books about baseball, zombies, super heroes, biographies, etc. I will read pretty much anything. Don’t bring a bible mom, cause I already got one.
5. I need a new external hard drive. Mine has bit the dust. Just get one that is cheap and mac compatible. Also, the smaller the size of the actual hard drive, the better it will be for me.
6. Shoes – I wear size 12.
7. Any hobby that seems like it could be time consuming.
8. A textbook about reforestation would be great. You could probably go on amazon.com and buy a used one for really cheap.
9. A sense of humor and the ability to deal with patience.
10. Camo hat
11. A bunch of peanut butter, like a crap load of it.
12. Jalapeños??????? Maybe just jalapeño seeds.
13. Socks, I love new socks.
14. Old magazines. Seriously this would be awesome. Like sports magazines. Yeah sports magazines. Good idea ross.
15. I am sure there will be other things I want, and I am pretty sure that I am a spoiled brat. Hopefully this brat gets all he wants.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Hiyo

What up? So it has been a while since I last posted, but I assure things are going good. I have been typing my butt off and trying to get my reforestation project started. It is all about presentation here at the municipio. I am still learning of course. Lately, I have either thought my Spanish is awesome or the worst ever. Never in the middle it is weird. I either no exactly what to say or what is being said, or I don’t. It is all good though, I am not that awkward about anything anymore. I have come to accept that I am that token foreign guy and there is nothing I can do about that. I will never really fit into Ecuadorian culture; no matter how many soccer jerseys I buy. I mean I have a giant red beard, I am 6’1, and did I mention that I was white. I still love it though.

This past weekend I got to go to Guayaquil (the biggest city in Ecuador) to look for a bike. I did find some awesome bikes, but left empty handed. I was able to buy some Lacoste tshirts for 5 dollars and every episode of Entourage and Planet Earth. I also attended my first soccer game ever. Barcelona vs. Olmedo. It was really awesome. The stadium was like the biggest ever of course I was the only white person there. It was normal and awesome. I also had the opportunity this past weekend to eat at not only taco bell, but also dunkin donuts. I love America.

These next few weeks should be filled with something, I just don’t know what yet. Oh, I forgot to mention, they are putting another volunteer at my site in the middle of August. I met her on her site visit here, and sure enough she is from Austin. That makes 3 people in the area from Austin. That means there are only two other people in the area that are not from Austin. Qué mas? Nothing more really. Everything is the same here and I hope everyone back in the states is doing good. Ok, later.