Galapagos, here I come

Heading to the Galapagos in several hours. I am bringing very little with me. Some cleanish clothes, a heavy smile, and a great attitude. If my camera could take more than 5 pictures on a battery charge, I would take more photos. We come back on Thursday. We will visit several of the islands pictured on the map. I will definitely meet one of those tortoises.
Not much rhymes with Galapagos.

Dogs

Dogs do not speak Spanish. Except for very intelligent dogs. I have always been curious if dogs from other countries have accents when they bark. Maybe?
In Ecuador, dogs are everywhere, they run rampant. In a given day, I see several dogs that just seem to be enjoying their lives of freedom.
In the seminary, there is one dog that I have grown to know. His name is Caramelo. This translates as "candy" or "Sweet". If anyone offers me a candy, all that I can think of is this huge dog and all of his hair. Caramelo has two real strengths. One is barking... at me, and the other is drooling. Always, he has a thick rope of saliva, barely clinging on to his gums, threatening to liberate itself at anytime. As pictured, Caramelos favorite spot to be, is on his back legs with his front paws and overlarge head hanging over the walkway below. On more than one occasion, I have unknowingly walked beneath him and seen a drop or two and think to myself, "I didn't know it was raining". It was not raining.
I have had many conversations with Caramelo about his excessive barking. He normally responds in typical Caramelo fashion, by barking. As a matter of a fact, the only time that he does not bark, is when I am heading back to my room late at night, under cover of darkness. The only time that it is reasonable that a thief or robber may be infiltrating the seminary, Caramelo can't be bothered. He lazily opens one eye, flops his ear over, and continues sleeping. That is my kind of dog.

Strange

I have really grown to appreciate Ecuador. As a matter of a fact, I have developed somewhat of a tradition. If there is a column, I will climb on it. There are a couple of pictures that show this tradition. I leave on Sunday for the Galapagos islands! I hope to find somethings in the Galapagos to climb. Like a giant tortoise. Turtles are slow, I can probably catch one.

Basilica

Today we went to a huge cathedral in Quito Colonial. It is called the basilica. It was built by one of the previous presidents with the purpose of reaching the heavens. Isn't there a biblical precedent for this?
The building itself is incredible and I greatly enjoyed the views as I slowly climbed higher and higher. I kept expecting to see Quazi Modo. I did not. But, I did climb onto a small ledge that was completely caked with bird poop. It is the little things in life, isn't it? I have some great pictures and even better mental ones.
You may notice the very large clock. I touched the inside of that clock. Part of me wanted to reach out and change the time. I am curious if I can convince the entire country of Ecuador that they are late. Probably not. Then again, they are hispanics and as such, usually late.
I now feel compelled to explain that previous statement because it sounded like a generality and racist. Hispanics are event oriented, where as most North Americans are time oriented. The time that something starts is less important here. There is simply a magic number of people that show up, and when that number is present the event can start. Or maybe, it is the specific people that show up. If this is true, then I am never that specific person that we were waiting for.
Enjoy the basilica!

Bothersome

I will not whine or complain. I have gotten a little annoyed with the food lately. It used to be different and cool, but now I have been longing for American food. A couple of weeks ago, we went to a food court at a large mall. I scoffed at the American chain restaurants and shook at my head at those American's waiting in line. "What a shame to come all the way down here just to order a cheesy Gordita". Last week, my mouth watered as I sniffed the colonels, chicken. I will obviously avoid any and all connection with the Golden arches. That is simply a slap in the face. But I have been eating out a little more often and frequenting those things that are nearer to home. In this picture, I was sorely mistaken as to what I was ordering. That sandwich left much to be desired, namely a whole other meal.

Wadoni

Sometimes You just have to sidehug an indigenous man!

Just got back into Quito from nearby Otavalo! One of the largest outdoor markets in South America. The majority of my companions took around $200 and a great attitude. I thought I would blow all of my $40 in Leathertown, but still had the same amount when we landed in nearby woodtown. Very creative with the names huh? Do you know why they call it leather town? I have never seen such a selection of brightly colored chaps.
When we arrived at our accommodations for the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised. A lovely hostel complete with hammocks, outdoor courtyard, and hippies. I promptly utilized the public restroom for a steaming hot shower. Then after a charming dinner, myself and several other American students joined some other travelers to chat for a few minutes. We spoke with Germans, French, Colombians and one gentleman that confused me greatly. It was pleasant conversation, and good company. So when a bottle of coke came my way, I grimaced because it was Diet, but offered it to the 13 year old son of our director. He shook his head no and I brought it to my lips. As I opened my mouth to take a drink a sudden smell of liquor tickled my nostrils. Oops! Now I had a real problem. How to bring this bottle down without taking a drink, and appearing completely obvious. I pretended to laugh at something that someone had said, and handed the bottle to the next gentleman. It was getting late and after so much excitement it was almost time to just chill anyway. we excused ourselves and retired to Reese Witherspoon's, "Sweet Home Alabama".
Movie stores here are far and wide and cheap. I can find almost any movie here including Robin Hood, Iron Man 2, and Toy Story 3 all for the price of $1.25. You might see some guy in the front row get up and go get more popcorn, but it is cheap!
I bought a fake Rolex, fake Ray-Ban sunglasses, a couple of gifts and bartered like a pro! It was much more enjoyable than normal shopping in the U.S. I was called, "amigito" or little friend by more than one vendor as I passed them. I hope they still considered me a friend when I left!

Value

I have had a couple of tough days here. I have been sick most of this week and lost a few pounds. I am starting to feel much better, but came to a realization. The value of being in a Spanish speaking country with a Spanish speaking roommate is as follows: as soon as you wake up in the morning, when your brain still feels like a balloon full of sand being pushed through a cheese grater, you have to understand what your roommate is saying.
This is especially true when you are sick and want nothing more than to put your head inside your pillow and pretend you are still dreaming about gracefully dancing elephants.
Since we are on the subject, I have had several rather vivid and strange dreams since coming to Ecuador. I am assuming that this is a symptom of different food, altitude, and maybe even just being out of my comfort zone. I had a rather enlightening conversation with my socks in last nights episode.
I am starting to experience some culture shock. In place of eating the traditional meal that my seminary provided, I opted for the very indigenous taco bell. I think the pronunciation there is (Wimp-y-man). What a shame to be in a different country and turn away from the wonderful things that they have to offer and instead seek solace and comfort in the pre-packaged beef and processed cheesy goodness, with heat lamp warmed tortilla shell. I could really go for a cheesy gordita right about now.
By the way, check out mr. suave, Bartering in the Ecuatorian market. Thinking in my mind, "Don't look too interested. Now walk away, She'll break" All that for two dollar grapes.

Question of the day

Do autobiographies have an about the author section?

Culture shock

Culture shock manifests itself in many different ways. One of those ways is absolute confusion. I experienced this last week at a popular chain restaurant in Ecuador called Tejas Pollo. For those spanish scholars following, this means Texas chicken. I am curious if this is a restaurant in Texas. I am also curious what qualifies their chicken as Texas chicken. Does it come from Texas? That seems like it would be very inefficient. I ordered my chicken meal and was astounded when I looked at my tray and found two uni-sex plastic gloves. My first understanding was that a worker obviously got confused and placed his gloves on my tray. I thought this until I saw other happy customers of The Texas Chicken contentedly gnawing away on their respective poultry whilst sporting the fashionable protective devices. Strange no?

Roofs and dissapearing indigenous

Trust me, this picture of me on the roof looked much cooler in person. And dangerous.
Also, this picture of me and my friend Chad on a bridge is much cooler given that the sign in the background says, "No more than 5 people".
I also added a shot of the children in the Shuar village. Shuar are and indigenous tribe in Ecuador. When we first got there I saw a kid outside of the building and invited him in. He said no and I walked around to where he was. But he was not there. Instead all the school children watching from inside, were giggling hysterically. I asked them where he went and every kid pointed a different direction, including straight up and straight down. I ran around and around that building but never found the kid.

pictures

weekend

Wow! what an interesting weekend that I had. My Ecuadorian family was probably the nicest set of grandparents in the world! Aside from my own. After presenting them with the chocolate cake, we were fast friends which only adds further proof to my theory that any woman in any culture loves chocolate. When we got to their house we sat down to a nice snack of bread and hot chocolate. We talked for a few minutes before their daughter who lives next door came over with her family. Her two children were truly a highlight. The four year old named anilla, showed me how she could count in english. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9! I think that when I was four years old, I also probably missed a few numbers, in my own language.
I went to bed with a full belly, eagerly looking forward to the next day. Saturday was busy! Abuelita (little grandma) as I called her owns her own meat business. I was overjoyed to help her in her workshop moving raw meat, and preparing raw meat, and touching raw meat. it was raw. I also helped Abuelito (Little grandpa) with some important paperwork and washing the cars. The food was excellent including a contraband ice cream bar. We were told to never eat ice cream that was not packaged, because it has no health accountability. When Abueltio and I walked three miles to an ice cream store, I did not know how to say no. So, I didn't. It did taste good, but today I hav felt sick all day. I am not certain if it was the ice cream or not. but it hurts so good!
I was sad to say goodbye to them, but was pleased that they asked me for my cell phone number and e-mail adress. It would seem that they enjoyed my visit as well. They have also opened their house to me if I ever return to Ecuador. that makes two countries that I have free housing in if I choose to go! Typically people really are excellent. Unless they have a toothache. then all bets are off.
I have lots of homework to finish, er start in a minute. I could do it, if only it were in English! Then again, I still would not want to.

family stay

This weekend will find me staying with an authentic Ecuadorian family. part of me wonders if they are paid actors. Probably not. I am a little nervous, for several reasons, but am bringing a chocolate cake along as a bribe...I mean good gesture. Until Sunday.

Discrimination

Mosquitoes are probably the most just species in the world. It does not matter what color you are, what gender you are or even if you are living or dead. They will eat you! Them and their millions of cousins. I think that we have a lot to learn from mosquitoes. Like how to fly, and not be killed by humans.
Philosophy time- There are two types of decisions. Good decisions, and decisions that Spencer makes. My motto for this trip has become, "I will try anything once." I am certain that I am going to regret saying that soon.

explanation

Cool pics huh?
To explain them briefly:
The pictures respectively show some of my adventures.
One of the most incredible experiences that I have had so far was my trip into the Waorani village. For those of you that have not seen the movie "the end of the spear" This is the village responsible for the deaths of 5 missionaries in the 1950's. To access the village, we had to fly in missionary airplanes. flying these planes is the ministry of the pilots. They make you pray, seriously. Sitting in a plane the size of a 2 door Camry is a special experience, especially if your ceiling fan at home has more horsepower than the propeller. If you were not God fearing before you entered the plane you will be scared to death of him by the time you leave. If all of that is not enough, throw in a pilot that lets me take the reins for about three minutes. This is true, I asked the pilot if I could fly and he let me! Immediately as I took over we began to climb. It was such an alien experience.we then veered left and right for a few minutes. Check that one off the bucket list.
the monkeys were a fun experience as well. Equally as scary. Monkeys have no shame. They are curious creatures and have five prehensile appendages. take that however you will. I discovered that I have a unique type of animal magnetism. Just kidding, they only wanted me for my dead skin.
The last picture shows me comfortably at ease on a vine in the amazonian jungle. It was a snake. false, it was just a vine. but now I can sing "Tarzan" with the best of them. Ever notice how Tarzans voice sounds like a thirteen year old boy in his church choir?

May 30th

Sometimes a fish will jump out of wáter of its own accord and land in a boat. I think that in those times, it must think, “Oh dear, this is not where I expected to be a few minutes ago.” I have spent the last couple of days walking on thin structural beams while I try to be a roofer. I do not mean to brag, but the height would make most people woozy just thinking about it. About 8 feet high.
It is different for me to realize that building a church is ministry, even if it is not direct interaction with people. I shocked myself with the welding machine. I did not tell anyone here, because I was embarrassed.
Each night, when I return to the hotel, I accompany a group of people to the roof of the hotel to look out over the city and see the lights. Last night we also had a shadow puppet show. If you have never experienced this, you are a loser. Try to make a camel or a triceratops.
I am expanding my food vernacular as well. I can now add Tilapia fish to my list of things that I have tried. I have two lists that look very similar. One says, “Things that I have tried recently” the other says, “Things that I do not want to try again”. I am only kidding… kind of.
Tonight I took a walk in the rain along a farm road. It was one of the most fun things that I have done here so far. Together with a group of anonymous adventurers who shall remain nameless, we walked until we reached a fence that stopped us. I won’t tell who was in the group. Even if you torture me.

May 29th

Went to church today at a local congregation. It was great, there were about 25 Gringos and about 6 indigenous people. You know those people that sing harmonies during church worship songs? They crack me up.
The sermon was translated into English by one of our leaders, she did an excellent job! There were so many times that I would have said, “I do not know what he said but I am sure it was very spiritual. As a matter of fact, I sometimes feel like that during sermons in English. Christians are weird.
I am looking forward to our next destination, it is a little more vacation style. I am tired and sore from working or roofs. The majority of the time, I am not actually working but just kind of helping. Today I was working with Harrison the Ecuadorian construction manager, while everyone else went to an indigenous community. I felt cool because the only time that I actually did any work was right when every body passed. I was precariously balanced on an inclined roof beam, hauling some heavy pieces of metal. Just another day in the life I guess.

May 28th

It does not matter when we get there, the fun just started at the side of the road!
Some travel conditions are unforeseeable. For example, you never know when you will encounter a traffic jam, or maybe a detour…or an active volcano. Wait.
The day we left the seminary for the jungle, my good friend Tunguarahua decided to blow it’s top. Ridiculous! We passed very close to the volcano it self by pressed on. We were not going to let something small like a natural disaster keep us from our destination. As we continued along the ash dusted roads, we noticed a strange smell. Normally in a van with 15 adolescents, this is expected. But this was different, and sure enough as soon as the burning rubber tickled my nostrils, we pulled over to address our flat tire. On a secluded Andean mountain road, I pretended to know what to do. Luckily there was a gentleman who became a great friend, who could easily join a NASCAR pit crew if he wanted to. We took off once again, passing through mountains with hidden lakes and waterfalls around every bend. I spent a significant portion of the trip with my head literally out of the window.
The adventures had only just begun. I could go on to tell you about downed bridges, and I will. In America, when there is a bridge down, people get frustrated, turn around and drive through their anger. In Ecuador, people smile, turn the wheel a little but, and drive through the river. All I could think about was that silly computer game “The Amazon trail”. I did not want to tell anyone that I never made it all the way to the Amazon in the game because I died trying to ford the river. I expect to have some photos and maybe even videos up soon.
Without expanding all of the details, it is easy to say that we encountered many challenges along the way, but by the help of our supportive community and the holy trinity, we made it. What a beautiful metaphor for life, isn’t it?
Oh yeah, our 7 hour drive took 26 hours.

Back!

Hello all!
I have returned from the land of monkeys and jaguars! I will be updating very soon! There is so much to tell.