Fruit Loops
Hey friends
For those of you who think Im roughing it let me tell you that I had fruit loops this morning and am drinking lots of coke. I am sleeping in a nice house ... I have my guitar...a radio (but please let me tell you how sick I am of romantica espanol...there are a few english stations down here but like Z-95 they play the same dance songs over and over ... and even though the station is english they always throw in the occasional romantic spanish song... ach! I love the fact that I am hanging around with local but this is all they listen to. Soft rock romanitica...its like being tied up and forced to listen to KISS FM in Vancouver. I need my Pixies, my Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth. Any ideas... please help)
I am staying with a really cool family and have learned lots. About culture, family, priorities... here in Eucador. Will be leaving soon for the jungle... will keep you updated.
The night before I left Piura I saw on the TV all the flooding occuring in Tumbes. There were roads washed out and cows being displaced. 20 hours later it was funny to be standing in Tumbes in a long line-up of cars and trucks and buses waiting for the waters to subside. We did end up driving through this creek which used to be the road...I guess everyone was waiting for the OK. As we passed through the water I noticed not far upstream that a bridge has washed out. It was a big bridge. It had already stopped raining and I guess the water had subsided quite a bit. Suppossedly it had been raining for 12 hours straight in Tumbes and unlike Vancouverites the people were not used to this.
The border between Ecuador and Peru was not as smooth as I had hoped. A showing of the passport was my expectation. Nope. On the Peru side the bus stopped and three or four of us entered a building to wake up the border people. It was, by the way, 4 am. Suppossedly there was this tiny piece of paper I was suppossed to give them that I received in Lima when I arrived in Peru. I knew I had it cuz I dont throw anything away but where it was was not coming to mind. So I had to pay ... not too much but it was difficult to figure out what was going on since noone spoke english...not on the bus ... not in the border building. This lady finally stamped my passport but the ink was dry so you could barely see the imprint. But being 4 am and not really caring about a person who doesnt speak her language the lady said I could go. Finito, finito, and she waved her hand for me to leave. On the Eucadorian side we entered another building. Very ominous, dark, quiet, in a land far away. I am not sure...cuz as I said I was the only one who spoke english ... but the border man didnt like my stamp and said that I couldnt enter Ecuador. That was pretty easy to figure out without english. So there was this whole scene that took place that I couldnt even begin to describe here. But basically the people on the bus were very kind in trying to help me. But the border man kept refusing to budge. At one point the border man left and went into another room and everyone from the bus looked at me as if to say sorry man... we tried. I had visions of being left in this no-mans land between Peru and Ecuador all alone with no english. Anyways the ending of this little story ended up being very simple. Money. One guy from the bus said $2, another $3, and another $5. It ended up being $10 american but that isnt really that much considering the alternative. The mighty dollar and its amigo corruption. I actually like it. Not because of being taken advantage of as in this situation but because if all else fails you always have a way out. Unlike Vancouver where if you get pulled over for speeding they can keep you in a cell for an unpaid parking ticket.
It has been carnival here for the past four days. It is a tradition to spray people with water. Its kind of funny walking down the street and having water balloons fall down from above...inches from your head...or sometimes hitting its target. Its been like watching a juvenille militia with all the young folk running around or waiting on the corner with their big water guns. Yesterday I went to a fiesta where after spending an hour with all the men watching TV in which Ecuador beat Turkey in a soccer match everyone proceeded to get everyone else wet. I was told to bring an extra pair of clothes ... which I did. At first it was fun...cuz you tried not to get wet and there were surprises...like a soaking from one of the old ladies from the kitchen or something like that but then after everyone was wet the men proceeded to stand in a circle in the back yard spraying each other with water. And on and on it went. It was kind of funny watching this go on for about an hour. Unless you are trying not to get wet I dont see the fun. I went inside. But overall the fiesta was a lot of fun. Lots of weird food. Lots of people. Lots of laughing and family. It is a very interesting experience hanging out with the locals. I spent one night in a hotel here in Cuenca that was full of tourists. I met a South African, a bunch of people from England, Scotland and I was bored within minutes of the conversation. Why would anyone want to meet tourists down here in South America?????????
A couple of days ago I went to Girron and hiked around in the hills. The landscape and flora here is amazing. It is just like you see in National Geographic... lots of green, huge leaves, big insects, waterfalls, interesting animals and birds. It is very beautiful here. I am looking very forward to seeing the jungle.
So life here in the city of Cuenca has been pretty slow. Its a city. But the family I am staying with is very intelligent and talented. The son paints water colours so beautifully. And the daughter can drives faster than me! Thats impressive.
Noone here can pronounce my name. I had the same problem in Piura. If I repeat it a few times for them they finally say it correctly but after a few minutes of non-practice they resort to the same old pronounciation. Chan. No, no, its Shhhh..on They say Chan. And then after finally getting the first name half decent they stumble with the last name. The son at the house calls me Brendan (my middle name) and some others call me Juan.
Anyways hope you are well.
Thanks for reading...if you got this far.
My email is sean@bentobox.net
Do not do a return mail on this email.
Take care
Sean
PS. And for those of you who were wondering I have been sick. Quite a bit actually. But not overly. The rash in Piura seems to have been an allergic reaction with some local medication I took for my stomach pain and I got a spider bite that same night. Quite the coincidence. But am fine now.
More from seanchorney here