Tattoo Me

So, I am really trying to keep up with this blog thing, but geez, it´s so hard with hardly any time to spare...ok, that´s just my excuse. Anyway, as you can probably tell from the title, I just got a new tattoo here in Quito. I´m telling you, there is something in the air here. I came here such a good boy(yeah, right), and now I have fallin´into the world of tattoos and piercings. I am leaving for Lima, Peru in 5 days and in just enough time for my tats to heal, so I can properly show them off..lol. There is a tremendous artist here, the one who did my new one, who has agreed to do some add-on work to enhance one of my other tattoos from earlier on. So, maybe when I return from Bolivia, I will take him up on it. I sure will miss Quito, when I have to come back to the U.S., but if everything goes well with my visa, I will be returning to Ecuador for work in September 2009. So, that´s about it. See ya again soon :)

Music Nights

There isn´t a whole to update since the last blog entry, just finishing up three more weeks here in Quito, then it´s off to Peru and Bolivia for a month before returning back to Ecuador to tour the country for a month. As of now, the current plan is to head back to the U.S. around the first of April, where I have to wait until my permanent work visa is approved around September, then it´s back to Ecuador where I will be working here for a year to two years on the coast in a city called Canoa. In some ways I hate to even have to leave here to head back to the U.S. because the restaurant is doing well, and it´s a lot of fun here. We just started having music nights up on the terrace here at the hotel, and every night is a different theme. Sundays are 80´s night, and everyone hadf a great time eating , drinking, and listening to music from the past. But, after I leave in April, they have to close the restaurant, until I return in September, because they don´t have anyone to take it over. Anyway, it will still be nice to visit family and friends back home for a bit, but Ecuador and the people and culture here sure grow on you. Caio´for now!

Happy New Years!

I realize this post is a little late, but celebrating New Years in Quito will do that to you. This was my first New Years away from home, but everyone had a great time. The traditions here are so much different, and it was great to experience all the new things that New Years here had to offer. The party usually starts off around 6pm New Years Eve, and it's filled with everyone telling stories from the past year. Of the interesting customs here is to make paper stuffed, life sized dummies that are displayed around the city, and then set on fire at midnight creating small fires around the city. The idea is that it represents all the bad from the previous year, and setting them on fire destroys that, and prepares the new year ahead. We played music through the night, and danced, danced, danced! Just after midnight, everyone sits down for a huge home cooked meal. This year I cooked, and I made chicken parm, mashed potatoes, grilled green beans with tomatoes, rice and corn, and brandy apples. Everyone enjoyed the gringo style food, and some never even had chicken parm before...imagine..lol. Finally, most of us went to bed around 3:00 am, and when we woke up the next day, there were still people singing and dancing around all the small fires burning in the streets of Quito...what a NEW YEAR!!

What the Smell Is Goin´On?

No doubt, this is one of those rather random blogs that may just leave you shaking your head after you read it...for such as life are those moments that don´t necessarily leave us affected in any other way, only in the occasional moment that hindsight comes again to remind us of why we took the time to write about it in the first place, or in this case for the reader, well, maybe I´ll let you choose the appropiate word. Yesterday, as we were preparing to ready the kitchen for another night of dishing out burgers, booze, and music to the plethra of tourists that would soon make their way through the doors, Jacob, Joel, Xavi, and I noticed a rather odd, and somewhat disconcerting smell making it´s way through the entire hostel. Now, moments earlier, our resident Spanish teacher, Maribel, had commented that she noticed what she thought was the smell of marajuana lurking about, but when we investigated, we all decided there was something else definately a´foot´making itself known. Then we realized that her Belgian student was conviently around every time we noticed the odor. After some more investigating, we finally all figured out that it was him....more specifically, his socks! Apparently, he´d been wearing the same pair underneath a pair of sandals(another no-no), for more than a week, and no intention of changing them any time soon. Eventually, we may have to start fining him daily if things don´t change. Now, because I am writing this in my blog, I had to give him an alias, just in case he tries to add me on facebook, in which case he will certainly find this entry. So, if a Belgian guy with sunburn, and a bad case of style and sock odor asks...My name is Paco Van Sustran, and I come from Iceland on a scientific mission to study the problem of Volcano water evaporation. I´m hoping this is enough to through him off my cybertrail. Thankfully, he hasnt asked what my name is yet!

Salsa Is To It

So, last night, the gang from our hostel where I am working all got together and went to a local salsa club to have a little fun, and teach the local girls a thing or two about salsa dancing. We all had a great time, but it turned out none of us actually knew HOW to salsa dance. No one was more shocked than I was. But we still had a great time dancing with the locals and just enjoying ourselves. Many of the girls tried to teach Jacob, Joel, and myself how to learn some moves, but it was not going so well, and in the end there were three injuries. Nothing serious ;-). One girl, Carla, was very sweet, and danced with me for a good 20 minutes or so, and I managed to learn some basics. Maybe I´ll try them out next week, we´ll see. Anyway, by the time we left, it was 3am, and most of us were exhausted. But we couldn´t go back until we all had a shwarma from the local place next to the club that stayed open until 5am. Sleep sure felt good that night!

A Helping Hand

Today was an interesting day in that even the unusual can sometimes be usual, depending on where you are at. As I was walking back from the internet cafe, a place where the internet speeds are so slow, that checking your email can cost about $2.00, which by the way, I find extremely convienent for the folks running them, I entered into a strange course of events. While crossing a small square near our hostel, I noticed a man laying on the grass unconscious surrounded by two uniformed police officers. At first, I thought he was dead, but then soon realized after listening to the police that he was merely the victim of too many cocktails. Just as I was about to continue on, one of the officers glanced my way and seemed to motion for me to come over. As I approached, I asked him if there was something he needed, and he nonchalantly asked me if I would be willing to help carry our annebriated amigo to the police station. I nodded my approval and began to hoist him up with the help of both cops onto his feet. We then proceeded to carry him about 50 yards uphill to this small doorway that lead into a strangely lit, and cramped room, where we laid him on the floor. The officers then thanked me for my help by offering me a strange, and somewhat awkward 'high five'...something they apparently learned from their years of dealing with American tourists. I left not quite sure of the future fate of our drunken friend, but decided that he was probably better off with two cops then on the ground sleeping the day away. I could be wrong.

Canoa the feelin´

Well, today I take the night bus back to Quito after 4 days in the sun in a town called Canoa. Leaving this place is a little bit of a downer, because it may be the nicest place I´ve been to in quite a while. It was a little like taking a vacation on Gilligans Island, except that they actually had telephones, eliminating the need to talk to my friends through a coconut. The people were very friendly, and they´re were not a lot of tourists. It was a great place to relax and just enjoy the weather. The water was amazing and my friends and I spent much time bodysurfing and boogie boarding. Jacob even tried surfing but that didn´t go so well, but it was fun to watch...sorry Jacob. Another interesting thing about Canoa, is the fact that there are more dogs than people..especially at night when they roam the streets lookin for trouble and a possible one night stand with the mutts from across the way. Jacob, Joel, and I stayed in a hostel called Bambu...and it was great. Hammocks all over the place, and great views of the ocean. Happy hour was from 5-6, and they had some really great food at the restaurant. Who would of thought you could get a great pasta dish in a remote resort beach in Ecuador:) Anyway, not much more to write now, but it´s back to Quito where the journey and adventure continues until we head off to the much delayed trip to the jungle, hopefully within a few weeks. You haven´t lived Ecuador until you can stare a 20 foot Anaconda in the face, and live to tell about it! lol
Caio´for now :)