I Met the Indians (Bathroom Olympics)

Do you remember being in high school, finishing a class, and then joyously dumping everything you accumulated, everything symbolic of the knowledge you obtained from the course into the trash can? Or even being in middle school, and finally getting to summer break, and then maliciously and deliberately burning all folders, handouts, worksheets, and notes in a raging bonfire (provided the materials wouldn’t come in handy next year)? That sort of happened this weekend, but it wasn’t malicious or representative of me purging myself of everything Spanish 250. It just so happened that there was a fireplace in the room I shared with two other guys for the weekend, and there was also firewood, and there were also matches. Unfortunately, there was also a complete and utter lack of any kindling. But really, do you expect three guys in their twenties (one of them an astute problem-solving engineer type), provided with such resources, to give up on the one thing that every man in the world really wants? Okay, you’re right, we did temporarily give up on our dream of filming a segment of Mythbusters with Kari. But we decided that pursing man’s next love, fire, would be a really great substitute.

So when you put such an enticing objective in front of three guys in their twenties (again, one of which is the astute problem-solving engineer type), there is no way that they do not achieve their goal. This is where the problem-solver comes into play (spoiler alert: that’s me). We needed something small to get the fire going, and we were about to rip up the hand-woven indigenous blankets covering our beds into little strips, but then I saw my Spanish notebook. I figured, it's a huge waste to rip out a bunch of blank pages from a notebook to burn up when there's a bunch of pages I don't need anymore just sitting there, right? So my Spanish 250 notes only lasted one day beyond the class. But they helped to make a really, really good fire. Thank you, Spanish 250.

Other than our awesome fire, Otavalo was.... okay. I got some pretty sweet pictures of the countryside and the indigenous village, and the market was huge, as advertised. Unfortunately, I started feeling lightheaded with a stomachache about 10:30 Saturday morning, and it got worse throughout the day, until we reached Saturday night, when I participated in my first Bathroom Olympics in years (I'll spare you the knowledge of which events I was entered in). I definitely brought home the gold though. Starting Sunday morning, it gradually got better, and the important thing is I was feeling perfectly fine by Sunday evening, so yes, I did get to go out to watch the Super Bowl.

Saturday night in Otavalo the indigenous community actually threw celebration for our group. Apparently, a group of Ohio State students on Alternative Spring Break last year came to the community and built a lot of houses and infrastructure, so to honor their efforts, we got a party. Works for me. We got indigenous music, dance, and games rolled into two hours. The music and dance were nice, but the games were epic, and I will definitely be bringing them back with me to the States. One of them simply involved two guys sitting down facing each other, alternately rocking onto their back and then sitting up, repeatedly whipping the other's butt with a belt until someone gives in. They demonstrated, then gave us a chance to try.... as you may have expected, it ended with a nutshot. Yeah, I can't wait to play this game with my suite.

In other news, I got a 138/150 on my final exam for 250, which is good for a 93% in the class, which is an 'A' by the closest of margins. Cool.

Cultural note of the day: If you want to know life in Quito, take a ride on the bus. You'll experience social interactions between people like talking, laughing, and getting robbed. You'll experience traffic like you've never experienced before. You'll see the city, because the route a bus takes one day may not be the route the exact same bus takes the next day. You'll also experience..... the musicians. Yesterday, for the fourth time in the just-over-three weeks I've been here, someone's gotten on the bus to play their music and then ask for money. The first group was the best: two college students playing the guitar, panflute, and bongo. They were good enough to get paid, but I'm cheap. I've also had a 55-year old couple treat me to their guitar and vocals rendition of three Ecuadorian classics (I would've paid them to stop), an old man with a guitar, and then yesterday, a dude with a quarter-sized ocarina that had 5 notes, and.... a trumpet. Naturally, I love trumpets, but the public transportation system is NOT the place to bust that thing out. And he wasn't even good.... I gave him 25 cents and told him to practice more.

SHOUT-OUTS GO TO: Pepto Bismol, Samina for giving me her Pepto Bismol, and Horse.

From Ecuador,
Andy