Smooth Move, Ex-Lax

For the first half of this entry, I’m taking a break from all things Ecuador to bring you this breaking news: I am not a very Smooth Guy.

You see, Smooth Guys take their girlfriends out for Valentine’s Day. And when Smooth Guys find themselves 3,000 miles away from their girlfriend on February 14, they at least find a way to video-call.

Smooth Guys don’t have a crush on the same girl spanning three Valentine’s Days and still fail to be with her for a single one, because he was 1. really attracted but still afraid to ask her out, 2. broken up with her and kicking himself for it, and 3. crazy for her but living in freaking South America.

Many guys think Valentine’s Day is stupid, and that there’s no reason to have one day devoted to celebrating the love they have with their girl when they should be doing it year round, and I’m inclined to agree; however, Smooth Guys know that that’s simply not the way the female mind works, and that if they’re not taking the opportunity on February 14 to raise the bar, then they’re crashing headfirst into it.

Smooth Guys know that above all, if they have to be separated from their girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, she should not be stranded in Ohio in the winter while he is unable to even make a call because he’s enjoying a beautiful Pacific beach on the equator.

I recognize all this, and they say that owning the problem is the first step to correcting it. Because of this, I have hope that maybe by a year from now, in February 2010, I’ll have been trained in the ways of the Smooth Guy, and maybe, for the first time in four years, I’ll be able to deliver a real Valentine’s Day instead of an I.O.U. Maybe.

As for this year, though, there’s not much I can do. Happy Valentine’s Day, Katherine, and I hope you like your gift. And to all those guys who think it’s stupid and feel like a tool, being used and manipulated by FTD Florists, Harry London Chocolate and Hallmark…. you are. But you do not have an option. I may not be a Smooth Guy, but I know when I’m beat.

Back to your regularly scheduled Ecuablog: This weekend is the group excursion to Esmeraldas, one of the most beautiful beaches in the country on the northern part of the coast. It’s a seven hour drive from Quito—we will leave after school tomorrow at roughly 10:30, and will arrive at roughly 5:30 in the evening. There’s nothing really planned for the weekend—we only have to meet as a group for meals, and a large bonfire on the beach Saturday night—so there will be a lot of time to hang out and relax on the beach. We’ll get back to Quito around 8:00 Sunday evening, and the third and final week of Spanish 302 will start on Monday. This trip to Esmeraldas again means that I will not have internet access starting tomorrow and going until Monday.

This weekend also will roughly mark the halfway point of my time here in la Republica del Ecuador. It’s gone fast, and the rest will go faster….

Cultural note of the day: Cell phone companies employ slightly different strategies here in Quito than we’re used to in the US. I think this is due mainly to the fact that “cell phone plans” hardly exist here, and in their place, EVERYONE uses pay-as-you-go. This means that it’s a common need for people to “recharge” their “chips,” or buy more minutes to be put onto the computer chip that allows their phone to make a call. As a result, the cell phone companies employ people to dress up and stand along busy intersections in the city—capable of putting more money on your chip or selling you a new one—but instead of going the route of the Akron Gorilla, these people look more like they belong with a NASCAR pit crew. Check it out.


A Movistar man, working his territory.


Movistar man #2.


A rare sight, indeed: Not only did I manage to capture a Movistar and an Alegro sharing territory, but also exchanging clothing! Possibly some sort of ritual....

General warning of the day: The American Embassy has sent out emails to all US citizens living in Ecuador that there has recently been a noticeable increase in the number of Americans being victimized by armed robberies, enough to where the Embassy feels they can safely say Americans are being targeted. I would love to be able to say that we haven’t witnessed any of this firsthand, but I can’t: the homes of two of our Ohio State students have been broken into and ransacked in the middle of the day while no one was home, one the day before Otavalo and one yesterday. A third incident, an attempted mugging, happened about two weeks ago to another one of our classmates…. but he was drunk, walking through a dangerous part of town after midnight (which is to say he was more or less inviting it). After flipping one of the guys over his shoulder onto the ground, the attackers ran off and our classmate was unharmed. I’m not saying any of this to scare people, although I’ll admit I’m now a bit nervous myself. Rather, this is to let you know what’s going on, and to ask for some prayer for the safety of me and my classmates, not to mention the host families, who are turning themselves and their property into potential targets just by allowing us to live with them.

SHOUT-OUTS GO TO: Sra. Lutz for giving Lisa and me a better high school Spanish education than any of our classmates have received in high school AND college, and Horse.

From Ecuador,
Andy