El Capitan gave this tale in his summary storytelling style over a dinner of beans rice and pork/chicken and fried plantains; if I recall correctly he was trying to entice me into visiting the Amazon rainforests:
"So I paid this guy $45 to take me down the Amazon river where he left me off at a trailhead where he told me that if I followed it I would come upon a village where a bus routinely came through carrying canoes back upriver, then he bid me goodbye. I followed the trail to the village alright, which was empty except for an malnourished parrot. But fortunately the bar had some crackers and a bottle of rum which the parrot and i shared for two days until someone came by and i was able to get a ride upriver. I got back to the guy who left me off at that town and told him he was wrong. I hate backtracking."
While he was talking a man came in with a traditional harp and set it up on one of the restaurant's chairs, which prompted this story:
"I made a laser harp out of two way mirrors set in a top and bottom plank of wood. It was set up so that any one laser, there were three, could be interrupted with your finger and that would produce a particular note. Stroking through multiple lasers at the same time or in quick conjunction would produce the appropriate sounds. I only made it with three notes, but it is only limited by the number of two-way mirrors."
What? WHAT?! Where is this instrument?!?!?!?! Se la via de El Capitan.
Quito is a big city; we took the bus which El Capitan mentioned was actually progressing in that it had maps of the routes in the terminals and turnstiles you had to pay to go thru. Then on the busses themselves, there were digital signs telling the next stop. Which is just about when he turned to me and said "there goes the store we are looking for..." Walking from the bus stop back gave me a good taste of the traffic, literally, my throat started burning and as if I wasn't having enough trouble breathing the thin air my lungs felt even more stuffy and clogged.
Another interesting thing is that ATMs give out $20 bills but there is both a large counterfeiting issue and El Capitan has actually received some fakes from the ATMs; generally storekeepers just tear them right in half. Also most places don't accept 20's. I used two $10s at different places and both times they had to scrape for change. And he says that once we get out of Quito into the smaller towns $5 might not even be accepted, so we are storing away all our $1 and Sacajawea dollar coins, judging by their ubiquity seem to have been shipped en masse from the states; which makes cents because the front of the coin resembles the native Ecuadorians.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Shhhh Fup
So I am sitting in the bar that El Capitan has DJ-ed at for a year and the music is part his. This song "My Shit's Fucked Up" is playing and I am probably one of three people in here that know this is a Parental Advisory song. Foreign in a foreign land.
Tuesday
Last night I left El Capitan's favorite barro, Shooters, after just the second drink of the day. Felt weird, hazy and weak but not sleepy tired and my digestion will not stop bubbling away all this took me home early. Fearing the worst i took the roundabout way to the hostel so i could both avoid the dangerous night streets and get myself some Bismutol.
The store clerk said something too fast thru the iron gate the transaction was taking place between. "Two dolares somethingsomething" So I held out my hand full of change and she took five 50 centavo pieces and gave me the pink bottle and a few pennies.
The currency here is the US$ all bills are the exact same as the stateside, but you can only break $20's in American-catering or very large establishments, wish I had known that before I came down! Oh and casinos are glad to take your 20's. The coinage is a mix of the US and Ecuadorian, though they are the same size and weight and would work in either country's vending machines.
So I got back to the room and am feeling much better the Bismutol remains unopened and I am asleep by 1am. I sleep thru 11am thanks to the Mindfold and earplugs. I hopped out of bed with a mind full of "Super Trooper" by ABBA, and a body moving nowhere that speed. I play the song on my ipod as I fall into my Qi Gung routine. El Capitan is hunched over his swarm of cables, drives and computerations. My routine consists of slow, intentional movements accompanied by a deep breathing. As I was moving through the postures I found the breath lacking as if i was breathing empty air. I had to tone it down and finished off the set with a refreshed body and woozy head.
I pack my day bag for a trek around the New Town section of Quito but that additional moving around completely took my body by surprise and I started getting the spotty, flashy light flickering seen in the eyes and felt in the head like a mix of brain cotton and unexpected levitation.
So I lay down. I let El Capitan go towards internetting and I take to breathing. Breathing. Deep and long and counting from Zero to One hundred and back down in Espanol. This took a long time so that I caught my breath. The nausea faded and my head settled back into my neck.
I must have trundled along the edge of conscious passing out for a good 20 minutes but came out in the end. Fascinating feeling if not for the slight suffocation I had to breathe past. So it looks like I'm going to need to be aware to breathe more over the next few days.
All this is so very weird because I have walked miles around Quito and never felt out of breath.
The best news of the day (beyond Super Trooper in my mente) is that I am still hungry and everythings coming out alright. I have a water filter (REI) that is actually a ceramic filter with holes smaller than parasites (I hope). I have filtered a few batches of tap water with it and that's been fine. But I do shower and brush teeth with it straight which i feel is a good first step into assimilating whatever organisms might be foreign to me in the water, because once we venture out of the city the water quality will only get worse.
The store clerk said something too fast thru the iron gate the transaction was taking place between. "Two dolares somethingsomething" So I held out my hand full of change and she took five 50 centavo pieces and gave me the pink bottle and a few pennies.
The currency here is the US$ all bills are the exact same as the stateside, but you can only break $20's in American-catering or very large establishments, wish I had known that before I came down! Oh and casinos are glad to take your 20's. The coinage is a mix of the US and Ecuadorian, though they are the same size and weight and would work in either country's vending machines.
So I got back to the room and am feeling much better the Bismutol remains unopened and I am asleep by 1am. I sleep thru 11am thanks to the Mindfold and earplugs. I hopped out of bed with a mind full of "Super Trooper" by ABBA, and a body moving nowhere that speed. I play the song on my ipod as I fall into my Qi Gung routine. El Capitan is hunched over his swarm of cables, drives and computerations. My routine consists of slow, intentional movements accompanied by a deep breathing. As I was moving through the postures I found the breath lacking as if i was breathing empty air. I had to tone it down and finished off the set with a refreshed body and woozy head.
I pack my day bag for a trek around the New Town section of Quito but that additional moving around completely took my body by surprise and I started getting the spotty, flashy light flickering seen in the eyes and felt in the head like a mix of brain cotton and unexpected levitation.
So I lay down. I let El Capitan go towards internetting and I take to breathing. Breathing. Deep and long and counting from Zero to One hundred and back down in Espanol. This took a long time so that I caught my breath. The nausea faded and my head settled back into my neck.
I must have trundled along the edge of conscious passing out for a good 20 minutes but came out in the end. Fascinating feeling if not for the slight suffocation I had to breathe past. So it looks like I'm going to need to be aware to breathe more over the next few days.
All this is so very weird because I have walked miles around Quito and never felt out of breath.
The best news of the day (beyond Super Trooper in my mente) is that I am still hungry and everythings coming out alright. I have a water filter (REI) that is actually a ceramic filter with holes smaller than parasites (I hope). I have filtered a few batches of tap water with it and that's been fine. But I do shower and brush teeth with it straight which i feel is a good first step into assimilating whatever organisms might be foreign to me in the water, because once we venture out of the city the water quality will only get worse.
Living Routines
So for over 7 months I have been on the road now. In that time I have spent a great deal of time in a variety of living situations and been immersed in others lives for days or weeks, sharing space, weaving around others routines, being as unobtrusive as I can into others hospitality, etc.
For the last three or four months no one has been closer to my humanness than Sleg. A major reason that such a relationship has worked is because our routines and lifestyles are so very well matched that we are close to ideal partners in, well, whatever we partner up for, living included. In fact we knew this early on when we were the first duo in history to run for, and lose, Co-Class President of the senior class of our high school. Its not just anyone you can live in an abandoned truck stop with.
On that note, El Capitan and I had a heart-to-heart in the Magic Bean, a Western culture catered-to-steraunt, about our living styles, communication processes and the foundational assumptions that shape our understandings of what the other says or does (anything from body language to full-blown activities that confuse the tenuous grasp on reality either of us has at any given moment), methods of encountering a variety of sticky situations
Variety of sticky situations:
Traffic
Avoiding accostment in the street
Purchase of items not sold in stores
Another element of this mix is that he has spent most of the last few years living alone, while I was married then Slegged. One element of this is that sometimes El Capitan talks to himself and I assume he is speaking to me – eaves-dropping is applied retroactively once he verifies he was talking to himself.
The altitude has not affected me with nausea and headaches but it has dried out my sinuses which was good when I first arrived with a clog in that area, but now my nasal system is very dry and a touch raw. I am drinking a minimum of 64 ounces of water, often fortified with fizzy vitamins, per day but still feel dried out.
The sun is as bright here as on ski slopes or in the desert. When it comes out you squint or shade your eyes. I am listening to a couple of podcasts on learning Spanish, each are 10 or 15 minute blocks and are a good way to shake the dust off my unused decade old study of the language. I am guessing we will stay here a few more days at least while I get comfortable with the speed of life, conversation and driving before venturing off the beaten path. I am already looking forward to trying to find some whitewater rafting. I am also wondering why I didn’t bring my hiking boots. I was trying to pack light, but that might have been going too far.
I am traveling with an REI bag set. And let me take a minute to tell great story about REI and why you too should shop there. I shopped for two hours trying out every bag in the size range I was looking for, for my car-living days. Bought one. Enjoyed it thoroughly but it revealed itself as too small. Took it back after 6 months of use, and believe you me it wasn’t in resalable condition, sans receipt or even my membership card and got a complete refund which I put towards this bag [link, nope i looked forever for this link and its not around]. I am curious to see if it is too large for taking with me everywhere or whether I will leave it here at the Harley Hostel with Pablo who is an adopted father of El Capitan, or whether I will take it on our travels around the rest of Ecuador (and wish I hadn’t).
For the last three or four months no one has been closer to my humanness than Sleg. A major reason that such a relationship has worked is because our routines and lifestyles are so very well matched that we are close to ideal partners in, well, whatever we partner up for, living included. In fact we knew this early on when we were the first duo in history to run for, and lose, Co-Class President of the senior class of our high school. Its not just anyone you can live in an abandoned truck stop with.
On that note, El Capitan and I had a heart-to-heart in the Magic Bean, a Western culture catered-to-steraunt, about our living styles, communication processes and the foundational assumptions that shape our understandings of what the other says or does (anything from body language to full-blown activities that confuse the tenuous grasp on reality either of us has at any given moment), methods of encountering a variety of sticky situations
Variety of sticky situations:
Traffic
Avoiding accostment in the street
Purchase of items not sold in stores
Another element of this mix is that he has spent most of the last few years living alone, while I was married then Slegged. One element of this is that sometimes El Capitan talks to himself and I assume he is speaking to me – eaves-dropping is applied retroactively once he verifies he was talking to himself.
The altitude has not affected me with nausea and headaches but it has dried out my sinuses which was good when I first arrived with a clog in that area, but now my nasal system is very dry and a touch raw. I am drinking a minimum of 64 ounces of water, often fortified with fizzy vitamins, per day but still feel dried out.
The sun is as bright here as on ski slopes or in the desert. When it comes out you squint or shade your eyes. I am listening to a couple of podcasts on learning Spanish, each are 10 or 15 minute blocks and are a good way to shake the dust off my unused decade old study of the language. I am guessing we will stay here a few more days at least while I get comfortable with the speed of life, conversation and driving before venturing off the beaten path. I am already looking forward to trying to find some whitewater rafting. I am also wondering why I didn’t bring my hiking boots. I was trying to pack light, but that might have been going too far.
I am traveling with an REI bag set. And let me take a minute to tell great story about REI and why you too should shop there. I shopped for two hours trying out every bag in the size range I was looking for, for my car-living days. Bought one. Enjoyed it thoroughly but it revealed itself as too small. Took it back after 6 months of use, and believe you me it wasn’t in resalable condition, sans receipt or even my membership card and got a complete refund which I put towards this bag [link, nope i looked forever for this link and its not around]. I am curious to see if it is too large for taking with me everywhere or whether I will leave it here at the Harley Hostel with Pablo who is an adopted father of El Capitan, or whether I will take it on our travels around the rest of Ecuador (and wish I hadn’t).
Monday, July 21, 2008
Ecuador
So, El Capitan y mi have made the leap. We Mindfolded (I am suggesting the Spanish term for this to be "Plegarmente" but anyone with more knowledge than me should help me refine this; my best translation for that made up word is: To Convolute the Mind) the first class flight where El Capitan actually ate a 5 course meal with a folded mind!!! Super Rock. The stewardesses asked after our escapades in the psychologiscape and we definitely made at least one convert. ROGUE THERAPY.
Then El Capitan performed a bit of Rogue Therapy on me when he had to talk his way into the country as a previous deportation showed up on the Immagration computers. It was a graceful performance combining straight face, fake lack of knowledge of Espanol and me posing as the helpless amigo. To round it off, once we got in, he thanked the lady by saying "Arrigato." Priceless.
So I was not able to take advantage of the privileged drinking in the Business Class cabin as I feared the altitude of Quito (its pretty near Breckenridge where I required a tank of oxygen delivered after altitude sickness demanded an excruciating toll on my lowlands southern body). But the second day here we found a Shark in a casino and Rode it all the way to this morning's retribution. For those of you who don't know (and Sleg, will you please forward this to our Rockford Connection?) Shark Riding is the extreme of urban adventuring; because, as everyone knows, when you encounter a shark, the only option is to grab a hold and not get eaten.
We had a routine set up at the blackjack table where we each went in with US$20 and took the US$2 minimum table by storm. We would rotate hands sitting out so that we could maximize our time and 'free' food and drinks. We lasted more than 3 hours (with El Capitan giving me a late boost of cash-winnings-inflow so we could keep playing until our last round of drinks came around the table). The pit bosses made weird clicking noises every once in a while and I could not discern the meanings, if anyone knows what they are all about please let me know. We intend on returning and playing a hand mindfolded. I know, I know.
Alright so moving on from that, the spanish language is slowly falling back into the front of my thinking, but its very humbling to not have a clue what people are talking about. We are in a hostel in Quito that is named after Harley-Davidson motorcycles and are hanging out at Shooters somewhere in the New town section of Ecuador. I have yet to get a decent map in my mind of the city.
The altitude has interesting effects on the climate (at least I am hypothesizing it is the altitude and its thin air that leaves the temperature at the mercy of the sun in the sky or lacking such....) where the days are hot and the nights cold. We are stocking up on supplies and settling into the culture before moving from Quito into the rest of Ecuador. I stil have to find a cord for the camera that Robbiedog lent me before I can start downloading pics, but swing by again in a bit and you can see what I am talking about.
Then El Capitan performed a bit of Rogue Therapy on me when he had to talk his way into the country as a previous deportation showed up on the Immagration computers. It was a graceful performance combining straight face, fake lack of knowledge of Espanol and me posing as the helpless amigo. To round it off, once we got in, he thanked the lady by saying "Arrigato." Priceless.
So I was not able to take advantage of the privileged drinking in the Business Class cabin as I feared the altitude of Quito (its pretty near Breckenridge where I required a tank of oxygen delivered after altitude sickness demanded an excruciating toll on my lowlands southern body). But the second day here we found a Shark in a casino and Rode it all the way to this morning's retribution. For those of you who don't know (and Sleg, will you please forward this to our Rockford Connection?) Shark Riding is the extreme of urban adventuring; because, as everyone knows, when you encounter a shark, the only option is to grab a hold and not get eaten.
We had a routine set up at the blackjack table where we each went in with US$20 and took the US$2 minimum table by storm. We would rotate hands sitting out so that we could maximize our time and 'free' food and drinks. We lasted more than 3 hours (with El Capitan giving me a late boost of cash-winnings-inflow so we could keep playing until our last round of drinks came around the table). The pit bosses made weird clicking noises every once in a while and I could not discern the meanings, if anyone knows what they are all about please let me know. We intend on returning and playing a hand mindfolded. I know, I know.
Alright so moving on from that, the spanish language is slowly falling back into the front of my thinking, but its very humbling to not have a clue what people are talking about. We are in a hostel in Quito that is named after Harley-Davidson motorcycles and are hanging out at Shooters somewhere in the New town section of Ecuador. I have yet to get a decent map in my mind of the city.
The altitude has interesting effects on the climate (at least I am hypothesizing it is the altitude and its thin air that leaves the temperature at the mercy of the sun in the sky or lacking such....) where the days are hot and the nights cold. We are stocking up on supplies and settling into the culture before moving from Quito into the rest of Ecuador. I stil have to find a cord for the camera that Robbiedog lent me before I can start downloading pics, but swing by again in a bit and you can see what I am talking about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
