Man Down!

WARNING: Blood and detailed description follows.  Last Wednesday I took an accidental elbow to the chops while playing soccer.  My lip was split so wide that I was able to fit the entire end of a Q-tip inside my lip to clean it out!  After a trip to the ER the next morning, it turns out I didn't need stitches and it should heal on its own.  I haven't been able to say the letter "B" without my lips sticking together and I'm certainly not getting any kiss action from D.  The other story is simply, "You should have seen the other guy!" 

Emelec vs. Barcelona

Spork is back!  There have been many busy days since our last post but the adventures have continued.  Most of them take place Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 8:35 and 9:10 AM.  It's called Nursery PE where I do "physical education" with 23 2-3 year olds with runny noses, poopy pants and 2 minute attention spands.  How many times does 2 minutes go into a 35 minute class period?  17, which is also the number of different activities needed to keep these kids corralled in city limits.  Yes, we play a lot of "Chase that bird" and "Catch Mr. R".  This last week, I had to bring in a HazMat cleanup team to nuke the tumble mats of the snot spots left where each child rolled over face down.  The best part of this adventure is that I get to hold 23 little mini hands each class and there is a race to see who gets to sit by Mr. R for stretches.

This last weekend, I had a chance to go to the biggest sporting event in Guayaquil, The Classico, where the 2 futbol teams from Guayaquil play each other.  By no means is this a "friendly" game between both teams and fans.  This game included truck loads of riot police, home made flares, confetti made from confidential business records, confetti catching fire from home made flares, 1 coach ejected, 2 players from the same team ejected, 1 player playing with his arm in a sling, 1 fist fight among fans supporting the same team, and 3 goals scored by the apposing team within the first 20 minutes.  The last one, most of all, enraged the fans so much that water bottles were being thrown at players and coaches while also recieving not so nice comments about their madres (mothers).  The most alarming point came when our Ecuadorian friends suggested we leave for safety concerns if there was another goal scored.  News flash for gringos: If an Ecuadorian is concerned about safety, you should be no where near that area!  Fortunately, there were no more goals.  Check it out:     

View from the stadium.

There is no better way to arrive at a Classico than in the back of a truck!

Home made flares: Besides catching the confetti on fire, the smoke was so bad that most fans left their seats for the open air hallways so they could breath.  Not a lot of forsight.

Christian and Orlando ready to get the game started.

The Devils Nose

After Banos we headed to Alausi for a roof top train ride to the Devils Nose.  It was a perfect morning for this fun adventure.  Check it out:

Parque Cajas, Riobamba, Banos

After Quito and Otavalo, we made our way to Cuenca, Riobamba and Banos:

This fine cyclist brought flowers to the flower market in Cuenca to sell.

Read the sign.

Some excellent bus entertainment by a blind guy playing his guitar with a comb.  Seriously!

On our bus ride from Cuenca to Riobamba, this was the drivers view of our washed out road.

As if a washed out road wasn't exciting enough, later down the road in the high mountains, there was a landslide completely covering the road.  This left us with 2 options.  Wait for the tractors to clear it out or drive over it and keep schedule.  Of course the bus driver chose the second option and with the help of a few spotters, we survived.  Below is a picture from the bus window looking down:

Yes, my buns were puckered!

Riobamba, the arm pit of Ecuador.  We arrived at 3 in the afternoon, walked the city for an hour and then made sure we had bus tickets out of town the next morning.

So, off to Banos we went.  The best outdoor playground in Ecuador.  We jumped on top of a Chiva Bus and toured the waterfalls, rivers and mountains.  

Another great thing about Ecuador: Every car going by can potentially be a taxi.  We completed our hike to the waterfall (above) before the rest of the group and were eager to get some dinner.  So, we simply walked out the highway and whistled at the first truck we saw.  One windy, rainy and 3 tunnel ride later, we were back in town. 

Ecua Travels With Mom

My Mom was our latest visitor and we had a great time touring the mountain cities of Ecuador.  Without failure, there were many Ecua-adventures and new sights.  Check it out:

Just about everything is for sale at the Saturday Market in Otavalo including kidy pools and even a blow up mattress.

Jr digging for gold.

Another traditional D & D photo.  I'm becoming more and more Ecua everyday!

There are houndreds of churches all over Ecuador but this is one of my favorits due to the setting.

One of Ecuadors many volcanos with a beautiful farming valley below.

Mom, thanks again for a wonderful trip full of laughter, adventures and memories.  We have many more photos to come over the next few days so keep checking us out.

Bahia de Caraquez

We spent our 8 year Anniversary in Bahia de Caraquez along the central coast of Ecuador.  It was a great little eco-city with a beautiful hotel, great restuarants and a very laid back atmosphere.

Our view while reading books poolside

An Ecua lighthouse

Besides being one of the only cities in Ecuador that has a recycling program, they also have city bike taxis instead of taxi cars.  The city is so small it only takes about 10 minutes to get from one side of town to the other, with lugage.

8 wonderful years with D........and they just keep getting better! (Yes, I've gone sexy Ecua with one less button on my shirt)

Panama Hat

How to make a Panama Hat:

Pick out a color and quality.  It takes anywere between 3 days and 4 months to weave a single hat depending on quality.

Shape the hat in a steamer

Choose your brim size and have a sweet Senorita sew it in place

Trim the brim

Sew in the sweat band

Choose a band for the outside, glue it on

Prep the steamer for one last shaping

Cook it

Have someone else pull the hat out of the steamer so you don't burn your hands

1 hour and $15 later, you can be stylin in your new custom Panama Hat