Did YOUR mom and grandma come see you in Ecuador?

And thus ended the first day...

and thus started the second day: We woke up at some ungodly hour (the mornings consisted of my mom and gma waking up especially early to go eat breakfast....i know, I don´t understand them either...) and headed off to Cuenca via minivan. The 4 hour or so trip was one through the mountains, including some of the heaviest fog I´ve ever seen, literally you could not see 15 feet in front of you, and while you´re passing people on two lane two way roads, and taking curves over which you know there are giant drops into the abyss....well it was an interesting trip. In Cuenca, we saw the center park, ate lunch with my host sister and her husband that live there (including grandma getting a sampling of the typical food, which she bravely ate....everything except for the morcilla, which is basically blood sausage), and then searched and successfully found a movie store that sells US TV seasons!!! So I have now rediscovered my love for West Wing (as well as my desire to be Josh Lyman) and have decided once and for all, after giving 24 a second chance with the 2nd season....eh, it´s not for me. I´ve also started watching two and a half men... We then continued with a double decker bus tour, where we were three of a total of five people, which made for a very intimate time with the tour guide... We saw most of the city that way, the broken bridge which remains from when the city flooded years ago, the lookout on the top of the mountain where you can see the whole city, etc. etc. Also, it was the first double decker ride where we had to literally duck under our seats so as to not be decapitated by low hanging power lines...that´s not a joke....

We then returned to the wonderful city of Machala the next day, where my two families met and I was immediately thrust into the role of translator...who worked pro bono... We had ceviche, toured the city with Katherine....which took all about 20 minutes (really the only places to go in Machala are the shopping mall...called Shopping....the port, the center park, and the Nice Cream Ice Cream store, the only place I can get good mint ice cream).... and played tubes (a card game) with arlene and Carmen. We also headed out to Jambeli, the beach island that you have to go by boat to visit. One of the best things about the trip was that we all were there for my host nephew´s birthday party. This was nice because my mom and grandma got to see something other than the touristy stuff in the cities that we visited; they were witness to a real live traditional children´s birthday party...complete with a clown and party games, a DJ blasting (and I mean BLASTING) reggaeton hits and salsa, and a bunch of kids and their familes, some of which Alexandre didn´t even know... Overall it was a good small visit to my city, complete with Mom and Grandma getting a purse and a "Panama" hat... After Ale´s party, we headed back to Guayaquil, where I shared some rum and cokes with my mother (another first) and saw them off back to the US. Great to see them, and I had a really great time touring. And THEY liked it too! So, if you just needed a success story to come down, there you have it: we took busses, didn´t get robbed or assaulted or kidnapped, and no one got severe stomach cramps! COME ON DOWN

So, it´s been over a month since my last post, I really do apologize for that, so lets catch everyone up on recent events.

-Soon after my family came down, Katherine´s parents came down, and as is the Machala tradition, we went out for Nice Cream Ice Cream... It was a good couple hours visiting with them; they were down for a bit longer than mom and grandma, so they got to see a fair amount of the country, including Ecuador in Carnaval, which is their version of Mardi Gras, complete with throwing water balloons, squirting water guns, and general making gringo´s feel like gringo´s...(although some might say that last one´s typical of any day in Ecuador). Katherine´s parents also brought me a shirt from Santa Cruz, which has quickly jumped to one of the top three tshirts I own, so thanks again Mr. and Mrs. Hamby!

-Evelyn left for Chile. My host sister who lives in Cuenca headed down a couple weeks ago to start a two year scholarship down there, she´ll be joined by her husband in about six months. It was sad to see her go, I got along really well with her and their weekend visits were always fun. In tandem with her leaving, Carmen and Federico took a two week trip down to South-er America, visiting Chile and helping Evelyn move in, and then also heading to Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru. They actually also brought me back a shirt from Uruguay which, as fate would have it, has jumped up there very close to my Santa Cruz shirt in I-like-it-ness, so that means that the vast majority of you have never seen two of the top 5 tshirts I own...I feel that a reanalysis of our relationships might be in order...

-I finally got paid...but that story takes a bit longer to tell, and since I promised Kenneth E. Chadwick Esq. of Chadwick Washington etc. I´d put something up tonight, I will leave you with that tantalizing tidbit and hopefully have something up in the next couple days telling you of the recent developments with my job and financial situation...

Oh, and since sometimes it takes a while to get mail from the PO box that we have down here, here´s Katherine´s address so if you want to send letters or such you can send them to her to give to me...she´s already agreed, she´s terribly generous....

Ciudadela Ceteoro
8 Sur y 17 Oeste
"Familia Piedra Manzo"
Machala, El Oro
ECUADOR

And just a reminder, not that I´d expect this from anyone, but do not send money via post, it´s illegal and they´ll take it...instead send it to my parents and they´ll deposit it into my Wachovia account...