FW:
Trip Start
Jun 12, 2005
1
36
40
Trip End
Ongoing
Los Bancos,
United States
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Familia y amigos -
I intended to send out a mass email the week after arriving home, but I've
been living a life of comfort-induced decadence for the past three weeks and
I couldn't seem to bring myself to write.
I thought I'd answer some general questions that people have asked me in the
past three weeks.
- Do I in any way feel sorry for Ecuadorians? Hell no. If Americans really
knew how Ecuadorians lived, they'd feel sorry for themselves. Americans
really have no reason to complain about their living conditions and yet, as
a whole, they are such an unhappy people. Desgraciados!
- Is the Peace Corps doing good work? I never quite know what people mean
when they ask me this question. Yes, the Peace Corps does "good" work, but
if we truly cared about helping other people as a country there are much
more effective national policies that could be pursued. I guess you could
almost say the Peace Corps is something of a front.
- Best part of past two and a half years? Drinking with my Ecuadorian
friends in Los Bancos. That and going out to the Galapagos islands which, if
you have the money, is amazing. There is no way I can even come close to
describing such an experience. Words and pictures can't do it. The closest
thing to a religious experience that most people will ever have. So quit
what you're doing and book a flight down there, the sooner the better as
Ecuador owns the islands after all. Somewhat miraculous that the islands
even exist in their present state once you consider the corruption and
incompetence of the Ecuadorian "government".
- Worst part of past two and a half years? Leaving Ecuador and my amigos.
- The biggest differences? The cities here are so clean, everyone drives
everywhere, there are no bars on the windows, no one is mestizo, I haven't
heard a single car alarm go off (!!!), my bed is so comfortable, everyone
has a yard, American society is much more impersonal, chuchamadre no one
understands Spanish, I now eat rice about once a week instead of everyday,
no reggaeton blasting in the streets, no corner tiendas, no street food,
everyone has the airconditioning cranked to Arctic temperatures, I have yet
to see an attractive woman, there are no random assault-rifle wielding
guards, guinea pigs are pets and not tasty food, the sidewalks aren't
clogged with people, there are no buses, hissing at people is not
appropriate, it is so quiet here, black people are not from Esmeraldas, no
free-range mangy dogs, no garbage in the streets, I have not crapped my
pants, the fruit here is so bland and boring, and I have not seen a single
drunk person passed out on the sidewalk.
But the most noticeable difference to me is the sheer number and variety of
choices available here. I realized this when I went into a gas station to
look for some Reece's Peanut Butter cups. First off, there were not just
peanut butter cups. I had to choose between white chocolate peanut butter
cups, the Big Cup peanut butter cup, peanut butter cups with caramel, or
just the classic peanut butter cup. Additionally, all of these flavors came
in multiple sizes. So many choices that I forgot just what the heck a peanut
butter cup was in the first place. I decided to get a Butterfinger instead.
Hmm, the regular or the "crisp" butterfinger? What the hell? Maybe a
Snickers. With peanuts or almonds? Enough! A Milky Way! But the regular or
the midnight flavor? There were so many choices I couldn't decide, and I
walked out empty handed.
And the food is so good and full of flavor, which is almost a bad thing. On
the way home from Minneapolis we stopped at a Dairy Queen so I could indulge
in a blizzard milkshake. I counted over twenty different flavors on the
blizzard menu. Twenty! Luckily I had prepared myself for such overwhelming
choices (this was after the gas station), and I quickly ordered a chocolate
chip cookie dough blizzard. The first bite was amazing, as well as the
second. By the tenth spoonful it was still good, but somewhere around the
fifteenth or twentieth bite I'd had enough. Unfortunately, I still had half
of the cup filled with ice cream, and I was in a car over two hours from our
freezer. No one wanted to eat my blizzard and my mom told me I could NOT
throw it out the window like everyone does with their trash in Ecuador (for
the record I never did that in Ecuador). So I resolved to eat the rest of
the blizzard. Spoonful after agonizing spoonful. By the time I had finished,
I wanted to throw up, crap my pants, take a shower, and brush my teeth all
at the same time.
So now on to everyone's big question: how does it feel to be back in the
USA? Eh. It's great to see my family and friends. I just wish they lived in
a different country.
Paz y amor,
Eddie
