Notice

For those of you reading my blog on the webpage and not on a feed, go down below the Baños entry to see a new entry i just posted about Licto. Blogger is stupid and won't let me move it up to the top, I have to delete it and post it again to get it at the top. Anyways, check it out.

To my surprise...

So, the other day I was drinking my morning coffee and reading the newest issue of Newsweek that had arrived from Peace Corps. As I flip through I see a picture of two women with the last name of my childhood pastor (Nemecek). As I get to reading, I find that (to my surprise), IT IS MY CHILDHOOD PASTOR! Apparently he decided that he was born as a woman in a man's body. Now, I've recently been talking with a good friend about how Christians tend to be extremely judgmental, and I'd really like to avoid being just another judgmental Christian, so please don't take this as me judging him/her, but this is definitely not what I expected from the guy who baptized my brother. To get the full story, read this article about how he got fired from his job for it.
So, there's not really any point to this post, I just thought some of you would find that article interesting/surprising. Feel entirely free to post comments on what you think about this article, I'd like to hear some different perspectives.

Baños

So a couple weeks ago I finally made it out to Baños, which is one of the two biggest tourist destinations in the country. It's basically a small town halfway down into the jungle where they have all sorts of adventure sports and jungle tours. I went with two friends and we rented bikes for the day (at a whopping $6) and rode down out of town toward Puyo and stopped at a couple cool waterfalls along the way. One of the other big reasons Baños is famous is because it's right next to the now-active Tungurahua volcano (which is why Big brother, I mean Peace Corps, won't allow us to spend the night there...). Pictures follow (thanks to Lilly and Lisa for the pictures since I was to stupid to remember my camera):

Here's a view of Tungurahua through some pretty flowers.

The main objective of our bike ride, the Pailón del Diablo waterfall. This picture gives a really cool perspective on just how big the waterfall is. And this isn't even the biggest one in Ecuador by any means.

A rainbow from the mist created by the Pailón del Diablo.

A huge hydro-electric plant on the river. You could tell I studied at an engineering university, by the fact that the girl were like 'Nice.' and I was flabbergasted.

Another waterfall, I don't have the name of this one handy...but it was also huge. The cool think about this waterfall was that you could pay the huge sum of $1 to cross the gorge in a precarious-looking cable-car. The girls declined, so I went by myself. Supposedly it crosses the gorge at a height of about 100 meters (over 300 feet high).

Me, showing off my fashion for the day. So, the story is that I forgot to wear good biking shoes and had to by packing tape to keep my shoes on while I was riding the bike. Sexy! (Nice helmet, too, I might add)

Me, at the Pailón del Diablo. I'm glad I got the first perpective picture because the waterfall doesn't look all that big in this picture.

Another picture of Tungurahua along with a waterfall. Purty.

For those of you who come visit me down here, Baños is probably one of the places we could or would visit while you're down here (it's only about 2 hours from Riobamba), so feel free to look up info on it if you're planning on coming down (or even if you're not). Take care, all.

Bullfighting in Licto

A couple weeks ago (right after I got back from the trip to Baños that I posted about recently), there was some kind of fiesta in Licto for some particular "neighborhood" or something like that. So, to celebrate the fiestas, what better than to put a bunch of bulls into a ring and have them chase people around. SOOOO, get ready... I was one of those idiots inside the ring "bullfighting". And get ready for an even bigger surprise, as I was jumping out of the ring one of the times, the bull get me in the foot/ankle and sort helped me out of the ring with his horns. It's not as crazy as it sounds...or maybe it is, I do't know. Anyways, it was a huge adrenaline rush and it fulfilled the dreams I've always had of being a bullfighter, but I probably won't do it again. And after my mom reads this, she'll probably see to it that I never do it again. Anyways, here are some pictures:

While it was still raining (at least I waited until it wasn't rainy and slippery anymore)

A guy about to lasso in one of the bulls (they don't kill the bulls in this kind of bullfighting)

Cool shot. (by the way, my friend Lisa who was visiting took all these pictures.)

Dodging the bull (This is definitely not what I was doing. I was just taunting the bull and then running)

The bulls that I "fought"

Killu and I in a man-made cave outside Licto.

Here's a better perspective on what the cave looks like. Apparently they used to sell food here to people on their way up to the indigenous communities. (This is my friend Lisa, by the way)

A few friends of mine from Licto.

A random cool/funny picture Lisa took in Riobamba.

A picture Lilly took of her cat watching TV. No joke, it was White Fang on TV.

COME VISIT ME!!!

Hey friends and family,

Lately I've been really wishing I had visitors like the rest of my Peace Corps friends, but I realized that maybe I haven't made it easy enough for some of you. So, here's the deal. First of all, if you're worried that it's insanely poor down here and you won't be able to find a toilet that's not just a hole in the ground, I have one thing to tell you: you're stupid. Obviously, Ecuador isn't the richest country in the world, but it's certainly much more developed than you'd probably picture in, let's say, Africa. In fact, Ecuador's becoming more and more a big tourist destination for Americans and Europeans. We have a little bit of everything from world-class resorts to backpacker-style adventure sports and camping. Even in the poor town where I live, my house is probably just as nice as the place you probably lived during college, and maybe even nicer. Now, on to the important part: the cost.

So, from people that I've talked to and from my own online searches, round-trip flights to and from Quito, Ecuador are about $500-600, which is pretty reasonable, since it's on another continent. If you don't speak Spanish (and even if you do), there's no reason to worry, because I'd come pick you up at the airport, it's only a few hours from where I live. The airport is really small and straight-forward, and everyone you could conceivably need to talk to inside the airport speaks English (if you don't speak English OR Spanish...then that's another problem...). Next, the costs involved in travelling a bit within Ecuador would probably run you about $200 for a week (which is about what I make in a month, for a point of reference). A week goes by REALLY fast down here, so those of you that can afford two weeks, are certainly welcome to come for two weeks. If you want to stay for even longer, that would be even better, I love visitors, you have no idea how lonely Peace Corps can be at times. Also, if you're worried about travelling by yourself that you wouldn't have anything to do, don't worry, I'd take time off work to travel around with you (as if I really had anything THAT important that I'd miss).

As far as time frames go, here's the deal. The first week in September, my mom is going to be here, so that's not an option. And Christmas and New Years, I'll be in the States. Apart from that, you have until July of next year to visit me...so get to planning. Well, that's the jist of my tour brochure. In case that all was too dry for you, I'll add a little emotion. I really do love Ecuador and I think you'll love it, too, when (not if) you come visit! Hope to have you soon!

Back to Licto

So, despite the fact that I just finished my Costa Rica blogs, I've actually been back in Ecuador for something like a month now. But, I thought I'd help you all remember where I am with some picture of Licto, most of which were sent to me by friends who have visited Licto.

Here's a picture of my house in Licto.

In case any of you are really gullible, that last picture wasn't really my house, but it is in Licto. Here's just a random picture of a typical mud-brick wall in Licto. Part of my house is like this, but not the part I live in. The part I live in (see blog entries from like September or something like that) is newer and much nicer.

My dog, Killu, cuddling with my friend Lilly's dog, Yari.

Killu and I down by the river in Licto. You can't really tell by this picture, but the river is really pretty.

This is actually a friend of mine's site a couple hours from me, but it's pretty similar to my site.

If that's not a good sell on coming to visit me, I don't know what is!