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I´d like to take a moment to talk about Decisiones. This is a show that comes on every night at 7:00pm and the Ecuadorians are OBSESSED with it. I don´t blame them. It´s a telenovela, but not truly a soap opera because every night there is a different cast of characters (sort of how Law & Order is to actors in the US, I think most latin american actors have played a role or two in Decisiones --- it´s apparently shot in Miami but uses actors from all across latin america). Anyway, every night is a different story that centers on some protagonist having to make... a decision. Usually, the decisiones have to do with sex and infidelity. Last night, the main character was a blind man. He loved one woman and then ended up being tricked into having an affair another woman... but he didn´t know, you know because he was blind! And then it turns out that the other woman just wanted to be with him for his money. And then of course he gets a surgery to cure the blindness and by the end of the show he´s with the correct woman and the other evil woman is left without anything! I don´t know why this show entertains me to such a degree. I can barely understand anything that´s said, but it is hilarious! And unbelievable! And completely ridiculous.... but at the same time it´s great!
Anyway, everything is still going well. I´m leaving Canoa this Saturday for Cuenca -- a town in the southern sierra -- far from the beach and the hammock! But I´m looking forward to a change of scenery. There are some things about Canoa that I really don´t like. For example, the constant cat-calls I get. I´ve gotten several numbers from men who approach me on the street, most recently today just before I came into the computer place, a policeman started talking to me and ended up giving me his number. I have invented a phantom husband (Marco) who sadly is always at the hotel studying for our next Spanish exam. :)
Also, there is so much poverty here... people don´t seem very happy because they are definitely struggling... so you feel a certain sense of desperation everywhere. Or maybe I am just overanalyzing this part, but I do feel the American guilt a lot. Of course, I can´t help every(any)one really, but these are the feelings I have on a regular basis. We so lucky to be born in North America. But at the same time, these are people just like everywhere else. They have fun and they eat and they get married and some go to university and they sing along to Madonna songs and they wear jeans and t'shirts and all of them have cell phones and all of the kids I see at the computer place are madly typing on Instant Messenger and updating their facebook and myspace pages! So, I don´t know. Obviously, they are being affected by globalization too, and I wonder what these people think about Decisiones - where all the characters live in grand huge homes and are obviously pretty wealthy.
Anyway, my spanish is slowly improving too. I had a conversation - rather in depth, if I do say so myself - with Jaime yesterday about destiny and fate. I felt little echoes of Sarah Chapin/Coles in my responses and couldn´t help but laugh a little.
Here are a few more pics that I was able to upload. More to come!!
previous travel blog entry
Hadas320 says:
so jealous of your tan! you look fabulous