canoa stroll

canoa: long, lazy days strolling the playa, writing, reading, letting the sun fill up my body ´til my skin might burst with it, watching tom win (and tastic lose, flamboyantly) the hour of power, watching a million sea snails trace op-art squiggles underneath the wet sand, sharing unas de la grande bestia with fabio at el pais libre, watching myself relax.

canoa: warm. sandy. excellent. and populated by an exclusive club of intrepid gringa hunters, local surf boys sporting creamy bronzed skin, musical talent, buttcrack, dreads, generalized poverty, and a bottomless thirst for olas, chicas y cervezas, not necessarily in that order. observed hunting success rate = considerable. isn´t it funny how surf towns are similar the world over?

i paraglided!!!!! these are totally my feet. and that´s the pacific ocean. i love dangerous activities that require trust, but no actual skill on my part.

the dude flying in the yellow wing (below me, natch) is jason, owner of the surf shak. he is probably stoned. from what i could tell, just about everyone in canoa is at least somewhat stoned most of the time.

and this is what they eat: pescado al aljillo (and the similar camarones al aljillo) at saboreame. delicious, even sober.

quito: saving my soul in old town

found in la iglesia de la compania de jesus, a chain-letter prayer to saint judas, patron saint of lost causes:

patrono del trabajo y de las causas imposibles

cuando te encuentras en una situacion dificil por emfermedad, crisis moral o economica debes saber que san judas tadeo te acompana. esta cadena de la vuelta al mundo por la devocion a san judas tadeo. dedicalo, saca copias y depositales en un tempo catolico, rezu un padre nuestro a san judas tadeo y otro por las almas del purgatorio. esta cadena la envia una de las miles de personas que hay en el mundo, por ningun motivo debes buriarte de ella interrumpiendola, enviala antes de los 13 dias. antecedentes: el presidente de brasil las envio y le dio importancia a los 13 dias se saco la loteria. ezequiel cortez lo tomo a bromo y mando a su secretaria que las hiciera, las envio y a lo 13 dias perdio su empleo. isabel galvan la perdio y estuvo a punto de abortar. debes observar como cambia la suerte luego de los 13 dias.

oracion a san judas tadeo

san judas, amado siervo de dios, por este camino de la vida, tu que sabes de mis alegrias, penas y amarguras que entristecen mi alma, ante ti pongo lo que nos oprime de noche y de dia; haz tuya esta pena. lava mis angustias y dolores, permite que renazcan la paz y la alegria en mi corazon y le pido a dios que le envie a ti en quien tengo puesta mi confianza.

bendito sea el corazon de maria.

bendito sea san judas tadeo por todo el mundo y por toda la eternidad. amen.

saca 81 copias y depositalas en 9 iglesias, pide la gracia y a los 13 dias se te concede por dificil que sea.

ten confianza y fe en dios todo poderoso. amen.

animals of ecuador

the domestics and semi-domestics:

waiting for the bus?

i've seen a donkey stand perfectly still for literally hours. ok, not literally. but close.

chicken a la andes.

the black sheep inn's eponymous ovaje negro. watch out because he might RAM EWE! (their joke, not mine.)

this is the closest thing i've seen to a sheep looking noble.

piglets: 5 weeks old and getting uglier every day.

this baby llama would far rather hang out with the piglets than with his mom.

this little colt tried to follow us on our hike from laguna quilotoa. he was most persistent.

massive pig.

a mellow cow in papallacta. maybe she took a dip in the hot springs -- that sure mellowed me out.

ex-iguana. cafe flor's resident feline huntress beheaded this canoa iguana while we ate our own lunch at the next table. the kitty (not pictured) still accepted scott's offering of fried fish.

the wild ones:

jungle boog.

ditto.

swallowtail moths, feeding from the minerals.

wasp nest.

the scorpion bug is only scary-looking because he has no other defenses. surely we all know someone like this.

swamp snake. what a cutie!!

apparently this tarantula is smart enough to know when a creature (e.g., me) is too big to eat, and consequently would not waste his venom on me. in a pinch he might pee on me. yes, tarantulas have weaponized pee.

not pictured:

grey freshwater dolphins, piranas, wild macaws, birds whose chirps sound like burbling water, prehistoric birds with claws on their wings, peregrine falcons, stray dogs, bats, frigate birds, snake birds, vultures, herons, kingfishers, caimans, various frogs and toads, four species of monkey, fire ants, and many other bugs, including the stowaway cockroach that emerged unexpectedly, from tom's luggage in quito.

someone in canoa knows the truth

encebollados a jorge

delectable seafood stew, available everywhere in ecuador, but not advised anywhere except the coast. i tried several different stands in canoa, and jorge's was my favorite. in my broken spanish (including many thumps to the heart-region to indicate pleasure), i wheedled the recipe from jorge. i can't wait to throw a dinner party with this delicious stuff as the centerpiece!

ingredients

pescado albacora seco

cebolla

cebolla blanca

pimiento

yucca

cilantro

tomate

comino

sabora

aji peruano

aji nomoto

camarones (optional)

good luck figuring this one out. i see much trial-and-error in my future.

survivor: muisne

muisne, enchanted emerald isle of swaying palm trees, expanses of soft white sand, placid cattle in the nearby pastoral fields, and me, reclining gracefully in an ecocabin, organic cuba libre in hand .... scree! [that's the sound of a record scratching.] nope.

muisne in the low season is about 95% deserted, and included in that 5% population figure are me, tom, mama inez (proprietress of the hotel calade, the only visibly abierto establishment on the beach), her son freddy (who would not shake my hand, having just been elbow-deep in the toilet-water supply, attempting to fix the plumbing), our tricycle taxi-driver francisco, and about 40 stray dogs. o, and the cattle, all of which are suitably placid, and roaming the deserted beach. hotel calade has neither power nor water. that's ok, none of muisne has power. i've been told that a restaurant will open in about an hour; in the meantime, we have one fiberbar, nicked from whitney's apartment in quito, that tom will not eat because it is quite dry and we have only approximately 6 oz. of potable water, and no leads as yet on where to find more. sometimes the fear of hunger creates a hunger of its own.

tiny hats for woodland goblins

patrick. likes: sunsets, composting toilets, piglets, his mom. dislikes: bandaids, traffic.

il professore. likes: books, unicycles. dislikes: idiotas.