Sometimes when Hawksbill sea turtles hatch their yolks are still attached to their stomachs. These hatchlings have a hard time crawling to the water and sometimes they end up on their backs and we have to flip them over.
I´D LOVE TO GO BACK TO WHEN WE PLAYED AS KIDS BUT THINGS CHANGED AND THAT´S THE WAY IT IS
LAST NIGHT I HAD A DREAM THAT I WAS 12 YEARS OLD AND PIXELATED IN A PLAYSTATION RPG. I SPENT MY DAYS HUNTING MONSTERS WITH A SWORD IN THE FOREST AND PLAYING PAN PIPES TO DOLPHINS AT A DOCK ON THE OCEAN. I WONDER IF MY CHOICES IN LIFE- HELPING ANIMALS AND GOING ON SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS TRIPS AND BEING IN JUNGLES WERE INFORMED BY THE VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED WHEN I WAS A KID. IN QUITO AND LA PAZ THE ADVENTURE SEEMED SO CODEFIED BY THE TOURIST ECONOMY AND I´M VERY WARY OF ALL THAT STUFF. ON GAMEBOY, GOING IN THE FOREST WAS SO SIMPLE. BUT THE REAL WILD IS COMPLEX AND IT´S CONTROL IS ATTEMPTED CONSTANTLY. TO TRY TO ¨PROTECT¨ THE WILD MAY ALSO BE A FORM OF CONTROL.
I USED TO READ THIS COMIC BOOK CALLED RUNAWAYS, AND THIS CHARACTER IN IT SHE SAID MAYBE ONLY SUPER VILLAINS WANT TO CHANGE THE WORLD AND THAT THE REST OF US JUST SAVE ONE PERSON AT A TIME. THOUGH I GUESS IN MY CASE IT´S ONE SEA TURTLE AT A TIME… SORT OF.
DAY BEFORE EASTER SERVICE AT THE CHURCH OF ST. FRANCIS IN QUITO, ECUADOR
There´s no doubt that this church was iced out nicely, and something about being in there really calmed me out. However, I wonder if a saint who spent his life married to ¨lady poverty¨ and often rejected material things would be supportive of this sort of set up. That being said, I think many monks and nuns do live very simple lives and perhaps consume very little, probably less than myself. I´m really not sure about it at all but that´s my memory of it from what I can remember being told in sunday school and also from watching Sister Act at my Grandmom´s house a million times. The monks and nuns who lived at the convent and monastery attached to this church could possibly be living very simple lives as well.
But instead of dwelling on the more confusing aspects of a major world religion, let´s talk about some of the dope shit St. Francis did during his life time.
1. Spoke to the birds and told them to praise GOD for giving them the ability to live without material posession.
2. Freed some wild doves and convinced the man who was selling them to join his order.
3. On his deathbed one of the last things he did was thank his donkey for carrying him through life.
BORN IN THE USA
For the last couple of days I´ve been staying at the home of a host family just outside of Quito, the capitol of Ecuador before heading to the coast to start the sea turtle project. Their house is absolutely beautiful and Eduardo, Gabriella, and their son Martin have all been incredible hosts. Last night while planning a trip into the city, Eduardo gave us a touristy DVD about Quito. The narrator had a thick Boston accent and the soundtrack was a listless acoustic guitar and synth drone. Every few seconds we were reminded that Quito is the city of patrimony.
After a few minutes of watching the movie Martin (who is only eight years old) came into the room and started giving us his own narration of each city spot featured on the DVD. I couldn´t understand much of what he was saying but I caught some little bits here and there: ¨My mother was baptized in that church¨ or ¨that street isn´t very safe.¨ He had something to say about each part of the city. He then went on to talk about the other great things in Ecuador- mostly I just heard words that sounded like Iguana and Tortoise here and there.
The point is, it was amazing that at only eight he knew so much about the city. I don´t think I could tell someone that many facts about Los Angeles or Philadelphia and both are cities that I have spent some time in. He was definitely excited about Ecuador. It was the same with Joe, the guy I met in Lima. When I asked him if he liked Peru he said ¨of course!¨ and then went on to rave about how Macchu Picchu was one of the wonders of the world and how great the rain forest was and stuff like this. It´s not that these two people didn´t recognize that their countries had problems- Martin went on a tirade about how awful the president of Ecuador is and Joe wasn´t happy about homophobia in Lima. But they´re still immediately proud of their countries. I really like this. I think from now on that´s the response I´m going to try to have if someone asks me if I like the US. I know it has problems but it´s where I´m from. And frankly, I really like living in the US. So I´m just going to be into it, recognizing the problems but also the good things.
Walking around Quito the next day I finally felt like I got a sense of a South American city. Maybe it´s just that Quito is more historic than Lima and safer than the cities in Bolivia. It feels lame and touristy to dig through a lonely planet for things to see but once you get over that feeling and just go out and start by seeing those things you might actually learn something about a city and it´s people. I was raised Episcopalian and really I don´t have any negative feelings toward that experience of being christian so a part of me did see the churches as being incredible. If you just suck it up and recognize you´re a tourist for five seconds you can start to learn a bit about a place. So even though it´s a landmark in a guide book it´s still a real thing.
BLESS THIS MESS (FOR MARCOS)
LOOKS LIKE EVERY VALENCIAN´S FAVORITE IRISH AMERICAN PUB HAS OPENED UP SHOP IN THE CAPITOL OF ECUADOR!
POST-COLONIAL SIDE NOTE: I MADE THE LITTLE FLAG BECAUSE THE BRITISH FAMILY SITTING ACROSS FROM ME AT THE TEX MEX RESTAURANT WAS HAVING A HORRIBLE FIGHT AND I NEEDED TO LOOK BUSY. SOME KIDS JUST DON´T THINK THE GALAPAGOS IS A COOL PLACE TO GO I GUESS!
GRAND THEFT ECUADOR
JUST MOMENTS BEFORE THIS VIDEO WAS TAKEN MARTIN TAUGHT ME THAT PISTOLA WAS SPANISH FOR GUN, RAN OVER THREE PEDESTRIANS, EXPLAINED TO ME THAT SAN ANDREAS WAS ACTUALLY LOS ANGELES, AND EFFORTLESSLY SHOT HIS WAY OUT OF A POLICE STATION.
POST-COLONIAL SIDE NOTE: MY SPANISH IS SOOOOO BAD.
