Sorry for not posting anything lately…I’ve had midterms over the past week, and although not quite as demanding as my work at Georgetown, it’s been keeping me busy.
Our star-studded stay at the Swiss Hotel is quickly drawing to an end, but rumor has it that along with Iron Maiden we have been neighbors with Santana and Richard Gere. We went to go see Santana at the stadium down the street and he actually put on a great show, even if he wouldn’t hang out with us at the hotel bar. Just about everything is now in order with our house, and we should be moving in next weekend, although our stuff is still somewhere on the high-seas between here and Miami.
It’s election season in Ecuador, and the air is rife with controversy. My favorite commercial got pulled off the air for violating election laws—it was a 2-minute long homage to Ecuador, set to the tune of Hey Jude, with “na-na-na” changed to “cuidadania” (citizenship) and “patria” (patriotism). The electoral commission said it was illegal publicly funded propaganda for the ruling party, but is sure was catchy.
The biggest election scandal has been the coming to light of a variety of connections between the current administration and the FARC, the largest guerrilla movement in Colombia. A former undersecretary and minister in President Correa’s cabinet are both currently under investigation for a wide range of personal and business ties to some of the more infamous military and narco-trafficking personalities of the Colombian conflict. The story has created quite a stir in Ecuador, although it’s probably not going to be damaging enough to hurt Correa’s reelection chances in April.
As long as we’re talking about the destabilizing effects of international involvement in Colombia, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the more astounding articles I’ve read lately, documenting the financing of paramilitary death squads by Chiquita Banana. This is just one more chapter in the ongoing saga of the banana industry being directly responsible for torture and murder in Latin America (Chiquita is the rebranded United Fruit Company, who helped the CIA spark the 35 year Guatemalan civil war). The article doesn’t mention it, but Attorney General Eric Holder (of whom I’m actually a big fan) was previously a defense lawyer for Chiquita in a case regarding these payments.
On a lighter note, Monique and I got to see some world class soccer yesterday at the Ecuador - Brazil World Cup qualifying match. We packed in with about 40,000 screaming fans (in Spanish the same word is used for fan and fanatic, and this match made abundantly clear why there is no distinction). The tickets were all general admission, and although we got there 2 hours early we still weren’t able to find a seat and had to stand for the entire game. But we did manage to corral a spot about 50 yards from the field, close enough to see Ronaldinho’s goofy smile whenever he came near the corner.
Despite being considered a less-skilled team, Ecuador outplayed Brazil for most of the game (probably because of the altitude), although Ecuador gave up a stupid goal with about 10 minutes left in the second half. We thought all was lost until Ecuador tied the game with about 2 minutes left, leading to the entire crowd to get soaked in beer, soft drinks, and home made confetti. I’ve never seen a crowd so excited about a tie, although considering that the Brazilians are some of the best players in the world I suppose it was quite an accomplishment for a small country like Ecuador.
Having learned Spanish in a little community in Guatemala where everyone is extremely formal in their mannerisms, I’ve always felt my vocabulary of vulgarities has been lacking. Fortunately, 90 minutes of Ecuadorian soccer filled in what 2 years in the Guatemalan campo could not. Seeing 14 year-old kids screaming chants that would make a sailor blush was a bit disarming, but I suppose it’s all part of the fun.
Well that’s all for now. Keep in touch and look for cheap tickets to come visit!
-Dan and Monique.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Iron Maiden...Excellent!!!
Just to let you all know what a VIP (pronounced "Beep" in Spanish) I am, today as I was leaving our hotel for work, I noticed a 12 foot banner across the street. A corner had fallen down covering the text, but I could see a scary-looking devil peeking out. I assumed there was a protest against the U.S. or Israel, so I went to check it out, and to my delight I saw about 200 black-haired tweens with piercings. It turns out Iron Maiden is staying at our hotel in anticipation of their concert in the national stadium tomorrow. I walked right by Nicko McBrain signing autographs in the lobby. I'm going to change into all black now and head down to the hotel bar humming "Wrathchild" to see if I can score some back stage passes.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Of Cable Cars and Guinea Pigs
Monique and I finally found a house that fits the embassy's daunting list of criteria...it's safe, in a nice neighborhood, and not too big or too small. The landlords have to ground all the plugs and make some other modifications, but hopefully we'll be moved in by April 1st at the latest. It's a great place with an amazing view of Quito, a big kitchen, a fireplace, a yard and a terrace. And lots of room for guests...we're very excited.
Now that we're done house hunting we have a chance to do all the fun touristy stuff we've been itching t
o explore. Last weekend we put our faith in Ecuador's infrastructure to the test, by riding the Teleferico up to the top of Pichincha Volcano. It was quite the harrowing experience.
The Teleferico is a cable car that launches from a hill above Quito, and climbs 4000 feet, dangling it's passengers high above the sides of a lush volcano for a mile and a half ride. You end up at close to 14,000 feet, and can see the entire sprawl of Quito along with the surrounding valleys. For a linguistically amusing description of the attraction, che
ck this out. After a bit of hiking at the top, we hurried back down to beat the dark clouds rolling in (the thought of riding the Teleferico through a storm wasn't very appealing, although it didn't look like a few thunder clouds was going to slow down the operation). Lucky for us, there is a make-shift amusement park at the bottom of the mountain, where we played air hockey and rode sketchy carnival rides for the rest of the afternoon.
Our work has been very interesting lately. Monique got to travel to near the Colombian border this past week for the inauguration of some USAID funded water and infrastructure projects. It sounded like quite the event...the U.S. Ambassador attended, and they had a local karaoke star for entertainment. As thanks for the projects, the local government presented Monique with this basket of potatoes and carrots, along with a manila envelope containing a smoked guinea pig wrapped in foil. Monique refused to eat the little rodent (I think the teeth put her off), and I didn't think I could finish the whole thing, so after nibbling on the hind leg I gave it to one of the kids who camps outside our hotel selling bubble gum. I guess they don't teach kids here not to take guinea pigs from strangers, because this girl's eye's lit up when I asked, "¿te gusta cuy?" (do you like guinea pig), and as soon as I gave it to her she ran off to show the delicacy to her mom.
Although I have yet to be paid in guinea pig for my work, things have been very busy at the office. The Ecuadorian government is about to initiate a program to register the majority of the hundred thousand or so Colombian refugees who are now living under the radar, and Asylum Access is collaborating with other civil society organizations to make sure the process is carried out in line with international human rights law. The project is going to begin on the Northern Border and I probably won't get an opportunity to go up there until school is finished, but all of our clients are very interested in the process because it will be much more streamlined than the normal refugee status determinations. This weekend I gave a Know Your Rights presentation to about 30 refugees focusing on the new registration process, and also on the rights granted to refugees under the new constitution. The KYR presentations have been a really fun part of my job, because the attendees are very engaged in the presentations and excited to mobilize other refugees to assert the rights.
The weather has been great all week, so I'm going to try to enjoy some sun by the pool before the clouds come in. Hasta pronto,
Dan & Monique
Now that we're done house hunting we have a chance to do all the fun touristy stuff we've been itching t
o explore. Last weekend we put our faith in Ecuador's infrastructure to the test, by riding the Teleferico up to the top of Pichincha Volcano. It was quite the harrowing experience.The Teleferico is a cable car that launches from a hill above Quito, and climbs 4000 feet, dangling it's passengers high above the sides of a lush volcano for a mile and a half ride. You end up at close to 14,000 feet, and can see the entire sprawl of Quito along with the surrounding valleys. For a linguistically amusing description of the attraction, che
ck this out. After a bit of hiking at the top, we hurried back down to beat the dark clouds rolling in (the thought of riding the Teleferico through a storm wasn't very appealing, although it didn't look like a few thunder clouds was going to slow down the operation). Lucky for us, there is a make-shift amusement park at the bottom of the mountain, where we played air hockey and rode sketchy carnival rides for the rest of the afternoon.Our work has been very interesting lately. Monique got to travel to near the Colombian border this past week for the inauguration of some USAID funded water and infrastructure projects. It sounded like quite the event...the U.S. Ambassador attended, and they had a local karaoke star for entertainment. As thanks for the projects, the local government presented Monique with this basket of potatoes and carrots, along with a manila envelope containing a smoked guinea pig wrapped in foil. Monique refused to eat the little rodent (I think the teeth put her off), and I didn't think I could finish the whole thing, so after nibbling on the hind leg I gave it to one of the kids who camps outside our hotel selling bubble gum. I guess they don't teach kids here not to take guinea pigs from strangers, because this girl's eye's lit up when I asked, "¿te gusta cuy?" (do you like guinea pig), and as soon as I gave it to her she ran off to show the delicacy to her mom.
Although I have yet to be paid in guinea pig for my work, things have been very busy at the office. The Ecuadorian government is about to initiate a program to register the majority of the hundred thousand or so Colombian refugees who are now living under the radar, and Asylum Access is collaborating with other civil society organizations to make sure the process is carried out in line with international human rights law. The project is going to begin on the Northern Border and I probably won't get an opportunity to go up there until school is finished, but all of our clients are very interested in the process because it will be much more streamlined than the normal refugee status determinations. This weekend I gave a Know Your Rights presentation to about 30 refugees focusing on the new registration process, and also on the rights granted to refugees under the new constitution. The KYR presentations have been a really fun part of my job, because the attendees are very engaged in the presentations and excited to mobilize other refugees to assert the rights.
The weather has been great all week, so I'm going to try to enjoy some sun by the pool before the clouds come in. Hasta pronto,
Dan & Monique
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