Monday, October 29, 2007

I don't know 'bout you...

I don't know about you but I'm going to the Galapagos Islands...

Here's some pictures so you can get your Josiah fix.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Gems and Papers

New pics! There's a few gems.

My International Business group had a meeting today (3 hours long...). Turns out I'm suppose to be doing all the writing... which basically means I'm doing the whole thing considering we get very little accomplished at our "meetings" and I feel like no one understands the material... on the upside, this means I have complete control over the paper and it makes me feel like a good business student (a feeling I don't often feel).

Hopefully this gets accomplished before Monday at 4.

Tomorrow I'm going to hit up Ingapirca with the fam. Should be a ball.
(When am I going to write a paper? Well... besides when I skip work on Monday?)

Friday, October 26, 2007

4 Numbers and 3 >>

Here we go gang.

Well today contained quite a few good times.
Number 1: I got to sleep in and then go downtown with Ruf to buy random stuff.
Number 2: I had Spanish class with professor Scott Adams. Awesome would be a good way of describing it.
Number 3: Both Scott and Heather Sommer came to our Marketing class in which the first half was a "field trip" to the mall down the street where we obtained marketing segments from a business there. After we finished that in 5 minutes, we all got ice cream or yogurt or another unhealthy food item and hung out.
Number 4: The whole class had a fondue party afterwards. Good, I guess... as I mentioned at the party, "I don't think we're going to miss a game of Taboo by leaving a little early."

>> Tomorrow the TU profs come to visit us at our work... should be interesting... tomorrow night we have a dinner with everyone... I'm also suppose to have a group meeting with International Business students... but I'd rather go to the dinner... we'll see how I feel... oh and I also think we don't have class tomorrow... this is dumb.

>> Next week we go to Quito and the Galapagos Islands! So Tues-Thurs we'll be in Quito and then Thurs-Sun at the Islands. Excited? Yes. I'm not going to describe it now b/c I will when I get back.

>> I'd like to end this blog with a shout-out to Trudy. Keep it real.

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Cajas


Well we went to Cajas National Park today. Reminiscent of the Lord of the Rings movies. Check the pictures if you would like. There are some cool places on this earth.

Took a half hour (or so) hike to a lake. Ate food and candy and drank Sprite Zero. Laid on the bed-like mossy grass. Tried to fish. Enjoyed the sun. Scorned the impending clouds.

Once we hiked back to the bus, we ate. We decided to try the fish (trout, I think...) because that's what the locals eat. We definitely got the fish experience. I'm glad I tried it.

We returned (home) tired and I was in a slightly grumpy mood due to a certain item that I could not find.

I showered and watched It. Flipping 3 hours long but good. I respect Stephen King.

And now I sit here typing another dumb blog about nothing. Tomorrow morning I think I'm going to play tennis with my brother, Juan.

[typed Saturday night... posted Sunday afternoon]

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Written at work about my trip to work

As I got on the bus, I scanned the rows for an empty set of two so my longer than average legs do not acquire cramps and so I have a place to put my backpack. A row right in front of the bus’s back doors is open and I claimed my rightful throne. I dig in my pockets to find 25 cents (two dimes and five pennies) and looked around for the collection man. Although he is no where to be seen, a girl of about six or seven caught my attention who is sitting directly in front of me and it appeared that she has a staring problem. This is nothing new.

We made our way down Diez de Agosto* and still no collection man. More people get on the bus and rows fill up. I realized it would be polite of me to move to the inside seat next to the window and hold my backpack on my lap if an oncoming rider wished to sit next to me. We reached Salano**, and an equal number of people get off that get on. One of the newcomers also happened to be the collection man.

The collection men are usually of two kinds***. The first are young guys (early twenties) who simply need a job as they figure things out. I assume this is not their final destination in a career choice. The second are slightly older guys (thirties or forties) who appear to have some sort of physical ailment, slacked off earlier in life, and/or just do not seem to be completely content with life. I believe this one was of the second kind. I gave him my 25 cents and glanced past the girl with the staring problem.

As I continued on the fifteen minute journey on the big blue bus, I realized that I did not get any takers on row buddies. Obviously, girls felt safer sitting next to other girls (it is an urban area) and rows up front usually get filled quicker, but I realized that it may be weird sitting next to a foreigner. Imagine that, I am a foreigner. I am the guy that you kind of point at and wonder where they’re from. Well perhaps my nationality is not the biggest secret (although deep down I hope people are not sure if I’m from America or some cool European country) but I am still foreign. And that is a different feeling.

After a bit more traversing the town, the bus turned onto the road of which my internship is located. Once again I saw the small girl in front of me suffering from her awful staring ailment so I kept my gaze straight ahead. I wonder what type of thoughts must be running through her head. Perhaps she was analyzing my weird facial features or lack of pigment in my skin or something else. Suddenly, I changed my gaze. I did not look down at the girl; I simply looked in another direction. This seemed to startle the girl out of her staring disease. For those few moments where I kept my gaze though, I was some mystical creature that dropped from space. A simple turning of the head brought me back to more human characteristics but it felt good being looked at as another species.

*Diez de Agosto – The road on which I live as well as a major road running West/East along the South side of Cuenca.
**Salano – A major road that runs North/South and ends at the Tomebamba River where the old part of town begins.
*** Two Kinds – And obviously there are exceptions.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Let's Review, Class

Oh, I like this song.

Oh wow. How was my weekend at the South American beach you may ask (and thank-you for asking)? It was quite mediocre I might reply.

Alright so the beach was kind of lame. I've been on nicer ones in Michigan I think. I also don't think we saw the sun (although we did get some of the effects of the sun). Mentally cool to know you're swimming in the Pacific but that was about it. Other than that... it was actually really fun. I always enjoy being with the other TU people and my brothers went! So we had a good time together. Let's see... what were some highlights?...

I ate an entire medium pizza our first night there. I am man.
We saw Rush Hour 3.
Five of us (minus Juan/One) rode an inflatable banana pulled by a speed boat. It was pretty fricking incredible. I don't think we stayed on it for more than 10 seconds. It was so hard to keep upright.
We made an insane amount of Juan/One (Juan being my brother) jokes. You know the pun, "Oh here's Cesar, where's the other One/Juan?" I love my brothers.
Kevin got a tatoo.
We watched a ton of 80's movies and Discovery Channel in our room.
I took some pictures.
--
Enough of that. I have to turn in a paper tomorrow (via email) to my Taylor prof. I've still got a page and a half to write. I'm thinking some graphs may be just the trick.
--
If looking for some random links to peek your interest... please check the following (I stole from RELEVANT slices and Alex Frank) >>
Gore wins a Nobel Peace Prize?
Abortion statistics released... what does this mean?
Wow, The View people should have attended school... of any kind.
--
And that's all for tonight. I'm off to write a paper. You're off to a better website.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Ch-Ch-Changes!

Alright. Well we were suppose to go to Salinas. Apparently there are massive strikes going on between Salinas and Guayaquil (in which we would have to traverse... and the strikes may even be at Salinas) and the roads are blocked. Cool South America. Real cool. Anyhow, we're going to another beach (on an island?) that is apparently nice as well. I don't remember the name. It's Spanish sounding.

I believe we will be able to get Taco Bell in Guayaquil. Score.

Went to class tonight (Jordan almost convinced me to skip) and found out there was a teacher's meeting. So none of the other kids were there and we talked with our teacher for about 15 minutes. Off to Mil Plaz for junk food. Probably turned out a more productive time than being in class.

I found out how to download stuff on my computer. Actually, I just decided to start doing it out of pure desperation for new entertainment in a city full of stuff I'm not that interested in. So recent downloads include: Iron&Wine - The Shepherd's Dog, Kanye West - Graduation, Rocky Votolato - The Brag and Cuss, Radiohead - In Rainbows, Instant Karma - The Campaign to Save Darfur. Check 'em.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Upcoming, the Past, and Radios

Hey yo so,

three day weekend coming up. Going to a beach called Salinas with three other TU students (Ruf is going to Quito with his parents) and four guys from the church. I'm thinking it'll be pretty awesome. Relaxation. Fun. Sun. All the above. I do have a 5 pager due on Monday...

Ruf's parents/gf have been here since Saturday. The gf (Christina, enchante) left today due to a test tomorrow. The parents are here til Sunday but will be in Quito til then (as mentioned before). Regardless, I had a great time hanging out with them a couple times. Christina brought me the new DC*B album (thank-you) and Ruf's parents brought an amazing care package of deliciousness. No seriously, ridiculously good cookies. And I would have enjoyed hanging out with them even if they didn't bring gifts.

Also - today Radiohead released a new album that you can download for free. Almost, there's like a 45 cent credit card processing charge. And actually, they say you can name the price. So pay a ton, normal, or 45 cents. I like that Radiohead is doing this and because they're one of the largest bands in the world, they can.

That is all.

Friday, October 5, 2007

Pictures for you.

Here's my rain forest albums. They finally loaded correctly.
The rain forest series:
Ecuador 7.1
Ecuador 7.2
Ecuador 7.3

The weekend will be nice.
Sadly, I have a papes to write.

Monday, October 1, 2007

COLLEGE in Ecuador

I just deleted a blog I just wrote. Suck. Here we go again.

Moved offices today. Moving was the extent of my workday. Not important.

Started business classes tonight (5:15-8:30).

Class 1: "International Marketing" (closer to Marketing taught in Ecuador). The teach was born in Michigan, grew up in and studied in Indiana, and has lived in a Chi-town suburb. He's more stereotypically Taylor than most Taylor students. He's nice and the class will be easy. Unfortunately (or maybe amusingly is a better word) he doesn't know how to control a classroom and 'Dor kids haven't really gotten past the high school thing. So it's a blow off that's fun (how I miss playing Yahoo! Pool with Jordan in accounting). Here's some quotes:

Teacher says something from the syllabus (something like, turn in work on time).
Student replies: "This is not a good idea."

Teacher asks student to stop joking around.
Student: "No, seriously."

More from the syllabus.
Student: "No, please Mike."

Teacher: "Who wants to get an A?"
Student: "I'll be happy with a B."

Student: "We should have a break."
Student 2: "Yes, we should have a break."

My favorite (I was wearing my green track jacket):
"She likes someone and I'm not going to name any names but he's wearing green."

Please realize that these lines spoken in a 'Dor accent makes them 4x as funny.


Class 2: "International Finance" (Realized half-way through that it is actually International Business... it's cool though b/c I could take either.) Great teach. From Ecuador. Studied at Boston College. Knows how to teach. One of those "hard but learn a lot" classes.

OK, studying to do for a cross cultural test tomorrow morning. Should have started before now (10:40pm... a lot later here than at TU).

My Rainforest Experience (in a Nushell)


Ever been on a mission trip and had one of those crazy trips where you felt like you were going to puke 10 minutes in but knew you still had 3 hours to go? I had that experience but different. 1. I'm not on a mission trip. 2. I didn't feel like I was going to puke. Half of the group did [feel like it] though. One did [actually puke] gag style. I was ready to be done an hour in ... or maybe just when we finished watching Office Space. 3. The trip was 10 hours long. 4. The trip was through the night on the way there... which proves awful when you're trying to sleep and it feels like a CP ride. Luckily, the vaca improved.

We stayed at La Casa del Suizo on the Napo river in the Orient region of Ecuador. So rainforest. We had to take a canoe to our hotel. It was jungle legit... but nice. Food was great. Pool was great. Rooms had porches with hammocks that looked out over the river. Relaxing.

What did we do you may ask? Well let me tell you.

We...
visited a butterfly house
hiked in the rainforest with our guide, Clever
lazy rivered the Napo and another river (on both a Huck Finn raft and on inner tubes)
visited an animal reserve island with quite a few monkeys and other animals (although no touching!?)
sat [next to the pool]
read [next to the pool]
visited some locals

All in all, good trip. I would have liked to see a few more exotic animals... but I'll live. The hotel was amazing. Sitting and doing nothing but read was amazing. Encountering a crazy storm on the last day was ... fun? Always fun being with the other TU students. Roomed with a dude from the church named Nelson. Nelson and I made good roommates even though we didn't really talk a lot (at all? ).

I'd rather tell stories threw spoken words or pictures. So talk to me or check my facebook albums.

Oh, there was big group from France there for like, a day. It made me want to speak French a lot... but as I tried to think of things to say... all I thought were Spanish words. Sad. Fact: Living in a culture is the only way to learn a language.

Um, that's it. I missed episode 1 of The Office and I still have not heard the new DC*B album. Studying abroad has its definite drawbacks.