Overheard in the internet cafe I`m in

"I don`t think I`m going to have a beer while watching the US play because I only like good beer, like Heineken, and thats really expensive here."

You should have your citizenship revoked for a comment like that.

Go USA!

For a small country...

...it sure takes a long time to get anywhere. After getting sick of not having any sun on the beach, I decided it was time to start making my way to Columbia. So I caught the one daily bus from Mompiche to Esmeraldas (the biggest shithole of a town I have seen yet in Ecuador incidentally). A less than 100k trip on little backroads took over three hours. Having not really thought things through, I assumed that Esmeraldas to Quito would take about 3 hours. WRONG. It took over seven, so I didin`t get into Quito until about 11 last night. I found a little hotel to crash that luckily had tv, so I didin`t have to go find somewhere to watch the opener today. Anyhow, after that scumbag Rafa Marquez ruined what was shaping up to be a nice little morninig, I decided to just stay in Quito for the day. I stocked up on books, got some lunch and am about to go watch Uruguay-France. Tommorow I may head to Ibarra early, or may just stay here untill after the US-England match. It`ll be a game time decision...

Fron Canoa to.....

After lazing around Canoa for a few days, I got sick of the town and the reggaeton that the bar across the street from my hotel played all day and decided to head out. I was looking to get to this town called Mompiche, but buses only run there in the morning. So I´m now in Pedrenales, which I didin´t even know existed this morning. It´s not bad, but also not really a place you would want to stay for any legth of time. I haven´t seen any other gringos, and definitely no other gringos with mohawks.

Tommorow I try to get to Mompiche. We shall see how that goes...

You can have my salt shaker when you pry it from my cold, dead hands

Apparently, the latest demon we need the government to protect us from is salt. And here I thought it was a naturally occurring compound that was essential for life.

There is a push for the FDA to regulate salt as a food additive and force food companies to reduce the amount in their products. The shocking truth is that eating tons of processed food can have some negative health effects. I'm sure all my readers are as bowled over by this as I am.

The push to regulate salt is just another example of the creeping nannyism in American life, and one of the most obnoxious aspects of the public health movement. The things that are being taken away from us by my count now include:

• Salt
• Tobacco
• Alcohol
• Wind through our hair (helmet laws)
• Comfy shoulders (seatbelt laws)
• Trans fats
• Any others I'm missing?
  

When I open a bag of chips, it's not exactly a mystery to me that what I'm about to eat is not health food. My favorite part of that article was the food scientist Dr. Howard Moskowitz bemoaning the fact that people care about calories because being thinner makes them look better, but don't care about salt because it is only a health issue. Imagine that - people deciding what is most important to them each day through the spending of their own money. But when the choices people make don't square up with what experts consider important, we need the boot of the government to squash their little choices and get them on the right path.

How to climb a volcano

On Thursday at around 5:45 a.m. I got to the top of Cotopaxi Volcano, the highest active volcano in the world (Don`t buy that bs that it is in the one in Argentina. That thing is erupting out it`s side, which in my book disqualifies it.) We summited at 5,897 meters (19,344 ft) in a light snow storm. The trek to the top was pretty hard, though not as hard as I expected. We had really good weather and I was in pretty good shape for it. I had heard some horror stories from other people who did the trek, talking about how it was the hardest thing they had ever done. It was very tough, but not the hardest thing I`ve ever done.

The trip started at Secret Garden on Wednesday when the guides arrived with all our stuff. We got fitted in mountaineering boots, waterproof jackets, pants, and gloves and various other pieces of mountaineering equipment. Our group of 11 then hopped in the 4x4`s and headed to the refuge, a building where you spend the night. We got kitted up and hiked up to the glacier to do some training with our ice axes and crampons. Then it was back to the refuge for dinner and bed around 7 p.m.

At 12 p.m. we got woken up and put on all out equipment. We had a quick breakfast and then started heading out in groups from the refuge. The group I was in left last as we had 11 people and were kind of lagging. We started at 1:15 a.m. We hiked up to the glacier, and put on our crampons and got tied together - two climbers per guide. Me and Sam (another volunteer from Secret Garden) were tied to Segundo, a guy from the local village El Pedregal. As we set out on the glacier I could see other groups way up on the mountain. No way we catch them, I thought.

As we started the slog up the glacier we made good time. Our group of three kept passing other groups until it was just us up against the mountain. It was nearly a full moon and a really beautiful night. Towards the top clouds obscured the moon and a light snow started falling, but there was no wind to speak of, which was huge. Sometimes there are 70+ mph/hr winds and blinding snowstorms. We got pretty lucky with the weather.

I did pretty well with the altitude until the last 200 meters of the ascent. At that point it got pretty hard to catch my breath and we were going at a notably slower pace than earlier. However, we pushed through and at 5:45 reached the top!

I was pretty proud of myself for getting up there in 4.5 hours. Most people took about 7 and some people took like 9 or something. The peak was amazing - we watched the sun rise (sort of, as it was obscured by some low clouds), saw the crater that is obscured from the side we came up and just admired being so high up. It was really impressive to see other volcanoes you have climbed look like little hills.

So far as I can tell, the following are key to making it up a snow-covered volcano in a good time:

• A summit mohawk is key for speed and strength
  
• A summit beard helps keep your face warm and also provides strength
• Living at 3,500 meters for over a month helps a lot
• Doing 3-4 hikes a week to 4,200 meters doesn`t hurt
• Step on a glass tea cup two weeks before heading up and put an inch and a half gash in your foot, then do nothing for a few days
• Drink lots of weak, free Pilsener
• Consume about 8,000 calories the day before you head up the mountain
  

Cotopaxi a few days before heading up

The panoramic view

Volunteers with summit mohawks

Me training on the glacier to scare away Yetis

Though this was a cool pic

Sunset at the refuge

First group to the top!

The crater

Again

Passing people on our way down, thier way up

Glacier/rocks

People on thier way up

Summit mohawk!

Again

Fiesta Pics, Ect.

Here are some pics from the last few weeks, most from the fiesta in El Pedregal (the closest village to where I work) that I went to. Coming soon will be my slightly fictionalized account of life at Secret Garden Cotopaxi. Stay tuned.

Thats not Sprite...

Kids doing thier dances

Cool sky

The pig I made sausage out of who was stabbed in the heart right as I was showing these Dutch girls to thier room. They were vegetarians and horrified. The sausage turned out great.

Bullfighting

Me taunting the bull

Me and a buddy. My jacket was a casualty this day as I left it outside the bull ring and someone jacked it. I gotta get another one today, and I imagine it will be a nightmare finding my size again.

Working

I´ve spent the last week plus up at Secret Garden Cotopaxi. I´ve been doing work around the farm and leading hikes to these waterfalls and up a volcano called Pasochoa. It´s been really good - eating well, getting exercisie and meeting a ton of people.

I took today off to come into town to check email and get some warmer clothes. It gets COLD up there. It was hailing a bunch the other day.

Last Saturday I went to this local fiesta to celebrate the end of the local soccer league. They had a cow roping competition, bronco riding and then let everyone into the bull ring to get chased by bulls. I got in there but after seeing a guy being pulled out by his buddies with a hoof print on his forehead, unable to stand, I decided to make my exit. It was awesome day overall - there were three gringos there total among the hundreds of locals.