Ecuador, Summer of 2003

	When I first arrived in Ecuador, I met an Australian named Christo, the only other pupil studying at The American Spanish school.
	Together…..
...we went…	…all over Quito,
the capital of Ecuador.
One day on the way to El Mitad del Mundo (The middle of the world), we came across an empty road.	Cars would jump the center island just to avoid driving down it, yet every other street was busy. We named this road, “The Forbidden Road,”
.and continued on our way…	…to El Mitad del Mundo,
	where we ate “middle of the world ice-cream”,
and tip-toed along the equator.
On the way home, we came across a riot, giving us first hand information on why “The Forbidden Road” was not being used.	The streets were full of police officers and the air thick with tear gas. Any cars that dared drive on this road were pelted with rocks by the rioters. Somehow we still made it home safely.
As another much needed side trip from our Spanish classes, we went to Otavalo, one of the biggest markets in Ecuador,	where we met up with Sandra, another Australian.

We went to the food market,	the animal market,
and the clothing market.	We made a few worthless purchases,
but in all, we had a lot of fun;	despite all the anti-American sentiment.
After 2 weeks in Quito, I was ready to move on.	I moved to Baños, a town at the base of an active volcano called Tungurahua, or Little Hell.
The roads in Baños are marked with yellow lines, indicating the emergency exits (I wondered whether such lines would have made a difference in Pompeii or Herculaneum).	Baños was really beautiful because it was surrounded by mountains, laced with wisps of clouds.
Sugarcane was sold everywhere,	and for very cheap.
After a week more of Spanish classes, I was ready to go into the Amazon. I booked a 5 day tour.	We took an 11 hour bus ride to Coca and then another 3 hour truck ride into the Amazon.
	We loaded our canoes with provisions…
	…before channeling down the Rio Conanaco into Huaorani territory.
In the afternoons, we would find a good camping spot…	…on the side of the river.
Though one night we had to evacuate due to rising river levels.	We went back up river…
...and reset camp…	...at an abandoned Huaorani campsite.
In the Amazon Jungle…	we learned to set snares,
identify cinnamon trees,	locate other plants of material benefit,
	how to catch piranha,
	how to make poison for poison darts,
what animals to be cautious around,	how to climb and swing from vines,
and how to catch crocodiles.
Our diets, among others things, consisted of crocodile,	ants that tasted like lemon,
and piranha.	We spent our last night with the Huaorani people,
in a typical hut,	and by a new, not-so-typical school.
We played frisbee,	volleyball,
and soccer.	You would think that our having shoes would be an advantage over the Huaorani. It wasn’t.
To cool off, we all went swimming in piranha/crocodile infested water.	Within a few days, I was back in Utah, away from the care free world of the jungle. Boy I already miss it.

Update (March 1, 2004) Almost exactly 6 months after my return from Ecuador, I came down with malaria (Plasmodium Vivax). It took doctors forever to properly diagnose me because of the rarity of malaria in The States. After 2 months of getting feverish every 48 hours, turning jaundice (yellow), and becoming anemic, my brother dragged me into the emergency room for the second time and an intern, following a vague suspicion and having no idea what else to test for, suggested a malaria blood smear. After a Cloriquin and Primaquin treatment, I was assured I would be malaria free.

I couldn’t think, for the life of me, how I got malaria. I took anti malaria, in the recommended doses for the recommended amount of time. To my knowledge, I did not miss a single dose. My suspicions now lie on the pharmacy in Quito, Ecuador. I suspect that maybe they sold me placebos to increase profits. I’m suspicious that they might give anti-malaria to the locals and placebos to the foreigners). In the future, I think I will buy my anti-malaria in The States before going to Latin America.

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