random thoughts for march 15th

i haven't had an update on here for a while, and while there probably have been many things worth writing about, i've simply been lazy and haven't done so. so, i will try to give you an update on things here and tell you anything about my normal day to day life which i often forget to mention because it's second nature now.

THE WORM

about a month ago, i had a terrible break out on my back of pimples, but i had two large, painful ones in particular. i went to a doctor (actually three, all who had different things to say) and received some medicine for the "minor skin infection." at the same time i had what looked like an infected mosquito bite on my ankle, but i believed it to be unrelated so didn't say anything. about two weeks later, i had another, similar pimple on my chest. during this time i popped the pimple on my back ( i know this is probably inappropriate), but instead of normal pimple gunk or puss coming out, it almost felt like a booger. my rooomates told me it looked like a worm. whatever it was, after i got it out a tiny little hole was left in my back. the same thing happened with my chest. at this point i went to the doctor again, where she told me i have a skin infection. basically, as she described it, i have a worm that surfaces anytime i have a pimple or bite, but this will happen seven times. i thought she was a quack, mainly because she prescribed $30 worth of medicine to fix it, so i went about my way, deciding to finish my original prescription. well, turns out she was right. shortly after her visit i developed another one on my chin (which has since gone away), but needless to say i spent the $30. now i'm just waiting on the other two to develop. scott and i are taking bets on where the next one will occur.

LA NIÑA & COLOMBIA

rainy season is in full swing here in ecuador, but this year it has been especially harsh with la niña. president rafeal correa declared ecuador in a state of emergency about a month ago due to all the flooding and landslides that are taking place. while things are fine where i live, i've seen some pictures of other parts of the country and it's ridiculous.

on another note, you may or may not have heard about the dust up between ecuador, venezuela an colombia. what happened was colombia sent an air strike just across the ecuadorian border to take out a FARC (a group the U.S. deems terrorists) camp, then following the strike troops moved into ecuador to retrieve the bodies. ecuador was rightfully so upset about this, but what escalated the situation was venezuela's hugo chavez. because colombia is backed by the U.S., chavez takes any opportunity he can to lash out at the U.S. chavez sent troops and tanks to the venezuelan-colombian border, while ecuador sent troops. both countries removed their ambassadors in colombia, while expelling the colombian ambassador from ecuador and venezuela.

a few of my neighbors have asked me how the U.S. can support colombia bombing ecuador, and to be honest my only response is that it falls in line with the behavior of the U.S. being here for this event has really opened my eyes to the lack of diplomacy being shown around the world by the U.S. and its allies.

RANDOM DAY TO DAY STUFF

i've seen a lot of people with missing limbs. missing hands. missing feet. it's something i see almost daily, and if i saw it in the states, it would be a rare occurence, but life in the third world is different. worse health care, worse situations for the citizens.

majin boo (mashin boo) is the name of a dragon ball z character (the kids down here love dragon ball z). it is also the name which a lot of kids in my neighborhood know me by. you see, the first few weeks down here i had cut my hair into a mohawk and i was about 40 pounds heavier, which they thought made me look exactly like the fat, pink dragon ball z character. and seven months later, it is still my name.





i really miss being able to be at a bar watching college basketball this time of year. while i've tried to stay up to date with everything that's going on, i feel like i'm vastly behind in this and with the ncaa tourney starting next week i wish i could just take a few days off and watch basketball