7/4/07 - Carter

Feliz Cumpleaños a los Estados Unidos!

I dressed the part today with red, white and blue. I have informed several Ecuadorians of the importance of this glorious day, but none except for one overly enthusiastic cab driver, were at all interested. This email is so late in coming, sorry guys, but I will definitely have some stories when I get back! This past weekend I went to the jungle. We were very close to the Peruvian and Colombian borders, and because of such, there were several super fun run-ins with the policia. more on that later. We stayed in a lodge which was in the heart of the rainforest. This is the rainy season and there was about a foot or two of water underneath our little cabin which was raised off the ground. At night you could spot the red eyes of caimans underneath our room. we were actually sleeping on top of crocodiles! We saw all kinds of animals including a baby sloth, pink river dolphins, and a billion monkeys among other things. We went on a jungle walk with our guide which was quite enjoyable, especially when some curious spider monkeys decided to join us. Near the end of the walk, our guide out of the blue yells "run!" all of us scatter in different directions expecting that some giant snake or jaguar is about to spring on us. turns out we were running from ants! at first I thought, pssh, I can take on some ants. but then I saw these ants... and they were the largest ants I have ever seen. probably about 2 inches in length. the reason we were running from them as our guide put it "the make grown men cry for almost a week!" after a bite, they can give people a fever so high, that it requires hospitalization and considering the nearest one was 6 hrs away, I didn't want to fight them. we also went fishing for piranhas with chunks of meat! I got several bites but was unsuccessful in catching any. by far the scariest moment though happened the last night we were in the jungle. They had given us a departing cocktail with everclear and so I was a little dizzy. something landed on the guy's shoulder who was sitting next to me and since the lodge had several tamed birds, I leaned over to pet it. this was no bird. it was HUGE COCKROACH. and i mean huge. much bigger than the length of my hand. so naturally I ducked under the table and soon found the ungodly sized bug on my leg when the man scrambled to get it off him and brushed it to the floor! almost had a heart attack. serously this thing was bigger than anything I have ever seen on TV or in the zoo. I had no idea until that moment that bugs could even get that big. ahh i still shiver thinking about it... i have 57 bug bites, but the trip was well worth it! on the way back we had to go through several police checkpoints. the first time, I told the girl I was with to hide below the seats. I had heard that they can't make you get off the bus. whoever told me that was mistaken as a dude with a huge machine gun came on the bus and so very nicely forced us off and into the "foreigner" line where they grilled us for a while about why we were in Ecuador. The police here have really not been too friendly and several times when I have come across groups of them they have shouted dirty things. so i was not being friendly with them. at the next police checkpoint I tried a different tactic to help us get through faster. by the way this was at 3 a.m. so these po-pos were already trying my patience. so i was very nice and cooperative and told them about everything we were doing in the hospital. the plan completely backfired and as an excuse to keep talking to me they searched every little thing i had in my bag- even opening my deoderant and toothpaste bottles! they didn't do this to anyone else on the bus. grrr. the internet cafe is playing 50 cent. hehe yay america. Ecuador plays Brazil in the American cup tonight and Quitenians are already out in full force. this should be a fun night! although I am sure we will lose as Brazil is good, and apparently we are not. i am in the touristy sector so hopefully I can celebrate the 4th with fellow Americans. although, I have yet to find any today. I have only one week left in Ecuador, and I really don't want to leave. although ice will be nice- as Dani reminded me! happy early 21st to ashley!!!! sorry for the short lenght of this email. I was hoping to rival Caroline's email lengthwise, but I am meeting some friends for dinner in a couple minutes, and must be on my way! can't wait to see you guys. I get back to Cville Wed. night. I have heard customs is a bitch given the latest terrorist issues in england, so Wed. will likely be a rough day. see most of you soon!!!!

Carter