Jen and Tango

My good friend Jen Hare has done something marvelous.

Take precisely two minutes of your day...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGizxjKZr3c

Rate it and leave a comment. She produced it to win a scholarship to realize her dream of completing her Masters in Spain.

Love you Jen! YEEE HAWWWW!

3 minutes, and about 180,000 numbers.

I just returned from two days in San Jacinto, Ecuador. It is a beach town and was unfortunately overcast and very windy the entire time. My friend Leo's family is there, and his mom of 66 years is absolutely lovely - wrinkly, sagging, dark skin with a strong, long hug and soft eyes.
A large number live in the house, including three grandchildren.

One, Stefania, is attending middle school. Her assignment is to write numbers from 100,000 to 1,000,000 by 5's. I figure that she needs to write 180,000 numbers, times 6 as each number is actually 6 digits - totaling 1,080,000 numbers. She has at least 50 pages, front and back, filled. An organized notebook. Calouses on her hands.

I have never heard of an assignment as ludicrous as this. EVER. I wonder if her teacher understands the English phrase "busy work," IE assignments which have no intrinsic value whatsoever.
Her mom says that some parents do not make their children complete the assignment. Her tone of voice implies that these parents are careless and not invested in their childrens' education.



I remain astounded.

Here's to education in a teeny pueblito in a third-world country.
Sigh.

Published in a nationally read magazine... Excellent!

PLEASE comment to this post!

I wrote a story about a vital turning point in my life.

I told no one I submitted it to a nationally read magazine - The Scene, distributed by Willamette University.

And it was published!!!


I encourage you to take three minutes and read the article... And then take the day to consider the truths that lie behind it. My short article is the third entry.

http://www.willamette.edu/scene/2009/summer/26/

Love you -

07.21.2009 3-minute update: 900 canciones & coco juice

900 salsa and cumbia songs. That's how many tracks I purchased for $12. That's
$0.01333 per song. Just letting you know. And, if you feel the hankerin', I will gladly share when I return!

And then I spent $0.40 on a 10 oz glass of fresh, cold coconut juice. YUMMMM.

I ought to look for other music while I am here. Acoustic guitar, piano, cello, etc. And any other music serviceable to me. What can I say? I'm a music hoard.


I was in the Centro with my roommate to work on my visa. The notary said I need to come back in an hour to finish one document which I need for my new visa. So I will come back in two hours. If my roommate remembers to accompany me. Sigh.

Immigration and notaries

Yuck. Today will be my fifth day going to immigration, my fourth visit to a notary, and I will place phone calls to three lawyers. FUN. This is becoming a bit bothersome. Thankfully I have lived in Ecuador long enough to be familiar with their lack of efficiency, convenience of ignoring clients, and aggrivating omission of information which causes yet another trip to an office with more papers and more signatures. AARG.

Fortunately my roommate is "signing" for me, stating that she will financially back me up if I am unable to pay any items in Ecuador. (This should not be a problem. Parents can always Western Union!)

Pray for me...

7.17.2009 That 3-min update...

Write comments! I want to hear from you!


I am quite well. I was with my travel partner for six weeks continuously, and it is nice to be in my own space for the first time in so long. I am reading, singing, volunteering at a church by editing their anniversary video, and giving my best to get out ads for my massage business. (This last bit has proved quite challenging. The guy who made the ad graphic gave me a super low resolution and then deleted his Corel file and, many empty promises later, still has not pulled through in reproduction... And Xerox' printer really really sucks, and the neighborhood guy needs to recalibrate his lazer printer, and my guyfriend who owns a print shop is not answering his phone... not that I have the correct graphics anyhow... And then I visited SIX other print shops who either did not have a lazer printer or whose printer was somehow broken.) That rant was a free gift from me to you.

Can the massage business be successful in the US?
I'll attempt to raise fundage when I return to the US in any way possible. Regarding massage - I legally can only request donations as I do not have a license. But I do not anticipate this being an issue... Because my "requested donation" will be considerably below market value, and the client will receive a chocolate truffle at the end of his or her delightful massage. And so I will single-handedly beat out all competition. Heh. (brute marketing strategy.) It's all about a wholesome, delicious experience, baby!

Let me know if you need anyone to run errands or clean out your dead fall garden come late October... I'm for rent! I will certainly need funds ASAP. Right now I need to pay $200 per month in student loans. I earn less than $250. Which gives me less than $50 to live on. Do the math. :) All said and done: My savings account will have drained $2,000 because of loans, and even more cash because I am unable to support myself.

But my company is free. I miss you. If you want to meet up, wonderful! But be aware that I will be drinking a lot of water in restaraunts, and ordering a lot of... nothing. I decided to massively change my spending habits. As Dave Ramsey says, "You have to live like no one else - to live like no one else." My good habits and wise choices now will pay off later...

Two weeks ago I was in Colombia and saw some chocolate wafers in the store. I chose not to buy them - Later I kicked myself. I really really did want something sweet, something beyond rice, rice, rice, and roasted chicken. And the wafers cost... $0.50! After that day I decided I need to indulge in a few of the little delights of life. And so I bought a double scoop ice cream cone for $0.50. And it tasted delightfully.


I slept with a thin travel blanket two nights ago. It felt real weird. My bedroom usually runs about 85-90 degrees F and I am too broke/cheap to buy a fan. Life is interesting this way.

I am glad to be back in Manta. I have run into many familiar faces and a few good friends in the last five days. It is a great pleasure. And my roommate and her sis are awesome. They bless me all the time with smiles, authentic cooking, and silly company.


Bueno -
Love you!
-miss rose

Immigration

Today I will go to Immigration to request a 90 day extention on my visa.
Hopefully they will approve it on Monday.

If not, the Ambassador of Immigration of Ecuador knows me and will help out.

Please pray for a smooth process.

Cheers!
r

Armenia, Salento, Ibague y Espinal.... Bogota, Medellin, y Jardin :)

Check out Cristian's post. (my travel partner)

http://www.fotoscristiannavarro.blogspot.com/

I have not found the time to write about all of our adventures. You can translate the page at www.translate.google.com

Awesomeness.

Back in Manta. Printing. Not sleeping. Computing. And Spanishing.

I was writing a friend about my last two days upon arriving in Manta, and decided I may as well share it with y'all... translate.google.com

Como te fue?

Aqui en manta... mi barrio es MUY burroso hasta las 1am, y mis vecinos empiecen construir en el techo a las 7am y es impossible dormir entre los horas porque... no puedo dormir. Dos noches sin durmiendo... Yechhhky.

Ayer pasé todo el dia limpiando mi compu (mis fotos de Colombia lo llenó), pase un hora en la playa, y a Wall Street. Despues entré todo mis costos en mi compu. En Junio, gasté $400... $100 cada semana! Si, mucha plata, pero todavia poca plata.

Hoy empecé de imprimir mis anuncios para mi negocio de masaje...
Te contó que la familia a la iglecia conocen los dueños de Balandra, y van a ayudarme tener una junta!!! Lindo. (Balandra is an expensive, beautiful hotel)

Espero que voy a juntar con David y Andres hoy para andar en la playa. Ayer fui, y era lindisima. Decidi pensar en 10 cosas que estoy agredecida a Dios... Na, demaciado facil. 30. Naaah, voy a decir 50. Fui a la playa. Empecé con saliendo Manta el 1 de Julio. Y solo llegué al fin de Cali y antes de la finca de Felipe antes de que tenia 72 cosas que estaba agredecida. Tengo aunque más por hoy...

Una sonrisa a ti. Pensando en ti. Rosi

SAFE

I'm back in Manta, safe, and ready to hit the beach.
All is well.
loverose

Unsung HERO - and thank you to all the fathers in my life

Unsung Hero


For months I've been considering how to compose this post. I never composed an elegant, adequate letter, so I decided to write my raw feelings.


My dad, Art.

I have been on the road for almost eight months.
And for at least ten months he has been actively helping me.

He has trouble shooted how to pay bills from back home, helped with my taxes last spring, emails me lists of all the pertinent mail I receive...

And, before I left, he quietly helped me pack my room, helped me heep my head on straight when I was confused or overwhelmed with the immensity of my decision to quit my life in Salem and head to South America, and make me a PBJ when I needed a snack.


But these acts are not what make him my hero.

It his his heart. It is his intent. It is his selflessness.
He is my constant advocate. (As is my mom!!!)
He always serves, and always loves. To have this unlimited support during a time of immense uncertainty is invaluable.

I am so thankful that he purposes himself to be my friend.


I love you, Pappy!!!



Thank you also to Poppa Pike and to Doug Comstock, my second fathers and first role models. I love you.

Medellin...

Hola!
Just want you to know that I am in Medellin and loving it.

And I found a city that is so amazing and magical... Jardin... I only love two other cities equally. Oaxaca, Mexico and San Francisco, California.

Loverose