In That Next Life

Someday, I am sure, I will be able to watch The Life Aquatic and find that it is absolutely brilliant. Had it not been preceded by The Royal Tenebaums, a near perfect film that took me into a flawed but ever so familiar and comforting world, I might have been less disappointed. That's not to say there weren't some fascinating details, but to borrow from one of my favorite lyrics from Funny Girl "...very nice deportments, but when they see that assortment! From the gallery they'll be throwing fruit."

However, within the mess that was The Life Aquatic, there was floating above it with a Zen-like detachment was Seu Jorge singing David Bowie tunes...in Portuguese! (Oh, and there was also Scott Walker singing "30 Century Man".)

Much as I have enmeshed myself in Brazilian pop over the 35 years, it was this film that introduced me to Jorge, and I've been hooked ever since. I've been listening a lot to his "Carolina" which has been on KCRW and other places in heavy rotation lately. And as with so much Brazilian pop, it gives me that weird mix of absolute calm and a desire to shake every bone and muscle in my body with a comforting sense that everything is going to be okay.

In another life -- and I seriously believe I've already had some already rich ones and have even better ones ahead -- I think I will be a Brazilian pop star. I, however, will cover Lou Reed. Just imagine "Perfect Day" and "Take a Walk on the Wild Side" in Portuguese with a samba beat.

Caption This...

Mas Pequeña

Chile has a national treasure to rival Neruda in the small package of La Pequeña. Hillary Clinton, Mother Teresa, Ingrid Betancourt and Shania Twain are just a few of the targets of this subversive drag artiste. I'm amazed.

And here's Amy Winehouse like you never saw her.

Caption This

Although I've been back since March, some of my fellow travelers just sent me a CD of photos that included this one where I made a speech on the main plaza of Guaranda, Ecuador. You can make up your own description of what you think is going on here.

Interactive Thursday: Before I Die

I would like to accomplish at least three of these five things, and they are not necessarily my top five things:

* Run a coatimundi ranch.
* Learn to play the bandoneon.
* Gain true fluency in Spanish and French...and Catalan, Japanese, Quichua, Gaelic...
* Spend a year in Greenland.
* Die peacefully at an old age in the bed of my tastefully appointment penthouse in l'Eixample Dreta of Barcelona, Poulenc playing in the background.

What's on your list? (This isn't a tagging blog or a meme post, by the way.)

Don Charlie and the Chocolate Factory of Ecuador

Nestled high above the valleys of Bolivar Province and about an hour away from Guaranda, Salinas is an Andean Swiss village with world-class chocolate and cheese, much of it exported weekly to Italy. Much of the production was started by Swiss man. I have a fairly strong chocolate allergy and could stay in the factory for only about four minutes before getting nauseous. I have the opposite of an allergy for cheese, and the string mozzarella was heavenly.

Journey to the Middle of the World

U.S. Route 66 has some stiff competition in Ecuador when it comes to roadside attractions. Ranging from cheesy to educational, you will find everything from helado shops with clown face trash cans, fresh fruit stands, grazing llamas and vicuñas and an occasional educational exhibit.

Think you know the highest point on earth? Don't dare to utter "Mount Everest" to an Ecuadorean, since they will likely contend it's Mount Chimborazo. I've seen both mountains but have climbed neither. I won't try weighing in on the issue but will share this explanation from the Physics Factbook:

Though most people have recognized the highest point as Mount Everest, Mount Chimborazo located near the city of Riobamba, Ecuador may also be considered as the highest point on earth. Although it is not as well known as Mount Everest, standing at 6310 meters it is also quite remarkable. Mount Chimborazo can be regarded as the highest point on earth because the planet is widest at the equator. The summit of Mount Chimborazo is then 3219 m further from the center of the earth than Mount Everest, making it what some consider the highest point. On the summit of Mount Chimborazo people will weigh less than any other location on earth.

I didn't really feel any magnetic energy when standing on the hemispheric dividing line, but there was something drawing me to that hombre in the orange hat who offered a nifty explanation of Mount Chimborazo's claim to being the king of all mountains. He had a voice that could melt snow on either of my poles.

If you'd like to support or learn more about his work, you can check it out at Quitsato.org

'This Is Not a Meat Blog' Visits Otavalo's Market

The Prodigal Ladrón Returns

Eight days. Seven beds. Several thousand kilometers. Undocumented numbers of cuys and llamas. No diarrhea. Many memories. Details to follow. A preview is offered for now.

Junk Thief´s Last Live Andean Post

Hola, Amigachos. So much to write. I am happily back in Quito for my last night in the southern hemisphere until my next visit. After a week in the campo, city life is a bit odd. It is wonderful to be back in the San Francisco like weather of Quito after a day in the Chota Valley. Our driver Francisco had near heat stroke, and fortunately we had a wilderness first responder to attend to him and all is well. It was a week of many adventures --from health clinics to farmer field schools to a condor rescue reserve. I was especially fond of the snow owls and harpy hawk.

Details (and 600 plus photos and three hours of video) to follow once I fly home EARLY Thursday via Miami.

Junk Thief - Live from Guaranda

Greetings from the cobble stone streeets of Guaranda. I have just come back from Salinas, the cheese and chocolate capital of Bolivar Province and head off to the northern highlands of Ecuador tomorrow. Today there was an extensive visit to a health clinic here in Guaranda that was, sadly, robbed last week of $25,000 worth of medical equipment. Considering this will cause challenges for them being able to pay their staff and provide deliveries to indigenous women f0r $50 or less compared to the local average of $200, this is tragic. But a happy ending and solution to the crisis are already in the works.

This internet cafe on the main plaza does not take SD cards, so no photos here until likely after I return. I did get some nice photos of cuys (live, not on the grill) in a village yesteday.

Special note to Bryce Digdug -- I saw a couple of vicunas mixed in with llamas on the road yesterday, but the van was moving too fast in the rain for any decent photos. I´ll continue to search for one if Bryce promises to vouch for me at customs when I fly into Miami next Thursday.

Hasta luego. amigachos!