September in Ecuador

September is upon us, in fact approaching the middle of the month, so time to check in and take a bit of stock. We have been here, at least me and the kids, for over a month now. The kids start school this week (Lizzie, has in fact, already begun) and Bridget and I will start our jobs later in the month. 

So, some reports:

1) World Cup Qualifications: Yea, I'm sure big on everyone's list, but top stuff down here. You can see the current standings here http://espndeportes.espn.go.com/futbol/tables?league=FIFA.WORLDQ.CONMEBOL. They have a whole year of matches left, so the standings will change, but still some surprises. Paraguay leading Brazil and Argentina by four points. Saw Paraguay play Venezuela the other night and they seemed like a pretty solid side. I missed their match against Argentina (tie) which might have provided a bit better assessment. Brazil is not looking good. As far as I understand they never do that well in the qualifications, but of course, have 5 World Cups. The top 4 teams advance to the World Cup Finals with a possible 5th team going as a wild card. So, Brazil in the number 2 position should have no worries. However, last night they tied Bolivia at home (half-empty stadium!) with a man advantage over the last 30 minutes. Their fans booed them off the field. After the humiliation in the Olympics against Argentina, Brazil seems awash. 

As for Ecuador, they gained a historic tie against Uruguay last night. Historic, because Uruguay is one of the great, albeit historical, soccer powers on the continent (won the first World Cup in 1930 and beat Brazil in 1950 - the famous "maracanzo" match which is still considered one of the greatest upsets of all time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/uruguay_v_Brazil_(World_Cup_1950) &

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pMmRFKKZfk) and, Ecuador has never won in Uruguay. Anyway, I didn't care much for the Ecuadorian play. The Uruguayans seem to play to space better and have a lot better technical skill. The Ecuadorians seem to play a bit more of a kick-and-run style and with sheer athleticism and moments of brilliance. Ecuador played much better in the second half, and celebrated the historic "tie." Still, I don't know if it makes up for the Graf Spee incident of December 1939 http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/graf_spee_in_montevideo.htm.

2) Constitutional Referendum - September 28: That's right, some real political news besides the Abbot & Costello show of American politics. I'm not sure I've gotten a handle on everything here, but apparently there are three key issues: 1) greater executive (unilateral) power for the socialist-oriented president, Rafael Correa; 2) liberalizing marriage to include gay unions; 3) and allowing abortion. It is an interesting struggle. The religious conservative factions are against  the new constitution on the social issues; while the liberal, populist factions seem to favor the social issues as well as, perhaps, the greater executive power (perhaps Correa wants to pursue a course of nationalicization like his buddy, Hugo Chavez, in Venezuela)

3) Learning Spanish: Learning a language is like losing 50-0 in College Football and the other team keeps on going for 2-point conversions after a touchdown. I get maybe 5% of all conversations, 7.99% if I'm lucky. I'm shooting for 10% by October.

4) Beach Weekend in Montanita: We took a long weekend on the Pacific Coast at a little beach side place called Montanita (should be a en-ney but I can't find the keyboard for it). It took us 7 hours (one-way) by bus from Cuenca, which was a bit of a stretch but we roughed it out. We traveled like locals and got a chance to see the countryside as well. In order to get to Montanita we first had to cross the mountains to transfer at Guayaquil. Going through the mountains is quite spectacular and a bit nerve-wracking as the bus drivers don't really slow down even when they pass through the mountain mist with near-zero visibility. After you get out of the mountains, the cool weather changes over to a more humid coastal weather. We changed in Guayaqil and then got another bus for the coast. 

We stayed in a pretty nice hotel with a seaside view and a pool/jacuzzi. The beach has a spectacular view of "la punta" - a cliff wall that juts out into the ocean, and a little point on the top. 

The water was warm and the waves were, to quote Jeff Spicoli, "tasty." Julian took some surf lessons and did pretty well. Steve McGarrett would be proud: "Book'em Dano." 

The beach is a surfer's hangout and the town has a general laid-back, doped-out, surfer feel to it. Somewhere between Frankie Avalon and "Surf Nazis Must Die." The center of town has shops and restaurants that seem to be open to all hours. We took in a bit of the night life with Lizzie and Bridget getting the best of it talking to "Grasshopper Man" who made all things out of grass and wire.

And finally, what is a blog post without a cat. Here's "Sleazebag" who joined us at a restaurant - the only restaurant I could find that brewed real coffee (unbelievably hard to find in Ecuador, which lists Coca as one of its biggest crops) and which also served a tasty breakfast- a green plaintain mixed up with cheese and ham in a big fat ball.

That's all for now. Sorry for the primitive html editing. I'll try to figure out thumbnails by the next blog post, and maybe start to add some video....The world waits....