out of ecuador, with a bang

if you are reading this, and to be honest im beginning to suspect that you are not, you probably already know that we were in the town of baños not 15 minutes before a massive volcano erupted onto it. now i dont know if they covered the eruption extensively in the states (probably not, since there is Jon Benet to worry about, again) but its a pretty big deal here. people died - lost crops, livestock, and houses, and several towns, including baños, were destroyed. awful. and its all my fault. it is my fault in very much the same way it was my fault when my 9th grade math teacher, who shall remain nameless, because i forgot her name, came down with a terrific case of shingles and was out of school for 4 months. that was totally my fault because it was i who wished sadness and malaise upon her. it was i who didnt like doing my homework, going to class, or recieving 7% scores on exams. it was i who hated her because she was going to fail me, and told me so. so when she got sick and was out for months, and when we had an even meaner teacher who wound up, of course, failing me, it was all my fault.
its the same with volcan tungurahua. the whole time i was in baños i wanted it to erupt. i was dying to see lava. one night, when we went with a friend who hired a taxi to take us up a nearby mountain to get a direct view of the volcano, i actually chanted "la-VA la-VA la-VA!" i was hungry for it, just the slightest splash of red against the dark sky, maybe a little drop flowing (but not so quickly!) down the side of the volcano. so when, on the night bus from baños to loja, in southern ecuador, we looked out the window and saw, clear as aanything, the peak of the volcano with a brilliant red cloud, and orange spreading slowly downwards, over the sides i thought "well, not that much. lets not get hysterical." and then the next morning, when we heard the news i knew that once again, i had gotten what i wished for, and it was not good.
moral of the story: dont listen to me. ever. i dont mean it. you hear that, volcanoes and math teachers and the fates: Ignore.
unless, of course, i am talking about country borders. then you (especially you eh-cuador) should listen hard. hear this: it is unacceptable to leave the border customs office unmanned, yet rather open and with music blaring, for over 3 hours in the middle of the night. and its not only because there might be people who have taken an overnight bus to peru and need to check out of ecuador before entering peru and are exhausted and mosquito bitten, with no where to go as the bus driver has disrobed and fallen asleep in their seats. its not only for that reason at all. the very simple fact is, that if there is nobody manning the border into ecuador, than it is exceedingly easy for about 20 young boys carrying live upside down chickens by their throats to simply walk into the country. and that they did, wothout looking twice. it is quite possible that ecuadors population doubled that night, as surely more people passed through who i did not see. besides, hasnt anyone heard of bird flu??? paranoia, people. works like a charm every time.

eventually we made it past all of this into peru, which was, by the way, open. we took another endless busride to trujillo, where we discovered peruvian food (exquisite! really! everybody, RUN, do not walk to the nearest preruvian restaurant. there is one on 9th and 50th.) and visited ruins of chan chan, right in the desert. very very cool. i could go on and tell you what chan chan was but, though i am extremely knowledgable about many and most subjects, especially history, i simply havent the inclination.
one more night bus and we made it here to huaraz. way the fuck up here, surrounded by white jagged peaks, over 3000 meters. but, you chew on coca leaves to combat altitude sickness and its really quite nice. tomorrow we head off on a 4 day trek through said white peaks, complete with a burro to hold our stuff. though i am stunningly athletic, of course, i suspect i may not have the INCLANATION to complete the hike, and may have to ride the burro for the duration of the trip.

wish me luck.