strangest cab ride ever (or at least to date).
I got in a cab to go into the Northern part of town the other day - the part of town where I spent my more formative years, and where we don't tend to spend any time at all in the current chapter of our lives.
This was actually my second attempt to cab over to a mall and get a pair of headphones in the same day. Earlier, I had tried to take a cab across town in the middle of the lunch rush, with one of the main arteries through town (6 de Diciembre) shut down for protests (yes, protests and demonstrations are a big art of life here in the capital. It's usually missed, since we either work from home or walk everywhere). That cab attempt lasted about five minutes, when we progressed from on end of the block to the other, and I decided to table th trip until a better time.
so, I tried again a few hours later, when most of the city was back in their offices, or homes, or wherever they go during the workday. I hailed a cab, got in and we were off on our ride. As those that have visited here before know, it's a good idea to check and make sure that the cab has and is using a meter. It ameliorates the haggling, hastle and hurt feelings at the end of the trip. Instead of a meter, though, this cabbie had a little plasma tv, about the size of those handheld DVD players out there, taped to the lower dash board - down by the gear shift. There were wires taped all over the ceiling and running down to the little tv set, pulling the telenovela (latin soups) out of the ether. And the sound was turned all the way up.
Now, I know that there are souped up cabs in various cities across the US, providing commercials or other televised programs for riders in the back. And I know that there are now tvs in the back of all sorts of SUVs and luxury cars. But this wasn't tv for the passenger - this was tv for the driver. At ever light (and there were a lot) he'd stop, pull the emergency break (not sure what that was about, except that he wanted to rest his right foot), and watch the tv. When traffic around would get going again, he'd look up briefly and start driving, looking down periodically, for what I thought was a disconcertingly long time, before glancing up again.
To fully grasp the ludicrousness of this scenario, you have to understand what traffic is like in a developing country. First of all, we're in a tiny vehicle. Think mid-80's Sentra, and this thing is smaller. Second, there are few automatic cars, and this cab wasn't one of them, so the cab driver is shifting through the gears while not paying attention to where he's going. Third, and probably most important, traffic in this city, as in most latin countries, is crazy. There are cars goig through stop lights and red lights. Cars double or triple parked, in the middle of a thoroughfare - cars weaving between lanes, coming out of hiddent driveways, backing up from off of the sidewalk, and generally doing things that require the full attention of a driver and quick defensive tactics. And that's not even considering the hordes of people standing in the road between lanes, playing the part of matador against the car's bull impression.
Anyway, we made it to our final destination, eventually, and it turns out that there was a meter, and it was running, under the TV. Go figure.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Mamma Mia
We watched the movie Mamma Mia (I think there's an exclamation point in there) over two weeks ago, and I still have ABBA songs running through my head.
Speaking of running, I think the above's a mental shout out to the High Heel Races, taking place tonight (right now) in DC. I hope they aren't having the rain that we're having, or that's been a steady attendee to the event over the last couple of years.
Speaking of running, I think the above's a mental shout out to the High Heel Races, taking place tonight (right now) in DC. I hope they aren't having the rain that we're having, or that's been a steady attendee to the event over the last couple of years.
V portal has blown up
It's official. I stopped by the electronics store this morning and they can't get a new processor for the V portal. This sucks even more than usual because I'm in the middle of looking for new work, and it would help to have access to a phone.
I figured out that I can upgrade my account to get a desktop based system that links to my vonage number. This I've done - now I just have to find one of those microphone headset thingamabobs so I can test out the system and see how phone calls sound through the computer.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I figured out that I can upgrade my account to get a desktop based system that links to my vonage number. This I've done - now I just have to find one of those microphone headset thingamabobs so I can test out the system and see how phone calls sound through the computer.
Keep your fingers crossed.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Yanacocha
Here are some pics of Yanacocha - the trip on the cloud forest trail to nowhere with 5 or 6 Hobbit like tunnels and lots of humming birds.
Snippets from the day
And what a day it's been so far. Not bad. Not good. Just full of strange things happening.
In no particular order:
There was a huge storm this afternoon, as we have discovered is usually the case. Today, however, the storm was full of lightning and thunder. I was sure that we would lose power, which we didn't. Instead, my vonage box got fried at some point during the storm. Nothing happened to our computers, the printer, the modem, the router, or any of the phones (most of which are daisy chained into the same plugs - bad form, I know, but still). Just the Vonage box. Which kind of sucks, since they can't be purchased here (or so I hear). I took it down to an electronics store and they were able to confirm that a processor was fried. They'll look for a replacement tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
*Yes, this means we have no phone for now.
In a related note, I saw someone in the building - which I guess would be a neighbor - received a package in the mail from Amazon. A package! In the mail! The mind boggles. I had no idea that the postal system worked in this country, let alone that you could get something that was purchased online from the US. I admit, I checked the package to make sure. It's not a reuse of the Amazon box. It's not sent locally. The sender's address is Amazon, in the US. The ramifications are stupefying.
On the way to get a censo today, I saw a passenger carrier plane (the normal, commercial, get on the plane and go somewhere type of plane) closely followed by two jets. When I say close, I mean it looked like they were sitting on the wings on either side of the larger plane. Probably someone important, like the president, heading off somewhere - but a little jarring when you glance up and see that in the sky. Makes one think all sorts of jack-booted security thoughts, and the way the world is changing. Much like this latest tidbit of changing transportation policy in DC.
And I was able to get a censo today. A censo somewhere between a visa (in one's passport), and the more traditional and more citizenry cedula - which is pretty much citizenship identification, as far as I can tell. The name of the card I sat in long lines to get today would lead one to believe it has something to do with a census, or being counted, or listed, or registered -- or something. All I know is that it is not mandatory, but I need it. It turns out you can't sell expensive things, like cars, without one.
I think I saw an ex-boyfriend of my mother's while I was driving home from the Censo office. Which is a supremely strange thing to say. One, because that's just not a normal statement that comes out of someone's mouth very often - at least not someone with a mother like mine. Two, because my mother isn't really the "dating" type (I think she's dated 2 people in the last 25 years), and it's just weird to possibly have run into him in a random section of this large city. It's like running into your second cousin's college roommate while vacationing in Sidney or something. I know it happens, but it's surreal.
Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but the wifey likes the fires in the evening, and with good reason, given the weather (see above) and the general romantic appeal of speding our evenings fireside. The downside is that, despite the re-engineering advice provided by our in-house engineering expert, which has been duly applied to the fireplace, we're still getting smoke in the house. Which means that I find myself walking around the city, running errands and the like, smelling like I've just come off of a week long camping trip. Sans the BO, of course. It's just a little disconcerting.
In no particular order:
There was a huge storm this afternoon, as we have discovered is usually the case. Today, however, the storm was full of lightning and thunder. I was sure that we would lose power, which we didn't. Instead, my vonage box got fried at some point during the storm. Nothing happened to our computers, the printer, the modem, the router, or any of the phones (most of which are daisy chained into the same plugs - bad form, I know, but still). Just the Vonage box. Which kind of sucks, since they can't be purchased here (or so I hear). I took it down to an electronics store and they were able to confirm that a processor was fried. They'll look for a replacement tomorrow. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
*Yes, this means we have no phone for now.
In a related note, I saw someone in the building - which I guess would be a neighbor - received a package in the mail from Amazon. A package! In the mail! The mind boggles. I had no idea that the postal system worked in this country, let alone that you could get something that was purchased online from the US. I admit, I checked the package to make sure. It's not a reuse of the Amazon box. It's not sent locally. The sender's address is Amazon, in the US. The ramifications are stupefying.
On the way to get a censo today, I saw a passenger carrier plane (the normal, commercial, get on the plane and go somewhere type of plane) closely followed by two jets. When I say close, I mean it looked like they were sitting on the wings on either side of the larger plane. Probably someone important, like the president, heading off somewhere - but a little jarring when you glance up and see that in the sky. Makes one think all sorts of jack-booted security thoughts, and the way the world is changing. Much like this latest tidbit of changing transportation policy in DC.
And I was able to get a censo today. A censo somewhere between a visa (in one's passport), and the more traditional and more citizenry cedula - which is pretty much citizenship identification, as far as I can tell. The name of the card I sat in long lines to get today would lead one to believe it has something to do with a census, or being counted, or listed, or registered -- or something. All I know is that it is not mandatory, but I need it. It turns out you can't sell expensive things, like cars, without one.
I think I saw an ex-boyfriend of my mother's while I was driving home from the Censo office. Which is a supremely strange thing to say. One, because that's just not a normal statement that comes out of someone's mouth very often - at least not someone with a mother like mine. Two, because my mother isn't really the "dating" type (I think she's dated 2 people in the last 25 years), and it's just weird to possibly have run into him in a random section of this large city. It's like running into your second cousin's college roommate while vacationing in Sidney or something. I know it happens, but it's surreal.
Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but the wifey likes the fires in the evening, and with good reason, given the weather (see above) and the general romantic appeal of speding our evenings fireside. The downside is that, despite the re-engineering advice provided by our in-house engineering expert, which has been duly applied to the fireplace, we're still getting smoke in the house. Which means that I find myself walking around the city, running errands and the like, smelling like I've just come off of a week long camping trip. Sans the BO, of course. It's just a little disconcerting.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
mellow and papallacta
This week was as much of an antithesis to the last week or so as one could expect. No guests, no going out, no late nights, no eating out -- just A and I, sans guests, hanging out at home, cooking our own meals, going to the gym, and trying to figure out the next chapter of our lives.
This monotony (or bucolic existence, depending on your point of view) was shaken up on Friday, when we went to Gogi's (my friend Dan's mother) house to watch slides of her various biking adventures -- the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a trip around the Quebec penninsula, and a ride around Moab. I didn't think it would be all that much fun, but it was (and I really want to say neat here, but who says neat these days? or cool?) -- interesting.
Spent Saturday night out with Dan and a "girl" friend of his at a new micro brewery, discovering that the problem with Ecuadorian beer is a dirth of hops - they just don't have any, or all that much, and it's taking away from any kind of micro-brews. I guess you can make a decent, cheap pilsner without that much hops, but that's about it. All the beers were flat.
We grilled Dan on some local or relatively close by hikes that we could do on Sunday. Unfortunately, asking someone who thinks mountain or road biking over 100 km before 9 am is a good start to the day for input into easy hikes in the area is not always the best idea. I mean, there are weekend warriors, and then there are weekend warriors. We consider ourselves to be weekend tourists.
Regardless, we were able to make our way on Sunday (and miss the game, which the Redskins pulled out of the bag against a winless Lions. As I've said before, have they won by more than 7 points this year?) to papallacta - a little town almost directly east of Quito that is on the edge of the mountain range, before it decends down into the jungle. We did a couple hour hike through some spectacular landscape - high ridges, plunging views, waterfalls and high plains lagoons throughout. It was a gorgeous walk.
Pictures that do not do the environment any justice at all will be forthcoming, either from me or from A.
We spent the afternoon in the hot springs for which the town is famous. It was an alright experience - I loved soaking in various hot pools - but I think both of us are not really into crowds, or any other people for that matter. Nor are we those who like to spend hours upon hours in a hot tub, soaking (not that there's anything wrong with that). Still - it was fun, and felt great after a hike, and made everyone incredibly drowsy on the hour long ride home through winding, hilly roads through pouring rain (of course).
This monotony (or bucolic existence, depending on your point of view) was shaken up on Friday, when we went to Gogi's (my friend Dan's mother) house to watch slides of her various biking adventures -- the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, a trip around the Quebec penninsula, and a ride around Moab. I didn't think it would be all that much fun, but it was (and I really want to say neat here, but who says neat these days? or cool?) -- interesting.
Spent Saturday night out with Dan and a "girl" friend of his at a new micro brewery, discovering that the problem with Ecuadorian beer is a dirth of hops - they just don't have any, or all that much, and it's taking away from any kind of micro-brews. I guess you can make a decent, cheap pilsner without that much hops, but that's about it. All the beers were flat.
We grilled Dan on some local or relatively close by hikes that we could do on Sunday. Unfortunately, asking someone who thinks mountain or road biking over 100 km before 9 am is a good start to the day for input into easy hikes in the area is not always the best idea. I mean, there are weekend warriors, and then there are weekend warriors. We consider ourselves to be weekend tourists.
Regardless, we were able to make our way on Sunday (and miss the game, which the Redskins pulled out of the bag against a winless Lions. As I've said before, have they won by more than 7 points this year?) to papallacta - a little town almost directly east of Quito that is on the edge of the mountain range, before it decends down into the jungle. We did a couple hour hike through some spectacular landscape - high ridges, plunging views, waterfalls and high plains lagoons throughout. It was a gorgeous walk.
Pictures that do not do the environment any justice at all will be forthcoming, either from me or from A.
We spent the afternoon in the hot springs for which the town is famous. It was an alright experience - I loved soaking in various hot pools - but I think both of us are not really into crowds, or any other people for that matter. Nor are we those who like to spend hours upon hours in a hot tub, soaking (not that there's anything wrong with that). Still - it was fun, and felt great after a hike, and made everyone incredibly drowsy on the hour long ride home through winding, hilly roads through pouring rain (of course).
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