Well there I was standing on a basketball court in the middle of a coliseum in Shell. The team that I practiced with one night about 3 months ago had called on me to assist them in their first game of the season. Between you and me, I was hoping that they had forgotten me - but alas, they had not. Before I go any further, I want to say that what I am about to write may seem racist, but in no way is that the meaning I am trying to convey. Those who know me, know that there isn’t [View Full Entry]

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So I had my first real day back on the job. It definitely feels weird being back in Puyo and in Ecuador after being home for 12 days. I don´t know whether the weird feeling is good or bad, right now it just feels different. This weekend, Sue and I laid low - we were exhausted after our whirlwind tour of Ohio and Maryland. I was fortunate enough to receive a phone call from my counterpart Andrea on Thursday night while I was still in Quito. She was in Quito as well and wanted to know if I would ride back [View Full Entry]

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Well, we are back in Ecualand. It was wonderful to see most of our family and friends back home. For those of you who we didn't see, I am sorry that our time was limited - we certainly did not intend to exclude anyone. For those of you following my weight battle, you'll be happy to know that when I stepped on to the scale at the Peace Corps office, I was back over 160lbs. I gained 7lbs while home. I can attribute the weight gain to not walking or exercising, drinking beer everyday, and eating chips, crackers, cheese, and cookies [View Full Entry]

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Now I have gone and done it, I am under 160lbs. That was my limit for weight-loss. I admit it fully, I am too skinny. I just submitted some stool samples for the nurses, so after they get done testing my terds I'll know whether I have parasites or not and whether they are causing me to feel a little sick these last couple weeks. I just completed two days of training for PC's Peer Support network. I am now a trained PC volunteer counselor. And....I was elected President of the group - yippee. Seriously, it was a good training session [View Full Entry]

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So Montezuma´s Revenge has hit me. I was sick the week of the kid´s camp then I got better. However, the last couple of days I have not felt that great. I am supposed to go to a peer support training session in Ibarra this weekend and I have yet to make the decision on whether to go or not. My gut feeling - pun intended - is to not go, however, the Peace Corps nurses will be there so I am assuming that they will take excellent care of me. So, this week has seen more of the same craziness. [View Full Entry]

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I apologize to all the dedicated blog readers out there for my tardiness in writing a new blog entry. To be honest, I have been swamped with work - sometimes I feel like I don´t even have time to stop and think about what I have to do - my body and mind just go from one item of work to the next as though I am a drone programmed to keep doing work for my counterpart and unable to say ¨No, I don´t have time to do that!¨ Anyhow, Sue and I did manage to free up enough time in [View Full Entry]

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Just so you know, the Earthquake that hit Peru had no effect on us in Puyo. It was a major Earthquake and Peace Corps put us on an alert for Tsunami´s. I had to chuckle when I got this text message seeing as how the Andes mountains - the second tallest in the world - are between us in Puyo and the Ocean. If we were really threatened by a Tsunami in Puyo then clearly the rest of the world would be screwed. In all fairness, it was a blanket warning to all volunteers - there are quite of few on [View Full Entry]

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Well thank goodness that my blogs were saved. I was receiving calls and messages from the Smithsonian - they had been planning to archive my blog entries as an American Treasure, when the blogs were potentially lost, they put their web bloodhounds to work and helped me find each and every one. Usually they reserve Presidential Libraries for former President’s, however, there has been some talk in Congress about an appropriation’s bill for constructing the Jeremy King Library. I am a little humbled by this, but even more concerned. I don’t think I have enough material to f [View Full Entry]

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Well, I am happy to announce that all my messages are now officially accounted for. I used up approximately one full day of work to get everything back in order. I am thankful for any and all that took the time to help me out. People have suggested that I switch sites, however, the vibe on Travelblog is for all the current subscribers to stay put in support of the guy who runs the site. He was devastated at the potential loss of data and did everything he could to help out us bloggers. I am staying put at travelblog.org for [View Full Entry]

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Ok, it looks like Travelblog is back on-line. However, I have lost the last 50 entries or so. If any of you can access entries from Mid-March up until now, please copy the entry or entries to a word document and send it my way. My father claims to have access to all but the last entry: ¨Blanquito and his Vanilla Friend¨ If I only lose this one, I can deal. Do you all realize the literary masterpiece that may be gone forever. This is like losing the Dead Sea Scrolls or the 10 Commandments or perhaps last week´s Sunday comics. [View Full Entry]

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