Post ¨Foodgate¨ Scandal at the Festival

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So, happily, things have quieted down this week. The fallout from the ¨foodgate¨ scandal at the Festival of Water has been minimal. I did a little damage control with the teacher at the Indigenous school and I think she is ok with things. Andrea and I are working on putting together a CD for each school that has all the photos from the event as well as some other info about the participants. When it is finished, Katie and I will go back out to all the schools to touch base with them, give them the CD, certificates of participation, and to get some feedback about the event.

Yesterday was Sue´s 33rd birthday. She doesn´t look a day over 26 - her age when we got married. I took her to the El Jardin - our favorite restaurant in Puyo and she had Trout with a ginger sauce. She claimed it to be one of the Top 5 meals of all time - this is impressive - since we´ve had a great number of good meals at various restaurants, and considering that until we came to Ecuador, Sue was a vegetarian.

After dinner, we attempted to find a bar in town that had Game 1 of the NBA finals - alas, we came up empty. There were however, 4 different soccer games to choose from. We didn´t stay long at the bar because Susan started to get calls from the States wishing her a happy birthday. It is difficult to field an international call on a cell phone in a bar with music and people shouting at a soccer game.

Sue got calls from her parents, my brother Bryan and his wife Kelly, and our friends Chris and Sarah. My parents, being the ever-wise parents that they are, called the night before so as to avoid catching at dinner or on the phone with someone else.

Interestingly enough, both my brother and sister-in-law, as well as Chris and Sarah, inquired about my slimming waistline. I told Susan to tell them I am down to a 32 inch waist from a 33/34. Susan thinks that I am more like a 30. Being the biologist that I am, I tried to reason with her - just because I lost 15-20 pounds doesn´t magically mean that my bones shrank too. My waist can´t get smaller than a 32 without some serious bone removal. To any concerned, my weight is holding steady now - I equate the stability to an increase of cookies into my diet. Barring some unforseen amoeba, parasitic worm, or dengue fever, my weight should hover around 165-170. I consider this to be my ¨fighting¨ weight. My waist will remain around a 32 until I return to the States where it is sure to regain its previous form.

Band update, my former band, GRUVER, aka Cowboy Hillbilly Hippy Folk, aka Chief Fullbush, Dr. D and the Travelling Medicine Show is doing very well without me. No surprise there!!! They secured a spot on the main stage at Comfest in Columbus. They will be playing at 12:00pm on the Saturday of Comfest. I wish I could be there to see the show - it promises to be a grand event. They are also playing tomorrow night at Falls City Pub in Ohiopyle, Pennsylvania. Check out the website at: www.cowboyhillbillyhippyfolk.com

Other than these things, not much else to report on here in Puyo, Ecuador. Life is good, it is still raining every day, I still wash my clothes by hand, I still boil my water, I still walk 25 minutes to and from work each day, I still struggle with Spanish, the Cleveland Indians are still in first place, and I still miss all of you!!!

Make someone else´s day today,
Jeremy

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