Blogs from Puyo, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 9

Well, the good news is that my tooth problem was not related to the tooth that had previous problems. In fact, it appears not to a tooth problem at all right now. I have a large space between my last molar and the gum - this creates a welcome home for bacteria and all sorts of nasties. Thus, I had an infection that felt more like a toothache. It is getting better. The bad news is that the last molar is slowly being eaten away so if I can not reverse this problem, I will probably lose that tooth. I now brush 3-4 times a day and am starting a more rigorous flossing regimen. On to more interesting things….Señor King´s Magic Science Show made its debut today. Part of the Campaign for Water that my counterpart ... read more

This is a continuation of my last blog. On Friday, I went to FRATES to finally meet with Umberto. I caught the 6:15am bus and arrived at FRATES a little after 7:00. It was a glorious morning. Umberto and I exchanged pleasantries and then got right to business discussing FRATES. He admitted that things looked much worse than he had expected, however, I don´t think either of us are going to let that dampen our spirits. Umberto is a very generous man and apparently an excellent cook as well. While here, he apparently cooks for anyone who works out at the facility. He made crepes for Guillermo, Marcelo (the carpenter), Santiago (Guillermo´s son), and I. They were fantastic, he also made a wonderfully nice pot of coffee. While he was busy cooking, I was busy helping ... read more

Here is a link to the lastest batch of photos that Sue and I have uploaded to shutterfly. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGhq I took a quick trip up to Baños yesterday to meet up with Quentin. Quentin and his wife are from Florida and are vacationing in Ecuador. They stumbled across my blog weeks ago and we have been exchanging e-mails ever since. Being the awesome people that they are, they brought me some world wall maps and periodic tables to use in the schools that I visit. It was a kind gesture on their part to buy 4 huge maps and 4 period tables of the elements - then pack them in their bags and bring them to me in Ecuador. For their generosity, I rewarded them with a cold beer in Baños. We went to a small ... read more

So someone just posted a comment on my blog asking what I have against nails and slotted screws. It is a fair question - so I will respond. On the outside, I have nothing against nails or slotted screws. I love to nail and screw (interpret that how you want). However, the slotted screw, in my humble opinion, is the devil´s creation. Who else could make the process of screwing so damn difficult? Give me a good phillips head or square drive screw and I´ll put any slotted screw to task. I wanna screw that grips my driver - not one that purposely tries to avoid being screwed, by allowing the driver to slip out when force is applied, thus causing one´s knuckles to smash into whatever substance is being screwed into. As for nails, they ... read more

Well, it has been a long week for sure. I feel as though I spent the whole week working with absolutely nothing to show for it - in fact, I should fee that way, because that is exactly what happened. With of course, the minor exception of completing another edition of the kid´s page for the local paper. Early on in the week I battled with my computer trying to figure out programs like publisher and paint. I turned a 1 hour task of editing diagrams into a day and a half activity. Who knew that in paint, after you make a textbox - you can´t move it around or edit it?!? Anyhow, I finally won that battle - but fear I have not yet won the war. I also met a former Peace Corps Volunteer ... read more