How do you say ¨Random¨ in Spanish?

Things are status quo down here in the Middle of the World. Work is...well...work. Been hitting a wall lately and luckily my roommate from college, Kristi, is coming down to visit me next week. This is great timing because I´ll be missing Zamora by the time her visit is over. Plus, it will be nice to grab some ¨American¨ish food in Quito :-)

Due to the lack of exciting activity, I have noticed that there are a lot of wacky trends going on around here. Not sure if it´s the change in weather (today is the third SUNNY day in a row!)...

• Toying with Creativity: One thing I´ve learned here is that kids get real creative with their toys. Since a lot of them don´t have toys, they make do with what is lying around (brilliant concept...my kids are gonna have a blast with coke bottles and empty egg cartons!). One thing, however, has puzzled me more than others. Within the past few weeks I´ve noticed three different kids walking around with cardboard boxes on their heads. I´m not sure if they are trying to be robots...it´s the most bizarre thing. This one little dude was walking up the same sidewalk I walk up to get to my house. He was just strolling along like it was nothing...then BAM! he hit the light pole, wobbled a little bit, and continued with the box on his head. It was hilarious.

• Do you like my hat? Along with creative toys, kids have started new fashion crazes. The latest: the black plastic funda-hat. Plastic bags, or fundas, are found everywhere and recently kids seem to like to put them on their heads. The smaller ones are tight around the crown of their head and then the top is flapping in the wind, while the handles hang down like little Orthodox dreadlocks. Just the other day, my fruit lady was sporting one. And she´s like in her twenties...

• Painting Dogs: Dogs are gross here. I wasn´t a fan of dogs before I even got here (sorry Elly!) and now I despise them even more. They are all bravo, bark like crazy and poop and pee everywhere. This is no such thing as a pooper scooper in the entire country of Ecuador. However one thing I have sort of grown to like is painting dogs. Just yesterday I was in Zamora and my friend Yesenia and I passed a purple dog. The poor (once) white mutt was splattered with bright purple...and it looked to be dyed, just not paint. So that´s staying for a while, buddy.

• Phil Collins is the greatest musician who ever lived: Phil Collins is the MAN in Ecuador. As a fan of music, it makes me sad as to how Ecuadorians associate Americans with the horrible American music they play. Phil Collins was playing on repeat yesterday at a school. Not until the fifth time I heard the same song did I realize that an English class was learning the words. I mean, whatever floats your canoe. Along with Phil Collins, other favorites include: Bon Jovi, ¨the song from Titanic¨, MIMS- This is Why I´m Hot, some Beatles (this is forgivable, yet British...), and let´s not forget Hotel California. Oh and what really gives me a good chortle is the popular naming of Elvis, yet no one´s heard of him.

• It´s just a name, right? Speaking of names, naming your child is a big deal yet not so big deal at the same time. For some families, they won´t name their children for months after they are born. But when they do name them, the names are usually very.....interesting. It sometimes saddens me to see kids with American/English names. Mostly because they are getting rid of their Hispanic roots, not to mention the pronunciation is atrocious. However the real kicker I saw the other day was, and I kidd you not, Mehlghibson. Now, it took me a few minutes to process the name but after a couple of run throughs and help from a co-worker, I discovered this poor kid´s FIRST name was named after none other than the famous Mel Gibson. That was his first name....you won´t even believe what his middle name was...syke, it was Luis or something like that. But still, if that won´t get you beat up on the playground I don´t know what will.