Where in the World is Chris Gallup?

Everyone who knows me well from my childhood knows I would be lying if I said I hated “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego?” Where have I been in the last month or so (according to the last time I updated this)? Surprisingly... busy. I think. It was not the same type of busy nonsense that preoccupies us in the US. I'll label it as Ecua-busy. Better. I have been very Ecua-busy this past month. Sorry for making it seem like I have been dead for the past month. Where to start...

Once July hit, my mind was focused on one thing- escape from the campo. It was a lot like Escape from LA, minus Kurt Russell. Luckily, that came in the form of the best house for rent in all of Atacames. People keep asking how I was so lucky to get this house, so I guess I can explain. The first week here in Atacames I passed this house, keeping my eyes peeled for places to rent, and I thought to myself, “This would be an awesome place to live!” Time went on and I started hanging out with the married couple (other volunteers) one town over. They introduced me to their good friend- Lupin, a big Rastafarian. A very interesting guy, someone you can have an actual interesting conversation with, which is rare here with Ecuadorians. Eventually the married couple and myself began to talk about housing for me. It turned out the casa that I passed the first week belonged to Lupin. After two months of sewing seeds in Lupin's mind, Damon and Kat (the married couple) convinced Lupin to rent out his place. Now here I am, typing this up in my hammock looking at my plantain, mango and papaya trees in my yard.

 

Now when it comes to buying stuff for the house, luckily I am in a town that has a lot in terms of stores. However, a few weeks ago I saw a man selling mirrors in one hand and knives in the other. I thought to myself, “Other than someone thinking about suicide, who would buy those at the same time?” Doing my house shopping, I realized I have no mirror and I also need a cooking knife. That bastard! I still cannot find a cheap mirror for the bathroom. Where is that traveling salesman when I need him?

Other than housing work has kept me busy. It is still mostly just manual labor, but it is high season for cacao harvesting. I have been doling out some important lessons, nonetheless. Trying to explain The Price is Right and its rules when we are guessing how many bags of cacao we are going to fill is rather difficult. Game shows aren't too frequent here, so yeah. A bit tough. Another life lesson I have given at work is how to spend eight hours less peeling an orange. Ecuadorians love to take a knife or machete and take forever peeling their oranges. What did I do to combat this Ecuadorian epidemic? Taught them soccer mom style. Now the one guy I work with everyday, Dig, cuts his oranges into quarters. Here I am. Chris Gallup in Ecuador- changing the world, one sliced orange at a time.

The last thing that kept me busy was a little trip to a nice little beach town with about half of our group of volunteers. Mompiche is an hour and a half or so south of Atacames. It isn't completely inaccessible seeing as how buses run there during the day, but the differences between Mompiche and Atacames are pretty big. It was nice to celebrate our three month lock down in our sites with a bunch of friends.

 

For now, that has been my past month. Life should start to settle down once I am completely settled. Who knows though. With my new found independence maybe I will get out and see the country some more.