There is a castle on a cloud.

I like to go there in my sleep.

I suppose that I had better update this if I want to one day include parts of this journey in my screenplay. It's just that I have had glass stuck in my foot for the past 3 days, so blogging has not been at the top of my priority list. People really need to stop dropping wine glasses.

So, let me see. After the family woke up in my last blog entry, we watched T4. Due to the fact that no one in my family has even the tiniest bit of communication skills, it took about 45 minutes for me to figure out who the hell Christian Bale was playing, and ever since then he seems to be turning up in every movie that crosses my path. I am being haunted by Christian Bale. I guess I could be haunted by worse. The electricity went out around 7pm, just before the end of the movie 2012, right when the guy's legs got stuck in the cog. So, we went outside to enjoy the luciernagos (fireflies, lightning bugs, whatever you want to call them), and the constellations, which you could see awesomely due to the non-light. Magical fairy land if you will.

Now let me explain to you why exactly the lights went out. You see, there is an ongoing drought in this part of the world, no thanks to El Niño, and Ecuador is being hit hard. The drought is affecting the hydroelectric plants, causing an energy crisis, which has led to power blackouts throughout the country. Now for those of you who are interested in the goings ons of the Northwest part of South America, allow me to elaborate on the current situation. You see, water and electricity rationing is currently the number one problem in both Ecuador and Venezuela. Luckily, Correa and Chavez are BFFs and are helping each other out during this troublesome time, which may be part of the reason that despite rising opposition due to the whole water-electricity thing, they both still have a swimmingly firm grip on power. There is no sign that we should yet start to worry too much, as the military is calm and there is no widespread public unrest, but everyone is closely following this whole drought issue because Ecuador has a tendency to oust their presidents during times of contention. (Note- the past 3 presidents.) On the plus side, the energy crisis could help patch things up with Colombia because they normally provide about 10 percent of Ecuador's electrcity (Correa cut ties with Colombia last year after Uribe bombed a rebel camp on our side of the border). Now, I like Correa, mostly because he wears that awesome traditional blouse that is totally my style, but let's just hope that Correa's "citizen's revolution" doesn't end up like Salvador Allende's did. (I am reading "Paula" by Isabel Allende right now, and so that is on my brain. I never made the connection before that she was Salvador's niece. Cool.)

In a nut shell- Correa is having to deal with the drought, which in turn, is causing power outages. I, in turn, must deal with the power outages, which is forcing me to play Monopoly by candelight.

And so I was the dog. Alex still has a love for Monopoly that outlasts any love I have ever seen. This time, however, he turned a bit Mafioso. He tried to coerce me into taking a "loan" of $2,000, and I would just have to return the favor at a later point in time. I ended up taking the bait after an hour of him trying to coernce me to do so, and then when the time came, I didn't pay up. You see, what he didn't realize is that I know people, people that will protect my knees in times such as these.

So, the next morning (December 23) we woke up to yet another country breakfast. Esmil had her Christmas program at school that morning, so Uncle Matt and Dad dropped off the rest of us in Puembo to watch the Christmas miracle. Esmil was a shepherd, and she even had a mustache. Very cute. The small children were quite adorable, as small Ecuadorian children usually are, and a good time was had by all. So after the show, my mom, Cath, Alexo, and I started walking home. The sun was hot, and the bus was nowhere to be seen. So, after about 20 minutes, Alex convinced my mom that we had better start to stick out our thumbs. The first truck that went by was filled with cement, and so they couldn't pick us up. The second truck was filled with logs. And the third truck was filled with nuns. Luckily, by some force of nature, the fourth truck ended up being Uncle Matt and Dad, so we hopped in and were saved from the long, dusty, hot walk. The rest of the day was spent having quality family-dog time, singing Total Eclipse of the Heart 8 times, drunk dialing the northern relatives, and me freezing Alex's underewar into a solid block of ice. He deserved it.

The next day was December 24, Christmas Eve. We started out the morning by taking Esmil to Puembo to turn in the last of her students papers. Just the women folk went, and so I had to drive the semi. I am not sure that the Pifeños have seen such a comical driving expedition since 2007 when I drove up to get hot dogs in my witch costume and orange hair on Halloween. This time, there were just 4 women all wearing extremely cute sun hats and glamorous sunglasses, yet also driving a semi. Not a sight regularly to be seen in Pifo. Just eradicating sexism one village at a time. The rest of the day consisted of eating and drinking and listening to music. We had a dance off, and obviously I won- you really cannot compete with my Shakira moves. We also tried to swing Alex by the feet like we used to when he was a baby, but unfortunately for him, he has grown quite bit, and we ended up dropping him on his head. We watched "Faye's Christmas" again, because it is the best movie ever made, and then Cath and I did our hair up all crazily and had a Mary Kate and Ashley photo shoot. We ended the night with another movie, and I stepped on a slug with my socks on, and that was gross.

I woke up quite early on Christmas morning, as I always do. I put a gold ribbon in my hair and then I immediately ran into Alex's room and jumped on the bed to wake him up. (I have to step in as the older annoying sister that he never had.) We then had a wonderful morning opening presents and singing carols and drinking mimosas (with freshly squeezed OJ I might add). There was even a Christmas miracle of 2 twin eggs in the chicken coop, so Cath could have happy eggs for Christmas breakfast. The day was a joyous one, we played basketball and ate too much food and drank too many drinks, and watched a few movies. Now, what I want to know is why the duck goes to sleep earlier than the chickens? There was a Christmas thunderstorm thta night and Cath and I had to fall asleep in the casita to really scary sounds.

On Saturday the 26th, we all went up to Otavalo. The younger generation crawled into the back of the truck, and weathered the freezing cold hour and a half drive up north. We had to hide from the police a few times, and it did start raining once, but we made it there alive. By the time we got there, though, it was absolutely pouring down rain. I was immediately drenched, and therefore immediately bought a whole new outfit. I decided to revamp my image. We went out to lunch and I was able to find a bathroom to change into my red pants, my purple llama socks, and my newly purchased chicken hat. We ate delicious pizza and then some chocolate fondue for dessert. We spent the afternoon shopping around South America's largest mercado and picking up all sorts of cool stuff, including some striped red overalls that I must say, put me right on cloud 9. We rushed back to the truck and managed to put a tarp up just in time- about 7 seconds before the next huge thunderstorm struck. Then my mom, Cath, Alex, and I sat in the back all the while breathing in diesel fumes and almost getting struck by lightning, which may or may not have been damaging to our health. We then stopped at the equator, took the tarp off, and soaked up some fresh air, which managed to stop the hallucinations. We also took a bunch of pictures on top of the world statue they have there. I ran around and scared people with my chicken hat, and did a sun dance on the equatorial line. It worked. We also got 24 roses for like $1. Gotta love Ecuadorian roses. We eventually got back home, and watched yet another new release movie. I love catching up on my movies down here.

Sunday morning we went to the market to get bunches of fruits, and then came back to yet another country breakast. After Alex woke up, we all got ready to go to the 700 steps, as my mom and dad weren't here yet when we went the first time. This time, it was sunny, probably thanks to my sun dance the previous day. Along the way we saw many baby pigs, goats, and mules. When we got up to the otehr side, there were many small children eating popsicles since it was a Sunday, and the tiny old man even stuck beer in the freezer for us. We ate many chochos (like a choclo and corn nut ceviche) and listened to the wonderful sound of the Andean flute. Finally, the King of the World, also known as Alex, decided that it was time for us to make the journey home. So, we climbed back down and then back up again and on our way, we passed the Hacienda Chuntag, which the padrinos own, and a young boy enticed us to come in. My mom had never been to Chuntag, so we decided to go in for a drink. Now, unfortunately for the rest of the family, they couldn't really make anything other than my ceviche, as the small boy seemed to be running the place all by himself. So, he went out, caught me a trout, and whipped up some homemade ceviche for the whole lot of us. (Yes, I was worried because it only cured for like 10 minutes.... but the little bugger said not to worry because he added a special ingredient- "amor.") We drank some beer in the hamamcks and strolled around the hacienda grounds, enjoying the trout ponds and the tunnels made of shrubbery. What a cool place. The small boy even gave us some flowers. What a Don. Catherine made some doughnuts when we got home, and then my mother made the hugest mistake of her life. She gave a small part of the last doughnut to Argo in front of Uncle Matt, and he burst into tears. Maple bars are his weak spot. Another movie for the night, and a bit of water coloring.

Yesterday morning we woke up and my mom, my sister, and I took the bus into Quito. Oh how I missed the 1.5 hour bus ride in with blaring reggaeton and mandarinas for sale. And, I still got it! We made it there no problem and got off at the chicken stop. We walked over to the hippie outdoor market by the Espiral, and picked up some jewelry and some homemade gelato, which just so happens to be Catherine's weakness. I love this place, it is so cool. I used to go there after work all the time to hang out. It also reminds me of a time when Phoeb came down here with me, and she tried to get a tattoo there, but due to my power of attorney, mission was not accomplished. I really need to get power of attorney over someone again, that was so fun. We tried to stop by Ecotrackers to say hello to Max and family, but no one was there, so I left a note. I will make sure to see them soon though, which will probably lead to a canoe ride down the Amazon again or something. Afterwards, we met up with the male folk (Dad, Uncle Matt, and Alex) at the Magoc Bean for old times sake, and had a delicious lunch. (They had been at the airport, trying to get the telescope that Mom and Dad brought here for Alex, but had somehow ended up in Mexico City). I ordered "Eclipse of the Gods," and it turned out to be something like a White Russian with a cherry. I just think one of the joys of life is ordering a drink that you have no idea what it is. Fascinating. Anyways, there were a couple of English boys at the next table, so Dad and Alex start talking futbol to them. I mentioned that my best friend and I had been over there just last summer, and they were like "Oh, what part of London?" To which I replied, "Oh, you know, around, the city." I love embarassing Catherine. And Alex. (Hence the striped overalls.) We all rode back together, and so the younger folk hopped back up into the back of the truck for the ride home. Cath and I sang every camp song known to man, along with all of the Bobs (Dylans and Marleys), the Cyndi Laupers, and the Cranberries. Also a few Les Miserables. Actually the list is too long to write. We are so eccentric. We enjoyed a bit of Baileys when we got home, and put together the telescope. We pondered watching Avatar, but then the power went out again, so we just had some fun doing weird things with candles for a while instead.

Now I hear the sizzling of bacon and the chatter of family in the kitchen. Time for another country breakfast. Cheerio!