Election Night and the Celebration afterwards...

I spent election night with my friends June and Ed...we had wifi in the hotel room and CNN in english. We stayed in all evening and ordered a pizza from a place next door called Chicago Pizza, which we assume is the reason why Obama won!!! Or, just one of the reasons :)Ed enjoying a slice of Chicago Pizza while staying tuned in online to CNN coverage...we had to be the firsts to know anything and everything!!!

The answer we were all looking for...the moment when Barack, Michelle, and family came out on stage for his acceptance speech! It was a glorious moment :)

We went out for a celebration breakfast and I bought a spanish newspaper...They have said people often remember moments in their lives by remembering where they were when something significant occurred. I will never forget watching Obama win the presidency from my hotel room in Ecuador.
We weren´t the only ones paying attention to the news. This Ecuadorian man sits reading the coverage on November 5th while getting his shoes shined just off the central plaza in Cuenca!

Dia de los Muertos en Cuenca

As a celebration of the Latin holiday, we went to the cemetery to see all the festivities. There was this beautiful, albeit sad, monument to Ecuadorians who had fallen trying to immigrate the United States. The figures are etched in glass, walking the path, from young to old, men and women.

We were surprised to find that the cemetery was more festive than imagined - it appeared more like Carnival...people selling food and typical Day of the Dead ¨Juajuita de Pan¨ y ¨Colada Morada¨ so we thought where better to have dinner...

The food was excellent. We had meat skewers, tortillas, little fried doughnuts, colada morada which is a heated fruit drink. Here, Dani with a skewer of meat and a tortilla de choclo (yellow corn).

This was the church right outside of my hotel on the night of November 1st all lit up for the Day of the Dead.

My new friends in Cuenca

Cuenca would not have been nearly as much fun had I not my new friends from around the world...It was fortuitous that I met June (from England) and Ed (from Canada) on the train ride. Then after one night in the Casa Naranja hostal where I met Otavio (from Brazil) and Daniel (from Spain), we were all kicked out. Ok, I lie. Actually, they let Otavio stay in the hostal -- he was the only one willing to pay $24 for a room there. The others of us found cheaper and more friendly rooms in the city!

Me and June all SMILES!!!

I think I laughed and cried more in the 4 days I was in Cuenca than I have in my entire trip. From a hilarious situation eating ice cream cones in the central park, going out dancing and having a few too many drinks for once, to watching election results, I felt a really close connection with these people. Life is good when you meet good people :)

Have you ever ridden on the top of a train? Or even been encouraged to ride on the train? I think this is the only place in the world that it might be legal and fun to ride atop a moving train car. They provide railings and cushions and snack vendors, too, so who needs the dining car? The ride started from Riobamba. Here I visited a church located at the highest point in the city from which you can see the snow capped Volcan Tungarahua and Chimborazo. The volcano is off to the left and covered with clouds, but if you look to the right you can see the snow capped mountain in the distance!!!
Along the way, we went through small towns and wide open valleys. Ecuador is currently going through transition as they voted a new Constitution into affect. Along the route, you could see the campaign propaganda with the words ¨Vota Si¨or ¨Vota No¨ painted on homes or any available surface.

Aside from the 8 uncomforatble hours atop the train which started in the cold windy rainy town of Riobamba, I had a fabulous time on this ride, and met two new friends - June and Ed - who I was so fortunate to sitting next to on the ride. We ended up spending the next 5 days together!

Bike ride to Las Amazonas

The bike ride started in Baños, a town of about 12,000 in teh southern Andes of Ecuador. This shot taken from the Mirador de la Virgen where you can see the town is set in a bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains, behind me is the quite active Volcan Tungarahua.

I met these 4 --Sarah, Zach, Dan, and Whitney who are all currently living on the west coast of Ecuador either studying or just travelling, and they joined me for the bike ride! It was so nice to have company :) We travelled east through the winding valley connecting Baños to Puyo, the entrance to the Amazon region of Ecuador.

The 61km (38mile) bike ride took us past 20+ waterfalls, through small towns, and along the Rio Verde which snakes into the Amazon. Beautiful ride and we made it to Puyo just before the afternoon rainfall.

Me and my trusty bike at the last stop before entering Puyo. At this point, I was pretty sore...

Baño Privado...

I am glad I remembered to bring my own toilet paper. Next time I will bring my own seat!!! (Tom Maguire, this photo is for you...)

Today is an Important Day!

Today, November 4th, 2008, could be one of the most important days in politics in my lifetime. I have been following the election coverage, debates, and final moments of the campaign from spanish television in many parts of the latin world. Last night I sat in my little $15 hotel room in the attic of a hotel in Cuenca, Ecuador glued to the CNN coverage, happy to finally be able to watch in English!

About 4 months ago, when I was still living in Honduras, I sent in my request for an absentee ballot to the Fairfax Co, Virginia registration board anticipatin that it would be awaiting my arrival the first week in September when I was home. Unfortunately, it was too late. About a week after I began travelling, the ballot arrived at my parents house where they were able to send it to my friend Mauricio at his home in California, so that he could bring it to me when we met up in his hometown of Medellin, Colombia. Once in Medellin we hunted down a no. 2 pencil in order that I could vote. I was not going to risk having my vote not count based on incorrect graphite. Upon Mauricio´s return to the USA, he mailed in my ballot to arrive on time in Virginia. And I can´t tell you how glad I am today to say that I voted, that I took that time and went through a 4 month process so that my vote would be included in today´s ballot count. Not many people are willing to take even the time to go to the polls and wait in line on a cold fall day, but with this I urge you to go out and vote, and let me tell you why I think that today, more than ever, it is important that you do...

Last night I heard John McCain say something very critical. He said, ¨Barack Obama wants to spread the wealth. I want to create wealth.¨ In that moment, watching from my little attic space ina hotel in Ecuador, I thanked John McCain for sending those words out to people not only in the USA but to all corners of the world watching the election coverage. Because, more so than in any election I have been alive for, this year the election in the USA is not just about the United States of America, it is about every human being alive in this world. This election is not about the USA, it is not about us as Americans, it is a global issue. And to share the wealth is just what we need to be reminded of if we are going to CHANGE the state of the world.

I am currently reading a book by Jeffrey Sachs called ¨The End of Poverty¨ - in which he talks about the UN Millenium Goal of ending extreme poverty by 2025. As Jeffrey Sachs puts it, we in the western world have the ability with our financial and human resources to put an end to suffering in the developing world. Sadly enough though, we choose not to do it. Think about it. We have the power to CHANGE the world, to put an end to people dying from disease, to improve people´s access to water, food, housing, and healthcare. We have the resources to provide life saving drugs and mosquito nets to people dying of malaria and AIDS. BUT, we choose to neglect those people, we determine who we think should live, who is deserving of aid. But above all, we choose that our lives remain comfortable, free of pain or suffering, cold or hunger, before we reach a hand out to a single one of those persons in need. All, when we have that ability in our hands. This is not just an issue affecting Africa although the greatest number and percentage of people living in extreme poverty are in Africa; this is a global issue.

Over the last 2.5 years I have lived in Honduras and travelled to Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. Only Colombia being a country above the extreme poverty line. I have seen the global problem in the faces and words of every person I meet. I have worked with people who are hungry because the rains have ruined their crops -- we worked with them to find access to new markets, with children who can´t fend for themselves -- Grace Church sent funding, who are cold because they only had a 3 sided house and a tarp to cover them -- we built them a house, who can´t afford healthy food and medication for Diabetes -- my parents sent in help, too. I offered my own mosquito net to a family who needed it more than I did, I held the hands of a mother and sister who cried watching their son and brother who had committed suicide dying in a public hospital without hope for a better future. I sat at the bedside, prayed with families and went to funerals of people who were dying and eventually died of cancer because of chemicals used in nearby fields for vegetables exported to the United States. I layed sick in bed with Dengue for 10 days and read in the newspaper of children and adults who were dying of the same fever that struck me, all because they lacked the care that I as a westerner was receiving. And Honduras is not considered to be a developing country in the most extreme sense of poverty.

Today the world ways in. It is a vote for America with a global impact. Our vote today impacts the whole world. Last week I sat next to an old Ecuadorian woman who was obviously sick and dying, had not bathed, and had no money to pay her $0.75 bus fee. I gave another homeless woman the bread I had just bought at the bakery because she didn´t have 25 cents sufficient enough to put a temporary end to her persistent hunger. Every town I have visited on my travels, I have been asked by locals to support Obama. Every person I meet on the bus or in hostals is tied into this election today. Only in Colombia did I meet one McCain supporter, but other than that, each and every person I have met is tied into this election today because they know that it means on a global level. For the last 4 days I have been travelling with 4 new friends -- Ed, a Canadian man, June, an English woman, Otavio the Brazilian, and Daniel, a Spaniard - and never was I more proud to be able to say to them to that I got my vote in for today´s elections! My fear, as always, is that the republicans will find some way to take the election. We saw it happen 4 years ago, 8 years ago. Today, we must not let that happen. We must remember the vote is not about US, today we must think about something much greater.

I originally thought I wanted to be surrounded today by Americans, having a nice dinner and a drink while watching as the polls closed and the election results came flowing in. I thought I wanted to watch the election coverage in english and take a break from having to pay attention to spanish and give my mind a rest for once. But as it turns out, tonight I will be watching the results with a canadian and an english woman who have just as much invested in the outcome as you and me, but aren´t able to cast their ballot. Tonight I will watch the coverage in spanish, because now is not a time to rest or to relax, it is a time when we need to work even harder than ever to insure we make the right decisions for the future, not only of the US, but for the entire world. Tonights decision is about humanity and will test whether we as Americans still have it. You may or may not agree with me. You may or may not have ever had a cold shower or worse no water for bathing. You may or may not have ever been hungry or uncomfortable. You may or may not have ever had experiences like those I mentioned above, nor the opportunity to actually do something about it...until today. Please go vote!

I voted for Obama today, but I do not envy him. The role that the next president will play is not an easy one. The challenges are not going to be easily overcome. Today, I voted for Obama because I know that he can inspire in each of us the action necessary to work together so that we really can create CHANGE. I did not vote for Obama, I voted for are all of the people in the world today who have not been afforded the opportunity that I and my family and friends have. I voted for Clementina and her 53 children. I voted for Dunia who died alone of AIDS. I voted for Mariano who will get worse without proper income, diet, and medication. I voted for Hector and his 8 brothers and sisters and 23 neices and nephews who deserve better education and jobs. It is only by the Grace of God that I ended up who I am, and even so, I do not deserve any better than the people I mention above, the people who have touched my lives and made me realize what today is all about. Along with Obama today, I ask each of you...BE the CHANGE!