Slice of life, rural Ecuador. This guy was sharpening a knife there in the blazing sun for like a half hour. Either he's not very good at sharpening a knife or he really enjoys sitting in the sun. Not sure which it is.

I thought the municipal pool had a good view. Noooooooo way. This pool is at another hosteria I visited a few days ago and has a view (not easy to see in this particular shot) of Chivaturco and Cerro de Arcos, among other local attractions. Plus it's on the outskirts of the city so there's very littel noise and much more wildlife. The owner is going to make a solar oven to cook for his guests. Hopefully I can help him a bit and learn something cool.

Here's the scene at the city estadio/stadium as night falls over about ten thousand people all playing bingo trying to win the grand prize, a Chevrolet Evolution five door coupe. Some girl
won it. I cried. And then I remembered that we're not even allowed to drive here and felt better. I didn't really cry by the way. I was hanging out with some new friends and it was allllll goooooood.

Giant grasshopper. You might think that it just looks big because it's in front of my hat, but nooooooo. This bastard was like nine inches long. SERIOUSLY. LOOK AT THE SHADOW IT CAST ON MY HAT. It is freaking gigantic. So yeah, after I took this photo it took off and was bigger than many local birds as it flew up into someone's window. If that thing landed on my while I was napping one day I would have a heart attack. Geeeeez. It's antennae were like an inch and a half long. I'm still in shock for having seen it.