"¡¡¡¡Hugoooooooooo!!!!"

My first week here in Quito has been pretty fun and exciting thus far. We had three guys from the US Embassy come to speak to our class yesterday about US-Ecuador relations and I can say that, hands down, it was the most interesting discussion session we have had so far. I will go ahead and just say that there are a lot of people here who are very critical of the US government (both Ecuadoreans and Americans alike), so we have gotten more than our fair share of that point of view. So it was quite the reverse yesterday to have an economic officer, political counselor, and vice consul from the Embassy come to speak to us, because it is these guys´job to sell people on US foreign policy. Needless to say, it made for one hell of an interesting discussion! From some rather pointed, awkward questions about Plan Colombia and the US´s position regarding the pollution and health problems of people in Ecuador as a result of the herbicides that have spread into Ecuador´s border region ("The US´s official position is that any studies indicating negative health and environmental affects among the people and ecosystems in Ecuador´s border region as a result of Plan Colombia are not accurate or reliable or fact-based.")to the US base in Manta ("It is not a base--it is a non-base."). All in all, a very lively, sometimes contentious, but all-around fascinating discussion.

I talked with the political counselor briefly (before we proceeded to interrogate him and his fellow officers for two and a half hours) and he told me a bit about where else he has served and his career so far in the Foreign Service. Listening to him made me so homesick for D.C. and FSI and ADST (and Dan!!!). Just this time last year I was interning there! Talking to the political counselor and the other two officers made me decide that I am probably going to take the Foreign Service Exam when I get back to the US. As the political counselor insisted yesterday and as I have heard countless times from Dan and other Foreign Service officers, it doesn´t hurt to at least take the exam. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so why not?

ANYHOW, so, on a completely different note, I have been rather enjoying my TV in my room in my new host family´s house. At night, when I can´t sleep or just want to watch something mindless before bed, it is nice to turn it on and zone out for a while. As a result, I have, number one, watched a great deal more news and have come to the conclusion that what I learned in my journalism class last semester is most definitley right: US news is definitely incredibly sanitized in comparison to news in other countries. I had heard that much more graphic images are shown in the news in other countries, whereas in the US not that much is shown. Wow, was my professor right! So you wanna hear about how Colombia bombed FARC members in the jungles of Ecuador? Well, why just hear about it when you can see it: charred campsite, splintered trees, and oh look! A hand! Missing the body to which it should be attached! You wanna hear a news story about a man and his son who got into a car accident outside Quito and were killed? Well, if you don´t believe it, here are their bodies right here on your screen!

It´s kind of jolting and shocking, but it also makes me wonder if maybe this difference in the way news is presented accounts for some of the differences in opinion on certain issues between countries. I mean, if you are hearing the same news stories but seeing incredibly different things on your screen, that could drastically affect your perception of events. For example, in the US, you can hear on the 6:00 news the latest stats on how many casualties there have been in Iraq today while images of soldiers shooting rockets or carrying American flags flash across the screen. Here and in other countries, they show those casualties--they show the injuries, they show the bodies. Yes, it is morbid, and yes, it is terrible, but it is much harder to ignore. It is easy to ignore numbers and statistics--not so easy to ignore seeing those statistics in terms of actual human lives. It almost seems cowardly to me, that our news does not show us the actual human toll of a war we started...maybe if we actually saw it, the way people in other countries do, it might give us a change in perspective. Just something I was thinking about...

On a much LIGHTER note, I have, in addition to watching more news, become much more well-versed in the famed telenovelas here. Essentially, all of them involve really pretty people in really pretty clothes crying, screaming, kissing, and everything in between. Of course, in every telenovela, you must have the following in addition to the hunky male love interests and gorgeous, collagen-filled heroines: an older, sinister fellow whose eyebrows are somehow frozen in a position which causes you to look at him and think, "Hmm, well he is up to something and it is not good!"; an older, conniving woman who is forever plotting against the two younger love interests; a short, sometimes fat, never attractive fellow whose purpose is solely for comic relief; and, quite often, some cute little kid who is occasionally called upon to cry or look directly at the camera with giant, puppy-dog eyes, causing anyone watching to involuntarily utter something like, "Awwww! How cute!"

I have watched bits and pieces of most of the telenovelas out there (which is basically like watching one show, since the stories and characters are pretty much the same in all of them), but I have recently become somewhat of a fan of a particular telenovela called, "La Traícion." I was first drawn to it by the fact that they play the musical them to the movie "The Pirates of the Caribbean" during the previews, which was enough to make me want to watch it. However, in the case of this particular telenovela, you take the pretty people, sinister man, conniving woman, chubby funny fellow, and cute kid with all their requisite drama and transplant them into what I believe is supposed to be the 1800s; this change in time period makes all the crazy drama and storylines even more overacted, even more unbelievable, and even more freaking fantastic!

So, basically, what I have gathered thus far is that you have the requisite gorgeous heroine, Soledad, and the requisite hunky love interest, Hugo (he literally looks like a Latin Fabio, like he just stepped off the cover of some cheesy romantic novel, long flowing hair and all!). Additionally, Soledad´s parents pretty much qualify as the sinister older man and conniving older woman (although I have yet to really understand what all the meaningful glances and raised eyebrows are about between the two of them). The comic relief comes in the form of a guy who definitely fulfills all the prerequisites of being short, fat, and ugly (and has, on more than one occasion thus far, ended up dressed in women´s clothing for some reason, which more than qualifies him for the comic relief part, I think). And while there is no cute kid yet, in the latest episode, Soledad discovered that she was pregnant with Hugo´s baby, which indicates that a cute, puppy dog-eyed kid is surely in the show´s future.

It is amazing, I have learned some incredible things about the 1800s in Latin America as a result of this show! For example, I have learned from Soledad´s servant and slave girl that apparently, besides being impeccably dressed, slave women at that time were apparently more or less a part of the family and their mistress´s closest confidantes (who knew!). I have also learned that, apparently, prostitutes and bar wenches in this time period had not only discovered the wonders of breast implants and collagen but also, apparently, had access to incredible hair colorists that could give them some amazing platinum blonde highlights. I am just learning new things every day with this show!

So, in case you were wondering about the latest happenings, on last night´s episode, it was Hugo and Soledad´s wedding day when suddenly, Soledad discovers Hugo dead in his room! This allowed for much screaming and wailing and crying on Soledad´s part (the single, slowly-dripping tear down the cheek is a favorite amongst telenovelas, apparently, as is uncontrollable wailing...there was much of both in last night´s episode). Soledad then faints and, once revived, is informed by the doctor in front of her parents that she is pregnant with Hugo´s baby (which prompted much furtive glancing and plotting between Soledad´s parents). To complicate matters, Hugo may not actually be dead but rather, somehow, in some state in which he appears dead but really is not. His twin brother (another tall, hunky, flowing-haired guy) knows his brother is not dead, but wants Soledad for himself and is willing to let his brother to be buried alive in order to have her. Da-da-dum! (Oh yeah, and somewhere in there, chubby comic relief guy dressed up as a woman and danced around in the saloon with the fake-breasted bar wench...much fun was had by all...)

Only time will tell if Hugo will in fact be buried alive, if Soledad will EVER stop crying, and if comic relief guy will be forced to wear women´s clothing again.

And on that note, ciao!

-Alex