Saturday night in Tolte

Okay, so it's midday on Tuesday, but I thought I'd describe my Saturday night in Tolte. I had spent most of the day walking down to the touristic train station just to have a place to walk to. There are three ways down. Angus took me down the one of medium difficulty and up the easy one, but there is apparently a terrifying thord way that the people who work at the station usually use. I doubt I'll ever try and go that way without rapelling equipment. It's no big deal to them, though.

Anyway, I came back, and played the guitar for a while, but I felt like getting out and seeing what could be happening in the plaza or elsewhere on Saturday night. At one of the little general stores, the soccer team was trying to cleanse their disappointing loss in the semi-finals of a tournament. They had one last year, and were favored to do so again. One of the players, Fredi, helps me in the computer room and library as part of his scholarship grant from AVANTI. So the next thing I knew, I was invited to join in the group attempt to consume all the beer in the store.

The Ecuadorean beer is called Pilsener, and it tastes a bit like washed out Budweiser. It comes in 1 liter bottles (I think), and is definitely of no use for pure beer enjoyment. I was very careful not to consume what the young futbolistas consumed, but I certainly had more than I was used to. Let's just say that, as they hoped, it was a cleansing experience.

Of what good is such behavior, you may ask? Well, the next day I went with Narcisa and Jose to Chunchi, where they treated me to breakfast and I watched Jose sell a sheep.We parted as I went to a a public internet office and they went to do their shopping. After I finished e-mailing, I went out to wait for a bus that would take me to Tolte. There is really only one line that will make that kind of local stop, and I had been waiting a long time when a truck pulled to a stop. And there was about half of the soccer team, who were happy to invite me to catch a ride with them. Of course, I didn't do so by hanging off the back of the truck bed thye way they did--I climbed inside. I feel like I'm too old for that sort of thing. But it goes to show that no social effort is ever wasted in Pistishi.