May 1. Full being.

We say goodbye to Anne, who goes to the Galapagos with her sister, and take a taxi to the place where the bus to Ibarra leaves. Transportation issues, as usual. I think it was on the bus that I see some old guy peeing in a chopped-off plastic bottle and then pouring it out of the window. O, wow, what a crazy experience, eeeeehks! that's dirty' that's the event of the year, gross, gabberdabberblurk, you might say, or you might just shrug and continue reading.

I read about the Dutch queensday disaster in my internet newspaper. There's so much violence waiting below the surface.

In Ibarra there are no buses to the hot springs, so it is decided that we go to a beautiful lake and lagunes instead to eat fried fish straight from that lake. Fried fish and coca cola. After that meal I am so tired I have to lay down, while the others take a slow boatride on the lake. When the afternoon is over, a bus takes us back to the center of Ibarra, where we find a hostel for me. My Ecuadorian friends sleep with their family. Later that night we go out to some nightclub where guys are stripping cunningly on the bar to salsa, reggaeton, and trance. What an energy those young men have! They are dancing half an hour, sticking out their limbs in one continuous movement. I stand there and watch. Not that I like stripping males so much, but I am fascinated by their ability to move. People here are good dancers, they can move every part of their body with the ease of lizards and dragonflies.

The best burger in town is served at "Mario's", it has real ingredients and comes with a smile. After our latenight meal we're tired and I sleep well on the queensize bed. I sleep so well that I introduce a whole new category here:

Kamiel's Daily Karma Rule: "Love your own restrictions".

We are restricted beings that are very good at concealing that we are. We must be aware of our restrictions in order to love them and we must love to in order to gain full being. In order to become aware of our restrictions, we must compare ourselves with other humans that can do certain things better, and if we don't find them, we must compare ourselves with certain animals, certain minerals, virusses, planets, movie stars, unicorns and spiderman. That way we'll find plenty of restrictions we cannot overcome. Be very aware of them. And be aware of the fact that they define who you are. Once you reached this high level of consciousness, you will be able to love your restrictions and gain full being.

And it's nice, full being. I think it taste like apricots.

April 30. Quito.

The bus takes me straight to Quito where I contact my couchsurfing host. She agrees upon me bringing a Norwegian girl that wants to try the thing out. That Norwegian girl didn't fall from the sky; I met her in the bus to Quito her name is Anne. She has been working with young children in Brazil, somewhere between Rio and Sao Paolo, and does a round of traveling before she heads home. She plays basketball and I look up to her. We have to wait for Violeta, the couchsurfing host, to come home but when she does she is incredibly hospitable, as hosts usually are. You know how enthousiastic I am about the thing. We take a bus to see some of the old town. Nice colonial squares. Nice city, nicely situated between the hills. I like that you can see the countryside, the hillside that is from the center of the capital. It is possible from a few capitals on our planet. Can you figure out which ones (three points).

We have a very good steak in a restaurant.
We share a bottle of wine before we all go to bed.