Back in the USA

Well, as most of you readers know, we are back in the states permenantly...

Currently we are in Wisconsin but are heading for Colorado Springs in a few days.

When it comes down to it, all we can say is that the Peace Corps was not for us.

Thats it....
Chow,
Levi

Garfield minus Garfield = Peace Corps... :)

Some industrious PC volunteer found this website of the cartoon Garfield where the cat is missing. They are really funny in a depressing kind of way. They express feeling of many PC volunteers at times!

My Sister is engaged! Yeah Sis!! Super Stoked for you and Nico!

I'm sure many of you remember Nico from our wedding. Well it finally happened in Indonesia! They have been completing a dive instructors course & he asked her on the bottom of the ocean. Nice Move! Check out their "Arround the world in one year" blog: http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Do-It-Like-The-Locals/

Guitar Searching

One of the things I wanted to do when I got down here was to look for guitars. I was told that Cuenca was the hot spot for hand made guitars. Truthfully, the hot spot is about a hour outside of Cuenca in a little town called San Bartolome. I was not able to visit the town, but I did check out a guitar that was made there. I understand San Bartolome has a factory as well as Master guitar makers who can make you a guitar however you like.

I was able to find two Master guitar makers in Cuenca. Check out our Flickr site for pics. The first was probably the best. We arrived at Hortegs workshop located near the bus stop in Cuenca. I walked in grinning. The guitars were beautiful and the sound was amazing! Guitars at Hortegs ranged from $300 to $400 dollars. They had ready to buy hand made guitars, of you could have one made exactly how you want it for the same price! Unheard of in the US!!! Sadly the Master left to find work in the US....

The second workshop was super small. I only found it by asking a shop owner next door where it was! The 3x5 card posted on the window let you know you had found the place! I called the number cause the shop was closed. I called the number, talked with the master and he came right over, opened the shop and began to show me his guitars! It was awesome. Yet when he dies none of his work will continue as his sons have chosen other work...

I continued my search when we arrived in Quito a few days ago. Three workshops I found. The first was unimpressive (on avenida de los americas). Apparently he makes guitars. But the quality of guitars in his shop left much to be desired. The second (near the corner of Ambato & Quijano) was even smaller than the shop in Cuenca! At least this Master had a sign out front! Super cool tiny shop, but not much quality. Again, when this 70 year old man dies, the guitar making dies with him.... The third and most impressive (in Quito) 'Guitarras Caverro' was quite impressive. Once again, one Master, but he had some helpers. They had Guitarrs from $150 to $2000. I was quite impressed with the $150 dollar models, they had great sound but were not fancy. Of course I was drawn to the guitars that were way beyond my price range. There is something amazing about walking into a workshop where a little ecuadorian is drying a layer of enamel by holding the guitar by it's neck and swinging it back and forth.

Flash drive, water....

Me lavaba mi flash memory con mis pantalones.....

Yeah so that sucks, it's drying out right now, we'll see if it works.

The new internet is was up and running for two days, and then down for a week. It's just opened again. Life's pretty good down here... We got a computer in our office so I've been playing alot of FIFA 07 and Medal of Honor to pass the time. It hurts my tailbone if I play for more than 5 hours strait so I take a beak every now and again...
Hope all's well, we miss you state side folks a lot! Chow for now, Levi