The Hepola Youth Club: a Found Poem
July 31, 2001

Today, I am rushed. Today, I am late. Today, I leave you with a found poem, that is, a description from a Finnish Web site found by a friend when doing a site search on my last name. Please to... more

Dios Te Salve
July 30, 2001

On a glorious Quito afternoon I walk to the Basilica, a gigantic Gothic church near the center of town. If it weren't Sunday, I would walk up the stairs that lead to the clock tower, where all the tourists climb... more

They've been offering salsa classes
July 27, 2001

They've been offering salsa classes at the school, but I'm too chicken to go. As much as I like dancing, I'm terrified of dancing with a partner. It's too intimate for my comfort level -- being subject to some stranger's... more

Radio Free Ecuador
July 26, 2001

A short list of songs I have heard at critical moments in Ecuador, when I either felt like crying or had been left alone to think too much and had therefore begun to spin a tale about how I was... more

Down Avenida Amazonas
July 25, 2001

Sometimes at night, the dogs bark so loudly that it's hard to sleep. They bark in a way I've never heard dogs bark before -- like they are tearing each other's flesh. One morning I ask Nick from Denmark, who... more

The Irony of It All
July 24, 2001

*due to a backlog of experiences, sarahhepola.com will not report on this past weekend in Tena -- aka "The Rumble in the Jungle" -- until later in the week. In the meantime, sarahhepola.com will tackle smaller issues, so that sarahhepola.com... more

A (Tough, Wet, Freezing) Walk in the Clouds
July 20, 2001

The Spanish school is the size of a two-story house, with classrooms upstairs and the downstairs always bustling with people sputtering around in Spanish and then giving up and collapsing into loud English. Before today's group excursion to climb Pichincha,... more

Directions: Smile and Nod
July 19, 2001

Walking along Avenida Amazonas this morning, I had my first conversation with someone other than Magdalena or my Spanish teacher. I was eyeing a charcoal and white backpack, one of the woven woolen ones about as rare as a hot... more

Say You, Say Si
July 18, 2001

This morning, Magdalena took me with her to run errands. As we walk together, she tells me the Spanish word for whatever is in front of us, so that our conversations end up like this. Magdalena: [pointing to apples in... more

To Quito
July 17, 2001

The plane ride into Quito was rocky. I could feel the turbulence in my toes and my stomach. I´m a bad flier anyway, always imagining a flaming, spiraling descent into the earth with every shift in altitude. Behind me sat... more

The Night Before Leaving
July 15, 2001

From a guidebook sitting beside me at the desk of my parents' house in Dallas: "Surrounded by snow-capped volcanoes but only 24km (15 miles) from the equator, Quito is a strange and beautiful city with a spring-like climate all year... more

GARAGE SALE #4
July 14, 2001

GARAGE SALE #4 My father wants to sell an exercise machine for $100. It is a strange and awkward contraption, like a rowing machine and an exercise bike in one. When I was in high school, my friends used to... more