We came to collect the stories of those affected by oil development in an attempt to give voice to the voiceless. Now back in Quito my note book sits next to my keyboard full of these voices and I´m not sure what to do with them. These are not happy stories, with fairy tale endings. They are not stories of the privileged, of those that have access to a future of hope.

My worldview changed exactly like that of my father's did when he came back from Germany. Not much at all. In China, there are people, they live, they flirt, they marry, they reproduce, they work, they eat, they sleep and eventually they die. There are birds and plants in China, seasons change and there are movies and television. Most of them are cliqued and boring. People like drinking and sometimes they like drinking too much. Men usually like drinking more than women.

Today we visited the Auckland Museum which is featuring an exhibit entitled Vakamoana: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Exploration. The exhibit traces a journey that began 4000 years ago and portrays the human settlement of the Pacific Islands including New Zealand. The rest of the museum contains exhibits about the Pacific People (Polynesian, Maori, Pakeha) who settled New Zealand, the natural history of New Zealand, and the emergence of New Zealand as a nation. The Auckland Museum represents the pride of all New Zealanders in their country and their diverse cultures.

There is just no way to get around it--despair is a thick sap that creeps over a people forgotten. If we came here to listen, we´ve got to hear--no hay ningun esparanza. There isn´t a single hope. You know, we like happy endings, or at least bittersweet ones. But the happy ending that colonos (colonists from other regions of Ecuador who ´pioneered´ into the rainforest when the oil companies started building roads) look for, and I am basically quoting, is death.

La companía has left us with nothing but illness and destruction. We just wait around to die.

At this point in my life, I go about things in a very individualistic fashion. I come across new things everyday, experiences that I attempt to ride through, getting jarred by turbulance along the way. This study away course I feel hasn't done more than change my perception as it changes everyday, but I do feel It has changed it in a much more descisive way. Instead trudging about Salem, Oregon or the PLU campus, I'm in China where my surroundings are as confusing as a labyrinth.

Our Sunday morning of leisure began with the group taking a trip to the beautiful Nature Valley beach in Tsitsikamma and sharing in a few hours of bathing and body-surfing. The afternoon's activities took a bit different of a turn. Today is our only official goof-off day of the entire trip. We are staying around Tsitsikamma National Park along the Garden Route of South Africa (the famous highway that goes from the Western cape to the Eastern). As such, we all had the opportunity to pick our adventure sport of the day. Five of the 22 chose to bungee jump.

Before I came to China I had the stereotype that the Chinese people were very quite and reserved. Anyone who has ever walked down a popular tourist site in Bejing knows better. Over-eager "merchants" shout "Hello", "You buy, You buy" amd "Is very good" along with other very simple yet pushy sentences. Very quickly we all learned to say "BU YAO", which means "Do not want." On one occassion a merchant grabbed a girl by the arm and Ira, a sergeant in the military, had to come to her aid.

So we made it to Auckland-yeah!! We went on a little city tour today and hit up the childrens section of the public lib. We then had some free time to check out what Auckland has to offer. This city reminds me of home more then any of the others. It is large like Seattle the only thing is that people are brave and are walking around without any shoes on-this would never happen at home. At home there are signs in every shop that say shoes and shirt required but not here in NZ-people walk around shoe less all the time.

Hey everyone,

We made it to Aukland. It was a 12 hour train ride! The city looks a lot like Seattle. The SkyTower is a lot like the Space Needle! We saw a bit of the city today and went to the Maritime Museum.