Today, New Year's Eve, Quitenos have made old dummies, called "viejos," stuffing old clothing (pants, shirts) with paper and sawdust. They put masks on them, write complaints about the year past, wishes for the government for the year coming. They are all over town, everywhere, lining streets, in front of offices and homes. Today, they'll burn these "viejos" in the streets. It's street theater.

Rachel Esbjornsen, Kate Fontana, and I met yesterday in Quito. We're all here, ready to begin our explorations and study of oil, the environment, and public health. I've been living in Ecuador since the beginning of August--five months now. I've been a Fulbright Scholar at Universidad San Francisco. In that time, I've been fortunate to have some of the most outstanding research experiences of my life, developing many contacts, being blown away by the richness of life and nature in this country. It's exciting here, and we're very excited for our itinerary--through a part of Ecuadorian life that very few are privileged to see in the petroleum zone on South America.