Em and Jeff's Adventures

Die Another Day

So we´ve decided to take things into our own hands.

Our roommate, Kyle, introdcued us to the local armory where we´re able to buy very realistic looking handguns for about a dollar. They shoot plastic pellets, and actually sting when they hit, which is always a bonus. We even broke a lightbulb during shooting practice. Such is the power of the ¨Pocket 9.¨

Emily and I came home to our four story school/apartment one evening to find two pairs of safety goggles and a note that said: ¨Your mission is to make it upstairs.¨ The building we live in has enough nooks, cranies, sliding windows and staircass to make a Goldeneye game-designer jealous, and we have it to ourselves. Needless to say, mayhem ensued . . . for the next three days.

Unfortunately, we dídn´t get the guns until after our mishap in the city of Cuenca, in which some amateur thieves tried their best to make off with my backpack full of deodorant and dirty laundry.

It works like this: I walk past a guy who eyes me a little strangely, and I don´t think much of it. I´m a 6´3 blonde godzilla around here, so that happens. A minute or two later I notice a white substance on my jeans and backpack, and Emily and I assume we´ve met the more unpleasant end of Ecuador´s exotic bird-life.

So, here comes a nice moustached man in a shabby suit with a few kleenex to help clean me up. We gratefully accepted, but weren´t clean to his satisfaction. He beckoned us into an alley to finish the job, insisting my backpack was still dirty. The moment I took it off, I see the OTHER guy, the one who eyed me before, walking toward us very quickly. I grabbed my bag and threw it on, saying ¨It´s a scam!¨ and the two guys immediately left, running around the corner.

In better news, we attended a salsa class which did it's best to address my 26 plus year lack of rhythm, saw a live concert in Cuenca´s park, and attended a wedding wehre we ate, drank, and danced until 3 in the morning. We even had ice cream with the Assassins.

With our newfound fire-power, I feel we're on more equal footing.

Em´s pink eye is much, much better, though I´ve taken to wearing our gunfighting safety glasses around the house, as in her more irritated moments, Emily occasionaly resorts to bio-terrorism, (ie, chasing her terrified boyfriend around the house and trying to poke him in the eyes.)

Hope all is well with all of you, and we look forward to hearing from you.

posted by Tobias Arthur @ 10:17 AM