Several months ago I discovered the Hipermart in Loja. It is a huge grocery on the ground floor with the second floor selling a lot of rather nice household goods including washers, dryers, refrigerators and stoves as well as bath towels, clothes and toys. On the third floor is a video arcade and a movie theater in spanish and they show current shows. I was walking an aisle looking at available products in the grocery section when I heard a couple speaking english. I stopped and introduced myself and discovered that the guy was from Germany and his wife was from Russia but they had moved to Ecuador via Australia. We had a nice pleasant conversation for about 10 minutes when I noticed the conversation was taking a right turn. Soon I was wishing I had a cart full of frozen food to use as an excuse to leave as they started talking about a tenth planet called Nibiru with an orbit of moons which does an orbit around the sun once every million years. It has such an elliptical orbit that it will soon, within one year, collide with the earth with one of its moons and create a polar shift on the earth. I didn't finish college but I don't think it takes a physics major to figure out that when that planet, which by the way, is four times the size of earth, is on the farthest point of its extremely elliptical orbit, it will no longer be attached to the Sun's gravity and will spin out to outer space. The person who is predicting this had the information inserted in her brain by a group called the Zetas from a planet in another galaxy and her name is Nancy Leider. She's in wikipedia so it's okay to use her correct name. She originally predicted all of this in 2003 and killed her three german shepherds by drowning them so they would not suffer. This couple is sincere in their beliefs of these events and are waiting. And waiting. And waiting.
About two weeks after this interesting encounter I was walking with both of my dogs into the town center when I ran into this same guy's wife who was talking to a very pleasant looking blonde lady. After introductions were made, blonde lady had a slight look of concern and told the two of us to pardon her for a moment. She knelt down as close to eye level as she could get to Amber, my papillon, and whispered something to her. Very little surprises me anymore so I observed with a little amusement. When she stood, she announced that Amber was going to be okay. An interesting statement to be sure, I asked what she meant. She told me she could tell there was a spirit in Amber that needed to be cast out and she had taken care of it. I HAVE BEEN ALLOWING A DOG WITH AN EVIL SPIRIT TO SLEEP IN MY BED!!!! I am SO glad I happen to run into blonde lady. My mind is at ease now.
Chemtrail people. This is another conspiracy theory in which a lot of people believe. They believe that "they" (haven't figured out who "they" are but I'm reasonably certain "they" are the bad guy) are ordering planes to fly around in the sky and squirt out poison gases to "get rid of people". Now, "they" are somewhere on this planet as well. How do "they" keep from being overwhelmed by these gases? I think I have the answer. Magic mushrooms. I've heard that's the answer for a lot of things.
Do you really want to hear about the rapture people? I didn't think so. Redundant.
No discussion of the crazies in Vilcabamba would be complete without talking about Arturo. I really don't know what is wrong with Arturo other than he is probably the only bonifide mentally ill in town. The little guy walks from Malacotos to Vilcabamba and back every day at approximately 10 miles each way barefoot. He lives on hand outs. If you give him money he follows you to get more. He has a memory for the people that are a particularly easy touch. I nearly had to get out my credit card once to get him to leave me alone. I probably shouldn't even bring him up since he is truly a part of the mentally ill and not really just eccentric but he is so darn good at it! No one understands a word he says but he always understands what someone is saying to him. It could be the gestures that go with it.
And then there are the foodies. I have been told to quit eating meat so I won't get bitten by mosquitoes. A vegetarian I have met down here assures me it isn't true. She gets bitten all the time. I've been told not to eat fruit and I'll feel a lot better. I feel great already. I'm not sure I could stand feeling even better, thank you very much! Ask my kids what my eating habits were before moving down here and they will tell you about all the fast food and colas. The juice bar makes some kind of green juice and I just can't quite bring myself around to trying it. A few days after I tell this to my neighbor, zong!!! She shows up at my door with some kind of green juice that she thought I might like. Everybody is enthused about new ways to eat things so I can't really be too upset about it. I just never, ever had anyone show up at my door in Texas with a glass of green juice and tell me to try it because I might like it.
We have conferences here about raw food, conscious convergence, and parallel universes. I have a feeling if I'm still in Vilcabamba in a year, I'll probably be one of them. It's never dull around here.
I leave you with one of the biggest freaks I know:
I took the picture just for you.
