Pre- Expedition Blog: May 5, 2012

May 5, 2012:  Today I let everyone sleep in until 07:00. Natalia showed up an hour later, and together we fixed a quick breakfast of eggs, bread and coffee in our little kitchen. Shortly after, Matt began training Sumac and Nixon with the use of the cameras, the meanwhile practicing his high school Spanish pretty well. Having instructions for the camera printed in Spanish also helped to speed along the training session. Sumac and Nixon seem to be catching on quickly.

Mickey marks his route on the map.

While the crew trained, Natalia and I went out and about to search for a map of South America that I will present in my upcoming TV interview. Finding an adequate map, we then returned to the apartment to mark the expedition route on the map. It is the same drill as I did in the states, appearing in various TV morning shows prior to my departure. 


Sumac and Nixon have gotten their hands over the cameras and seem confident and excited of the opportunity to take such a role in the expedition. We took a quick break, strolling the nearby streets, tasting some fresh juice squeezed out of exotic local fruit and are now back to our preparations.


It is 19:30 now and while I am working on some logistics and technological details, Nixon, Sumac and Matt continue to practice video. Natalia has called off for the night and went to her home located in Calderon, Quito.

With Matt, Sumac and Nixon preparing to call the night off as well, I went to my bed. Just as I finally began to relax for the day I noticed the toilet was running. To my dismay I found the toilet had overflowed to the floor, covered with all the goodies a toilet can bring. That, was nasty! I yelled for Matt to come film right away while Nixon and I began to mop the floor. We used a little toilet brush and the table cloth... (mind you, we had limited resources). This is terrible, my room stinks! I called the landlord and he is supposed to have it fixed tomorrow. 


Fingers crossed he comes through tomorrow...


-Mickey