Ecuador - August Reiger, 18, US student, Banos, 16 June 2013

[Seajay]

Love that story! I was telling my DD that I laughed out loud at the photos of Malia Obama in Ireland the other week, because she had the exact same look in every single photo that my DD had in every single photo we took of her when we visited London when she was the same age. Teenagers--the universal scowl, the universal arms crossed, the universal slouch, the implied eye roll...

Even the best and the brightest teenagers get irritated by their parents--nature of the game.

Maybe that photo captured a moment of teenage irritation by August, and who knows if it meant anything more (my DD, like Seajay's grandson, now remembers the London trip as completely awesome) or not. That's the other great thing about teens---their moods change every 5 minutes.

I just hope nothing happened to him during what might just have been a typical teenage moment.

Yeh, they just have their moody moments. Or rather they have their happy ones and their normal is moody.

 

[Seajay]

I would think though that by now, if he had left voluntarily, he'd be back. Like Old Steve said, once you are gone, you start missing the things you didn't think mattered to you. If August wanted to see Ecuador without parents hanging all over the place, he should be over that by now. Unless he's deep in the Amazon and hasn't come out yet.

I don't know what happened to him. This is another one of those disappearances that could go either way. I hope his family gets answers.

 

[necco]

I would think that if he left voluntarily, someone would have turned him in for the reward. The gross national income per capital is less than $4,000. Even if the reward that hasn't been announced is only $500 dollars, that's a good chunk of change for a campesino.

 

[missgulfsouth]

I would think that if he left voluntarily, someone would have turned him in for the reward. The gross national income per capital is less than $4,000. Even if the reward that hasn't been announced is only $500 dollars, that's a good chunk of change for a campesino.

Hmmmm. I can see that. But I still think he's exploring the Amazon, found some friends, maybe people who don't have access to news right now. Free spirits like himself.....wanderers. IMO

 

[MLE]

As a straight male who had long hair when I was in my teens and twenties, I can tell you that being a male with hair as long as August's elicits a lot of homophobic remarks and hostility. And when you're August's age, you're more likely to reply with caustic remarks, further enraging the person/people.

More rarely, it can attract unwanted and sometimes persistent advances from gay males whose gaydar is a little off. This post I read on reddit last night is sort of what it's like at times: http://www.***********/r/LetsNotMeet/comments/1hifly/how_my_mother_saved_my_fathers_life_or_the/

 

[necco]

As a straight male who had long hair when I was in my teens and twenties, I can tell you that being a male with hair as long as August's elicits a lot of homophobic remarks and hostility. And when you're August's age, you're more likely to reply with caustic remarks, further enraging the person/people.

More rarely, it can attract unwanted and sometimes persistent advances from gay males whose gaydar is a little off. This post I read on reddit last night is sort of what it's like at times: http://www.***********/r/LetsNotMeet/comments/1hifly/how_my_mother_saved_my_fathers_life_or_the/

Ironically, MLE, I've actually seen the opposite happen. In S/C American countries with a large US military presence, I found, by traveling with a long haired man and a short haired man at different times on the same trip, that the long haired man was treated MUCH better because they knew he wasn't military.

But I can totally see, with the shadow of machismo looming, that countries without the military bias may react much differently to men when judging by the length of their hair.

Just another perspective.

 

[MLE]

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Different people, even within the same country, have different groups of people they love and hate.

I have lived most of the past seven years in the Far East, mostly in South Korea. I started shaving my head about two years ago and some of the younger (under 40) Koreans immediately became very rude and the Koreans old enough to remember the war started treating me with extreme kindness because they think I'm a GI.

But from my experiences in the American Bible Belt (where I'm from), South Korea, and other places with a lot of churches, if you're a male with hair as long as August's, you're a lightning rod for irrational behavior from complete strangers. And it only happens when they're in a group and you're by yourself.

 

[wfgodot]

One scenario could have August attempting his Spanish on a couple of people who took offense to one thing or another, possibly him using a dictionary word or phrase properly (as he was taught in school) but which might have a different meaning entirely in that part of the country. Perhaps he was kidnapped, yes, not for ransom but in anger - for revenge.

 

[necco]

One scenario could have August attempting his Spanish on a couple of people who took offense to one thing or another, possibly him using a dictionary word or phrase properly (as he was taught in school) but which might have a different meaning entirely in that part of the country. Perhaps he was kidnapped, yes, not for ransom but in anger - for revenge.

While I could see that happening in other cultures, I'm not sure it would happen in a Spanish speaking country. There aren't really any particularly horrible words you could accidentally say. In researching your question, however, I did find a fantastic website: http://www.youswear.com/index.asp?language=Spanish+(ecuador)#.UdZTyhbhAy4

My experience around the world is that if you try, people appreciate it. They may giggle when you order "15 naps" instead of "15 dumplings" or when your shirt says "Put A Bird On It" and all they see is "Put A" But that tends to only be in good fun.

Oh. The only possible mixup I can think of is puta/pujar But in SA Spanish, pujar means to bid. In Catalan it means to ascend or climb up. Puta means... well, it means a word you probably wouldn't say in front of your mom. But may be used in an insult about your mom.

 

[wfgodot]

While I could see that happening in other cultures, I'm not sure it would happen in a Spanish speaking country. There aren't really any particularly horrible words you could accidentally say. In researching your question, however, I did find a fantastic website: http://www.youswear.com/index.asp?language=Spanish+(ecuador)#.UdZTyhbhAy4

My experience around the world is that if you try, people appreciate it. They may giggle when you order "15 naps" instead of "15 dumplings" or when your shirt says "Put A Bird On It" and all they see is "Put A" But that tends to only be in good fun.

Oh. The only possible mixup I can think of is puta/pujar But in SA Spanish, pujar means to bid. In Catalan it means to ascend or climb up. Puta means... well, it means a word you probably wouldn't say in front of your mom. But may be used in an insult about your mom.

There's also the "Mi papá tiene 47 años" v. "Mi papa tiene 47 anos" conundrum!

Sure, if one tries, almost everyone almost everywhere looks on indulgently, no matter how one tortures their language. My little "solution" does require a couple of n'er-do-wells eager to take offense.

 

[Maze]

I just did a google search for "August Reiger pictures". In all of them he is smiling. Now look at his last pic taken by his father on the trail, attached below. He looks so sad. It is very eerie.

It looks like Austin has on a Darwin t-shirt in the photo in post # 238. Those can be very inflammatory to some people.

 

[necco]

It looks like Austin has on a Darwin t-shirt in that photo. Those can be very inflammatory to some people.

80% of Ecuadorians are Catholic.
8% are atheists.

The Catholic Church has no issue with the Theory of Evolution. The Church has deferred to science for the age of earth and dinosaurs and such. (This is easily explained in theology class by the line "Genesis never says how long a day is")

You'd be MUCH, MUCH more likely to get a beat down in Texas for a Darwin t-shirt than in Ecuador.

Catholic Church and evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Awesome catch though, and yes, some places, that could be a serious issue.

 

[PoirotryInMotion]

80% of Ecuadorians are Catholic.
8% are atheists.

The Catholic Church has no issue with the Theory of Evolution. The Church has deferred to science for the age of earth and dinosaurs and such. (This is easily explained in theology class by the line "Genesis never says how long a day is")

You'd be MUCH, MUCH more likely to get a beat down in Texas for a Darwin t-shirt than in Ecuador.

Catholic Church and evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Awesome catch though, and yes, some places, that could be a serious issue.

Yes, good catch! And to clarify that theological line, the Hebrew word translated "day" in Genesis is actually a word that means a "period of time" that has no exact English equivalent. Poetic language, not scientific, yet so perfect for conveying timeless truth, IMO. (Yep, I'm a Texan and a Christian who also believes in both Creation and evolutionary processes at the dawn of time--but won't derail the thread with that, lol.)

 

[necco]

PoirotryInMotion, I hope I didn't offend you. I could have picked any number of Bible belt states. And yes, I was taught both Genesis and evolution. One in theology class, one in science and it never caused any cognitive dissonance. (Catholic educated for all but my last 2 years of college.)

And it's nice to meet someone who studies the words of the Bible and how they've been translated through the years.

O/T: I always read your name as Pogueitinmotion, but I guess that's because I love the band the Pogues.

Yes, good catch! And to clarify that theological line, the Hebrew word translated "day" in Genesis is actually a word that means a "period of time" that has no exact English equivalent. Poetic language, not scientific, yet so perfect for conveying timeless truth, IMO. (Yep, I'm a Texan and a Christian who also believes in both Creation and evolutionary processes at the dawn of time--but won't derail the thread with that, lol.)

 

[Seajay]

PoirotryInMotion, I hope I didn't offend you. I could have picked any number of Bible belt states. And yes, I was taught both Genesis and evolution. One in theology class, one in science and it never caused any cognitive dissonance. (Catholic educated for all but my last 2 years of college.)

And it's nice to meet someone who studies the words of the Bible and how they've been translated through the years.

O/T: I always read your name as Pogueitinmotion, but I guess that's because I love the band the Pogues.

It's after Hercule Poirot the detective from the Agatha Christie novels, right???

 

[necco]

It's after Hercule Poirot the detective from the Agatha Christie novels, right???

I would assume so, but my brain goes to the Irish punk band the Pogues before an Agatha Christie character. That's just how I roll.

 

[wfgodot]

I would assume so, but my brain goes to the Irish punk band the Pogues before an Agatha Christie character. That's just how I roll.

What would Shane Macgowan say about this case?

 

[Snoopster]

It looks like Austin has on a Darwin t-shirt in the photo in post # 238. Those can be very inflammatory to some people.

Keep in mind that the Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador. I suspect they see a lot of Darwin "stuff" on tourists in Ecuador. It is a key contributor to their tourism income.

 

[necco]

What would Shane Macgowan say about this case?

Whatever it was, it would be unintelligible.

 

[wfgodot]

Whatever it was, it would be unintelligible.

Too sadly true.