The frontiersman., 1954-01-07
IFYE YOUTH WRITES HOME FROM ECUADOR

son of MT. and Mrs. Glen Woods of Palmer has been sending in teresting, informative letters to his parents pertaining to his visit
 at Ecuador as an International Farm Youth Exchange delegate. From time to lime, parts of these letters will be printed in The Frontiersman through the cour- tesY of MT. and Mrs. Woods. Fol lowing is the fourth installment.
 It's another beautiful day in the tropical province of Manibi
 The other day, Thursday to be exact, I went with Don Angel to pick up cheese in all the nearby towns. Market days in most of the towns are Friday and Satur- day, so in order to distribute the cheese to the larger markets we had to get it on Thursday. We started off in the truck at g am. and went to Rocafuerte, Riochico, and Tosaugua, as well as other hamlets along the way. During the day we picked up about ton and a half of cheese. We distribut- ed cheese that night from Porto viejo to Jipijapa, and finally got home to Santa Ana at 3 in the morning. Cheese-brokering is one of the many things that Don An gel does. He gains about 5000 suc- res, or about 180 dollars a week this way.
 In Ecuador the meat for eating is always freshly killed, because there are no refrigeration facilit- ies here. I visited slaughter house about II pm. one night be- fore market day. They kill few animals every night, but they work all night before a market day and it is really a spectacle! The cattle and hogs are killed and laid on the cement floor, where they are cut up with axes and machetes, meat, tripe, brains, and liver was lying everywhere that night all mixed up. In the morning everything, including the feet and heads, is taken to the market, which is a roofed plaza where there are many. small booths and tables, The meat is hung on hooks where a customer may see it, and when some is bought, it is cut from the chunk with a large butcher. knife. They have no idea of how to cut meat here, and sometimes it hurts to see a beautiful steak massacred the way they do it.
 Renan Arteaga had two cous- ins- who were sworn enemies since they were about years old. Early one morning when they were both 28 years old, they met on a hjlly road in the country. One was going to see the grandfather that the other had just left. With out bothering to dismount, each drew his pistol and fired 3 times at the other, over distance of about $50 it. saw the crosses that marked the spot where each man died, each with 3 bullets in his body. That was six years ago. Many men carry pistols in some parts of Manabi as a protection against robbers. Another reason, is to protect black-market and illegal interests. For instance, bootlegging whiskey seems to be quite a business here. Don Angel has son-in-law who is chief of the secret police, who round up the bootleggers and bring stills and the product in. One night he brought two stills, five 1gallon jugs whiskey, and about 200 lbs of pinuela mash, from which the whiskey is made. He has been gone 3 days and he looked pretty tired. People who have trucks stop for passengers anywhere along the road, and collect small fare when the passenger departs. It's not uncommon to pick up a lad carrying 2 jugs of bootleg in an especially made cloth sack. h. teresting people here :. but don't worry about me.
 l On Sunday July 5, I went to
 Manta with the Arteaga family
 for swim and a picnic. We really
 had quite a time. The ocean was
 warm and so was the sun. The pelicans were nearby fishing peacefully, and the breakers were not too large. We swam for abou' an hour, tumbled on the beautiful . beach for a while, then took |;