All the best soccer players in Ecuador come from the Valle De Chota, from Juncal...or they use to. This field and these shoes were gifts from one man who had landed a contract in Europe. That's where the big money is. The entire town was mud brick houses, most were poor farmers but here and there between dirt streets would rise a gaudy, brightly painted, mirrored glass, four story mansion that one such son had built for his mother. And so everone ran and ran, some for love, but many with the shadow of these buildings in their hearts.

Jose has sold all his trucks and bought a gas station after an accident had nearly killed him. The gas station was one of the safest places for us to sleep since they had a night guard (which was enough of a deterant for most potential theives). They were also one of the most dangerous places because they handle such large amounts of cash but anyone who would knock off a gas station probably wouldn't rob the guy with a donkey on the way out.