New Year's Eve

Cuenca is supposed to be a fun place to spend New Year's Eve. There are effigies all over the city that will burn tonight, and we have heard that most of them will have fireworks inserted into them before they are ignited. Here are several pictures of them for sale, or prepared for ignition.

Here are a few masks for applying to effigies. Note also the fireworks for sale on the right.Action and cartoon figures are apparently popular.
These are just a tiny fraction of what was for sale. The idea is to add masks of someone you don't like, and send them up in smoke.Sonic the Hedgehog was being loaded on the car for ignition elsewhere.This one was just across the street from our apartment.Also, fireworks have been going off on a more frequent basis, and are expected to accelerate as midnight approaches. We have a party at church this evening, but we plan to be home before midnight, as our apartment is high enough to see all around, and we expect to have a great view of the fireworks from here. And then we can go straight to bed, rather than having to navigate our way home through streets filled with smoke and revelry.

Earlier today Samuel and I went to the market. As we were leaving, the bar on the corner was stocking up. Looks like they expect to do some business tonight.Samuel wanted to find some good Ecuadorian T-shirts to take home, but we didn't find any. However, we did see this girl who had just picked up her baby brother, who was crying. I asked if I could take her picture, and she seemed glad for me to.

A hot plate

Susan caught a cold ten days or so ago, and was mostly recovered, except for a persistent cough. It was not typical, in that she has been sleeping fine, but during the day it would just not go away. She decided that it was similar to the cough she had ten years ago or so, which we finally traced to our gas stove, and here again, we are using a gas stove.

So, today about noon, I set out to find a hot plate on which we could at least do some of our cooking to minimize the use of the gas stove. I first checked a couple of stores close by, without success, and then went to the Coral Ipermercado at the Mall del Rio, and they had several. In particular, I had a choice between one burner or two, so I bought the two-burner model.

We have been using it since early afternoon, [and have not used the gas stove at all since noon] and Susan is already coughing a lot less. It seems strange to me that the combustion products on a gas stove could have this effect, but it does. I can only assume that the odorants used in the gas [different here than at home, but still present], combust to form byproducts that annoy her lungs. Propane itself combusts to form water and carbon dioxide, and I refuse to believe that either of those is the culprit.

Anyhow, the only other thing of note for today is that it rained again late this afternoon and evening. I don't know how widespread these rains are, but it would seem that if they are as widespread as they appear, then the drought should be fading fast. We did not have a power outage today, and with tomorrow being New Year's Eve, we should not have one then, nor again until Monday at the earliest. If we don't have an outage on Monday, then I will hope that we are past them, at least if we keep getting some rain.

No pictures for today.

More bus exploration

Today I went on a bus exploration trip riding Bus #27, which took me to Baños. I had been wanting to visit Baños for some time, expecting there to be hot springs there, but other than a hand-lettered sign pointing to a "piscina", I saw nothing. However, it is a beautiful area above Cuenca, as can be seen from a couple of pictures below.

Here is a more panoramic shot showing what the area looks like.Here is a scene from the community of Baños, with a variety of housing visible, along with lots of gardens or farmland. Given that a lot of farming is done by hand here [if you look closely, you can see several people out working the land], it is not always clear to me which is which.And here is a street in Cuenca as we came back, partly showing the houses, partly showing the profusion of wire and cables, and partly showing the approaching thundercloud. I made it back to the apartment only a moment before the storm hit, and I was very glad to be here.
It rained very hard for about half an hour, with a lot of lightning and thunder. One lightning strike was a good mile away, yet the thunder was so loud that I thought it might break windows, and it did set off a lot of car alarms.

After almost three hours, the cloud finally moved on, just in time for us to walk to church where Susan had an appointment to teach a piano lesson. Her student is Fernanda, who is probably 11 years old, and just adorable. And just about as extroverted and friendly as a person can be. The lesson went well, although Susan was frustrated by the language challenges. Fernanda didn't seem bothered by the mixture of English and Spanish at all, though.

Rules of the road

Today we went out to the “Mall del Rio”, which is a moderate-size modern mall here in Cuenca. We didn’t do much there except look around, although we did get some more toothpaste and some sugarless gum for Ben to use to keep his braces from hurting his lips.

However, we took a taxi to the mall, and once again I had cause to think about how they drive here. At first glance, people accustomed to driving in the US would say that drivers here are crazy, but that is not true. We have not seen any accidents since we arrived, even though we have seen lots of situations that looked like they were close calls.

One comment that Ben made the same day that he and Samuel arrived is that pedestrians here move fast and stay alert, and it is true. The drivers will try to avoid pedestrians, but they also count on the pedestrians to not do dumb things. For example, as Ben further noted, in the US when the light turns green and pedestrians start crossing in the crosswalk, a driver turning left must wait for them to clear the crosswalk, no matter how slowly they move. And if the driver were to give a brief beep on his horn to ask them to hurry up, they might well [some of them anyway] just stop in the middle of the crosswalk and leave the driver stuck in the middle of the intersection until the light goes red. The concept seems to be, “I’ve got the right-of-way, and how DARE you ask me to hurry?!”

Here if you tried that, the driver would probably make his left turn anyway, and would try to avoid a direct hit on the pedestrian, but if he were to get hit, we doubt that either the police or the judge would have much sympathy. He was acting stupid and not trying to protect himself, and does not deserve any sympathy, much less the protection of the law.

At the same time, pedestrians often cross the street away from crosswalks, or even on red lights, as long as there is room. I have seen them cross on a red light right in front of a policeman, with no concern whatsoever. It appears to be up to the individual to assess his options, and act in his own interest, and suffer the consequences if he does something stupid.

From what I can tell, much the same attitude applies to drivers. I have seen them make left turns on a red light when no one was coming on the street with the green light. And since stop signs are considered to be optional, as a driver approaches an intersection through which he has the right-of-way [i.e., the crossing drivers have stop signs], he will nearly always give a brief beep of his horn to alert crossing drivers that it is not safe to enter the intersection without stopping first.

In fact, horns are used a lot here, mostly for communication, rather than in anger. Drivers will often give a brief beep or two just to make sure that other drivers or pedestrians are aware of their presence. Taxi drivers will often give just a tiny beep to announce their availability to individuals beside the road. And occasionally you will hear a longer beep where a driver basically says, “You’re being stupid! Shape up!” On the other hand, I have not seen any road rage here. I’m sure it happens sometimes, but I haven’t seen it.

I feel like I am coming to better understand the rules of the road, but I am a long way from feeling like I could drive here. The knowledge may be in my head, but it is a long way from being incorporated into my reflexes.

Sorry, no pictures worth posting today.

Sunday

We went to church this morning, and Susan was again asked to play the piano. Afterward, two of the girls in the ward, probably 10-11 years old, came up separately and asked if she would teach them piano lessons while we are here. She worries about whether she can manage to teach in Spanish, but I told her that since the girls are really motivated to learn, it will work out. She is scheduled to teach them at the same time this Tuesday evening. One problem will be that they don't have access to a piano except at church, so it will be difficult for them to practice.

Then this evening we went for another walk. We had a good rain this afternoon, one that covered a fairly large area, and had some bit of lightning and thunder in it. Thus, it was cool and pleasant for a walk around 5:30. Just before we left the apartment I was able to take this picture looking east and a little north. The sun was shining on the cathedral in the distance, with shadow in the foreground, and the dark clouds of the retreating storm in the background.
Otherwise, it was a quiet day. We cleaned up the remaining leftovers from the Christmas dinner, so we will need to go shopping again tomorrow.

On Christmas Eve, the folks across the street butchered a couple of small pigs and then cooked them in a big pot in their courtyard. Then today they got this pig, which is much larger than the first ones. We don't know for sure what is planned, but we suspect another celebration for New Years.

Laid back

We didn't do a lot today. Susan is recovering from a cold, which is now to the cough stage, and Ben and I walked down to the grocery store for a few items. Other than that, we just stayed around the apartment and read, washed hair [Susan], and worked on short stories [Samuel]. Ben has been working on a programming project.

We are doing fine, we just took a day of downtime, for the most part.

Christmas visit

The blog is really annoying me this evening. I typed my entry, but then it wouldn't let me add a picture. Finally, I decided to just post it, and add a picture later, but instead it failed to post, and lost all the text I had entered. So, I will try again, but I will save it before I post next time.

Anyhow, we had a great Christmas day, and hope that all of you did as well. We invited a couple that we met here, Ken and Carole Ann Rand, to join us for Christmas dinner this afternoon, and they showed up about 1:00. Here is a picture of them.

We visited for a while, then moved into the kitchen so that Susan and I could take care of finishing details as we visited. We nibbled on this and that, and then about 2:30, two hours after I put it in, I checked the chicken, but it was not nearly done.

The oven is calibrated in degrees Celsius, of course, so I calculated that 350 F is a little less than 180 C, and that is where I set the oven. Apparently the calibration was not very good, so I cranked it up to 210 C and left it for another hour. At that time the chicken was done, but not overdone. We ate it, along with potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. We had already been nibbling on Pan de Pascua, technically an Easter bread, but also popular at Christmas, shrimp, fruit, etc., so after the main course, we decided to wait for dessert.

The Rands brought dessert, a couple of pastries from a bakery here, and we waited until about 6:00 to sample them. They were great. They finally decided it was time to leave about 7:00 this evening, and Samuel and I walked them down the street to show them the grocery store where we buy the chocolate bars that they want to stock up on before heading home.

Through all this time they told us about their trip down along the coast and up to Cotacachi. And we told them about what we have done and learned here, and then the conversations devolved to all sorts of other topics, all of which we enjoyed. All in all, it was a very enjoyable day. They are here from Atlanta, and plan to return in a few months to rent and apartment and just live here for a while, just as we are doing now.

There. It looks like it is now working as it should. I will save it before posting, just in case.

Christmas visit

We hope that all of you had a very merry Christmas. Ours was great. We invited a couple that we met here when we first arrived, Ken and Carole Ann Rand, over for Christmas dinner this afternoon, and they stayed until almost 7:00 this evening, having showed up at 1:00.

Here is their picture, taken in our kitchen just before they left. [Hmm... The blog doesn't seem to be accepting pictures right now. I click on the button, but nothing happens. Maybe I'll try to add it later, so I can go ahead and post now.]

They told us of their trip down to the coast of Ecuador, stopping in various places, and then up to Cotacachi, north of Quito, before coming back here for their last week of their trip. They are here from Atlanta, and plan to return for a three-month visit, much as Susan and I are doing, a few months from now.

We also shared some of our experiences, and then the conversation veered to a number of other topics, all of which we enjoyed. We baked a chicken and a fish for dinner, and discovered that our oven doesn't bake as hot as the dial would indicate. Of course, it is calibrated in Celsius, rather than Fahrenheit, but I calculated that 350 F is equivalent to about 177 C, so I set the oven to about 180. However, two hours after I put the chicken in, I took it out and tested it, and it wasn't even close to done. So I put it back, turned up the oven to about 210 C, and cooked it for another hour. At that point I checked it again, and it was done, although not overdone. So we finally ate at about 3:30.

The Rands brought dessert, a couple of pastries from a bakery here in Cuenca, so we saved them until about 6:00, when we felt like eating again, and they were really wonderful. It really worked out well for all of us. The Rands said that it was the first home-cooked meal they had had in the last month, since they arrived in Cuenca, and for all of us it was a wonderful opportunity to visit and enjoy each others' company. Certainly, if they had not come, it would have been a less interesting day for us, and they apparently felt the same.

Christmas Eve

Today was Christmas Eve, and there was a lot going on around here. One good thing is that there was no power outage, and we do not expect any for the next three days. They normally only impose the outages on business/work days, and not on weekends or holidays. Also, we have had some bit of rain recently, so maybe they feel like they have a little more capacity in the system.

Late this morning Susan and I went back to the market to get supplies for our Christmas dinner tomorrow. We were able to take a bus to the market, although it had to detour around to avoid elements of the Christmas parade. Here are a couple of pictures of people and horses on their way to the parade. I have no idea what the goose in the cage is there for, nor the huge teddy bear facing backward on the horse.

And the blankets on the horses look really fancy, but they can't have been comfortable. The temperature was in the mid-70s, and neither a coat nor a blanket was called for.
At the market we bought a chicken, a fish, a pound and a half of large shrimp still in the shell, and a variety of fruits and vegetables. The bag with all of our stuff was really heavy, and as we walked several hundred yards around the market and to the bus stop, it got heavier. At the bus stop we were looking for a #16 bus, and after several others came and went we spotted a #16. However, instead of pulling over and stopping, it just sailed on past. We weren't the only one who were annoyed by this, but being upset didn't help. After waiting for at least another ten minutes [with our chicken, fish, and shrimp getting warmer and warmer], we finally decided to go back toward the market and catch a taxi instead.

It was about another 200 yards back to where the taxis were waiting, but we got one and came home. It cost us $2.00 rather than the $0.50 bus fare, but it was probably a wise move at that.

Then late this afternoon Ben and I went to the grocery store to get some spices [bulk quantities and quality in the open market didn't inspire confidence], and a few other things.

Susan has been suffering for 2-3 days with a sore throat, which now seems to have migrated into a head cold. She is getting better, but not as fast as she would like. So far the rest of us have not caught it, and we hope to keep it that way. The boys went out for Chinese food this evening, and said that it was very good.

Christmas program

This evening was the Christmas program at church. Susan and Ben had been invited to help by playing the piano, so we arrived about 25 minutes early so they could practice. It was scheduled to start at 7:00, or so we were told, but it finally got underway at 7:40, and ran for a little over an hour. It all went very well.

I then brought Susan home so she could fix something to eat, while the boys stayed for refreshments and whatever other activities might happen. They are not home yet as I write, at 11:00 p.m. here.

I should also note that there are a lot of fireworks going off this evening, in various different places around the city. We stopped to watch some in the distance as we walked home from the church, and I have seen others through the window as I sat here catching up on e-mail and writing this blog. Apparently Christmas is a big season for fireworks here, but far from the only one.

Earlier today I went for another bus exploration tour, this time on the #15 bus, and again it took me outside the city. Here is a picture of the semi-rural countryside that we traveled through. Given that this is only a few minutes from downtown Cuenca, it looks very appealing to me.

Then on the way home, I stopped at the store to pick up a few things, and decided to bring Susan some flowers. I got a dozen long-stemmed roses, as you can see in this picture. Lest you think that I am being unduly extravagant, I will mention that the price was only $3. They are still beautiful, and will be on our table for Christmas dinner.

Shopping at the mercado

Today Susan and I went to the market that is just a mile or so up the street from here. Here is a picture of some of the stuff we bought, and everything in the picture cost us $6.30. The two pineapples were about half of that, at $1.50 each, four avocados for a dollar, chard for 20 cents, and the two heads of broccoli for 40 cents each. I got all the bananas for a dollar. I picked up the larger bunch, and asked how much. The lady said a dollar, which I thought was great, but then she picked up the smaller bunch and added them in, still for a dollar. Although you can't count them in the picture, there are 31 of them. The two garlic bulbs were 30 cents, and I am sure I got ripped off, but I decided not to lose too much sleep over it. And just in case you were wondering, we are eating well, and enjoying it. At the same time, I am gradually losing weight here, probably as much due to my increased physical activity as to the food.
Yesterday Susan and I bought a cell phone. We have been feeling the need for one here, both because everyone expects you to have a cell phone so they can reach you, and also so that we can communicate between the apartment and anyone who happens to be away from the apartment. Anyhow, we went to a store where they had all these models to choose from, but when we explained to our representative what we really wanted - as cheap as would meet our needs - he recommended that we go a block down the street and buy a used phone. We did, and picked one up for about half the price of a new one, and it works great! We have to buy a card with more minutes if and when we use up our $3.00 that comes with the phone, but I doubt that we spend a lot more on it.

This evening we went back to the church and Susan and Ben spent about 1.5 hours practicing on the piano. They feel deprived not having one in the apartment, but it's just not practical. Also, they have been asked to provide accompaniment for the Christmas program tomorrow evening, so it really was important for them to go practice.

More rain and exploration

It rained last night, and again this afternoon. Samuel and I were especially aware of the rain this afternoon as we were returning from another bus exploration trip, when it started to rain just a couple of blocks before we reached home. We didn't get too wet, but if we had been just a minute or two slower, we would have. And it is raining again now. We need the rain here, as the reservoirs are still low, and we have a blackout for three hours every day on weekdays, just to conserve power. Thus, we are not complaining about the rain, just trying to cope with it.

Susan and I then went back to the grocery story this evening to pick up a few things for her that had run low, and then we went over to see the Cabrera family, from which we have just returned. We really enjoyed our visit, but we didn't get home until after 10:30, so I am just posting briefly for now, and then heading for bed. I'll try to post more pictures tomorrow.

Ben's Birthday

Today is Ben's birthday, and he turned 22. This morning we went to church, where we are feeling more and more at home. After church, Ben took the opportunity to play the piano for a while, and very much impressed a couple of the kids with some of his pieces. He and Susan have been asked to perform the accompaniment for the ward Christmas program on Wednesday evening, so we will be going back on Tuesday evening for them to practice again.

After coming home from church, we spent the rest of the day here, sleeping, reading, doing e-mail and such, and then playing a game of 99 [don't ask] this evening. Ben finally won as the last person standing. He also received a chocolate bar for a birthday present, and ate the whole thing. We have discovered that they have chocolate bars here that are really good, and we are already planning to take a bunch of them home. Of course, we are consuming some here as we go along, just to verify quality control.

It has been a very quiet, pleasant day, with a lot more sunshine than yesterday.

Pizza

Tomorrow is Ben's birthday [22], so this evening I took Ben and Samuel out for pizza at the place across the street from the Hostal Macondo where Susan and I stayed when we first arrived here. The pizza is very good, and about a mile each way. Since we walked both ways, I don't feel too guilty, even though we stopped for ice cream cones on the way home.

Actually, Ben got ice cream twice, because at the pizza place I told them that it was his birthday tomorrow, so when we finished the pizza, our server brought him a cup of ice cream with a piece of strawberry on top. He said it was very good, but I will have to take his word for that. I didn't get a taste to verify for myself.

Susan and I went on a bus exploration tour this afternoon, on bus #18, which took us by the bus station and the airport. As we try more and more buses, we are getting a feel for which ones go where. On the other hand, we have only ridden a few so far - 3, 16, 18, - and there are many more to go.

Another market

Today Susan and I went to a market about 3/4 of a mile west of our apartment. Samuel and I looked it over briefly yesterday, but today Susan and I bought two full grocery bags of fruit and vegetables, as well as a fish and a pound of shrimp. All told we spent $14, plus a dollar for bus fare there and back. At one point, a woman came up to us and offered five heads of broccoli and a head of cauliflower for a dollar, so we bought them.

This market is much larger than the one we have been shopping at, even though we thought it was big. The new one probably covers 4-5 acres, and maybe more. This picture shows a fairly large stall, but it was not even a tenth of a percent of the whole thing. I will try to take more pictures there, but there is no way that pictures can really give an idea of its magnitude. Nor the odors, either, some of which were attractive, and some of which were not.

And these eggs came from a variety of birds. I'm not sure which birds, except the big one appears to be from an ostrich.
This evening Samuel and I went to a Christmas program at the church, and enjoyed it. It would have been even more enjoyable with less amplification, but I took earplugs, so that was OK. There was a lot of enthusiasm, and people there certainly had a good time.

Another water treatment plant

This morning Samuel and I got an early start because we had an appointment at 8:00 a.m. to meet Monica Marca, another engineer with the Cuenca water department. She and Pedro took us out of Cuenca to a slow-rate sand filter that they operate that serves about a thousand people. I'm not sure how the district boundaries are set, but these customers are WAY out of town. On the other hand, because they are in the district, they get clean water at a subsidized rate, which is probably the only way many of them could afford it.

Given that my research project for my Master's Degree was on slow-rate sand filtration, I was very excited to have an opportunity to see one in operation here. It turns out that in addition to the three main plants that provide water to Cuenca, the water department also operates fifteen small plants for rural areas around Cuenca, four of which are slow-rate sand filters.

They took us in their 4x4 SUV, which was necessary, as the road to the plant was not passable for a lesser vehicle. On the way we had to wait for a school parade to clear the road, then they waited a moment for me to take pictures, as shown here. The traditional outfits worn by the girls are so colorful and cute, and the variety indicates that they probably come from different tribes.
In this one, the little boy looking at the camera would be expelled from most schools in the US, as those are real, pearl-handled, toy pistols he has on, and the way he walked, he was sure that he was the best-dressed kid at school today.Shortly after that we arrived at the plant, and I was very impressed. There are two filters, each about 5 m in diameter, and they treat about 6 liters per second, or about 95 gallons per minute. The water arrives by pipe from a source about 22 km away, and it is a gravity flow, with the plant at almost 3000 m of elevation. There is a banana tree growing right next to the treated water storage tank. They said that it was somewhat colder at the plant than in Cuenca, but it turns out that that means highs in the 60s and lows in the upper 40s.

Here is a picture of the filters with the valley in the background.
And here is a picture of Luis, the man who lives at the plant and takes care of maintenance, Monica, the supervising engineer, and Pedro, who drove for us, and whose other duties I am not clear about.
This afternoon, while the power was out, Samuel and I went out exploring Cuenca by bus. Almost four hours of riding around cost us 75 cents apiece, and we saw a good bit of the city. It turns out that they do not have a map of the bus routes here, or at least not one available for distribution to users. Therefore, we have decided to ride some of the buses just to see where they go.

The price is 25 cents per person for as far as the bus goes, and that can be as much as an hour from end to end. I thought sure that when the bus reached the end of its course and turned around they would want us to pay another 25 cents, but they did not. In the process we found another market of fruit, vegetables, and many other things even a little closer than the one we have been patronizing, and which can be reached with a simple direct bus ride. Susan and I plan to go shopping there tomorrow.

Norton problems

It is late, and I have been fighting problems with Norton Internet Security. It offered a free upgrade, and then after it installed, said that I wasn't qualified for it. I chatted on-line with a tech and finally got it resolved, but the issue shouldn't have happened in the first place.

We are doing fine, went to the market again, picked up laundry, and cleaned the apartment, among other things. I'll try to write more tomorrow.

Laundry

Today we spent quite a bit of time walking the streets and asking where there might be a laundromat, or something equivalent. Lots of people told us that there was one "down that way", but as we got closer, no one ever knew about it. I began to feel like the early Spanish conquistadors looking for the Seven Cities of Cibola. However, we finally found one [our landlord took Samuel to it about four blocks away] this afternoon, and we went back over there with a load of clothes around 5:00 p.m. This is not a self-serve laundromat like we have in the US, but rather the owners are also the operators, and they took our clothes, along with payment - $3.36 - and told us that they would be ready by 10:00 a.m. tomorrow.

While we were out looking, Samuel got a haircut, and I may go back there in a week or two and get one for myself as well.

One of the interesting things we notice are some of the signs. Here is one translated into English that we thought interesting.
And there are flowers all over. Here is a bush in the corner of a park that we saw late this afternoon.

Water Treatment plant

This morning Samuel and I set out to see if we could get an appointment to visit a water treatment plant here in Cuenca. We talked to people in three different places before we found the right one, where the woman referred us to an actual plant. We took a taxi out there, and met with Hernan Cabrera, who is the engineer in charge of the plant. We visited at first, and I asked about the plant and related details, then he took us for a tour. It is just like similar plants in the US, and in fact, the whole system and how it operates could be taken directly from the USA. Based on what I learned there today, plus what I have read elsewhere, I have no reservations about drinking water out of the tap here in Cuenca. I wouldn't necessarily do it elsewhere in Ecuador or Latin America, but I now trust the water in Cuenca.

We also left with an appointment to see another smaller plant on Thursday morning, and Hernan told me as we were leaving that this was only the second time in ten years that he had been able to show off his plant to visitors from outside of Ecuador. Despite the lack of practice, he was an excellent guide, and is obviously very proud of his plant.

Sunday

The chapel where we go to church is less than a 15-minute walk from our apartment, and we got there a little early. Susan played the piano, as the regular pianist was late. We got to know more people today, and have been invited to visit another family tomorrow evening. Having Samuel there with us is a real help, as it is all the time. He is very patient with all our questions about how to say this or that, but it really is wonderful to have the live help.

Then late this afternoon we went for another walk, this time farther to the south to explore along another of the rivers in Cuenca, the Yanucay. It is perhaps a half a mile away, and strangely, the walk to the river was almost all uphill. Up, up, up, and then over a little rise, and there was the river. It is about the same size as the one to the north of us [the Tomebamba] that we have crossed numerous times, and they run together about 2-3 miles to the east of here.

The Yanucay has a park that runs along the river that is quite attractive, but there are a few things there that you would not expect to see in the USA. For example, there was the bull staked out grazing next to a playground with lots of families and children.
Here is a picture of the river Yanucay itself. It is quite a pretty river.

And here is a picture of the late afternoon sun shining on the mountains to the west of us. We really do enjoy our walks around here, and there is so much to see. That is Samuel with his back to the camera. He ran over to check out a bridge in a playground to see if there was any purpose for it other than a place for children to play.

Neighborhood

We went for a walk as a family today, over past the University of Cuenca, and then around by the chapel where we will attend church tomorrow, and probably the whole time we are in Cuenca, and then back to the apartment. I didn't take any pictures on that trip, but Samuel and I went out this evening and I did take a few.

First, it is interesting how they handle garbage in Cuenca. They have garbage pickup three times per week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. People take their garbage and put the sacks against trees or power poles along the sidewalk, and in the evening trucks come along with laborers who pick it up and haul it away. Here is a pile of sacks in the foreground, with the street leading past our apartment in the background.
Here is another picture looking back down our street, with our apartment in view. We are on the top floor of the building in the foreground, with the entrance gate just to the right of the car. It looks like they built our apartment with the intention of extending it to the south, but then never got around to it. It looks a lot nicer inside than outside, which seems to be a common feature of houses in this area. We do not have an elevator in our building, and I counted the steps from the front gate to our apartment: 60 of them, and I climb them 5-6 times per day most days. When we were getting moved in our landlord asked if we wanted directions to a nearby gymnasium or health club, and I said, "No. We have stairs to keep us in shape." He laughed, but so far they seem to be doing a good job.
As Samuel and I walked around this evening, we also saw lots of people out partying and drinking along the streets. Hundreds of them, but always in small groups and not especially rowdy, but trying to have a good time. The noise will probably last until close to midnight, and seems to be there every night. It has not kept us awake yet.

We hear buses, sirens, honking horns [lots of these], and occasional explosions, which I think are rockets launched by the exuberant. Such are certainly available here, and don't seem to be regulated. Of course, there are LOTS of things here that are not regulated the way we are accustomed to in the US, but on the whole I like it that way.

Exploring

Samuel and Gordon spent a 2-3 hours today exploring and shopping. Ben is trying to finish up a programming final exam that is due tonight, so we got out of the apartment and let him focus on it.

When out for our exploratory trip, our first stop was at an ATM, where Gordon withdrew $100, just to make sure that his ATM card works. It did, and that is a relief. This is very much a cash economy, so we need to make sure that we can get the cash to keep operating.

Shortly after, we came across a parade and fiesta, where there were these little girls dressed up as angels.
And right around the corner was a horse-drawn carriage with a driver to match.

And we sometimes run into things that we just don't expect. We were looking for a grater to grate cheese or potatoes, and ran across a shop that sells ....

HORSESHOES!

And these are not horseshoes for playing games, but the ones that are applied to the hooves of horses. I asked if I could take a picture, and they were thrilled to have me take it. In fact, after the first one, they insisted that I take a second one [this one] where they posed for it.

Finished or not, Ben has to turn in his exam tonight at midnight Mountain time, so he will be free to explore with us tomorrow and after. He had a nap this afternoon during our power outage, so he may push that deadline to its limit.

Samuel and Ben are here!!

Susan and I were quite worried last night because we had not heard from the boys since they left Las Cruces on Tuesday afternoon. During that time they were supposed to have arrived in Albuquerque [where we had reports of icy roads], gone to a hotel [with wi-fi], and then flown from Albuquerque to Quito, via Dallas and Miami. Then today they were supposed to travel on to Cuenca where we are.

Along the way there should have been several places where they could have sent an e-mail via Ben’s laptop, but we received no messages whatsoever. Finally, this morning I went to a commercial phone place and called the Quality Inn in Albuquerque to see if the boys had checked in there on Tuesday. They said that they had checked in, and then checked out the next morning. This made me feel a lot better, because I felt that the trip from Las Cruces to Albuquerque was the riskiest part of the trip, at least as far as safety goes.

Still, they should have been able to e-mail us from the hotel in Quito where I had made reservations for them, and we didn’t receive anything this morning. Finally, about 1:00 p.m. today the phone rang, and it was Samuel, in a taxi with Ben, looking for our apartment. I waited on the corner, and a few minutes later they showed up. It turned out that they made all their flights, but had never gotten to the hotel in Quito. Samuel had written down all the information for the trip, then left it in the pickup in Albuquerque. Fortunately he had our phone number and address in more than one place [in an e-mail, which he was barely able to access this morning], and they were able to find our apartment.

It was such a relief to us for them to arrive, especially after so much uncertainty. Thanks to Samuel’s Spanish skills, they found a different hotel last night and then flew on down to Cuenca today. I should note here that Samuel and Ben were also very relieved to find US. They felt that last night in Quito was a lot more risky than the drive to Albuquerque, but we are glad that we had no clue what problems they were dealing with there. Samuel talked to several cab drivers and was taken to a hotel that met their needs, although the beds were not comfortable, and a dog started screaming about 4:30 this morning. Samuel said that it was several minutes before he was sure that it was a dog and not a person. I hope that they are tired enough to go to bed early and adjust quickly to this time zone.

On a different note, here are a couple more pictures from our apartment. This one is looking east and a little south from our apartment.

And this one is looking to the west, up into the mountains where our water comes from.

Although we are at 8400 feet of elevation here, Cuenca is the local low spot, with mountains most of the way around us.

Power outages

I briefly noted on my first message after arriving in Ecuador that we had a power outage, but I should say more about them. Power outages have been happening here several times per week, on a scheduled basis. Most of Ecuador's electricity comes from hydroelectric plants [no surprise there, with lots of precipitation and lots of elevation difference, it really makes sense], but they have had less rain than usual over the last year or so, so to conserve power, they have been shutting down power to different areas of Ecuador for about 3 hours at a time, 3-4 times per week. Apparently most people are aware ahead of time when these outages are going to occur, but we are not in the loop, so it is always a surprise to us when the power goes off.

Yesterday afternoon we had an outage from about 2-5, and then we had one from 4-7 this afternoon/evening. The problem with that was that it gets dark here by about 6:20, so we really had nothing to do until the power came back on. Actually, we have a gas stove, so Susan fixed dinner by the light of a flashlight, so it was almost like camping out. It was also irritating because we could see that some other parts of the city had power. Oh well, we have been told that they are planning to end the scheduled outages on December 15, as the reservoirs have been filling up somewhat.

The weather here is much like it is in Los Alamos in July and August - mostly clear in the morning, but with thunderheads and sometimes rain in the afternoon and evening. We had a nice rain last night, and I saw it raining a few miles away late this afternoon. However, we get much less lightning and thunder than in New Mexico. I have heard some thunder, but only a few times.

And as promised, here are a few pictures. This is a picture of our kitchen. It is probably twice the size of our kitchen and dining room at home, and is nicely laid out. The window faces north, which provides very nice light, and there is a large skylight over the dining area so it is very well-lit during the day.

And speaking of kitchens and eating, here is an avocado that we bought in the market. At this size, they only sell two of them for a dollar.
Samuel and Ben should be arriving in Quito in a couple of hours. I told them to e-mail me on Ben's laptop if they didn't make their flight, and I haven't heard anything, so I assume that they made it. They should have an Internet connection when they reach their hotel in Quito, so we should hear from them then. They will be on down here tomorrow, but I don't know yet whether they will take the bus or fly.

New home, and much else

We spent last night in our new apartment, and it was quite nice, at least after I figured out how to light the pilot light on our hot water heater. Our bed is comfortable [very important] and the area is not too noisy, at least until about 6:00 a.m., when the traffic picks up.

As best we can guess from the newspapers that we found in the apartment, it has not been inhabited since about May, and although it looked clean when we walked through before renting, we have discovered that there is a fine layer of dust nearly everywhere. I swept all the floors today, and mopped under the kitchen table while we had it moved. Tomorrow we should get most of the rest mopped as well, just so we have a clean start. We have marble floors throughout, so sweeping and mopping goes very well, but it still takes work.

I also counted, and there are 60 steps from the front gate to our apartment. I climbed them at least 6 or 7 times today, as well as doing some bit of walking around, so I am certainly getting more exercise here. Combined with the great fruit and vegetables, I think I am doing quite well. And Susan appears to be doing likewise.

This afternoon we had our first guests. There is another American couple, Ken and Carol Ann Rand, from Atlanta, that we met at the Hostal Macondo, and they were very interested in our search for an apartment. So when we told them last night [when we went to pick up our laundry that had not come back when we checked out] that we found one and were moved in, they wanted to come see it. They came over this afternoon, and were suitably impressed.

Also this afternoon, Susan and I took a taxi out to Mall del Rio [except for Spanish language signs, indistinguishable from any new mall in the US] where I bought a wireless [cellular] modem for my laptop. The apartment did not come with internet, and internet cafes are a very poor substitute. With this modem I have high-speed internet anywhere in Ecuador that I have a cell-phone signal. Actually, the "anywhere in Ecuador" part shouldn't really matter, as I don't expect to be taking my laptop anywhere now, but if the need arises, it will be nice.

Samuel and Ben are on their way to Albuquerque as I write, and should be flying out tomorrow morning to join us down here for their winter break. I hope that the weather and roads do not cause them any problems, either with getting to the airport or flying out. I understand that the weather back in New Mexico has not been as pleasant as what we have down here.

And I got a real ego-boost today. When I showed up at the mall to buy my modem, I told the girl that I didn't speak Spanish very well, so she called over a man there to speak English to me. After a couple of moments of conversation, mostly in Spanish, he left, and when she called him back, he said that there was no point, as my Spanish was better than his English! I'm not sure that that was true, but I was/am certainly less inhibited about making mistakes as I attempt to communicate. And it is true that our Spanish is improving. There is just so MUCH improvement that we need to make.

I really wish that there was a way to record how well we are doing now, so that we could compare in a month or two and see clearly our progress. I know that we still won't be fluent, but often it is difficult to appreciate how much progress we are really making.

Tomorrow I'll try to include a few pictures in my posting, but tonight I am going to bed. I am worn out.

We are renters!

What a wild day. We called a rental agent this morning, and looked at two apartments. We then wound up renting the first one, even though it was a little more expensive, because it is much closer to the center of town, and easier to get to and from.

It has three bedrooms, and is on the fourth (and top) floor of the building. We have the entire top floor, and the view is great. It also has two bathrooms, a large kitchen and dining area, and a nice living room, all fully furnished. We will get our exercise climbing the stairs and taking care of shopping and such. We don´t have internet there, but will probably get it via a celular connection, which is an extra cost, but a service that I would have a hard time doing without.

Anyhow, it is now after dark, and we need to get back to our new home and unpack our stuff. I will try to take some pictures and post them, although this may not happen until after I get a direct connection to my laptop. Internet cafes are not the best for doing such.

The other apartment we looked at was a little less - $385 vs. $440 - but it had only two bedrooms and one bath, and was at least a 20-min taxi ride from the center of Cuenca. It had some nice features, and probably would have also been OK, but we figured that we would have spent the difference in taxis and bus fares, not to mention the extra time involved.

We are tired, but excited and doing well. Our Spanish is improving with all the practice, and we are looking forward to the arrival of Samuel and Ben this Thursday.

Sunday

We went to church this morning and were made very welcome. I don't know how long it may take to learn most of their names, but we'll do what we can. Of course, depending on where we find an apartment, we may be attending a different ward next week, but I have no doubt that we will be made welcome wherever we go.

After church, we walked back to the Hostel, and then stayed here the rest of the afternoon. We had food in the refrigerator, and just didn't feel like going out anywhere. Tomorrow is going to be spent trying to rent a suitable apartment, so I'll give an update tomorrow evening. We really want to have a place rented and be moved in before Samuel and Ben arrive next Thursday.

Walked to church

I know that tomorrow is Sunday, but this morning Susan and I walked from our hotel to the LDS chapel here in Cuenca, just to make sure that we can find it OK tomorrow. If the weather is bad or we are running late, we may still take a taxi, but it is about a 20-minute walk from here, not pushing too hard, and so we are planning to walk.

The weather today was great, with a good thundershower this afternoon to add some nice moisture and cool things down. This morning it was quite warm, probably again in the upper 70s, enough that we both perspired during our walk. We came back by the open market and picked up some more fruit and vegetables, which Susan then spent quite a bit of time preparing. She is eating well, but it does take some bit of effort. We are very glad to have access to kitchen facilities here.

We did learn something surprising today. Apparently the cell phones and land lines here are on different systems, and to call from a land line to a cell phone costs 25 cents per minute or so. This compares to 10-20 cents per minute to call from Ecuador to the United States. I don't know why this is, but I will be asking questions. I don't know what it costs to make calls from cell phones to land lines, or from cell phone to cell phone, but apparently it is more than for most of us in the USA. On the other hand, you see lots of people talking on cell phones all over the place...

We are well, happy, making good progress in learning Spanish. The people who work here in the Hostal Macondo are very friendly and willing to answer questions and help us with our Spanish. When we move into an apartment we will miss them, but having more space at a much lower cost will be worth the difference.

Apartment hunting

Today was mostly spent in apartment hunting, and we have some promising leads, but no apartment yet. For our first day, that's not too bad, and if we don't find one tomorrow, we will ask around at church on Sunday.

This evening we went to a gathering of expats here in Cuenca, where there were probably 20-25 people there total, although not all at once. We spent most of our time talking to just a few of them, and have some possible leads to an apartment from that, as well as others we talked to earlier in the day. The one we talked to longest is named Perry, and he has lived here in Cuenca for 17 months. He explored several other places in Central and South America, and decided that this was the one he likes the best. It is also possible that we may rent an apartment through him, but we can't follow up on that one until Monday, so we may not be in the market by then.

We also had a thunderstorm this afternoon that kept us in for a while, but which delivered welcome moisture. There are several individuals and/or families here who are leaving tomorrow, so it is likely that more will be arriving.

In Cuenca, settling in

We did not buy plane tickets for the trip from Quito to Cuenca before arriving in Ecuador because I was concerned that our checked bags might miss a connection, and I wanted them in my hands before boarding yet another plane. As it turned out, they did keep up, even though we had a very tight connection in Miami, so this morning I set out to arrange for our flight to Cuenca.

I did not have very far to go, as there was a travel agency on the corner less than a hundred feet from the front door of our hotel, but there was a power outage so I had to wait for the power to come back on, and thus their computers. However, we had no trouble booking our flight, and as it turned out, the flight was probably only about a third full.

When we arrived in Cuenca and entered the terminal, we were met by women handing out long-stemmed roses to all the passengers [Susan and I each got one], and live music in the form of a guitarist/singer. I don't know what the occasion was, but it was nice. The temperature here this afternoon was in the upper 70s and mostly sunny.

After we arrived at the hotel and got settled, we walked down to the market and bought some fruits and vegetables, and then came back and cooked them here this evening. We also took a few minutes to call both Gordon's and Susan's Dads, just to let them know that we arrived here and all was fine. Several of the people working here at the hotel are still here from our previous stay, and remember us, which is quite nice.

Finally, this evening we have met several people here with whom we have quite a lot in common. We just spent over an hour visiting with a couple from Atlanta who are here looking around much like we are. We are now planning to go with them tomorrow evening to a gathering of other expats [short for expatriates, people who are living outside their home country] who meet every Friday evening. Our main interest in going is to seek other information about rental units that we might be able to lease while we are here, but also to learn whatever else seems interesting. I'll write more about that if there is anything else to write.

Anyhow, we are now in Cuenca, and plan to stay in this area for most of our visit. We are well, and are enjoying the climate, the people, and the food. Our Spanish, while not great by any means, is greatly improved from our previous visit, and it is really improving the quality of our interactions with the people here. Not a surprise, but it really is nice.

We're here!

I won't be long tonight, as we are tired, but I just wanted to let everyone know that we have arrived safely. We are at our hotel in Quito, and plan to fly on down to Cuenca tomorrow.

We had a tight connection in Miami, arriving at the boarding gate just as they called out "Last call for boarding passengers to Quito", but we made it, and so did our luggage. It is very noisy here tonight, as Ecuador apparently just beat Brazil in soccer, and lots of people are driving around honking their horns. However, I don't think we'll have too much trouble sleeping.

Last night in Albuquerque we didn't sleep very well, anticipating the trip today, and then we rushed through the Miami airport and barely caught our plane, so we are worn out, and are mostly adjusted to the local time already, I think.

The adventure begins again

For quite a while I thought that this blog was just an archive, but it looks like it is time to arouse it from its slumber and resume the tale. We have not yet actually left the USA, but we have reservations on American Airlines to leave Albuquerque at 9:25 a.m. on December 2, arriving in Quito [via DFW and Miami] at 9:40 local time [EST] that evening. We will spend that night in Quito, and then fly on down to Cuenca the next day, where we will initially stay in the same hostel as before while looking for an apartment where we can stay until our return on February 24.

Samuel and Ben have reservations to follow us a week later, as soon as they finish their finals at NM State University, and they will then return to the US on Jan. 12, just in time to resume classes on Jan. 14. Thus, we will have our family Christmas in Ecuador this year, and you can read about it here. I don't know what we will be doing, but we won't be shoveling snow!

Hasta luego! [For those who don't know, this literally means "Until later".]

We're Home

We arrived home yesterday afternoon, and immediately, we were swamped with all this stuff to do that had accumulated while we were gone. And it is far from over. I still need to go pick up our mail and go through that, the living room looks like a bomb hit it [not all our fault - Samuel and Ben are also home for spring break], etc.

However, all things considered, it was a wonderful trip. Despite the 7.5 hour flight from Bogota, Columbia to LAX, and two more hours on Southwest to Albuquerque yesterday, there was only an hour of time zone difference for us, from Ecuador to home, now that we are on Daylight time, so jet lag is really not an issue. However, last night at home in our own bed, we really slept well. On the other hand, some things about being home are not so fun. I only realized this morning that while in Ecuador, I sneezed no more than once a day, on average. I have already sneezed more times since I got home than I did all our time in Ecuador.

And while I think of it, let me mention that, annoying as airport security is in the US, it is worse in Columbia, where we had a connecting flight. It went like this: We arrived in Bogota on the flight from Quito, walk down a long concourse, where we have no contact with the outside world whatever, and immediately we are faced with a security checkpoint. Shed anything with metal in it, and then reassemble yourself on the far side, belts, shoes, pockets, etc. Then up the stairs or escalator, and there is another checkpoint, this time for drugs, I guess, where people in army uniforms paw through your bags and you are frisked down in a rather intimate fashion. Then hurry on down the concourse, where, when you arrive at the boarding gate, you have to go through another security checkpoint, where once again you have to shed shoes, belt, and all other metal, and then reassemble yourself on the far side. And we could see that as we went through this checkpoint that they were already boarding the plane for our flight to LAX. The logic of taking airline passengers who had to clear security to get on the arriving plane, and then running them through all these additional screenings escapes me, although the drug screening may be prudent, given Columbia's issues with the cocaine trade, but regardless, I will avoid the Bogota airport in the future, if possible.

I will probably not add more to this blog, now that we are home, although if reflections or recollections from the trip float to the surface, I may add them. I hope that all who have followed our adventures have enjoyed this account. I surely enjoyed writing it, and I am very glad to have it as a record of the trip. If you have questions, please e-mail me at gpforeman@gmail.com and I will try to answer them.

Quito airport

We are in the Quito airport, and I am amazed that they have FREE wireless internet here. The will probably call for us to start boarding our plane soon, but we have made it this far. We will be on the ground in Bogota, Columbia for 1.5 hours, then on to Los Angeles.

I better post this and get the laptop shut down.

The end is in sight

We are back in Quito this evening, and will head to the airport tomorrow morning for our flight back to Los Angeles. We will arrive there about 7:40 tomorrow evening, and have a room there for the night, as there are no flights back to Albuquerque that leave after we will be available. I am assuming that by the time we pick up our luggage and clear customs, it will be at least 9:00 p.m. Instead, we will come on home on Wednesday, arriving in Albuquerque on Wednesday afternoon.

Susan is back to normal health, and we are both looking forward to being home. It has been a great trip, and I have taken close to 1500 photos. I will probably not post again here until after we are home, although I might post something from Los Angeles tomorrow evening. Right now, I need to go up and finish arranging our luggage so we avoid any overweight penalties.

One note of interest: today as we traveled back to Quito we crossed the equator, so I watched on my GPS and took pictures showing the latitude at fractions of a minute both north and south of the equator. I haven't looked yet to see if they are clear, but I hope so.

Sunday in Otovalo

This morning we got up, fixed and ate a leisurely breakfast, and took a taxi to church. Here in Otovalo there are three wards, with meetings starting at 7:00, 9:00, and 11:00, so we decided to attend the one that started at 11:00. We had been told that some of the meeting would be conducted in Quichua, the native Indian language in this area, and sure enough, the parts in Spanish I could follow fairly well, and other parts were completely unintelligible. We still enjoyed it. Supposedly the ward that started at 7:00 conducted everything in Spanish, but we agreed that we just wouldn´t be in the right frame of mind at that hour.

Given the language, it should be no surprise that everyone there had jet-black hair, and everyone wore it long, men and women. The missionaries had the standard missionary haircuts, but everyone else, without exception, had either a braid or a ponytail down the back, except the babies whose hair was not yet long enough to braid. They all appeared to speak Spanish, and quite a few spoke to us and made us feel welcome. Susan was even asked to play the piano, since apparently there was no one else who could. That has been true two of the three weeks we have attended church here. The singing was in Spanish, at least.

And of course, I stood out like a giant here. I looked around when they had us stand for the rest hymn, and I was the tallest person there by probably six inches. And other than the missionaries and myself, no one wore a tie. The men all wore white shirts, but open-neck, and nearly all wore dress ponchos over their shirts. The women all wore similar outfits as well. Black skirts, white blouses, with cream-colored wool wrap of some sort over that. Smaller than ponchos, but similar. The women mostly wound their hair with a narrow strap that we had observed earlier. Since Susan also has long hair, I bought a strap for her yesterday, but how to apply it was a mystery to us, although we tried. So we asked for help before church this morning, and one of the sisters there had her all fixed up in less than two minutes. I watched, and I think we can manage it again.

After church, we came back to our hostel, and ate some food we had stored there. Later we went for a walk, since Susan has seen very little of Otovalo. She is feeling much better, and appears to be completely over her bug, although she is still a little weak. Much better, however, than even yesterday.

Tomorrow morning we will finish packing up here and catch a bus back to Quito. I asked today, and apparently buses leave every half hour or so, although not on a fixed schedule. We may do some more shopping before we go, as I loaded the suitcases this afternoon, and we are not full yet, either by weight or volume. At this point, I am pretty sure that volume will be our limiting factor. In particular, we are going to look for one of the black skirts that the women here wear, but long enough to fit Susan.

This would probably also be a good time to tell a little bit about the place we are staying, the Hostal Doña Esther. It apparently caters to foreigners, partly evidenced by the fact that they do have a website, which is how I found them. Our room initially was booked at $36 per night, but after one night, given Susan´s need to fix her own food, we moved up to the "suite" on the top floor. It has a small kitchen, which has probably saved us more in preparation costs than the additional cost on the room, and for Susan it has been a lifesaver. For her, one of the worst parts of traveling is eating out, but here she can completely control her ingredients and mode of cooking. And the vegetables and such that she wants just don´t cost very much.

We also have a fireplace that is very pleasant in the evening, when things cool off even more. It draws very well, so we get essentially no smoke in the room, but a pleasant amount of warmth. The wood for the fireplace is included in the cost of the room. The bed is comfortable, and the hot water heaters for the whole place are just behind the kitchen wall, which means that we have virtually instant hot water, which is a real novelty here. The only drawback is that it is up three flights of stairs, 46 steps to be precise, and I am sure that I am in better shape, as I have been climbing them on average 8-10 times a day while here. Actually, the stairs should probably be classified as a feature, not a drawback. Anyhow, it has been a very comfortable place, especially given the bug that Susan suffered from when we arrived here. The people who work there are also very helpful and friendly.

The owners are a Dutch couple who speak fluent English, but they are around only a few hours per day, so it is largely their staff that we have interacted with. Regardless, all are pleasant people. There is also good security, as the front gate is locked, and to get in you ring a bell, and one of the staff will open the gate remotely, and then verify that you have a reason to be there.

I should be posting from Quito tomorrow evening, and then we catch the plane back to Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Mercado

For those with no Spanish at all, that means, "The Market". I don´t know how far it extends, as we never reached the far side, and we may well have not even been halfway in, which is, by definition, the point at which you start coming out again, but we started coming out by turning around and roughly retracing our steps. We did not buy nearly as much as people invited us to. Just slowing down to case out the inventory in a particular booth invited offers of great deals, most of which could be purchased for half or less of the initial offer if you really wanted to bargain.

On the other hand, our hands were full, and we really didn´t feel able to cope with anything more by the time we headed out. And yes, Susan felt up to leaving the room today, although she collapsed on the bed when we returned and just read for a couple of hours. However, she is feeling much better. I may make another run here shortly as they will be shutting down in an hour or two, and tend to become more willing to bargain rather than take their goods home again. (end note, just before finishing up - I don´t think so. It is raining again, fairly hard, at least for here, and I am tired.)

I won´t tell you what we bought, as we don´t want to influence expectations, but we are pleased with our purchases. Some things that we really liked we still didn´t get, simply because of size or weight considerations. There are pieces of carved rock that are beautiful, but the idea of having to lug them home dissuades me. Also, I am starting to worry that the extra suitcase we brought may be approaching capacity. I will have to pack it tomorrow afternoon in preparation for our return to Quito, and we do have a good place close to our hotel in Quito to fill in any cracks there before we board the plane on Tuesday.

One of the things that you need to watch in Ecuador is the money. They use the US Dollar as their currency, which means we don´t think about currency conversion, but because this is not the USA, there is more counterfeit currency in circulation. In the bus station in Ambato there was a warning that fake bills would be punched (as with a paper hole punch) before being returned to the person who offered them, and there was a $5 bill taped to the window to demonstrate. It had 6-8 holes in it. And when you offer people here a bill, even a one or a five, but even more with larger denominations, they will carefully look it over and feel of it before they accept it.

So last night I was in a cafe where they sell rotisserie chicken, whole or by the piece, and the guy in front of me, an apparent native, was trying to pay with a $50 bill. This is very rare here, mostly because most places will simply not accept such, but the proprietor asked if I had change. I looked in my wallet, and I did, just barely, but before I made the change I felt of his bill, and compared it to my two twenties and ten. The appearance visually was quite good, but the feel of the paper was considerably lighter and thinner, so I declined to make the change. The proprietor then spoke to one of her assistants, and said to her that I didn´t think it was good, to which I simply replied, "No sé," which means "I don´t know." I was certainly not prepared to say that it wasn´t good, but without being certain that it was good, I was not prepared to make change. The guy with the $50 and the proprietor were still discussing the issue when I got my chicken and left.

And that brings me to another point, one that I have probably mentioned before. My Spanish has improved a great deal over the last 2 1/2 weeks, although it still has a LONG way to go, but to come to Ecuador without speaking any Spanish would be foolish, unless you simply hire a guide and translator to go everywhere with you. Apparently, everyone studies English in school, but very few speak it, at least not more than a few words.

What I really need at this point is some formal study to help me tie some things together, along with continued immersion to force me to continue working and developing my skill. My knowledge of Italian really helps, but on the other hand, my Italian is being sacrificed to learn Spanish. I am sure that if I become competent or better in Spanish, that I could then go back to Italy and regain my Italian much faster than the first time, but keeping both Italian and Spanish conversant would require ongoing practice in both languages. That doesn´t look likely from here. I´m really not too worried about it at this point. I can do what I need to do.

Well, I´ll sign out for now. With tomorrow being Sunday, I´m not sure how many of these Internet cafes will be open, so I may not post again until Monday. It´ll sure be nice to get back to a hotel where my laptop can connect to the wireless Internet.

Another quiet day

Susan is still recovering, feeling much better, but still not wanting to stray too far from a toilet until Immodium does its job. Thus, she stays in our room and I run errands and go shopping, and post to this blog. In a way, it is really frustrating that she is not feeling well enough to go out, but on the other hand, we have a pleasant place to stay, and the weather has been more rainy here than at any other part of our trip.

We are hoping that she will feel enough better to go out tomorrow, because that is the big market day here in Otovalo, and we have been saving up on shopping. However, if it doesn´t work out, we do have a market in Quito that we can visit on our last afternoon in Ecuador on Monday, to fill things out. We have bought a few small items so far, but now we have split out our large suitcases, so we have room to pack more in.

The fruit and vegetable markets here are just amazing. Hmm... the shift key doesn´t seem to be working for any of the uppercase characters over the numbers, so no exclamation points. Oh, well. You will just have to imagine them where they belong. I don´t tend to use a lot of them anyway. Back to the markets - walking through them is a feast for the senses. The colors are diverse and brilliant, which I can photograph, but the smells and other things require that you be here. Today I bought a pound of fresh green beans, a pineapple, and a large head of broccoli, each for 50 cents. I was tempted to buy more, but space, time, and our capacity to eat them up are all limited.

So, not a lot else to say. It has been a quiet day, with rain, and even some thunder this afternoon.

A quiet day

Susan is feeling better, but her system is still clearing out whatever it was that bothered her. She did not go out today, except to move up one floor to the "suite" at Hostel Doña Esther. It costs a little more, but it includes a kitchenette, with a stove, sink, and a small fridge, as well as a small dining/living room with a FIREPLACE. As soon as I am done posting this entry, I will go back up and light it up.

It has been cloudy and cool most of the day, with about an hour of sunshine this afternoon, but it is raining now, and the temperature is probably in the low 50s. Considering that we are about a quarter of a degree north of the equator, the weather is not what you would expect. On the other hand, I knew before we came that this is probably the worst time of the year with regard to weather here, so are seeing the worst that it has to offer. And in another way it is quite good. As I was walking the 100 feet or so to this Internet cafe, I passed a small shop that had grapes, apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, kiwi fruit, oranges, and several other types of fruit, all grown locally within a hundred miles or so. I didn´t see them in that shop, but we also have pineapples, bananas, avocados, etc., readily available, also grown here in Ecuador. I went shopping about noon today for supplies for our kitchen, and bought about 12 pounds of produce for $3.40. This included a pineapple, bananas, carrots, onions, beets, chard, broccoli, and a couple of lemons (Susan gave me a list). It´s going to be hard to go back to Smiths.

Another thing about a climate like they have here, construction standards are not so high when it comes to fit and finish. I noticed that we can see light between the window frame and the wall on several of our windows in our suite, which is also the penthouse, so we have views in most directions.

Well, the fireplace is calling, so I´ll try to post again tomorrow.