We are in Cuenca

We arrived in Cuenca last night, only to find that the bus company had left our luggage in Ambato. Fortunately, we were able to communicate well enough to get them to call back to Ambato and confirm that indeed, our bags were still there, so they shipped them on the overnight bus and I picked them up this morning. It was an annoyance, but it could have been a lot worse.


Now let´s back up. We went to church on Sunday in Ambato, and wound up meeting a member there, Christine (Price) Salas, who is married to an Ecuadorian there. She invited us home for dinner after church, and we visited all afternoon, until they gave us a tour of Ambato, and then dropped us off at our hotel at almost 7:00 p.m. It really made for a wonderful day, and she told us, more than once, that it was wonderful for her to have some other Americans there to visit with in English. She is fluent in Spanish, but misses just visiting in English. She has been married for about 18 months, and has a little girl, Alison, who is 7 months old, and very cute. I took pictures, but since I am still having trouble with my laptop getting on the internet, I am posting this update in an internet cafe. The good part is that there is at least one internet cafe per block here, and the cost is only 60-80 cents per hour.



Yesterday was mostly a long bus ride, about 8 hours, although it was scheduled for 7. A flat tire caused some delay, as did the fact that over 100 miles of the trip was in the fog. We literally had our heads in the clouds, I guess! We did travel for a few miles a couple of times below 8,000 feet of elevation, but we probably covered at least as many miles where we were over 11,000 feet. The scenery was spectacular! At least until the fog set in, and then darkness.



Here in Cuenca we are staying at the Hostel Macondo. Unlike our previous places, it is very quiet. One time last night I listened for several minutes to Susan breathing, and that was the loudest sound. Then in the distance I heard a car or bus engine that was almost as loud. Then I guess I went back to sleep. This morning I woke up to birds chirping in the courtyard just outside our window. The only downside is that for the moment we have a shared bathroom, and will continue in this mode for another night or two, but then a room with a private bath will become available, and we will move there. There are quite a few Americans and others there, and the front-desk staff all speak better English than I speak Spanish. They are also friendly and willing to help me with my Spanish, as well as with a variety of other questions.


That´s all for tonight.