We moved from Chicago to Cuenca

Went to the Caja's with New Friends

2012-11-11T19:52:00.000-06:00

We had the pleasure to meet some great people that came to Cuenca to explore the city to see if it was a place they may want to retire in. They had flown from Quito to Cuenca, which means they didn't do the three hour Van ride from Guayaquil through the Caja's. They didn't get to see the beauty of the mountains.

The four of us planned a day of fishing and lunch at Hosteria Dos Chorreras in the Caja's so they would get a chance to experience the beauty of the scenery.

Our friends met us at our home, and we walked out to the road and we waited for the "Green Bus ", or as we call it, a "Chicken Bus".

It came along pretty much on time, we paid our $1.50 fair for the ride into the mountains and off we went.

We got to Hosteria Dos Chorreras.

This is the little chapel on the road to the Hosteria.

We were disappointed that they didn't get to see Llamas on the way, there are usually a bunch along the side of the road.

Oh well, there were lots of horses around.

We went to a little "pond" near the Hosteria and the guys fished and I got a chance to hang out with Mary, and share experiences.

Michael, teaching Frank how to cast with a Fly Fishing Rod.

Frank was a natural.

Frank made casts like he had been doing it for years.

What a natural!

He is now looking forward to trying fly fishing in the states.

Frank had never "Fly Fished" before, and it turns out he is a convert.

We had a great day fishing, both guys caught fish, but we did catch and release. It started getting cold so we went into the Hosteria and had a nice lunch of trout, the fish was probably caught that morning!

We walked back to the road to Cuenca after lunch and waited for a bus.

It took longer than usual, but we got one, it was a "fancy" bus, A/C, with a movie playing, comfy seats, but the bus was full and we had to stand for our ride back to Cuenca.

Oh, by the way, the Bus back was more expensive, I think it was $2.50, gotta pay for luxury.

It was a really nice day, with really nice people.

Our new friends decided that they think Cuenca might be the place for them.

We hope so.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

Happy Halloween

2012-10-31T20:23:00.001-05:00

When we were kids, many, years ago,

our Mom's would sew / make us Halloween costumes, not store bought stuff. They put alot of effort into those costumes,

and they were great.

We would go "Trick or "Treating", trying to get as much candy as possible. After a while we would go home and dump out our bags of candy so we could "hit" the same houses again that had the good stuff.

Today, as we walked out to the bus for a visit with our friends Neil and Inge, we both noticed that none of the school children were in costume, they were all in their uniforms. HHMM, seemed like Halloween didn't matter.

This is our second October 31st. in Ecuador.

Last year we didn't see anything that seemed to commemorate Halloween, we thought that it must not be a big deal in Cuenca.

We now know that this week includes a bunch of festivals; the Day of The Dead is HUGE here, it is celebrated on November 2nd and

Cuenca Independence Day is Novemeber 3rd.

There are festivals and parties all week long.

OK, the point of the blog. We GOT TRICK OR TREATERS!!!

We had just got home from visiting friends, and there was a HUGE banging at our front door.

We had Trick or Treaters!!!!!!!

I have no idea how many there were, but we think they ALL knocked on the door, at the same time.

Luckily, we had some candy in the house. We asked them to come in so we could take a picture. They were ALL smiles.

It felt like a touch of home, Ecuadorian trick or treaters.

We had a great afternoon with friends, and then got a really nice chance to share Halloween with our Ecuadorian neighbor's children.

They were so, so incredibly cute.

Cuenca, gotta love it.

Michael Making Soap

2012-10-28T16:52:00.000-05:00

Michael has participated in a charity poker event ever since we learned about it last October. It costs $7.00 to buy in, and all the money raised goes to a great cause. The funds raised buy food for residents that live in an "Orphanage" in the Yunguilla Valley, the facility is named "Messengers of Peace" and is located about an hour outside of Cuenca.

We were lucky enough to have met, had dinner, and been invited to the home of Will and Valerie Lacy. They were huge supporters of this facility.

With sadness, I have to say that Will passed away about six months ago, but with happiness, I can say, that the Poker Trophy is now named after Will because of his and Valerie's efforts to support "The Messengers of Peace Orphanage".

At the end of the tournament, whoever is the chip leader wins the "Will Lacy Trophy", and all money raised is donated to the Orphanage.

Michael went to the "Orphanage" for the first time this week. He went with our neighbor Mariela and her husband. Mariela takes the money raised from the charity Poker tournament and buys food for the residents of the "Orphanage".

Her devotion to the facility is amazing,

she is out there two to three times a week.

It is an inspiring experience to go to this place.

Entrance to the "Orphanage"

Buildings on the grounds.

A beautiful setting for the facility.

The less disabled residents go to work at a nearby rose farm, the more profoundly disabled residents stay at the facility. Some of the residents that spend their days at the "Orphanage" go to school on the grounds, and others work in the "Soap Factory".

Some Pic's:

Residents that work on the Rose Farms heading out for their work day.
It gives them a purpose and pride.

Residents and a few Counselors posing for Michael.

Happy residents with a new puppy.

The Orphange raises pigs for sale and consumption. Yeah, the little guys are cute, but a fact of life is that these Pigs will bring money to the facility, and feed the residents.

Goats provide milk and cheese, they are also for sale and consumption.

This is the walkway down to the soap factory that Michael spent his day working with the residents.

Soap products produced at Messengers of Peace. Some of the money from the sale of the soap products is "paid" to the residents for their work, it gives them a little bit of pocket money and the rest of the money goes to the facility.

Michael had a great time working with the residents (that is our term, they are called "kids" at the facility) making and bottling soap products.

Apparently, one bottle Michael sent down the line WAS NOT UP TO THEIR STANDARDS!! A worker brought it back to him and explained what he needed to do to correct the problem. They are really proud of what they do, and Michael was not allowed to make a sub-standard bottle of soap.

Residents.

This guy was totally enamored with Michael's beard, so Michael rubbed the guy's chin, apparently he had a few sprouts of hair, and Michael told him he was on his way to growing one like Michael's. That made this man smile and laugh.

I met his couple when I was there as well.

They are very devoted to each other.

Workers in the Soap Factory.

Michael with his fellow Soap Factory workers.

When I was there, I was intoduced as a Norte Americano that had come to help, and EVERY resident came and kissed and hugged me. The same thing happened when Michael went there, although, they were TOTALLY fascinated with Michael's beard, and blond hair. He got lots of smiles.

We are hoping to go back together.

Michael contributed a few hours working in the Soap Factory, and made the residents of "The Messengers of Peace" facility happy with his smile.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

Our donation for a local Charity

2012-10-24T18:17:00.000-05:00

We have always loved taking photographs, it has been a common passion for Michael and I since we met in High School.

That was a LONG, LONG time ago.

When we heard about a local charity auction to benefit homeless animals in Cuenca, we decided to have a few of our pic's printed and framed as our donation to the silent auction. We donated Six Framed photographs.

Views from the balcony in Cafe Eucalyptus, the restaurant that
the Auction was held in.

As usual, Michael and I arrived at the specified time, and as usual for Cuenca, everything started later than planned. Then, we were told that the event had been oversold by 50 tickets, that meant there would be a delay in the food service, so the Wine, Beer and Scotch were free flowing until the food would be ready. By then, there were a gazillion people, the place was jammed.

It was a party!

There was an incredibly enthusiastic singer. He sang Beatles tunes, and songs in French, Italian and Spanish. The guy was pretty good.

(Sorry for the bad pic of the singer).

It was a really nice evening, but by 10:30 we were ready to go home, so we left before the auction was completed.

All six of our photogragraphs sold!! We have no idea what they sold for, but we are happy we helped a good cause.

Cuenca, gotta love it!

Swimming In Cuenca

2012-10-21T20:31:00.000-05:00

We heard about a nice pool to swim here in Cuenca, so we went and checked it out. The complex was really great, so we went again a few days later. There are three pools, one for diving with several platforms of varying height, an Olympic size pool with ten lanes, and a "Warming Pool".

It was really nice and we plan on going a few days a week from now on. I actually bought a swimsuit, I haven't had one in about 23 years!!! LOL. We went to a "Sport" store in El Centro, and I was amazed that found one that fit me.

Pic of the pool:

Michael doing his laps:

The area where the diving pool and warming pool are located.

The climbing wall at the facility:

The Coopera Restaurant at the Sports Center

So, our plan is to go there a few times a week.

Cuenca, gotta love it!

A New Doctor in the House.

2012-10-21T19:03:00.001-05:00

Not Cuenca News, but it is important to us.

OUR NIECE IS NOW A DOCTOR!!!!!

Our neice graduated on Friday, she is now a Doctor.

We had always been there to celebrate the important events in her life. Her First Communion, her gradutation from grade school, her first Homecoming Dance, Proms, her Graduations from High School and College.

It made me very lonesome to miss this important day; her graduation becoming a Doctor. I guess that is part of living in another country, missing things that are so special. It is really hard to miss milestones.

I wish I could have have seen my Niece, Brianna Murray, become a Doctor.

We are so proud of of her, and not being there for this really important day made us miss her.

We are happy, and joyful for you Brianna.

We love living in Cuenca, but so there are times that you miss being with the ones you love.

My thought for today.

Traveling on the buses in Cuenca

2012-10-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

I have read that some people are reluctant to use the bus system in Cuenca. We find it incredibly useful. Now that the new intersection at Las Americas and Ordonez Lasso is back open, it is even better.

We are always mindful of our wallets, camera's etc., as we would have always been while traveling on the "L" in Chicago, no different.

I have NEVER felt any concern about traveling on the bus by myself, and certainly, Michael wouldn't let me travel by bus alone if he thought I would be in any jeopardy.

OK, that said, we saw a very interesting thing on the bus on Monday.

A guy got on the bus, and he started speaking fairly loud, we thought he must have been a guy "preaching". It happens occasionally that you get people on the bus selling Gum, candy, whatever, but this this guy was loud, really loud.

It was the first time that I was happy I wasn't alone on the bus. The guy made me uncomfortable. Most Ecuadorian men are even smaller than me, and I KNEW this guy wouldn't take Michael on, but it was still weird.

Apparently the guy was a religious man, but his loud ranting made me feel uncomfortable, I just kept looking out the window, SO, I did not see him put the four inch nails UP BOTH OF HIS NOSTRILS!!! OMG, OMG. God guy or not, that was just too weird.   Out of the corner of my eyes, I was trying to see what what was going on, while not actually looking. I asked Michael if what I thought I had seen, was what I actually had seen, a guy with nails hanging out of his nose, and Michael said yeah, the guy stuffed nails up his nose.

That was the weirdest thing I have experienced on any city bus system. NAILS, UP THE GUYS NOSE!!!

I have to admit, I have seen alot of bizarre stuff while riding public transportation in Chicago, but this experience ranks right up there.

Ok, so that was strange, but yesterday we were on the bus going to El Centro and the bus stopped at a "Non-Bus" stop to let a blind guy on. He had a guitar and his blind walking stick, once he was on the bus he found a place to stand between the seats, and he serenaded the passengers with an incredibly beautiful voice. I felt like Michael and I were in the movie Shawshank Redemption, you know that scene where the inmates don't know what the "Italian Lady" is singing about. His voice was beautiful but the songs were in Spanish so we didn't know what he was singing about, but it was incredible.

After he was done, he felt his way down the the aisle of the bus, he didn't have his hand out, but we followed what the Ecuadorians on the bus were doing, they would simply grab his hand and give him a coin, so we did as well.

Cuenca, gotta love it.

Michael is Back, YEAH!!

2012-10-01T15:15:00.005-05:00

I have been living a fairly quiet existence since September 11. Michael went to Florida to visit his family and I stayed in Cuenca. The idea of two airfares was something we didn't want to do, we live a comfortable life here, but we do try to watch our finances. Oscar and I hung out together passing the days with long walks on the road behind the house (the one that the Coopera truck picks up the produce from) and I made several "friends" with the people working the fields. As usual, we couldn't communicate, but their huge smiles were always the same. Ecuadorians get a huge kick out of Oscar, you don't see too many little guys that look like him, and the local people literally crack up when they see him, he is a total ice breaker. During the time Michael was gone I had lots of time to think, reflect on my life, and our move to Ecuador. I can say that I feel like the luckiest person in the world, I have a great life, with the love of my life, I missed him more than I can say, BUT, Michael is home now!!! Yeah!

Part of Michael's plan during his visit to his Mom's house was to bring back some of our photo albums. When we made the move, we had to choose what we were going to bring with us, things that would fit in suitcases. It was easy to get rid of some "stuff", but really hard to leave some things behind, on the top of the list (besides our family and friends) were our photo albums. Michael and I have been taking pictures, of everyone and everything, since we were in high school. We have our life history in those albums, but they were just too heavy to pack. Michael left here with one HUGE suitcase, and two smaller ones packed inside. When he returned he brought about 20 of our photo albums with him (along with Coleman's Mustard, Taco Seasoning, a new Sonicare toothbrush, and other things we cannot buy here) We have a bunch more to get, but he lugged three suitcases, for a total weight of 150 pounds back to Cuenca. Before we left the States we had sent some of our negatives to a company to have them professionally scanned, so we brought those CD's with us, but when I got to look through the actual albums Michael brought home, I literally cried. It was so nice to have some of our photos here in Cuenca. Family and friends are now with us again.

We still have many albums left at Michael's Moms house, but he managed to bring back several that were designated as "Family". I saw photographs I haven't seen in over a year, it brought us smiles, laughter, and for me, tears.

It was great timing, Michael got back last Thursday, and it gave me a chance to scan some photos to share with family. My Uncle, that I worked with for over 15 years, has a birthday today, and my only sister has a birthday tomorrow, so I made Animoto videos to help celebrate their special days. I couldn't have done it without our photo albums.

Here are the Animoto Videos, my Uncle's is the first one, and my sister's is the second. If you click on them you should get a link to see the videos. Give it a try, Animoto is such a great way to share memories (No, I don't get $$ for promoting their service, I just think it is fun and very cool)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

Uncle Brian

Copy of My Animoto Video

Kathleen Murray-Russell
Copy of My Animoto Video

By the way, I went with our trusted driver Manny to Guayaquil to pick Michael up at the airport. We have been through the Caja's at night several times, it can be scary. This trip was astoundingly BEAUTIFUL. It didn't rain and and the moon was full, so the light was amazing. We saw the silhouettes of the mountains, and tons of stars. It was a perfect ride home with my husband. We wish we could have stopped and taken photographs!!!!

Gotta love Ecuador!!

How some of our food gets to Coopera

2012-09-16T17:07:00.005-05:00

Recently Michael and I had concerns about where we would be living after November 1st. When we signed our lease last year it included an option that the homeowner would have the contingency to raise our rent by 10%. We decided if that happened, we would look for another place to live. The rental contract stated we had to tell the landlord by October 1st if we wanted to stay, and he had until the same day to let us know if he was going to raise the rent. Because it took us so long to find a place that would accept Oscar, we thought we would try to get this issue taken care of in advance of October 1st. We contacted our realtor, and she called our landlord. He decided that he "respects" the way we take care of his property, so he will "respect" the rent, and not raise it. (I think the choice of the word "Respect" is so interesting). We were very happy about that, we DID NOT want to move. We really like our community. Many cab drivers have come into our little enclave and comment on the fact that is so pretty, one guy couldn't believe that he had never seen it before and called it a Secret Garden. We have very convenient access to bus lines to El Centro, but at the same time we are sort of rural, and we like that, alot.

OK, that brings me to the subject of the blog. We have a balcony off the master bedroom, one of the first things I noticed when we moved here was a "lean to" shack type thing, with a tin roof. I thought to myself, well, that is a bit of an eyesore, but oh well, whatta' ya' gonna do.

That "lean to" has been an amazement. We get to watch farmers bring their produce there for pick up by Coopera. For the non-Ecuadorian followers of the blog, Coopera is a market that carries fresh fruits, vegetables, Meat, Fowl, Seafood, dairy products, some of the BEST bread I have ever had, and an assortment of other stuff, at incredibly LOW prices. Coopera is different from the Indigenous markets in that they have cash registers, accept the Experta card, and there is no bartering, but the quality of the food is amazing.

In the States, things are labeled as Organic, and several dollars are added to the price for that label, here, that is simply a given. You are not over charged because the food is Organic, and it is actually much cheaper to buy these items at Coopera rather than at the supermarket chains.

We get to enjoy incredibly fresh food, at low prices, with the knowledge that the fruits/vegetables haven't been sprayed with anything, and the meat and fowl are steriod free. I think some of the seafood might be from Fish "Farms", but I can tell you that Michael has never been a fan of Shrimp, but he thinks the the Shrimp we buy at Coopera are delicious.

Sorry for the digression, for the second time.

We watch the farmers bring their produce to the "lean to" across the road from us. OMG, they are such hard workers, we wonder what they get paid? They carry the produce in baskets tied around their shoulders to this spot, and then transfer the cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, or whatever produce they have into crates to be picked up by the Coopera truck.

This the road the farmers walk down with their produce, it

is right behind our home.

These are the baskets that they wrap around their shoulders to carry the stuff, hard, heavy work.

In previous posts, I mentioned that I ask permission to photograph people, well that is true 95% of the time, but a few of these pics were taken from the balcony without their knowledge.

The father seemed to be lost in thought while he took a break.

This is the Dad washing out the crates in a stream behind our house.

I felt a little weird taking pictures without their consent, so I decided to go over and ask this father and son team if I could photograph them. The Dad was more than happy, but the son seemed reluctant.

Before the food gets to Coopera, these guys check it over and rip off dead leaves and stuff.

Michael and I like to take photographs of peoples hands, to us it seems like a road map of life.

I found it interesting that the son preferred to wear gloves, and the father didn't. Maybe old school versus today's standards. It was sweet, they seemed to understand I was trying to photograph a family bond, and they cooperated.

Again, me - no Espanol, them, no English, simple communication through smiles.

On another day I noticed these ladies carrying the big heavy baskets to the "lean to". I decided to go and ask if I could take their photos instead of being covert about it, asking permission worked out well with the guys, so I thought, what the heck! They said "Si Senora" and stopped working to pose for me.

I stopped taking photographs and started helping them with their work. They were loading up a truck with broccoli, but the stems and leaves had to be chopped off. I think they thought the "Gringa" was a little crazy for jumping in with the work, but I thought it was the least I could do for the privilege of taking their photographs.

Normally, within a few hours the Coopera trucks shows up and takes away the produce that we will probably buy the next day. How cool is that????

The Coopera truck usually has a stencil of Che Guevara on it,
I find that intriguing.

I am just including this pic of the neighbor across the back road, he was out cutting roses when I was going over to see the "Broccoli" ladies. When you smile and ask permission for a photo, sometimes you get really good ones, what a nice face.

Cuenca, gotta love it.

Our journey to Tunguragua Volcano.

2012-09-09T19:10:00.001-05:00

This a long blog, with lots of pictures.

Maybe you have read about the Tungurahua volcano that started erupting on August 19th.

A friend, Al Bourassa, thought it would be cool to make a trek to see it, he tried to organize a trip fairly quickly after the eruptions started. Michael and I wanted to go, but we had our whale watching trip planned and paid for already, so we told Al we would be back on from the coast in four days, and we would be ready to go on Tuesday morning. So that is what we did. We got back to Cuenca from the coast around 6:00 pm. on Monday, dropped Oscar off at our friends, went home, downloaded all the pics from the coast, unpacked our warm weather clothing and repacked cold weather clothing so we could sit on a mountain top.

We were gone again by 7:00 am. on Tuesday

Our friend Al had arranged for a really great guy named Miguel to do the driving. He has a big Van, unbelievably comfortable, and since there were only the four of us; Miguel, Al, Michael and I, we had LOTS of room.

This is Miguel. He is a GREAT guy.

We had heard the volcanic activity had slowed, but was still going on.

We were ALL really excited about what we might see.

We drove along and Miguel would stop whenever we asked so we could take pictures. It is impossible to drive through Ecuador and not stop and enjoy the vistas.

Our first stop along the road. Ecuador is beautiful.

I was taking pictures of the scenery and I noticed a man walking down a hill on the other side of the road. He was smiling the whole time. I thought he had a beautiful, joyful face and I wanted his photograph, I asked our driver Miguel to ask the man for permission for me to photograph him, (I am uncomfortable pointing my camera at someone without their consent), Miguel and the Gentleman had a short conversation and Miguel felt that the answer was "No", the man thought I should photograph his beautiful country, and not an "Old Man" like him. So I abided by that wish. I handed my camera to Michael, and suddenly this gentleman had no problem having his picture take. Go Figure!!!

We stopped in the town where "The Devil's Nose Train" trip originates, Alausi. We had all decided to skip the train ride, it is several hours long, and we wanted to get to Tunguragua, however Alausi is a really nice place to spend time in. We ran into what we think might have been an important meeting for local Indigenous people. We weren't sure what was going on, but it was a feast for the eyes.

This is a young man serving a drink to the women that were in the plaza. Their clothing is so colorful and dynamic. We bought one of the "local" hats with a peacock feather when we were there.

Town meeting, or something.

A few young women wearing the traditional clothing. We have been told that this tradition might not continue with future generations.

Loved this guys Poncho.

The Devils Nose Train. They used to let people sit on top of it during the journey through the mountain, that is no longer an option.

Monument in Aluasi.

We traveled on to Riobamba, and during the drive Miguel kept in contact with a friend he has that lives near Tunguragua, it seemed like a "Go" for volcanic activity. When we got to the hotel in Riobamba, from the street the hotel seemed like a place that I would have told Michael to drive right by, but it was clean, quiet, and nice, $25.00 per night for two people.

We should have been able to see the volcano from the lobby of the hotel, but it was too cloudy, so while we waited for the weather to clear, Miguel thought it might be nice to take us to a town not far from Riobamba that is known for their leather crafts. That sounded good, so off we went to a town named Guano. Yeah, Guano, we all laughed at the fact that we were in a town named SH _T in English. But as usual, Miguel was right. It was a really charming little town.

Remnants of the original church. It was built in the 1700's, but burned down.

OK, what is the deal with the skull??

Decoration on the new Church, right next to the old one.

A Llama hanging around the church.

After our trip to Guano we went back to our hotel to meet with Miguel's friend Bolivar.

Bolivar is a truck driver, and he knows the back roads to the volcano. We jumped in the van and left Riobamaba around 5:00 pm. OMG, yeah, Bolivar knew all the back roads, unfortunately his usual routes were now blocked by the Ecuadorian Military. I GUESS THEY KNEW THEM AS WELL. So we had to find another way up the mounain. We twisted and turned and went up roads that a mountain goat couldn't challenge. I was kinda, no, not kinda, very freaked out going up the mountain. We finally got to the summit around 7:00 - it was dark, pouring rain and foggy. You could not see more than ten feet ahead of you in the fog. Bummer. NO VOLCANO IN SIGHT.

So we sat, and hoped for the weather to change. Miguel, Bolivar, Al, Michael and I waited. Miguel dropped down his DVD player in the Van and we watched the movie "Transporter". Michael and I were sitting on a mountain, in total darkness, waiting to see a volcano, and watching a movie at the same time. It was surreal.

Some of the local people came out to see what we were doing, Miguel explained we wanted to see the Volcano. They said they had watched it, but for the past fews days it had been too rainy and cloudy. So Miguel said it would be a good idea if we got off the mountain before too much more rain. So we traveled back down to our hotel.

A pic in the town named Penipe, evacuation routes in the event of volcanic activity.

Michael and I had seen Tsumani signs when we were in Washington State, this reminded us of that.

We tried again the following morning, we traveled back up the mountain and we passed mudslides that had happened after we left the mountain the night before, we were lucky we got out when we did. We traveled back to the top of the mountain and it was still too cloudy to see the volcano. Well, we missed that, but got to see the local people. Miguel, our guide was thrilled that he had found this very rural part of Ecuador, so you can imagine how we felt.

It was beautiful.

People were coming and going all morning while we were up there, I think we we an oddity.

Some pics from the morning, the local people were going back and forth with animals to sell their milk.

We had seen this little girl the night before, she was bringing in their sheep.

Horses tied up after bringing their load of milk up the mountain.

Curious kids checking us out.

Nice mountain people.

This poor guy only had one horn.

Scenery along the way home.

I have never seen the Smokey Mountians,

I wonder if they are as beautiful as this?

A mountain stream.

On our way back to Cuenca Miguel stopped to let us take a picture of the Chimborazo Volcano. We went in search of one, couldn't see it, but one the way home, we got to see the one we had climbed, how cool is that.

These folks were just waiting for a bus.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

Medical Care In Cuenca

2012-09-05T19:22:00.001-05:00

I had my first encounter with the medical system here in Cuenca.

I would like to start with a little background info.

When we were researching our move to Ecuador, we left several messages on blogs of people that had moved here, we asked their opinions about getting medical insurance. It is such an important thing to have in the US, so we were curious. Not one person we contacted responded to our questions. We think we understand why there was total silence on this subject. Medical care here is a FRACTION of the cost in the US, and we think alot of Ex-Pats don't bother to buy it.

We bought health insurance anyway. We thought it was a prudent thing to do.
Our policy expired on August 24, so we had made arrangements with another company that will cover us anywhere in South America, a small policy to cover expenses in the US and Europe, and for some reason they throw in a life insurance policy, and travel insurance. We were scheduled to sign the paperwork this morning, it just made us feel better to have something to cover medical bills.

OK, back to the original story.

We had some house guests last night and I was chopping up a watermelon, with a very, very sharp knife. Well, it went right through the rind, into my index finger on my left hand. Don't mean to be gross, but blood starting squirting EVERYWHERE, all over the dishes that our guests would be eating on, just everywhere. Michael wanted me to go to an ER, but me, being the stubborn person that I am, just kept saying, "Honey, it is just a cut, it will be fine".

This morning when I took the bandaid off, I got kinda queasy, it looked pretty bad. We had washed the fruits and vegetables that we were going to eat last night, that would have the skin on, the tomatos and lettuce, etc., in a "special" liquid we buy here. But the watermelon had a rind and we were just going to eat the "flesh", so I didn't wash it. This morning I thought that the "cut" might have bacteria contamination so I decided to go to the Doc. And believe me, I am not one for doctors.

We already had the appointment to sign the papers for our health insurance this morning so we went and did that first, we won't be covered for 30 days, so we knew we had to pay for the treatment I was going to need at the hospital.

We walked over to the hospital, and were directed to the ER. NO WAITING. They examined my hand and asked if I wanted a plastic surgeon so that I wouldn't have a scar. I laughed and said no. The doctor and nurse were so gentle, explained everything in English (well the doctor spoke English, the nurse not so much, but when we explained in our broken Spanish that we were trying to learn the language, she smiled and did her best in English.) Michael stayed with me, they gave me an anesthetic to numb my finger, and some sutures for the cut. The doctor inquired about my medical history, allergys, etc. He decided I needed to have a Tetanus shot and pain meds. Pain medication here is simply Ibuprofen. Narcotic drugs containing codeine or stuff like that are STRICKLY monitored, and rarely prescribed. I didn't need that stuff anyway, it was just a cut. They did not want to bandage the "wound", they believe fresh air will help it heal quicker, so I feel kinda weird walking around with thread hanging out of my finger. LOL!!

We were seen in an ER within minutes, a deep cut was anesthetized, sterilized and sutured, I was given a Tetanus shot, and my medical history was inquired about. I think the Doctor spent about a about 45 minutes with me. I was VERY well cared for.

The cost for the care for all of this treatment was $44.00. My follow up visit will be free.

Michael took pictures of the event in the hospital, but since I am the one that posts the blogs, I overroad the idea of including pictures.

I do have to say the Doctor was great, but looking at him, I would have assumed he was about 12 years old. Too Funny.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

Whales of the Ecuadorian Coast

2012-09-02T17:37:00.000-05:00

We decided to go whale watching in Puerto Lopez,

we needed a Whale "Fix".

We went whale watching last summer, we had only been in Ecuador less than six weeks at the time. We did our research and learned what buses to take, and off we went.

This was our fourth trip to the coast, and our third trip to Hosteria Mandala. We LOVE that place. Last year we saw whales and visited Isla De La Plata, which is often referred to as the Poor Man's Galapagos. The island is nice, but we have been to Galapagos twice, so we decided to skip Isla De La Plata this year, once you have been to Galapagos, NOTHING compares to it.

Hosteria Mandala arranged for the whale watching trip for us, the boat was designed to carry 18 passengers, there were only nine of us, so it was nice and comfy. We traveled out into the ocean and within 1/2 hour we found a female humpback with her calf, and the whale show began!!!!!

We didn't get to see a whale breach, but we were treated to the Mother Whale doing Spy Hoping Activity. That is when they pop their head out of the water, and watch what is going on around them.

Mom and calf, you can see the little guys fin on the right side fo the pic.

The Mom is spy hopping.

The Female Humpback with her young baby.

The calf was having a blast with all the tail slapping.

There was a party going on in town, we have no idea what it was about.

We were just stolling around town and found this place. Michael thought it was really convenient, caskets and copies in the same place.

This little guy fell asleep in the melons.

These are four of the five Hosteria Mandala dogs.

Two of the hotel dogs checking out Oscar.

Carbon is the the huge black dog, Oscar didn't even come close to Carbon's elbow.

A Typical cab in Puerto Lopez.

A short video of the typical transportation in Puerto Lopez.

A merchant in Puerto Lopez. He enjoyed having his picture taken.

A young boy, giving a younger boy a haircut in the market.

We strolled down the beach to see the fisherman. I wish we liked Squid.

The fisherman in Puerto Lopez.

This little boy was waiting for his ride down the beach.

Our trip to the coast was great.

Gotta Love Ecuador.

Hummingbirds on Parade

2012-08-30T15:41:00.000-05:00

The title of our blog explains that we used to live in Chicago. Back in 1999, Chicago was the first city in the United States that was allowed to have an art exhibit called "Cows On Parade", the idea actually originated in Switzerland.

Artists in Chicago were given a "Cow" form; some were Bulls, some were Cows, standing, sitting, etc.

Each artist was given free reign to paint /decorate the form anyway they wanted, and the sculptures were placed all over the city. A few were even suspended over the Chicago River Bridges.

It was an amazing and fun thing for the city.

When we heard about the Hummingbird display at Otorongo Plaza we wanted to see it, it reminded us of the Cows on Parade theme.

What a great exhibit.

We know other people have posted pics on their blogs about the Hummingbird Exhibit, and we really enjoyed seeing the pictures that have been posted.

Today is the last day of the exhibit, so we thought we would share our pictures.

Some of the artists put as much thought into the artwork of the pedestals as they the did on the actual hummingbird!!

It was a really nice exhibit, and we are so happy to live in a city that is devoted to the arts.

Cuenca, gotta love it!!

Cuenca Celebrities at Amaru Zoologico, and our return visit to a local Market.

2012-08-19T17:25:00.000-05:00

Last summer the staff at the Amaru Zoo were delighted when they recieved new additions to their collection; three lion cubs were born, two females and one male. It was a pretty big deal with the local Cuencanos.

We had been planning on visiting the cubs, and we finally got around to it this week We read in the newspaper that the zoo had a competition for children to name the three young lions, and that they had been "Baptised" - their word - on Sunday August 12th, so we decided we wanted to see these "Cuenca Celebrities".

Amaru Zoologico Logo.

(I thought it was cool, so I bought a baseball hat with the logo)

The Zoo is situated on the side of a mountain,

the views from the parking lot were worth the trip alone.

This is a collage we found after we entered the zoo, it was made from newspaper pages shaped to resemble a lion. There were several other collages as well. We wondered to ourselves if it might have been an activity for the children during the competition to name the Lion cubs.

We started our hike into the Zoo, and I mean HIKE, to visit the animals. It was all uphill on dirt roads and occasional wooden paths. If it had been rainy, the paths would have been a NIGHTMARE, real ankle turners. For our visit, it was charming.

The zoo is upgrading a few of the exhibits, so we missed seeing some of the inhabitants. We saw Llama's, Alpaca's, several types of monkeys, White Tail Deer, Ocelets, a Galapagos Tortuga, several other animals, and lots of birds. Amaru has an interesting selection which includes Andean bears. The female is pregnant and we were told the chance of seeing the male and female on this trip were pretty slim. The Bears are hanging out in a cave until the birth. Maybe they will have another contest to name the baby bear!!

As we walked around the exhibits, we could hear birds squawking. They were not in an exhibit, just hanging around in the trees, and we could hear them saying "Hola" over and over again, they were waiting for a response. So when we got to these incredibly beautiful birds, we stood around and talked to them.

As we mentioned earlier, the Zoo is doing alot of upgrading, which includes planting alot of new stuff. We have never seen this type of Cactus before.

Crocodile, (not native) kinda scary and nasty teeth!! We were surprised they had a Croc, and not a Caiman, something we had seen in the Amazon.

NOT ANIMAL RELATED!!

We see alot of old tires in lots and fields around the city. We have no clue why the tires are saved. Voila, one use; the Zoo utlilized tires, and some blobs of cement to build the foundation for this building in the Zoo.

The Cuenca Celebrities.

The zoo had three Lions before the birth of the cubs last summer. We inquired if Amaru would be able to keep and maintain all six of the Lions. They are hopeful, but there may be an issue between the Older male and his son.
We hope they all get live together at Amaru.

It was a really nice excursion. It was overcast and cloudy when we went there, which at the time, I thought was a bummer, until we started exploring Amaru. If the sun had been out, I think we would have baked during the climb, and the subsequent walk back down.

Our trip to a great market this week:

Doce de Abril Mercado.

We had been to this market before with a tour group back in March, so we decided to visit it on our own. We went to the merchants that were recommended on the tour. Neither Michael or I are big on Pork, but Michael enjoyed his sample of this "stuff" (a whole pig, that has been cooked) when we visited before. This lady just stuffed her hand into the cooked pig, and grabbed a bunch of meat. She made sure to clean off the fat, take out the bones, and include a little bit of the crunchy skin. She also gave us a "yappa", which means a free gift. The yappa was a few potato patties she was cooking with the meat. We walked through the market chowing on the potato patties, and licking our fingers. OMG, they were delicious.

We also went to the "Meat Lady", and we got the BEST ground beef we have ever had!!!

We bought a pineapple, 5 avacodos, 3 tomatos, 6 or 7 limes, a few red onions, about 3 pounds of potatos, the pork and ground beef. The total was less than $8.00.

The yappa. Too good for words.

Our week in Cuenca included visiting the Cuenca Celebrity Lions, and going back to a great market.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

A few night photos, a stroll behind our home, and a thought about something I miss.

2012-08-12T17:31:00.000-05:00

The people we were house sitting for recently live close to a major Catholic University here in Cuenca, so we took the opportunity to photograph the building, it is beautiful. We strolled the three dogs up to Ave. de Las Americas in the early evening, and took some photos.

OUR STROLL YESTERDAY.

During our walk with Oscar yesterday along the road behind our house, we found an impromptu soccer game. We always say to ourselves, "Don't leave the house without a camera", and of course we had. So we went back home and grabbed a few cameras, then we went back to the game.

These players were very happy to have their pic's taken.

They were having a blast.

This guy showed up out of nowhere during the game.

LOL, Ecuador.

SOMETHING I MISS.

A friend here in Cuenca, Al, thought about getting a trip together to see the Persiod Meteor Shower last night, the trip didn't pan out, so we set our alarm to see what the night sky would be like at our house at 3 a.m. and then again around 5 a.m., it was total cloud coverage.

No Meteorites last night, but it made us think about the times we witnessed this incredible Astronomical event from Kayaks.

For eight years, every August we would pack up our trusty Honda Element with our sea kayaks, and travel from Chicago to a campground in Quebec. We would leave our jobs and home, and travel about 1,250 miles to
"Paradis Marin".

There are no cell phone towers, no computers, no TV's. Just the campground and the whales. Due to the unique location of the campground, we were able to throw our boats in the water and kayak with whales. We saw Blue, Fin, Humpback, Minke, Sperm and Beluga whales, from our Kayaks.

We would take night kayaking tours on each trip, (we knew we could not negotiate the waters in total darkness on our own.) We would paddle out, and lean back on our boats and watch Meteor showers, the tour guide would drop a microphone into the water so we could listen to the "Canaries of the Sea", or in other words, Belugas.

During those night paddles we had the opportunity to experience seeing Bioluminescence; when our paddles touched the water, or our hands for that matter, the water would glow green and gold.

Our Campsite:

We would pitch our tent and our screen room,
it was our separate kitchen area.

This is a pic of me watching two Fin Whales swim by.

One of the coolest things ever.

Check out how huge they are compared to me!!!

At Paradis Marin Campground, you just take a seat on the rocks and watch the whales go by.

We would go to sleep at night, and wake up in the morning, with the sounds of the whales passing by, truly unbelievable!!

We are happy in Cuenca, but it is August, and I miss this annual trip.

We will be going back to Hosteria Mandala in a few weeks to get a chance to see Humpback Whales. We need a Whale fix.

Cuenca is wonderful, but I miss Paradis Marin in August.

We went to see the Jungle and Volcanos

2012-06-29T18:42:00.001-05:00

LOTS OF PHOTOGRAPHS!!!!

Ecuador is about the size of the state of Colorado, if you travel a few hours in any direction from Cuenca, you will find amazing and beautiful diversity. We have seen the Mountains, the Coast, the Cloud Forest and a Desert. Our most recent adventure took us to the "Orient", that is what they call the Amazon here in Ecuador.

Our friend Efrain picked us up early in the morning, and then we picked up Pablo, his fellow guide, and off we went for our travels. The scenery was incredible, simply incredible.

Along our journey on the first day we stopped in a town called Mendez. Our guide book described this town as "more than quaint, this picturesque oblivion seems made to order for Witness Protection Program Participants." Too Funny.

We traveled on, and visited an animal Sanctuary.

This is the Ecuadorian version of a "Tasmanian Devil".

This is a Capybara, it is the largest rodent in the world. He was about four feet long and about two feet tall, they weigh anywhere from 77 lbs. to 150 lbs.

His feet were cool!

Yup, that's me. I am still trying to get used to myself with gray hair!!!

These guys were fascinated by the cameras. They felt like little feathers, almost weightless.

We saw many, many more animals, Caimans, Tapirs, etc., but I can't include pics of everything. It was amazing.

We spent the night in a town named Macas, this Volcano is right outside the town, too bad it was covered in clouds the day we were there!!

Volcan Sangay

We traveled on to a town called Tena where we spent two evenings. Along the way Efrain stopped and explained various monuments. It was really interesting to come across these displays of major cultural importance in very out of the way areas.

Our Lodge in Tena

The pool right outside our room.

The first evening we were there, a group of local indigenous dancers came to the lodge and performed.

Michael danced with this beautiful young woman.

I was given a cleansing from a Shaman. He used the cigarettes and water for the blessing. He lit the cigarette and blew smoke on my head. It seemed to go on for hours, but it was just a few minutes.

Sweet little dancer

Dancers Feet

The show was fantastic!

The next day we went Kayaking. We had never been in White Water Kayaks before, so it was interesting, but our guide Jaime had first class equipment, and the scenery along Rio Napo was stunning.

As we hit our first group of "rapids", and believe me, they were small, Jaime started paddling towards me because he said he read my lips, and I was saying "Oh Sh_t". We weren't used to going over rocks, but these kayaks just glazed over them.
It was a really fun day, something we hope to do again.

Our snacks while we took a break. They were served on Jaime's kayak.

This butterfly hung out with Michael and his boat. Check out the size of this guy!!

This is the beach where we stopped for snacks.

Long story about this fish.

The next day we visited a village in the jungle. We were treated to a traditional wedding dance, shown their "Holy Rock", learned how to make Chocolate, and were served a fabulous lunch of Tilapia caught from the river. We also visited a Botanical garden where we learned about Jungle plants and their healing capabilities. We bought a few things, one for healing cuts and one for pain relief for things like arthritis. They BOTH work. We had been bitten by a few bugs and the liquid for cuts healed them, and the item for arthritis is wonderful.

How cool to find natural things.

It was a wonderful day.

Our Boat to the village.

Traditional wedding dance.

This is a figure on the Holy Rock, from one side it looks like a Tapir, and from another angle it looks like a Toucan.

We were allowed to climb the rock with the local woman, but it had to be bare foot. If you touch the rock with your hands, it is supposed to give you good "Kharma". Just like the Shaman, we were taking all the good Kharma we could get!!

She explained how they make Chicaha de Yuca. They no longer chew it and then spit it out, which was the usual way of making this beverage. Now they just smash it up and place it in a banana leaf for a few days. If it is fermented for too many days, it becomes an alcoholic drink.

This is a piece of tree bark that they used to grate the Yucca to make Chicha de Yuca, ingenious.

This guy did not speak Spanish, only Quichua, one of the languages of the indigenous people. He was quite proud of his pet Anaconda he found in the jungle. This snake is 3 or 4 months old.

We learned how to cook the Cocoa beans and make chocolate.

The chocolate was used to make us desert, we had fresh Papaya with Chocolate sauce. Yum.

Our Lunch, it was fantastic. Tilapia and Yuca.

When we left the jungle we traveled to Banos.

We took cable cars out to see two different sets of waterfalls outside of Banos De Ambato, absolutley beautiful.

Just beautiful scenery along the way.

"Volcan Chimborazo".

It is the highest mountain in Ecuador. Due to the earth's equatorial bulge, it is also the furthest point from the center of the earth. Our guide book said " Tell your K-2 climbing buddies you were there." People come and practice climbing before going to Everest.
It is higher than any mountain in North America.

Volcan Chimborazo with Guanecos

There is a shelter on the Volcano at 4,800 meters (over 15,000 feet). They provide coffee, hot chocolate and coca tea. We sat for a while trying to get adjusted to the altitude. It LITERALLY took our breath away.

There are tombstones scattered over the volcano to commemorate the climbers that have died here.

Snowing on the Volcano.

Last week we took an adventure. There are far too many pictures to include; animals, scenery, people, it was amazing and we hope to go back and experience more

One day we had monkeys hanging on us, the next we were kaykaing, then hanging out with Anacondas in the Jungle, and finally we were on a Volcano, and it was snowing.

Ecuador, gotta love it.

We "Rescued" a Dog.

2012-06-08T18:05:00.000-05:00

There are alot of "street" dogs in Cuenca, we are told that most are actually pets, in the morning the dogs are let out to fend for themselves, and at night the dogs return and sleep outside. The culture here is very different regarding the care of pets.

One day I was coming home, I opened the gate to our neighborhood, and a dog followed me in. He walked along beside me, but became frightened as we passed a neighbor's home, they have two Daschunds, and two Goldens that bark like crazy, the poor stray got scared and ran off.

Time went by, and one day we were walking Oscar down the road behind the house, and guess who showed up? The stray dog. He strolled along with us and Oscar quite nicely. He had gotten really thin, we realized he wasn't really a street dog, they know how to find food, and are usually pretty wary of people. This guy stuck to us like glue, and he had lost a lot of weight, which is why we thought he had probably been "thrown away" by his owners, and didn't know how to fend for himself.

We decided we couldn't leave him without food and water, so we brought him home.

There were a few problems, he smelled like an ELEPHANT, and he scrapes and bruises that were covered with flies. There was NO WAY he was coming in our house. We brought him into our enclosed, safe yard. We fed him, and fed him, and fed him. The poor guy was very hungry, but super gentle. He didn't make a peep the whole time he was here. We think he was just happy to be safe, off the streets, fed and watered.

We decided to call him George, or "Jorge" in Spanish.

A few pics:

We think he might be a Boxer, or Boxer Mix.

What a sweet face

His ribs, spine and hip bones were protruding, he needed nourishment.

The guy just wanted affection, when I would sit down, he would walk over and plop his face in my lap. His really, really dirty face, in my lap. LOL!!!!!

I sat and petted "George" for a while and my hands looked like I was a coal miner. Not dirt, but soot or something. I think it was a result of him trying to find somewhere warm to sleep at night.

In the mornings, we would leave the back gate open to let him roam to see if he would come back. During the day he would leave, explore and return. We think he knew a good thing when he had it.

Michael decided to try to put a collar and leash on George, and he was quite accepting of it.

George lounging in our yard.

The poor guy had scrapes on his face and a few open cuts on his ears and body.

We knew that there was no way we could give this guy a bath, but he really, really needed one.

We weren't even sure if we could keep him. I made several calls trying to find a place we could take him to. One shelter said they would take him, but they could not arrange to pick him up. It is a no-kill shelter we had seen on YouTube, so we thought that would be a great place to bring

"George - Jorge" to. We called our friend Manny to help us. He is great, we explained that the dog was way too smelly to be put in a Taxi, so he rented (means - we rented) a pick-up truck to transport "George -Jorge".

When Manny arrived, he thanked us for not expecting that the dog would go in his Taxi. The dog really, really smelled bad. LOL!!!

We brought "George - Jorge" to the shelter on a Friday, we visited him on the following Monday, OMG, what a difference. He was all cleaned up and playing with other dogs. The attendant told us we could not adopt

"George - Jorge", until he was neutered, which they did not want to do for at least a week, they wanted to watch his health and weight.

OK, we were happy that the dog was safe.

We went to visit "George - Jorge" two days later, and guess what, they had already neutered him. Down here, they don't use the word neutered, I won't mention how they describe what the procedure was, but anyway,

"George - Jorge" was happy and running around.

Apparently, someone had already come to the shelter, saw "Jorge", and wanted to adopt him. The shelter told the prospective new owner that "Jorge" might already have a new home.

We were going to the coast for a few days, and wanted time to think about taking in another dog. It was REALLY hard to find a place that would rent to us when we came to Cuenca, with one, very well behaved, very small dog, and now we were considering a second one.

We realized that we couldn't take another dog. It was a really hard decision.

When we returned from Puerto Lopez, we knew we had to go the shelter to tell them that Jorge should be adopted, that we could not take him. When we got there, it was really great to see the his progress. He had become a total chatter box, yelping, barking, and playing. We think he recognized us, it was very cool. His wounds were healed, he had gained weight, he looked great. What a huge difference.

The person that wants to adopt Jorge has built a dog house for him, but it was not acceptable to the shelter, they said it had to be larger. How great, they are really looking out for the well being of the dog.

I went to visit Jorge this past Monday and I cannot believe how great he looks.

I am sad that we didn't bring him home, but we know that we made a difference for this dog, and his life better.

A small chapter on our life in Cuenca.

Our pictures in a local Publication.

2012-05-31T15:56:00.000-05:00

LONG STORY, BUT FOR A GREAT CAUSE:

Michael has attended a few Benefit Poker Tournaments, (anyone remember the night I dropped our newly acquired cedula's and passports at the Cuenca airport back in October??) It costs $7.00 to buy in and the funds raised go to buy food for an Orphanage located in the Yungilla Valley, it is about an hour outside of Cuenca.

We learned that one of our neighbors works closely with the Orphanage, and I asked if I could go with her to help out once in a while. One morning my neighbor and her husband picked me up and we traveled to the "Messengers of Peace" Orphanage. It was a day after another Poker Tournament, so she had already gone shopping for meat, fruits and vegetables. Once we arrived I realized it wasn't the type of Orphanage I was expecting. They call the residents "kids", but they range in age from 7 years old to 42 years old, and all have some form of mental disability. There are currently 52 residents.

They are never adopted, and live out their lives there.

So, I said I wanted to help. Well, my job the first day was to chop up about 20 pounds of really bloody, red meat, into individual portions, bagging and labeling it. Me - cutting up meat. It was a long morning.

Our neighbor documents every item of food that is brought in with the donated funds, and it is portioned out for distribution. She does a wonderful job. I was shown around the grounds, the older "kids" go to work in a nearby Rose Farm, and the younger ones go to school, and after that they make soap to sell for personal spending money. They raise pigs for consumption and sale.

The residents I met were sweet, it was explained to them that an "Americano" had come to visit and help out. I don't think I left the classroom without being kissed by every child.

I went again a few weeks later and this time I toted my camera along, only after asking our neighbor if it would be acceptable to take pictures. Another American couple came with that time. We made 80 empanadas to feed the children and the staff.

A pic of two of the residents, with the American fellow that came for a visit:

This gentleman was very protective of this young woman. He knew the concept of taking a photo and tried very hard to make her smile for the camera:

This young woman loved her hat, and smiled and laughed alot:

The building to the left is the soap factory, and the buildings behind are the livestock areas.

A few weeks later, my neighbor asked if I wanted to go to a "photo shoot of the children", they were making a cookbook to be sold for Mother's Day to raise funds for the kitchen of the Orphanage. I said, sure, I would love to go. I thought we were going back to the Messengers of Peace Orphange to take pictures of the residents. Wrong. I was brought to a gorgeous home here in Cuenca where local children were photographed by a professional photographer. I brought my own camera along to take candid shots. The children were given chef hats and aprons and posed. It was nice.

About a week later our neighbor came over and asked for my candid shots, so we gave them to her. A few weeks after that, our neighbor came over again, and asked if I would be willing to take additional photos for the cookbook. I thought what the heck, sure, I would be happy to do that. I was a little intimidated, I don't take great people pictures, scenery is more up my alley.

Anyway, I went. The lighting was awful but I tried my best. After two hours, we were done, and I explained I wanted to take to the pics back home and look at them and try to "spruce" them up. We don't have Photoshop or Lightroom or anything like that, Microsoft gives you a minor program to fix pictures. I just wanted to review them and straighten stuff. Well, no deal, the pic's had to go the publisher that night!!!!

This is the cover of the "Cookbook". They ended up including 6 of my photos. It took coming to Ecuador to become a "published photographer", LOL!!!!

My shot is the first one, the second is the cookbook inclusion of the photograph, same goes for the following pictures:

There was an event for the kick off of the cookbook, it was sold for $10.00, we hope it raised some money for a worthy cause.

Hosteria Mandala

2012-05-28T16:23:00.001-05:00

We wanted to take a break from our hectic life (LOL!) and go to the coast, we decided to return to the place in Puerto Lopez that we had gone to with my Mom.

As usual, we couldn't sit together in the Van to Guayaquil, Michael and Oscar sat in the front with the driver, and I was stuck in the back row, next to two young Ecuadorian men. We were up pretty early, so I was looking forward to sleeping during the three hour ride through the Andes. Oh well, best laid plans. The two guys next to me were like 13 year old girls, they didn't shut up for about an hour, they were very animated, eventually they ran out of things to say and their conversation ended. I was so thankful; peace and quiet at last.

I was drifting off and then I heard the sound of a helicopter. A helicopter???

What the heck is a helicopter doing in the Caja's Mountains???

I opened my eyes to find that the van had a drop down screen to watch videos, my peaceful ride through the mountains was now accompanied with the movie "Black Hawk Down". The soundtrack was blaring, it was dubbed in Spanish, but it had subtitles, ALSO in Spanish. It was sorta surreal, beautiful mountain scenery with a movie about death and mayhem.

Anyway, we caught the nice bus to Olon, which also played a movie, "We Bought a Zoo" with Matt Damon. It was also dubbed in Spanish, with Spanish subtitles. Michael joked that there must be a ton of deaf Ecuadorians that take this type of transportation.

In Olon the Taxi that the Hotel arranged for us was waiting, we were quite comfortable during the 45 minute ride to Puerto Lopez. We got to the hotel, checked in and strolled the beach in enough time to catch a great sunset.

The Hotel:

Our Room:

Each room is named after a fish, or a bird, or a flower, and the room key is a HUGE piece of wood in the shape of the animal. So, we had a key shaped like a Butterfly.

The room actually sleeps five, there is a single bed to left of this one, and a loft area with another double bed. We had a refrigerator and a cooktop. It was nice to be able to make our coffee in the morning and sit on our private balcony. There is no A/C, but the room had several ceiling fans and a few floor fans. We didn't really need them, this room is on the "second floor" and the breezes were amazing. We left the French Doors open at night, we could hear the waves.

Our Balcony:

We had two entrances to the balcony, one off the French doors next to the bed, and one that wrapped around from the room entrance.

Through the trees we could watch the waves. There were two comfy chairs and two hammocks, they were not so comfy, wierd plastic things.

The bushes were like Bougainvillea gone wild; red, white, orange, pink, absolutely beautiful. There were tons of birds, some we had never seen before, and we were pleasantly surprised at the lack of bugs.

Typical Puerto Lopez transporatation:

We spent one day watching a guy with a motorcycle going up and down the beach all day transporting people. At one point there were five people on one Motorcycle.

We made our coffee each morning, had breakfast in our room, and then we would claim two hammocks and go to the beach. The hotel has a nice library, so we would pick a book, take towels and soda or water down to a little Cabana, and spend very relaxing days, literally hanging out.

Sunsets:
Enough said.

Flowers on the grounds of the hotel:

Their garden is specatular.

The Beach:

The beach is beautiful and quiet. We would stroll and look for driftwood and green rocks. The bag coming home was alot heavier than it was going,

The little blip in the surf is Oscar.

An afternoon in Puerto Lopez.

Oscar has been frightened of the water since the time he fell off one of the kayaks. We would not go NEAR water. For some reason, he took to the beach like crazy. He went nuts playing in the surf and chasing crabs, I guess his Daschund breeding went into high gear, he kept digging in the sand trying to get a crab. They always out smarted him.

Horses that showed up on the beach.

We watched these guys run back and forth from this little boat unloading fish.

The owners of the hotel were on vacation themselves, so the duty of walking the five "Hotel" dogs was given to a hotel employee. This day, guests had volunteered to take them for their 45 minute walk down the beach.

On our last evening we lost one of our cell phones.

We had taken one of the funny little "Taxis" to a nice Italian restaurant we had gone to with a couple we had met at the Hosteria. We strolled back to the hotel, and when we got to our room we realized we were missing a phone, so off down the dirt road we went with flashlights. We walked all the way back to the restaurant, and then we called the missing cell phone. A guy answered, we didn't speak Spanish, he didn't speak English, so the restaurant owner intervened for us. The "guy" had found the phone in the taxi we had taken to the restaurant and was willing to bring it to our hotel in the morning, BUT, he wanted to know how much we were going to pay him to bring the phone to us. We didn't specify an amount, we just said we would pay. About an hour later he called back and said he would bring the phone to the hotel that night. It cost us $10.00 to get our phone back.

The trip back from the coast was uneventful, there was another movie on the bus, which we slept through. Michael, me and Oscar were out like lights.

A bonus of our little excursion to the coast was meeting a really nice couple, originally from Southern California and now living in Panama. They are here in Ecuador exploring around to see if they want to make the move. After they left Puerto Lopez, they toured around the coast and then came to Cuenca. We met them for lunch on Friday, and yesterday Linda and Stephen came to our house for lunch along with our friends Wally and Hazel.

It was a nice day. Life in Ecuador.

My thought for today

2012-05-13T17:12:00.001-05:00

Laugh, love, be kind, and give to others.
My thought for today about my Uncle Ned.

Fishing and UFO's

2012-05-05T09:07:00.000-05:00

Michael had been invited to go fishing with a neighbor a few times, and each time it was on very short notice, and we had something else planned for the day. The other morning, at about 7:45 a.m. there was a banging at our front door, and there was our neighbor asking Michael to go fishing, we made some sandwiches, some Coca tea (for the elevation) and packed a few munchies for the trek. They said they would be back around 5:00 and off they went. The rest is Michael's.

We rode into the Caja's, after about 40 minutes we were high in the Andes, I saw several groups of pack horses scattered along the roadside. I was told that these were animals belonging to families that live 2 -3 hrs back in the mountians with no roads. Everything is carried in and out by horse, usually one person stays with the horses, while the families go into Cuenca to buy supplies. Tough life of hard working people.

When we got to our destination, or what I thought was our destination, we turned off the road for another 15 or 20 minute drive up the side of a mountian. The road was really rough, the car kept bottoming out, Patricio (my neighbor) and I got out to guide his brother around the deep ruts, while holding bowling ball size rocks to put under the tires in the event that the car started to roll backwards, I was getting a real laugh out of this.

We finally got to where we would leave the car at rural farm house made of earthen stone (abode brick) and a straw roof, with chickens and ducks running around. I looked back down over the switch backs we had just driven up, the cars on the road below looked like matchbox toys!!! A check of my GPS showed we were just above 10,000 feet elevation.

Hiking in to the Lakes

We started hiking into the mountains and it was ALL up hill. I swore to myself I would keep up with these guys and was really happy that I did. Each time I felt I was ready for a break I just kept saying to myself "5 more minutes". After about 45 minutes, a lake was finally in site. I was so relieved, but Patricio say "Oh no Mike this is lake #1 , small fish, we are going to lake #5". OH MY GOD I thought, but on we went.

Lake # 1

Lake #3

Lake #5

During the hike in I realized just what a outstanding place I was in, the beauty really moved me. It was like nothing I had experienced before and really wished Anne was with me to see it. We got to lake #5 an hour and a half later, total hike was about 2hrs and 20 minutes, we were at 13,400 feet elevation, no wonder I had such a hard time breathing. The lake we came upon was big, calm and crystal clear. It started to lightly rain, but I didn't care, I was fishing. I pulled out my trusted Patagonia Rain jacket and thought this is a bit tight, then I realized it was Anne's not mine!!! Thank God I lost weight or the jacket would have never zipped, but it did and I was warm and toasty.

Beautiful Scenery

The fishing started, we met up with other relatives of Patricios, everyone spread out. This lake is huge with rolling hills all around, I couldn't see where the others were, we just communicated by whistling. This is a lake where these guys usually catch large numbers of trout (rainbow/browns), but after 4 hrs I only had ONE. As we gatherded to leave I didn't feel bad, the other guys had also only caught one or two, I didn't care, it was a great day. The hike out wasn't bad, mostly down hill and with the sun going down behind the peaks everything had an orange glow, it was great.

Hiking back out of the Caja's

Back at the farm house we were invited in to have tea and warm up while we waited for everyone to return. It was getting dark and at that altitude the temp was dropping fast. We sat around in an old kitchen, with an open fire in the corner and meat hanging from the ceiling smoking. Our hosts were wonderful, an older gentlemen and his wife. She wore the traditional red wool skirt ,with thick wool shawls around her shoulders, jogging pants and wellies, and a thick wool hat with a marijuana leaf on the front.

Now remember, my Spanish is very limited so I missed most of the tales being told, but Patricio did his best to translate for me. There were two small children, maybe 4 and 5 years old and I gave them some hard candy and a pack of gum I had. Their eyes grew and the biggest smiles I ever saw came across their faces. Grandma smiled also and came over and took me by the hand and led me over to the corner where the fire was. She told the guy that was already sitting there to move, I was given his place. I guess it was the warmest seat in the house, it was her way of saying thanks for treating her grandchildren to sweets. A few hours went by of tea drinking and telling stories, I understood some but missed alot. I listened to the farmer tell a tale about something, and all I understood was that 3 days ago something happened, but the rest I had no clue. I guess the puzzled look on my face let them them know I didn't understand, so his wife starts waving a dish above her head and the farmer was swinging his arms around. I had no idea what was going on! Then my friend Patricio said "You know - ET, ET, how you say UFO?". I came to learn that there are many sightings in that area, they all shook their heads in agreement and claimed to have seen UFO's at one time or another. I didn't see any, if I ever do, I promise I will let you know.

I wish I had taken pictures of the house and family, but I didn't want to be rude. Maybe next time.

So after a very enjoyable evening we packed up the cars to go into the freezing cold and pitch black night. One car woudn't start so everyone was pushing, one pop of the clutch and it roared to life. Down the the road and thru the Andes back to Cuenca. What a great day. My muscles were aching but my face had a giant smile. It was about 10pm by the time I made it to our front door, so much for being home by 5pm. I was tired, hungry and my legs felt like rubberbands but I wouldn't have changed a thing. It was a wonderful day and I feel privileged to have spent a day like that. I can't wait to do it again.

A Day at the Races

2012-05-01T18:03:00.001-05:00

We joined some friends for a day in the park. We were looking forward to Burrow Races, Go Cart races and a Soccer game,

"Clowns vs. Indigenous Women".

The Burrow races were scheduled to start at 10:30.

Well, it is Ecuador, so at 11:00, when there wasn't a single Burrow in sight, we strolled through the park. It is the largest park in Cuenca, Parque El Paraiso.

We pulled up a bench for a rest.

The flora is beautiful

This little girl adored Seamus and wanted to walk him, she kept telling him to "Caminar" (spanish for walk), and when he would stop to sniff or look around she would demand that he "Vamos". Too funny.

At one point when everyone was watching the little girl in the white dress walking Seamus, her older sister, in the pink dress, wandered off. The Mom was pretty panicked, our friend Wally and the Mom fanned out, they both noticed her at the same time. She had gone off to go play on a slide.

The Burrows finally showed up.

These guys were having fun taking turns getting on the burrows and having their pictures taken. Smiles everywhere.

The Go-Cart race went off first. One guy steered and one guy pushed. The track is pretty big so about half way around when the guy pushing got tired, they swapped positions.

This team didn't even have a steering wheel for their Cart.

He just held on for dear life.

These blow up toys are sold at every parade and event.

Vendors were selling balloons, munchies, and toys.

"AND THEY'RE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The Burrow Races finally started at 12:30. It was HYSTERICAL. The burrows were definitely the ones in charge. They were going every which way, if they didn't feel like going straight, they didn't!!!

This burrow just slammed to a halt. He wasn't going any further and

the poor rider was exhausted. The race was several laps long!!

Notice the vendor guy, everyone was laughing like crazy, including the rider!!!

This guy gave up riding the beast, and just walked him.

El Diablo riding a burrow!!

As you can see from the pictures, the sky was really clouding up and we were in for a downpour, so we decided to head home. We were bummed that we would miss the Clowns v. Indigenous Ladies. Just as we got home, the skies opened up and it rained like crazy. We are pretty sure the soccer game was canceled. We keep looking through the paper hoping for a mention of the rescheduling of the match!! So far, no luck.

Cuenca's version of the Kentucky Derby!!

Banos Hot Baths

2012-04-27T10:30:00.001-05:00

There are two "towns" named Banos in Ecuador. Both are known for their hot mineral baths, the smaller of the two towns is only 8 kilometers outside of Cuenca, so we planned a day trip with our friends.

We were able to get there on a local city bus, the cost for our transporation was 25 cents from the city center. We walked down the dusty streets of Banos, made a left, and there was this beautiful oasis, Piedre de Agua Day Spa. It appears as though the place was carved out of the mountian, it is beautiful!! For an entrance fee of $10.00 we had access to three pools and the steam room. The Spa provides lots of other services; pools, mud baths, massages, those funny little boxes you sit in and only your head sticks out, subterranean baths, etc., but the price shot up to $30.00 per person, so we thought we would check out the basic package for our first visit.

The enclosed dining area.

We arrived at 11:00 a.m. on a Thursday, and we basically had the place to ourselves.

The Mud Bath area

One of the assorted pools.

Next to the main hot pool is a smaller, warmer pool, next to that was one that was ICE cold. None of us ventured into the cold one. Behind the deck chairs there were two outdoor showers. One guy must have gone in and out of the showers about ten times. There were also private showers in the changing area.

The weather cooperated, we had sunshine.

After our lovely soak, we ate lunch in the tents rather than the enclosed area. The meal was delicious, and the setting was spectacular.

Check out my pineapple juice, unbelievably refreshing.

Our view during lunch.

The surrounding gardens were beautiful. I love these flowers, they grow wild everywhere here.

There are walkng paths around the facility, and we noticed this hanging on a stone.

Area where the subterranean baths/ pools were located.

We spent an afternoon at Piedre De Agua, the pools were great and relaxing. The food was fantastic, and the setting was unbelievable.

We will definitely spend many more afternoons there.

COMPLETELY UNRELATED:

It seems that hats are a huge part of the culture here. A few weeks ago vendors set up stalls to sell items for the Foundation Day Celebration. We came across these cool hats.

Parades, or maybe not.

2012-04-20T17:42:00.000-05:00

WAITING FOR A PARADE:

There are parades in Cuenca all the time. Michael stumbled across one a few weeks back that was simply celebrating the street cleaners!!

Cuencanos love parades.

We were told there would be a big one on Good Friday, so Michael, me and Oscar went to Parque Calderon, the main square in the city center, and waited for a parade.

I was POSITIVE there would be a procession of the Stations of the Cross, we weren't sure what time it might occur, but I was betting on 3:00.

While we waited, we met this little boy and his Grandfather. I thought the Grandfather looked like a "Grumpy Gus" type of person, but when he saw that we let his grandson play with Oscar, his face lit up. Once again, we have little, to no Spanish, and he had little to no English, but we managed to communicate.

The little boy had the same beautiful smile as his grandfather.

We gave the boy Oscar's leash to hold, and you would have thought we had actually given him the dog. TOTAL joy. The little guy didn't say a single word to us the entire time we sat with him, which was about a half an hour. He would just smile and laugh. Turned out he lives in Milan, Italy, and was here visiting his Mom's family in Cuenca. The little boy only spoke Italian, he didn't understand his Grandfather's language, and his Grandfather didn't understand his grandson's language. There were the four of us, hanging out, and communicating through the universal language of smiles.

Some friends met us in the park a little while later to watch the procession / parade.

Well, no parade, no precession took place, but a torrential downpour did, and we all dashed for cover.

While we waited out the rain, this little boy befriended Velkey, the beautiful German Sheperd, the little guy didn't seem interested in the other dogs, Seamus the Irish Terrier, or our little Oscar. The kid just adored Velkey.

Everyone was wet, and the park was drenched, so we decided to call it a day and we all went home.

We read in the paper the next day that there had been a parade after all, but in a completely different neighborhood.

Classic Ecuador, LOL.

BEING TOURISTS IN THE CITY WE LIVE IN:

We think Cuenca is a beautiful city, so a few days later, we wanted to be tourists in our new home town and take the City Bus tour. We had done this twice before, but both times the tour was in Spanish. We decided to take a different bus. This service just started operating in November, so we were hoping to learn things we missed the first two times around. It is a two hour tour of the city and costs $5.00.

It was great, there were only six people on the bus, so the guide just sat with us and chatted about the architecture, the history of the city and answered any questions we had for him. It was a lovely day, the weather cooperated and didn't rain. It was pretty funny sitting up top, if you weren't careful you could have been strangled by the low hanging electric wires!!!

A view of the Old Cathedral Domes on the cloudy morning of our tour.

Street in El Centro

This balcony belongs to one of the oldest homes in Cuenca

Cuenca weather can be schizophrenic, one minute it is overcast, and literally five minutes later, the sun is so strong you HAVE to wear a hat.

Me, in my new hat. There are great leather shops here, this little baby cost $15.00. I LOVE it.

Our friends. We have several pictures of them taking pictures of us, while we take pictures of them. Too funny.

Police Officers along the River.

It was a busy time in Cuenca, between Holy week and the upcoming Founders Celebration, so there was a large influx of tourists.
When this happens, we see alot more Police presence.

This street performer was at the same intersection as the mounted police.
He was juggling machetes and seemed pretty handy with them.
I guess in his line of work, he needs to be!

The culmination of the city tour is a trip up a hill to a place called Turi. There is a small church, a famous Ecuadorian Ceramic artist's studio, and a few little Tienda's.

We have found that most of the churches around the city are open all the time, but the Turi Church was closed.

I stuck my camera between the closed gate, what a pretty place.

Michael enjoying the view of Cuenca.

View from Turi. The cloud formations here are amazing.

It was fun to be tourists in the City we now live in.

By the way, the parade we had been waiting for on Good Friday, took place here. The procession of The Stations of the Cross went up the road to the little church in Turi. Bummer, sorry we missed it.

WE FOUND A PARADE:

A few days after our City site seeing tour, Michael and I went to El Centro, we had a little shopping to do, and, yeah, there was a parade.

Cuenca was founded on April 12th, 1,557.

We ran right into a parade. Fun.

Azuay is the province in which Cuenca is located.

The hats that most people call "Panama Hats" actually originated in Cuenca. They are referred to as "Panama Hats" because they were popularized during the building of the Panama Canal. Hard working men needed a shield from the hot sun and wore these hats. A picture of Teddy Roosevelt wearing one at a Canal construction site cemented the name. So, a little history; the hats are actually from Cuenca and surrounding areas.

Another province represented in the parade. Canar is the province where the Ingapirca ruins are located.

All kinds of vendors show up at the parades. It cracks me up that kids here still eat Cotton Candy.

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These woman never stopped dancing. By the end of the parade they must have been exhausted.

Michael wants one of these masks.

Nuns enjoying the parade from one of the many balconies in El Centro.

Yeah, in addition to the funny mask, Michael wants a pair of these pants.

Saraguro, another province in Ecuador. This is the area that we were served Cuy for lunch. We BOTH want one of these hats.

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We have no clue what province this little guy represents. Maybe the Amazon.

So, we found a parade when we weren't even looking for one.

Cuenca, gotta love it.

Our Home

2012-04-12T17:25:00.003-05:00

Hola,
More than a few people have asked us to include pics of our new home. We will, when we finally have a Sofa and Loveseat. This has been an epic that has been going on since early October. We are hoping this endeavor will come to an end on Saturday the 14th. LONG, LONG story. We will share pics of the house when these last few items arrive. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

The little compound that we live in consists of about 20 homes, it is a gated community. We understand that most of the people here are professionals. There is a home being built two houses down from us, it will have an underground parking area for 9 cars. It was supposed to be finished on April 1st, still not finished. We guess that construction workers are the same worldwide, LOL.

Maybe we will be invited to the housewarming!

So for this entry, we are including a few pictures of what we get to see every day when we stroll with Oscar. It is amazing, when we leave our gated community, it seems like we are in rural Ecuador; we experience farm fields, livestock, hummingbirds, the scent of Eucalyptus trees, and really, really nice people.

Cactus growing wild along the side of the road

Very exclusive compound down the road from our house.

Stone walls and Agave plants.

Entry to a farm

A woman walking down the road, we took this picture from the balcony off of our bedroom.

Four little kids waiting for their Mom, the lady in red.

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Age does not matter, these women are amazing.

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If you say "Buenos Tartes" or "Buenos Dias", you usually get great smiles.

Anne strolling Oscar

Michael strolling Oscar

Water pump that is still used for water for the homes

We love the hats the women wear.

These ladies just laughed and smiled at us.

We wish this wan't so blurry, but we include it just because the guy was so happy to have his pic taken.

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Puppies we found for sale during our walk.

How cute are these guys??

We watched these people farm with Cows on yokes plowing their fields.

Wow, hard working people.

Just a dairy cow, the owners sometimes just tie them up behind our house. Kinda scares Oscar, we open the back gate and there might be a cow or a goat, and Oscar freaks out. Too funny.

Strolling Oscar down a rural road, and then we see this beautiful window, incredible metalwork.

We love this place.