Blogs from Centre, Ecuador, South America

My sincerest apologies. For the past decade I've been doing my best to publish a new blog entry every two months, but this time it's been a full three months since my last entry. Where does the time go? Full disclosure; I find that recently I'm spending several hours a day on facebook - I love keeping in touch with former students and old friends all over the world, but I also understand and have become aware of the so-called dopamine burst effect of addictive activities. It's not like I just sit in front of my computer to the exclusion of other activities, but many hours each week get gobbled up watching short clips of youtube videos and scrolling on facebook. I need to give myself credit for what I AM accomplishing ... twice weekly yoga ... read more

Greetings from rainy Baños! July and August are the wettest months...after all, it's winter here now! Mostly it's been raining at night. There are new leaks in my master suite roof with every downpour! The add-on, it seems, didn't add on seamlessly to the existing structure...and they seem to keep popping up in new places all the time. When I awake in the night to hear interior drip-drip-dripping, it's often hard to fall back asleep...my brain starts fuming. It doesn't even make sense to repair water damage of paint and plaster until I somehow get this resolved.T his week a worker is coming to 'silicon-ize' some problem areas. We shall see if there is any improvement. Shana and I continue to have lunch and play Scrabble at least 2-3 times a week. CiCi is always under ... read more

Well, 2023 has been off to a roaring start! Get ready for a wild ride...read on to accompany me for non-stop fun! Warning...this'll be a long one! As planned, I helped my friend and yoga partner Julie make a move to the coast. She returned from spending the holidays with family in the Pacific Northwest and had just a few days in Baños to say good-byes before we headed to the beach. I organized a farewell luncheon for her at Karina´s restaurant, Café Hood. Twenty friends bidding her a fond farewell - so nice to all be together. Julie had been storing her stuff in my office closet, so now it was time to pull it all out and see what could be consolidated and how much we'd be able to fit in my car. She ... read more

Flights were on time and they didn't lose any luggage so we're off to a good start. We had a driver from OAT waiting for us at the airport and an hour later we made it to Mercure Alameda Hotel in Quito. It was about 10 at night and I had left home at 7 am. We checked in and tried to get some sleep. That part was not so successful and in the morning we were all feeling the altitude and the tiredness. In typical 'gotta fill every minute'' style, we had planned a day trip to the north of Ecuador to see the Otovalo Market and other sights on this free day before our tour actually started. Happy Gringo was sending a driver/guide Ivan and a van for a 9 am start. After hitting ... read more

Hola Hola! It's been a busy couple of months with plenty of travel and adventures!! Damaris has been one of my English learners for over two years. She's a college student who came to Baños every Saturday for her lesson, all the way from Ambato an hour away. She completed her degree in Physical Therapy at the Technical University of Ambato, and I was an invited guest of honor to her graduation. After the elegant ceremony, her parents invited me to join the whole family for a celebratory dinner in a local restaurant. Since Damaris and her mom had been in charge of the decorations and the cap and gown rentals, I stayed behind to help them collect the robes from all 26 of the graduates and to help load all the flowers and balloons into ... read more