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The Virgin of the Panecillo
When I lived in Quito 20 yrs ago, it was too dangerous to visit this landmark statue up on a hill overlooking Old Town. Now it was safe to lunch at the top and walk down!First of all, let me wish a HAPPY, HEALTHY New Year to all of my blog readers! Here´s hoping that 2009 treats you oh so fine!!
I am very grateful to my new friend, Maggie, who loaned me her apartment in Quito while she was travelling in Peru. I stayed for 10 days in a luxury furnished flat, complete with bathtub (ah!), washer & dryer, internet access, TV, and all the comforts of home along with a lovely terrace view of Quito´s northern new town area. Morci (my pick-up) especially appreciated the private garage with electric door!
From Maggie´s place it was convenient to walk down to Parque Carolina (Quito´s huge central park), and I kept my vow to do more exercise (at least for the first few days I was in the city). I enjoyed watching early morning joggers, skaters, dog walkers and trainers as I strolled through the park. I glimpsed the botanical gardens, fountains, sculptures and enjoyed a slice of Quito life.
After making the mistake of trying to shop for groceries a few days before Xmas (it took me an hour to get out of the Megamaxi parking garage!) I left
View of Quito´s Old Town
This historic center is breathtaking viewed from above. The huge cathedral is visible from everywhere. the truck safely at home and hoofed it all over town. I cabbed it down to the Old Town, and enjoyed walking around admiring the colonial architecture. La Ronda is a narrow, colonial street that´s been turned into a pedestrian zone, lined with shops and galleries. I strolled the cobbled lane, watching daily life pass by.
I took a cab up to the Panecillo (a hill called "little bread roll") and treated myself to an elegant lunch at a British pub up top with glorious views of the tiled roofs and church towers. It was a long walk down, and my knees and quads were complaining by the time I reached the bottom. I was able to get some great urban clothesline shots to add to my collection of photos of Ecuadorian laundry!
From the bottom of the hill, I managed to hop a cab to my dermatologist appt (menopause is wreaking havoc on my complexion!) but after leaving the pharmacy, there were NO more taxis available. This was Dec 23 and everyone was in frantic holiday prep-mode. SO, I had to slog back UP the hill to the apt. I swear I walked at least
Archway on La Ronda
La Ronda is an historic avenue which has been facelifted for tourist visitors. There are old shops, museums, and lovely architecture. 6-8 miles that day and I was grateful for a hot bath upon arriving home! I turned on the TV (local channels only) and quickly got fed up with the Holiday programming (bad singing and repetitive ads) so I buried myself in "Reading Lolita in Tehran".
Each day I was in Quito I managed to reconnect with some old friends - meeting for lunch or dinner and catching up with folks I only see a few times a year. I had dinner with Doris & Carlos (she´s the new Minister of Cultural Heritage and he´s a morning TV news reporter). I hadn´t spent time with them in public since they´d both accepted such high profile positions, and we were treated like royalty at the elegant restaurant where we dined. Everyone recognized them and several folks came by the table to greet them. Between the two of them they had 5 cell phones sitting on the table needing their attention several times during the meal!!
I went down to the valley below Quito to visit my friend Lupe in her lovely home. Usually when I come to Quito she and I take an outdoor adventure - hot
Underpass Nativity Scene
Reminders of the holiday season everywhere! This was under La Ronda Arch. baths or waterfalls - but this time I got to meet her sister and her dogs and see their exquisitely decorated townhouse. Of course the Christmas decor made it all the more beautiful.
The afternoon of the 24th I helped an American friend, Leonore & her Mom (who was visiting) to cut, chop, and prepare for the following night's dinner (to which I was also invited). I do miss working in the kitchen when I'm on the road for long stretches of time, and it was delightful to spend the afternoon with these two lovely ladies. Leonore had recently completed construction on her house, high in the hills overlooking the city and it was my first time in her new home.
The evening of the 24th I was invited to have a turkey dinner with my friend Alexandra & her family at her inlaws' home. They were WAY into the holiday decorations, including an inflatable snowglobe blowing around little styrofoam balls. One of the sisters-in-law is an avid collector of kitschy dolls and such, all of which get assembled into a multi-level nativity extravaganza. I get the impression that it keeps growing each year! I was
Christmas Eve at the Ramos home
I was invited to share Dec 24th with Alexandra (friend of 20 yrs!) & her daughters (pictured here) at the home of her in-laws. One of the sister has a collecting mania! invited for 8 pm, and like the good gringa that I am, I was right on time. The other family members didn´t even begin to arrive until 10:00 or 10:30 and the meal was served shortly before midnight. Thank heavens Leonore had slipped me some cheese and crackers before I left her house!!
As I often do when I am in Quito, I went back to my old apartment. From 1988 to 1990 I lived in a lovely neighborhood called La Floresta. My former landlords, Don Marcelo & Doña Rosa Pullas have built on to their house and now all of the daughters live in attached apts. The youngest daughter lives in the apt where I lived and she gave me a tour to show me how they'd fixed it up. She's younger than I am and she's a grandma already (gulp!). I just discovered that the oldest daughter has been working in administration at the Jewish Synagogue for 22 years, and she just discovered that I was a Jew! Little did I know, even back when I was living there she was connected to the Jewish community!
After a scrumptious meal, 30 of us all
Deatil of Mega Nativity Scene
Groupings of traditional figures, Toy Story Characters, train sets, Barbies, etc, were woven together with flashing lights on this four-tiered Nativity Extravaganza! around one long table (well, several tables pushed together) they brought out the KARAOKE machine and I had to sing (of all things) American Pie. Whew, that´s a long song but the scoring mechanism gave me a 98 out of 100!! Needless to say, a good time was had by all. They are such a warm and loving family, and the excitement and laughter of all the grandkids and great-grandkids made for a fun gathering.
Now, back up to Leonore´s for yet another turkey dinner (my 3rd in 2 days!!) This one had the most traditional American textures and flavors -- yummy stuffing, cranberry sauce, squash, etc. Really good food and really good company! Also at the dinner were my friends Ramiro & Salome with their brand new baby son, Gabriel. I was glad that I got to spend some time with them as well, since their lives have become crazy hectic since becoming first-time parents.
On Dec 26th it was time to work off some of the food I'd piled on! Alexandra and Miguel had done construction on their home, and I offered to help with the clean-up phase. Since I am fortunate enough to
Xmas lunch with Pullas Family
This is the home of my landlords from '88-'90. The daughters, who live in apts above and beside, brought tables, chairs, dishes - so all 30+ of us dined around one big table! have a lot of leisure time in my life, I try to pitch in and do chores for friends whenever I can. This house was a wreck!! The walls had been replastered and marble tile had been laid on the floors, so there was fine dust everywhere! In the morning Miguel (a dentist) had given me a free teeth-cleaning as a holiday gift, and he sent me along to the house with those little dust masks....and boy did we need them!
It was dirty, messy, hard work -- but we accomplished a lot. Alex & Miguel and the girls had been staying with his parents (all sleeping in one room) for almost 6 months, so they were really grateful that we got stuff cleared out and cleaned up enough for them to move back home. Whew...my good deed for the day finished late in the afternoon - stumbling around exhausted I cut open my calf on a sharp piece of metal on a window frame. Fortunately it didn´t need stitches, but will probably leave a scar.
I don´t know how many friends through the years have asked me, "How DO you spell Hanukah?" Well, there are
Homemade Menorah
With a bit of creativity, I helped to create the Hanukah spirit (or Januca as they spell it in Spanish!) about 16 accepted spellings, depending on how you transliterate it from Hebrew (with H or Ch at the beginning, with one or two Ns, with or without the H at the end) but here's a new one to add to the list - JANUCA is the official Spanish spelling of the name of the Jewish Festival of Lights.
I was wandering around the old town when Pauley called to invite me to a Januca party on the 27th (the 7th night of Hanukah - my preferred spelling has one N and starts and ends with H). Pauley was a student of mine at Atlanta Intl School about 8 years ago, and she now lives and works in Quito. She was very excited that she had found Hanukah GELT (the gold foil-wrapped chocolate coins) and was able to borrow a couple of dreidels...so let the party begin! I told her I'd be in charge of the Menorah (Hanukiah - special candelabra) and the Latkes (potato pancakes).
I ducked into the nearest handicraft shop - where they sell decorations for weddings, baptisms, etc. - and explained to the clerks what I was trying to create. They suggested 'oasis'
Jews in Quito
A former Atlanta student, Pauley, hosted the party at her apt. Here we are posing with the foil-covered chocolate Hanukah gelt. - a brick florist foam to hold the long, slender blue tapers that they sold me. I knew I´d need to embellish the ugly green foam, so I went next door and bought a length of wide, blue cotton lace. Using a piece of white styrofoam as a backing, I created a reasonable facsimile of a menorah. It worked great, until the candles burned down and the foam started to catch fire!!
I had done a lot of the Latke prep work at Maggie´s apt so that once I arrived at the party I wouldn´t be stuck in the kitchen reeking of hot oil. I even got creative making 'Ecualatkes' with local ingredientes (sweet purple camote and yuca, a manioc-like white tuber). They were yummy, as were the traditional potato pancakes. There were people of many nationalities at the party, from German to Colombian, American to Cuban & of course Ecuadorian.
Pauley had been teasing me that she was going to fix me up with a 'Juban' guy she knew who was coming to the party. Lots of Cuban Jews emigrated to Florida and Mike's grandparents were among them. Pauley said he was a nice
Seventh Night of Hanukah
I pushed the candles into a brick of florist foam, then covered it with foil & lace. Pauley said it looked like I used my lingerie to decorate it! guy, single, about my age, decent looking. All of this ended up being true, except that he brought a date to the party! I guess he didn´t get the message that he was being fixed up. Oh well! The three of us who were Jewish gave an explanation of the holiday to the other 15 guests, as we lit the menorah, sang the prayers, and got out the dreidels. A good time was had by all as we played the spinning top game, trying to win gold coins.
The following day I was invited to brunch at the home of a former Atlanta International School colleague. Barbara and her husband are now living in Quito - their kids were back from college visiting them, along with some of their AIS friends! Also visiting was an AIS French teacher with whom I had worked for many years. Barbara's home was absolutely stunning with a lot of Asian influence in the decor. I hadn´t known before that her family lived in Indonesia before moving to Atlanta. Needless to say, we knew some people in common from my Malaysia days. It was a bit surreal to be brunching in a luxury
Playing Dreidel
It was fun to teach our international non-Jewish guests the game of dreidel, and especially fun to play on this beautiful butterfly table! Quito apt with former Atlanta colleagues and students!
A new handicraft museum had opened since I was last in Quito, and I enjoyed visiting the tasteful, state-of-the-art museum. I continued to wander around the tourist district (Mariscal) and happened upon an English language bookstore. The owner was a friendly Brit who invited me in and offered me a cup of tea. I had been looking for a book to study Portugese (in preparation for my trip to Brazil next year) but had only found a small Spanish-to-Portugese phrase book thus far. He had several for me to choose from there.
As I was paying, I looked up and saw a sign that said, Scrabble Anyone? It just so happened that Kathryn, the woman who had posted the sign, was had just walked in with her dog. She´s teaching English at a University in Quito and has been living in a sort of sleazy guest house. We decided to take a drive around and look for an apt where they would accept her pup, Taylor. I had no plans for that afternoon, so I did another good deed. We saw several good options and got to know
Atlanta Teachers in Quito
Barbara (L) lives in Quito now, and Francoise still teaches at Atlanta International School. It was fun to all reconnect in Quito. each other a bit. To thank me, she took me out for dinner and we played a game of Scrabble (I had ridiculously good letters, got THREE 7-letter words and scored over 500 - what an outrageous first game together!)
My last day in Quito I cleaned Maggie's place, washed all the linens and tried to leave it as nice as I´d found it. I was to pick up Marion & Art at the airport that night, but was first invited for dinner at the home of the Rule family. Dean & I taught together at the Colegio Americano 20 yrs ago, and their family has stayed here ever since. Their two older daughters were home from college (they´re both studying in the US) and it was great to be around the dinner table with a REAL AMERICAN FAMILY! I always enjoy spending time with them.
After meeting Marion & Art at the airport, I turned over my truck to them. They are building a home on the coast at Playa Escondida, so this is the 2nd time they´ve rented Morci to get materials down to their land. Early the next morning I caught the bus
Atlanta Grads in Quito
Anna, Eden, Kate & Miryam are all just finishing university now, but they took the opportunity to travel in Ecuador during the holidays. to Baños -- LOTS of people travelling on New Year´s Eve! There were also lots of beggars along the road, some blocking the roadway with wood or metal bars, causing the ride to be very herky jerky with the stench of burning rubber and brake shoes from all the bus starts and stops. I felt slightly nauseous during most of the 4 hour ride, but did perk up when Cotopaxi´s snow capped cone came into full view. These bus drivers are maniacs, passing on hills and curves, counting on the fact that they´re bigger so other vehicles will move out of the way. I wanted to look out the window, but was also a bit afriad to do so! I´m so grateful to have my own vehicle and not have to travel this way.
Back in Baños I was happy to see my Chaco pup again. Shana had been preparing a sumptuous New Year´s Feast (the grocery store in town ran out of turkeys so we had stuffed roasted chicken - fine by me! I had my fill of turkey!) We gathered with a group of American friends (and one Brit and one Ecuadorian) for a joyous evening
Waiting for the bus to pull out...
The four hour bus ride from Quito back down to Baños was a real adventure. I had rented out my truck, so it made for a change not to be driving. of fabulous food and company.
The volcano continued to be very active and during my first week back in Baños. On two different nights I woke up and looked out when I heard a loud BOOM and felt the bed shake and windows rattle. Both times I saw a trickle of lava down our side of the mountain, and a bright orange plume shooting out the back side, outlining the silhouette in dramatic light, fading as the spew of lava decreased. These minor eruptions were very fast, and folks around here say they are a good thing...helping to release the pressure and avoid the build-up of a big, catastrophic blow.
My first few days back in Baños I was suffering from a lot of upper back pain. It felt like I had pulled muscles and at night I felt spasms. We called up Evelyn who lives in Puyo an hour beyond Baños. She is an excellent massage therapist and she worked hard to release the knots in my muscles. It was not a relaxing massage, but her efforts combined with visits to the hot baths and a muscle relaxant tablet one night ot help me sleep
Cotopaxi Volcano frm bus window
The snow-capped peak of Cotopaxi was clearly visible for over a half hour. Shooting from a moving bus, this was the best of the dozen or so pix I took! really did the trick. I especially enjoyed spending time in the hot baths in the early, drizzly mornings. It´s delightful to float on my back in the hot mineral water while my face is pelted with icy cold rain drop needles.
Marion & Art came down to Baños to return the truck, and we spent a few days adventuring. The mosaic underground spa cavern and 11 story treehouse were amazing...fotos to follow in my next blog. By the way, to view the last few pictures on this blog you need to click on "extra photos" or "next" at the end. I have included a bunch of silly shots, including a few more in my continuing series of silly trash can heads!
Before I close, I´d like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and family who continue to make donations to help support the little community school on the coast where I am their "G-dmother". We have made progress towards the school´s being recognized and supported by the Ecuadorian national government. Thanks to Tom, an as yet unmet friend, who paused in his motorbike trip down through the Americas to help the community put a
Roadside Dummies
These straw-filled effigies (like scarecrows!) are burned on New Year´s eve, their pockets stuffed with firecrackers and with scraps of paper telling of sins and negative events frm the past year. roof on the new classroom building. Needless to say he came equipped with the necessary funds to buy the roofing materials. Thanks to Rebekka in England who will be contributing for a second year to provide secondary school scholarships for 5 of the graduates from the primary school. I continued to be awed and impressed by the generosity of so many people. If you´d like to know how you can donate, please email me at jillsare@gmail.com.
Now I´m off to the airport to pick up Eva who is arriving from Austria. She and I have travelled together on several continents during the past 25 years...now I´ll have a chance to take her around Ecuador for 2 weeks. If you are thinking of coming down for a visit, please let me know as soon as you can!! I would love to try to schedule my life so that I´m completely free to take you around!! As of now, I will be booked up working as a hotel manager again at Hosteria Mandala in Puerto Lopez from Feb-July 2009, and then again in Sept & Oct 2009. In 2010 I hope to make a trip to Brazil, maybe in March,
Restless Tungurahua
Arriving back in Baños, the volcano had really 'kicked it up a notch'. Lots of rumbling and booms. Was it thunder? Was it fireworks? No, it was Mama Tungurahua. April or May. SO - book your visit dates for this year and next. I would LOVE to have you come down!! Much joy in the coming year!! Jill
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Greg
non-member comment
Aww, Quito
Hey Jill, It was really cool reading and seeing places in Quito that I haven't been to in so long! I'm glad you had such a friendly and fun holiday in Ecuador. -Greg