Blogs from Ecuador, South America - page 5

(Day 152 on the road) If one had secretly beamed me from Colombia into Ecuador, it would have taken me a while to realize that I am in a different country at all. The two neighbours are pretty similar to me as an ignorant foreigner - the language of course, the culture, the food (think fried chicken with rice), the beautiful Andean landscape, the aggressive street dogs, the car alarms going off 143 times day and night, the incredible friendliness of the people. One thing that is different in Ecuador is the proficiency of the English language. A fair number of people here speak either pretty good or at least basic English, which is a very welcome change from Colombia, where literally nobody spoke any English. It might be related to the fact that a whopping ... read more

Friday 11th - Sunday 13th November 2022 After our first nights sleep here in Ecuador, when I woke feeling energised, it came as a surprise to realise it was only 4am; time travel is a funny thing! Luckily, falling back to sleep wasn’t too much trouble and it was soon a much better time to be getting up. Excited to explore Quito more over the next three days, we ventured back out to the old historical centre where most of the churches and museums (and tourists) are, and really enjoyed our time looking around; tourist info centre here with a really good city map. We had read the museums here were good and that the guides were knowledgeable and enthusiastic, and well, from the few bits we saw, we’d agree! We particularly enjoyed the Museo de ... 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

As promised at the end of my last blog entry, here are some pix of the finished patchwork quilt. Danielle and I worked together on it for over four months. It was a long and arduous process with many fits and starts, pauses and changes, ideas and discoveries. When we first talked about her coming down to stay in my rental apartment for six months, part of the agreement was that she would help me with the project that had been percolating in my mind for so long. I am incredibly grateful for her knowledge, skill and patience as we waded through each step of the creation of this masterpiece! First I unearthed all of the fabric bits I'd been saving for over 30 years. There were clothes from Bali that shredded after three washings, scraps ... read more

We started the New Year off right, with a ladies' brunch to celebrate our dear seamstress friend, Zahra. She has done so much for our group of gringa friends and refuses to charge us very much if anything at all! Julie hosted the brunch on a sunny morning. Her living room/dining room/kitchen area has a glass roof so it's a bright, joyful space (where we also practice yoga together 3x/wk). She set a beautiful table and the gathering of friends was filled with laughter and affection. I enjoyed a three-day getaway to the jungle with three of my yoga buddies. CiCi came along as well. We went to Misahuallí, a place famous for a large troupe of resident capuchin monkeys who rule the town square. They can be very agressive, grabbing water bottles, cameras...even hats and ... read more