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Posing in the Rushing River
Lounging in a natural jacuzzi rock seat on the Ulba River. The water is icy cold, but when you're in the sun it feels great (for a few minutes!) Greetings dear friends! As 2010 drew to a close I took some time to reflect on the past year. I hope that it was a great year for you all – filled with health and happiness, challenge and adventure.
I've had a wonderful year – living life to the fullest, keeping busy and active with a flexible schedule that allows me to engage in a variety of pursuits -- a balance of work and play including plenty of travel, visiting old friends and making new acquaintances.
The following is a month by month synopsis of 2010, the year in review (note: all of the accompanying photos are from Dec 2010)
January – In Banos, Scrabbling with Shana and admiring Tungurahua Volcano as she gave us a New Year's show.
February – I celebrated my 50th birthday with dear friends at one of my favorite beaches, Playa Escondida in Ecuador's northernmost coastal province, Esmeraldas.
March – I accompanied another group of volunteers from Engineers Without Borders (EWB) on a trip to a mountain village in the Cotopaxi region where we continued working on Potable and Irrigation Water
El Silencio Waterfall
The path that leads to this secret waterfall is not a maintained trail, so it took some bashing through cane fields to get there. Well worth the effort! Projects.
April – Substitute Hotel manager at Hosteria Mandala in Puerto Lopez, Manabi. Always busy and hectic, but mostly enjoyable! After working long hours day after day, I had a perfect follow-up job, house-sitting at the town's best restaurant: Bella Italia. The restaurant was closed while the owners travelled, so I just took care of the garden and the animals, took long naps, ate yummy food that they left prepared for me and watched lots of old movies.
May –Wonderful journey with a former student of mine. Joahana was in my Spanish class in Atlanta 10 years ago and she finished off her travels around South America with two weeks in Ecuador. We did lots of driving to visit cities, beaches, jungle, mountains, and hot springs.
The last part of May I was back in Banos, and this time the volcano got very active. Since her house is located right at the base of the volcano, Shana and I packed up our important papers, took the animals and went down to sleep in the town for a few nights when things were rocking.
June – Another trip to
Cascading Back Massage
The big challenge was to climb up on that rock (right rear) and let the falls crash down on your back. I only lasted about 30 seconds! the mountains with a small group of EWB volunteers, then on to California for a very quick visit with my Dad and my sister. Why only a short stay? I had to catch a flight for....CHINA!
July -- A whole month in China -- two weeks of volunteer English teaching and two weeks of travel. It was so exciting to be in a totally new culture, figuring out how to get around without knowing the language, fabulous architecture, amazing food, friendly people and a wonderful experience!
August -- A longer visit to California. Both of my brothers came out from the East Coast and the whole family was together for the first time in seven years. My Dad loved being surrounded by his four kids.
September– My dear friend Michelle finally got her butt off her Atlanta sofa and came to visit me! Her trip to Ecuador was a big deal as she'd never been outside the US and was a bit reluctant to get bitten by the travel bug. We mostly spent time at my cabana on the coast.
October – Another short Hotel Manager substitution job
Attention Garage Sale Shoppers!
In just three hours of fun and frenetic sales we earned over $500 to benefit the BIB (Volunteer Library). Jody & I spent about a week sorting and pricing donations beforehand. at Mandala as well as a one week trip up the coast, adventuring and exploring with my Quito friend, Lupe.
November -- House-sitting and pet-sitting in Banos while Shana visited her daughter and grandsons in Florida. It was nice to hold still and spend some time alone. It felt good to have all my stuff in one place, and I enjoyed nesting a bit, doing some cooking and enjoying the natural beauty of Banos. Every morning I spent a few hours writing, working on a novel for the NaNoWriMo Challenge. It was great to tap into my creativity and I wrote almost 150 pages in just one month! (now, to find the discipline to edit and improve my first draft!)
December -- I continued house-sitting but was also busy with private teaching and volunteer work. The BIB (Biblioteca Interactiva de Banos) is a fantastic volunteer-run library in Banos. Fundacion Arte del Mundo is the non-profit foundation which incorporates the children's library, English classes, weekly language and culture exchange sessions, and so much more! I teach the advanced conversation class three nights a week, have been helping with an ongoing mosaic project, did lots of
Pick-up Good Cheer
Yet another good reason to own a truck -- loading up Santa and his elves along with a decorated tree and driving around town tooting the horn!! work to organize and prepare for the quarterly Garage Sale fundraiser, and transported Santa and his elves around town for Christmas photos.
I have about a half a dozen private students who each take 3-5 hrs of one-on-one classes with me every week. I am teaching English, French and Spanish. I find it's not at all difficult to switch from one language to the other. I really enjoy working with committed and motivated learners, watching them grow and progress. One girl is preparing for an interview to become a flight attendant; another woman is a hotel owner who wants to be able to greet French tourists in their language. My cardiologist began studying English with me, focusing mainly on the topics and phrases he'll most need. A recently arrived American woman who just retired from teaching in the International Schools is working on her Spanish with me.
Scroll down to the bottom for more photos of the volcano. Mama Tungurahua has calmed down considerably; although she's stopped making noise and rattling the window, she's still puffing clouds of smoke and ash most every day. We're into the rainy season and the nightly precipitation
Santa and his Elves
So much fun posing for pictures in the park with Santa. We photographed over 50 kids! Good exposure for the BIB and a great way to build community. shows up as snow on the mountain, even while she's churning with thermal activity inside. The hot baths at the top of the road (about 5 minutes walk from Shana's house) have finally reopened after major remodeling. Nothing soothes the spirit and soul like a soak in rich mineral waters while admiring the green hillsides all around.
I am a bit disappointed that my potential buyers decided not to go ahead with the purchase of my coastal property. Although they said that they liked open, natural living in the end the mosquitos and other bugs along with the gecko and iguana poop put them off staying there long term. I had another unfortunate occurence this past month -- my laptop got a nasty computer virus which wiped out all of my documents, photos and music. Fortunately I had done a backup on an external hard drive last year, so I was able to recover some my files.
Looking ahead to 2011, my annual goal of losing weight remains on the list of resolutions. Weight loss becomes even more important with concerns about high blood pressure and general health. I usually walk down
Hiking to the Falls with Karl
I met Karl when he was a volunteer at the Children's Interactive Library -- he's now the administrator there, a great guy and a dear friend. to town when I teach (about 2 miles) but the walk back is straight uphill and I often have purchases to carry, so I spring for the $1 taxi ride. I plan to try to do some more hiking -- there are so many gorgeous waterfalls in this area. Most of the volunteers at the BIB are 20-something active folks, so we often drive out of town a ways to find the trail heads to places of natural beauty. It's more fun to hike with others!
During 2011 I hope to take a few more trips up to the mountains with the Engineers Without Borders, do a few jobs in Quito assessing a TESOL Certificate Training Center, and maybe head back to Puerto Lopez to work at Mandala again in the fall. I plan to be in the US frm late April thru mid-June. My dad turns 85, so I look forward to sharing that milestone with him and my family. Chaco's other mommy, Tamara, is getting married in May in northern California, so I plan to attend that happy event. I may rent a car and drive across country to reconnect with friends in Chicago,
Mosaic Project at the BIB
I'm holding up the panel I worked on...it was hard work but really fun too! It will go on the wall in front of the BIB (Biblioteca Interactiva de Banos). down the east coast and end up in Atlanta. In late July and early August my brother Bob and his family are planning a trip to Ecuador so I'm keeping my calendar open to travel around with them. As has been my pattern for the past several years, I shall keep my plans flexible and stay available for opportunities which come my way.
I hope that the coming year brings you all many good things! Sending best wishes for a slice of heaven in 2011!!
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Gabi Milligan
non-member comment
Happy New Year 2011
Hi Jill, Thanks a bunch for all your blogs. Enjoy every bit of them. Scary pictures of the erupting volcano. All the best for 2011. Until soon, cheers, Gabi