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Scenic Clothesline
Mama Tungurahua watches over Banos - her presence a part of daily life. After my brother and his family headed back to Baltimore, I returned to Baños with a heaping truckload full of donations and then I went into Garage Sale Overdrive. For about I week I spent quite a few hours each day schlepping, organizing, sorting through, and pricing three storage spaces full of stuff. My thanks go out to some of the volunteers who spent time helping us get ready.
On Saturday morning the Baños shopping squad was ready and waiting for the big metal gate to swing open. It seems that the BIB Garage Sales have become a very popular event in town. Where else can folks get mostly imported, good-quality, slightly-used stuff at super cheap prices (clothes $1 item, shoes $1 pr, books 10/$1, etc.) I think this was our 7th or 8th Garage Sale and after folks realized that it wasn’t the GARAGE that was being sold, the idea caught on like wildfire. There are two other foundations in town which now hold an annual Rummage Sale (Flea Market, Jumble Sale – you choose).
We had a good crowd and sales were brisk. Knowing that
Garage Sale Prep
All set up and waiting for the shopping masses to descend. Shannan, a former volunteer at the BIB is now teaching at Colegio Americano de Quito, where I worked 23 years ago! we probably won’t hold another sale until next year (and not wanting to store a bunch of stuff in hiding places that sometimes get damp), we dropped everything to half price for the last hour of the sale. Our grand total (in under 3 hrs) was $798 (!) -- our highest earnings yet. I could never donate that kind of cash to the BIB, so I’m glad I can help coordinate this sale which brings in such great income.
I hadn’t spent time in Banos in nearly 5 months, and it felt great to get back into the rhythm of the town. One day I tried a new place for the set lunch menu (almuerzo – soup, main course, juice for $1.50!) and was joined at my table by Donna, an American woman who’s considering retiring in Baños. As I walked around town it was nice to greet old friends, see familiar faces, soak in the thermal hot springs, swim in the lap pool, and take long walks with Max, the 13 ½ yr old boxer/pointer who was Chaco’s great grand-uncle. I love this big boy almost as much as I did
Men like shopping too!
Electronics - Housewares - Shoes - Toys - Clothing - Books - Handbags - Fabrics - There's something for everyone and volunteers to work in each department. his nephew – and Maxi loves his walks up the hillsides at the base of the volcano.
Max has a regular dog-walker, Juan, but even dog-walkers need a day off. So, on Sundays Max and I have a date out in nature. We often drop down by the river, squat on the rocky banks and watch the rapids swirl by. Other times we climb up the hills behind the house and past the fruit greenhouses tucked in the valley. I love being out in nature with the dog – it almost seems that Maxi’s inbridled joy heightens my appreciation of the surroundings. There’s nothing like waking up to the volcano right out my window; she’s often clear in the early morning and her moods seem to change day by day and hour by hour. (NOTE: for more volcano pix scroll all the way down and hit next – these last three photos were shot from the doorway of the garden guesthouse where I’m staying).
A few days after the Garage Sale I headed back up to Quito to meet up with Lily, the 16th yr old
Maxi loves his walks!
On Sundays Max's dogwalker has the day off, so I take a hike with him up the valley. Such breathtaking scenery. daughter of my friends, the Vesel family, who I travelled with last month. After they left Ecuador, Lily stayed on for a homestay volunteer experience in an indigenous village north of Quito. It was great to hear about all of her adventures. I was amazed at how much more fluent her spoken Spanish had become. She was shy and hesitant to speak before but now she confidently recounted long stories with excellent fluency. The plan was for Lily to spend six days with me in Baños and we were to speak only Spanish together. We made a good effort and I’d say we fell back on English only 10-20% of the time we were together.
I'd booked a room at the same hostel in Quito where Lily was staying, and we went to dinner with the director and the program coordinator from Fundación Reto Internacional (the Int’l Challenge Foundation) who had arranged Lily's program . The director is an old friend of mine and it was delightful to spend evening together, listening to Lily tell about her village home-stay experience and her volunteer teaching in a primary school English & Arts summer course.
Amazon Basin Overlook
Here I am with Lily and Renata. Dropping down along the Ruta de las Cascadas (Waterfall Route) we got to the point where the river opens out into a big view of the jungle beyond. On the drive south from Quito we were joined by a new friend, Mary with whom I’d been in email contact for the past few month. A mutual friend wrote me that Mary was planning to move down to Ecuador; she'd finally arrived. She bid farewell to her “couch-surfing” host family in Quito and rode down to Baños with me & Lily. I’d warned Mary that we were to speak only Spanish en route, and this was no problem for her since she’s lived the better part of the last 30 years in Mexico.
After dropping Mary at her hostel, Lily and I went grocery shopping to buy all the foods she’d been missing while eating what her village family at (white bread, potatoes, white rice, potatoes). We came home from the market with a ton of food: broccoli, carrots, beets, chicken, beef, melon, bananas, avocadoes, oranges, pasta, wheat bread, cheese, yogurt, milk, butter…all set to cook up a storm! Later in the week when we bought babaco (a local fruit which is like a cross between a starfruit and a papaya) we made babaco
Doorway Mouth
Enter Jaime's wacky mosaic cave-like maze of paths and rooms. Dug into the hillside are jacuzzis, sauna & steam rooms, showers, a massage table and more! pie (which tastes like apple pie – yum!)
Shana had given her permission for Lily and I stay in the guest house in her garden (she was away up in Quito for the first few days we were there). It’s such a stunning setting and Lily appreciated the natural beauty all around –especially the great views of Mama Tungurahua right out her bedroom window. Our first morning we walked up the hill to the El Salado hot baths, enjoying the various pools of different temperatures. Then we explored the town and visited the library. One of the young volunteers at the BIB is a student at Smith College in Northampton, Mass,right near where Lily’s family lives! The two girls went out for coffee while I took Mary on a house-hunting tour. Amazingly, we found the perfect little brick house up on a hillside with awesome views of a waterfall, green hillsides and the volcano! She was able to meet with the owners and strike a deal!
We made plans with Mary to go the next day for a drive down the waterfall route to Puyo,
Girls in the Grotto
Maria, Lily & Renata pose under the mosaic sign for Cold Showers. The Grotto Spa has many darkened nooks and crannies that only become visible in the flash of the camera! on the edge of the Amazon Basin. The 16 yr old daughter of the family where she’d been staying in Quito wanted to come down and visit Baños so Mary asked if Renata could join us on our excursion. Great! Lily had been disappointed that she hadn’t met many young people her age in the village; now she’d spend the day with a city gal. As we drove past the waterfalls, Lily & Renata sat in the back seat of the truck chatting away about teenager stuff!
We posed for the obligatory photos at each waterfall, and made our way down to the Casa del Arbol – the 11-story tree house alongside a mosaic grotto spa dug into the hillside. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a few years will remember this amazing place from previous entries. I’ve gone there with many friends who have come to visit. We all marveled at the complex mosaic work, gazing at the Jacuzzi, sauna, steam, shower rooms. It’s fun to point and shoot in the dark passageways, then see what remarkable mosaic the flash reveals.
We
Touching a Tiger
The remarkable mosaic work around the large jacuzzi never ceases to amaze me! Here I am posing with my harmless buddy. continued into downtown Puyo and took a tour of Omaere, an Ethnobotanical Open-Air Museum. I had always wanted to visit this place and was finally with some folks who were also interested. We took a long walk through dense rainforest vegetation, learning about medicinal and other uses for various plants. We stopped to rest in models of houses from different indigenous groups while our guide told us more about customs and traditions.
After a great lunch alongside the river we headed back up to Banos. The next morning Mary & Renata joined us to go to Santa Ana hot springs, some lovely thermal baths just outside of town. The following day Renata’s mom arrived from Quito and we met for breakfast with Donna (my other new friend) on a rooftop terrace with the Virgin Falls (Cascada de la Virgen) alongside us. Six women spanning five decades, laughing and enjoying each other’s company in two languages.
All too soon it was time for Lily to say good-bye to Baños – we bought snacks and packed sandwiches for the six-hour drive to Guayaquil and for Lily to take
Me & My New Friend
Maria & I met through Carole whom she met in Thailand and I know from my volunteer experience in Africa. Carole had been teaching in Japan with one of my grad school classmates and when I left Benin Carole took over my job & apt in Cotonou. on her long flights. The drive went smoothly, and even Lily said it didn’t feel like that long a ride! After asking directions of only 2 or 3 taxi drivers, I found my way to the Guest House where I’d be staying. I’m usually stressed about getting lost on Guayaquil’s traffic-filled, confusing roadways, but this is the second time I’ve found my destination without a problem. Hooray for me!
Lily & I hung out in my air-conditioned room and I rested for a few hours while she took advantage of the in-room WiFi signal and caught up with friends in the states, starting to get her head into back-to-school mode. Lily had to be at the airport by 9 pm for a midnight flight, so I left my truck safely garaged near the Guest House and we took a taxi to have a nice final dinner at a mall near the airport. After we ate we wheeled her suitcase around the shopping center, peering into each shop. It was my job to check Lily in as an unaccompanied minor, and imagine my (exhausted) surprise when the airline told me I was required to
Lily & the Dragon
We all enjoyed the creative whimsy of the many mosaicked creatures at the Casa del Arbol near Puyo. stay at the airport until the plane actually left the ground!!
I was a bit sleep-deprived when the next morning I met Rosa & Virginia (my two Guayaquil gal pals) for a day of “tramites” in the city. 'Tramite' can be translated as administratrivia – the bureaucratic paperwork that accompanies vehicle registration and the like. My truck didn’t pass inspection the first time through – my back license plate rusted out and had broken in half; silly me -- I didn’t save the pieces. Someone in Quito helped me have a new plate made but it wasn’t official SO – we had to go to the Police Station and file a report of loss/theft, then back into the inspection line at the vehicle registration center.
My new plates (to the tune of $50!) will take 8 days to make, and in order for Rosa to pick them up for me we had to get a notarized letter. The notaries are all downtown so we decided to have lunch at a newly opened restaurant, leave our vehicles in their guarded parking lot and take a taxi to
Large Leaf Umbrella
As the rain started to bucket down we kept dry with a little help from Mother Nature (Pacha Mama). the center. The notary offices were all jam packed. They required that WE write the letter, so off to find a cyber-café that had a printer, then back to the Notary’s Office. Needless to say, it turned into a very long day but we had fun together and I’m very grateful for my dear friends’ assistance!
I had an appointment with a dermatologist the next day – I’ve been suffering with an ongoing skin rash and a steadily worsening toenail fungus so I took this opportunity to see a specialist at the clinic run by my health insurance company. Doctora Pozo was great – she took plenty of time with me and my only complaint was that the medications she prescribed for me were horrifically expensive! I’d been taking generic Fluconazole for the toenails, but each time I stopped taking the capsules the fungus came back. The doctor prescribed a brand name med that I was to take in “pulses” – heavy dose for one week, three weeks of no meds, then another week on, three weeks off, and a third round. The three month supply at 4 caps a day during the
Jungle Blossom
The town of Puyo rests on the edge of the Amazon Basin -- the lush vegetation attests to its jungle location. first week of each month cost almost $200 (gulp!) I hope I really do get rid of it once and for all!!
Some friends say they’re surprised how much personal stuff I reveal in my blog – I guess I’m not shy to talk about medical stuff with my friends in this forum! It seems that the rash was being caused by some kind of tiny parasite laying its eggs under my skin. Yuk! The cream she prescribed was to be spread ALL over my body (neck down) and left on all night. I decided to do this treatment that very evening; my last night in Guayaquil (let the guest house wash the sheets!). I’d found a long-handled spatula thing to help me spread it on my back, but in the end a German couple checked into the room beside me and I asked the woman if she would be kind enough to help me. She was.
Before going to sleep I was to take a mega-dose of some anti-parasite tablets. While I was reading myself to sleep my eyes and nasal passages started burning. I
Beautiful and Practical
The interior ceiling of a traditional Shuar house - these woven roofs are so artfully knotted and can last from 10 to 20 years! pulled the drug inserts out of the trash can and read carefully to see if this was a normal side effect. It did mention mucous membranes, but even as I finally drifted off into a fitful sleep I was repeatedly awakened by horrible nightmares about going blind. In the morning the intense discomfort had lessened and continued to decrease on my drive back to Baños. I had a really good audio book to keep me company and the time flew by as I focused on the story (and the road!).
So, now I’m back in Baños and I’m trying to figure out what ‘s next; it seems I've reached a turning point in my life. For the past five years there was always a job waiting on the horizon, either with a group of volunteer engineers or managing the hotel on the coast. I usually had an itinerary to plan for upcoming visitors. Right now I have nothing looming. Next week I begin volunteer teaching again; the advanced conversation course at the BIB. Since Sept-Oct-Nov is low season for tourism here in Baños, I’m thinking I might put together some English courses specifically geared
Paleface
Maybe this guy is waiting to be painted, or maybe he's destined to stay a ghostly white. I finally found where they sell these fiberglass clown heads when I got lost on the Ambato bypass road. towards hotel/restaurant personnel, massage/spa workers, tour operators... I need to look around for a place to teach them and determine what schedule might work best.
I have a possible buyer for my pick-up and if the sale goes thru I will try to live without a vehicle until the end of the year. The thought of mostly holding still for a few months sounds pretty good to me right now. I’d like to establish an exercise routine – I’ve lost 5 lbs this month and if I could lose 5 lbs a month until the end of the year, I’d be feeling really great about my weight. Eventually I would like to set up some sort of ‘Day Trip to Puyo’ tourist package -- once I have a newer, more dependable truck. And then there’s that first draft of the novel I wrote last year, screaming out from the bottom desk drawer to be edited, fleshed out, worked on!
I would REALLY love to hear from friends while I’m working on designing this next chapter in my life. Change is never easy. PLEASE drop
Clown Recycling
I hope this gas station really does recycle all of the different materials collected in this line-up. The small black bin is sand (for putting out fires?) me a note – either on this blogsite or via my gmail. Thanks once again for reading my musings.
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Beth Feldman
non-member comment
Hola
Muy querida Jill, Gocé mucho leer tu Blog. Nosotros estamos aquí en Ithaca, trabajando y divertiéndonos. Ben tiene 21 años y está en su último año de la universidad (Bentley, cerca de Boston--Negocio Internacional). Acaba de cumplir dos años estudiando en Holanda y España, pero se queda en Boston este año. Annie está comprometida con su novio, Mike, quien sabe cuando será la boda. Heather tiene una hija, Penelope Luisa Violet, que tiene 16 meses. Ethan trabaja cerca de Wall Street (con computadores y bancos, claro). Ya estamos. A ver si lleguemos a Ecuador uno de estos años. ¡Parece que tienes muchos proyectos pendientes!