Changes ....................make me smile

Cuenca at night.  Not my picture but good enough to steal.

I have put a deposit on a house in Cuenca and will be moving the first day of June.   I do love the small town of Paute but believe it is time to move on.  It is my desire to make myself a little more useful to the world and Cuenca offers a lot more volunteer opportunities.


It is a bittersweet decision.   I have made a lot of Ecuadorian friends in Paute.   It has been a great launching pad to explore other small towns nearby.   Gualaceo specializes in shoe stores, both ready made and made to order.   Chordeleg has a plethora of silver and gold jewelry and is a very quick place to go to find unique Ecuadorian souvenirs.  Azogues is, well, Azogues!   It is what you could call a true suburb to Cuenca much more so than any of the other towns mentioned due to its close proximity.   There are so few westerners in town, someone stopped their car for my friend and me and wanted to know if we were lost and if they could help us!   In Paute, the friends I have told about this move have already started with the dread look on their face and the finger across the throat as in a slash to tell me about the thieves in the big city.   It does make me sad when I realize that I have become a part of this community and have learned enough spanish that I can actually join in on a joke, especially if the joke is on me.

Lots of small towns in the countryside

My landlady in Cuenca seems to be an Ecuadorian twin.   She is the same age and single (widowed), has children in their 30s and treats her dog like a baby instead of an animal.   She seems to have really been taken in with my own dogs but we will see how long that lasts after she hears Bear's ear shattering sharp barks a few times!   As of this moment, she calls both of them "wa-wa" which is apparently a term of endearment for small or young dogs among the Ecuadorians.   The first day I met her and her sister, she was going through her notepad to find something to write on and I clearly saw my own phone number written down and the world "gringa" written under it.   I pointed to it and she seemed embarrassed.  Then I started giggling and she and her sister joined in.   For a few minutes, the laughter was so hearty it was hard for any of us to breathe.   It may have been those few moments that we had our first bonding.

Grass for the "wa-wa"!

The house has three bedrooms on the second floor along with two full baths and one social bathroom on the ground level with a living and dining room with a kitchen and an attic on the third floor.   It was offered fully furnished but it was decided she would remove one bedroom furniture and all the furniture on the ground level except for the refrigerator and stove.   The refrigerator is electronic with an ice maker and cold water in the door.   There is a modern shopping center within walking distance.

Monay shopping center

A huge bonus of living in Cuenca is the water is the best in South America.   I have been drinking bottled water and boiling water for drinking since I have been in Ecuador so it will be great to be able to wash produce off in the sink before cooking.   I will still need to wash with antibacterial anything eaten raw as should anybody in any country.

Fresco on the walls of the San Francisco church.
Azogues

The neighborhood is upscale Ecuadorian.   There is a very strict guard at the front who was reluctant to let me in unless I knew the house number and the name of my landlord.   Inside the house, there is an alarm system and beside the house there is a lot of grass for playing ball with Bear.   Across the highway, there is a hillside where my landlady takes her own dog walking through trails as she pointed out.   It is on the outskirts of Cuenca but across the street from a major hospital so there is plenty of public transportation from that area.   I have become so spoiled in Paute because I never had to walk more than a couple of blocks in any direction to get anything I needed unless I had to go to Cuenca.

No, this isn't the house but I had to put one on here.
This one was as good as the one I have.  :)

Now I do hope finding a moving truck will be as smooth as finding this fantastic house!  When I am able, I will be posting pictures of the REAL house.

Conversations with strangers ... makes me smile!

I was seated on the plane with a young graduate student from Tennessee who told me of being raised by her single military mom. She made the comment that when 9/11 struck she was only a child of 11. The events were so far away, young Belinda thought it could never affect her life. It wasn't long before her mother was deployed leaving her in the care of her grandmother and, in the process, changing her life forever.

As I found my bus stop at Miami international and settled in for an hour wait, a young Bolivian man happened by to catch the same bus. He told me he was really tired after sleeping overnight in the airport when he missed the bus the night prior. Until 2009, his family had lived in La Paz as his step father was working for the American embassy. This apparently provided a streamlined move to the US and he seems to love his life here. His English was flawless. I had to laugh when he told me about his step father and mother asking him what he thought of having a baby brother or sister. "Can't you just get a dog?".

After boarding the bus, I detected a distinct accent from three ladies in the seats ahead of me. As it turns out, they were from Argentina. I very excitedly asked them about Buenos Aires as it is finding it's way on my new bucket list. They were not fans of the city nor the president who is the first elected female leader in that country, citing runaway inflation, crime and smoke spewing buses.

Everyone has a story. Airport stories are more interesting than most. Carlos is pictured below.

Hitchhiking in Ecuador..........makes me smile!

I had a lovely evening in Cuenca.   I first met with two couples at 6:30 p.m. at a restaurant called El Tiestos which was eight blocks from a singles event I was scheduled to attend at 7:00 p.m.  The conversation and people were so delightful I did not leave until almost 8:00 p.m.   The singles event was at Cafe Eucalyptus where I met even more interesting people so I  left there around 9:15 p.m. in a cab to the bus station feeling elated over new acquaintances.   This being a weekend, I boarded the bus to Macas as buses which terminate in Paute do not run that late.   The bus to Macas skirts through Paute and I have done that several times in the past.

The trip from Cuenca to Paute takes around an hour and fifteen minutes.   I read for around twenty minutes and felt a little tired so I leaned the seat back ignoring the protesting thumps from behind.   I was tired, damn it, and my seat mate was doing the same and I'm old so I felt entitled.   I did feel quite drowsy so I dozed off in what I thought was a bit of twilight sleep.

At one point, I awoke to feel the bus stopped and noticed the bus driver slipping off to an open tienda to buy snacks and drinks and wondered what town we were in.   As we started again, I noticed some familiar architecture of apartments that rounded the corner and felt we were getting close.  Then, I saw lights off in a distance that seemed much too far downhill.   I had never noticed anything like that on any previous trip so I got up to ask the driver how far it was to Paute.   They told me we had passed Paute around eight kilometers back.   PANIC!   They instructed me to come forward and sit on a seat in the front.

We drove an incredibly long time through darkness.   They assured me there would be a bus coming back to Cuenca and stopped in a small town called Sevilla de Oro.  They showed me where the bus bench was and I was to wait there for only about thirty minutes.  I should have no problems.   It was 11:50 p.m.

Pictures or it didn't happen!

As I waited in my pink party dress and blonde curly hair, I could not have looked more out of place.   I did not have a good view of what was coming around the corner so any time I heard a loud motor, I would jump up from my seat to make sure they saw me.   It was never a bus although several passed going the other direction.   Several trucks passed going my way.  I entertained myself watching a few dogs scavenge through the trash and even calling out STOP at one time.   What was I thinking?   I wasn't even supposed to be there!  Let them scavenge!  

Lonely dark streets!

After sitting on the park bench for about an hour and a half, I started preparing myself for the remote likelihood of being robbed and tucked my money, credit cards and ipod touch into my bra and had a fleeting thought that might bring even more attention to me.   A few people drove into town, gave me a quick glance, and proceeded on to what I hoped were their residences.   I had an additional problem.   Nature was calling.   Don't ask.

My park bench of over an hour

Around 1:30 p.m., I heard yet another heavy vehicle coming around the corner and jumped up once more.   It was another truck but I was losing hope so I waved and he blinked his lights.   He came to a stop and I ran to the passenger door.   He already had it opened and I asked "¿A dónde vas?".   He said he was going to Azogues which meant he would be passing right through Paute.   On the lovely word "Venga", I climbed up into the truck.   We exchanged some small talk which was difficult as he spoke no English and my Spanish is spotty at best.   He pointed to the back of the cab where there was a bed.   My heart stopped until I saw that he was wanting me to get a blanket if I was cold.  After close to an hour, we had arrived to a familiar setting and I was home at last.   At 2:30 a.m.  On my facebook post, people are calling me courageous and brave.   Not so.   Desperation was more the word!   No more setting seats back in recline on a bus.  

My hero!

No, if you will excuse me, I need to take a nap!

New Years Eve in Paute.....makes me smile...and sleepy!!

Jumping the fire for good luck!

I'll be honest.   I'm tired.   I had very little to drink and that was confined to a couple of shots passed out along our walks through town.   I know how cane alcohol tastes now!   The evening started out with a fantastic dinner at Jani's house, including turkey and gravy, sweet potatoes as well as mashed, pea salad, and assorted vegetables.   As if that was not enough, out came the apple pie and ice cream.  There was not enough room for very much alcohol after that was over.

I'd just like to let the pictures tell the stories.  James, Susan, Jani and I had a fantastic time.   What a zest for life the Ecuadorians have!!   Have a wonderful New Year to everyone!!   Keep focused and stay positive!  Life is NOT a dress rehearsal!!

Boy and sister showing off
their guy.

Soooo, wazzup?

This was either a policeman or
military.   

If I knew more about Ecuador, I could
tell you who this is.  

The motorcycle gang!

Need a boob job?   I can get you
one.   Cheap.

It looked like a telling
of the indigenous history of
Ecuador.

This is the Ecuadorian assembly.   Notice the donkey?   Some months
ago, there was a group trying to get him on the ballot.  

President Correa!

There was some heavy rock coming from here!

There were lots of fireworks!!

Cute little boy.  Unfortunately a little later, when his
grandfather was helping him across the fire, both went
down in a face plant on the concrete.   I certainly hope
all is well.

Firecrackers tossed at the church.

The gangs all here!  Including somebody picked up along the way!

Goodbye to my "esposo" of a few days and
all my negative feelings of 2012

A different world.........makes me smile

If you look very closely, you will see the oxen between the
first and second pole near the top

I have a secret mission and it took me on an unforgettable journey. I'm basically a suburban city girl so there are many things I have never seen in rural life. When I was a child I was privileged enough to be able to spend weeks at my grandparents dairy farm but even then, in the 50s, they had a tractor.

Working her thread through the fields.

I have had two amazing

trips into the mountaintops

of Paute.  I have seen men 

plowing their fields with 

oxen. There were children 

herding a flock of sheep and 

freshly shorn wool hanging 

to dry. There was a woman 

walking through the fields 

working her wool into thread. 

 I saw wild grouse.

Unfortunately, I missed seeing one of the very small bears that lives near the mountaintops as it was on the other side of the truck. Ironically, they are endangered because of the very rural nature of the land since the farmers' livelyhood depends on the well being of their livestock and crops. When there is a choice of earning a living or saving a small bear that may eat their pig or their carrot crop, the bear will lose every time.

Look at the cuties I found around the corner!

This horse carried a fair burden
bringing rock up from the mines.

There is a rock mine in the top of the mountains where beautiful slate type stones are hoisted by horseback and sold for use as walkways and for gorgeous house sidings. I managed to get one piece big enough to take to a carpenter to make a table. The natural coloring tells stories of many milleniums of rising and receding waters.

Two black sheep getting to know one another.

I met a soulmate of sorts in a black sheep on one lady's farm.   That was one Ecuadorian with which I had no problem communicating.  All black sheep have a lot in common.

Ruins of a 400 year old house.

I was amazed that people live in houses with
baked mud thatched walls. Not far from that
house were 400 year old ruins of another mud
thatched house from the forefathers of the very
people living nearby.

A mud thatched house where someone lives today.  
Notice the pig in the front yard.  Future meal.

If you are in the Cuenca area, make a day trip to Paute on a Sunday.   See the chaotic Market in the morning and hire Rodrigo in the afternoon to take you up to a world few Westerners have seen.  That will be the day you see the true Ecuador.

Wild Grouse.

Tea and sympathy.......makes me smile

I'm making tea today. You can drink it at your own risk and get my sympathy. But the real target of this tea are the tiny little creatures that are eating the garden.

Around 20 years ago, I had a very good-looking cowboy type boyfriend. He lived on some small acreage and invited me and my daughter, who was around 12 at the time, to come out for the day. He let her shoot his gun and gave her a rabbit with a cage when we were leaving. A few mornings later, the rabbit was dead. I asked my daughter what happened and she said she didn't know. All she knew was she had gone to the backyard to gather some grass for Thumper the night before and he was dead in the morning. I remembered the chemicals I had sprayed on the grass and plants the afternoon before for bugs and suddenly I realized the murderous agent. If there was anything funny about that episode, it was when I called the boyfriend and simply told him the rabbit died. After an uncomfortable silence, he blurted out "Oh my God! I've been told that three times in my life! I wasn't counting on hearing it again!". I assured him I was NOT with child and that it was, indeed, the bunny facing a ceremonious burial in my backyard.

When I was asked to housesit Jani's house, I was excited about the prospect of gardening in her backyard as she was encouraging it. As anyone who has at least a passing thought of me knows, I have two beloved 8 pound pooches named Bear and Amber. There would be no poison here as was done to the poor unsuspecting rabbit from long ago. If anything was going to discourage the critters who seem to like the very same vegetables as I do, it would have to be something that was unharmful to the dogs. Something organic.

A young European man I met in a garden store on the Calle Largo, a street in Cuenca, advised me to use red hot peppers, red onions and garlic in a tea to spray if I found any bugs. A few weeks ago, I hosted a couple who verified the tea method and verified I had small mites and bugs as well. It was teatime.

I have no idea of the effectiveness of this tea. My guests informed me that the broccoli was in dire need since it was about to flower. Bubble, bubble toil and trouble!!

There is not a real recipe. It is a tea with all the liquid drained from the actual vegetables after it has been allowed to steep and cool. There is no need to clean and peel although I did slice everything to allow the hot seeds in the pepper, the aroma of the red onions, and the natural smell of the garlic to do their job while boiling.

A composting pail in the farthest part of your yard (flies) is very good for your garden as long as no meat or animal products are included. Animal products won't kill your garden but the rodents it attracts will. An exception would be eggshells as long as the egg has been cleaned out and dried from the inside. An afternoon in the very direct Andean sun does a very good job.

Venga! Venga! Venga!........makes me smile!

Learning about languages makes me smile! In Spanish, "Venga Venga! Venga!" is much more lyrical than "Come! Come! Come! Of course, that certainly depends upon to whom it is directed.

The first time I heard someone say this was last week when I was at the vet's office leaving the little monsters before my quick trip to Loja and Vilcabamba. Bear had slipped out of her hands, trying to follow me. Venga! Venga! Venga! I had to figure out how to spell that! I just didn't know how to ask. It did remind me of the famous scene in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar when the title character exclaimed "Veni! Vidi! Vici!", which is Italian for " I came! I saw! I conquered".

On my trip back to Paute, the bus stopped for a group of people and the bus driver said "Venga! Venga! Venga! This has become my new catch phrase.

In the Spanish language, all vowels are pronounced and they only have one sound each. The "a" is as in the sound the doctor tells you to make when he tells you to open wide. "Ahhhhh". The "e" sounds like the "a" in cake. The "i" actually sounds like an "e" as in the english word keep. The "o" has the long and definite sound as in oh. Finally, the "u" sounds like the double o sound in stoop. I have a dog named Bear. When my Spanish speaking friends call his name, it sounds just like a southerner in the U.S. ordering their favorite alcoholic beverage at the local bar.

When I first moved to Ecuador, I was intrigued by the word zanahoria. First of all, I could never remember it. It is the Spanish word for carrot. Second of all, it didn't seem Spanish. It didn't flow well to me. When I asked my Ecuadorian friend in Vilcabamba, Lucia, she gently told her gringa friend it was not a Spanish word at all. When the Muslim crusades came to Spain, part of their language was left. Zanahoria is an Arab word.

As with English, which was shaped through the Roman, Germanic and French conquests of the British Isles, Spanish also has the elements of war and conquest. Just the very presence of Spanish in South America is a result of the invasion of Spain more than 500 years ago. The Spanish in Ecuador is a little different from the Castilian Spanish spoken in Europe because some "loan" words come from the indigent Quechua language. In fact, there are 8 to 10 million Quechua speakers in South America. It even has the status of being an official language in both Bolivia and Peru along with Spanish.

History is a passion of mine. The study of the history of languages is called Etymology. Hatians speak a version of French. Vietnamese have some French mixed in their native tongue. Brazilians speak primarily Portuguese. English and a version of Dutch called Afrikaans is spoken in South Africa. There are scatterings of French, English, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch throughout Africa even though there are studies showing anywhere between 1500 and 2000 native tongues in use on that same continent today. The official language of the Congo us French and of Angola, Portuguese. In Asia, Malaysians speak more English in their own country than they do of their traditional Malay.

Yes, learning about languages is fun with a dash of the dark side of war and conquest. I read a book recently that my daughter recommended by Jared Diamond called Guns, Germs, and Steel. It is an amazing history of why some societies succeeded over others and consequently changed the verbal landscape of the conquered lands forever. I recommend it highly.

There are no pictures to compliment this post because pictures of people talking just wouldn't transfer well. I decided to include some fun photographs taken around Paute and Cuenca.

In the meantime, Venga! Venga! Venga! And that is directed to a certain sailing enthusiast in Canada.

There is a Panama Hat store in Paute.  Panama hats were originally created in Ecuador.

Awesome graffiti art in Paute.
-

Kids need to have fun!!  This was the work of an American in Paute.

This is so strange.   Young girls wanted to have their pictures taken with me in China, too. 

Someone to watch over me!

Gorgeous art college in Cuenca.   I thought it was a church!