I think it was a the best birthday ever. Barbara Wilson, chocolate maker and Mindo hostal owner, and I went to Piedra de Agua, a spa in Banos a short bus ride from Cuenca. We bought a package, which allowed us to take advantage of all the things at the spa: Turkish bath, mud bath, mineral bath and all the
The first hot shower with good water pressure in three weeks was this morning at the hostal in Otavalo. What a treat! Buses run from Otavalo to Cotacachi every 15 minutes or so. The ride is quick and just vente cinco centavos. The rest of the group planned to do a 4-6 hour hike around a lake nearby. They got
Happy Birthday to my mom!
Six of us from escuela espanol Vida Verde met around 7:30 AM Saturday morning for a weekend trek to Otavalo and Cotacachi. We took a taxi to the north station in Quito ($5) and then caught the bus to Otavalo ($2 for a two hour ride). The bus ride north of Quito was quite bonita. The mountainsides are green with
Although my sense of smell is assaulted by the exhaust in Quito, it hasnt been attacked by cigarette smoke. There just arent a lot of smokers. In my guidebook I read that internet cafés were plentiful but often smoke-filled. That hasnt been the case. I was in an internet place today and it was smoke free. For 30 minutes online
Im a word person and its been fun and interesting to figure out Spanish words and meanings and see how they relate (or dont) to English words. I love the sound of some Spanish words and just the look of others. After a couple of weeks of Spanish class, here are some of my favorites. Ballena I first ran
Today is the last day of Spanish class. The lessons have been one on one, first with Martha for a week and then with Adreana. Martha covered some basics with me and Adreana has built on that, included a lot more conversation, of which she does most of the talking. Theres been homework every night, which is quite helpful, and
At Thanksgiving time my friend and former co-worker Charlie asked me to check which way the water rotated in the toilet south of the equator. My observations say (drum roll please) clockwise. Which way does it rotate in your bathroom?
Dogs run wild here in Ecuador, although there are some on leashes, most seem to belong to no one and everyone at the same time. Today I saw a dog resting in the middle of the street. While in Parque La Carolina I saw a dog chasing, snapping, and barking after a four wheeler on which two police officers were
In a city thats 22 miles long, there seems to be common threads from one end to the other and some unique characteristics in each barrio. The neighborhood Im staying in, La Mariscal, is home to La Floresta, so named because of the many flower stores. On our walk to school, the bins are full of flowers and it is