Cuenca

Yesterday, we arrived in the city of Cuenca,
which is Ecuador´s third largest city. It´s a
beautiful city that has an old Spanish colonial
past and feels very European. It´s also the
cultural capital of Ecuador, hosting a large
university and lots of foreign expatriates.
The center of the city is listed as a UNESCO
World Heritage Trust site because of its historical
buildings. Today we visited the Catedral Metropolitana
de la Inmaculada Concepción (pictured). It´s also
known as the ¨New Cathedral since it was built in
1880, as opposed to the Old Cathedral that was
builit in 1557. It can seat up to 9000 people!
Tomorrow more touring and getting a feel for the
city.

A Visit To Otavalo

After an "interesting" ride north on
the Pan American Highway in a taxi in
which we were pretty much cargo, we
arrived in the small Indigenous city
of Otavalo. It´s about a two hour
drive north of Quito. It´s famous for
the Craft Market held every Saturday
and we did our part to contribute to
the local economy! I´ll have lots of
great photos to share in a few weeks
when we have more reliable internet
connection but we´ll be spending the
next 7 nights at the Hostal Dona Esther
in Otavalo before we leave on the 25th
for the city of Cuenca, farther south
in Ecuador.

Feliz Día de la Madre

Supposedly, this is a Mother's Day tradition, but if
I were an Ecuadoran mother, would I want my drunk
son and a bunch of his drunk friends hanging out
outside my house at all hours of the night?

"Mother's Day in Ecuador is an event unique in many ways.
While some families give gifts and have gatherings and feasts
on the special Sunday, the most wished for act of love is a
Mother's Day serenade. On Saturday everyone prepares for
the next day: they go to the market to buy ingredients, go to
the mall for last minute gifts, and last but not least, tune up
their guitars and vocal chords for the long night ahead.

At around 9pm groups of men convene, some with pick-up
trucks packed in with microphones and amplification, others
equipped only with their walking shoes and guitars strapped
on their backs. After milling around for a while, the night's
journey begins. The first mother to be surprised is usually
the one whose son has lent his car or equipment. The group
pulls up to the house as quietly as possible, hooks up the
instruments and mics, and starts strumming the first set of
tear-jerking chords. Around mid-song, the mother usually
comes out of the house, accompanied by a daughter, tears
in their eyes. The son gives a short and sweet Mother's Day
dedication, then continues on with the second song. At this
point shot glasses are brought out from the house and filled
with canelazo, a warm and potent traditional Ecuadorian drink.

Now, with a quick burn in the throat and the blood a bit more
alive, the group of men play a song or two more, then move
on to the next mother. Since some of the men may live in the
country-side, the drive or hike might take up to a half hour.
Arriving at their destination, out come the instruments, with
a repeat of the same Mother's Day songs, an emotional mother,
and more alcohol. By this time it has reached midnight but there
are at least three more stops to make."

Out Back

This is the view we have every day out our bedroom
window. As you can see, Quito is pretty urban, and
the neighborhood we live in has lots of fairly tall
apartment buildings. The building on the far left
not only contains a casino, it also has a rooftop indoor
pool for its residents. We're not as lucky. All we have
is a friendly door guard that likes to shake my hand
and makes us practice our Spanish!

A Band???

I've been sleeping here in Ecuador about the same as
anyplace else in the world. Sometimes good and
sometimes bad. However...this morning at 6:15 am
I hear this loud music outside the window (yes, but
different loud music than usual). Lynn calls from the
other room, "Hey, it's a parade!" By some inner caveman-
type response to the word "parade", I stagger into the
living room and there's a large band formed across the
street, ready to "serenade" my sleepy eardrums with
more music. Remember...this is at 6:15...AM!!!!


Ok, so now I'm awake. People with signs start to wave
them at passing drivers. Several of these people have
prisoner "suits" on. Whhhaaatttt????? Afterwards, I
zoomed in on one of my photos and figured it out.
They were telling people not to talk on their cell phones
while driving. Now this is a concept I can embrace.
However...do you really need a 28 piece band, and do
you HAVE to do it at 6:15 in the morning???

Where The Sidewalk Ends

This photo is pretty representative of Quito's sidewalks.
A mishmash of materials, never even and generally a
hazard to one's health. And this is in the nice part of
town! I feel sometimes like I'm back on the Ice, because
you have to look down constantly while walking because
even though the current stretch you're walking on may
be level, it may drop off unexpectedly for no apparent
reason. Kind of like avoiding rocks that are ankle-turners
at McMurdo. To top it off, woe to be a person in a wheel
chair. I recently saw a "curb cut" at a 45 degree angle
that was 3 feet long. Try wheeling up that one...or even
down! Yikes!

Myrna y Liz

Our friends, Myrna and Liz are in Quito for a couple of days.
They're on their way to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow, but
they had time to visit with us at dinner tonight in La Mariscal.
They're Ice friends who have tons of stories between them
about almost everything and anything. Myrna told us about
her trip to Palmer Station in Antarctica in August. Because the
Lawrence M. Gould couldn't dock at the pier, they had to shoot
rockets toward the station with lines tied to them so they could
drag an Zodiac (a small rubber boat) toward the station with
her in it. All of this in the dark and in a snowstorm! We'll
see Myrna and Liz again in Otavalo in about 10 days and then
in early June, we'll be traveling with Liz in Peru.

Espanol es Mucho Trabajo

Lynn and I started our Spanish classes this week. Wow!
These classes are a lot of work! I've taken Spanish classes
in High School, College and in an Adult Ed program and
this is completely different. The Instituto Superior de
Espanol is a great school. However...I think I'm getting
about a month's worth of classes in each four hour class
period. It moves so fast! I'm hanging in there, but to be
honest, mi cabeza es lleno (My head is full!)

Alarming

Some cities are known for their sights.
Some cities are known for their smells.
Some cities are known for their sounds.
I'm starting to believe that Quito is known for the sound of
Car Alarms. I've never heard so many car alarms go off at
all times of the day. Very rarely is it the case that someone
is breaking into a car. The installation folks must set them
at uber-sensitive modes because I've seen passing cars,
passing airplanes, and even thunder set them off in front
of our apartment. Just while I've been typing this, two separate
alarms have gone off. Sadly, I'm used to it.

South American Explorers

In the past, when I heard of the words "explorers club", I
would think of stody old men, sitting around in
leather chairs, wearing smoking jackets with big animal
heads on the wall. They would be talking of exploits past,
when in reality they were in an office someplace, many
miles from the front line.
However...here in Quito...and several other cities in South
America, there is a cool looking place called the South
American Explorers Club that provides all kinds of help
and information for members (and non-members alike).
It's located in La Mariscal area of Quito and I think Lynn
and I are going to check it out sometime this week. We'll
probably leave our smoking jackets behind!

Renting a Book

Even in an interesting place like Quito, there is still a fair
amount of down time, and time to be filled. Since I was
trying to travel as light as possible, I tried to keep my book
collection on this trip to a minimum. All guidebooks and
language-related books. Even these interesting books
can become a bit tiresome to read after a while. Because
we're in a Spanish speaking nation, finding books in
English can be a bit of a task, but as in the rest of the
world, the English language is becoming more prevalent
than before. Even the large, local bookshops have small
English language sections. However, the price tag is a
bit steep for someone that just wants something to read
for a few weeks and not a book to keep forever. In
La Mariscal (Gringolandia), there are several used bookshops
that fill this niche. We went to the appropriately named,
English Bookshop, where you can buy as well as rent
books. I've never rented a book before, but in this locale,
it makes perfect sense. After scouring the store, I found
"Guns, Germs and Steel". A book I've been wanting to read
for a while about how mankind developed as it did around
the world. It cost $6 to rent with a $20 deposit, which I
will get back once I return the book. It's definitely in my
best interest to return it because I want my 20 bucks back,
but also because it weighs about 10 pounds. I have enough
in my bags without hauling this behemoth around. My
biggest struggle will be to finish it in two weeks!

Interviewer / Interviewee

Lynn and I were enjoying a lazy afternoon on a holiday
(May Day) at the Coffee Tree cafe when we were approached
by a young man named Esteban. He is a spphomore at one of
the high schools here in Quito and for a school project he is
having people interview him on various topics. Equipped with
a small tape recorder, he asked us to question him about
online university degrees. We went through a series of questions
across the board, from quality of classes, transportation and
ecological issues. it was an interesting 15 minutes to say the
least.