Tuesday, October 18, 2011
La Mirage
If you can't hope the Mirage link, here's a great and informative site. Merri Scott guided me through this journey and this is their blog. It tells alot about the area. www.garyascott.com/2009/12/28/6626.html
La Mirage
Here is the site to see this beautiful place in the middle of "nowhere". It was off season so we were the only ones there and they treated us like the kings and queens who stay there. www.mirage.com.ec.
HomeSweet Home
,They say home is where the heart is, and that speaks to one truth, but I think you can leave your heart in a new place and it becomes another home in your heart. This happened to us in Ecuador. It's such an untamed beauty. It makes me wonder what being "civilized" really means. These indigenous people farm vertically with oxen and a hand plow with the women following with the seed and they are some of the most civilized people I have ever known. It made me aware of how fearful we, as a society, have become. Very young children in the streets at night with the adult in a doorway and not visible.;They were safe, but filled me with fear. I have a new perspective on what is real and what is imagined. My hope is to be able to maintain that. I will get the pics up and running and take you on a trip to another world called La Mirage (so appropriately named)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Lots and lots to talk about
It's late and I think it's working again. I'll tell you all about our amazing last few days when we get back the the mountain mineral waters tomorrow. Hasta la vista, baby.
Monday, October 10, 2011
A Rose is a Rose is a Rose
It's now Monday morning and today is our 30th Anniversary. That is itself is pretty special and fairly unusual these days. It takes loyalty and heavy lifting, but here we are in Cotacachi. We will be in a incredible place later and will be getting a Shamana Purification. This is something new and you can feel a certain spirituality here from the mountains surrounding us.
I'm having trouble posting the pics and videos, when I translate back to English it changes, so I'll get to them later.
Back to the roses......When we were coming in from Quito it was dark but with a beautiful full moon we could see the mountains and lights down in the valleys. About every 10 miles we would see lots of very strong lights like a small city or a large stadium. What it is is ROSES and lots of them. Thousands of people work in these greenhouses. You can get 60 roses for a few dollars. I'm expecting a huge bouquet today. I want to feel like Ms. America. Beto just woke up so we will start a very unique day. I'll keep you posted.
I'm having trouble posting the pics and videos, when I translate back to English it changes, so I'll get to them later.
Back to the roses......When we were coming in from Quito it was dark but with a beautiful full moon we could see the mountains and lights down in the valleys. About every 10 miles we would see lots of very strong lights like a small city or a large stadium. What it is is ROSES and lots of them. Thousands of people work in these greenhouses. You can get 60 roses for a few dollars. I'm expecting a huge bouquet today. I want to feel like Ms. America. Beto just woke up so we will start a very unique day. I'll keep you posted.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Everything's Coming Up Roses!
ALERT, SENSORY OVERLOAD!!
AA is back in my good graces cause the planes ran on time. All that anxiety for nuthin! Our trusty driver, Jorge, was waiting for us outside of customs to take us on a 2 hour trip thru the Andes to our destination. Quito is pretty wild. It looks a bit like San Jose, Costa Rica, but at 10,000 feet. We'll explore it on Friday once we figure out how to breathe here. There it's nosebleed, here merely gasping for air.
This little village is so sweet. It's a different way of living i.e. living.
We woke up early Saturday to the ringing of the church bells, had a great and nourishing breakfast (they eat healthy here) and Jorge was outside polishing his taxi while he waited for us. These have to be the friendliest and most respectful people we've ever met. Everyone says hello and means it. There's not a pile of poo poo in sight tho' dogs run free. If I find some on my shoe, I'll let you know. I have no idea where it goes.
On the way to Otavalo we passed an Indigenous (they even refer to themselves that way) funeral. They always dress the same and you can tell where they are from that way. The procession had about 25 people in it. The woman had the long black skirts, black cotton sandles, white puff sleeved embrodered blouses, colorful wovenbelts and long braids with a folded type scarf on their heads. The men had white sandels, white pants and shirts,blue ponchos and long a braid under their Panama hats.Four of them held the casket up in the air and the women had their babies on their backs in white cotton sacks and were carrying large sacks of food for the feast at the cemetery. It was something so visual and different, tho I'm sure they would think the same of our police escorted processions.
The market was wild. There were cows, pigs, guinea pigs (cuy) turkeys chickens, dogs, cats, fighting cocks (they don't use the razors), llama's and on and on and on. Everyone was cooking pigs and rice in enormous pots, tho the stink of the live pigs was stronger than the aroma of the cooked ones, so I waited to eat. Not only were the Otavalian Indigenous there, but other ones in different dress from different areas. You can tell where they are from by their traditional clothing. Of course, some of the teens had on jeans and tees but many were traditional (probably forced to by their parents--some things are universal).
Then we went off to the market which was enormous.It filled about a third of a city of 60,000. Each booth had more colorful items then I've ever seen. You want it-it was there. And the food smelled wonderful. I chose a whole fried Tilapia that I ate with my fingers. This was not farm raised and what a difference. I wanted to buy some Andean musical instruments and Jorge took us to the home of a well known Andean musical family. Not only did we buy instrumennts that they had made, but they gave us a little concert and demostration. Django will be so excited to get his new rythm instrument made of sheep toenails. I bet he'll be the first in his crowd to have one. Talk about a chick magnet!To be continued (about the roses)
AA is back in my good graces cause the planes ran on time. All that anxiety for nuthin! Our trusty driver, Jorge, was waiting for us outside of customs to take us on a 2 hour trip thru the Andes to our destination. Quito is pretty wild. It looks a bit like San Jose, Costa Rica, but at 10,000 feet. We'll explore it on Friday once we figure out how to breathe here. There it's nosebleed, here merely gasping for air.
This little village is so sweet. It's a different way of living i.e. living.
We woke up early Saturday to the ringing of the church bells, had a great and nourishing breakfast (they eat healthy here) and Jorge was outside polishing his taxi while he waited for us. These have to be the friendliest and most respectful people we've ever met. Everyone says hello and means it. There's not a pile of poo poo in sight tho' dogs run free. If I find some on my shoe, I'll let you know. I have no idea where it goes.
On the way to Otavalo we passed an Indigenous (they even refer to themselves that way) funeral. They always dress the same and you can tell where they are from that way. The procession had about 25 people in it. The woman had the long black skirts, black cotton sandles, white puff sleeved embrodered blouses, colorful wovenbelts and long braids with a folded type scarf on their heads. The men had white sandels, white pants and shirts,blue ponchos and long a braid under their Panama hats.Four of them held the casket up in the air and the women had their babies on their backs in white cotton sacks and were carrying large sacks of food for the feast at the cemetery. It was something so visual and different, tho I'm sure they would think the same of our police escorted processions.
The market was wild. There were cows, pigs, guinea pigs (cuy) turkeys chickens, dogs, cats, fighting cocks (they don't use the razors), llama's and on and on and on. Everyone was cooking pigs and rice in enormous pots, tho the stink of the live pigs was stronger than the aroma of the cooked ones, so I waited to eat. Not only were the Otavalian Indigenous there, but other ones in different dress from different areas. You can tell where they are from by their traditional clothing. Of course, some of the teens had on jeans and tees but many were traditional (probably forced to by their parents--some things are universal).
Then we went off to the market which was enormous.It filled about a third of a city of 60,000. Each booth had more colorful items then I've ever seen. You want it-it was there. And the food smelled wonderful. I chose a whole fried Tilapia that I ate with my fingers. This was not farm raised and what a difference. I wanted to buy some Andean musical instruments and Jorge took us to the home of a well known Andean musical family. Not only did we buy instrumennts that they had made, but they gave us a little concert and demostration. Django will be so excited to get his new rythm instrument made of sheep toenails. I bet he'll be the first in his crowd to have one. Talk about a chick magnet!To be continued (about the roses)
Friday, October 7, 2011
Leavin' On a Jet Plane
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N
Time for all good boys and girls to brush away the cobwebs, shake off the heebie jeebies and get the heck out of Dodge. No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks (tho we will have a lap-top, twitter, I-phone, and I-Pad.) Kathy is kind enough to babysit the dog and our first flight leaves here at 2. We arrive in Quito at 7 and on to Cotacachi. We will go from nose-bleed territory to merely gasping for air. Tomorrow we start off at the animal auction so now-----we're off to the races. See ya soon!
Time for all good boys and girls to brush away the cobwebs, shake off the heebie jeebies and get the heck out of Dodge. No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers dirty looks (tho we will have a lap-top, twitter, I-phone, and I-Pad.) Kathy is kind enough to babysit the dog and our first flight leaves here at 2. We arrive in Quito at 7 and on to Cotacachi. We will go from nose-bleed territory to merely gasping for air. Tomorrow we start off at the animal auction so now-----we're off to the races. See ya soon!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Viva Evita!
Hola famila Argentina, HolaMargarita, Titina Pichi, Adriana, Kevin, Fiama, Estella, Hugito, y mas y mas y mas. Tanto's Elvrias'! Bienvenitos a mi blog.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
In Search of the Perfect Panama
I knew we could count on Mo. She fearlessly went in search of the perfect Panama in the jungles of Milan. She has a few scratches, but she survived and was able to put her stamp on the cover of this-- whatever it's going to be. Muchas Gracias, Marilia.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your engines!
Just one week to go before the grand adventure. Looks like lots of showers, so ponchos it is. Moving on to make this thing colorful is the maestro of blogging: May I present our own Mo Garcia. Go Mo!
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