Moving2Ecuador

I am finding myself looking at this city very differently now. I am reminded that this will be home in a few months and that I will be part of this collection of humanity. So many people look familiar to me; the passport control officers, the baggage handlers, the receptionists at the hotel, the servers at the restaurant. Or perhaps I am looking at my surroundings in a new way, or paying more attention.  Eric's favourite bookstore is 'Libri Mundi', just a few blocks away from the hotel. We looked for books for Maya, with each page presented in both English and Spanish, and a couple of them with Quichua as well. I am committed to helping Maya learn as much Spanish as possible in the next few months, so this is a start. We looked for a good coffee shop. I have yet to adjust to Ecuadorian coffee, so a cappuccino or espresso is a must to start my day. Eric wanted me to look at a nearby apartment available  for rent; it looked wonderful, but we were unable to contact the landlor...

We have finally arrived in Quito!!!! It has been an unusually long day of travel. The alarm woke us up at 3:30 and we were out of the house 4 AM. Flying to Miami was uneventful, but we arrived by 8:30 with seven hours before our next flight. I decided that a trip to South Beach made sense. It was too early for the beautiful people to be about (they were sleeping off their nighttime activities), but it is a pleasant walk along the beach. The architecture is warm and inviting. I can understand why the place is so popular with tourists. I enjoy Miami airport, with its disorganized chaos. We were lucky with security today. Usually I am in the line for over an hour, and we were warned not to arrive later than noon to make sure we would have enough time for the expected wait. Instead, we jut breezed through. We met several of he group members who were to be with us for the next ten days. They are friendly and excited about the trip. It feels different to return to Quito. This place is to be...

So this is it, I am packed and it is not midnight yet. I am trying to decide whether to sleep or not, since we are up in a few hours to catch an early early flight to Miami. The flight is soooooo tedious, with a five hour layover in Miami and late night arrival in Quito. I looked for better connections, but nothing quite worked out for us. I have to give in to the 'life is the journey' experience. Actually, once I get on the plane, I enter my a new way of being. I am less irritable, less rushed, better able to sit and wait and be in the moment. I become quite a different person. I am not in control, I have no choice but to go with the flow. In Ecuador especially, nothing quite happens as expected. Flights are delayed, time becomes an entirely different element. When we are with the students, we warn them to expect long delays. Whatever the agenda is, it is subject to change. Our schedule may or may coincide with that of our guide, and in the end it is his will that prevails. We...

Every time that I travel I resolve to get organized early and pack a few days ahead of time, and despite my best efforts, I find myself scurrying around until my flight departs packing and repacking and bringing far too much. After so many trips, I ought to have learned that traveling light is the way to go. Oops. I will put it all together after working all day tomorrow... My sister flies in from Boston in the afternoon. This will be the first time that she will have time with Maya, and I hope they will enjoy each other. Maya will like the attention, since Monica will pick her up early from school and Maya will have more time to chill and to play. When I return from Ecuador this time, I want to reduce my working hours and have more time to be with Maya. We both have to learn more Spanish to prepare for our year away. Maya's new school has already suggested that Maya learn as mush Spanish as possible before she starts school in September, it will be easier to adjust. I have not re...

I am finally recovering from a nasty nasty cold. I gave in and prescribed myself a Zpack, even though it is most likely this was a virus, a powerful one at that. I do not want to be ill on the trip. I will not need any vaccinations for the Galapagos. I have had a yellow fever shot and typhoid pills for past trips, and malaria prophylaxis is not necessary for this trip. Of course, it is just not fun to be sick while traveling so I am hoping that I am over I am starting to pack. I hear that the weather will be very hot while we are in the Galapagos, and I am looking forward to the heat. It has been cold in Baltimore and colder in New York, and I have had enough of winter. Quito will be pleasant. Of course, in January it rained almost daily and it was unusually cold, so I am not sure how it will be when we are there. Our itinerary starts in Quito for a day and then a trip to Otavalo for the market, and five days in the Galapagos, back to Guayaquil for a short visit, and then the group go...

I travelled to New York and back yesterday afternoon. I waited for the Chinatown bus and when neither the 3:30 nor the 3:40 PM bus showed up,  I dashed over to the train station and caught a very comfortable seat on the Acela express. The bus is $20 each way and the train is far more expensive, but I did not want to miss Tara's play. She has been rehearsing nightly for over a month, and I promised to see it, knowing that I had obligations Saturday morning and evening and Sunday afternoon and could not get to New York any other evening of the week. Sunday night was the only possibility.  The play was called the 'Mapmaker' and was set up as a movie within a play. I found it disconcerting that the main character was supposed to be East Indian, but was played by a black man with a very odd accent and mannerisms. I found him so strange and out of place and distracting. That along with the movie set and the odd movie crew characters interfered with me actually listening to the pl...

The 'Crossing The Equator' ceremony is for those who are crossing the equator for the first time. So it makes sense that I experienced the initiation ceremony as a newcomer to the Galapagos and to the equator. I enjoyed playing the role of a pirate, wearing a patch on my eye and a red bandanna and making loud and raucous pirate noises. It was a hoot to see my husband half naked carrying a trident and wearing a crown as King Neptune. His princess was a lovely young Indian woman who looked regal in her queenly attire. We all had a script, but I have no recollection of the words or the import. There was some sort of ingestion of mysterious liquid, and ultimately pouring of water on those participating in the ceremony. Drinking and dancing followed late into the evening. The ceremony originated in the early 1900's as a initiation ritual for new sailors who had not yet crossed the equator. Essentially it was a hazing event, the new sailors demeaned and harassed by their more exp...

I wondered how Darwin was able to let go of all the usual religious beliefs of his time and thus propose his theory of evolution. At one point he studied to be a clergyman, but apparently that was because he thought he could spend his time observing and experimenting and writing. Ultimately it was the loss of his ten year old daughter that ended his belief in God. She died of tuberculosis and he was heartbroken. His theory of evolution is not what led to his lack of faith. One of the reasons he held off from publishing his findings was his sensitivity to his wife's beliefs and he was concerned that he would offend the average British citizen. In the end, he published his work when he heard that a scientific colleague had made the same observations and was about to write about it before Darwin did. The scientific community responded positively to his theory. The public was not as welcoming. When I was in school I do not remember there being much debate about evolution. Religion did ...

It is time to start getting organized  for our trip to the Galapagos. We will be flying to Quito next Friday, then  spend a day exploring the city, leave for Otovalo for a day at the market, followed by five days cruising around the Galapagos islands, and a day in Guayaquil. We will be traveling with Johns Hopkins alumni, as well as alumni from other universities. Eric will be lecturing to the group about Ecuador, Darwin and evolution.  I am especially looking forward to this trip, because I do not have a significant role to play, so I will simply be a tourist. I do not have to worry about students and children and safety. I plan to take hundreds of photographs, write as much as I can, perhaps do some filming, read and relax, perhaps even jump off the boat. I was horrified the first time the captain allowed Eric and the students to leap off the boat from the balconies. It looked entirely unsafe. Each year, more and more students take the plunge and they all survive. I was relieved that...

The yoga week in the jungle is materializing. The brochures will be designed and distributed soon. After our time in the  Galapagos next week, Eric and I will take a day to drive to Casa del Suizo and make sure it will work for the yogis. The tour company has also chosen  a place to stay in the north of Quito for the first and last night, and I want to be sure it feels right.  My friends express concern that I will not be working regularly in Quito, and that I will be frustrated without a schedule or a purpose. I have no worries at all. There are so many possibilities. I may teach at San Francisco de Quito in the medical school and have sent my CV there already. I will help Eric organize his research station at Sacha and will take every opportunity to travel to the jungle. I would like to check out other lodges and take the trip along the Napo from Tena to Sacha. I have to provide photos for two books, so I will be photographing everything I see. I need material for my book and will br...

I will be back in Ecuador in a week and exploring the Galapagos soon thereafter. I am trying to look forward and feel energized and excited. The death of Pippi has left me sad and panicky and drained, and I am trying to reverse this emotional spiral.  I am surrounded by 'The Origin of Species' and 'Voyage of the Beagle' and a narrow new book about Darwin that Eric sent me called  'Charles Darwin The Concise Story of an Extraordinary Man'. I think I will begin with the latter. It has lots of pictures, which is a good way to start. I look at the end. Quote: 'Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution'. It occurs to me that evolution has always made perfect sense to me. It confuses me that people discuss 'believing' in evolution versus 'creationism' or 'intelligent design'. It is not a matter of belief; evolution IS, while religion is a belief.  It is more difficult for me to imagine how Darwin was able to develo...

Pippi died today. It was time, or at least that is what I am told. It felt like an execution. My daughter was home, so she was able to say good-bye and to hold him as he passed. It is late in the day and I have been avoiding feeling the loss, but now that I am sitting and not moving, I have no choice but to think about it. I miss him; he was a big presence in our lives and the house feels empty without him.  I came back from New York and found my home transformed. Eric has made significant progress in emptying several of the rooms on the first floor. It looks cleaner and emptier and devoid of character; apparently this is the best way to sell a house. It is looking less like my house and more generic.  Change is happening, and much faster than I am ready for. The house is less my house, my dog is dead, my practice is shrinking, we are firming up our plans for moving. I am learning that although I have always seen myself as brave and bold and ready for anything, that I like to hold on t...

We met Carlos, Carmen, Alejandro and Gabriel today at the One World Cafe. He and his family are living in Baltimore for a year and the children are going to the same school that Maya attends and interestingly are returning to Quito to the Colegio Alberto Einstein next year ( the same school that Maya was tested at and which we put at the top of our list). They are the same age as Maya but are a year ahead of her in school. They started in September with little knowledge of English, but have adjusted well and are enjoying Baltimore.  Maya was very quiet and did not interact much with the twin boys. She was self conscious and worried that she did not speak Spanish. Everyone tells me that she will learn the language quickly and it will not be an issue for her. The school sent us an email urging us to have her learn as much Spanish as possible before she starts the year in Quito, so It will have to arrange for lessons or tutoring for her. Maya does not want to leave her friends or her scho...

I came to New York to bring my daughter home. She has been at rehearsals most days over the last five weeks and has been unable to return to Baltimore to say goodbye to her dog. I have not yet had the heart to make a decision about Pippi. He is deteriorating and I am sure many would have put him out of his misery weeks ago. I hope that once she spends some moments with him, she will understand that it is time to let him go. Whenever I tell her that he is failing, she bursts into tears and asks me to wait until she is ready. Of course, this is just my excuse not to experience the loss. Eric and Maya took Elmer, the younger and healthier dog, to the dogpark today and left Pippi behind. Elmer has been depressed and hiding in his crate most of the last several days. I wonder if the dogs communicated about the trip to the dogpark. I am sure Pippi knew where they were going and what they were up to and I wonder if he cared or if he knew he could not go anyway. I wonder how much Elmer knows a...

New York is a wonderful walking city. And so I walked and walked and walked. Stopping briefly for an espresso macchiato, my first purposeful march was down Madison Avenue from 59th Street to Union Square for a more relaxed stroll through the green market, and on to Tisch School for the Arts. Tara's rehearsal was a 'tech' run-through, which is slow and after watching for awhile, it was time to move on. Back up to Times Square and TKTS. Valentine's Day has brought many theatre-goers to the city and the lines were long. I waited patiently in the cancelation line to see Will Ferrell's play about George Bush; I was surprised to see so many other hopefuls, but to no avail. I walked to Carnegie Hall and imagined Maya making her debut, wandered back to the Sherry Netherland to recharge and then realized I had hardly enough time to march back down to 8th Street to meet Tara during her two hour break. Walking New York streets is entertaining. People-watching, listening to th...

I took the Chinatown bus from Baltimore to New York today. I try to get to New York monthly to see my daughter who is studying theatre at NYU. It was a very long trip with horrendous traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel. I have been visiting New York regularly for over 25 years. When I lived in Montreal in the early eighties, we used to drive to Burlington Vermont and take 'People's Express' to New York. It cost $29 each way and we were squeezed like sardines for the short flight. I started getting to know New York on the Upper East side. I loved being near Central Park and visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Lincoln Center. I moved over to the Upper West Side as it became more popular. When my oldest daughter became interested in theatre, we stayed near Times Square and saw plays every day. Now that she lives in the West Village, I spend most of my visits close by at a friend's apartment that happens to be on the same street as Tara's dorm. I have enjoyed all ...

My husband is sending me periodic articles about crime in Ecuador. The State Department publishes regular alerts. A few years ago, it was the jungle south of Columbia which was of concern. The FARC guerillas would cross the border into Ecuador to evade the Columbian soldiers. Last year several FARC leaders were killed in a cross border raid, infuriating the Ecuadorians. I have heard less about the FARC lately, they have lost ground significantly in Columbia. Crime is increasing as a direct result of the economic downturn. Robberies and burglaries are up. Eric has a colleague, Winfred, who is a German professor of neuroscience who is married to an Ecuadorian and has Ecuadorian children. He came to his home in Quito one day to find a group of burglars at his house with guns and threatening his wife and children. They stole several items in his home and brought him to an ATM to take money out of the bank. He is scared and ready to return to Germany.  Eric sent me an article about a murder...

'A cloud forest is a tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a high incidence of low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level'; I have never been to a cloud forest, and there are several in Ecuador. They are special because of the large numbers of species that are native only to that habitat, and because they are jungles at high altitudes. I have yet to visit a cloud forest. There is so much I have not seen in Ecuador. I have every intention of making up for that and exploring every corner of the country. There is a trail on Vancouver Island called the 'West Coast Trail' -- I remember taking three or four days to backpack the length of it. I was with a college friend. We met in Vancouver and took the ferry across to Victoria and then drove to the southern tip of the trail. We must have organized a ride back to the car, because we only walked one way. The trail ran near the western coast of the island and was once a logging trail. T...

I believe the Yoga in the Jungle experience is moving forward and we may decide to spend a few days in a lodge in the cloud forest as well as at the jungle's edge. Sid is serious about the trip and we are discussing it and organizing it. I am so excited about bringing yoga to the rainforest. My preference would be Sacha, I think that would be remarkable...but Sacha is unavailable in July and Casa del Suizo will have to do. Eric and I may travel there when we return from the Galapagos next month, to be sure it will work out for the group. I hope I can bring Tara and Maya on the yoga retreat as well. Tara is very good at yoga and Maya is a natural; she can wrap her body into a pretzel without much effort. I realize how bizarre 30 people twisting themselves into unusual shapes will look to the natives. They will wonder about us I am sure. This year ahead is ramping up and becoming more real and more and more exciting. I was worried that there would not be enough for me to do in this ...

Tomorrow is my father's birthday. He is 89 years old. I sent him a chocolate cake in the mail. The best gift I could give him would be to visit, but he prefers consumable gifts. I am planning to see him in April during my daughter's spring break. I try to convince him to visit me, but he likes to be home where he feels secure. He does not like to miss his daily physical therapy sessions. He believes that if he misses too much therapy he will lose his mobility.  While physically fragile, his mind remains sharp. He has been assuring me for years and years that he has lived a long and satisfying life and that he is ready to go. I cannot imagine life without him, although I have been preparing for the loss.  Although he lives far away and I see him only two or three times a year, it will be difficult to be further away and less able to visit. I cannot imagine that he will be well enough to travel to Quito. The 9000 foot altitude may be the limiting factor, or perhaps just the long ...

Benny started Sacha, conceived it, designed it, built it, made it happen. After hearing his story, I find it astounding that he moved from textiles to gold to running a restaurant to creating a nature preserve. I find it odd that after 40 years in south America, he is back in Switzerland with his young Ecuadorian wife. He has left his children and his life behind in the jungle. He returns once or twice a year for a visit. He leaves the operation of Sacha and Casa del Suizo to his sons in law. He told us his story, but did not divulge his feelings or his motivations. He did one thing and then moved on to another. He downplays his thirst for of adventure. He took risks, he kept landing on his feet, starting over, reinventing himself. He is modest and does not embellish or exaggerate his story. Benny leaves Sacha as his life work. It is art, literature, a creation. It is his legacy. It takes great sense of purpose, sense of self, confidence, courage to leave all that is familiar behind, t...

I had visited Sacha several times and had never met Benny. I had heard stories about him, had met his daughters and son-in-laws, had wandered over every inch of his nature preserve, and wondered who this man was. How did this idea start for him, how did it evolve and grow and change and come to be this incredible refuge? Eric told me Benny would be at Sacha the first night that we would be visiting. And he wanted to talk to us. Eric brought his tape recorder and I was useful because I spoke and understood German, and Benny was most comfortable in the language of his childhood, despite having lived in South America for most of his adult life. After waking up early, catching the plane to Coca, going down the river in the motorized canoe for two hours, walking to Pilchicocha for another 30 minutes and floating by canoe to the lodge, the first activity Maya and the students are itching for is the plunge into the lake full of piranhas and caimans. I met Benny on the balsa while watching May...

I wanted to know more about Benny and how the idea of Sacha began, so Eric and I sat with Benny for almost two hours on the balsa our first evening at Sacha in January. I was prepared with a list of questions, but they were swept aside as Benny started talking and sharing his life with us. Benny left his home in Interlaken, Switzerland at age 23. He had already been married, divorced, had two children, and worked as a tailor. There was no future for him in Switzerland and he was eager to leave his life behind him and start over again. He traveled by ship to Chile in June of 1963. It was midwinter in Chile and Benny did not like it, so after three weeks in Santiago, he left for a greater adventure Bolivia. Bolivia was wild and untamed and revolution was in the air. Benny met Che Guevara. Che was charismatic and driven and determined to change the world he knew. Revolution is more brutal than romantic; the villagers were killed if they did not join the revolutionaries. Nazis had escaped...

The conquistadors came to the New World to 'conquer, convert and exploit' the inhabitants. They brought priests with them on all their expeditions. They were certainly successful in converting the indigenous people. Every town in Ecuador has a Catholic church and much of the population is in church on Sunday. The priests were often well meaning and made efforts to support and protect the local people. It is interesting to see how the native people have incorporated the Catholic religion into their original belief system. When we visited the shaman in Illumin near Otavalo, I paid attention to his 'altar', which was jampacked with items which were relevant to his beliefs. Amongst the statues and crystals and stones and ashtrays full of cigarette butts, were statues of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. His incantations were full of references to 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph', along with local spirits and 'huacas' which are physical manifestations or representations of ...

My identity and sense of purpose is all about the work I do. I have been a physician for 25 years, most of the time as a psychiatrist. Had this opportunity to go to Ecuador not presented itself, I would most likely have continued working until my retirement. I have enjoyed my work; it is interesting and challenging and never ever boring. Leaving my work and closing my practice is complicated. But mostly I am excited! I imagine doing everything that I never have time for in my ordinary life. I have a list of the 100 best works of literature of the 20th century, and I plan to read every book on that list. I would like to meditate. I have made repeated efforts to meditate and have failed quite miserably in my efforts. I expect to exercise daily and improve my fitness. I had a horse until I was 30 and riding horses was my passion for much of my childhood; I would love to ride regularly and perhaps introduce my daughter to horsebackriding. I sent my CV to a university in Quito and may be ab...

I will be back in Ecuador in a little over two weeks! I will be traveling to the Galapagos with a group of Johns Hopkins alumni. Eric will be lecturing several times during the trip and I am not sure what my role is, but I will find a way to be useful. I missed the Galapagos in January, so this is my chance to return. Visiting the Galapagos is easy and relaxing. We cruise around the islands and stop for excursions a couple of times a day. The best part is the snorkeling. We swim with huge sea turtles and penguins and seals and even sharks. We see animals that have no fear of man or other predator. I try to imagine that Darwin saw exactly what I am seeing, and made his conclusions about evolution based on what he saw on the islands. I try to pay attention to the finches, but they are not compelling. It is the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his book 'On the Origin of the Species' which outlined his theory of evolution. I w...

The pre-Incan indigenous people of Ecuador read the skies. They knew they lived at the center of the earth. I wonder if they knew that the earth is round? How did they predict the solstices and the equinoxes? I had no idea what a solstice or an equinox is...I looked it up on Wikipedia. 'Equinoxes occur twice a year when the tilt of the Earth's axis is oriented neither from nor to the Sun, causing the Sun to be located vertically above a point on the equator. A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice a year, when the tilt of the Earth's axis is most oriented toward or away from the Sun, causing the Sun to reach its northernmost or southernmost extreme.' The equinox occurs in March and September and the Solstice every June and December. Why would these primitive people find it useful to make all these measurements? They knew that the Earth was tilted on its axis and they measured the tilt. My question is why? When I look at the heavens, or if I visit the Plan...

It was 'Restaurant Week' in Baltimore from January 23 until February 1. By chance, I had arranged to take a friend out for her birthday (which was in November but she was in Costa Rica for her birthday and then it was Thanksgiving followed by Christmas and then I was in Ecuador) and finally we both had a night free. We decided to try a new restaurant called 'Cinghiale' which had stellar reviews. For $30 we could choose an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. I looked forward to having wild boar for dinner. I was familiar with the dish, because at my sister's home in Tuscany, wild boar were often in season, and a specialty of the area in which she lived. The farmer who worked her fields would complain about the cinghiale and how they would destroy his crops. In the morning, one would often find the hay matted down where they had been foraging. If I visited in November the hunters would be about, ready to shoot at anything that moved and looking for cinghiale. Spag...