Moving2Ecuador

Today was an entirely frustrating, but very Ecuadorian day. I kept Tara home from school so I could meet with a hand surgeon at the Military Hospital at 11:00 AM. I had also arranged to start Spanish classes with Amparo today. I am convinced that my Spanish has deteriorated since I stopped taking lessons (last November!) so I decided that one thing I want to do before I leave is brush up on my Spanish. Instead of practicing 'ser and estar', Amparo joined us at the hospital where I had been instructed by Hernan (my neurosurgeon friend) to have 'Dr. Paredes' paged. When we arrived,we asked about seeing Dr. Paredes and were given a ticket and told to wait for our turn. The expansive lobby was carpeted with waiting patients, so I called Hernan again and he referred me to 'Information'. There was confusion as to which Dr. Paredes this was, since there were several working at the hospital. I had already called Hernan while he was in surgery (three times) so I did not...

I am trying to get through my lists of 'things to do before I leave Quito', and the plan for today was to take the truck up to the top of Guagua Pichincha (15,670 ft) or hike up Rucu Pichincha (15,696 ft). The truck access was more acceptable to Eric and Maya, and we asked our friends Jeff and Helen, Lucia and Nick ( a family from the DC area, who are here for two years) to join us. They had driven to the summit before, and knew how to get there. My alarm went off at 6 and I got up to look at the mountain, which was invisible because it was shrouded in clouds, which came all the way down to the base of the mountain. In fact, the valley was bathed in mist as well. Mornings are best to ascend the mountain, when visibility was usually much better, but unfortunately this morning was not a good one for our adventure. I am not sure I will get to the top of these peaks, which welcome me each morning and evening. I chose the apartment because of the view of the mountains, and the first...

On several occasions, I have wanted to go to the Teatro Mexico, which is in the southern part of the city past the Centro Historico, but I have been too worried to travel there in the evening, so have missed all sorts of events. Today, Maya had a performance at the Teatro Mexico, so we took the truck there, and took almost an hour to find it, winding through the narrow streets of the centre, getting lost over and over, asking directions, finally arriving. Maya was anxious about showing up past the designated time, but by now, being in Ecuador, we have learned that time is fluid and being late is rarely an issue. I noticed that we were above the street (Maldonado) where the Trole runs, and the Trole stop is 'Chimbacalle' (I passed this way many times when I traveled to Tierra Nueva Hospital), but I was not sure which street had access to the theatre, which is far above the road with a wall and train tracks between road and theatre. I doubt I would feel comfortable taking the Tro...

Eric leaves Ecuador in three weeks and Maya and I stay a little longer. I had planned our return to be a few days after school ends, but I was confused about dates, and the last day of school is earlier than I had thought. I have committed to starting back at my office August 2. Which means we must start organizing our departure from Ecuador, which is difficult because none of us want to leave. Going to Machu Picchu was our last 'blast' and now we are all walking around with long faces and dread, and avoiding the inevitable. In addition, I have been recovering from both a cold and some sort of GI event, so I have been under the weather since we flew back from Peru on Tuesday. I have had little desire to do anything, and cannot get excited about packing up the house to leave. I have been burying myself in books, reading furiously, which is what I usually do when I am ill, as if being sick allows me to indulge myself and let reading be my first priority. I am addicted to my kind...

Our project today was to return to the Convention Centre at Eugenio Espejo and take photos and videos of the space in preparation for the 2014 'Neuroethology' meeting proposal. Eric has looked at the Hilton Hotel, the Casa de la Culture, the St. Augustin Monastery and Universidad Catolica as other possible venues, but the renovated hospital is the best option. It is big enough to handle the whole meeting, so that participants do not have to move from venue to venue throughout the five days of the meeting. It is self contained and has every modern convenience, at least all that are relevant to an international meeting, such as Wifi, huge screens and video technology, and is a beautiful colonial structure that is pleasing to the eye, and has wonderful views of the city from its walkways and balconies. I sound as if I am trying to sell this event. Eric will be making a proposal at the Neuroethology meeting in Salamanca, Spain, the first week of August. We took the Ecovia to the C...

Living without a computer has left me unsettled and disjointed. My computer has become my constant companion this year. I open it first thing in the morning, check it several times during the day, skype my parents each evening, make telephone calls, answer emails, download photos, write regularly; it has become an essential tool, especially during this year far from all that is familiar. I am not sure what happened a few days ago. I had brought my laptop with me to Peru (as did Eric, and both my inlaws had their iphones which served as internet access for them almost everywhere ). I had imagined that I would find internet in most places and thus I could keep current on my email and writing. However, when everyone else was able to get online, I was having recurrent difficulties and finally simply gave up on my errant machine and decided to take a short break from constant contact with the rest of the world. Of course, if necessary, I could check Eric's machine, or even those of Sher...

Driving through Lima early in the morning is almost pleasant. The traffic was tolerable, the sky was dark rather than grey, and we drove along the Pacific ocean for a part of the way. The sounds of the waves crashing was reassuring. Lima airport was easy to get through and we had a long time to wait for our flight so we went shopping. Maya and I tried every type of chocolate covered candy at 'Britt Peru'. Exotic fruits enveloped with chocolate necessitated trying every one to figure out which we had to purchase. I bought a fruit found only in Peru, which I cannot remember the name of anymore ( I finished the packet by the end of the day). Quito was sunny and warm, in contrast to the grey, wet humid air of Lima. We were exhausted when we got home and had little energy to do much. We all took naps ( a rare event for me) until Maya's three hour ballet class. It was good to be home. It will take some time to absorb all that we saw during our whirlwind visit to Peru. I still fee...

Milagros met us early to bring us to the airport and our flight to Lima. I sat on the other side of the plane this time and had great views of the Andes as we cruised to the big city. Lima was cloudy and drab and grey, such a great contrast to the unrelenting sun in Cusco. We returned to the same hotel, but this time had huge beds and the biggest jacuzzi bath I have ever seen in my life! Maya was determined to take a bath sometime during our stay. I was eager to get out and explore Lima. We had lunch looking out over the grey ocean and watched the surfers missing waves. Visibility was limited and the greyness uninviting. The Gold Museum was exhibiting at another level of Larcomar ( the large shopping/eating/entertainment complex by the sea), so we elected to visit. This is an extension of the larger gold museum in another part of LIma, which I have wanted to visit for some time. We learned about the methods used in antiquity to create beautiful gold and silver objects, and the collect...

My alarm beeped at 5AM, I could not open my eyes, but I dragged myself out of bed. I rousted Eric, and sent him to the ATM and the ticket office, and began to ready myself for our morning visit. The only ATM in town was still not working and there was no way to get 'soles' for our tickets and no other way to get up to Machu Picchu. I was desolate. I had arranged for our trainride back to happen later in the morning so we could see the sunrise over the ruins, which I had read about, planned for, hoped for. Urubamba River Eric had no trouble falling back asleep, I had not woken Maya, and I just stewed. How could I be here and not see the morning light over Machu Picchu? How could I have not arranged this better? Why did I not get the tickets in Cusco, or insisted that we get the cash in our pockets in Lima or Cusco? I had told our tour operators that I wanted to see the ruins in the morning, why did I not insist they buy us our tickets? I wound myself into a frenzy and discovered...