Feliz Navidad!

It’s Christmas time in Loja, but it hardly feels like Christmastime to us because we are accustomed to cold temperatures in December. In Loja, there are two seasons—the “dry” season and the “wet” season. The wet season has arrived. It is similar to Seattle in June or July. Temperatures average 75, the skies are generally overcast and occasional light rain occurs each day. Actually on our evening walks now, sometimes a light fleece is needed. Everyone here says, “It’s cold.” Hmm! In front of a cathedral in the center of the city, there actually is a winter scene with Santa in his sled riding on snow (yellowing spray foam insulation). Christmas trees, flashing Christmas lights, Santa Claus figurines and nativity scenes decorate the city, and the Christmas decorations were in store windows even earlier than in the states since they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here (of course). As we have been told, we share some of the same Christmas traditions such as gathering with family on Christmas day, eating turkey, and giving presents. During this month, it is common to see women walking around town with live turkeys braced under their arm.

As for holiday events...we recently attended the school children’s choir concert. As instructed, we arrived in our formal school suits/uniforms to the theater on Saturday morning. The school had impressive formal uniforms made for all the staff (oh, but except we paid for them). Sara looks like she should be serving coca colas aboard a 747. As usual, we knew little of what exactly was to happen at the event. Turns out, it was a competition involving multiple school choirs. All children were between the ages of 4 to 6 years old. It was hosted in the oldest theater in Loja (kind of reminded of us of the Moore Theater in Seattle on a much smaller scale). Unlike in the United States where a single pianist might accompany the children’s choir, many of these choirs had full accompaniment with violins, guitars, drummers and pianists. Keep in mind...all the children were between the ages of 4 to 6 years old. Our cheering section included a parent with a snare drum, a parent with cymbals and a parent distributing whistles. So, in addition to the choir competition, there was basically a parent cheer competition as well. Needless to say, it was loud! Our school received 2nd place, and we were surprised that our entire cheering section departed (as if the theater was on fire) as soon as our award was presented.

Tonight we take an overnight bus to meet Roberta in Quito. She will arrive Saturday afternoon and we will begin our holiday travels. Christmas on the beach and then New Years in the Andes Mountains.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL OUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

Cuenca

Last weekend we had a nice little trip up north to visit the city of Cuenca. It is an exceptionally scenic city, at roughly 9000 feet, with impressive colonial architectu , many cobbled streets and an impressive number of museums. We were excited by the number of art museums--most of which had closed early because of the energy crisis unfortunately. However, there were a couple of impressive bookstores including an English bookstore ( a rare treat). The English bookstore owners, a couple from North Carolina, transplanted to Ecuador, and she took her time explaining about the latest boom of expats in Cuenca (250 to 2500 over the past 5 years).

In the central park is the massive Catedral Nueva, pretty sure its known to be the largest church in South America. We also indulged in some great, dark, rich coffee and an European style breakfast with buttery pastries. Turkey sandwiches were also a good find, the weekend after Thanksgiving. We always hunt for diverse food options when we travel. Cuenca is definitely on our list to revisit.

To our surprise and delight -- we spotted a Microbrewery only blocks from our hostel. After months of drinking only one kind of beer (pilsener, pilsener, and pilsener), we were really stoked and found it hard to wait all day for the place to open. Yikes! Smelly feet describes it best. Unfortunately, the beer was just awful. It seemed to be missing the key ingredient- HOPS! Something was tragically lost in translation, and we had to choke down a $3 draft of what they called an Irish Red. Note to all travelers: Do not waste your time at the microbrewery in Cuenca.That night it poured down rain which was a real blessing for this country given the energy crisis. We hunkered down in the cool temperatures and read our books in the hostel although our vision was to drink ourselves silly with some good micro-brews. Oh well!

The next day before leaving, we got to experience the excitement of a pro-soccer game here. We meandered around outside the stadium before a big game. Everyone was dressed in red and partying big time. It was quite a sight, but actually not much different than a pre-game party in the US. There were the usual venders selling game t-shirts, snacks and cold drinks and loud music playing in the stadium to excite the crowd. Definitely want to make it to a soccer game while here.

On our way home that afternoon, our bus was involved in a collision while driving on a super foggy stretch of road in the mountains. We were dodging and weaving for quite a while until a truck going the wrong way in our lane couldn't get over quick enough. It clipped the front of the bus, which knocked the bed of the truck clean off. We had to stop for about 40 min. while they sorted out the damages. It was surprising when three cowboys dressed in full attire -- large belt buckles, cowboy hats and boots climbed out of the truck. First styled out cowboys we have seen in Ecuador. Fortunately nobody was hurt. In the end, about six guys lifted the bed of the truck back onto the truck, and we continued on our way.

Thanksgiving Abroad

Thanksgiving in Ecuador just isn't the same. 70 degrees, no brown leaves and no football. That said, we were fortunate to be surrounded by folks who helped us to celebrate here and thus ease the missing of family and friends.
Oddly enough, our school takes great pride in celebrating Thanksgiving and telling the story of how the holiday came about in America. The big emphasis being the "thanks" part but they are also thus exposed to more American culture. The atrium at the school was carefully decorated for the event and the administrators hosted a nice story telling assembly including a short story read by Ben in not so dynamic fashion. (Sara was supposed to do it but had a last minute meeting.)
As soon as we finished school, we piled into a cab with some other gringo friends and headed out to a big feast hosted by an ex-pat friend that works at the University here. She and her husband have an amazing farm/propert/school at the very end of a green forested canyon here. Quite an amazing place. They also operate a small private school which focuses on experiential learning and Waldorf type stuff. Very cool.
Anyhow, we worked as a group to prepare a nice big traditional feast for about 20 people. A nice mix of ex-pats, short timers and Ecuadorians. We had all of the traditional fixings including cranberries which someone lugged all the way down from the US.

By 8:30 we were all fading fast so we piled in with some new friends and came back home to collapse. The tryptophan works the same down here in case you were wondering. I'm still unsure if the toilet bowl flushes in the same direction.

Viva Loja!

Loja celebrated it's Independence Day on November 18th. While the holiday was on November 18th, Loja took the opportunity to have, at least, two weeks of festivities. Each barrio (neighborhood) had its own parties which included soccer matches in the street, Ecua-volley tournaments, and live music at night with dancing in the street.

There were also two parades: high school marching bands and a military parade. It was very uncomfortable to watch high school students wearing full, long sleeve uniforms marching in the hot sun for four hours. But, actually, it is not uncommon for us to be wearing shorts and tank tops, while Ecuadorians have on jeans and sweaters and maybe even a scarf. Presentation is very important here. Most Ecuadorian men here in Loja are always wearing a collared shirt and dress shoes (even when changing oil in cars). Ecuadorian women in Loja wear full suits to work and are rarely seen without their stilettos.

The military parade was the following day and included a brief history of the important battles and wars in Ecuador. Floats came by decorated to depict the scenes of courage and horror. After the floats came the modern soldiers of varying specialties carrying sticks, flags and bazookas. We also got to see some military dogs and anti-tank brigades. It was an impressive show.

The night of the big celebration, there was a crowd of about 2,000 Ecuadorians standing shoulder to shoulder in the plaza to view the live music and fireworks. People were crowded into all of the stores and street side tiendas to buy liquor and beer. We opted for the curbside kegerator from which we were served 20oz. Pilseners by a nine year old girl and her sister. Cane lasso, the sugar cane liquor drink of Loja, was also being served around the crowd by young men wearing tuxedos.

After a couple hours of dancing and music on the main stage, the real action was unleashed in about 15 minutes of fireworks. It’s not like the kind in Elliot Bay that are launched off of a barge. These babies fired right off of the roof of the church in the main square. Our necks were sore from looking straight up for so long. Meanwhile the crowd was showered with debris from the fireworks and smoke filled the square. It was a superb display.

As a side note, in case any of you are curious, we are still experiencing daily rolling blackouts. It seems the rains have returned so the periods of disruption are shorter, but it will take some time for all of the turbines to be back on line. We're looking forward to it.

Futbol in the streets.

This week marks the 189th anniversary celebration of Loja's independence from Spain. They make a habit of celebrating everything here which is one of the best parts about this culture. Most importantly it means we have two more days off to enjoy our stay here. It also means we get to witness a variety of local events which mark the celebration. These events include parades,dancing, neighborhood by neighborhood celebrations, sports competitions and of course lots of drinking.
Our neighborhood, I forget what its called, had the opportunity to host events last weekend. We go to see scantily clad women dancing on a stage in the street accompanied by karaoke backed music and lots of young drunk people. It was fun but we mostly enjoyed the music from inside our apartment.
The next day we got to see part of the neighborhood soccer tournament which took place in the main street by our house. The road was blocked, goals set up and lines painted from curb to curb. The game is actually a little different than real futbol in that the field is only about 40 yards long and the ball is smaller and hard as a rock. I made the mistake of trying to kick one back to some people playing in the park one day and I just about broke my foot. The craziest part is that most of them wear Chuck Taylor type shoes with worn tread and very little support.
The games are pretty intense because the field is so small. They were using the high curbs like a hockey wall, kicking pushing and shoving each other. Its actually quite amazing that they weren't all covered with road rash and skinned knees. Meanwhile, the sidewalks were lined with fans and onlookers eating ice cream and drinking beers. It was a fun sight.
On sunday we also got a chance to check out part of the Equavoly tournament in our neighborhood. Equavoly is an odd hybrid of volleyball with only 3 players per team and more lax rules about how you can hit the ball. We'll try to get some pics of this up later. Its fun to watch and hugely popular everywhere in Ecuador.
Look for more photos of the parade on other festivities later this week.

Rolling Blackouts

Well, in addition to our poor internet connection at home, we are now scheduling our internet and computer time around nationwide rolling blackouts. Apparently there is a severe drought in the northern regions and the hydroelectric dam is super low. This means that there is a shortage of electricity and all of us must share the burden. Unfortunately we never really know when it will hit. Without that magic electric shower device, it can make for some cold bathing. It is possible that these rolling blackouts will last until December when the rainy season begins. We wonder what the impact will be on the economy of Ecuador.

A holiday weekend in Banos, Ecuador

Last weekend we had the luxury of a four day weekend to get out and do some traveling. We took off on a night bus at 9 p.m. and traveled north to Baños where we were in search of natural hot springs and some good old gringo food. We arrived at our drop off point around 6 a.m. and after stumbling around dumbfounded for a while we figured out how to catch the bus for the final 1 hour leg of our journey.

Baños is know for it's spectacular location at the foot of the Tungarahua volcano which also provides the heat for the local natural springs. By all accounts this is a tourist town chock full of Europeans, Americans/Gringos and Ecuadorian vacationers. FOr good reason...it is a super cool place with a laid back vibe and beautiful scenery.

Known for its thermal hot springs, we made a point to get up at 7am to take a dip in the hot swimming pool at the bottom of the waterfalls. WEll, 7am was not early enough because it was chock full of Ecuadorians even then. At least they were requiring that we all take a soap shower prior to entering the pools. It was an experience that lasted about 15 minutes for us due to the crowds.

We were thrilled to find restaurants serving hearty breakfasts with fresh dark black coffee(not so common in Ecuador). After enjoying a nice breakfast on Saturday morning, we set out on a hike which turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated. We followed various signs that pointed to a "village" which we somehow missed. Instead we ended up at the ¨Casa de Arbol.¨ And, it was exactly that...a tree house, but with the most incredible view of the volcano, which we caught a glipmse of before it hid behind the clouds, and the world´s coolest tree swing. It swung straight out over a steep cliff which dropped off about 500 ft. below to sprawling farms and forest. A total trip to swing on. The volcano has been quiet for the past 3 months, so unfortunately we could not see any fireworks show at night.

The next day we rented mountain bikes for a little day trip adventure past multiple waterfalls and then the largest waterfall of them all at the ending destination. The riding was a little scary, at times, due to the holiday traffic, but the cars were pretty good about passing and leaving room. The best part is that it was all downhill and we only had to pay $1.50 for a ride on a flatbed back to town.

On our last day we checked out of the hotel and headed off to a spa to enjoy some of the locally touted treatments. For $35 each we enjoyed a mud bath, steam soak and a 1hour massage.The mud bath was hilarious because after we spread mud all over our bodies (yes, we were wearing bathing suits), the lady popped in a DVD and made us do some kind of latin dance video to help dry off the mud. There we were, covered in mud, dancing to the antics of some latin dance instructor on t.v. Thank goodness it was a ¨private¨lesson!

Next, they put us in what called a Bano de Cajon, where you sit in a steamy wooden box, and they seal you in with only your head sticking out. Fortunately you have exclusive control over the steam output because MAN IT WAS HOT!. After we watched a lady practically stumble to the cold bath, we though better than to over do it. Occassionally we could summon the attendant over by saying ägua por favor¨ and he would hold the glass of water with a straw to our mouths for a refreshing drink. TO add an element of torture, they periodically opened up the doors and literally threw cold water on us. At one point, the man wearing large galoushes straddled the cold water bathtub and motioned for Ben to sit down under him and then proceeded to dump a couple of cold water buckets over him. It was exhilirating to say the least. We both found it to be both hilarious and stress relieving.

Catacocha and Colada Morada

This blog is a little delayed because our internet was out for a week.

Last Sunday, October 25th, we had another great road trip outing with our host family. We traveled west to a small town called Catacocha. The trip included passing over an approx. 12,000 foot mountain pass—beautiful views. It was about a 1 ½ hour trip that probably should have taken 2 – 3 hours. Drivers here think little of passing right before blind corners and don’t hesitate to cross double yellow lines. In addition, we have yet to see a single speed limit sign….anywhere. Needless to say, road travel by passenger car is not for the faint at heart. Sometimes you just have to look away and hope that you’ll be to your destination soon.

Upon our arrival in Catacocha we were treated to a great “canopy tour” overlooking the city. Canopy is a loosely used term because we really weren’t in a canopy, although we did come within feet of some trees. It happens to be the dry season in this area right now, so things were looking a little crispy. Still very beautiful but we couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like in December or January during the wet season. The zip lines were a good thrill, and it was really cool to look out over the horizon. This area is also known as the Incan balcony and we could see mountain tops stretching out for miles in the distance with a huge green valley below us. We had a great lunch in town (a great picture of Ben indulging in Ecuadorian meat-cecina), a speedy and scary ride home and still had time to rest and catch up on some work for the week.

On Thursday we traveled downtown to get some bus tickets and found ourselves in the midst of a student protest/rally complete with closed streets and police in riot gear. We’re not sure exactly what they were protesting but we came across a friend that showed us his banner which said something about “University autonomy”.

The odd thing is that it coincided with an Ecuadorian tradition of women selling a hot beverage called Colada Morada for the coming All Saints Day and All Souls Day. They lined the streets of the main square with huge vats of purple fruit punchy stuff on hot plates and tables full of bread called “Puerco” ( It’s supposed to look like a pig). It all has something to do with Catholicism and pork but we’re not quite sure what. Anyhow, it made for an entertaining walk and

we really wished we had the camera. We did buy some bread, so you could see the “Puerco”.

Electric Shower

As we mentioned before, hot showers are a rarity here. We still aren't sure whether this is due to a lack of resources or a lack of will. We do know that most Ecuadorians take pride in not caring about hot showers and telling stories about how cold the showers were when they were kids. It's their version of the "uphill both ways in snow" story.

In some homes people have installed a "calefaccion" ( I think ) which runs on natural gas and heats only the water lines it is hooked up to. This is considered the higher end of water heating systems.

In our house, and much more commonly, each bathroom is equipped with the device pictured above. These are referred to as "electric showers" because they heat the water right before it hits your head through the magic of electricity. Some people also refer to these as "suicide" showers. I think (hope) this name is based solely on appearance. If you look closely, that is indeed a 40 amp breaker inside the shower and yes those are wires with electricity in them.

This crazy thing is that it actually works some of the time. The only real problem is that they are very sensitive to water pressure and flickering lights which are both commonplace here. You have to be ready to adjust at any moment.

Mucho progreso

There are a few things that we are becoming accustomed to in Ecuador.

1) lukewarm showers with minimal water pressure
2) dog feces on the sidewalk--not a good idea to walk without watching your step
3) always carrying toilet paper in our pocket-- never leave home without it
4) only very cold water in the sinks -- good for a refreshing facewash in the morning
5) wearing school uniforms everyday
6) mucho car honking --it's the alternative to stop signs
7) fireworks to celebrate EVERYTHING

We can't believe its been over a month since we arrived in Loja. The weeks are moving quickly, and we are making progress in setting up our living space. We are also falling into the routines of our life here in Loja. We found a Spanish teacher for twice a week. We were given a table & chairs for the kitchen -- perhaps next, cabinets and a countertop. As for now, we prepare dinners in the family's kitchen. It seems they have enjoyed the variety- tacos, stir fry, spaghetti, and coconut-peanut sauce. We started a routine of walking around the city trail or "sendero" in the late afternoons to counter the caloric intake of our Ecuadorian diet. In addition, being able to climb up to our 3rd floor apartment without heavy breathing is progress. Don't forget- we live at 6800 feet!

Nightlife in Loja

Nightlife in Loja begins around 10pm or later which is hard for a couple of old farts like us. The scene varies from dance clubs (discotheques) to pool halls to karaoke bars. There is also usually a live band somewhere on Saturday nights. This Saturday night we joined some other Americans to hear a Funk/Reggae band at Casa Tinku. The Bob Marley covers were popular and the music was typical of something you may find in the states. On almost every table the patrons sat with a jarra (pitcher) of Canelazo , a spicy hot sugar-cane liquor with cinnamon. And, the way for enjoying it is to pour a small cup and pass it around the table. Our experience with Canelazo...it is strong and should only be sipped slowly. Besides the Canelazo, beer is probably the most common drink. There are really only two brands; Pilsener and Club. One is bad and the other is slightly worse. Chilean and Argentinian wines are expensive. Cocktails are common too but, as you may know, ice cubes are an American thing.

We have made contact with the Peace Corps network here. A former Peace Corps volunteer who lives here with her Ecuadorian husband and child has taken it upon herself to organize gatherings. They actually own a rather large bar in Loja, and you can see the American influence such as ice cubes in the drinks, hand dryers in the bathroom and the wall of 30+ American beer bottles.
Most of the Peace Corps volunteers here are around our age and from Washington DC, California and Tennessee. The Peace Corps volunteer from Tennessee was disappointed to find that I didn't share his passion for Tennessee football. He travels from his small village (about 4 hours from Loja) just to check the internet for sports news. Now we have a few young friends to spend time with and a cell phone to keep in touch, but we really need some Ecuadorian friends to practice Spanish.

Viva Guayaquil!

Our first three day weekend to celebrate the Independence of Guayaquil, Ecuador. On Thursday evening there was an incredible fireworks display and concert in the park. We watched the fireworks safely from a distance, but friends tell us that it is not unusual for Ecuadorian crowds to be within feet of large fireworks. It fits with our observations of men welding with no safety googles, small children riding "shotgun" on motorcycles with no helmets, or deep holes in the center of the sidewalk with no warning tape...Ecuadorians prefer to live on the edge or rather prefer not to take life so seriously. As one of our new friends put it "It makes you feel alive." That is of course unless "it" kills you.

For the three day weekend, we headed to the town of Zamora, about a 2 hour bus ride from Loja. The scenery was beautiful...lush green hillsides and many waterfalls. The travelling was pretty smooth despite ongoing road construction and a few massive mud slides over the road. The only other obstacle was a big fat pig running down the middle of the road. This owner failed to have his pig on a leash, like the one we witnessed in town.


Zamora is a very small town tucked into the mountains, and hotter and stickier than Loja given its lower elevation. As we were standing in front of a restaurant looking perplexed around lunch time, two friendly Ecuadorian girls decided to step in to provide some assistance. Given we understand minimal Spanish at this point, they were better able to communicate with us using hand gestures and the basic Spanish of a 2-year old. They pointed us in the direction of some good restaurant options and local attractions. Later, we were stunned to spot a white guy wearing a bright orange D&M Coffee hat...yes, from Ellensburg no doubt! Unbelievable! He was in Ecuador on a mission project.

A highlight for the weekend included a swimming pool and water slide at the hosteria--an Ecuadorian style resort, I suppose. Watching Ben cruise down the waterslide over-and-over again and cast a large grin as he splashed into the water causing torpedo size waves...made me laugh until I cried. Another highlight was definitely bird watching. We hiked in Podocarpus National Park, a known gem of southern Ecuador for bird watching. Bird watchers might be jealous of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock we witnessed. This bird puts safety orange to shame. Can't say that the domesticated Macaws and Parrots at the hosteria waking us up at 4am were a highlight, however. Nor the shared drain of the excitement when Uruguay kicked the winning penalty kick against Ecuador in the soccer game. No World Cup for Ecuador this year. Big disappointment.

A family birthday party for the 7 year old of the house was Sunday night. Like most 7 year olds, he requested a pizza party. There is actually some good pizza in Loja. Surprising the birthday boy with a slam dunk of his face into the side of the birthday cake...maybe a tradition we should adopt.

Rain And Sun

Almost everyone we meet here tells us that Loja has all 4 seasons in one day. In general, the morning is a bit foggy, then a nice burst of hot sun for a few hours, then some wind, then some Seattle style drizzle, maybe a Florida downpour then usually some more sun and a dry evening. You get the idea. Its impossible to predict and but we're getting used to it. This week there were two consecutive gray, cold and rainy days which had us worried until people assured us it was very unusual. It's nice to have the sun back. We celebrated with ice cream in the park yesterday. Ecuadorians seem to love ice cream. There aren't ice cream trucks here, just ice cream carts attached to bicycles.

Last weekend, the family that we are renting from, invited us on a day trip to Vilcabamba. It's a beautiful small town about 40 mins from Loja. Here, you ARE supposed to drink the water, the "fountain of youth." We read that back in the 1970s there was some 800 people over 100 years old. Hence why it is now known as the Valley of Longevity, and not surprisingly many "gringos" have made it their home. Our hosts told us of some private "American" city nestled down a long dirt road where no Ecuadorian's are allowed. Can't vouch for that. We did see a bunch of dirty hippies playing bad guitar in the town square. Vilcabamba abuts one of the largest National Parks in Ecuador and has a great scenic and mellow vibe so we hope to make it back there many more times. On this trip, we also had our first taste of raw sugar cane juice (picture included) at a small road-side shack. Although tasty, it proved unfortunate when it showed up again later in the week. Over the weekend, we also were excited to find our first hiking trail leaving from the city traversing through a park to a beautiful view of the city and surrounding mountains.

Monday we started our full schedule of teaching. Getting up at 6am isn't so difficult when the sun has already risen. We are thankful that that will never change. The SEI school is within our block, so its a fantastic morning commute. We are at school from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. All families enjoy lunch together at home, as do we, and follow it with short nap. According to our hosts, siestas don't happen in Ecuador, but all businesses seem to be closed until about 3:30. We have also been helping out in the afternoons at the "Speak-Up" program (extra English classes for all ages). We are teaching teenagers, just for the next few weeks until they find more English teachers. We desperately need the time for our own Spanish lessons and lesson planning for the mornings. We have benefited, however, from the teenagers advice about restaurants and nightlife.

Ben started coaching baseball this week as well. Everyday he takes a different group of 8 to 9 year olds to experience the great American past-time at a nearby dirt soccer field. Its's basically mayhem, but they seem to like it. Not speaking the language makes instruction more difficult. We'll have to get up to speed with that in the coming months.

Tuesday the Cane juice struck back with a vengeance. Since Ben was the one that had to help the doctor (our host) finish a liter of it, he also felt the wrath. Wednesday was officially his first sick day from school. Fortunately, lots of water and some Immodium cleared things up and by Thursday he was back in action.

Last night, we experienced nightlife in Loja with the son and daughter of the people who have provided us the apartment. They are roughly our age and brought along their significant others. Although our Spanish did improve after we loosened up with a few cervezas, they were actually interested in practicing their English ( oddly enough, none of the locals want to practice broken Spanish). At dinner, we learned that steak and eggs is an Ecuadorian specialty. At the restaurant ( which was full of young people) a live band played "romantic" music and at times the entire restaurant was singing along. After dinner, we learned that discotheques are popular, involve very loud music and salsa dancing. It was a good time.

Creating Our Life in Loja

In the past days, we have spent much time orienting ourselves to the city, arranging our living space and preparing ourselves for teaching at the school. We have taken many walks in the city and yearn for the day we can venture on a trail into the mountains surrounding us. We have a beautiful view of the mountains from our 3rd floor apartment, and the sky is a magnificent blue when the clouds leave in the afternoon. The temperature changes only slightly throughout the day, not even at night does it feel much cooler, staying around maybe 70 degrees or more. Our hallway receives fresh air and natural sunlight from the atrium. We will post pictures soon. We took the 7 year old Pablito to the park Jipiro on Sunday. It was like a fantasy land for all-- horseback riding, paddleboats, soccer fields, bicycle/skatepark, indoor swimming pool, small avian zoo, playgrounds- all in 10 square blocks! It was swarming with families and young people.

Our Ecuadorian meals have been taken mostly in the home, as our family has a daily maid/cook who prepares a grande lunch (the largest meal of the day for Ecuadorians). It always includes fresh glass of juice, soup, meat with rice, fried plantains, and fresh fruit for dessert. We generally eat with the family and afterwards a strong cup of coffee to ward off sleep. Jose Miguel, the father of the home, took us early Sunday morning to the fresh market before the crowds arrived. You can imagine pigs heads, chicken feet, and the miscellanous raw meats strung up. He shared with us the "best" places for our vegetables, fruits and fresh ground coffee. We did have one meal out- Sandy´s Pollo because many Ecuadorians were there to watch a national soccer game. It was the Ecuadorian version of McDougals from the movie Coming to America!

Our First Week: A Warm Welcome to Loja

Technically we haven't made it through the first week yet but none the less, here is a wrap up of events so far.

We arrived late Tuesday in Guayaquil, Ecuador's second largest city. Customs was a breeze but we did find it interesting that they checked the body temp. of everyone deboarding the plane with a heat sensing camera and a 50" flat screen t.v. We were told it was for swine flu.

Anyhow, since we had some hectic days in preparing for the trip, we treated ourselves to the posh (for Ecuador) stylings of The Hampton Inn. They had a porter waiting for us with a little sign, (It was nice to have someone there to help with our giant bags etc.) who promtly ushered us to a waiting car and then off to the hotel. Guayaquil is a large city, but the area we stayed in was very well kept. Not much in the way of trash and very few sketchy looking characters. Almost everyone was nice to us with the exception of the man charging the "Gringo Tax" when loading our bags on the bus to Loja. Actually, he wasn't very nice to anyone, so yes, everyone has been very nice to us "Gringos." Favorite place in Guayaquil may have been the Parque de Iguanas. They were everywhere in the trees, on the ground, serving as perches for the pigeons.

Our bus ride to Loja was very, very long. Although it was enjoyable to see the countryside (banana farms, rice fields, cacao trees, chicken barns), not sure I would recommend the bus ride if you are prone to car sickness. the roads through the mountains are winding, and the bus driver continues to drive 50 miles per hour around the curves, passing as often as possible. Surprisingly, there are quality (although narrow) paved roads in Ecuador.

Again, we were greeted by a "Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Oblas" sign when we arrived in Loja with a school van to take us to our place. Our apartment is within the home of the school director - a 3rd floor apartment with a beautiful plant filled atrium and a small terrace in each room- Spanish style. Fried plaintains three meals a day. Love it! Ben's gut is adjusting to meat again... lots of it. Our home even came with a 7 year old companion- Juan Pablo. He enjoys holding Ben's hand when we take walks. On our first evening in town we were treated to a tour of the local sights including terrifying traffic intersections, the poor section of town and a couple of nice vistas. All the while listening to hits from the 80's and Cher's greatest hits.

We also got a tour of the school we'll be working at. It is very well kept and looks to be quite organized. She showed us the intended baseball field as well which is about the size of our back yard. All the homeruns will be good for their egos.