Very Long Journey, Indian Food on 9th and 50th

Leaving Quito

A Week in the Galapagos

Galapagos, Daphne, North Seymour, Santa Cruz

Packing packing packing

How could we have so much STUFF?

We have twelve more days until we leave Quito, and Tara and I leave for a week on Sunday, so today was the day to start packing. How is it possible that we have so much stuff? We are allowed two bags each on the plane, only 20 kilos per bag. With our books and accumulated stuff, we are far more than two bags each. Either we will leave significant belongings behind, or we will bring two or three bags each. I am inclined to stop worrying about quantities and simply pack what needs to be packed and not worry about bringing too much. The task is simply overwhelming, but I tried to stick to it as much as I could between errands and social obligations.

I tried to sleep in, and succeeded in that I did not get up at 6:30 as usual. Once I dove into Maya's piles, I was obliged to go the bank to withdraw money and deliver our payment to the travel agency in the Mariscal. Being Ecuador, waiting at the travel agency was expected. I waited my turn, I waited at the airline office to get tickets, I waited to get my payment in, and when finally done after two hours, I waited for Amparo to visit. She came with Kenya, and we talked about leaving.

When I arrived home with pastries from Cyril and strawberries from the local market,  Eric was working on his grant and Tara was preparing to apply for graduate school at Oxford. I was hoping that Tara would join me for our final payment at the travel agent, but she insisted that she had a noon deadline (I knew that was not true, she simply did not want to be asked to contribute). I made my way to Quicentro to withdraw oodles of money, and had an uneventful Ecovia trip to the Mariscal. My travel agent was ther, not that I was surprised, but I dreamed that the travel agency would have disappeared overnight as if I had just imag

Decision Made

It was curious to experience the difficulty of choosing which Galapagos boat to take. We had settled on two after our discussion with a very friendly and helpful travel agent. The Santa Cruz is a large boat with 100 passengers when full, has a great itinerary, and I have taken the cruise several times and know exactly what to expect. The Nemo II is a sailing catamaran, with only 12 passengers, a small crew, smaller cabins, and a better itinerary. Tara was concerned about seasickness, and the Nemo, being much smaller, is more likely to be unsteady. I wanted a new and different experience than the past, and the Nemo would offer that. I finally contacted Eric, who insisted on the Nemo, since the itinerary was so much better and suggested that I do something different than I had in the past. So finally, we handed over the thousands of $20 bills we had in our pockets, and we return tomorrow to buy our plane tickets and we are off on Sunday for eight days of sailing through the islands. This is a wonderful way to celebrate our time in Ecuador. I will see the Galapagos through Tara's eyes, which will remind me of the first time I came to the islands, with all the joy and wonder and awe....and I will be traveling the Galapagos in an entirely different way, and it will be amazing.

I am lucky to have Eric's support; in truth if I am happy, he is happy, and I have been getting restless and tired of my fear and my indecision. Eric will be back and forth between Bellavista and Quito, and will be able to care for Maya, with a little help from Isabel.

Suddenly, we have so little time until we leave, and I do not want to leave anymore. I like my life here, except for the violent crime we have been exposed to,  and Maya is happy too. Why drag her away from all that is working so well for her, and force her to start a new life so far away.

I have been loving the incredible sunshine every day; it bathes us in warmth every day without fail. And I appreciate our friends, all who are missing us already. We are trying to see each of our friends before we leave; Isabel and her family will join us tomorrow night, Emme and her children Saturday morning for a ride up the Teleferico, Maria and Gabriel and Hernan later in the day for a bite. Maya has her choreography performance Saturday night at her school, and we will visit with her schoolmates and their parents then. Maya wants a goodbye party the Saturday before she leaves. The apartment will be a party venue, with lights and music and dancing. None of us want to leave our lives here!

Galapagos Again

I changed Tara's ticket today so she could enjoy Ecuador some more and take advantage of greater mobility. She has been here a month and has been housebound so much of her time. Of course, she has learned so much Spanish with Amparo coming daily for lessons. She has been hobbling around, but in pain most of the time, but doing better with the air cast I bought her in Baltimore.

Of course, she wants desperately to go to the Galapagos. And because I wish for her to see the beauty of this country and appreciate it as much as we all do, I have agreed to take her for a short visit. We took the Ecovia to the Mariscal today to check out last minute deals and after much discussion and agonizing, came up with two itineraries that we are to decide between tomorrow morning. One of the itineraries is on the Santa Cruz, which is the boat I have taken many many times, with the same itinerary that I am accustomed to. I know she will enjoy it, that the guides and the food and the organization works, but I am also a little tired of the same thing year after year. I prefer a longer cruise on a smaller boat, which goes to Genovesa, which I have not seen for many many years (I love the red footed boobies!) as well as Fernandina, which is another great island. I think she will enjoy whatever she does on the islands. She has trouble with constant nausea since she has been in Ecuador, and is fearful of seasickness, so has decided on the bigger boat. If I choose the catamaran and she is nauseous the whole time, she will not be happy.

It is late, and I am going back and forth and back and forth. I know that the experience will be wonderful whatever we do, but I fantasize about the catamaran cruise and Genovesa and a more intimate adventure, different than whatever I have done in the past. I will leave Ecuador on a high, with joy and exhilaration and perhaps that will negate all the crazy horrid mishaps of the past month.

I am beginning to anticipate missing the wonderful daily sun each day here in Ecuador. New York is grey and cold and stark all winter, and Quito is bright and grandiose every morning. It may cool off at night or rain in the afternoon, or fog up in the morning, but the sun is always ready to peek out. I am not sure I have ever lived anywhere that is so consistently sunny and warm and comfortable. I will miss Ecuador and Quito and our lives before we were robbed, and when I recover from our most recent robbery, I will miss it even more. A trip to Galapagos will remind us of how much we enjoy our lives here.

Back Home in Quito

New York is AWESOME!

And on to New York

Calm plans

Explosion and Safety

Hot Springs Heaven

Gaining Courage

I am feeling more positive and less afraid, and am pushing Tara to leave the house. She delights in her Spanish lessons with Amparo, and today I reviewed my own rusty Spanish for a couple of hours before heading to the Mariscal with Tara. I wanted to buy some gifts for Emily and Nathan, with whom I stay in Baltimore. It is my last trip to Baltimore from Quito next week. I have to work to survive...I am overdrawn on my bank account and need to catch up. I will also take the train to NYC to look at apartments next Saturday, in preparation for our move to New York.

I am not ready to leave Quito, even after our horrible experience just two weeks ago. I want to stay longer, and keep hoping Tara will decide to extend her stay so that we can enjoy the apartment one more month. On the other hand, it is my father's 93rd birthday, and a visit to Edmonton is in order. I am truly excited about New York, and am sure I will love it there, but am still attached to our lives here.

Meanwhile, Maya is thrilled to be invited to her first Quincanera next weekend. She must find a dress and new shoes, so we headed to Quicentro this afternoon to search for appropriate attire. I will have to convince Eric to take the time to get her to the event. It is very exciting and just as important as his research, at least for her.

The inlaws met with us for dinner and it appeared they had a great time at Mojanda, and are excited about our trip to Papallacta. We never did get reservations to the fancy hotel, but will stay at the hostel nearby and use the public hot springs and get massages and treatments. It will be fun, and I am hoping Antisana will be visible and magnificent as always.

I am getting my courage back. I am still afraid, but I fell stronger and ready to take my life back.

Taxis

I have been truly traumatized. Taking a taxi today got my heart racing, tears flowing, and intense fear. But all progressed without incident. Whew. I had a meeting at Maya's school at 8 this morning, and decided to walk to the Sheraton to ask the concierge for a safe taxi. I talked to 'Hector', owner of a private taxi associated with the hotel....illegal of course) at length and we agreed to organize a ride to Maya's school, to her violin lesson, and home for the evening. He is contracted to work for the hotel only and never to pick anyone up off the street. He was helpful and reassuring, but I was frightened anyway. My meeting with Maya's teachers was very positive. I wanted to be sure she was doing well and that when we leave, she will have records that will come with her to New York. Eric wondered if it was worth finishing the quimestre, and it seems that it is.

I took a yellow taxi to the hospital to check on my finger. I made sure he had the right tags (yellow license plate, four number card on side), texted the info to Tara at home, called Tara to assure her I was alive, talked to the taxi driver about the horrors of crime in Quito, and arrived safely at Metropolitano. I had $130 in my shoe, the only safe place for money perhaps, but that was not enough for an Xray and treatment. I was told 'We are a private hospital and we do not do charity work'. I called Maria, and she sent me to the military hospital, where for $20.23, I had an Xray to show the finger was not broken, but the distal joint stretched out. I was told to stay in the splint for a while.

I walked to the Ecovia, too worried about trying another taxi, and arrived home in time to learn that on the way to the apartment, Amparo was crashed into while taking a taxi and was shocked and hurt and discombobulated. I wondered why we are so unlucky, or perhaps lucky because we have had so many mishaps, but it could have all been much much worse. Amparo feels that we must see a shaman and be cleansed, and perhaps that is what I must arrange. It is a bizarre process, especially if done with guinea pigs, but well worth it if it works.

Eric is in the cloud forest catching birds, his parents are at Lake Mojanda in the north. Tara and I invited Amparo for lunch and I spent a little time reviewing the subjunctive, which I have not used since I last studied with Amparo over a month ago. I then insisted that Tara and I visit another museum. We took a taxi, which was another bizarre experience. I wrote down the ID number of the cab, but when TAra asked which 'Compania' it was, we were kicked out of the cab. The taxiste was afraid that we would denounce him to the police because he did not use his taximetro and overcharged us 'because of the traffic'.  Tara was totally freaked out. We caught the Ecovia for a couple stops and visited the Mindalae museum on the edge of the Mariscal. There was little time; we had to get back home to collect the violin, call Hector and meet him at the Sheraton, wind our way through intense traffic, pick Maya up at her school, get her to her violin lesson on time, arrange for a pickup from Hector's buddy because he could not make it that evening, and listen to Mozart for two hours.

We arrived home safely, but our anxiety is obvious to Maya and to all who encounter us. Tara had made a delicious pasta sauce, so we indulged while watching Maya's favourite TV show. She insists that I watch every season of ' How I met your mother'....four or five to go.

Tara is still limited and in pain, and I feel sad that she cannot get out and appreciate the city and all it has to offer. The trauma has certainly affected her as much as her sprain, and I have to really push her to leave the house. She loves her Spanish lessons and takes them very seriously, but then has little energy to do much else. We are doing yoga together daily and that is wonderful. I am so happy to have her here.

New Year Blues

I was determined to write on the first day of the year, but the internet was dead all evening yesterday and into this morning. The year did not start well at all, despite our effort to do everything exactly right New Year's evening. I was worried when we returned from Bellavista just for the New Year's celebration and learned that the parade of 'muñecas' would occur an hour and a half to the south this year. The usual venue is on Amazonas not far from our house, and my expectation was that we would wander around all day amongst the throngs of partiers and photograph the massive dolls and watch them burn. Carolina was empty, and nothing appeared to be happening in the city. I had been insistent that we HAD to be in Quito for the event, and was so very disappointed...

Amparo arrived just as we returned from the cloud forest. Her family had all come down to the park to check out the festivities, but left after wandering around and discovering that so little was happening. After her lesson with Tara, we walked around the park looking for action, but other than the Christmas shops having changed over to New Year shops, the park was empty. We did get a doll for our 'Lucio' mask, and chose bright colored wigs and long eyelashes for our own costumes. We left the part disappointed and Amparo went home to a very wild and happening event in Carapungo. She did not have to leave her apartment; all the activity happened just outside her window.

Eric and I ran over to Quicentro to buy new clothes for all of us, since we were told to wear something new for good luck in the new year, but the stores were closing early and we only managed to find a top for Tara. Maya had new clothes from Christmas, and for me, I found a new sequined top in my closet perfect for the occasion, and when we dressed up in our wigs and provocative outfits, we were very convincing ladies of the night. The inlaws came over to watch us dance and pout, and then we drove to the centro to check out the action. The streets were empty, and La Ronda was half full. We ate llapingachos and empenadas and lots of hot canelazo. The best part of our experience were all the viudas, or widows; men dressed in women's clothing, with wigs and makeup and exposed underwear, dancing for us, whispering sweet nothings and asking for a few coins. We gave every penny we had away, and were very entertained by their antics. Even little boys were strutting their stuff. The widows loved Eric in his orange/yellow hair, and paid very little attention to the 'ladies of the night' accompanying him. The widows were the best part of our evening!

We arrived home in time to get organized for midnight. We had fireworks to light up, setting off all the car alarms in the neighborhood; we had to get our muñecos ready and write out all the bad things that had happened in 2012 to tuck into the doll, we burnt our doll on the street and jumped over the fire three times each; we lit sparklers for candles; we ran out on the street with our empty suitcases and ran round the block; we ate our twelve grapes at midnight and opened the champagne and drank and hugged and kissed and enjoyed more fireworks til early in the morning. The inlaws watched and appeared interested, but I wondered if they had ever experienced anything quite so outrageous. We skyped my parents and they were delighted.

It was hard to sleep after all the excitement. I learned later that we need not have done EVERYTHING on our list (including wearing red underwear for love and yellow for money), that we could have chosen one thing and done it right, rather than running around like mad to get it all done.

In the morning, the inlaws arrived at 10, and I objected because the house was a mess and I was not yet showered. When I finally let them upstairs after a fifteen minute wait, they were furious with me, telling me that the house was a mess last night and why did I make them wait to come up? My father in law was particularly angry and it was an ugly scene, especially since I had made scones and banana bread and wanted to have them over for breakfast. I guess I did not feel comfortable with them in my house when unprepared, but they did not feel that they were strangers and should be welcome anytime. It was so very awful, and I felt terrible about starting my new year with such an ugly scene. Maya was scarce, Tara tried to be supportive, Eric just did not understand me, and I felt he was not respectful to me by letting them upstairs when I was not ready. What a mess....

We were invited for a New Year's Day lunch, including the inlaws, but they chose not to go....we arrived three hours late (like Ecuadorians) with a yummy carrot cake. We laughed so much, and it felt so so good to let it all out. Odd that Maria really saw Eric's perspective much more than she understood mine. While she and Eric picked the flowers off her blueberries, he revealed to her what a sensitive thoughtful man he is, but I do not see that, at least not now, when everything feels so raw. My inlaws are here because I wrote an email asking my father in law why he has no relationship with his son and only grandchild. Eric objected, not expecting anything good to happen with the visit. I do believe it is a positive event for Maya and in truth, Eric is so appreciative of any attention he gets from his father, he is happy too. I want to focus on that, and not on how offended I am that Maya and Eric were ignored for ten years.  Apparently I was the problem, and because the inlaws cannot tolerate me, they stayed away. That of course is a lousy excuse for not having a relationship with Eric and Maya. Anyway, I am supposed to look forward on this and let the past be the past. This paragraph makes no sense, I had better rethink it all and revise when I am less emotional.

When the inlaws left for the evening, I finally had a chance to clean the house, and managed to break my finger in the process. Tara is limping, I cannot use my left hand, we truly do not have good luck. Tara and I visited the Banco Central museum after her Spanish class with Amparo, which was lovely of course, we had a quiet evening recuperating when Maya returned from school. I took my first taxi since the robbery (from Megmaxi home) and survived. Eric is in Bellavista working on his birds, and the inlaws are away or a few days at Mojanda north of Quito. They clearly need a break from all the intensity of our family, which is fine for us; we can all pull ourselves together by the time they arrive Friday and put our happy faces on....