Jan. 25 Sunday in Ecuador

It is exhausting to try all day to speak in another language. For Vincent, his long-forgotten French keeps getting in the way, as also my German. Nevertheless, we soldier on. Adelante y arriba! We had a lot of sun today and got to go to the top of the ruins of the Inca city center, at whose base is the loveliest aviary I've ever seen. Only a few species, a few cages, but they are obviously happy there and the cages are so beautiful and natural with growing plants and running streams. Some of the macaws have learned to talk from the tourists. Hola is very popular.

Our teacher told us some sad news this morning, her older sister who was pregnant for the first time miscarried last night. It was hard for her to work today, but she couldn't see her sister until the class ended anyway because of visiting hours. We urged her not to feel obligated, but she loves to teach, so we had a good, strenuous day of walking, learning, talking, museum-visiting, reading and pronouncing Spanish.  I hope SOME of this sinks in and becomes usable by the end of next week! Miss you all. The snow--not so much!

At the top of the ruins is a view of the city which is gorgeous. You cannot imagine how green it is, trees and grass all around on every hillside, red-roofed houses, modern buildings and ancient cathedrals. There is no earthquake threat here, nor any active volcano, so it is very tranquil. The city center is quite peaceful on the weekends, and even though everything was closed, we walked about reading the shop signs out loud for pronunciation. Flowers are everywhere, some familiar from California to me, some not.  While we were looking out over the city, I read the sign which explained why this was an important place to the Incas. First of all, they could look out for miles in every direction. No warriors could sneak up on them. But most important, the site is in alignment with the constellations in just the right configuration for astronomy, at which they were very skilled. Each area of the city was laid out with three things in mind--water, agriculture and the local animals. Such a sense of sacredness overwhelmed me--all things in order, all things related, belonging in the picture, so to speak, and the awareness of that. You could see the ancient order underneath the modern buildings, feel the spirit of the place. Sweet harmony--recalling me to the first experience of the morning. A group of musicians from the Amazon region were playing next to the church of the Immaculate Conception, beautiful panflute, flute and drum making the most melodious, haunting sounds. They were wearing ceremonial costumes made of feathers of the condor and dancing, and it moved me to tears, the beauty, the freshness, the naturalness, the music growing out of birdsong and winds passing. Such a sacred day!

January 23 Spanish School in Cuenca, Day One

I was too sick (altitude, perhaps) to write this yesterday, and my head was swimming with words, English, Spanish, and surprise! some long-forgotten German surfaced. It seems we have been here a week! Only one day, though. My teacher today shared that she is also a social worker, a passionate person who cares very much about the environment and people's well-being. She teaches the people in the countryside who are for the most part uneducated about things like not clearing the hillsides of vegetation so that rainwater is retained, how not to get pregnant at age 13 or 14, how to ensure the cleanliness of water and so forth. She said about this work, "It is my passion." She is a very good teacher. I will meet with her again on Monday. I was too sick to eat in the evening, went to bed early, but had the opportunity nonetheless to hear the reaction of the populace to the local soccer team's win--the stadium is right across the street. Lots of honking, singing, shouting and very loud fireworks. Our host family is not bothered by the noise, they think it's fun. Otherwise, I imagine it would be hard for them to live right across the street from the pandemonium. All of this went on, mind you, in pouring rain--a deluge. It's a miracle they could play at all.

Reflections on this day--sickness centers me more in myself, not in a good way. I was far less inclined to be open today, although I was able to be so with my teacher. Perhaps it is because I am wearing socks with a knee-length dress. The women (particularly the ones with less indigenous bloodlines) stare at my socks and then up at me in disbelief and disapproval. Women here (except for the indigenous people) wear hose and very high heels and dress as well as they can. I don't mind the looks, but rather am amused by all that. Still, Cuenca is a city of 500,000, so not many return greetings. A few do, however, and it is just like home. Some imp in me wants to say hello to everyone to force them to decide, "Do I respond or not?" My mother was like that--always wanted to get a reaction from people. Until now I've been too shy to discover if I was like her at all. I am!

We walked to la Plaza de las Flores in the afternoon--so beautiful. My eyes were tired of winter, and this was really a treat. Roses, carnations, tuberoses, many which I could not name, but colors are everywhere! My eyes ate them all with gusto. It's about a 20 minute walk from the school to our homestay, so we had lunch there. The weekday schedule is 8 am to 2 pm classes (each of us has a different teacher one on one), 4 pm to 6 pm, a walk around the city practicing conversation and learning about Cuenca and Ecuador in general.

At supper, Vincent tried to tell our host that his wife was a "keeper." We tried to explain what he meant as best we could, but the host, Fabian, replied, "The woman belongs to the house. If you want to give a woman liberty, give her a bigger kitchen." So either he didn't understand our explanation, or didn't understand the concept, although he is a lawyer and does all kinds of legal work. So chalk one up to experience. Perhaps the concept of NOT keeping one's partner for life is much less common here. Monica seems like a very happy person--she loves to have foreign guests, and treats all of us like royalty, although she is not at all subservient and very much her own person. It is sweet to see that after many years and three teen-agers, they still are fond of each other.

We are meeting many Americans here. Some live here already, others are looking to stay, some just like to travel. It makes me wonder what the NON-expat locals think. Cuenca has been named the best city in the world for retirement by several travel guides, so there are about 3,500 Americans living here permanently.

Those are the facts. All in all, it was a good first day. It feels like we are learning. The feelings are more difficult to sort out. I was not feeling so overwhelmed yesterday, today I was. Tomorrow is only day two.

January 22 At Home in Cuenca

January 22

Our flight was superb, lasted only 50 minutes, compared to the ten hours it would have taken on the bus. That saves us more time to learn Spanish. Our host family came to pick us up at the airport in Cuenca https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuenca,_Ecuador. They are very nice, muy simpático, as is said here, mother, father, three children, 10th, 8th and 7th grade. They have been hosting for the language school (Simón Bolivar) http://www.bolivar2.com/spanish_lessons_prices/index.html for the past 15 years. She has made hospedaje (hospitality) an art form. It was dark when we landed, but photos are forthcoming--as soon as I learn how to get them from my e-mail to this blog!