Quito Basilica

It is so tempting to take photographs of all the churches, cathedrals and basilicas from every angle, inside, outside, day and night.  They are so very, very impressive, even for non Catholics, or even for  completely non religious persons.  One cannot ignore the beauty, effort, time and energy that has gone into religion -- all religions -- but perhaps Catholics especially. Their places of worship are awe inspiring in their architecture and splendor.  I recently read a book where the main character had spent a great deal of time studying religions and finally concluded she'd settle on being either a Catholic or an atheist.  As strange as it sounds, I get it.

After visiting Quito Basilica, Ed and I were left wondering about the differences between cathedrals, basilicas and churches, so asked a good friend, schooled from k through college in Catholic schools, to help us out. His definitions were helpful:

Cathedral - church where the bishop's throne (called cathedra) is located, usually the main church of the diocese.  May or may not be a basilica.

Basilica - an "important church" designated by a pope for some special spiritual, historical, or architectural significance.  Once a basilica, always a basilica.

Shrines - anything that attracts pilgrims and holds special significance.  May or may not be a church, cathedral, or basilica.

These photos are just a few of the many we took.  I hope they capture some of the splendor we felt both inside and outside this magnificent building.    If ever you get to Quito, Ecuador, don't miss the Quito Basilica.  

The Kids of Ecuador

As with kids most everywhere, the kids in Ecuador were too cute for words.  

The Panama Hat

When is the Panama Hat not the Panama Hat?

When in Ecuador!

The "Panama Hat" made in Ecuador was worn by Ecuadorian workers when building the Panama Canal.  They were dubbed the Panama Hat, but were from Ecuador and are still made in Ecuador.  We visited a hat factory in Cuenca and saw the palm reeds used to weave the hat to the final product.  The finer the palm reeds used for weaving, the more expensive and exquisite the hat.

Palm Reeds

Hat Mold

First step to Shaping the Hat

Second Step to Shaping the Hat

Hat Forms

Further Shaping of the Hat, including Heat.

Fran & Ed Modeling Hats

The Hat Showroom

Joyful Celebrations!

Everyone loves a parade and we're no exception.  What a treat to just happen across this wonderfully colorful celebration in Cuenca, Ecuador.  The dancing, singing, music and gaiety had everyone's feet tapping, participants and spectators alike.

Finding Our Way!

We have been in Cuenca, Ecuador about 10 days now and are still fumbling, naturally, with the language.  Fortunately Ed has enough Spanish, combined with the little English some Ecuadorians have, for us to get by.

After our first day, we began to get the lay of the land, partly with the help of a tour bus and partly with the help of our feet.  Our first and second hotels were near the central plaza, Parque Abdon Calderon, so we circled the plaza with each circle expanding our explorations.  We also spent a great deal of time sitting in the plaza and enjoying the people, sights, and sounds.

Our tour bus

Parque Abdon Calderon with Catedral Nueva in the background

One of our first church visits was Catedral Nueva (the new church, above and behind plaza) dating back to 1880 and located on the west side of Parque Abdon Calderon.   The cathedral's interior has an amazing gold-leaf altar, stained glass windows and pink marble pillars.    We were there during a service so enjoyed the fabulous acoustics when the organ was played.  After the service a blind woman stood in the back of the cathedral singing and chanting.  It sounded like she had a dozen voices.

On the opposite side of the park is another church, Catedral El Sagrario or Catedral Antiqua (Old Cathedral), begun in 1557, with stones from the ruins of the Inca palace of Pumapungo.  According to our guide book the spire of this cathedral inspired an 1804 visit by a Spanish scientist to claim it more famous than the Egyptian pyramids.

The people and their markets of course captivated us.  From the  little lime woman on the curb to the market vendors selling fruits, vegetables and grains. The Incas considered the corn sacred so it was available, in every form, at every market.  But, rice and potatoes are important with every meal so vendor after vendor would have both available in most instances.  One of our tour guides told us,"If you don't have rice and potatoes at dinner, it's only an appetizer."

Woven products, clothing, blankets, bags and jewelry were also available in abundance. Not to mention trinkets, like the balloons you see below.

And, did I forget flowers?  We always found a great abundance and variety of flowers in the markets so we could enjoy fresh flowers in our hotel rooms.

Challenging Trip to Cuenca, Ecuador

After some grueling hours trying to get here,  we're finally here and beginning to adjust.  We were flying standby on Delta and with the storms on the east coast flights were cancelled, rescheduled and full, out of Seattle.  We thought we'd leave on the 3rd and then the 4th and then the 5th, and finally departed on the 6th, but not our scheduled flight.  We got on a later flight than anticipated and that put us in Atlanta too late to catch   our connection to Quito, Ecuador.

 Atlanta was beastly cold with the thermometer at 6 degrees but with wind chill at about -25.  With only one flight to  Quito per day on Delta, we needed to spend the entire day in the airport (too cold to go exploring) to depart at 6:00 p.m.  We did catch that flight but it was by the skin of our teeth.  We were told at the gate that we probably wouldn't make it, but fortunately we did.  Another day of airport sitting would have been difficult.  Once we arrived in Quito at 11:30 p.m. we had further connection problems, as we already anticipated, to catch a flight to Cuenca.   Quito Airport is new and has few ground transportation options (with some unsafe) and no hotels.  Advice obtained earlier from contacts in Cuenca was to sleep in the airport to catch an early morning commuter flight to Cuenca.  That's what we did, but oh what a long, long night.

It was interesting to see how many people were sleeping in the airport.  All night long people were curling up to sleep, more came, they did the same, and on and on all night long.  By 5:00 a.m. the airport was jammed.  For a new airport, it might be under designed, as it already seemed too small for the traffic they were seeing.  And with no way to leave the airport, people were occupying every inch of floor and seating space.

But, the next morning we arrived in Cuenca, checked into a hotel and here we are.  Much more rested; altitude adjustment underway; lay of the land becoming familiar; grocery store, drug store, farmers' market and restaurants located; and plazas and parks scoped out.  We've even found an apartment for the remainder of our stay.

We are about to enjoy our first day's lunch in Cuenca.

Friendships

As we prepare to leave our home for a new adventure we must say goodbye to many wonderful friends.  In thirty years of life in Langley, and before that, many years in Seattle, our list of friends, acquaintances, neighbors, political allies, and I-don't-know-your-name-but-we've-been-saying-hi-for-years folks.  The list is long and the names and faces behind the list are very dear.  

For better than a decade my book group has been gathering to talk books, politics and life events.  We've shared, right along with great books, the sorrows of death, happiness of new grandchildren, the delight of new puppies, and the challenges of health problems.  Our friendships have deepened and enriched us as we've moved through our years of reading and talking and laughing and crying. 

There are political allies too.  Folks we've shared various campaigns with for the past 45 years from Seattle and Whidbey Island both.  Campaigns sought and lost or won and causes fought for, sometimes with amazing success, sometimes with stunning defeat.  We're engaged in cheers, jeers, and tears as we let our hearts and our heads have their way. 

As with any life, we have a long list of the good and the bad neighbors.  The good ones, years later, long after moving from the neighborhood, are still friends and missed almost daily.   Just this past year, after leaving my Seattle neighborhood 30 years ago, we enjoyed a neighborhood reunion.  Neighbors are a bit like family.  We don't pick our neighbors but in spending years talking over the fence, negotiating neighborhood issues,  and in sharing kids and pets and garden tools, often very long term and special friendships are formed.  Neighbors can become very dear friends, and often do in special ways that cross political, age and interest barriers.

In a small town there are the numerous encounters with folks weekly as we meet in the grocery, coffee shop or thrift store.  Quick chats, over a number of years, add up to friendships.  Kids, health, books, jobs and pets are discussed, along with the weather being too cold, too wet or just right.  Why these encounters don't always result in dinner parties or wedding invitations is curious but everyone seems content to enjoy the spontaneity without the follow through.  Chance encounters bring on hugs, good wishes or expressions of concern and these friendships spill and overlap and bounce about in a delightful way through the years. 

But, we're leaving all this.   We're moving to Ecuador.  We're leaving our friends and our town and our well established lives in the Pacific Northwest.  We're headed off to explore new neighbors, new cities, and to enjoy new adventures.  Will we miss our friends?  You bet we will.  Skype, Facebook and e-mail will be our life lines to the many, many relationships we hold so dear but we won't feel the warm hugs or see the twinkle in the eye and we will be sad for that loss. 

~~~

“I think if I've learned anything about friendship, it's to hang in, stay connected, fight for them, and let them fight for you. Don't walk away, don't be distracted, don't be too busy or tired, don't take them for granted. Friends are part of the glue that holds life and faith together. Powerful stuff.”  ~ Jon Katz

A Country Unfolds..

When Brad was on the Te Araroa Trail in New Zealand, I went crazy researching every lake, river and town he came to.  Following his footsteps on my computer maps and Google searching every inch along the trail was a wonderful way to be by his side.   By the end of his five month thru-hike on the TeAraroa Tail, I felt like I'd traveled  NZ, from tip to tip, and knew it quite well.

Brad at Bluff, NZ

I did the same thing when he hiked the Pacific Crest Trail and the Annapurna Circuit.

Brad on PCT

Brad on the Annapurna Circuit

Now, I'm researching for my own moving-to-Ecuador-adventure and I find the sleuthing equally fascinating.

One item that popped up in my research, and quite fascinated me, was that Cuenca has recycling.  From the Cuenca Digest:

 Cuenca city government has announced that garbage recycling will become mandatory in March. The municipality will impose fines on users of the city’s waste collection system who do not separate organic, inorganic and plastic waste after Mar. 1 (2010).

The ordinance establishing the recycling program was adopted in 2004 but has not been actively enforced. According to the city’s sanitation office, fines will range from $10 to $100 dollars. A spokesman for the office said that fines would also be imposed on people who do not adhere to garbage collection schedules and who place garbage on curbs on non-pick-up days.  

In reading further about Cuenca's recycling program  I discovered that there is recycling before recycling.  Once the residents set out their recycling cans for the city-wide pickup, there is another "pickup" as Cuencanos sort through the cans to capture items that they can turn in for money.  

I'm also amazed by the reports that there is non-stop cleanup by green-suited men and women who sweep and clean the streets.   Their bagged garbage isn't put on the roadside but is instead put in brackets high off the ground to keep it out of reach of he dogs. 

And, I love this, cattle are often put by their owners in the center strip or along the sides of roads to eat the grass, keeping it mowed and neat, while feeding their livestock.   Seeing people along side the roads digging weeds (actually edible herbs) that they sell at the market is also a common sight and helps keep the sides of the road tidy.

The thrift of the culture is so wonderful to read about after being frustrated here in the states with the love affair we have with objects, just to then carelessly toss the leftovers out the window or into the landfill.  

A complaint I see on expats' blogs is that there are no thrift stores.  The Cuencanos use what they buy and then reuse it so it does not result in waste.  I see this as a very good thing.  I might miss my trip to Good Cheer, but I'm going to be very grateful to live in a culture that does not thrive on waste.

I often read that Cuenca is a very clean city. The cars and busses are clean. The streets are clean. The people wear clean clothes.  The city is manicured.   Music to my ears!

Here in my progressive town in the Pacific Northwest we have not yet achieved recycling, nor does our city keep the streets swept and grass mowed on a very regular basis.   I know there will be things I don't like about Cuenca, just like here, but I will thrive in a non materialistic atmosphere of cleanliness and good maintenance.

Researching Cuenca, the City of our Retirement Destination

Hola!

A great weekend of beautiful weather here on Whidbey Island.  Each day we enjoyed a delightful bike ride in the sun and warmth, we joined friends at Useless Bay Coffee Company for breakfast and coffee, and still had lots of time to research Cuenca, Ecuador.  I spent a great deal of the afternoon reading Cuenca Chronicles which has provided numerous tidbits of information I had not found on any other of the Cuenca blogs I've read.  Interesting little facts like, Ecuador is, primarily, a cash society with merchants not accepting checks or debit or credit cards for small items.  Large bills, like a twenty, are equally useless.   Pockets of change are what one needs for shopping.    There are laundry services  that wash, dry and fold clothes for $2.50 per week, so why purchase a washer and dryer?  Items made or grown in Ecuador are inexpensive; imports are very expensive.

Looking forward to shopping the craft and food markets, but not looking forward
to the first attempts at negotiating Spanish. 

How nice to have someone provide this un-hyped information in a friendly, chatty manner.   Far too many reports or blogs have a hidden (or not so hidden) agenda so one can't trust the information.  Like we've  read again and again that the weather is 75 degrees every day and no heat is needed.  Wrong.  It's warm many days but the nights can be very cold so if the days are cloudy and rainy, the house will not warm up.  Be sure to pack sweaters, jackets and electric blankets was the advice, and don't think every day is a barefoot day.   Additionally, it often rains every day (just like here) the difference is that there is usually sunshine every day too.  One report is that each day provides all four seasons of weather.  I'm not thinking we'll find the weather so different from here except the days won't be so short or cold in the winter or so long in the summer.  In Cuenca the sun comes up at 6:00 a.m. and goes down at 6:00 p.m., bringing consistency to the light.  It's the lack of winter light that bothers me more than the rain here in the NW.

Cuenca 

We have changed our plans a bit.  First we thought we'd leave for Ecuador this fall but my health issues forced us to postpone to early 2014.  Now we are planning on traveling to Ecuador in January for a month; coming back and packing and cleaning up our affairs; and returning to Ecuador early spring.  So we'll be around for the holidays and long enough to enjoy the $150 worth of bulbs I've planted.

Ed and I vacillate between great excitement and great anxiety about leaving our home, community, family and friends.  We so very much love Langley and living here,  it seems strange to leave.  Plus missing Brad is a given.  On the other hand we are really ready for one last adventure.  Experiencing a new culture, meeting new friends, learning a new language will all be challenging but exciting and fun.  We also hope to do a great deal of travel in not only Ecuador, but neighboring countries, so our minds will be  expanded, which is a very good thing.

Some of the details of preparation are well underway.  Benton has had many of his shots and has been microchipped.  We're in the process of ordering the certified copies of all important documents and scheduling doctors' appointments for our shots and clean bill of health certificates.  We're already talking about what we'll take and what we'll leave behind.  However, some of the packing decisions might be more easily determined after our month in Cuenca checking out the situation, and perhaps renting an apartment.  It would be nice to have a place to call home immediately upon our arrival, especially for Benton who will no doubt be pretty freaked out from his long flight.

So, this is the update, and yes we are still planning to move.  The plan right now is to put our home on the Vacation Rental Circuit so we won't be burning any bridges by selling it.  If we decide to return to Whidbey Island every six months to visit or permanently in a few years, we'll still have a home to return to.  We've already lined up a gardener and property manager and Brad is building the cabinets that didn't get built before we moved in.

It's happening...

Biking might be more utilitarian in Ecuador

Hasta luego!