The Yogic Pratice of Learning Spanish

I found it interesting that as I've advanced through my Spanish lessons that my classes have gotten smaller and smaller. The administrator of our course basically said that most people just want to be able to talk to a cabbie or hair dresser and that's good enough for them. This is a concept that I can understand, but refuse to settle for.


I've been studying a tense called subjunctive, which we don't have in English. It's the mood of the heart, what we wish, hope, doubt etc. which is a lovely sentiment and really, it's not that hard to put in to practice, but subjunctive has four different tenses, add to this the standard tenses (present, past (Spanish has two basic variations), future, conditional, and the compound tenses that form all the perfect tenses) you have yourself a mess of options to choose from every time you open your mouth.


This brings me to the yoga part. In yoga practice you learn very quickly that some days are amazing; you're flexible, your breathing is focusing your postures and you come away feeling taller and awesome. Then there are the other days; you know the ones, you feel stiff and awkward, you seem to have forgotten that breathing is actually a natural act and the new person in class makes like a pretzel and you feel like a failure. So goes the experience of practicing Spanish. (I assume any other language as well.)


Today wasn't the best day. It's bizarre to understand things in theory and fail to execute them in reality, but it happens. So I have a choice, accept my limitations today and not worry about how amazing my classmates are or beat myself to a pulp, crippling my self-esteem even further. The choice seems pretty obvious and I'm working on acceptance.


I've only been studying Spanish (in a dedicated manner) for around a year, so given the theory that it takes 4 years to learn a language, I should only be about 25% there, right? At least I can have a half decent conversation, if given some context. So for now, I'll be okay with where I'm at and leave the poetry and heavy prose for the year 2018.

On the Road Again...Cuenca's southern environs

Ron met a very nice man named John in one of his Spanish classes and since then we've gone out with John and his wife Cathy on a couple of occasions to enjoy a meal and each others' company.

Pre-juice delivery

This week they very generously invited us to come on a road trip with them to Giron and some waterfalls and a lake nearby. Giron is situated south of Cuenca and is a fairly easy drive, despite the town not being available on their rented GPS. The falls are up near El Chorro and there are a couple of hikes that you can do, one to the lower falls and one to the upper falls. The upper falls hike is any where from 3-6 hours depending on who you talk to, so we decided to skip that one this time and went to the lower falls, a 10 minute walk/hike through some lovely green scape and forest to a fairly impressive little waterfall with a green pool, surrounded by rock, pines, eucalyptus and tons of bromeliads and air plants.

Upper and lower falls

Upper falls

Lower falls

There is a fee to get in to the park (not sure about taking the long hike as the entrance isn't as far down the road, but it's a reasonable $2 for visitors, $1 for residents and citizens and $0.50 for children and seniors. (Affectionately called Tercera Edad or third age.)

Note the "thee" not "the" ;0)

The path is steep, in parts, and not recommended for people with balance problems, weak knees or vertigo. As you hike up, you get tempting glimpses of the lower falls (the higher falls being up and to the right of the lower ones and not visible as you hike). There are strategically placed viewing platforms which provide excellent places for photos. You can also hike down to the beach of the lower falls and enjoy the fine mist that comes off the thrumming falls. Unlike other water falls that I know, this one has obvious changes in flow, as you stand there admiring the cascade; like someone is further up the river opening and closing a lock of some sort. The flow never stops but has definite surges. (I hope the video works.)

Trails are definitely Ecuadorian height.

 

It's hard to be tall here!

Translation: "Only for killing hunger." Our juice place.

We had a lovely jugo de tomate de arbol (tree tomato juice) at one of the conveniently located restaurants at the base of the park and then hopped back in to the rental car to carry on to the lake. The GPS lady became belligerent when we followed the street signs and not her directions, so we turned her off. We wended our way through the village of San Fernando and on to Laguna de Busa, which has a community that abuts the lake.

Stunning countryside

On arrival, we discovered a rather breathtaking Tor that dominated the vista above the lake, as well as a small green lagoon surrounded by a walking path. The path ran through a pine "forest" and as well as a Cypress stand (or so I assume "cypres" is the Spanish for Cypress). There is a playground for the kids with some questionably safe equipment and little cabins tucked in the woodland as well as very interesting wooden platform on which you can erect your tent. (Interesting concept, I guess they're trying to protect the land.) A goodly part of the trail is a raised wooden walkway that takes you through the aforementioned "forests", by a huge stand of marsh grass, past a field of cows and under the watchful eye of the mountain.

Reminded us a little of Black Tusk on the Sea to Sky Highway

The whole set of crags

Ron being crazy; that thing was wiggly!

We were shown the "right way" after the fact!

Thought it was a bee...nope, it's a fly! Chevere (cool)!

The Laguna

From the far side of the lake.

Flora

Fauna...he looks impressed, doesn't he?

Once we discovered the beauty of the natural landscape we stopped and shared a beer and then headed back to Cuenca. We stopped at a Mexican restaurant called Agave on the far outskirts of the city, which seemed like an odd location, but we figured they got a lot of lunch traffic. The food was actually very good, but we were the only people in the place and I think that family was ready to close up when we walked in the door. Despite that, they served us graciously and didn't scrimp on the food quality or quantity. (My chicken fajitas were $8.50 and I didn't have enough room to eat the included rice and refried beans.)

Ron and I are looking forward to some more day trips and multiday discovery tours in the future. Thanks John and Cathy for a great day! Until later, be well and happy.

Ode to the Simple Life

We can tell you one thing that is very special about living in Ecuador (or perhaps living the expat life, but as this is our first experience, we can't speak for other countries). What is that thing, you ask? Learning to appreciate the little things.

As we've mentioned before, things take time here and not all crises are created equal. Our building has been struggling with hot water - it was never there when you really needed it. I took to showering anywhere between 11am and 1pm, in hopes of actually having warm water, which is fine, unless you need to be somewhere or your hair takes 5 hours to dry (like mine). Often breakfast dishes would be washed in tepid water, or we'd have to fire up the kettle if you wanted good hot agua.

This is a minor inconvenience, but the owners decided to address the issue and have a second hot water heater installed. Wonderful, we thought! And it really is, but like many things in Ecuador there is a process to the installation. Week one: the new tank arrives. Week two: grade the space where the hot water heaters are to ensure proper drainage should the lines blow. (This entailed taking BOTH hot water heaters out of the space, setting up an on demand water heater (yes, one for the whole EIGHT suite building) and pouring cement, letting it cure, laying tile and reinstalling both water heaters.


Good on them, for making sure no flooding would ensue in the suite below, but the process took a week. Most of you will have little familiarity with on demand water heaters. They are awesome, environmentally friendly things that are mostly designed for a single residence. (We have friends that have two for their house alone.) So we went from mostly having hot water to do what we needed to not having any hot water at all. For us spoiled gringos, this is not fun. Lukewarm showers, boiling water to wash dishes...it was a long slog.



But the point is that we now have reliable hot water and it is BLISSFUL.

Yes, THIS blissful.

The same goes for the lights in our refrigerator. Indurama is a brand name of appliances here in Ecuador, and I hate to say it, but they are notoriously unreliable. The fridge had little low wattage bulbs, likely of a fluorescent nature, but these weren't bulbs that you just unscrewed and replaced, no.

What our refrigerator was like without light.

You needed a whole little mini-fixture (and a repair man) to fix the problem. This also took a week and when we could finally see in to our fridge again, without cracking out our hiking head lamps, it was also a wonderful thing.

Yup, that's me, looking for a bottle of pickles.

Who knew that it would be possible to wax poetic over such things, but this is what happens when you slow down, smell the flowers and make the monumental leap to a whole new country. Our advice? Enjoy every minute of the quirks and quandaries of the simple things.

On a side note, we are heading in to spring here (not that there's a lot of difference, but the sun is out - it was 23 degrees (Celsius - just embrace it) and, wow, is it gorgeous! Chau for now!

Social Butterflies - a whole new world.

It's hard to believe that we've been here for over 10 months now, unless you subtract the time we were back in Canada and how different life is!

Our children are suspect of our increased social life. We do go out to meet friends several times a week which is a definite departure from our solitary status back in Canada. It's likely that we just have more time, but it's also likely that we've found more people with a similar mind set to our own, which makes it easy to make friends. (This is a pet theory of Ron's, and I can't say that I disagree...there's something about coming to a foreign country that is, well, adventuresome and others who come have that same spirit of adventure.)

Susan & Linda making supper for us!

Be this as it may, it can really get exhausting. (Maybe, like amateur athletes, we just aren't in good enough shape for it! Our advice? Pace yourself. I know, I know: people are heading north for a stretch and you may not get to see them for a while, or they got back from somewhere exciting and you want to hear about it. (Or BEST case scenario, they have hard to get goodies still neatly packed in their suitcases, with your name on them! Yes, dark chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter cups are a luxury.) There are a hundred and one reasons why you should probably go meet that person for coffee or have them over for dinner, but seriously...limit it.  We've had weeks were we were out EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. (Conveniently, or not, depending on your view, our apartment can only service 4 for dinner, which for us, is occasionally vexing, but in some ways a blessing.)

Bike Trips

Some of you are thinking "hey, that sounds like my kind of action." If that's you, pack your bags immediately and head to Ecuador. I won't lie, it takes time to build up a network of acquaintances, but if you work at it, your calendar will be full before you know it. If you're thinking "dear heavens, no!" well, don't come or learn to say "no". (Which is much tougher to do here than you might think.)

Lunches

Dinners

Even with all of this overwhelming social "stuff" we're thriving here in Cuenca. And since we've never been shy of taking on new adventures, we're taking to it like ducks to water. Despite all our roaming it's possible that much like Goldilocks, we feel as if we might have found something "just right" finally.

 

Day trips with visitors

 

Dinner with family

So if you're thinking of coming here, make sure you're ready to get your social on...I guess it's completely possible to NOT do that, but why the heck wouldn't you?

Until next time!

A Lesson in Lemon Juice

Okay, so we might be the stupidest people on the planet, but when we bought this simple hand use juicer, it apparently perplexed us and then, miraculously, one evening we discovered the secret. It was so simple and obvious, but minorly miraculous to us that we felt we had to share:


This is what the juicer looks like:

This is where you put in the lemon and the right way to put it in:

 

This is the WRONG way to put the lemon in:

Counter intuitive, I know!

Simply press and watch the juice run out the holes!


You're welcome!


(PS, no matter how many people tell me these are limes, I know the truth. You only need to taste them...really, lemon all the way!)


On different, but lemon related note, a great recipe for fighting a cold is as follows:


Juice of two small lemons (or half a large lemon), 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, honey for sweetness and hot water. Take twice a day for three days and it should fix you up quite nicely. Something about the combination acts as a decongestant, the lemon gives you a hit of Vitamin C and the honey and warm water is good on the throat (should it be sore).


PS, fresh lemon juice makes way better tarts and pie than bottled stuff (this may come as no surprise to most of you, but it's my number one tip for making lemon filling). It's particularly tasty on avocado and surprisingly refreshing in tomato sauce for pasta.


You can also use lemons in your garburator to make it smell fresh. (Ice sharpens the blades, apparently.) I saw a tip on Pinterest that suggests freezing pieces of lemon in ice cubes and THEN garburating them.

Ecuador - A World Beyond Cuenca!

I do confess that we've spent a lot of time just wandering around Cuenca - well really El Centro. In fact that's pretty much all we've done over the last 10 months that we've been here, except for a minor excursion here and there and one fairly serious bicycle trip.

Having visitors is an excellent way to break out of a retirement rut and get out and see what's going on in other parts of the country and that is exactly what we did.

Prerequisite floral photos

We took a day trip to a place called Chobshi in the province of Sig Sig. It has a wealth of information about  the Cañari people. The Cañari have been in Ecuador for a ridiculously long time; well before the Incans and are noted for their diplomacy, Socialism and trading skills. They actually had no leader and kept peace by bringing a diversity of South American goods in trade to an enormous region of the continent. This made them popular and converted potential enemies in to trading partners. Cue the Incans. Their political philosophy wasn't quite as...shall I say liberal? While the Cañari were able to build a friendship with the Incans and infiltrate (if you will) the blood line, they eventually had to capitulate to Incan rule, eventually gaining power for themselves in the process. That's the Cole's notes version of the history of the Cañari people. There is a cave in Chobshi where they found proof of habitation that was 12,000 years old. This find is believed to be the beginnings of the Cañaris. If you're interested in learning more here are some useful search terms: Huayna (or occasionally Wayna) Capac, Dhuma, Cañari, Chobshi, etc.

Canari Fortress Ruins

Traditional Canari Farmlands

Map Rock (outlining the local rivers)

The red earth reminded me of PEI

Ron and John enjoying lunch

History lesson over.

As this is winter both Ron and I and our guests were eager to head out to the coast in search of warmer climes and hopefully some more sunshine. Alas and alack, though we found warmer temperatures, sun was (literally) not in the forecast. What we did discover is the rather remarkable beaches of Ecuador. We visited both (la Playa de) Olón and Salinas and also enjoyed the beautiful trek across country. We wended our way through the Andes, past the rice, banana, cacao and mango fields, past the salt "mines" that are actually lagoons filled with ocean water and down along the Coast.
 

Olon - Life Guard Teddy is on the job!

Cloudy, but warm enough for shorts

Nearby cliffs

Little Blue Jellyfish - there were tons!

Close up of the cliffs

The towns there are a bit "rougher" than what we're used to in Cuenca and it was a gentle reminder that while Ecuador's economy is improving, there is still a lot of work to be done. The people are just as friendly and helpful and also seem to enjoy life just as must as those in our little paradise, which is always humbling and heartwarming at the same time.

Olón is the place to go if all you really want to do is chill out, read a book, take in the surf and relax. There are a few attractions about 45 minutes outside of the pueblo, but it's a town made for surfers, hippies and those in need of a serious break from any type of hustle and bustle. There are crazy little crabs that spend the afternoons digging out new tunnels from the sand and I could have watched them for hours. There was also an amazing assortment of coloured rocks, shells and various remains of sea creatures to make a stroll interesting. The surf provides a steady thrum that can make conversation difficult, but is somehow completely soothing. Accommodations are "rustic" and if you're used to 5 star hotels, you may want to look elsewhere. If you're a beach bum at heart (and not overly fussy about how rooms are constructed), go down and check it out.

Bougainvillaea in Salinas

Teddy lunching on the restaurant patio

Ice Cream Vendors

Paddle Boat Rentals

Need a chair & table??? You can buy that, too.

This guy was selling temporary tattoos

Teddy chilling out, watching all the vendors go by

Well deserved R&R

Salinas is a tourist city. There's tons of hotel and condos lining the beach in three different sections of the city. There's a great selection of restaurants and clubs. If you do opt to hang out at the beach, I would recommend finding a quiet stretch at either end of the city and not the part in the middle of the action. We spent two hours sitting on beach chairs watching (and occasionally being accosted by) the endless (and I really do me ENDLESS) parade of vendors. It's something that must be experienced if you go, but I could only tolerate it for the 2 hours, any more than that might have made me do something crazy.
 
I really think that the coast of Ecuador has something for everyone, you just have to take your time to find the place that's right for you. When selecting a beach location pay particular attention to who is reviewing the place and what their likes and dislikes were (more so than usual), you really need to read between the lines on reviews.
 
We aren't sure if either Olón or Salinas is the place for us, but we know there's a beach that has our name on it and we'll enjoy taking the time to find it. Be well, appreciate your loved ones and, if you can, find a moment of joy in every single day.