Cuenca Canopy

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I were invited by Clarke and Brenda to join them and their kids, who are visiting them from the U.S., to go on a zip line adventure at Cuenca Canopy. Chuck was very enthused. I, on the other hand, accepted the invitation but only in the capacity of photographer and first aid nurse should it be needed.

Randy and Karen were invited also. They, like me, offered their photography and first aid skills. We met early this morning at the California Kitchen for a kick-off breakfast.

After breakfast we all got on a east bound bus #11. We went to almost the end of the line to a small town called Ricaurte.

Here is the group posing in the town square.

We took a mixto taxi to Cuenca Canopy. A mixto is a double cab pickup truck that is used as a taxi. Brenda, Karen and I rode in the cab of the truck and all the others rode in the bed of the truck.

When we got to there, we found they have a nice roomy lodge. They serve lunches on weekends.

The staff made sure that everyone had their zip line gear on securely.

Here are the brave ones geared up and ready for action.

Then the brave ones were shown, by the staff, how to zip through the canopy safely.

The first person to take off was Clarke.

Each person safely made the first zip line section. Here is Brenda, she was the last to take off the platform. I must say that Karen, Randy and I were very impressed with her. She was giving a nice yell of excitement as she made her first swing.

Karen, Randy and I watched over purses, coats and etc. while the brave ones zipped down the side of the mountain above the trees.

When they returned, they were all on a big high from the adventure.

Here is Clarke demonstrating how he made is last slide.

Here is Brenda when asked how soft the landing was.....

Everyone posed for a congratulatory photo.

When it was time to leave, we took a mixto taxi all the way back to Cuenca. Four of us quickly jumped into the cab of the truck and the slower ones rode all the way to town in the bed of the truck.

Everyone had a great time. Brenda and Clarke really know how to show their kids an exciting time!!

Thanks for including us.

Chuck and I were invited by Lourdes and William to go to Santa Rosa to meet their family this weekend. So in the morning we are driving down in Puff-Puff for another adventure.

I will post about that on Monday.

Have a great weekend.

Nancy

Chuck Joins the "Boys"

Dear Family and Friends,

If you read some of the other blogs from Cuenca you may already be aware that our friends, Randy and Clarke, recently purchased motorcycles. This post is to announce that Chuck succumbed and bought a motorcycle also. He is now a member of the OF (Old Farts) Moto Gang. (By the way, Clarke tried to tell me that "OF" stood for Old Folks. HA!)

Even though Randy and Clarke are considerably younger than him, Chuck is still a boy at heart. He will be 71 years old next month, but he is 17 in his heart and spirit.

Chuck shopped around and settled on a Moto Uno 200, a Chinese cycle that is assembled in Ecuador. The dealer he bought the moto from did all the legal work required. Here in Ecuador, this is a BIG plus.

This bike has a gear shift that is operated by foot. Since Chuck has has always shirted gears with his left hand, he solicited David, our good neighbor and an expert cyclist, to drive his new moto home from the dealer. Chuck said he prefers to learn to drive this cycle on the back streets rather than the busy road required to get the cycle home.

So, yesterday, Chuck went with David to pick up his motorcycle. David drove it home and Chuck took a taxi.

Here is David pointing out some features of Chuck's new bike after he arrived home with it.

And here is a picture of the bike in our garage.

David has loaned Chuck a motorcycle helmet to use until he brings his from the U.S. He also gave Chuck a motorcycle cover to protect it.

Chuck woke up this morning all set to practice riding his new bike. Guess what? It is raining!

That is about it from our little corner of the world.

Nancy (and Chuck)

Busy Sunday

Dear Family and Friends,
Yesterday was packed with fun and friendship. We started our Sunday off with an early morning walk to the Kookaburra with Rich and Nancy. The walk was invigorating as always. After breakfast, Chuck and I caught a taxi back home. We had made plans to go to La Union with Lourdes (our housekeeper) and her family. They came over to our condo at 10:00am.

We headed out in Puff-Puff. The drive was beautiful and we conversed in Spanish (mostly). La Union has had three days of celebration....Sugar Cane Festival (Fri, Sat and Sun). We were there for the tail end.

Lourdes and William

Their son, Ivan.

We watched Ivan enjoy some of the children's activities and we watched a futbol (soccer) game.

We went back out to the main highway to have our lunch. We had passed several crowded outdoor roadside restaurants on our way into La Union. Lourdes showed us which restaurant she thought was best and by golly her choice was right on.

Us adults all ordered chancho (roasted pig) and Ivan had a chicken (pollo) plate. Our lunches were $3 a plate. We had more roasted pig than we could eat. It was a fabulous lunch.

Everything was prepared out of doors. We ate under on a covered patio right next to the highway. They were so crowded we had to wait to get a table.

In the picture below this lady is cooking soup stock and corn. Notice the banana trees behind the building. La Union, although only an hour from Cuenca is much lower and warmer.

Check out these chickens being roasted over coals. This is only one of several cookers operating at the same time.

Pretty Lourdes....

We stopped along the side of the road and bought cane syrup on the way home. Here is a picture of the syrup in front of where it was made. This is a real treat since I was raised in Georgia and grew up on cane syrup.

On the way back to Cuenca, little Ivan sang most of the way. Such a sweet voice. After we dropped Lourdes, William and Ivan at their house, we drove to the Super Maxi to get pan de yucca. This is the closest I have found to biscuits. I was getting ready to do some serious sopping.

When we arrived home, we had an email from Karen and Randy. They were proposing that we get together for dinner. Chuck called them and Randy said for me to preheat the oven to 350 because they were bringing the dinner over to cook.

We sat around on the patio, snacked and played UPWARDS while the chicken and veggies roasted in the oven.

We had a delicious dinner, although it was a late dinner due to technical difficulties....I did not set the oven to the correct temperature. My oven dial is in Celsius and I just guessed at what 350 should be. Ooops....it took about 4 hours to cook the dinner.

We really enjoyed our dinner....Thanks Randy!

We woke up this morning to horrible news. A passenger bus, traveling from Cuenca to Quito on Saturday night, went off the highway and fell over 300 ft down the mountain side. More than 40 passengers are dead. Chuck and I have heavy hearts.....our thoughts and prayers are with the families.

Share your love today!

Nancy (and Chuck)

Spanish Lessons

Fernando Quito

Dear Family and Friends,

As you know I have been taking Spanish classes for several weeks now.  My friend, Barbara, and I have been taking classes at Nexus.  We absolutely love our teacher. His name is Fernando Quito. Barbara and I are now taking a break from classes at Nexus.  But I feel that I must share with you the great teacher we discovered. 

Fernando speaks excellent English.  He is a graduate of the University of Cuenca.  He has a degree in education and he loves his work.

Having classes that worked around my schedule was very important.  Having to travel to another location for the classes did not work well for me.  Having classes 5 days a week for 4 hours a day did not work for me either.  After all, I do have a life other than studying Spanish.  Fernando is very flexible and dependable. He will be willing to work with you to help you set up your Spanish learning experience to fit the way that you learn best.

If you are living in Cuenca but are surrounded by English in your daily life, you may be like me.  I find that at home I speak English. With our friends I speak English. When I meet my Ecuadorian neighbors I can greet them, tell them to have a good day, but little more after that. I want to be able to have a conversation and really get to know the people of Ecuador.  If you have a desire to go beyond taxi cab and restaurant Spanish, I encourage you to contact Fernando and work out a schedule with him that fits your needs.

I have taken Spanish from other people, but he is the best instructor I have ever had.  He is definitely a teacher at heart and it shows.

Here is his contact information:

Fernando Quito

Porta cell: 081786488

Moviestar cell: 082647650

Fernando, from the bottom of my heart I thank you.  You are a superb teacher.

Hugs,
Nancy

German Dinner and a Full Moon Rising

Dear Family and Friends,

Chuck and I had dinner last night with Christa and David.  Christa is one of the our oldest friends in Cuenca.  We have known her since first coming to Cuenca back in 2007.  David is our dear neighbor with a generous heart.  They are both very dear to us.

I had not been to Christa's apartment since she redecorated it.  She has done a beautiful job. Here she is, Lady Christa, in her new living room.

Christa, who was born and raised in Germany, prepared us a German dinner.  It was delicious.  She is a great cook and her meal did not disappoint us. 

Here is Christa, David and Chuck after dinner having digestives.

 

Before dinner, we looked out of the terrace window and saw a most beautiful full moon rising over the mountains.  I made this photo from Christa's terrace.

It was a great evening with wonderful friends.

Happy day to you.

Nancy