Month: July 2021

Saruri and Natsumi wanted to go for a bike ride. A little treat is good for the soul.

We went to Atahaulpa to check out the route for a mountain bike race next month. The path goes through a hacienda and some very beautiful country. Danielo and Inti guided us to keep us on the right path. The race is 30km and the first hill is a killer so we will see if I survive. In one picture you see Daniela looking over her shoulder to see if I am still alive (which she does often!). To much fun!

Hadaluz graduated from High School and the family had a wonderful party. I wish her all the best in her new adventures. Great fun for all!

I was asked to be a guest yesterday at an exposition (presentation in the USA). It was given by Michu who is one of Daniela’s English students. The purpose is to show what she has been learning in class.

Michu is 9 years old and has been learning English for 6 weeks or so. Daniela’s cousin Natsumi who is 6 years old also participated. They both gave a presentation of what they have learned and answered questions after.

They both did a wonderful job. It was fun to see the smiles on their faces and they were rightfully proud of their accomplishment. Daniela did a wonderful job teaching and was proud as well. Afterwards Daniela served up cake and lemonade for everyone.

I would like to tell what I know about education in Ecuador. Public schools are ok for basics but private schools are much better. There are a lot of private schools and most are very expensive and out of reach financially for most Ecuadorians. After a high school education attendance to a University is almost mandatory for a good portion of the better paying jobs. Then on top of that is knowing how to write and speak English. That puts you into different category as far as qualifications for employment. Other languages help but English is a huge help.

Tourism is a huge part of the Ecuadorian economy and the pandemic has hurt it tremendously. An example of how important education is to employment is being a tourist guide. It takes a four year degree just to get a license in tourism. Elena has her license. Daniela also studied for a license in tourism and then boom the pandemic. She now is studying to be a translator.

Daniela happens to speak Española, German and English. I am not sure how many English students she currently has. Because of the pandemic most are taught using Zoom. She teaches Michu’s older sister Heidi and her mother also. She has a good rapport with children which makes learning fun and exciting for them. What is so admirable is her heart. She takes into consideration the financial ability for a family to pay and makes her services affordable. That in it’s self speaks of her character and how she is providing a stepping stone for some youth that would never have had this opportunity to get a jump on life. Makes me smile thinking about it.

So as far as education goes everyone around me has way more than me. I barely and I mean barely made it out of High School. In the USA that is not uncommon but around here in the city anyway it’s not common. I think a High school education here is way more intense than the USA and much harder. Education here is taken more seriously in my opinion.

Personal update. Everything is good.

Ya’all go on and have a wonderful day.

The Sunday after going to Cotopaxi Elena asked me to not make plans for the 10th. She said she had made some plans and wanted me to not go anywhere.

The 10th is my birthday. Those that know me well know that I usually keep it pretty low key. A camping trip maybe a little fishing but something quiet and slow paced. I was thinking about where I wanted to go before she asked and was planning a little road trip to who knows where. Last year when she asked me the date of my birthday I told her thinking no big deal I was going to be back in the states then. I mean I don’t advertise it anywhere like Facebook etc…just really do my own thing. If anything I like to do something for someone else.

Yes Elena had made a few plans and I did not realize so many would be involved.

People arrived and all the sudden they were in costume. Many were dressed as characters from the Mexican sitcom “El Chavo”. Not being familiar with the show I had no idea what was going on. They did little skits and all had a good time. The food was good and the company excellent.

Thank you all very much for the smiles and gifts!

A special thanks to Elena mi amiga/Patrona. Thanks you for all your hard work and sharing so much!!!!

My sprained ankle is doing well. On July 1st, my first bicycle ride in 3 weeks was over 18km and it felt pretty good the next day. Daniela asked if I wanted to go to Cotopaxi volcano the coming weekend. It is a main tourist attraction for travelers and Ecuadorians. Time to give the ankle a good workout.

Some information on Cotopaxi. It is an active stratovolcano approximately 50km south of Quito the capitol. It is home to the second highest summit in Ecuador at 5897m (19,347ft). Daniela climbed to the summit about 2 years ago, You spend the night at base camp 4864m (15,963ft) then get up around 2am to start the climb to the summit. You cross a glacier using ice bridges as you work your way up to arrive at the summit for sunrise.

Interesting that the last time the volcano erupted was from August 2015 to January 2016. They officially closed the volcano to climbing. It was reopened on October 7, 2017.

My goal was to make it to home base. You start driving up the road in the high plain at 3700m (12,139ft) and start to wind up the volcano. The road was surprisingly good. Way better than Daniela remembered it. you reach a parking lot below base camp and just walk straight up. We made it in 45 minutes, I should say I made it in 45 minutes because Daniela would have made it in 20 or less if she didn’t hang back for me. I will admit that it makes me feel better when some Ecuadorians are taking a break when walking up a trail. It’s not just the gringo who is out of breath.

It was a shorter climb to the camp than I thought it would be. I did well with no light headed feeling at all. I felt good about the climb. the walk down took 25 minutes go slow to take care of my ankle, she ran down in 10 minutes. While at base camp I had my first taste of coco tea. You drink the tea or chew the leaves to help with altitudes.

We took the back way home which was partially dirt road. Way cool. My sense of direction is still screwed up around here and Daniela says it simple. Just use the volcanoes for your guide. They seem to keep moving on me but I will figure it out. When we got back I bought a compass so we will see if that helps.

Chock it up as another wonderful day in the Andes!

Well Borigar the stinky dog all the sudden just lost all his energy. The way he was acting David thought he may have had distemper. So off to the vet we go and found out he had some kind of virus in his blood. After some intravenous medicine a week later he is back to his troublesome self. Come to find out he had a near death experience.

I jump on the bike a take a ride every so often with no plans where I am going. One day I passed through a small town called El Quinche. Drove by the town square and it was bustling with people. I thought it would be a great little road trip one day. Also did some research and found some Inca ruins to visit near by.

Sunday afternoon Daniela wasn’t busy and was game for a road trip. She didn’t want to know where we were heading so off we went. El Quinche is only about a 45 minute ride at most from Tumbaco. I was hoping that it wouldn’t be like Ambato and dead on Sunday. It was very busy all over the town.

El Quinche has a population of around 12,000. The church is a main attraction fronting the town square. It is famous for a statue of Mary. The pope visited here when he visited Ecuador in 2015. A very beautiful place of worship!

In the square there are some stuffed ponies, horses and llamas. Daniela said all the children in Ecuador that visit always get their picture taken with them. Now she has two pictures of herself on the pony.

Daniela mentioned I should try “Churos”. They are small snails that are from somewhere near the town. Salt, lemon, suck them out of the shell and down they go. Personally I tasted mostly salt and lemon.

The ruins I wanted to visit turned out to be a 5 hour one way trip up a 4 wheel drive road so that is for another day. My sprained ankle is still recovering but did well.

It started to rain so we decided to head back. Upon returning to the bike we found that a family who was selling food in front of their home had taken plastic and covered the bike and sidecar. It was very nice of them and made me smile. We bought some food from them to bring home in appreciation. Nice people.

Daniela got her wish to ride in the rain as we left for Tumbaco. We put rain gear on but it never did come down to hard.

A short trip and a wonderful afternoon!