Wednesday August 22, 2012

Wednesday August 22/12 update

Good news!   We have 5 of us committed to go see the Tungurahua volcano on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Now I just need Miguel to give us more ideas of itinerary, etc, and we will be sailing.   Miguel’s van will hold 5 passengers very comfortably and 10 uncomfortably.  If someone begs to join us I am sure we can accommodate them.

Where does the time go?    Between feeding cats, cleaning litter, doing laundry, having lunch, checking 5 emails, uploading photos to 3 sites, etc, it is 1:30 before I know it and I have to shower to get to the Amigos English School.   But this wasn’t before I was mopping up a load of water seeping from the water bottle container, on the island top, down the side and all over the floor.  I wasn’t sure if it was cracked or what but I gambled…  I knew there was a fair amount of water in the crock when I tipped in the new bottle so this may have been simple overfilling giving way.    I filled a jug with water and put that in the fridge.   I hoped reducing the amount of water would help, and it must have, because it did not bubble at all as I was draining water.  I then gingerly put a cloth underneath the crock to see if it needed to soak up any more overflows.  Six hours later it seems I was correct and we have no problems.

At the school we were really hoping to build on the tremendous success of Monday but things went south in a hurry.   Chris was away at an appointment, and Chris #2 was too sick to stay today so he and Pamela went back home.   The new bilingual teacher, Victoria, never called or showed up and Miguel stopped by with the news that we were going to be visited by City officials today, then he disappeared too.  Panic stations!!

So Tom, Linda and I, along with a few parents, tried to salvage the day, especially when the city officials came calling.   We were thankful they did not stay long, and thank God for the coloring pages which kept the kids occupied during that time.  The officials left us with 38 notebooks which we will use later.   We can’t let the kids take them home or we will never see the books again.

Plans were made for a trip to a nearby riverside park on Friday.  We will have games and food for the kids.  We can bring friends so we expect about 50 people to be there.

Then the school will take a two-week hiatus while the kids adjust to returning to regular school and we get a needed break to sit back and assess how we will reopen the school.  Honestly, without a proper teacher in attendance it is really tough on the rest of us.   We really like Chris and Victoria so we hope they will stick around.  We also have four others coming from the US over the next few months so hopefully things will work their way out.

The kids smiles, handshakes and hugs make it all worth it.  When the teeniest shy ones flash you a satisfied smile it really makes your day.

Returning home via Feria Libre again I was struck by how the outside parking lot was completely jammed with booths, on a Wednesday, rivaling the space in the huge building.   I took a panorama shot so you can get an idea of the size, and it goes way-y-y-y-y-y back!

From the moving bus I saw that this beautiful house one block south of the Banco Pichincha that had been under renovation is to become a Chinese Restaurant!   That will be very welcomed here because there are only a handful of those and gringos like a little variety.

At a bus stop by the Inca ruins, I saw these two gals laughing at me for taking a photo through the bus window so I took their picture and showed it to them through the glass.   They just laughed some more.

I then stopped at the seamstress’ place to get a connecting strap added to my backpack to stop it from sliding off my shoulders all the time.  She had gotten the exact length of similar strapping and I supplied the clasp.  10 minutes and the job was done.

I had defrosted some tilapia fillets and within 15 minutes I was enjoying a delicious fish supper.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.