Tuesday-Wednesday September 18-19, 2012

Tuesday September 18/12 update

I was awake early again this morning so I got up, did the chores.  I was shocked to discover that the freezer was defrosting yet the light was on when I opened the fridge door.  And yet, I pushed the controls and it started right up again.  Very strange…. I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

Since I was up I decided to start work on the night photography tour for next week.  Even though I don’t have the supper details nailed down yet, I want to make this offer to the folks that came on the last tour first.

Our old Spanish class, at least some of us, got together with our old Spanish teacher, Christine, to practice Spanish conversation.  We did this from 4 until 6 at Nancee’s place which is way south near the Mall De Rio.  Her apartment has aneat collection of art and artifacts from her travels to many countries.   Then Christine, her husband Noel, and myself caught a #5 bus to near the stadium where I caught the #15.  As I neared the El Vergel/Inca ruins area I looked at my watch and decided to jump ship and sneak over to Big Kabuda’s for a burger fix.   I ordered my usual “Porky’s” burger and asked Jesus for some of that super hot spice he had.  I tried to be careful and dribbled the skinniest line across my bun and they had a look of horror on their faces.  I knew this stuff was supposed to be a few million BTU’s but I took one bite and that was enough to know why!   I then wisely took their advice to apply a new top layer on the burger.  That stuff is a Bunsen burner with only the tiniest speck on your tongue.  We should sell that stuff to put inside winter boots in Canada!   Cayenne pepper is a 2 compared to this stuff.

Jesus was mentioning wanting to go to Canada and having to drive to Columbia to get visas etc.  I asked him why, and he said that was the nearest official Canadian presence in South America.  I dug out the cards from my wallet for the people at the Canadian Embassy in Quito.   He didn’t know we had an embassy in Ecuador!   He slipped out to copy the cards at a nearby copy shop and was very thankful.

Then I went out and crossed the bridge to try to catch a bus and was rewarded when a #15 actually showed up.

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

Wednesday September 19/12 update

I had been contacted by a fellow from Canada by the name of Ed Nadeau (a possible long-lost relative) who was in town for a few days with a friend Dick Bissett.  Their wives were busy with other things so they came to Ecuador on their own.   I met them at their Hotel Milan near San Francisco square and we walked to the AAC class.  On the way we noticed the Santo Domingo church was open, so we stopped in.  That is another huge impressive church! 

We also were pleased to see that the new interchange at Avenida De Las Americas was now open and very busy with traffic already.   We also ran into Chris near there and joined him for the walk to AAC.  Then I spotted this fellow holding a red rooster so I asked if I could take his picture, so he posed.  The guys were positive this was a fighting cock for the ring.

At AAC we were surprised to see a keyboard in the classroom but were certain it belonged to Richard, our new recruit.  Richard & Cathy Lopez showed up shortly as did many of the children.  Ed and Dick were very impressed by the way the children greeted us and generally behaved in class.  Our class today was mostly run by Richard & Cathy, first teaching them some English phrases then teaching them “Feliz Navidad” with his keyboard.  That couple will be a great addition to the Center.  Cathy looks and sounds just like Carol Bolick at McFarlane’s

The two Canucks and I slipped out to Feria Libre.where I showed them the different areas with many varied articles for sale.  We didn’t go by the live animals but we did see live grubs for sale for the first time.  Yuk.

Then we crossed the street and caught a bus back downtown, close to their hotel.  They were looking for gifts to bring back home so I showed them the marvelous alpaca shawls at San Francisco market that we can buy for only $20 here.  They each bought one.  I went to another booth and bought 3 pairs of socks so I can retire my religious (holy) pairs….

I then went to check out an alternative restaurant for our night photography tour on Tuesday.  I still had not heard from the Kookaburra Café and I needed an outlet in case they didn’t pan out.   As I stepped back out onto the sidewalk I ran right into the architect Jorge Beltran and his lovely wife Martha.  They were very effusive about how much they liked the video I made for them of their daughter’s graduation from medical school. 

Then it was time to catch the #3 home, feed the Boys, make supper, and now check emails and do my blogs.

There was an email from the Kookaburra making demands but not offering anything concrete so I had to tell them Thanks, but no thanks.   Time has run out on them and I was very disappointed in their responses.

Tomorrow is another busy day as I have promised to tour Ed and Dick around town.

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