taken back 9 years ago

Gloria is feeling mostly better.  Getting over a two week cold.  She appears at my door occasionally to tell me various things...like my blankets out on the lawn got wet last night, Morgan's wife just had surgery and maybe they'll come down after she recovers...it's been forever since he's been here; new heaters are being installed...etc.  It's fun when I hear my clunky door bell ring, followed by her voice.  Then her smile.

I never did get the garage cleaned out and organized.  But I did clean and organize my chez.  I am adamant about leaving and returning to a very tidy house.  Sweeping, mopping, laundry,...de-junking.  I went through most of my belongings and filled several garbage bags full of shoes, socks, shirts, pants, jewelry, hats....you name it!  Anything I haven't worn or used in a while got the toss.  I am getting pretty good at keeping it simple; getting rid of the unused or unnecessary, and where needed, replacing it with quality items that are meant to be used often and for always.  I am sure I'll do another stint after Japan.  Japan has that effect on me.

And even though I leave in less than a week, my thoughts have been with Ecuador.  Strange.  Nothing specific.  Just that it is there, and that I was once there.

I have tried several times to get on here and pull some Japan pictures to post....but I guess I'll get to that another time.

*****

I arrived 9 years ago this month.  My first memory of Ecuador is the humidity, when we stepped out of the airport and onto the bus.  My second memory is banana groves.  Lots of those down by the coast.  My third memory is leaving the flat plains and banana groves, and approaching the Andes.  Even from a distance they were impressive.  They seemed to approach us rather than us approaching them.  And with each mile they got bigger and bigger - I can still feel the awe of looking at those mountains for the first time.  So green, had I ever been anywhere so green?  At the base of the mountain the van/bus stopped.  Everybody out of the van.  Everybody on top of the van.

They know how to commute in Ecuador.

Jackets...blankets, we were all piled on top.  The temperature would be dropping with the sun and there would be a dramatic change in elevation.  The air was cool and the colors of dusk were settling in.  We passed little huts and shacks, people walking with donkeys, people walking alone.  Simple and basic living conditions mixed with the marvel of nature.  You learned quickly not to be surprised at most anything you saw.  But you did still wonder.  

Fog set in.  Then a thick fog set in and it chilled me.  We were passing through a cloud.  And when our little white van, sputtering up the Andean mountain road with a load of young single girls on top, rose above the fog - I lived a very beautiful and breathtaking moment that has become a part of me and has stayed with me.
    

We had risen above the city, above the plains, above the banana plantations and fog...and all we could see was a sea of gold for miles - it was endless.  It was marvelous.  And it was completely different than when you see a "similar" view from an airplane window - because there, we were apart of it - out in the open air; tangible, trees, the mountainside.  The glow of the sun resting upon on our faces - there was nothing between us and that moment. 

And that, that is my third memory of Ecuador.  My introduction to Ecuador.

***

 

I passed this house everyday on the way to the orphanage.  When I think of black and white checkered tile - I actually am thinking of this image here.  I used to stop at these gates and just gaze...wondering who lived there, what was life like, and I wanted to enter.  There was something enchanting about the place that pulled me.

  

There's a rawness to life that you feel when living in a 3rd world country.  And not that this same image isn't seen here in the US - it is.  But it's just different.  I am trying to figure out how to describe it and I am lacking a proper way of putting it.  

   

Cattle, sheep, taxi...classic.  I love this picture.  We used to come up to this school once a week to teach.  CRaZY bus rides.  Crazy.  I was always sick afterward.

This was the view out the back patio.  Picturesque.  See how close the clouds are?  I never felt so physically close to the heavens than when I was here.  It was unique to be in this region for a time.

More to come - about riots, jungle treks, and the work.  

***

I found this little airplane in my car the other day.  Curious.  I wonder where it would take me if I boarded?