and for something different

Well, we left Cuenca, only to return again in a couple of weeks. Yes, Cuenca is like the Victoria of Ecuador. Yes, it is very expensive as compared to the rest of the country. It was nice and all, but it didn´t move my soul like some of the other parts of Ecuador have. It felt somehow hollow.
Rachelle and I did a bit of shopping, the fashions here are fantastic. Several women were there too, and gladly gave their oppinions and asked for ours too. They are very small people and Rachelle feels huge. Of course, since they are a foot and a bit shorter, this shows in their sizes. All the women wear spiked shoes to make up for the height. She is therefore, ok with her length of pants but they are sized differently. Rachelle being a complete if not taller 6 feet tall and quite slim.
Again, the people are great and so friendly, especially if you are trying to speak their language. They are very polite and although I know I make regular grammar and word mistakes they are too polite to correct me.
We are now in a place called Loha. It is quite a small town compared to Cuenca but it is lush and lovely, and very old. The building are well kept and stores are everywhere. The bus ride was again a bit treturous, but the countryside is fantastic, dotted with the andean peoples farms. These people must really be billy goats at heart for they build their houses on the steep sides of mountains and field their livestock in large paddocks straight up the mountains. There are tiny contant trails over the mountains with brush defining the boarders of each finka, or farm. It is very lush and green. Right now, being the rainy season, it is very green, I wonder what it looks like in their summer. The trees are also dotted with yellow tube like flowers and the roadside brush is sporatic with red, white, purple and orange blossoms. There are also those marvelous reed like plants that have these large white feathery plumes on the ends. The earth is very orange and occasionaly brownish, it is a marvelous contrast to the white soft plumes and the green green grasses. I haven{t seen any wild life except for birds. Domestic cows, sheep, goats, dogs and chickens do not count as wild life but they are ever present everywhere.
We visited the church devoted to, you guessed it, my dear new friend, Santa Fatima. I had to say hi to her and thank her for inspiring my survival during my bus travels. Although the church was not as oppulent as in Quito, it has heart, that which I found lacking in Cuenca. Don{t get me wrong the Cathedral in Cuenca was very oppulent and very grand but it didn{t move me like it did in Quito. Here, the church resonated heart, and moved Rachelle to tears. She sat for a moment in the church and genuinely saw people giving heart, and tears to their prayers and I think she now understands why church can be a good thing, if church is accompanied with spirituality and honesty.
For those of you who worry about safety or theft, you need not worry. For example, today we were shopping and Rachelle left behind, in one of the million shops in the grand mall, her favorite shirt and other stuffs in a bag in a change room. When we realized it, we ran back to the shop and the shop keeper had a releived look on her face that we had finally returned to pick our stuff up. I felt bad because she did a kindness and we didn{t even buy anything from her. This kind of honesty is very real here, and it is nice. The people also have concerns for the tourists and make sure you are safe by informing you where to and where not to go, not only the hostel people, but taxi drivers and store owners and even people on the street.
Dane made a friend in Cuenca, an older gentleman, who spoke a smattering of English and owned this antique store. He sold Dane a pocket watch for a good deal, then gave me a ton of written info about Cuenca, then gave Dane several discontinued Sucres (their former currency before they converted to the U.S. dollar) and invited us to stay at his farm in the country, go ride his horses in the national park when we come back to visit. I feel he was genuinely being kind and wanted to share with us, his fabulous country. Again the people here are sooooo nice.
We will only stay a day more and then we will go to the Valley of Longevity. Cool name ehh.
There we expect to see alot of gringoes, unfortunately. We hope to go horse back riding in the Andes. We will see if the kids are willing to go for a 3 day horse trip or go at least hiking a bit. I would really like to. Apparently, in this national park, the wild life you can expect to see are... armadillo, ocelot, speckled bear, puma, and cooti and of course tons of bird, we will see.
I am really glad to see so much concern for their parks and of course alot of ex pats have set up eco-experiences as businesses. In the national park in Puerto Lopez, you could possibly get shot in turtle egg-laying season if you go to certain beaches without the okey dokey. They have a national guard to keep the people eco-wise and hands off the fragile little ones. Unfortunately, in many areas especially by the roads, where there is quite a bit of garbage and also the cars are quite smokey but baby steps and further education and awareness of safety will help in Ecuadors future survival.
Any way talk with you all later. Health issues are settling down and spirits are up. I don{t really want to go back to Canada, but I console myself with the knowledge, we will come back in September for 6 months and maybe also see, Columbia, Peru, and Uruguay. We will see only time will tell.
PS we are going to rent that house in Puerto Lopez for 6 months for like $300 a month, mas o menos. Yipeeee! Life here is great and wish you all could experience it with us. Hasta luego
Robin