Typical stuff in Quito, and we're off for a bit

Police getting their morning briefing.

A common way of discouraging access (and pigeons?) in Ecuador.  Cement fences are topped with broken glass, mostly broken bottles.  Quite lovely in the sunshine. 

This is the way TP is frequently dispensed in public restrooms -- its not in the stalls, but needs to be acquired before entry.  Or else take your own.  TP goes into bins, not the toilets themselves, due to aged sewage systems.

Many buses have liftable grates in front to allow for better air circulation -- they look like they're smiling.

Many nicer restaurants and bars here have mouthwash available in the women's banos (bathrooms) , Steve saw it once in the men's. The dispenser above offers a little cup (on the left) of mouthwash for a quarter -- this is in a regular food court bano.

Quito's just started a rent-a-bike program.  Don't understand it, fully, but it's there, and there are many dedicated bike lanes in the city. 

Hot coffee in to-go cups is not the norm here.  This one came with a cold-cup lid and a straw.

A popular brand in Ecuador:  SNOB.

We're off to the Galapagos for 10 days, completely out of touch, off the grid.  Lots of animal photos when we return.  : )

What I miss, so far

We've been homeless now for 2.5 months, in Ecuador for one.  The travel's been fun, on both continents, and we've finally hit our stride here with movement, planning, adjustment to the fullness and limits of what we have. 

Some of you have asked, and its been an interesting reflection -- here's what I most miss at this point:

• Hugs, easy communication with friends and family - no surprise there
• The ease of any focused shopping, especially Amazon orders and deliveries - finding good binoculars in Quito, impossible
• Kale, steamed greens with garlic, brown rice, spicy foods, Sriracha/cock sauce
• Intuition that is useful and relevant
• Confidence in electronic access
• Easy, relevant communication with officials, folks on the street, interesting people
• Certainty -- of any sort, about anything
• Fully understanding a menu and having complete control over an order’s outcome
• Normalcy, predictability - any arena
• Certainty of society’s restitution
• Work's interesting coworkers and patrons, intellectual content
• A comforting, welcoming visualization of home (thoughts of the storage area don’t do it)
• Even stairs/steps of consistent depth
• Good, manageable Olympic coverage
• Communal understanding of US policies -- to those with whom we talk, it's a mystery -- gun policies? militarism? health care?  political stalemate?  religious fanaticism?  Really??
• access to more Community episodes
• Feeling a part of things, not an outsider

What I don’t miss:

• intense summer heat and its requisite air conditioning
• normalcy, predictability
• summer road construction
• certainty - the reality is I know so little about anything, nice to have that underscored
• US politics
• full moon interactions at the Library
• Steve - and I sometimes miss missing him

Steve commented that my list is unbalanced, that a balanced list would be more indicative of the pleasures of this traveling life.  It is an unbalanced list, but it is little predictable stuff , more an indication of foreignness -- a lack of ease -- than actual dissatisfaction.  And I think that's much of why I love travel, to wake me up, shake me up, force a different perspective on my lazy mind. 

Btw, OPPL  - I love the hat that your generous REI gift certificate gave me!  Thanks!     

Ecuadorean performances

We were at the Equator marker on a Sunday afternoon, which had a stage and a pavilion as part of its layout, and because it was a Sunday afternoon, there were performances.  We had lucked onto a restaurant with an overlooking balcony and found ourselves nicely poised to view the festivities.

First up was a was a Michael Jackson impersonator miming recorded music -- he had a barely passable moonwalk, grabbed his crotch alot and shook his hands.  Rather amazing that he got the stage, even moreso that he held it for 45 minutes, although to little interest, only polite applause.  Perhaps related to someone important?  I understand Ecuadoreans really like MJ (who doesn/t), but really?

While he was working it we noticed colorful costumes gathering in the pavilion.  Turned out, it was a national Ecuadorean dance company, which was fantastic.  No live musicians, but good guitar/Andean pipes music, great costumes and good dance

It's hard to see, but the showing skirts are two layers of knife-pleated wool gabardine, each beautifully trimmed with very fine braiding.  I found one in a store later.  There's a pencil underskirt of woven wool that provides modesty with the energetic twirling.  The dudes wore llama chaps, and danced well, too.  Towards the end of the performance they added bells to their waists, their stomping was energetic.

 

T

The Ecuadorean flag!

And the dancers drew the crowd in for dancing a few times during the performance.  The crowd happily joined, young and old.  

Even more excitement for the day:  there was an insect zoo there, and they let us HOLD a gorgeous, huge rhinoceros beetle!  Very cool.

On Saturday, we stopped in at the big church in Banos, La Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Agua Santa, just off the main plaza.

It is a grand looking semi-gothic church, with the usual ornate bricabrac interior, as you can see in the picture below.  What made it interesting to us, however, was that all around the interior walls are murals of miracles attributed to Our Lady of the Holy Water.

Below are three examples of the many murals on the interior walls. 

The mural above depicts locals carrying Our Lady's statue as the nearby volcano erupts in 1797 - an eruption that miraculously caused very little damage to Banos.

Toward the end of the next century a fellow was crossing the canyon via rope cable when it broke sending him crashing to the canyon floor/river below, a fall he miraculously survived thanks to Our Lady, of course.

 

And in the picture above of more recent vintage there is a crashed car on the canyon floor to the left of the picture (take my word for it).  A family returning around dusk in 1939 plunged off the road, falling 200 meters.  As they fell they reportedly saw Our Lady through the car windows.  All survived with nothing but minor scratches, thanks to ...

Our Lady with admirers - out of the picture to the left was a large collection of votive candles lit in her honor.  That's Nancy to the far right.

Note the volcano erupting behind Our Lady.