This I know about Ecuador

These things I know for sure about Ecuador:

Traffic Lanes are painted on the road for decorative purposes only
Passing Lane Restrictions are also just to intoduce a a solid pretty line on the road
Put the WHOLE family in the back of the pickup (including your infant)
Feel free to pass a car as it is passing a car on the road
A gas mask is handy as you drive near a bus
Taxi's are as prolific as fleas
A pedistrian takes their life in their own hand crossing the street
Get use to warm soda
Guinea Pigs are not used as pets - ie, Cuy, yummy in their tummy
Need to move your car into another lane, well, just do it, whats a few horn honks
Use your car alarm to signal folks where you are... or that you have arrived... who cares what time it is
Tortillia's in Eucuador are not what they are here...
There are 20,000 ways to serve 20,000 different types of corn
If a little salt on your Pork is good, a whole lot is even better
Serve Rice and Potatoes with your meal
Put Cheese on everything

Hang on.... we're going to the falls!

Our 'cable car' ride across the gorge.... It may look like I am zooming the camera in on the falls.... but not so.... we were gliding to the falls just that quick....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7DW-UwrBtI

I wish I had kept the camera running... we went up and over the falls and into the jungle where we got off!

A special meal in Ecuador.... a tradition still going on...

The cuddly pet you had as a kid is a meal in Ecuador (and in Peru and Bolivia, too)! Guinea pigs, locally known as cuy (pronounced "coo-ee"). It's been around for hundreds of years and is still common among rural indigenous people.  Jillian's Tia that we just visited is building a room to raise them and after a year or two she will be able to sell them.  I remember Jillian's 2nd grade teacher at Whittier had a guinea pig the kids all loved.
Well, we (or mostly Jerry) had to try it.  I could barely get over looking at it on the BBQ rotisserie... eyes, teeth...  Well, Mario suggested we order a Plate, which is only one half....  I just kept thinking.... someones pet... oh no.... eventually I took two bites while Jerry ate the rest.  I hate to say this, but the meat is very, very good... but I still could see the poor thing as a pet....

Sunday in Banos....

We had a totally unexpected and fun adventure.... After breakfast, Katy Guinn (Katy is also from PLU and works with Jillian in the Constiuents office.)joined us and we went to a spectacular little fall.  Manto de La Novia was a beautiful fall across the gorge from where we were.  Now, the adventure was riding the tarabita (cable car) over the gorge to the other side.  Gravity helped us get there 3/4s of the way... we're all in this red bucket type thing... no seat belts... just hang on... It was fun.  I also took a video, but I'll post that later.... just slides for now.  We came back to our hotel and checked out.... Some of the girls from school stored their bags in our car till we were through shopping. 
I got a few more clips of the volcano... Also, of another one that is dormant... in many ways, it reminds me of our Cascades other than we are already high up, so they seem closer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyCiMXaejHc

John and Emily n Griffin....

John.... the egg is being balanced on a really small nail head... this is a fresh egg... supposedly, since we were at 0 degrees, etc... there is not much magnetic pull either way so you can balance the egg.  I think to prove it, we would need to do it at home also.,,,, sure was fun trying it....  Also, they had a few more demo's.... skeptics we were, but some really seemed legit..... which brings up

Emily and Griffin....  here, south of the equator when the water goes down a drain naturally, it goes CLOCKWISE.... cuz we are being pulled by the South Pole.... Where you are it's COUNTERCLOCKWISE cuz it's pulled by the North Pole.  We always wondered if it's true, and we just proved it.  Thanks for helping Griffin!

Here's the slideshow for the following post....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz3UvCjuVM

Banos... pictures.... later... but here's the journal

Well, it was a fun but long day! And it hasn’t really ended yet. Jerry and Mario (our friend/driver) are in the pool and sauna in our hotel in Banos. (The n is suppose to have a wavy thingee on it….) Jillian has met up with her PLU buds, and they are off to a volcano tour (and dancing later on). Tungurahua is right above Banos which is in the huge valley between all the mountains…. And Tungurahua is blowing ash right now and has been for a week and a half. The last serious eruption was in 2006 and folks had to leave the area…. Geez… no one told me that was a possibility….

We left at 8:30 and just getting out of Quito was a pain! Traffic out the gazoo… and on a Saturday. They don’t have much regulation on auto/truck emissions and it’s bad. Some trucks and buses just spew black fumes. I finally realized that’s why many of my pictures of scenes seem like they have a veil on them. We headed out finally on the motorway…. Up and down hills….stopped for some ice cream at on small town… pretty good stuff. Then on to Quizapincha via Ambato. Jillian’s host mom’s sister lives in Ambato, but in Quizapincha there are marvelous leather products…. So many…. Had to drive up a1300 feet in height of winding, skinny roads to get there. Then, when purchases were complete… back down and a bit of backtracking to Ambato and up a dirt road to Tia’s home. It was very nice. Lots of property around them…. Use to be her grandparents and they are selling some parcels. Beautiful view of the area’s valley and mountains. Her husband made us a great Cuban meal. We hated to eat and run, but that we did. Took way longer than normal to get to Banos, traffic, road repairs, etc. but we made it. In one small town there was a little bull fight going on… pic doesn’t show it too well. Got some pics of the mountain with the ash. Glad I can’t see it from Banos itself….

Also, finally met up with the missionary I had brought some stuff for from Mia in our church, Dallas. A 2008 PLU grad coincidently…. She works in Shell, about an hour away from here. We chatted and, when she and her friends didn’t know it, we paid for their meal…. Felt good.

Anyway, looking forward to dinner soon and upload some pictures…. Yes, a good day!

Gringolandia....

Spent today walking around Gringolandia.... you guessed it, the tourist area.  Lots of restaurants catering more to tourists, clubs and some shops.... way more expensive with the same stuff we've seen further from the city.  We'll be spending the weekend in Banos.... about a 3 hour drive from here.  Jillian will be with us and we will be visiting her "host aunt" on the way. 

Took some photo's walking around Gringo Land... The one is of a restuarant with glass walls and ceilings facing the street.... also, notice the Beertopia...This area also has some colorful buildings.

Next pictures are from our balcony in the hotel. The photo on the right is our hotel, our room being behind the solid rim on the top.There were workers hanging from the rooftop, connecting to a hook type thing on our balcony and going down on a rope with a seat attached and cleaning the windows.....Can we say scary looking?

Dinner at Cafe Sibari with the PLU Aclas Spanish Class

We were invited to have dinner with all the students from Pacific Lutheran at a local restaurant.  Nice place on "LaRonda" which is in Old Town.... The only negative... so many at such a long table.... Felt bad that Jillian had to interpet for us in regards to the ordering, and even at that, we saw other dishes we wished we'd ordered... Geez... wish I took Spanish in High School....  Oh, did I tell you I MISS ice in my drinks.... you know, it's the water here... Anyway, it was a good evening and PLU students made their school proud!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLcp3vSDkaU


Oh, yeah.... I made another video of our first day.... I could get more pictures in and it seems to go faster... so I'm posting it here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCacuO2moE4

Otavalo.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFkWFjJ8vlk

Well, I made a little slide show this time.... The pics are not as clear since I reduced the size to make it go quicker....  Otavala is about 2 hours away.  Mesais and his brother took us.  The pictures are a summary of all we saw.... Bought scraves, a shirt for Jer, bracelets and a cool poncho.  Mesais and Mario took us to a local eatery.... food is good, BUT meat is salty and the rest (corn, all types, and I mean all types... fat, skinny, fried and potatoes which they call totillias.... ) is blander.  They have some salsa's which are different than ours, but still good.  Haven't had a single red or green salsa.  One pic of the waterfall shows Mario in the forground.... while the rest are of the market, the scenery, the waterfalls, the people..... Also, the area is filled with large greenhouses filled with roses which they export.  It was a long day, but a good day....left at 9 am got home at 6 pm.

The Presidential Palace

The new president of Ecuador no longer lives in this building which is also the government offices.  Also, he has opened it up to the public for tours.  He seems very will liked and is opening alot of closed doors.  The place has a small altar (all gold of course) which was beautiful.  The woodwork was gorgeous.  Once a week he stands on the balcony and talkes with the folks on the square.... very cool.... They also have the sationary soldiers at the entrance....

Some of the Catholic Heritage in Quito

We spent Wednesday checking out Old Town and all the shops there. There are cathedrals and Basilica's .... many, many of them. The pictures in this series are from the Basilica del Voto Nacionel, which is the National Church Building. Catholicism is the natinonal religion. The church is huge... I have many, many pics but here are a few highlights. It takes up a block. After taking some respectful time in the sanctuary, we walked through a courtyard on the side that reminded me of the Abbey in Sound of Music... way cool. We then took a small elevator that takes you on a self tour through the top of the church. We were walking over the ceiling.... I hope the pictures show that. Then, you clime up to where the low part of the spires are. Jerry and Mesias went up the nest two steep ladders to inside the spire. I was a bit nervous about that.... so I stayed on my level.

These picture are from two other churches. Like I said, I have so many, I would just bore you. That's gold on the ceiling and altar on the one picture. The other I was trying to show the original frescas had been covered up by plaster. Remember, these building are hundreds of years old.

Old Town Quito.... so many cathedrals....

I will post later... but.... the city is rich in colonial history. One Cathedral was 450 years old..... more to come.... Our feet are tired.... One nice surprise, Jillian popped in for dinner tonight with us.... We all kept saying we couldn't believe we were in Quito !!!! We are truly blessed!

Jillian's host family.... and her room....

We took a taxi to Jillian's home away from home. It's about a 10 minute taxi drive from our hotel. Her host mom is so nice. Her apartment is on the top floor of a seven story building, with views of the surrounding area. I think you can see that behind the picture of Jillian on the couch. Carmen (Jillian's madre) made us a nice dinner. Jillian had gotten sick the night before... We think it was her trip to Mindo the previous weekend. Carmen call her doc and they got some meds for her. I recognized one of them, but not the other. Anyway, she missed school that day but was now feeling better. Carmen made a blander type meal so that her tummy would be happy.... plus with our altitude sickness, it was a good thing.

Today we are going to Old Town... tourists we are for sure. Mesias is going to take us. Mia, yes we did go on the tram up to the top of the mountain. I guess that 14,000 feet probably helped contribute to our altitude problems. The view was gorgeous, for sure.

I made a slick slide show, but alas, couldn't upload it here.... Oh, and Emily, if the toilet thing doesn't work, fill the sink or tub with water and see which way the flows .... drop a small leaf or something so you can see which way the funnel is moving.... Griffin, let me know....

Oh no.... a bit of Altitude Sickness....

Feeling just a bit under the weather... not horribly, but like a bad hangover and not really dizzy but dizzy.... don't know if you can interpet that.... Jerry is sorta the same way.... still went out today, had a 'local' lunch.... chicken and rice and a corn and pea type salad (the salad is cooked and then chilled)...
Going to Jillian's host family tonight.... will tell you more later....

Latitude 0 Longitude 0

Ecuador is a beautiful country, for sure. Our day started out with Jillian knocking at our door. Class wasn't starting until 1pm, so we had some time to catch-up. Then it was off to eat. We took a taxi.... I'll tell you, Jerry and I were so impressed with her spanish.... she and the driver chatted on and on.... at a quick clip... she's thinking spanish.... so I guess she's "immersed".

Went to lunch and then walked to her school. Very, Very nice. Lauralee, the Lutes there were thrilled to have the Podium banner. We walked in the computer room, and many schools were represented there... Soon PLU will be. Chatted with Katy Guinn while we were there....

The driver who took us from the airport to the hotel last night, well, he said he would be willing to show us around. He spoke great English, so after we parted Jillian and the school, we headed off with Mesias... Quito is very large... spread out in a valley between the mountains. There are volcanoes in the area, but fortunately, seem pretty quiet. We went to Pululahua, a volcano now no longer active.... (We're already up pretty high, Quito is at 9500 ft...) Today, quite a few clouds as you can see in the pic.

We left there and went on to the center of the world.... The equator (hence, the 0 degrees stuff in the title). Pretty darn cool, after learning of the Ecuadorian culture and tribes... we had a few demonstrations showing the difference between the magnetic pull and the absense at the equator.... The toilet, now, that's one I'm not sure about.... Does your's flow clockwise or counterclockwise when you flush.... I don't want to tell you what ours is doing till i hear from you!

Last we went on a tram that goes up another couple thousand feet in the hills... Wow... the view was spectacular.... we could see almost the whole city, some volcano snowcapped mountains peeking through the clouds.... looked very much like a skinny Mt Rainier... We found ourselves a bit winded as we walked up steps at the top. At first I thought it was just me, so I didn't say anything.... but Jerry made a comment he was feeling it....

We are HERE!

Great flight.... Our hotel is NOT where it shows on the Google Map.... but not biggie....
A knock on our door this morning.... Ms Jillian arrived.... And now, we're off to lunch and to visit her school and then we have the afternoon off....so.... I'm gonna sign off for now....

And we are off.... well, at least tomorrow...

Can you believe we are going to Ecuador? I'm still a bit numb from it all.... so much to do in such a short time.... Air Tickets, check, Hotel, check, Shots (owiee), check... all within 6 days... and do we speak Spanish.... no check there... lol... Jillian is in school there for "J-Term" for Spanish Immersion.... she will be our guide. It was at her request, that we are going....
Tomorrow we have a meeting on Bainbridge Island with Jerry's KAIROS. At 5:30 we'll take a ferry to Seattle and then spend the night at a Seatac park/sleep/fly hotel so we can leave at odark thirty Sunday morning....