Lake Titicaca is a UNESCO heritage site and is the highest navigable fresh water lake in the world at an elevation (12,507′). It is also the largest lake in South America, bordering Peru and Bolivia. There are an estimated 70 – 114 small floating islands, with the bulk scattered in the shallow depths of the […]
Cuenca – Return to Ecuador
After six months in our new paradise home of Hawaii, we returned to our second home in Cuenca. We were in for a series of surprises though… As we arrived at the Honolulu airport, I realized that I had forgotten my glasses. Oops. I was nearly blind for the remainder of the trip to Cuenca, […]
Turkey in Spanish
Today was the final class of the year for the Coffee Club Spanish class that I attend. Our homework for the final class was to write a short story about some trip that we have taken in the past. The instructor suggested I write about Turkey. Some other students suggested I do a photo presentation […]
Museum Tour
Our Spanish class went on a tour of four museums today, three of which I didn’t even know existed in town. The first was Simon Bolivar’s home, which has been converted into an art gallery, shown above. I knew of two Panama Hat museums in town, but we went to a third I had not […]
Cuy, Family Style
Back in the USA, they are called guinea pigs and kept as pets. Here they are called cuy and are a gourmet feast most often served for special occasions and celebrations. We were invited to a special cuy dinner by Gloria, Evelyn’s Spanish teacher, last night for a night of feasting, music… and Spanish. Only one member of the […]
20/20 (and 19/20)
We are both now legal Ecuadorian drivers — we both received our driver’s licences today! The process here is almost silly in the number of steps required, but we completed the last of the hoops today and walked out with our licenses. We can now rent and drive cars within Ecuador. (The International Driver’s License […]
Birthday Party, Ecuadorian Style
Adrian plays the charango, while Marcos plays guitar We were invited by an Ecuadorian family to join a combined birthday party tonight. Three members of the family (Gloria, Adrian and Stephanie) have birthdays in May, as does Evelyn, so they decided on one combined party for everyone. Charango from Burt Johnson on Vimeo. Let […]
Applesauce
Gloria Uyaguari, Evelyn’s favorite Spanish teacher, requires her students to write a diary in Spanish. Evelyn takes private Spanish lessons twice a week at Gloria’s home. Here’s a recent page from Evelyn’s Spanish diary: 29 de Marzo, el sábado Gloria y Adrian nos invitaron a su casa de campo cerca de San Bartolomé a recoger […]
Day In The Country
We were invited to a day in the country by a Peruvian family now living in Cuenca. Alberto Soriano is a well known Peruvian artist that Evelyn took painting classes from on our first trip here in 2012. He speaks almost no English, which means we get to practice our Spanish when talking to him. […]
Picky, picky, picky
We went to the Registro Civil to day to pick up our cedulas. We were told that it would take “maybe an hour or so.” Other gringos had told us to allocate all day. They were closer to the truth… Bureaucrats the world round appear more interested in creating and making jobs rather than serving people in any way […]