Oscar and Ruby's Ecuadorian Abuela

As Neil mentioned, Sra Elena, the head of our host family, is an incredibly warm person.  From the moment we arrived at her house, spilling out of a tiny taxi with all our bags (which are starting to feel big), she made us feel completely welcome.  She greeted us each with a kiss and a warm embrace.  The kids, normally a bit shy around adults who are new to them, sensed that Sra Elena was different and acted accordingly, i.e., like themselves from the start.  There was simply a loving vibe in that house.

All of us with Sra. Elena

The kids are going to blog about daily life in Sra Elena's house, so I will leave that to them.  I do want to say, however, that I love that the central gathering place (aside from the kitchen), is Elena's bed -- the ideal place to do homework, have a snack, nap, or watch TV.  I wanted to share the little bit that we learned about Elena herself.  She helped to found a local foundation that provides assistance to disabled children.  When she wasn't preparing food, serving us, or doing laundry, Elena was on the phone or at meetings related to the the work of the foundation.  Unfortunately, while we were there, she got a bit a of bad news that the government is withdrawing its support of the foundation.  Elena was busy preparing Christmas baskets of treats and candy for the kids, but will turn next to winding down the organization.  I wouldn't be surprised if she turns her prodigious energy elsewhere towards more good works.

Elena's husband, Eugenio, was a dentist in the Ecuadorian army.  They lived in the Oriente (the Ecuadorian jungle) for a number of years, in the 1960s, way out in the middle of nowhere.  Over the course of one memorable evening last week, Elena and her grandson, Israel, regaled us with story after story about the Oriente, all featuring fearsome rats, snakes, and the occasional tarantula.  Elena survived accidentally sitting on a large viper by the river, and having a tarantula land on her head as she hid in the jungle from Eugenio.  It wasn't uncommon for babies to be eaten by crocodiles while their parents bathed them in the river.  Back then, the Oriente still had indigenous peoples who had little contact with the outside world.  Elena recalled the Ecuadorian army going by helicopter to deliver food, and being turned back by people on the ground with blow guns.  It must have been quite an adventure to carve out a life in the jungle at that time.

We also heard our share of stories involving the many foreign students who boarded with the family over the years.  Eugenio used to keep a loaded gun next to his bed, and there were some close calls with both with his own children and foreign students returning late at night.  Note to future students: it's not a good idea to give your key to your boy/girlfriend.  Music played a central role in family life, especially when Eugenio was still alive.  He was a self-taught guitarist from a large, musical family. We were lucky enough to participate in a novena the other night, a family gathering of prayer and song, which traditionally leads up to Christmas.  Elena's brother-in-law played the guitar, and both Ruby and I played some violin for the family!

Our last night with the family, Elena shared with me and Neil the story of Eugenio's death just 3 1/2 years ago.  He collapsed suddenly from a heart attack on the Calle Larga, in Cuenca.  He tried to call Elena but wasn't able to.  A passerby took the phone from him and called Elena, who rushed to the hospital. By the time she got there, he was dead.  Earlier that day, they had just made up from a minor dispute over Elena's excessive use of her phone on behalf of her foundation.  In a romantic gesture, Eugenio had left a CD with a corny love song in the car for Elena to hear.  The two had spoken just 20 minutes before his fateful heart attack.  A nurse at the hospital told Elena that Eugenio had one of the most beautiful deaths she has ever seen.  His last words were, "tell my wife, Elena, that I love her."   Elena and Eugenio were married for 47 years.  I was very moved to hear about their life together, with its ups and downs and funny encounters with rodents (as some of you know, a pet peeve of mine).  If only Neil and I would be so fortunate to have that time together, and to experience so much along the way.

Our New Digs

After a week and a half, we've decided to make a change and move from our homestay to an apartment right in the historic center of Cuenca.  We loved the homestay mostly because of Señora Elena, the woman hosting us.  An incredibly warm person, she really made an effort to make us feel at home.   Her extended family was constantly around, and every single person was as welcoming as she.  Sra. Elena also helped out by giving us great advice about things to do around Cuenca.  It was no surprise to learn that she stays in touch with many of her students who have stayed with her over the years.

We also loved the fantastic views of the city, and having three healthy (if not the most imaginative) meals served each day with no effort from us.

The view we gave up

We changed places for a few reasons (and ultimately, over the objections of O&R who loved staying with "Señora"): we wanted to be a bit closer to the center of town; Sra. Elena's house had no real public spaces, so we were mostly confined to our bedrooms, the food got a bit monotonous, and frankly, the whole house could have used a paint job and a bit of a make-over.

But what really clinched it for us was the fantastic apartment we found in the center.  It's part of an old colonial house, with all the rooms arranged around a center courtyard that, like many in Cuenca, has been enclosed by a glass roof.  The dining room is the courtyard itself, which must be about 35' high.  The kitchen and Ruby's room are off the courtyard on the lower level, and then up the enormous stone stairway, our room and Oscar's room are off the courtyard on the upper level.

It's all nicely furnished (we're renting from an American couple who live here, but aren't around at the moment), and simply huge.  So we're looking forward to having a lot more space to spread out in.  And I'm looking forward to sleeping in something other than a small full sized bed for the first time in Ecuador.

A First Look at Cuenca

We arrived two days ago in Cuenca, a medium-sized colonial city in the mountains in the south of Ecuador.  The flight from Quito was cheap enough ($65) and short enough (50 minutes), but not for the faint of heart – straight up for fifteen minutes, followed by a brief and relatively calm beverage service, then capped off with twenty minutes of rapid and turbulent descent.  I did get a chance to catch some of the beautiful landscape around here on the way down, wave after wave of steep hills and narrow valleys, with small clay-colored towns interspersed.

Cuenca is the largest of these towns, and fully occupies a small valley ringed by big hills or small mountains, depending on your perspective.  Right now, I’m sitting on the patio of the house where we are staying, looking down at the colonial center of the city and the plaza and cathedral at its heart.  We are in a newer area (mid 20^th Century?) just outside the colonial street grid, partway up the slope of one of the hills that forms the northern border of the valley.  We’re probably about 200’ above the center and a mile away.  The view from here is really stunning.  Visually, this area reminds me of parts of Italy – the architecture, the roads, the way the streets are laid out, even some of the trees.

View from our house

We are set up in a “homestay” arranged by our Spanish school, at the home of a warm and outgoing matriarch whose five children have all left the nest (which only happens upon marriage in Ecuador).  Most of them live nearby, along with her eight grandchildren.  On Sunday, when we arrived, there was a lot of activity as many of them were visiting for lunch and dinner.  An interesting and very friendly bunch, the children and their spouses (all around my age) are professionals who have lived and traveled abroad and were more than patient with our Spanish.  Weekdays seem a bit quieter, with several grandchildren coming by each day after school and staying through the afternoon.  The grandchildren are as friendly as their parents.  Today, we took two of them to a nearby park (maybe they took us?) to play Frisbee and run around with O&R.  As we had hoped, the playground activities helped our kids overcome some initial shyness caused by the language barrier.

I have some experience with this whole homestay thing.  I had a similar arrangement in Antigua, Guatemala back in 1995 when I studied Spanish there for a few weeks.  It’s a great way to meet people and really get a sense of local life and culture; and of course, it’s great for our Spanish.  But Yo and I wonder if we’re getting a bit too fancy in our middle-age; we find ourselves craving a bit more personal space and a queen sized bed.  So we’re thinking about moving into a rental apartment (actually, an amazing colonial era house complete with its signature Cuencan courtyard) in the center of town next week.  But then, the view’s great from here, and there’s the built-in play dates with the kids’ new local friends . . .