The Journey

So for those of you who read that two weekends ago we were invited to a "hour and a half" hike that turned into a four and a half hour long journey, you'll find the humor in this story.  Our German neighbor Martin (in the green) invited Doug and our new other neighbor Joshua to a bike ride last Saturday.  They headed out at about 11 and Martin said we'd see them in about an hour and a half.  Well, in the interim, I went to Puyo with each of their two wives, our boys went off to a 10-year-old birthday party, and Selah remained on the compound with the others' girls so they could all play and enjoy the sunshine. 

Just as we ladies were leaving Puyo with a truck full of things, the men called and asked if we could come collect them from wherever they were.  We had to report that there honestly was no space for three men and their three bicycles among all the things we had purchased, our three selves, plus the one other passenger we had picked up while we'd been gone.  Julia said that if they truly needed assistance, she would come back for them once she'd dropped off all people and purchases on the compound.  They just needed to give her a call back. 

Well, at a little after 1:00 the ladies and I returned to the compound in the midst of a huge rain storm.  The wind blew furiously and the rain came down in buckets.  If we weren't accustomed to the impromptu storms that take place here, we'd certainly be concerned.  Yet, we unloaded Julia's car, checked in with all of our kids that had remained behind (for me it was only Selah), and began the job of unpacking and putting things away.  I also began soaking fruits and veggies in the cleaning solution, and then I inquired about whether the men were back yet or had they called for assistance.  Negative on both counts.

A full hour passed and no word but my boys showed up from their birthday party and so we discussed their time and the events of the morning.  The rain had died down some so I knew they would be coming home any minute.  Finally, the second hour passed and I considered inquiring with Julia about any updates but in the next moment I realized that I had not talked to my parents in a while and decided that I should not let any more days go by without a call. 

It was while I was on the phone with my dad that I looked out the window and beheld the "Three Caballeros" straddling their bikes looking greatly spent but contented with their ride.  Their purpose had been to 'get a little exercise' and I believe without a doubt that they'd done just that.  We all laughed when we realized though that the promised "hour and a half ride" had actually produced a "four and a half hour outing".  (Doug, thankfully, had gotten back just in time for his basketball game!) 

We now know that Martin is really an adventurer at heart and simply underestimates the demand.  So.....when we go to the mountains with him and a few other families for Thanksgiving a week and a half from now, and he suggests a short hike, we'll pack a lunch, plenty of water, and consider bringing a tent along.  (Smile)

In life, it really is the journey and not just about the destination.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings, kim

Fresh Eyes

About a week ago we invited an Ecuadorian friend and her daughter over for an American dinner at our house.  I decided to make bar-b-q sandwiches out of a large piece of beef tenderloin that I'd kept in the crock pot for nearly 24 hours.  We bought fresh buns, cut up a pineapple, sliced cucumbers, steamed cauliflower, and Doug created a fresh batch of home-made salsa.  Then we did as all good Americans do and put every condiment known to man on the table:  mayonnaise, two kinds of mustard, ketchup, jalapeno sauce, three kinds of bar-b-q sauce, salad dressing, Lowrey's Seasoning, Morton's Kosher Salt, Tabasco, black pepper, garlic, and probably a few other things I've forgotten by now.  We had more options for seasoning than for food.  It was a bit of overkill but we wanted to introduce them both to the promised land.

So, true to Ecuadorian form, my sweet friend showed up to dinner half an hour later than expected.  Thankfully, true to Thompson form, I didn't have dinner completely ready at the appointed time and appreciated the extra few minutes.  All parties were therefore quite happy about the arrangement.  When we finally sat down to the table and re-introductions were completed, both Nelly and her daughter Daniella ate more than their fair share of food and were complimentary about it all.  Ecuadorians are the best hosts and the best guests.

All through dinner we each put our Spanish skills to use and had a very lively and enjoyable conversation.  I really didn't have to translate very much and we had to bring Doug up to speed only every once in a while.  I was proud of our kids for trying their best to welcome this friend of mine, and proud of my husband for suggesting this dinner invitation.  It ended up being way easier than I had predicted.

After dinner we introduced them to two of our favorite card games knowing that language would not be a barrier during either.  We played Dutch Blitz with them (which is kind of like playing Solitare but with others playing on your cards and you on theirs) and did our best to keep the game really slow so they would not be overwhelmed by the speed of play. Once we did a few hands of that, we then brought out the big guns and played Pit.  If you've ever played Pit,  you know it can be obnoxiously loud and fun.  We did our best to break them in slowly before getting too rambunctious but then after a few hands we let it all hang out.  We were laughing hard before too long and when Nelly said it was time for them to go, eleven year old Daniella was sorely disappointed and wanted to play just one more hand. 

The whole night was a really sweet affair--what stood out though and will stick with me the most was the way in which Nelly's face lit up when I gave her the tour of our little house (1000 square feet) with it's painted cinderblock walls and write tile floors.  To us it's a real downgrade from our home in the states, but to Nelly who lives in a one-room apartment up on the roof of an apartment building,  it's a mansion.  Nelly's bathroom is not connected to her little home.  She has to walk outside to reach it.  She does her laundry in a sink on the roof as she looks down on the people below.  Then she hangs her laundry out to dry on one of the many clothes lines that hang across the length of the flat roof.  And, her place only has room enough for a double bed, stove, small fridge, table, and a clothes rack--there's not even a closet.  The place she and Daniella live in is approximately the size of our master bedroom here.  So, when I gave my dear friend the tour, she thought I lived in luxury--and when I thought about the tour she gave me when I visited her at home a couple of months ago--I knew she was right.

We are blessed beyond measure.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings, kim

Hiking

Today we were invited to go on a hike that was about 45 minutes from our house.  It was up in the Andes Mountains just where the climate is cooler and the terrain is more like mountains than jungle.   We headed out of our house at 9:00 a.m. (forgoing church for probably the first time in I'm not sure how long), and we reached our destination about an hour later.  Once we all assembled, which took a while since in our group we had two infants, one toddler, two preschoolers, our youngest three kids, and eight adults including two that were sixty--sixteen of us in all, we took a bus about 3 or so miles away from our parked cars so that we could catch a 'tarabita' (cablecar) ride across a huge gorge.  We wanted to hike on the opposite side of the gorge and make our way back to the car.  Our friend told us that he'd taken this route about 20 times previously so he knew it well and we'd enjoy this hour and a half hike. 

We somewhat reluctantly took the cablecar ride (the drop from there is very, very far below) across and then we began our hike.  Two from our party decided to take the zipline across instead so we waited for them on the other side. (This is what the 'safer' cablecar ride looks like.)

Jacobey had wanted to take the zipline as well but we discouraged our fearless child from making the trip that way.  This is the view that we were headed toward on our way across:

And this is the view as we looked to the side on the way across:

It was a beautiful view--as long as you weren't distracted by the dangerous drop.  Below is the Pastaza River which comes from quite a distance away and heads very far into the interior of Ecuador. 

 

Once our friends finally crossed the gorge, we all began the journey heading east back toward our car.  If you look at the above picture again, you'll see that the area on the right is where we hiked heading away from the camera, following the river.  What we thought would be an hour and a half hike turned out to be more like four and a half hours.  It was on a pathway that at times really was only as wide as our own bodies, or was along the side of a fairly steep drop down the mountain, or took us through the muddiest terrain in which we at times had to tug our shoes to pull them free from the suction of such thick stuff.  Thankfully we took plenty of snacks, a quite agreeable group of kids, and lots of sunscreen.  The weather cooperated, and we saw no animals with the exception of a few cows, a donkey, a family of turkeys (perfect timing for November), and lots of moths. 

We actually ended up on some man's property--we thought the trail took us through there so we stopped in to say hi.  He ended up charging us a dollar/family for our funny detour but we didn't mind too much because he shared some great homegrown fruit with us.  We call it snotfruit because the seeds inside have the consistency of such, but that's not it's real name.  Regardless, it was a nice way to take a rest and to chat with one of the locals. 

 

The kids really were little troopers. We walked about five kilometers or more which is roughly three miles (I'm guessing it's a bit more though) along the side of the mountain and they were content till just about near the end.  When we finally reached our destination--at 3:30!--we decided to have lunch at the only place available which sold fresh fried trout--head and all.  We ordered twelve plates so they got their nets out and caught the fish right then out of their trout holding tank.  The food was great and we scarfed down every last bite--I draw the line at the eyes--I won't eat those.  This is Sethy showing off my fish with only the tail, head, and connecting spine left.

We finally took another cablecar ride to get back across the gorge and so I captured a photo of the late afternoon sunshine on the western mountains as we rode across:

Though it was a very long day and we were all zapped at the end, we had had a terrific time and felt like we'd gotten to see a part of Ecuador that we'd not experienced before.  It was great.  Thanks for reading.

Blessings, kim