January 2016

The theme song I have chosen this month is all about taking chances. New adventures require taking that first scary step and watching doors magically  open. The adventure will not begin until you take the plunge of that first step .Bill and I are now in our third year in Ecuador.  If  we had not taken that first step we would have missed out on the greatest adventure of a life time.

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Hello  Children Greetings

Recently, on my daily walk accompanied by my walking buddies a huge commercial type truck rolled by us filled to the brim with school children  dressed in their school uniforms. They were standing, heads bobbing up and down  and waving wildly at us while the truck rambled past us.  They reminded me of a load of wiggling  playful puppies. They were all laughing and yelling hello  to us. You see the children learn English in school and love to practice on us!  All of a sudden the truck came to a stop to wait for 2 students that were late and running to the truck but not without first waving to us and yelling  hello. I wonder where they are going. Perhaps a field trip? Of course you would never see children traveling in a truck like this in the United States.

The school children are smartly dressed in their school uniforms. The color and pattern of the uniform depicts the school that they attend. The  parents pay for uniforms  and they certainly are not inexpensive. They learn at an early age to take pride in their appearance.  No jeans down to their knees and underwear showing in this proud county. The children behave and it is a rare event to hear a child cry in public. It reminds me of the simpler time in my youth and the core values my parents taught me.

Hello 2016!

I sat high on the mountain top of Ibarra and  I felt I was on top of the world. In the picture below you can even see a hang glider.

 I was not feeling well  on New Year’s Eve so I stayed warm in front of a glowing fireplace and encouraged Bill to join our friends for dinner.   I could watch from my vantage point on the sofa the colorful bursts of  fireworks exploding all over the city. No champagne toast for me that evening.

At midnight I did toss into the fireplace 2 little effigies that I had made out of the inner roll of toilet  paper. I wrote little messages and placed inside each effigies with hopes for a wonderful new year and burning any of the bad experience of the past year. This is a tradition in Ecuador kind of like out with the old and in with the new. Then I chanted “burn baby burn” as they smoldered and finally caught fire.

Hello Adventure

We were so surprised to discover a little German Restaurant located near the lake in Ibarra. So with 14 of our best friends we loaded up Milton’s Rabbit in search of German Food.  I learned that Finca Sommerwind  is an international campground near Yahuarcocha Lake (Blood Lake). You might wonder why the reference to Blood Lake.  There is violent history to this now peaceful lake setting. As the story goes the Inca Huayna Capac gained revenge in a battle killing all of the Caraqui men over 12 years of age. The slaughtered bodies were then thrown into the lake and the water turned red with blood.

Turns out Finca Sommerwind is the first and only officially registered campsite in North Ecuador by the Ministero de Tourismo Ecuador.   The owner and his wife decided to move from Germany  to Ecuador for the same reason most expats relocate. They purchased the land  built their campsite completed with a café and cabanas.  The food was very nice and the service even better. I loved dining under the blue sky shaded with a canopy of trees.  We meet campers that had traveled from Seattle, Washington.   There is even a motorcycle raceway across the highway and we enjoyed watching the impromptu racing.   Wow, we just discovered another little hidden treasure in Ecuador. Who would have ever imagined German Food and International Campground in Ecuador?

Hello New Side Walks

The new year brings construction all over Cotacachi with tearing up old sidewalks for replacement. While this is wonderful since there are so many sidewalk hazards. I wonder why they have demolished every side-walk in town all at the same time? Stay tuned for a picture of the finished product in the months to follow.

Hello Billy Boy’s Birthday

Last year Bill had a huge birthday celebration at La Mirage. This year we decided to celebrate with just the two of us at La Mirage. We sat down at our favorite table and found a nice bottle of wine waiting of us compliments of the owners. Of course the Texas and USA flags were proudly displayed on our table . Then courtesy of the management we received my favorite to die for margarita’s. Strange, I mentioned to Bill as we entered the gates of La Mirage that I would like to have a margarita before we had lunch. La Mirage serves the best margarita that I have ever experienced. I gave Bill a gift certificate to attend the La Mirage Cooking Class which he is something he has wanted to do ever since we discovered La Mirage. Of course lunch was fantastic as well as a surprise birthday cake. We were then invited to visit with friends in the La Mirage Bar for an after dinner drink.  Life just does not get any better than spending time with our friends from La Mirage. The reason we purchased our home was because is was just out the back gate, through the cow pasture and down a little dirt road where we enter the La Mirage grand gates to paradise. Enjoy the sideshow below of Billy Boy’s Birthday.

 

Hello Friends

 

Hugs to Family & Friends