Greetings Everyone and Anyone who cares to read this,

Today, December 20, 2008 is the 39th anniversary of my ordination. I have never made a big deal of the anniversary of my ordination, like some do. Scottie always remembered it with a card and a gift and that meant a lot. God how I miss her!!

All that is really important to me on this anniversary each year other than sharining it with her, is to celebrate the Eucharist on the Sunday closest to December 20 and just give thanks for my priesthood. My priesthood has defined my life; it is what I was born to be.

Just as important to me is as the anniversary of my ordination, though is thecelebration of the Christmas Eve Mass each year. EWvery Christmas Eve I approach the altar in the procession at that Mass I pause and just give thanks for my priesthood. And I always remember that first Christmas Mass in 1969. My first Mass in Aliquippa that first Christmas was special and every year as I come to the altar on Christmas Eve and pause I always remember how blessed and overwhelmed I felt that night.

It was just five days after my ordination and eight days after the birth of our first child, Christie. Scottie had just come home from the hospital on Dedcmeber 22. I was still skinny, and Scottie and I were so very young. Surely back then of we had no idea of the adventures that lie ahead. Since then Scottie's father died in '72 an we took the giant leap of faith of moving to Tucsion, Arizona in '74; we lost two children at or near birth; we had another son, Mike, in January of '82; I started law school in August of '82 and graduated in '85. I practice law for almost 20 years, and continued my priesthood during that same period as well. In 2002 I went to Good Shepherd as an interim rector and became Rector in January 2004. Shortly thereafter we discovered Scottie was dying of cancer and for four long years we fought for her life. In November of last year I lost her. After 41 years of marriage, not counting all those years we knew each other growing up, I am now alone. I have had the chane to make two mission trips to Africa and I spent 2 month on sabbitical in Ecuador this year with a 10 day side trip to Peru. I have become a photographer of some significant skill level; and now I am about to retire. It has been one hell of a trip.

Last Christmas I did not celebrate the Eucharist, since I was on my sabbatical following Scottie's death. The kids and I were all up in Estes Park that Christmas, thanks to the loving gift of our dear friends, Gini and Bob Pringle, who offered us the use of their home there to ease the pain of that Christmas. That gift eased the pain far more than we could ever have imagined. We went to church in Estes Park that Christmas Eve, but I did not celebrate. That is the only Christmas in 39 years I did not say Mass on Christmas.

I will celebrate this Christmas Mass knowing that it will be my LAST one as Rector of Good Shepherd. There will be a big lump in my throat and a tear in my eye I am sure. I have not yet announced my retirement to the parish and if anyone reads this before I make an announcement, which will be right after Christmas, please respect my need to keep this in confidence until then. Surely I will continue to have chances to celebrate Christmas Eve at other churches as I will continue to work part-time wherever the diocese might wish to send me. And I don't mean to minimize the gratitude I will have for those opportunities. But celebrating the Eucharist on Christmas Eve in your own parish has been a special blessing that only someone in my place might appreciate.

I have been blessed with the chance to have some marvelous parishes over these many years and every year on Christmas Eve when I approadch the altar in the procession I feel a special joy and gratitude for being called to be a priest among the marvelous people God has given me.

How well I remember that first Christmas Eve and arriving home after that first late Christmas Mass. Scottie had set out some snacks, because she knew how tired I would be when I got home and she knew that I can never just jump into bed after getting home late. She got out that first bottle of Harvey's Bristol Cream that Bob and Grace Jones had delivered to our house that same afternoon, and we had the first of what wwas to be the first of a very special Christmas Eve tradition; snacks and a glss or two of Harvey's Bristol Creme late on Christmas Eve, really very early on Christmas Day. I will continue that tradition even this year when there will be just Mike and I alond here. Come to think of it I will ask Kevin to buy some for Christie so she, and he, can have a glass "with me" even though they cannot be here this year. I think she would like that since she has become such an important part of that tradition in recent years, especially those years when Scottie was not well.

After writing all of this I think I will resume this blog as I begin my retirement and just let anyone who is interested drop in if they wish. And if no one wishes to, that's OK too, 'cause just the writing of it will be of value to me as I start this new chapter of this adventure called "my life".

Love to you all,

Glenn+

Dinner with the Tobins

Last evening Rob and Linda Tobin, their two children, Emil and Drew, and Rob's Mom, Lois came to visit. They are on a swing through the west and they came through Phoenix to visit me and it was such a delight to spend time with them. I fixed dinner, steaks, asparagus, salad and brownies for desert and that was the first time I have tried to entertain that way. It was a milestone for me.
All went quite well. The steaks were a little rare, but everyone was very polite and said that is how they like their steaks. The kids loved the pool and we had a great time sipping wine and snacking before dinner and relaxing after dinner.
I did learn somethings though by virtue of having the whole process of prepaing the house and he meal, etc. What I learned is that I could have been a lot more helpful to Scottie whenever she prepared to have people for dinner. I was always a little indifferent about how the house looked or whether the front walk was swept off, etc. Now I realize how much it meant to her to have the house looking nice for company and how much work it is to get it ready and to prepare and serve and clean up a meal for 7 people. I could have helped a lot more than I did and been more sensitive to how much it meant to her to have everything as nice as possible. I am not beating myself up iover it, it is just one of those things you learn and wixh you had learned it sooner. Mike helped a great deal and Linda helped a lot also. But still and all it was a humbling lesson for me in some ways. On the other hand, I also felt some real pride that I did it all and that it all went so smoothly and I really enjoyed doing it. So it was a great experience for me and one I will look forward to repeating again.
The flagstone patio is still in process. Diego comes and works a few hours each afternoon and he thinks he will get it all finished tomorrow. It will really be fantastic to have it done and I know it will be beautiful.
Tomorrow evening Tom and Carol Goretzki are coming over to see the house and then we are going out for dinner. Keeping in contact with them is really important to me, and I am anxious to show them the new? house.
Earlier today I worked on one of the photos I took at Bosque del Apache the last time I ws there in 2007. It is a rich image of blue sky and blue water shot at dawn with just a hint of first light in the sky. The image is really about the various textures and tomes of blue in the water and in. the sky. I enlarged it to 36"x24" and took it to be printed earlier this afternoon. They should have the print ready to review on Tuesday and assuming it comes out OK I will have it mounted on a museum mount and I plan to hang it in the master bedroom on the wall over the bed. I think it will be beautifl there. I still have to get a queen size bed ( I just have my twin size bed in there now, and frankly it looks a little funny). I will get a new bed after Mike moves out. After he leaves I plan to take my twin size bed and make it inot a day bed in what is now Mike's room and then get a queen size bed for the master bedroom. Slowly things will all come together I am sure.
Well that is it for today. this evening I hope to get some more reading done. I am reading Scott McClellan's book on the lies about the war and other deceipts perptrated by theBush White House and it is fascinating.
Adios for now.
Glenn+

Back at the blog again

For some time I have been thinking of getting back ito keeping up my blog. I don't have a set urpose in doing so, like I did on my trip to Ecuador. but maybe I'll just start jotting down what I am doing and reading and learning and thinking. This could be dangerous. Opening up your mind to others can be a very scary thing, but I think I'll give it a try and se what happens.

This is what is on my mind today; ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!!
To begin with, I just finished the most recent book by Bishop John Shelby Spong, the retired Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Newark and probably the most controversial theologian, author and lecturer I know of. I have read several of his book. His most recent and the one I just finised is titled: Jesus for the Non-religious. If you are not familial with Bishop Spong I can briefly tell you that he is a biblical scholar and theologian and what makes him so controversial is that he declares that though Jesus was a real person of history who was killed by the Romans, and through who God was present is a most intense manner, all of the proclamations about him in the new testament, virgin birth, the miracles, even the crucifixion, the resurrection and the ascension are not historical events, rather they are pre-modern, pre-scientific stories rooted in the Jewish liturgical trqdition told to try to explain the un-explainable, to express the un-expressable and communicate that which is beyond the frame of human thought, which is the experience of the unique presence of God in the humanity of Jesus. He is passionate in his devotion to and proclamation of the reality of God, not as a personified character who intervenes in our lives. but who is our very lives themselves. He is in the line of thinking of Paul Tillich who declared God not to be "a being" but rather to be "the ground of all being".

One may or may not agree with Bishop Spong on many of his ideas, but it is a great experience to hear him out and wrestle with his perspectives. As I read the book I was moved by his description of how to live passionately in the mystery of God. He expresses it this way:
Live fully, Love wastefully and Be all you can be.

The book concludes with a poem written by a lady named, Lucy Negus, after she had heard one of his sermons and I find the poem worthy of pondering:

Christpower

Look at him!

Look not at his divinity,

but look, rather, at his freedom.

Look not at the exaggerated tales of his power,

but, look, rather, at his infinite capacity to give himself away.

Look not at the first-century mythology that surrounds him,

but look rather at his courage to be,

his ability to live and

the contageous quality of his love.

Stop your frantic serach!

Be still and know that this is God:

this love

this freedom,

this being;

And,

when are accepted, accept yourself;

when you are forgiven, forgive yourself;

when you are loved, love yourself.

Grasp that Christpower

and dare to be

yourself!

Ya' know, after all, our life is in Christ, not the stories about Him. I came to know him first, not through the stories about him, but through the love of certain people who entered my life. I discovered a divine presence in them that they imparted to me. Having encounterd that divine presence on some people, I found that it was present in all people, and not just in people, but in everything that surrounded me. I discovered I live on God as a fish lives in the sea. God is all that I am, all that I came from, all that fills me and surrounds me, and at death into him I shall desolve and become one. The stories in the Bible are a guide as to how to intensify my awaremenss of him within myself and how to enhance my expression of that presence in what I do and say.

In this regard I agree completely with Bishop Spong, God cannot be captured in any story or doctrine or theology. All expressions of and about God are flawed and finite. God is perfect and infinite beyond infinite. My awareness of God is always present, it is beyond faith or believing, it is the way I experience life, and all the other stuff about God is subject to change.

Getting Ready to Leave

¨Hola¨ Y´all,

You may notice that just as I am about to leave Ecuador I have leqrned how to use the apostrophe (on at least this keyboard, anyway). Each keyboard here is different as regards some of these little things.

This is probably the last blog I will post from Ecuador. Tomorrow is packing day and I leave early Wednesday morning and I have to be at the airport here at 6:30 AM.

I had a great trip to Otovalo this weekend. The shopping was great fun and I found a little restaurant there that had a group that played Andean folk music in the evenings.
Sunday morning I took a taxi to Ibarra, a town about a half hour north of Otovalo and went to chrich at the Episcopal church there. The church was virtually full with about 100 people I would guess. The priest there is a very good preacher and gave the best sermon I have heard since I got here. The music however, left a lot to be desired. While the priest is a good preacher, he is tone deaf and, shall I say, he is rhythmicly challenged as well. He just can´t follow a beat. And on top of it all he sings far too loud for one who is way off pitch and way off beat. I guess he sings loud because no one else sings. And I suspect they don´t sing because they can´t follow the priest. In fact the music in every church has been ¨challenging¨ in one way or another, to say the least.

After church I took the bus back to Quito. I had not problems on the bus this time. I made the decision not to take a camera, just to reduce the stress of the trip. There were some times I wished I had had it, because there are many indigenous people there and they are fascinating in their traditional clothing. But on balance I know I made the right decision.

I met an Australian couple in Otovalo and had lunch with them in a little restaurant near the market. I asked them if they had visited the animal market, that I had visited on my first trip to Otovalo. They said they had been there and really enjoyed it. As a joke I asked if they bought any animals, and to my complete surprise they said, ¨Well, as a matter of fact, we did!¨ Apparently they bought a little piglet from a lady, took come pictures of it and them promptly re-sold it again. They said they lost $1.00 in the transactions, but had a great time doing it. What a riot!! Aussies are just a different breed, that is all I can say.

I will wash clothes today from my weekend trip and lay out everything. I need to see how it all looks when I add in the stuff I bought here to see what fits in my luggage and what doesn´t. Then I will have to make some choices. Some of the clothes I brought are old junky things that I have multile versions of at home. If dumping some of that stuff will allow me to avoid having to buy another suitcase, and pay the extra airline fee, I will do that. If that isn´t enough I will have to go buy another suitcase and pay the extra luggage charge. Paying the extra charges is only part of the matter. I fly from Quito to Miami and change planes there for my flight to Phoenix. In Miami, I will have to reclaim all of my checked luggage, go through Customs (those lovely people) then re-check it all for the flight to Phoenix. Having extra luggage in that circus is not fun.

Bishop Ramos has offered me the use of his chauffer to take me to the airport. That is a wonderful thing. It saves me from having to stand on the street with multiple suitcases, etc, and flag down a taxi at 6:00 AM in the morning. He truly is a terrific person. Tomorrow evening I am having supper at Chris and Trish´s house with the Bishop. It will be a great ¨farewell¨evening.


I will not try here to sum up this blessed experience. It will take me some time to sift through it and reflect on it all. It has been a journey of the heaart and soul as well as a physical one. It has had some incredible highs and a few lows as well. Such is life no matter where you are. I am glad I will have this written record and my photos to help me relive it all for a long time to come.

I thank you all for sharing this journey with me. I have felt your prayers and and your spirits and hearing from some of you that you have enjoyed this journal has given me a great deal of pleasure.

Figuratively speaking, I have been ¨on top of the world¨, while, quite literally, I have been here at the ¨Middle of the World¨. And I am ready to return to be ¨on top of the world¨ there as well.

Love to you all,
and for the last time,
Adios from Ecuador,
Glenn+

A Little ¨Last Minute¨ Shopping

Hello Everyone,
It has been raining A LOT here in Quito the last few days. It starts about mid-afternopon and it rains until sometime in the ¨wee-small¨ hours of the morning. Even the locals say that this year´s rainy season has been worse than usual. There is flooding in many areas, and the President of Ecuador has declared the entire country under an emergency in order to release funds to help those whose lives, livelihoods and homes have been wiped out. All of the damage is in parts of the country other than Quito and the northern highlands where I have been visiting and will visit this weekend.
The idea of going to the Amazon this weekend has been changed. The accident that Chris had that demolished his vehicle took away the primary means of traveling there. We looked into renting a vehicle, but it really is not practical. So, I decided to go back to Otovalo this weekend and go to the fantastic artisans market there and get a few final gifts before I get ready to leave next week. The weekend market there fills up a huge portion of the town and they have things there that are not easily found other places, and the prices are far below what you would pay if you did find them here in Quito.
Also there is an American couple I met there and I will try to lok them up again. I had oiginally met them on my first trip to Otovalo and we made arrqangements to meet again at a sports bar here in Quito to watch the Super Bowl together. They had given me their phone number on a napkin at the bar. Now I can´t find the napkin, but I may be able to find them as they are pretty well know in Otovalo.
I decided not to take my camera on this trip. I would like to but I don´t expect I would get any award winning shots and I can´t take the risk with the only camera I have left.
I would be less than honest if I did not say that between getting sick last weekend and having my camera stolen this week, I am a little ¨bummed out¨ right now. I try not to let it get to me, but in all truth at times it really does. This is such a gorgeous country with so many wonderful people and places, but it is still a third world country with all of the risks and problems that are what make it a third world country. You have to admire those who, like Bishop Ramos and Chris and Trish Morck, willingly accept these risks and problems as a way of life in order to extend the church and make life better for those who live here. They have each endured serious auto accidents, illnesses like mine-and probably worse- all simply to serve the Lord and make the world a better place. They, and so many others around the world, whose names we will never know, could so easily just stay in the comfort and security of the good old US of A and ¨talk the talk¨. I cannot help but be inspired by their dedication, courage and faith, and that will stay with me long after I have left Ecuador.
Well, I need to get ready to go to the bus station and head to Otovalo.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

A Few Days in the Cloud Forest of Mindo

Greetings to Y´all.
I just had a wonderful two days in Mindo and enjoyed the tranquil, warm climate. Mindo is a funny little town. First it is very small. There is one main street and there is so little traffic on it that most people just walk in the middle of the street. It reminds me so much of the mythical town in Alaska in the TV series ¨Northern Exposure¨.
In Mindo there is a doctor in town who is there on a one year requirement of doing rural medicie for a year before you can get your medical license. She is a very young, very nice, single young lady who lives at the hotel where I stayed. There is a Sheriff and a police station in town, but often no one is in their offices. Everyone in town knows everyone else. Everyone lives off of the tourism. The town is full of unique ¨personalities¨ with the kind of curious tensions between the personalities that would be a perfect model for a new TV series on this small town near the equator in Ecuador. The could call it ¨Mitad del Mundo¨, Middle of the Earth.

Unfortunately the trip was not without its difficulties. On the bus from Quito to Mindo one of my cameras and a lens were stolen, and most unfortunate of all the camera was my 5D, my best, most expensive camera. It was literally stolen right out from under me too. When I got on the bus I put my camera backpack under my seat. Apparently the person behind me slid the backpack from under my seat just enough to open it and snatch the camera. I didn´t discover it until I was about to go to bed the first night in Mindo. I made a police report, but that is all I can do. The brighter side of it all, if there is one, is: a) it happened near the end of my trip instead of at the beginning, b) there was no violence involved, c) they did not take the whole back pack, so I still have a camera and two of my lenses, and d) they did not take the device that holds all of the photos from this trip.
Well, other than that, it was a fine trip, very relaxing, and I enjoyed being with my friends who own the hotel.
I need to get some groceries, so ¨adios¨ for now.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

My Last Full Week in Ecuador

Greetings all,
The calendar is closing in on my return date of March 5. This is my last full week in Ecuador and I feel very mixed emotions. I have enjoyed virtually every minute. I say virtually and will explain that in a minute. And I inted to enjoy these last few days to the fullest. Today I am going back to Mindo to spend a little time with some friends I made there and to photograph the fabulous butterfly farms they have there. I may also get another chance to photograph some exotic birds there.
I attended the diocesan convention on Friday and it was very interesting and a valuable experience. Their convention is incredibly small, compared to ours. There are about 40 delegates including both clergy and lay. Consequently everthing is done much more informally. Interestingly they were revising their Constitution and Canons and I learned that those have to be approved by the Ecuadorean Government. I did not have a chance to get more info about that, for reasons that will become clear below, but I am curious about this. Much of their time was spent trying to restructure the subdivisions of the diocese, which they call districts. They have the same issues Arizona has had to deal with over the last three plus decades that I have been in the diocese, that is: how to structure a diocese that has a large central locus and a number of small ¨rural¨ congregations that are separated by enormous distance and even culture.
And now to explain why I say I have enjoyed virtually every minute. Friday night when I arrived back at my apartment I felt ¨funny¨, like sick at my stomach funny, and within an hour I was really sick. I will spare the ugly details, suffice it to say it was one of those times when you are half afraid you will die, and half afraid you wont also. I didn´t sleep at all Friday night. By Saturday morning the ¨action¨ had pretty much stopped and I got some sleep. I slept all day Saturday and Saturday night and Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon I began to feel a lot better and today I feel FINE.
I have decided to follow through with my plans to go to Mindo. It is a very laid back place, much quieter and warmer than my apartment, much lower in altitude ( about 4000 feet, as apposed to 10,000 feet here) the hotel is very comfortable, and I know all of the food there is sanitary ( I am a little ¨gun shy¨ about that right now). So since I feel well, AND I REALLY DO FEEL FINE NOW, going there for a few days seems like a very good idea.
I am still not sure if our plans to go to the Amazon this weekend will work out. That is still on the drawing board. We will just have to see.
Well, Adios for now.
Glenn+

A QUICK NOTE

Hello Everyone,
I just thought I´d post a quick note to let everone know I am fine and that this whole week I am working on my Spanish. My classes are in the afternoon and I do my studies in the morning. That is the schedule Monday through Thursday this week. I must say that the classes have been fabulous. In fact I have been having this strange experience where I get into a pattern of thinking in Spanish and when I need to think of a word in English, that I otherwise could think of with no effort, I can´t think of it. My abililty to undertand Spanish televison has also increased tremendously. If they are on a topic where I know the vocabulary I can follow just about everyting that is being said. That is a huge improvement.
The young lady who is my tutor has a sister who is living in Colorado Springs, working as a Nanny in order to improve her English. What a small world.
It has been raining and cold here all week. Standing in the pouring rain waiting for a taxi is just not a part of our life in Arizona. It is a routine part of life here.
I am looking forward to the Diocesan Convention here on Friday and Saturday. Following what goes on there will be a true test of my Spanish.
Well, that is about it for now. I just wanted to send a quick note, I need to ge back to finishing my homework for my class this afternoon.
Adios Amigos,
Glenn+

El Oso Perezoso

This has been a very wet, and bone-chilling weekend. It was a great weekend to just do very little and do it slowly. The Title above says The Lazy Bear and that has been me this weekend. I have taken a few long walks between the rain showers, but mostly I have stayed close to the apartment, napped a little, watched a little soccer from Spain and Chile--you know you can really get hooked on this game--cooked most of my meals in the apartment, and in general just allowed myself time to recover from my trip to Peru. Since it was raining preyty hard yesterday morning, I decided I wait and try to go to church at 6:00 PM at Cristo Librador. At 5:30 it was raining even harder, so my daily Moning Prayer and meditation was my church yesterday.
I waked up this morning feeling so refreshed and I am really looking forward to these last few weeks here.
Here is summary of my plans for the balance of my time here. This week I have Spanish classes every day Monday through Thursday. Then on Friday and Saturday this diocese has its annual diocesan convention and I will attend the convention and perhaps have some role as well. I am having supper this evening with the Bishop and one of the things we will talk about is the convention.
Next Sunday or Monday I plan to go back to Mindo and visit agqain with some friends I made there when I was ethere a few weeksw ago. I will return to Quito on Tueday or Wednesday and on Friday Chris Morck and his family and I will go to Puyo, a town in the Amazon where the diocese has a church. We will visit the church there, see a little of the Amazon region of Ecuador and return to Quito on Monday. Then I stqrt to pack up because the following Wednesday I leave Ecuador and return home. These last few weeks will fly by I am sure.
Christie and Kevin are coming home the weekend of March 14 -17, and it will be great to be able to share so much of what I have done with them. Mike is doing so much better and seems to have his mygraines well under control
I have never been homesick at any time during this trip. But I am starting to yearn for those people and things that are HOME for me. Of course I miss my family, and I am really looking forward to seeing them soon. I miss Scottie terribly and I still have some teary times now and then when I think of her, and I suspect I always will. I am looking forward to getting back to church and being with, and WORSHIPPING with my spiritual family. I have especially missed the feeling I get when I worship with the people of GSH. There is nothing comparable. There are a few other things that I am beginning to long for: one is FLAT LAND, not having to go up and own stairs all day long, another is SMOOTH SIDEWALKS, walking without having to watch constantly for things that you can trip on or fall into, then is KNOWING THAT A PUBLIC BATHROOM WILL HAVE A TOILET SEAT, most here do not, another is BRUSHING MY TEETH WITH TAP WATER, the joy of using bottled water all the time wears off after a while, still another and a huge one at that is DRIVING OR RIDING IN TRAFFIC WITHOUT MY HEART IN MY THROAT, I have said enough about this before .
Though I am not homesick, I am beginning to think of those things and people that make up my day to day life that I associate with HOME. I take that as a good sign that this has been a fabulous trip, I have healed and grown in many, many ways and soon it will be time to return to the life God has called me to, and that I love so much.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

¨HOME¨ IN QUITO

Hello everyone,
I am back ¨home¨ in Quito and now I can catch you all up on a lot of stuff that I couldnt while I was in Peru. The internet access was very limited there, either by time or quality or both in most of the places I stayed.
This may turn out to be a fairly long entry and I will try to break it up in segments to make it easier to read and/or to return to later if you dont want to read the whole thing in one sitting.

MORE ABOUT COLCA CAÑON:
There was so much that I experienced on the trip to Colca Cañon that I didnt have time to share. Some has to do with the animals. Before I went on that rip I couldnt tell an Alpaca from a Vicuña from a Viscacha. I would guess many of you cant either. Vicuñas are pary of the camel family of animals, like Camels, Alpacas and Llamas. The differences are: Vicuñas are a wild, they only come in one color and they have a slightly smaller body and a longer neck that Alpacas or Llamas. Vicuñas are tan all over with white bellies. Alpacas and Llamas look a lot alike and frankly I am still not sure which is which. Vicuña fur is one of, if not the most valuable, of furs. The wild vicuñas are captured and carefully sheared leaving the animal enough fur to keep warm in the high altitudes where they live. A Viscacha, I learned, is a rodent that lives in the high altitudes and it is the size and shape of a rabbit. It even has long ears, shaped slightly different from rabbit ears, but very long nonetheless. And, they have a long tail that they flip around like a squirrels tail only it isnt furry tail like a squirrel, it just has a little tuft on the end. They are very fast and hide among the rocks and I never could get a photo of one.
The condors we saw were incredilbe. Andean Condors are about the same size as California Condors with a wing span of 9-10 feet. However, the Andea condor has a very prominent white collar around its neck. Their red, bald heads, white collars and black bodies with large white stripes that run the length of their huge wings, makes them an incredible sight.

MORE ABOUT CUSCO:
I did not quite appreciate Cusco enough when I was there. In large part because by the time we got there I had flown to Lima, taken an early flight to Arequipa, toured Arequipa, left at 6:00 AM or so to go to Colca Cañon, where we were kept awake during most of the night by the drums and flutes celebration Carnival, hiked around at 14,000 feet, then back to Arequipa and another early flight to Cusco. So, I needed a day or so to slow down in Cusco.
But, Cusco was the capital of the Inca Empire that ran from Ecuador through Peru and into Chile. Cusco was regarded by the Inca culture and religion as the belly-button of the earth. When the Spanish conquered the Inca they razed the Inca religous sights and built lavish, extravagant church and cathedrals over them to show that Christianity was superior of Inca religion. Yet when you tour some of those churchs and cathedrals and see some of the religious art you see how the decendents of the Incas sublity added native and Inca symbols into the art in the churches. For example in a painting of the last supper there in the middle of the table where the main course would be was a guinea pig (a delicacy for indigenous people here) on a plate. The main crucifix has Jesus with the facial features of an Inca, and so on. This relatonship is depicted wonderfully on a T-shirt I saw on a lady at the airport yesterday. When I saw it I laughed out loud and hope I can find one somewhere. I cannot describe it here, due to its somewhat adult content, but if you ask me personally I will be happoy to describe it for you.

MACHU PICCHU:
Machu Picchu means ¨old mountain¨ in the Quechua language, the language of the natives in Peru. You take a train from Cusco to Aguas Calientes that last about 3.5-4 hours. It is a fantastic trip with scenery that is absolutely breath-taking. We had assigned seats on the train and when I found my seat the person sitting next to me had a huge Nikon digital camera, one of the most expensive professional models they make. I knew immediately this was going to be a fun ride. He was from Australia and was taking 6 months to travel around the world photographing. The scenery along the way was beautiful, and frustrating at the same time. We, my new Aussy friend and I, kept wanting the train to stop so we could take pictures. We did the best we could shooting through the train window though.
We arrived at Aguas Cailintes (literally Hot Waters), the town at the foot of the mountain complex where Machu Picchu is located. Our luggage was taken to our hotels while we were herded onto buses for the 20-25 minute ride up the mountain. The problem was we didnt know to expect that we would not go to our hotels first. So we had to hurridly think about what we wanted to take up to Machu--jackets? which one? rain gear? mosquito spray? which camera or cameras and lenses? etc. What resulted was I, and most of us, took too much and regretted it when we started to hike the endless stairs at Macchu.
We were broken into groups based on langauge preference and off we went. The bus snakes up a serpentine road just wide enough for 1 1/2 buses, which made for some interesting encounters with buses coming down. We all survived.
At the top we got off the buses and were about to enter. The entrance to Machu is a little like the entrance to the zoo, any zoo--boothes hocking all kinds of stuff from bottles of water, bug spray, plastic panchos and endless memorabilia. You go past that, and go through to ticket booth. At the ticket both they check your camera. I did not know until that moment that they do not allow professional cameras into Machu as they assume they are for commercial purposes. My cameras passes inspection, but I thought about my Aussy buddy and wondered what happened to him. I was later told they would let you in with a professional camera but you have to pay 800 Soles (the Peruvian dollar) which roughly equals about US $250.00, OUCH!!!
After you pass the ticket gate you walk along a walkway for about 75 yards with jungle growth along both sides, and suddenly without warning there you are, looking out over the city of Macchu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas, and you take a deep breath just stand there in wonder at what is infront of you, and your mind flashes to all of the National Geogaphics or other photos you have seen and you realize that no photo can convey what you see and feel.
Our guide started us up a long, and I do mean LONG, set of stairs that take about a half hour to climb to the upper of three levels--we had been on the mid-level as we entered. It quickly became obvious my legs could not make the trip. There are no hand rails, the stairs a just big round rocks, and even if I got up, Id never get down. Remember I am carrying way too much stuff--two cameras, three lenses and a back pack. So I stayed at the mid level while the rest of the tour went up. I walked around the mid-level and took a lot of pictures. About an hour later I met up with the group again and we toured some more of the mid-level. By that time we were ready for lunch and a break. The guide spoke to me and suggested I meet with her after lunch and we would walk back into Macchu and she would tell me what she had told ethe others while on the upper-level. She certainly did not have to do that. We did meet and she took all the time in the world to give me a very personal explanation of the history and culture of Machu Picchu. I will remember her kindness always.
I went back to my hotel a crashed.
The next day I went into Machu alone and went at my own pace and hiked all over the mid level and part way up the upper level also for about 4.5 hours. That is when I think I got the best photos.
When I finished I went back to Aguas Calientes, had a late lunch, walked around the markets there and took the 5:00 PM train to a town called Ollantaytambo where I was met by the van that took me back to Cusco. I got to Cusco about 9:00 PM and still had not had supper. I found a place to get supper and a Pisco Sour and crashed. At that point I decided to cancel the trip to Lake Titicaca and go to Lima instead. I made arrangements for a flight to Lima and went to the airport to wait. My flight was at 4:30 PM. At 6:00 PM after a number of delays they cancelled the flight and told us we all had to wait until the next day. They began the tediuous prcess of trying to get people hotel rooms and deal with the multiple problems people had with missed connections. Some people, more than just a few, were making connections in Lima with cruise ships to either go to Antarctica or the Panama Canal. For me this was an inconvenience, for some it was a disaster. The next day I got my flight to Lima, stayed at an fairly nice hotel, and started the process to try to change my flight to Quito so I wouldn´t arrive at midnight as currently scheduled. I got an earlier flight, landed in Quito in the early afternoon.
My apartment surely feels like a home away from home. The trip was marvelous in every way and i am ready to get back into the ¨routine¨ of my life here.

REFLECTIONS.
In my blog entries I have shared the things I have done and the places have been and the things I have seen. What is much harder to share is the experience of the people I meet along the way.
Traveling has many rewards and adventues, but one of the most enjoyable parts is the people you meet along the way. Fortunatley I can converse with people in either of two languages. This greatly expands my world. I am not only talking about meeting other tourists, who are mostly wonderful people, but there are others as well: cab drivers, people who work in the hotels and restaurants, the guides, the people you are standing next to in lines waiting to change airline tickets. These people are the color and texture of a place, and when they find out you care enough to learn their language, many of them warm up to you and share something of who they are, what their lives are like, and they ask about me and my life and about life in the US. These are not necesarily deep conversations, they are just the sharing of a few moments of our lives, and a few thoughts and feelings as we pass together through this mystery we call life. I will remember many things from my trip both here and in Peru, and I will forget many as well. But for a few brief moments with another person in another land, with another history and another culture shared a few precious moments of our lives and the said good bye, for ever. It reminds me that all of life, not just traveling, is mostly about the people we meet, share some time and some of ourselves and then say good bye, forever. As many of you know ¨good bye¨ comes from the old English ¨God bye you--God be with you¨. Similarly ¨Adios¨ means literally
¨A Dios¨--to God¨. We meet people, however briefly, and say good bye, giving one another to God.

Adios for now,
Glenn+

Hola de Cuzco

Good Morning Everyone.

As you may know from yesterdays blog I am now in Cuzco. Yesterday was a free day and frankly it was a kind of a long day. I spent the morning trying to contact the travel agent who arranged by trip to see if he could change my flight back to Quito from Lima, since as it is I will arrive in Quito at midnight. That means I wont get to may aopartment until almost 2:00AM. Unfortunately I could not reach him and I will try a little later. I spent th rest of the day just strolling around town.

Cuzco is a pretty large city. It has a beautiful old colonial center with some magniuficent looking old churches. It is a hard city to walk arround in though, because every sidewalk is up and down stairs, and after a few hours of that it takes its tole on me. By supper time my legs were pretty exhausted.

Every city and town in the third world has its people on the streets who try to sell you stuff, everything imaginable from towels and lottery tickets to sunglasses and hair dryers. Here the street vendors just sell mostly art and craft type stuff. What is different here is the volume of street vemdors and their persistence. They are thicker than flies, and a some dont take no for an answer easily. It really is different here in that respect, and unlike most other places, frankly here they are really annoying.

Last night I was very tired and went to bed about 8:00 PM and slept until 4:00 AM. When I woke up I looked out the window from my hotel room. It looks out over one of the plazas here and I have a great view of the facade of one of the museums. The way it was litghted up was beautiful, so I decided to grab a quick shower and take my camera and see what else might look good in the dark. It was a great idea and I found some great light on some terrific subjects. I came back to the hotel and had breakfast abot 5:00 and went back out to shoot some more as the sun was coming up. It was terrific.

I will stroll around town some more this morning and then this afternoon I have a planned tour of the city that will run until supper time.

Tomorrow I have to be ready to be picked up at 5:00 AM to go to the train to Machu Picchu.

Machu is quite a bit lower in elevation, and closer to the jungle. They say it is very humid and there arethere are lots of mosquitos. I need to pick up some repellant and pack a small bag of stuff for my one nigjhts stay at a little village near Machu, called Aguas Calientes. I will arrive at Machu aboiut mid day tomorrow and have the rest of that day at Machu. I will stay over night at Aguas calientes and return to

Well, I will stop there for now. I will probably make my next entry after going to Machu.

Adios for now,

Glenn+

Back to Arequipa, The White City

Dear Everyone,

Since my last entry I have had problems with the internet access at every place >I have been. So I will do my best to try to catch you up.

I had a great flight from Lima to Arequipa, was met promptly and professionally at the airport and taken to my hotel which was lovely, except that their internet didnt work. I was then taken on a tour of Arequipa, which is called the White City. It has that name because it is in the heart of volcano country and during the Colonial Period, when Spain was colonizing South America volcanic rock is the most prevalent building material avaiable. Here the volcanic rock is white and virtuially all of the buildings are built of white volcanic stone--hence, The White City.

I had a lovely dinner and the next morning I was picked up early and taken to a village near Colca Cañon. The village is called Chivay and it is exactly what you would picture a small Andean village being--a csmall central square with the Church on one edge of the square and the municipal building on the opposite side of the square. It was a 5 hour drive to get to Chivay and along the way we went up to 15,000 feet in elevation. We saw wild vicuñas along the way. They are like llamas but have a much longer necks and their wool is infinitely more valuable.
I started this post yesterday and in the middle the computer cut me off. So I will start again.
While in Chivay they were still celebrating Carnival. They played and danced all night and even were continuing when we left town after lunch the next day. This is a relatively poor community so the little girls ansd ladies wore their best dressses and added lots of paper decorations as well as balloons and some even tied plactic wash basins and kitchen pots and pans to their dresses. The music was provided by the men and boys who played drums VERY LOUD and they played home- made flutes made from PVC pipe with holes drilled in them for the finger holes used to change the notes Beautiful music it was not, but what it lacked in suffistication it made up for with creativity and community fun.
We went to Colca Cañon and it was gorgeous and we saw lots of Andean Condors. I got some great shots too. we also saw an Andean Fox, a very rare sight-no photo though he was too fast.
Last nuight back in Arequipa I had dinner with a British fellow I met on the trip to Colca. He was a lot of fun and we had a greaqt time.
This morning I was picked up at the hotel at 5:30 AM and went to the Arequipa Airport to catch an early flight to Cuzco, the gateway to Machu Picchu. I am now in Cuzco and have the entire day free. Cuzco is over 11,000 feet in elevation. the weather so far today is clear. Lets hope it continues. Tomorrow afternoon I have a city tour of Cuzco, and very eaqrly, like 5:00 AM the next morning, I take the train through the Sacred Inca Valley for two days at Macchu.
Well, that is it for now. I will be back later with more stories.
Love to you all,
Glenn+
PS Youprobably have noticed I dont use apostrophes. It is not because I have forgoten how to spell, the problem is I cant figure out how to do an apostrophe on the Spanish Keyboard. They are very different and some things ae just hidden.
Adios from Cuzco, Peru

Greetings from Lima, Peru

Hello everyone,
I am in Lima, Peru. I arrived last night, was met promptly by the reps from the travel company who took me to my hotel. They were absolutely fantastic. They had my itinerary and went over it with me, answered all my questions, and directed me to an excellent restaurant for dinner. I must say, never having traveled where I was alone, without a group, with my own private ininerary that was arranged through a travel agency, in this case AAA, I felt a little uneasy at the get go. They told me peopole would met me at every juncture and take care of everything. I wanted to believe it, but I had some uncertainties about would everyone get the communications, and would they really be where they were supposed to be. But all my anxieties are put to rest.
A quick summary of the last few days. Sunday I went to church at Christo Librador and it was marvelous. The priest invited me to celebrate and I enjoyed it very much. I felt so welcome. The church was full and the Holy Spirit was very present. I stayed for coffee and emapañadas. Empañadas are sort of like sandwiches and they are a little different everywhere you go. These were like fry bread filled with a little cheese; very very good. After church I went to Old Town to see and photo some of the Carnival festivities. The photos came out terrific. I had to keep the camera coverd with plastic to protect it from the karaoka that was flying everywhere.
I memtioned in my letter to the parish the other day that Bishop Ramos and Chris Morck, his asistant were in a very bad auto accident. It could have been a catastrophe, had they not had their set belts on. The seat belts literally saved both of their lives. Please keep them in your prayes as they recover at their homes both physically and mentally from such a horrible experience.
The hotel here in Lima is marvelous. It is part of a chain in Peru called Casa Andina and I will be staying in a couple more on this trip. At dinner I decide to try the national drink of Peru called a Pisco Sour. WOW!!!!! It is a very powerful drink. The waiter gave me the recipe but I would only drink one when I knew I had the rest of the week off. Needless to say I slept very soundly.
It was a shock to get off the plane in Lima from Quito. The shock was the sudden change in altitude from 10,000 feet to sea level, from the cool thin Andean air to the soft breezes of the ocean. Now I get back on a plane and go up again. I am not sure of the altitude in Arequipa, but I am guessing it is about 8,000 feet. Tomorrow I go to Colca Cañon, a huge cañon that they say is over twice as deep as the grand cañon. It is also a place where Andean condors are commonly seen. I will stay one night at the cañon and return to Arequipa and prepare to go to Cuzco.
Well, I must go and take care of a few incidentals, like getr some Peruvian money, called nueva sols, literally, new suns, before my ride to the airport comes for me. I will most likely have access to internet in Arequipa and will let you all know what I find next on this great adventure.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

Carnival, etc.

Greeting from Quito,
I thought today woud be very unexciting, but I was very mistaken.
This morning I went to the tourism office in Old Town. I was looking for a place that might sell the Lonely Planet book for Ecuador. I had bought one in Phx before I left and it has been a resource that I don´t want to try to live here without. It seems I left mine in the car that was involved in the accident on Monday. Another anglo told me they thought they saw them for sale at the tourism office in Old Town. To make a long story short they didn´t have it, nor did they have it at any of the other places in Old Town I was referred to. Finally someone told me of a bookstore in a secton of town called La Mariscal (more about La Mariscal later), so I started to look for a taxi.
Suddenly I heard a lot of noice, band music (not very good band music, but band music nonetheless) and I found myself in the midst of a huge parade that is part of the Carnival celebration that runs until Ash Wednesday next week. It was fabulous--literally hundreds of people, most in indeginous dress, some in constumes of every imaginable kind, bands, floats, people throwing flower pedals, and the ever-present KARAOKA. Karaoka is a custom where people buy aerosol cans of a soapy foam spray and go around spraying everybody and I mean everybody. It serves much the same purpose as confetti, only some spray it right in peoples´ faces. It vanishes pretty quickly, but it is a pain when you get hit right in the face, as I did, and many do. Don´t you know I didn´t have a camera. But it may be better, because the karaoka could have damaged the camera anyway.
I am sure I will run into more Carnival. I will be in Arequipa, Peru on Shrove Tuesday and there they will surely have a fantastic event for the last day of Carnival.
I thought I´d take a few minutes to acquaaint you with a few of the slices of daily life here. I have already mentioned the horrible traffic, but what I haven´t told you is that people here walk the same way the drive--aggressively. No one ever says excuse me or such when they bang into you or cut in front of you. No one ever steps aside to let a lady, or anyone else for that matter, pass first. It is every man and woman for themselves and no apologies.
Also people think nothing of blocking a pathway. People park cars on the side walks and force pedestrians to step out into the streets. They think nothing of blocking a lane of traffic if they need to stop for a few minutes for some reason. People often block the aisles in the supermarket and move only after they are asked. They are not rude by their standards at all, that is just the culture here.
Walking on the sidewalks is an exercise in mental concentration and athletic ability. The sidewaljks are horrible by our sndards. They have holes, some from lack of repair, some by design, there are pipes and other structures sticking up right in the middle of the sidewalk, the elevation changes fro property to property. One property owner ha hs sidewalk at a certan height, the next has his 6 inches higher or lower, curbs vary in height from low to ¨make your best jump¨. You have to watch very carefully every step you take, and be ready make an athletic move at any time.
On the more plesant side, Ecuador is a major producer and exporter of flowers, especially roses. Green houses are all over the countryside. The good part about this is that flowers here are dirt cheap. I bought a dozen long-stemmed roses for my apartment for $1.70, and some places they cost as little as $1.00.
I mentioned La Mariscal above. That is a part of town generally referred to as GRINGO LANDIA. It is a part of town where many restaurants and hotels and shops are located that cater to gringo tourists. I go there sometimes when I eat out. The gringo sports bar where I will watch the Superbowl is located.
Speaking of the Superbowl, no one does here, that is speak of it, I mean. The papers don´t have a word about it, there is nothing on the TV sports news--nada, nada, nada!!!!. I had to ask Mike to send me an email telling me what time the game is on Sunday.
Similarly, there is very little news about the primary elections. None in the press, and only short references in the TV news. Incase anybody thinks otherise, the USA is not the center of interest on the earth. The only interest I hear expressed by local people about the primaries is ANYBODY BUT BUSH, other than that the locals have no interest.
If you have never traveled in underdeveloped, or third world contries, bathrooms would be a bit of a surprise. Used toilet paper is NEVER put in the commode. It is placed in a waste basket mext to the commode. If you stop at a gas station, the men´s urinals are outside--set only so that the person using it has his back to the area where the gas is pumped. In some public bathrooms a lady stands inside, both the mens and womens and sells you a very small amount of toilet paper for a dime.
These are just a few of those little things that make up daily life. Well, I must go and do my Spanish homework and get some supper.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

My Trip to Cotopaxi

Hola Y´all,
As I mentioned yesterday, today Chris Morck and I went to an ecological park that surrounds one of the post prominent volcanos near Quito, called Cotopaxi. He picked me up at 5:30 AM and we drove through the empty streets of Quito and up, from 10,000 to over 14,000 feet toward the park. As usual Quito was enshrouded in deep fog and it wasn´t until near sunrise at 6:30 that we started to get out of it. Incidentally, you may be interested to know that on the equator the sun rises and sets every day at exactly the same time all year round and it rises at exactly 6:30 AM and sets at exactly 6:30 PM.
The road to the park is incredibly rough and inside the park it was even rougher. Chris has a 4x4 pick up and we had no problems but it is a ride not to be forgotten. Another incidental piece of info: When I am in a car I almost always hang onto the ¨Oh, my God¨ handle just above the passenger door window. I do this because everyone constantly swerves abruptly, weaving in and out of the maniacal traffic here. Also on rough roads, like the ones we were on today, holding on to that handle is a necessity. I will come home with a much stronger right arm than when I left for sure.
We arrived at the park expecting that the fog would preclude us from seeing much if any of the volcano. Infact the constant fog and cloudy conditions have been the only real disappointment on this trip as they have effectively killed any chance to take good landscape and scenic photos. I expected today would be no exception, but went hopefully anyway.
Well, to our great surprise, we got some very good light as the sun played ¨peep-a-boo¨ through the clouds, and when we got to were we had the best chance to see the volcano, the clouds that covered the snow line around the volcano slowly began to lift. We never could see the top of the volcano, but we surely saw more than most people ever see and it was incredible. I hope my photos do it justice. We were up about 14,000-15,000 feet in altitude. There are no trees because we were well above the tree line. That area is called locally by the name ¨paramo¨. It has some similarities in appearance to the tundra of Alaska. The ground is sponge-like, very wet and very soft with tiny vegetation and very tiny, and very gorgeous red, blue and yellow flowers. There are volcanic rocks of all sizes everywhere left from volcanic eruptions that have occurred over thousands of years. Herds of wild horses roam the paramo, and we saw many of them. Wild llamas also roam the paramo, but they are less frequently seen. But since we were riding a wave of great luck, we did see a few as we were driving back toward the entrance to the park as we left and that was a thrill.
It was a magical experience in every way. I am so grateful to Chris for taking the day to show me this wonder of nature that few ever get to experience.
Tomorrow and Friday I have Spanish classes in the afternoon. Tomorrow morning I am going to the Office of Tourism and replace the Lonely Planet book on Ecuador that has been my second bible on this trip. I left it in the car I was in when we had the crash and forgot to get it out before thay took the car away. I depend every day on information provided in that book.
Friday morning I am going to an Episcopal church here in Quito that I was at briefly early in my trip. It is called ¨Chrtisto, el Librador¨, Christ, the Liberator. It has a magnificent ministry to the poor area in which it is located, including a day car center for about 45 children every day. Most are children of single mothers who work. They charge $25 per week, per child, and it cost about $40 per child, per week. The meal the children get at the church is the best meal, and often the only meal they get. The congregation at this church is the largest in the entire diocese. In addition to the day care they also have several progams for elderly people, and a host of other programs. This is a tiny church located in run-down buildings that they are trying to repare and expand to accommodate their ever-increasing services to the neighborhood. Friday morning I will go to the church to photograph their minsitries and their people and I plan to go to church there on Sunday.
It is a truly inspiring group of faithful people who do so much with so little, operating soley on faith that somehow the money and resources they need will be found to continue their ministries.
Well, it has been a long day and I need to go to the grociery store for a few things for supper and then I will relax and watch the Aminal Planet and National Geographic channels in Spanish until 8:00 when I will watch Robert Lehrer and see how the primary elections are going.
I send my love to you all and pray for you all every day (among the people I pray for every day I include, ¨and everyone who reads my blog¨) so if you read my blog you get prayed for, at absolutely no extra charge.
¨Adios y amor¨ from near the middle of the earth.
Glenn+

The Adventure Continues

Greetings to you all,

It has been a long time since I had accwess to a place where I could enter my blog, but I am finally back in Quito and I have lots of stories to tell.

As you know I went to Ibarra last Wednesday with Chris and his friends. I decided not to join them on Thursday and Friday which opened up a block of time for me with no schedule plans. So I decided to go to Otovalo for the weekend. Otovalo is a town about 2.5 hours north of Quito and it is famous for its markets of artisans and its animal markets

I took the bus and went to Otovalo Friday morning.

I spent Friday walking around the town getting familiar with the area. Otovalo is inhabited my many Indigenous people, most of whom dress in their traitional manner and they are very fascinating. However they are very relictant to have their pictures taken. They do not trust photographers and think that their images will be exploited commercially. This of course presented a serious challenge for me.

Saturday is the BIG Market day. The artisans market not only fills the central plaza that it fills every day, on Saturdays it spills over into all of the surrounding streets and it truly is an enormous event--more about that later.

In addition to the artisans market I really wanted to see and photograph the large animal market which is held in a huge empty lot on the edge of town. It starts at 6:00 AM, before sunrise. Saturday morning I had a taxi pick me up at 6:00 and take me to the market and I arranged for the driver to come back an hour and ahalf later to take me back to town.

The animal maket is quite an experience. Hundreds of mostly indigenous people come to this market each bringing a cow or a bull or a goat or pig or horse to sell. They stand in this crowd of anuimals and people with a rope on their animal and wait for someone to come by who may make an offer to buy their animal. It is chaos, yet it is such a slice of local life here I wouldn´t dare miss it. I had a ball. I took some photos from distance so that I was less obtrusive and objectionable. I also used a method called street photography that is just letting the camera hang from your neck and rest on your stomach, and without raising the camera to your eye you just point it in the direction you want to shoot and push the shutter button. No one knows you are taking photos and sometimes you get what you want and sometimes you don´t, but I have become pretty proficient at this technique and used it a lot to shoot people in public areas.

After I left the animal market, I went back to town and had breakfast. I hired a taxi driver to take me up into some of the outer areas outside of town to see some of the sights there, especially a gorgeous waterfall in an ecological park, and then we went up a mountain called Cotocachi that has a gorgeous lake high up on the mountain. We were gone about 4 hours and the whole trip was fantastic. Along the way the driver would introduce me as his friend to indigenous people and then they were very willing to allow me to take their pictures.

We camw back to town and I had lunch. Then I hit the artisans market. I bought a beautiful woven tapistry and some gifts.

When I wnt back to the hotel about 3:30 I met another guy, namd Robert, who was staying there who was also traveling alone. He had a car that a friend in Otovalo had arranged for him. It was a 4 wheel drive car about the size of a Toyota 4 Runner. He was going to exlore a back road up one of the mountains and asked me if I´d like to join him. I went along and we had a great time exploring the area and saw some fantastic views.

I came back and had an early dinner and went to sleep. I got up Sunday morning expecting to take the bus back to Quito, and had infact packed up all my stuff. But at breakfast the waiter told me that that same day they were starting a 10 pre-lenten Carnival and it would be a great place to take photos. So I decide to stay an extra day and go to the fiesta. About that same time the Robert showed up and said he was also going to the Carnival and asked me to join him. We went and it was so cool. There were hundreds of indigenous people all in trdional dress, lots of booths selling all kinds of local food, including roasted guinea pig. In fact they had the guinea pigs right there on a spit roasting over a charcoal fire, with the heads and little feet and all. (my apologies to anyone who has a problem with this descriptions, but this is an exsential part of local life). They had a queen and princesses, formal presentations of gifts to the queen of local produce and a soccer tournament.

While is was wondering around I saw another anglo with a Canon Camera on his shoulder. We started to chat and he introduced me to his wife and we decided to meet for supper at a restaurant in town. We had a great evening together. They are from New York and are big New York Giants fans. They were planning to come to Quito this coming Sunday to a sports bar that happens to be the same one. I had been in a week ago. They are coming this coming Sunday

to watch the Super Bowl. We dedide to meet at that same bar this coming Sunday and watch the game together.

Robert had told me that he was going to Quito Monday morning and offered me a ride. So I decide to accept.

We left Otovalo about 9:00 AM. All was well until we were about 20 miles out of Quito. We thought we had made a wrong turn and taken a wrong road. Roberte tried to make U turn, and didn´t see another car who hit us broad side on the drivers side. The adventure had suddenly taken a new and very uncertain turn. No one was hurt, thank God, but the other driver was very angry. Robert didn´t speak Spanish either.

The police came and I am thinking ¨this could be very bad¨. Amazingly the police officer was so laid back about the whole thing. He calmed the other driver and said no one needed to get upset, no one was hurt and the insurance comapnies will take care of the damage to the cars. I quickly learned that here in Ecuador all legal liabilities in traffic accidents are the responcibility of the owners of the cars, not the drivers. The driver doesn´t even get a traffic ticket. All the officer wanted to know was that both cars were insured.

Well, don´t you know that the car I was in had been borrowed by Robert from a friend of a friend and the car was not insured. Since I speak Spanish I am the one in the cell phone talking to the owner of our car and I learn this and now my heart rate picks up a little. I had to inform the police officer that our car is not insured. Again he was so laid back. He said no problem just tell the owner to come here so I can talk with him. So we waite outside the polce station in the Ecuadorean sun for 2 hours until the owner arrives. Luckily I had purchased a broad brimmed hat at the market in Otovaolo. Finally the owner arrived and he talked with the office assured him he had the finacial ability to cover all damages and that was it, we left. I took a taxi on to Quito and that was it.

Today I have my Spanish class and tomorrow Chris and I are oing to another large Ecological Park, called Cotpaxi, an all day trip. I will have more adventure to share after that trip.

God Bless you all.

Glenn+

My Trip to the Church in Ibarra

Greetings to you all,
Monday and Tuesday I had my Spanish classes which are very helpful, but not very interesting stuff for the blog.
Yesterday I went to visit the Episcopal Church in Ibarra, a town about 2.5 hours north of Quito. It is the church farthest north from Quito and it is about 70 miles from the border with Columbia. Chris took me together with a family that is currently staying at his house. This family, mother, father and three small children, lives in Chattenooga, TN. They are old friends of Chris and Trish. They are a wonderful and delightful family. They have a FAIR TRADE business in Chattenooga and they are here in Ecuador to meet local artists from whom they can buy items directly and pay the artists more than the local distributors pay them, then take the items back to the US to sell. The local distributors pay unconscionably low prices to the artists, mark up the prices and sell to the tourists, or export to other countries like the US where the middle men make the most money and the artists makes the least. FAIR TRADE businesses try to see that the poor artists get a just and fair benefit from his/her art.
The Episcopal priest in Ibarra knows the local artists and arranged the contacts with Chris´s friends. It was a fantastic day in many, many ways.
First I have to explain that one of the realities in Ecuador, aned Northern Ecuador especially, is the flood of refugees coming into Ecuador from Columbia. The government of Columbia is a very repressive regime. The military and the para-military forces of the government roam the country and crush any effort to speak out against the government. The church in Ibarra tries to help as many refuges as it can. They even have a small bed room right beside the main sanctuary and while we were there we met a small family of refugees that had just arrived from Columbia, a mother and three daughters. They had fled because they were a part of a human rights group and a para-military force had raided their group and killed the son and the boy friend of one of the daughters. It is a horrible situation that gets no press in the US to my knowledge. I am told here that the US government is very supportive of the current regime in Columbia. I have no independent confirmation of that, but I am very interested to find out.
Later in the day we visited two families who have small homes on the ourskirts of Ibarra. The first family has a small farm, but to supplement their modest life, the mother makes ear rings and necklaces using designs taken from ancient ruins of pre-Incan civilizations near where they live. They are beautiful in their simplicity. They made a deal with Chris´friends that will improve their lives greatly. The family was so gracious and we had a wonderful time with them.
From there we went to another family. This family had an incredible story. Fourteen yeras ago the father was returning to his home on a motorcycle, his only means of transportation. He was run off the road by a car driven by some thieves who wanted his motor cycle and left him to die in a ditch by the side of the road. He did not die ,but was left paralyzed from the waist down.
To feed their family, the wife strated a small buiusines making clothes. She now employs two other peole full time and has 30 other women who do embriodery on the clothes for her part time. She makes a whopping $0.40 on each gament she makes. The shirts, dressed and pants are fabulous. The family who are friends of Chris made a great arangement with the lady to purchase a large supply of her product and paid her a price far above what the local distributors pay. Everyone benefitted thanks to the help of the church in Ibarra who made all of this possible.
I was exhausted when we finally got back to Quito. I had planned to go with them again today and Friday to another town, but I opted out. The little truck Chris has is very small, eventhough it has back seats, but you know what those are like. In the truck we had Chris, the father and the mother of this family, plus their 3 small children and me, and all of our stuff. The kids were fantastic all day and we all really enjoyed every part of the day. But the trip today and tromorrow is a 5 hour drive, twice as far as we went yesterday, plus an overnight stay, which means we all have to take some small luggage. I just decided it was a little too crowded and could be really uncomfortable for everyone, so I opted out.
Instead I will go to Otovalo, a town near where we were yesterdays and stay there for a couple of nights and visit the incredible market they have there on Saturdays. It is a real feature of local Ecuadorean culture and I really want to see it. I will leave today and come back on Sunday.
Well, that is what I have to share for now.
My love to you all and I will look for a place in Otovalo to access email and this blog to let you know what I find there.
Love to you all,
Glenn+

A Short Note

Hello everyone,
I have a short note today, because the only news is that I started Spanish classes today. The class is private tutoring for two hours a day, plus study and practice time outside of class on your own. It is very personalized and I think it will be perfect.
I plan to go to class about two days a week on the average. These will be the days I am in Quito and not traveling outside the city.
This week Wednesday through Friday Chris is taking me to visit some of the churches outside of Quito. Wednesday we go to Ibarra about a 2.5 hour drive northwest of Quito. Thursday and Friday is a two day trip to Guaranda, a town about 5 hours southwest of Quito. These will be my first chances to see churches that are in rural communities. This all makes for a good week.
Late yesterday I found an American-type sports bar that had both Guinnes and the NFL playoff games on TV. ALLELUAI!!!
So what if the play by play was in Spanish, which over time I came to understand more and more. I saw the end of the AFC game and the first half of the NFC game. I watched the second half and overtime in my apartment. It made for a nice Sunday evening.
Well, I have my homework to do, so I will say Adios for now.
Glenn+

A Day at Pululaua

Hello everyone,
Yesterday at Puluylaua was an absolutely incredible day. I didn´t know what to expect because I had very little infomation about Pululaua. All I knew was what Chris told me which was bring cloths for cold and hot and for rain and sun. I knew he was taking his whole family and that Puluaua had something to do with an old volcano that had colapsed, creating a deep crater.
Well, when we got there I found the most gorgeous vistas and scenery I have seen since I have been here. The volcano did colapse creating a crater that drops down about 2000 feet, from a rim of about 13,000 feet. It is completely coverd with vegetation of the kind I saw in Mindo and thought was jungle, It is not jungle, but what they call here a CLOUD FOREST. What that means is that the forest is dense but because of the altitude it is constantly either surrounded or engulfed in clouds. Hense the advise of bringing clothes for every kind of weather because that is what we had over the course of the day. When the clouds were not over us the sun was very hot, and when the clouds rolled in it got cold and though it didn´t rain the air was very moist.
At the botton of the crater is farm land that is lush. They grow corn and other crops there, but the other crops were not planted while we were there.
A friend of Chris´ is building a house in the crater and has the shell built plus a covered shelter away from the house. We had the most fabulous picnic in th bottom of the crater. We cooked chorizo sausages for appetisers, and had steaks on the grill along wth potatoes and vegetables, wine and carrot bread. The kids ran in the grass, and we watched the scenery change minute by minute as the clouds rolled in and covered the area and then rolled out again.
We left there in the late afternoon and stopped at Mitad del Mundo, only we went to the REAL equator, and took a guided tour that was fascinating. We stood directly on the equator, balanced and egg upright on the head of a nail, and saw some demonstrations that were incredible. One had to do with the swirl of the water going down a drain. Whether you are in the northern or southern hemisphere when water goes down a drain it swirls counterclockwise, I think. They had a portable drain and moved it a few yards off the equatorial line and we saw the water swirl. They then put the drain right on the equatorial line and there was no swirl at all, the water goes straight down the drain.
It was a truly fascinating tour and I got some good photos.
I was really beat when I got back to my apartnent and slept soundly all night, which I had not done for a couple of nights.
I got up this morning and had a long quiet time and prayer time, and a slow quiet breakfast. I got my shower and went to the catherdal for church.
Tomorrow I will call the language school and talk to them about what they may have to offer that would suit my needs. I get along quite well, but I want to see what they can design that might help be better understand what people are saying, and correct some of my speaking as well.
This afternoon I am going to the park and just have a relaxing afternoon. I went to the grocery store and got more food that I can prepare in my apaprtment. Nothing fancy just hot dogs, frozen dinners, some fresh fruit and yogurt, which I have missed.
In my quiet time this morning I found myself focusing on how much better I am feeling. I am finding a peace in these days that seems to be related to the balance of solitude and time with people who have become my friends and my time exploring the beauty and wonders of this magical place. I really do feel a calm and a healing beginning to take place that is hard to describe.
Physically I am feeling terrific, but the ever present hills and the stairs are hard on my legs. My feet don´t bother me at all which is a bit of surprise, given all the humidity, but going up and down stairs and huge steps and hills is taxing. The sidewalks everywhere are very rough and uneven with huge steps. So, I just go slow, and slow suits me just fine. I have no hurrys and no worries.
Well, Adios again for a while.
Glenn+

Back in the Big city

Hello Blog Fans,
I just returned from Mindo and was surprised to find that the blog entries I did in Mindo did in fact get posted: ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!!!
There is a story from my time in Mindo that I didn´t try to write while Iwas ther because of the problems with the internet, so now that I am back in the big city, I can tell it.
Thursday in the early afternoon I was strolling through the streets of Mindo (there aren´t that many) looking for a place to have lunch, hoping to find something a little better that the pizza places that line the main drag. I turned a corner to go down a side street and saw a sign that caught my eye. It was for a restaurant and the building looked like the kind of place I was looking for. I went in and found that it is owned by a couple in their late thirties, she is American and he is Ecuadoean. It turns out she was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, went to college at the U of A, and got a nursing degree and joined the Peace Corp. She was sent to Columbia, part of the last Peace Corp group to go there. While she was there she met an Ecuadorean musician, who toured the world playing the flute, and similar instruments. They married and after a few years in Chicago where he studied music and she worked as a nurse, they decided to pursue their real dream, which was to open a hotel/restaurant in Mindo, Ecuador. They bought a lot in Mindo, designed the bilding themselves, had it built and opened about a year ago. It is the most fabulous place and this couple is absolutely wonderful. I had lunch there and went back for supper and they were the best meals I had. They gave me two CDs of their music (she learned to play stringed instruments and the two of them peformed every weekend at a restaurant while they were in Chicago. The type of music they play is South American jazz, that´s the best I can describe it.
If any of you ever go to Mindo theirs is the place to stay, first class everthing for $15 a night and the food is impeccable. What a coincidence !!
Well, I need to go to the grocery store, the bank, wash come clothes and fix a Stouffers frozen dinner and get a good night´s sleep. I am meeting Chris at 7:30 in the morning for a day trip to to Pululaua, with a stop at Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the Earth) which is supposedly the actual Equator where you can stand with one foot in the northern and the other in the southern hemisphere, my next adventure.
Adios for now,
Glenn+
.

I will try again

Howdy everyone,
It is Thursday afternoon in Mindo and it is raining. That is not news, but it is the explanation whay I am on the internet.
Since my blog entry yesterday didn´t seem to get posted for some unknown reason, I will try to recall what I said yesterday an fill you in on the events of last night and today.
I did catch my bus to Mindo, but it was more of an adventure than I had expected.
I called the bus company on Tuesday afternoon to check the schedule. I got no answer, only a ¨leave a message¨ message. So I left earlier than I had planned on Wednesday and took a taxi. I told the driver I wanted to take the bus to Mindo, and showed him the address of where to catch it. He informed me that they closed that station last Saturday and now they were located at the central bus depot of Quito and he took me there.
The central bus station of Quito is slightly larger than enormous. I hunted around and eventually found the bus, bought my ticket for $2.50, ran to the bathroom (there is no bathroom in the bus and it is at 2.5 hour ride. I bought a bottle of water and got on the bus.
The bus was very comfortable. I just put on my iPod, leaned back and relaxed and enjoyed watching the scenery gradually change from mountgain to jungle.
Mindo is at about 5000 feet in elevation and it is in the middle of the jungle.
I quickly learned that part of the reason it is a jungle is it rains every day from about 1:30 through the night and stops about 8.00 the next morning. It is just a constant shower, not a hard rain at all, but mud is the main carpet of the area.
I found a place to stay quickly and it is a very nice little room, hot water in the shower (but not the sink). It is very clean , a few blocks off the main street and only $16 per night.
I found a place on the main drag to get a pizza and a beer, $2.50 and walked around until it started to rain. Fortunately I had with me the pancho Dick and Marilyn gave me for Christmas. It is perfect. I went back to my room and found that off the back patio of the main building they have hummingbird feeders that attract literally dozens of humming birds. Sounds like a photo op to me, so I sat on the covered patio and took photos all afternoon of hummingbirds.
When it was time for supper I looked for a place Chris had recommended called ¨Out of Babylon¨. I found it easily and it is the most fascinating buliding I have ever seen. The owner built it himself over a six yer period. It is a work of art. And he has no formal training in art or architecture. The dinner was great and I went back to my place and went to sleep about 8:00 PM listening to the rain in the reoof.
Earlier I had made arrangements with a guide to take me out early in the morning to see and shoot photos of birds. I woke up at 4:00, (a solid 8 hours of sleep) and got up, had my prayer time and got my camera and lenses ready.
I had a small breakfast of cheese, bread, jam and juice and we were off to find birds. We saw Tucans (several specie) and a number of other birds that I don´t know the names of, even though the guide told me. A couple of the phots are OK, but the birds were far away.
After I returned, I looked for a place to have lunch and found a neat place with anglo owners. It turns out the lady is from Tucson, met her husband while she was in the Peace Corp and they started this restaurant. I will go there for supper and get to know them better. Well I had better stop and get some supper.
Hasta mañana folks,
Glenn+

Hola from Mindo Ecuador

Well here I am in Mindo. It was an interesting trip from the very beginnng. Yesterday afternoon I called the bus company to be sure the schedule had not changed. I got a message saying that the number I called was no longer available. I wasn´t sure what that meant for me, but I knew it meant I wasn´t going to talk to anyone.
So this morning I left my apatment an hour early to allow for complications. It is a good thing I did. When I told the taxi driver that I wanted to take the bus to Mindo and gave him the address of where to get the bus, he told me that last Saturday they had changed to location for the bus to Mindo and fortunately he knew where to take me. I got there and found it is the central bus station for the city of Quito, an enormous and very busy place. I asked around and finally found where to go and I got the bus.
The ride here was fantastic: very, very relaxing. The bus was comfortable, I listened to my iPod, and the scenery was fantastic as we dropped from 10,000 feet to about 5,000 feet in elevation where Mindo is located. What that means is we went from this enormous valley among the Andes, down to the jungle, and I do mean JUNGLE. The vegetation here is so thick an ant couldn´t penetrate it.
I easily found a place to stay: a small room, but it is clean and the bed looks very comfortable. It costs $16 per night. The town is the epitome of what you would think a small rural town in the jungle of South America would be. The streets are mud. The buildings are in varying degreees of quality from ¨OK¨ to ¨I don´t think I want to go in there¨, to ¨under construction or destruction¨ I can´t be sure which. It is quaint and laid back and peaceful. The beauty of the town is in the location and in the people and they are fantastic and so kind. What I quickly learned upon arrival is that every afternoon it rains and rains all afternoon, every day. The time for activities is in the morning. So I found a little Pizza place and had lunch, $2.50 for a pizza and a large beer, and as promised it started raining.
I will make arrangement for a guide to take me looking for birds tomorrow morning. That is the only way you can do it. To do that you have to get up and eat breakfast at 5:30 and leave at 6:00. That should be no problem for me. You do have to walk a lot, so we´ll have to see how that goes. I will be OK unless we have to climb a lot of hills. Let us Pray!!
The rain is slowing down and I am hoping I can scout out the town a little. I have a rain pancho Scottie´s sister gave me for Christmas and it is perfect for this adventure.
It will be a quiet and relaxing afternoon for sure and that is fine. Chris recommended a restaurant for supper so I will go there and see what I find.
Well, I am here, it is terrific and I am off to explore, even in the rain if necessary.
Hasta Mañana, Amigos.
Glenn+

A Second Note for today

Hi Yáll,
I thought I´d add a quick second note today as I am not sure if I will have internet for the next couple of days.
My appointments for tomorrow was cancelled and I decided to take a short trip by myself out of Quito, in part to see how it goes and what I lean about taking such trips, and second to visit what I am told is a great location with lots to see and do.
I am going to a town about 2.5 hours west of Quito called Mindo. It is renown for its bird watching, butterflies and orchids. It sure sounds like a great place to take photos to me. I will catch a bus that leaves Quito at 8:00 AM tomorrow morning and get there about 10:30 and look for a place to stay. If I don´t find one I´ll come back on the 2:00 PM bus, but I cannot imagine there will be any trouble. The bus costs $2.50 each way. Places to stay run from $5- $16 per night. It is the middle of the week so the locals aren´t going to be there and it is not tourist season.
Mindo is about 5000 feet in elevation, so it wil be a little warmer than here. I plan to stay 2 nights and return Friday afternoon. On Saturday Chris and his uncle and I are going to another place called Pululua. That is just a one day trip. I have to read up on it so I can´t tell you much, but Chris says it is a great place and that is enough for me.
BIG DISCOVERY: I found some frozen dinners in a grocery store and picked up a couple. I am getting a little tired of eating out each night. So tonight I´ll stay home and have Stouffers frozen elbow maceroni and beef. Bon Appetite!!
I will probably be able to find an internet cafe in Mindo, but just in case I have a problem I wanted you to know I didn´t fall into a volcano or something.
Love,
Glenn+

Catching Up

Greetings everyone,
I have a lot of catching up to do. Saturday I got back too late and the internet cafe was closed, It was closed on Sunday also, and again yesterday I got back too late again. It has been an action packed time and I have lots to share.
Beginning with Saturday afternoon, I did go to the Botanical Garden and the Chapel of Mankind. The Botanical Garden was fabulous. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and perfect for such a trip. It is located in Parque Carolina, the largest inner-city park which I had visited the other day. The flowers were gorgeous, everything from roses to orchids and many the other flowers that grow in the Andes, and the Amazon. All of the plaques with info about the flowers were in Spanish, so I will have to get a book of regional flowers in English to be able to tell what I took photos of. I spent at least two hours or more there.
Then I took a taxi to the Chapel of Mankind. It is an art collectiion of the works of a famous Ecuadorean artist, Guayasamin. The collection at the Chapel is dedicated to the pain and suffering of the indigenous people of Equador experienced from the various conquests and dominations over the centuries. The art is not pretty, but it is very powerful and the Chapel is a must see if you want to have any understanding of the indigenous people,
I got back in time to go to dinner and had a good night´s sleep.
Sunday I got early, had my prayer time, and got ready to go to church at the Cathedral. I got there pretty early and met Padre Angel, the priest in charge, the same one with whom I was to stay after I arrived. He was very nice and very apologetic and asked me if I´d like to take part in the two masses that morning. He got me an alb and chasuble and, bingo, bango, bongo, I was put to work. The Cathedral is a pretty large building, that probably seets three hundred or more people. there were about 40, maybe 50 people max, at the first mass and 20 at the second. We con-celebrated at the first mass and they had a renewal of baptismal vows at both masses and I helped with that also. It really was a great experience.
After church I started walking down the street, hoping to find a place near by where I could get some lunch. No luck! Every place was closed. I had made arrangements to go to Chris and Trish´s house that afternoon, so I just called them to say I was on my way and got a cab and went there. Trish had lunch ready and I was so grateful. I used their Skype to call Christie and Mike and it was terrific talk with both of them. While I was there, Chris and I made up a calendar of places he and I can visit together while I am here and we set some dates for those trips. We have some very exciting things planned.
When I got back to the apartment I got a call from the Bishop asking if I would like to join him on a trip on Monday. I didn´t quite understand exactly where we were going, but he said bring your bathing suit. I told him I didn´t bring one and he said he had an extra, not to worry.
I met the Bishop and his wife, Marilina, who is absolutely delightful, at the diocesan office and off we went.
What I soon discovered was that it was his day off and we were headed for for one of his favorite get-aways, a place called Papallacta. It is a spa, resort about an hour and a half from Quito high in the mountains. When I say ¨high¨, keep in mind I am starting at 10,000 feet and high means much higher than that. We went up to about 13,000+ and arrived at this fabulous resort with a whole bunch of hot spring pools, each a different temperature, nestled in amoung these mountain peaks that rise up into the clouds. In fact at times the clouds would come down and suddenlt you are engulfed in them as you swim in these marveloulsy hot waters. It costs $17.50 for the day, can you imagine? We took a break later in the afernoon and went for a fabulous lunch at the hotel. A full, dinner-size meal for $7.95. The next surpirse was Marilina introduced me to a local drink called, Camelasso. It is a hot alcoholic (or non-alcoholic) drink make with juices and cinnamon. With alcohol is definitely better. You sip it and it is so relaxing. I must get the recipe!!
We went back to the spa and we each had a full hours massage. That costs only $40, and it is a FULL MASSAGE, even your skalp and face. The hard part was leaving. The traffic coming back to Quito was horrible and we didn´t get back until 8:00 PM, too late to go get some supper, so I made do with some peanut butter and bread and a couple of glasses of wine. I fell asleep by 9:30 and slept the sleep of the just.
Today I plan to take it easy and catch up on a few things I need to do: get caught up on my blog, get some groceries, get a haircut, go to the bank and I will call Padre Angel and try to arrange to meet him sometime this week.
I appreciate the comments some of you have sent saying you are enjoying the blog. I wish I could share the tastes of the marvelous foods, the smells of the local area--some wonderful, some not quite so wonderful, but they are part of the expericnce too. I wish I could share the cool, moist high mountain air, and the views of the sharp peaks of the mountains and volcanos that are absolutely everywhere. I have to pich myself every once in a while and realize I am actually in the Andes, those same mountains I have seen so many times on the National Geographic channel and other places so many times. The same places I studied in 5th and 6th grade in school It is absolutley breath-taking.
Well, Adios for now.
Love to you all and I´ll have more to share tomorrow.
Glenn+

Saturday in Quito

Greetings to you all,
Today is Saturday and much of the hustle and bustle of the city I spoke of earlier is absent today. What a difference!!
Yesterday I had the entire morning to myself with no plans so I decided to make it a mini-retreat. I got up about 6:00 and I had the entire morning in silence (not really that hard when you are alone with no one to talk to), but no music, no TV, I just stayed in my apartment just kept silence all morning: reading Morning Prayer and Scripture, spending time in prayer and mediation and reading one of the books by Thomas Merton that I brought. It was a gloriously refreshing time.
About 11:30 I got a call from Chris Morck asking if I could help him a little. He and Trish were hosting a seminary student from Berckley who had arrived the night before. She is here for two weeks to improve her Spanish and help at the medical clinic operated by one of the parishes here in Quito (she is also a nurse). It seems Chris and Trish both had a meeting in the afternoon that would run most of the afternoon and he asked if I would take her around part of Quito for the afternoon, which I was glad to do.
He brought her to the supermarket near my apartment and from there we took a taxi to Plaza Grand and spent the afternoon there. We took a tour of one of the cathedrals there and it was an incredible experience of the churches opulance and extravagance in the presence of overwhelming poverty. I will go back and take some photos to show what I mean, but it was almost nauseatingly grandeose.
After that Chris met us and we took the seminary student to the churh where she will be working and to the family with whom she will be staying.
That church is the opposite extreme from the cathedral we had been in earlier in the afternoon. It is located in a very poor area, with a very meager sanctuary that is filled with worshippers twice on Sunday and again on Thursdays. It has a small medical clinic, a day care center for 45 children and an after school program for older children, a program for elderly and a seemingly endless list of classes and projects. It functions on donations from the diocese and from churches in the US and is always doing more for people than its meager resources can support, but they live and love by faith. IT IS THE CHURCH AT ITS VERY BEST.
I will go back to take photos of the church, its work and worship there on a Sunday.

As I said recently I am planning to get out of Quito and explore some of the rest of the country. I will start next weekend by going to a town called Otovalo. It is a town about two hours drive north (into the northern hemishphere). It is famous for its artisans and its market on the weekends, a market that includes not only works of the artisans, but a market of large and small animals--anyone what a llama, or a pig, or perhaps a guinea pig? It is a beautiful area about 7000 feet in elevaton. There is an Episcopal Church there and I want to get to know the church there also. I think I will go on Thursday, explore the area and the church on Friday, go to the markert on Saturday, go to church there on Sunday, and come back on Sunday afternoon or Monday.
You can take a taxi from here for $7.50, and stay in a very nice hotel for $35 a night. It will be a great first trip.
I understand that the recent small eruption of Tungurahua volcano is new in the US. It is not a threat to Quito, but it is news here also. Such minor eruptions are not uncommon and in fact it will erupt out of one side of the mountain while the other side remains covered with ice and snow. There is aways the possibility of a big eruption, but no one here seems concerned.
This afternoon I am going to the Botanical Garden to learn about and photo the flora of the Andes, and then I want to visit the Chapel of Mankind, a museum didicated to the struggle of the indigenous people here over the centuries. I am told it is very interesting.
Tomorrow I will go to church at the Cathedral and see what I might do next week with the Bishop and/or Chris.
Adios for now
Glenn+