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+