Friday, November 27, 2015

Ready for the turkey feed.
Left to tight; George, me, Jackie, John, and Barbie standing. Rene took the photo.
Dinner was great turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rum glazed carrots, green beans with garlic and bacon, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, salad, squash soup, topped of with pecan pie.
I'm still recovering.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Turkeys are a bit pricey in Ecuador. Can't say ehy. But we got one anyway. Gonna host Thanksgiving for some Gringo pals. Jackie opened up the bird today, and of course all of the usual stuff was in a bag inside (like cracker jacks). The big surprise was that the feet were included. No joke, toenails and all. We'll put them in the freezer for when you visit.
The weather has been high 70s during the day, clouding up and raining in the evening. I've never spent Thanksgiving in the sun. I highly recommend it.
There are 52 churches in Cuenca. We toured one this week. Todos Santos (All Saints) is the name. This church celebrated it's first mass (of course it is a Catholic church, thanks to the Spanish and the Jesuits) in 1540. I wasn't more than 12 years old at the time.
Anyhow, the church was fascinating. They have cut out around five 6X4 chunks of the floor to reveal various historical relics including the original foundation and skeletons of two individuals thought to be centuries old indigenous folk.
The clerk who took our tour fee ($1.50 each, it is still a Catholic church so of course there is a fee) left her post to point out interesting things and try to enlighten us about the history of the church. She spoke only Spanish but she took great care to speak slowly and repeat things when we started looking really stupid. We were with our friends George and Rene, and between Rene and I we got a lot of information from her dissertation.
It was quite an experience being in such an old structure. Looking forward to more of these adventures.
In case you are interested, our electric bill La cuinta de luz) is running $32-$36 per month.

Monday, November 16, 2015

I haven't posted for awhile. I got some kinda bug. Probably this year's version of the South American flu. It slowed me down a bit, but no big deal. Don't like being sick though. Particularly when the sun is out and the weather warm. Guess I always associate sick with dank and dreary days.
Back at it now though.