Loja Beckons…October 2013

Having known 32 places as "home" during my 61 years of life (in Kansas, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Zambia, New Mexico, Virginia, and Ecuador), I was now looking for home number 33.  After six September days in Loja we were drawn to the place and decided it was a good time to make a move, before our roots went any deeper in Cuenca.  The city of Loja, one of Ecuador's oldest,

Loja's central plaza and cathedral

founded in 1548, had many of Cuenca's charms.  But it also had fewer people, very few extranjeros (foreigners), warmer temperatures, and an inviting spiritual atmosphere.  The dozen apartments we'd looked at, however, were depressing enough to reduce me to hopeless tears one rainy afternoon.  I stopped by a chapel to meditate, and upon exiting met a sweet old woman named Angelica.  She held my hands and said she would pray for my needs.

Chapel where I met Angelica

The next morning the friendly owner of a small coffee shop said, "My American friend is moving out of his three-bedroom apartment in a few weeks.  It's very nice and near the city center, convenient to everything."  By God's grace and with the help of our Ecuadorean friend Marco, who found movers, that apartment became our home the last week in October.  We were blessed to have not just central hot water, but a sunny terrace facing nearby mountains…with a negotiated rent (we were learning!) half the price of our first apartment in Cuenca.

Loja's Gates to the City (replica of those in Loja, Spain)

Our apartment building (we're on second floor)

Goodbye to Marco and the movers

Our final weeks in Cuenca were rich in times with new friends.
Women at the Episcopal fellowship took

Pastora (far right) with Episcopal women

interest in the spiritual order Daughters of the King, and friend Pastora offered to lead them through a study period.  We got to know American/Australian abstract artist Charles Reddington and carried his first painting done in Ecuador with us to Loja.  And in "It's a small world!" mode, we met--for the first time--several people from Pueblo, Colorado, where we'd lived for two decades:  author Donna Mack (Whispered Secrets, Whispered Prayers), her husband Robert, and their close friend, artist Sally Lincoln (sallylincoln.com), who had recently bought a home and set up a studio in Cuenca.

Charles and Rommie Gerber Reddington with "New Beginning"

Donna and Robert Mack with her new book

Sally Lincoln in her Cuenca studio

 Avenida 24 de Mayo borders Loja's historic city center

Journal entry:  October 31, 2013

Loja Beginning

Our living room window overlooks
Avenida 24 de Mayo where 7 am
bus-riders and dog-walkers greet the
day.  Purple jacarandas frame school
where youngsters, hand-in-hand
with siblings or parents, enter
carrying backpacks and hope.

Noises, at first overwhelming to
late country-dwelling ears, now
signify Life in this city we embrace.
Yesterday, strolling in El Centro,
came "bienvenidos" and a burst of
joy.  More joy at home, sheltered,
dancing together in new adventure.

Where did you learn Spanish? …September 2013

That question was put to me repeatedly by taxi drivers and others during our early months in Cuenca.  And it was often followed by the statement that not many extranjeros (foreigners) speak it here.  A Colorado grade school introduction to Spanish, seven years of classroom study, and regular use while working with Mexican immigrants from 2000 to 2006 boosted my communication in Ecuador. I found great joy in talking with women at church (photo), shopkeepers, and friendly people on the bus.

Friends at the Episcopal Mission Church

By September, our fourth month in Ecuador, Bill found a good Spanish teacher and I began writing regularly (about Haitian women and family history)…one of my major goals for "retirement."  We learned that the cost of importing a couple pallets of goods was prohibitive.  And mid-month we traveled south to visit Loja and Vilcabamba…Ecuador's famous valley of longevity.

Second Cuenca apartment

Journal entries

September 8, 2013:  Letting go

Letting go of the need to freight boxes down here has been freeing…we can live with so little, as we have been doing!  Layer by layer, it seems, we must divest ourselves not only of possessions, but of...expectations of a standard of living that is beyond what the world can sustain for all.

September 10, 2013:  Encounters on the bus

Luzmila and I meet waiting for the #3 bus on Juan Jaramillo one chilly afternoon and talk all the way to her stop at Ciudadela Eucalyptos.  A widow for 10 years, she has two children and five grandchildren and asks me to pray for them.  She is a lab tech with the Federal Department of Health.

At the same stop a day later I meet Lucas, a 19 year old university student studying gastronomia.  He is interested in how we got residency, and in our sons (23, in Texas; 21, in Japan).  I tell him of their struggles and their profound encounters with God and ask if he has faith. "No."  I will pray for him.

Our neighborhood, Cuenca

On the same bus are a mother and daughter.  They exit behind me and I turn and say "We are neighbors."  Betty tells me her son is taking English lessons and would like to speak English with us.  Daughter Carmen (19) chatters happily, hand in hand with Betty.  They invite me to their house and I meet tall, handsome Giovanni and Giovanni Junior (16) who greets me with a kiss and quickly escapes to his room.  They ask about our apartment (direct questions about money are very common!) and tell me we are paying too much rent.

September 13, 2013:  Traveling to Loja

We journey up and down mountains and across high ridges with views to verdant valleys and hills.  A stretch near Ona (halfway point) reminds me of Haiti, over-farmed.  A sign in the area declares "Trees purify the air…don't cut them down."

Loja

After Ona, we pass a small town where men trim roadside growth with machetes, and then a field with cows and calves and women milking.

It's a festival day in Loja, with a parade and floats from each of the cantons in the region…the themes are of cows and hummingbirds and flowers and lavishly dressed Inca princesses throwing baubles or candy to the crowd.  Loja has a friendly feel.

Parade around Loja's Plaza Central; main cathedral in background

September 16, 2013:  Vilcabamba

Vilcabamba, home to 500 extranjeros; pop. 5000

Loja and now Vilcabamba are warmer places [than Cuenca], and the view from our little cabin reminds me of Haiti, Mexico, Africa.  What a gift to have five days in this quiet place.  We'll reflect on a possible move to Loja…pros and cons…and see if a place to live presents itself this coming weekend.

September 25, 2013:  Housing in Loja

Expectations about what we need to live hit me in the face as we considered places without centralized hot water, shabby, exposed to fumes and noisy traffic…the stuff of life for most people in the urban third world!  Somehow we will come to a happy medium…a step down from the luxury of our Cuenca apartments to perhaps a second world setting.  I was deeply touched by the devotion of the (relatively poor) women of Loja…their faces turned toward the altars of the several beautiful churches of central Loja.

My favorite chapel in Loja…used mostly for weddings

Incas and Indecision…August 2013

Inca leader Huayna-Capac, Cuenca

We enjoyed the beautiful botanical gardens at Pumapungo and looked out over the city of Cuenca from the heights of the former Inca palace.  The photo below illustrates the geografia sagrada (sacred geography) of the Incas, referring to the religious importance of numerous mountain sites they chose.  The most famous site is Machu Picchu in what is now Peru…one place the Spanish did not find and destroy.

     

Change Again?

After a couple months of quiet living along a river at the edge of the city, we started thinking about a change.  But what and where?  The most engaging part of Cuenca was the old city center, and to get there we walked from our apartment up the hill (below) and took a 20-minute, 25-cent bus ride.  So we considered looking for a place in the city.  Our old bones also reacted to the coldness of an 8300 foot elevation during the "winter" months of July and August, so we thought of a possible move to a lower elevation--maybe the city of Loja further south?  I also began reading Richard Foster's Freedom of Simplicity….rich food for thought.  We gave our landlady two months notice at the end of August, and began exploring.

Journal entries

August 3, 2013:  In response to Freedom of Simplicity (Foster) on sharing

Perhaps we are to live some place where at least some of what we have can be shared for the common good of, say, our small Episcopal fellowship.  I have a strong sense of not wanting to live with many fine things among the people of this group, or anyone else for that matter.  The question to ask ourselves should not be "What do we need to live?" but "What can we live without?"

August 13, 2013:  Thieves

Thieves at restaurant last evening quietly snatched Bill's backpack while we were deeply engaged in conversation with [friends]….lost are an umbrella, water bottle, and Bill's phone…all easily replaced…

August 27, 2013:  Health insurance

Obtaining health insurance through Salud (large Latin American company) today took about 45 minutes and $250 to cover premiums [for both of us] for first two months.  Great coverage and annual deductible of $90 makes this a very good reason to live here!

Photos below:   Cuenca's "old" cathedral (built with stones from the Inca palace) and a local market…yes, that's a pig's head sitting on top of its roasted carcass, and the woman in pigtails is serving the pork with grilled potatoes and garnishes of onions, tomatoes and cilantro.

The Incas dominated the Andes region from 1438 to 1533.  In 1532 Francisco Pizarro and 168 Spanish soldiers slaughtered 7000 of the Inca army of 80,000 and captured emperor Atahualpa.  After using him to help subdue the empire and receiving 20 tons of gold and silver from him, they killed him.  In Cuenca, a statue of Inca leader Huayna-Capac looks to the site of his former palace and gardens known as Pumapungo, meaning "door of the puma" in the Quechua language.  The Spaniards dissembled much of the site and used the stones to build churches and colonial mansions in Cuenca.

Gaining Residency and Friends…July 2013

Two weeks after submitting paperwork (proof of $900/month income, birth & marriage certificates, background check…all translated into Spanish) our pensioner's visas were granted.  Soon afterwards we obtained Ecuadorean ID cards and celebrated with friends/neighbors (from Arizona).  We have all the rights of citizens except voting, which comes after three years of residency.

Put away the passports…we're residents!

Fellowship at a small Episcopal mission enriched our lives, as did the Cuenca Music Festival, and explorations at the beautiful Plaza San Sebastian (formerly a bull-fighting arena, featured in the intriguing book The Mapmaker's Wife:  A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon).

Members of Episcopal fellowship, Cuenca (Bill far left)

Cuenca Music Festival (one of many groups; various venues)

Plaza San Sebastian, Cuenca

Journal entry:

July 6, 2013:  Consumerism Defeated!

We ran around in circles between 3:45 and 5 pm yesterday trying to get cash to buy a cool Japanese import table and six chairs.  Pinchincha Bank said they could not get cash after 4 pm…Austro Bank could do it, but not without original passport (we carry copies)…Bill could not remember his PIN to try for ATM cash, etc. This morning in the cold reality of a new day, I am reminded of the fact that 70% of US economy is based on consumer spending, and recognize that the disease of consumerism still has us in its grip.  We do not need that table…we have a marble countertop that can serve with the purchase of $15 bar chairs from the market.   Ingrid (friend/neighbor) comes at 11 for…fresh pineapple and strawberries, sweet bread from the German bakery, almonds, deviled eggs, cheese, and coffee.

Brunch with friend Ingrid in our Cuenca apartment

Cuenca Welcome...June 2013

From the Pacific port city of Guayaquil, we traveled over the Andes to Cuenca, a city of half a million located in the Ecuadorean highlands at 8300 feet.  Cuenca is touted as one of the best retirement spots in the world, boasting a perpetual spring climate, low cost of living, and cultural riches…its old city center (photos to right) a UNESCO World Heritage Trust site.

 

Within two weeks of arrival in Cuenca we moved into a lovely new apartment, where we enjoyed about a week of peace.   Then our landlady informed us we would have to pay more---to cover the cost of a 24/7 security guard for the building.  The rent was already high, so a week later we moved to a less expensive apartment in the same building.  

Journal entries:

June 9, 2013

Here we sit in our new home [first apartment], with morning tea in our incredibly comfortable bed delivered yesterday, looking out the window to rushing waters of the Tomebamba River…whose music lulled us to sleep last night.  We're bone weary from days of walking to explore things and find what we needed..and negotiating prices and delivery of appliances and bed.  

View to river from our bedroom 

Installing washer and dryer in our first apartment

First apartment

This place combines memories and links to so many places of my past…the Eucalyptus trees of Sikalongo (Zambia), the mountains and streams and vistas of Colorado, the river walk in Alexandria, Virginia, the cool rains of England, the animals of Haiti….we saw a woman leading a cow down our main road of Gonzales Suarez the other day, as we are on the edge of the city near farming lands.

June 21, 2013

Deeply moved listening to Schubert with Mischa Maisky on cello…a much-loved CD long lost, but here on Bill's iPod.  Evoked thoughts of family and loss and tears of both sorrow and joy. Bill [who was ill] is better…and we walked [along the river] to the mall where I got a haircut and style for $10.

Walking from our apt. to the nearest mall (20") along the Tomebamba river

Wednesday (June 19) was a watershed in that our documents were accepted for [our pensioner's] visas!  I celebrated by spending $40 at Supermaxi on fun food...wine and pistachios, chocolate, etc. and some staples…like black beans which I used to make bean/barley mix for tortillas and a yummy bean and vegetable soup.

June 23, 2013

Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations…reading from Psalm 90 this morning reminds me that there is no better place to dwell than in Him…and I would take a shack or a tent with Him if that is where He leads, but this place seems to be the provision for now, and I am filled with gratitude for this abundance.

Direct view to the river from our second apartment

Second apartment

Exhaustion and Exhilaration…May 2013

May 2, 2013:  Ecuadorean Consulate, Phoenix, Arizona

The Consul General in Phoenix is a quiet, thoughtful man who asks why we want to go to Ecuador.  When we speak of our interest in language and culture, he says there are 15 different dialects and cultures there.  I probably talk too much [during the interview]…Bill later reminds me of the [Latin American] cultural deference to males.




[Later] sitting by the hotel pool, I relax in a way I've not done in recent months.  I'm like the overworked computer that must be turned off…reset or recalibrated in order to work again…there is grieving and perhaps other emotional work that cannot be done until I am recharged.

May 21-27, 2013:  Last Week in Colorado City, Colorado

Hit the wall yesterday with packing, but today can see the end!  Bill doing a marathon of dealing with all financial issues, car transfers, utility changes, repairing things, etc., and taking carloads of stuff to town almost daily.  Yesterday the piano went [to our church's preschool chapel] and [son] Owen was here to help.  A soft, cool evening rain and mist blankets the [Greenhorn] valley and I think of how God will water our lives and refresh us in coming weeks.

May 28, 2013:  Guayaquil, Ecuador

Falling into exhausted sleep after a morning of driving around Guayaquil…to one place we did not need to go (Jefatura Provincial de Migracion) and then to the wrong place (registration for visas), and then to the right place, learning we must come back tomorrow to pick up our passports.  My thoughts between snoozing run to relief that we have exited what was feeling like a toxic environment and a profound sense of needing to rest and recoup in the way a baby does after the birth process.

I also think of the excess of our material possessions and how
much effort it took to deal with them all, marveling that we packed 65 boxes [to be shipped later to Ecuador...3/4 of them books], and thinking I'll give more stuff away when it gets down here!  Bill and I talk about what we will learn together and joke that between us we will manage Spanish and whatever else we need to thrive here.