Weekend Rain Doesn't Dampen All

Even with this nasty weather we've been having over the weekend, the rain hasn't managed to ruin it all. Granted, I stayed in both Friday and Saturday night and missed an opportunity to check out a flea market, but I've still gotten out. On Saturday morning I woke up fairly early--around 10 am. 10 am is now late by work week standards, yet but weekend rules it's early. And in accordance with when I used to wake up, it was way early. Either way, I watched a little TV, cleaned the apartment, and went for a long run, all before 1 pm.

I then met up with a friend to walk to the Japanese Gardens and Parque General Las Heras. I still managed to get a burn from the morning run even though it was gray and sunless, plus I had to wait on my friend for a half hour. By the time she showed up it was already raining, so we took refuge at my place for about 45 minutes until it stopped.

It was decided that the parks would be a bad idea with the rain, so we instead headed into Palermo, as I had yet to really walk around through the different sections during the day. We were also trying to find a shop that sold good shawarma. It was one of my favorite kind of days: gray and calm before the storm, with a gentle breeze, not hot but not cold, and totally peaceful, even in a large city like this. I like rain from time to time, but too much can be annoying. Yet that kind of atmosphere is always nice.

Down through the tree lined streets of Palermo Soho, Palermo Viejo, and Palermo Hollywood, we walked among tourists and locals shopping at high end retails boutiques. Who knows where the little sections of Palermo really started and ended, but we could feel a sense of change from time to time. The deeper we went the lower the houses got, the quieter the streets were, and the more it felt like a suburb. And Palermo used to be a suburb until growth in the city enveloped it as another neighborhood. Only recently, within about 10 years, has it become a hip and popular place to live, yet it still retains its working class feel in many parts. On the other hand, you can really see why locals refer to Palermo as "muy fashion."

We walked to Calle Armenia, where surprise surprise, we found the Armenian food store where the shawarma was said to be. Unfortunately, we arrived too late in the afternoon and they had none left, so we split an Armenian empanada, which was filled with spinach and cheese. The employees were rude and unhelpful, but the smells in the store were sweet, and if I had some extra money and cooking knowledge I would have picked up some of the spices.

The excitement of the day pretty much ended there as we walked back to my neighborhood. So this morning I woke up at 10 am again, went for a run and then made lunch. But the view from my balcony told me it was going to rain sooner than it did yesterday. I decided to take a stroll to Alto Palermo, a high end shopping mall about 15 blocks away. I had no interest in shopping, but I just wanted to do something to get out of the house, and I still hadn't seen it.

Along the way I stopped in the Botanical Gardens just across from Plaza Italia. It's a beautiful and quiet refuge in between the hustle and bustle of Avenida General Las Heras and Avenida Santa Fe. Rain misted and sprinkled down in waves as I walked through, with just a few other visitors along the trails. The gardens were full of cats roaming around and using their tongues as toilet paper. I would have stayed longer but was worried about a downpour, so I left the park and walked down to Parque General Las Heras, a nice and quiet place in Recoleta.

I think Las Heras is underrated, because it's not a very popular spot in comparison to the many parks in the area. Yet it was still a nice place to take a stroll and it's located in a cheery part of town. I only passed through on my way to Alto Palermo, where I spent an hour strolling from store to store, somehow setting off alarms everywhere I went. All of the stores were expensive and I would never shop there. I don't even like going to malls, but I had literally nothing better to do and wanted to get out of the house.

On the way back home I stopped in at an Havanna cafe for a cortado, and realized that I hadn't been to one since my friend Kristine was visiting in September. When she was here we went almost every day, at least once a day. But once she went back to Ecuador I didn't have the cash for it. They make the best alfajores, and from time to time I'll treat myself to one, but I haven't sat in the cafe in a while.

So after a coffee it was back here, where I'll sit around and maybe if ESPN shows it, I'll catch the U.S vs Canada hockey game in the Olympics tonight. Tomorrow it's back to work.

Flooding in the Streets

It was a mess today, as another powerful thunderstorm rolled through Buenos Aires, dumping over 3 inches in 2 hours, with the majority coming in 45 minutes. I had no idea, as I was in the office working, away from a window. But I had been out at lunch and felt the intense humidity, as well as seen the dark clouds looming. You could tell it was going to be big.

I finally checked the window around 5 pm and it was dark as night out, with the streets filled with people running for cover. The subways were all suspended, and as usual Palermo was the first to flood. Just down the street from my apartment was the epicenter, where the Civil Guard had to be deployed to assist. The same thing happened on Monday, but at least it happened after I was already home by that point. Adding salt to the wound, it's a Friday and the weekend looks like it will be filled with rain as well. It always rains on the weekend.

With the subway out of the equation, I waited in the rain on the street with no umbrella for the bus to come, and when one finally stopped it wasn't too bad of a ride home. All told, I only got home about 20 minutes later than usual, though it could have been much worse. Fortunately for me I got off the bus at Plaza Italia, just as intense traffic was bulging up. All of the news channels are going a bit crazy over the flooding, and once again cars are floating in the streets and people are stranded. This could be a wet, boring weekend.

Rainy Week

Thinking about it now, I can definitely see a distinct difference between March and April. In Cuenca, anyway. In March it was more often than not hot and sunny. I had to even practice a little caution to avoid bad sunburn. April, on the other hand, is completely different. It seems like just about every day is gray and cold with rain at one point or another. Sometimes it just rains the entire day. It's getting old fast.

This week has been exceptionally miserable in terms of the weather. I haven't seen the sun since I was out of town at lower altitude last weekend. I couldn't even go on a run for a week until this morning when the rain stopped long enough for me to get outside. It hasn't really rained hard today, but I'm betting that mean it will pour tonight.

They have a saying here, "abril, augas mil." It's along the same lines as "April showers bring May flowers." I'm just hoping the weather changes soon, because I'm getting pretty sick of walking around under an umbrella 90% of the time. And I think the weather also plays an effect on other things. I find myself less patient walking around, dealing with people on the street who take up all the room on the sidewalk. Or the food that I'm so sick of eating. I'm at the point now where I can barely stand it. So many things that I'd gotten used to already are now starting to drive me nuts again. Could the weather be playing a role? Or maybe time is just catching up with me. I'm not sure. A change could do some good, though.

The Saturday Rain Review

I did absolutely nothing today. It simply rained and was cold the entire day, so I didn't even leave the house. This is a journal of how I killed the time. It is a testimonial of laziness to the extreme. Enjoy.

Saturday

1:30 a.m. : Came home from bar hopping and hanging out on Calle Larga. Went to bed by 2.

10:30 a.m. : Finally accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep so I reluctantly got out of bed. Ate breakfast and returned to the bedroom to figure out how to work the new iPod shuffle that I bought last night from my student. It was brought back from the U.S. by her husband, and though it costs $50 there, she charged me $70 after some haggling. It only has 1 Gb, but at least I'll have something to listen to now on the long bus rides. The only problem is that it can only be charged through a computer.

12:25 p.m. : After three tries at loading songs onto the iPod, I finally got the songs I wanted. Took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on deodorant. Then immediately got back into pajamas and started watching "The Office" on my laptop in bed.

12:45 : Started to feel a cold coming on. Sneezed about 40 times and my nose became a faucet. Put on a sweater and tucked my arms into the sleeves. Sneezing out of control. Only stopping occasionally to rub my eyes.

1:15 : Had lunch with the host family. To avoid sneezing throughout the meal I had to sniffle for 30 minutes and pinch at my nose with a napkin, roughing up the skin. Discussed the possibility of going to the park to play frisbee if the rain would hold off, but no sooner than my host mother said the rain would stay away, depending on the wind, than the rain began to fall on the house.

2:00 : Called my friend to confirm that we would not be going to the park because of the rain. Watched three more episodes of "The Office."

2:45 : Took a 25 minute nap until my host mom came by to tell me a package was waiting for me at the post office. I'll have to deal with that mess on Monday. If all goes well.

3:30 : Read 10 pages in "Moby Dick," the Spanish version for children. Rain continued to come in hard on the glass roof. No chance of leaving the house today confirmed as I sneezed for the 178th time.

4:15 : Attempted to get on the Internet for the 4th time today, as the signal was extremely weak all afternoon. Finally found success in a corner of the house near the router. Checked email, headlines, and Facebook.

4:20 : Looked up some new vocabulary words in Spanish on Wordreference.

4:30 : Skyped with my friend Paul who is back in Florida. First time we'd talked and heard each others voices since the summer. Talked for almost a half hour until the signal was so bad that we completely broke off. It continued to rain and be cold. My feet have been freezing all day. My nose is hemorrhaging.

5:15 : Watched three more consecutive episodes of "The Office." Was disappointed to find that one of the discs was messed up and one episode didn't work. That now makes one full disc that didn't work and another episode on a different disc that didn't work. So far this purchase was a let down. Still cold. Still sneezing. Still raining.

7:28 : Had dinner of Kraft Macaroni n Cheese. Good, but not quite filling. Also had tea with knockoff Ritz crackers. Contemplating leaving the house to get a kabab, but that would involve putting on a pair of pants and a jacket, as well as leaving the house. Decision made to delay until absolutely necessary.

7:50 : Watched the 8th and 9th episodes of "The Office" for the day. Considering watching more, but wary of killing it. Sneezed for the 349th time. Nose is in full rebellion. Can only breath out of mouth.

8:50 : Airway to nose has reopened, but sneezing continues. It sounds like the raining has stopped. Wondering if it's worth getting a kabab at this point. I really don't want to have to get dressed. Eyelids are heavy. Wish I had some chicken noodle soup and a TNT movie marathon. Most likely movie selections for marathon: "Forrest Gump," "Gladiator," and "Saving Private Ryan." The sagging hole in my bed is so deep from sitting on it all day that it's a struggle to get out. Counting down hours until sleep.

A Rainy Week

For the last week or so it's been raining pretty consistently in Cuenca. The month of December was pretty dry, and now January has been, on the contrary, pretty wet. There are usually three different types of rain here. It can rain hard in the morning and then clear up mostly by the afternoon. It can also be beautiful in the morning, followed by a powerful rain in the early afternoon that will be short lived. Or, it will be cloudy for most of the day and in the late afternoon it will start raining gently late into the night. After it rains it will always get much colder.

It's very hard to dress appropriately and to stay dry in these conditions. While walking to work I can pass through two different spurts of rain. Another problem is finding a good umbrella. I cam down with an umbrella that was fine, but one night in November I left it at someone's house after a dinner and though my friend told me she had it, I have yet to get it back. I bought a replacement for $2, but the first time I opened it up I found that it was already broken. Though it rains so often here, no one sells a good umbrella, and even though a lot of people have good umbrellas, no one knows where to find them.

A professor at the university told me that a lot of people bring their umbrellas back from the United States, Canada, or England. I just don't understand why decent umbrellas can't be made or sold here in Ecuador. Especially if the only real seasons are Wet and Dry. In the meantime, I have to just keep dodging the rain as best I can, and hopefully I'll one day find my old umbrella (unlikely) or come across a better substitute than I've found so far.

This week has gone by pretty well. My boss Peter visited on Monday for a site visit and reviewed my class. Later that night he took us out to dinner at an Italian restaurant called La Vina, just up the road from where I live. It was a great meal and was the first good Italian food I've had since I was back home in the States. Otherwise classes have been going by normally and I have next week to look forward to, when the September volunteers will head to the coast for a Mid-service conference. We'll be heading to a place a little south of Puerto Lopez, a resort called Alandaluz.

We should be leaving either Wednesday or Thursday, because we are excused from classes for the conference and those of us who live far away from the coast get an extra day for travel. It will be a good chance to see more of the coast, since I only know Machala and the airport and bus terminal of Guayaquil.

Rain in Jima Doesn't Mean No Joy

Today I went for a short day trip to the town of Jima, a little less than 2 hours southwest of Cuenca. My friends Casey and Lara are living in Jima, and though it's an extremely small town in the sticks with not much to do, I wanted to check out the town and do a little hiking.

We took off on the 11 a.m. bus out of a hole in the wall "terminal", leaving on an old bus with huge windows, which when you opened them up, half your body was out of the bus. The weather was great as the sun beat down and the temperature permitted just a t-shirt and jeans. It was looking like good weather for hiking, but it's always hard to tell how long the weather will hold here.

Casey had told me that half the fun of Jima was the bus ride, and as we cruised along through the mountains, I could see why. I felt like a kid in a candy shop, looking out the window at all of the scenery. Passing by farms and huge mountain peaks, the bus took one sharp turn after another, steadily rising in altitude.

It was extremely exciting, and as we got off the bigger road, we wound down onto dirt roads that had never even heard of concrete. One wrong move and the bus would tumble down hundreds, maybe thousands of feet, but the driver was careful to avoid the ditches with slowly moving, brown water, and we continued straight on the path.

As we were getting closer to the destination, darker clouds started to roll in, and it was getting colder. It was clear that the perfect weather was not going to hold. The moment we pulled into Jima a thunderstorm broke out. As we ran up the dirt road, slowly becoming a mud road, to their house, it became evident that the climb was not going to happen.

It was a disappointment, but there was still another, easier walk we could do. The rain stopped and we grabbed lunch, and I could see what a friendly town it was. Jima only has about 1,500 people, and since Casey and Lara are the only gringos, they stick out quite a bit. But everyone is extremely friendly, and as we passed, everyone said hello and good afternoon.

The newly married couple eat all of their meals at the same restaurant, and they are only served whatever is being cooked that day. A dirty-white dog named "Paci" follows them around wherever they go and protects them from the other wild packs of dogs that rule the streets of the town. The last volunteer in the town had brought the dog, and now it has an affinity for gringos.

After the lunch we went back to the house to wait out a few more storms that had rolled in. There is literally nothing to do in Jima. The town center has a couple of stores and maybe one bar/restaurant. A church is the tallest building. This small pueblo has dirt road, which in the rain became muddy sink holes, increasingly difficult to walk through. The buildings and houses are run down and dirty, many in disrepair. But there's something awfully charming about the place. There's no Internet. Probably not that many TVs. And few cars running through causing traffic.

But that's what's perfect about it. It's almost what my image of Ecuador was before I got here. The mountains in the background are magnanimous and inspiring, begging you to climb them. It's an incredibly safe town because everyone knows each other, and there's no point in robbing your friend when you know they don't have anything to steal. The tranquility of the town was perfect.

Once the rain had stopped for a third, or maybe fourth time, we decided to go on a little walk through the town. Going down the dirty roads, Paci followed us and ran ahead at times. Going down the steep roads which the couple runs on, it was clear that the rain had worn away, forcing more rocks up to the surface.

Passing by an indigenous woman carrying a heavy load up the hill, we greeted each other and she warned us it was about to rain. No sooner than a minute later the rain started to fall, and we turned back. The walk up the hill was tough, and since we were higher than in Cuenca, about 9000 feet or more, I was breathing deeply by the time we got to the top.

Once more we returned to the house, played some poker, and then I caught the 5 p.m. bus back to Cuenca. The rain continued to fall off and on, but the ride out was as nice as the ride in, even though towards the end it was dark. Tired and somehow sunburned, I returned home to relax and rest for the remainder of the night. All told, it was a solid day.

Above: along the walk through Jima, one of the main roads through town, the view of the mountain we didn't climb from the house