Yes, I am in Ecuador. No, it’s not hot, at least not at the moment.

My first week in Ecuador has flown by, nothing new there. I am settled into a two bedroom apartment on the property of El Refugio. This makes the morning commute a 15 second walk around the corner, no complaints there. My vehicle is insured and I am learning my way about the labyrinth of Quito, at least they have street names which is more than I can say for San Jose.

At the moment I am sitting next to my house’s only source of heat, a heater that runs on a 6 or 7 gallon propane cylinder. A few minutes ago I stepped outside to look around, I could see my breath, probably somewhere about 50 degrees, probably upper 40’s. The scattered clouds slowly passed over the moon’s crescent which well defined the ridgeline 1700 ft. above me. The neighborhood dogs are restless tonight, barking incessantly.

My house and its adjoining buildings make up one side of a triangle shaped garden. In the garden are a number of fruit trees, mainly lemons, and some vegetables. The edge to the left is defined by a 20 ft. high hedge, the edge to the right is as well, or was I should say, until we knocked a hole in it last year in order to put a 30’ x 50’ building there. That building, which we call the Professional Training Center, is our current large project. Two days ago we finished forming and pouring the bond beam to tie the block walls together. Next week we’re hoping to have a roof on it.

In shopping for household items I have thus far been shocked at how much more is available and how much prices have come down in the past two years. The Spanish is coming back little by little, my interactions with Ecuadorians are thoroughly enjoyed on my part, probably not always on theirs. Being able to communicate with people, the workers especially is a wonderful thing, I look forward to building deeper relationships with them.

Photos are in the works.

~MWL

One cannot stay on the summit forever –
One has to come down again.
So why bother in the first place? Just this.

What is above knows what is below –
But what is below does not know what is above.

One climbs, one sees –
One descends and sees no longer –
But one has seen!

There is an art of conducting one’s self in
The lower regions by the memory of
What one saw higher up.

When one can no longer see,
One does at least still know.

René Daumal