Kent's Journal

Wed/Thurs. Sept. 10-11, Guayaquil
It's different to be dependent on someone else for meals, schedule and transportation, especially since any given time frame can stretch over several hours.  Tuesday morning just as we finished breakfast, Jennifer asked if we wanted to go to "La Malecon" once we had our appointment at the municipal building out of the way.  We weren't exactly sure what it was, but it sounded exciting, so we said "yes!"  Any chance to get out of the small house and explore the sights is a welcome opportunity.   "El Malecon," is the name of the large park district near the center of town.  It reminded me some of Chicago's Millenium/Grant Park area--park after park connected to each other along the water front (Chicago it's Lake Michigan, here it's a large river--El Rio Guayas).  It was great fun, but after much the day in the hot sun and on our feet, we were exhausted when we returned around 6:00 p.m.  I immediately took a nap.  I have been taking quite a few naps and they don't seem to mess with my evening sleep like they usually do in the U.S.  Since we ate a very big meal on El Malecon later than normal and Jennifer had been with us all day, we told Jennifer that she didn't have to come back to make us the lighter evening meal.  Instead, we headed out into the neighborhood around 8:00 to find some street food, which always looks so good, but we haven't had a chance to eat.  Luisa had some kind of grilled sausage on a stick with mayo, Mags had roasted corn on the cob with mayo and cheese, and Teresa and I each had a "tortilla verde con queso," which is a thick handmade tortilla made from plantain with cheese.  The total of our evening snack?  $3.50.
Wednesday was our day this week with the most "open" time. We're not sure what each day brings because we're kind of at Jennifer's (our guide and host) mercy with regard to her availability.  Wed. morning (which means between 9-1ish), we filled our time with doing laundry (Teresa and Luisa) cleaning the dishes and sweeping the house (Mags and Luisa), reading (Mags and Teresa), playing games on the ipod (Luisa), doing music curriculum prep (Kent), ukelele and charango practice (Luisa and Kent), napping (Kent), and sitting around being bored (Luisa).  We're not in a great part of town to go out sight seeing without taking a taxi, so we're kind of stuck at home.  We don't have a phone right now, so that makes it a little tricky.  Our wait for "el almuerzo," the big meal of the day, was longer than usual, which was especially hard on Luisa.  Jennifer came about an hour later than usual.
As she was leaving the house after our breakfast, we asked her how easy it would be for us to get to the botanical garden via taxi.  She mentioned this before, and we knew we had to get out of the house because we were getting a little stir crazy.  She said it would be pretty easy.  Then I asked how to describe to a taxi driver how to get back to our neighborhood.  She thought.  Not so easy.  She said she was free that afternoon and that we could go right then.  We are paying our program each day that we are in Gyuaquil, and the program pays Jennifer (and her aunt who does much of the meal prep) for being our host and guide, which is good.  So, we got a taxi.  We went on a main drag through regular urban-looking areas and turned onto a side street.  All of a sudden this side street stopped having houses, and there was a junky-looking area where people illegally dump trash.  Then we went beyond the dump, and onto a smooth road that took us up a lush hill.  Soon we arrived a very tranquil and beautiful park entrance.
The taxi driver said he didn't know about this place.  It's a privately owned botanical garden, and is home to the Gyuaquil orchid society.  Orchids are common in Ecuador and is a special symbol of Gyaquil.  The cost was $3 for adults and $1.50 for students.  There wasn't anyone at the entrance, but they eventually found us and had us buy tickets.  The only other people there were workers who were busily working on the grounds.  There were all kinds of lush plants representative of Ecuador and South America.  There was even an animal section which included turtles, parrots, macaws, monkeys and fish.  It was a very peaceful and beautiful place with different types of plants representing the different ecosystems of Ecuador.  It also had a wonderful view looking down on the city.
If it weren't for this outing, I think we would have gone crazy in our little house (which gets very warm in the afternoon).  We were very thankful to Jennifer for taking us there.  She's a very interesting person.  She said that she likes to skateboard (long boards) down the big hill at the botanical garden with her friends.  She's also a graphic artist, a sculptor, and wants to be a firefighter (she has taken some courses and wants to complete them).  When we returned to our house, we rested, got water and ice cream bars at the corner store, and passed them time in our own ways before Jennifer returned with the cena (light supper).  She said that she had something that evening, but that her aunt would bring the meal.  7:30 passed, as did 8:00, 8:30, and 9:00.  Was there miscommunication?  Did we miss something?  We decided to play a  few rounds of Phase 10, and if 9:15 came and no one was there yet, Luisa and I would then go out to get some food from a street vendor.  But what if her aunt came after we left?  Is not trusting that the food will come being culturally insensitive?  We would take the risk since we were kind of hungry by now.  At 9:45 we returned with 4 hot and freshly made "tortillas verdes."  No one had come.  We're learning to go with the flow.  No one starved to death, and we all went to bed on happily filled stomachs.
In contrast to yesterday, today we had a plan.  I think us North Americans like plans.  After a rather hearty breakfast, we headed out with our taxi friend Felipe to the Parque Historico Guayaquil.  (We all agreed that it wasn't appropriate to bring up last night to Jennifer.)  The work of the Ecuadoran government seems to be evident everywhere.  There are big billboards touting which government ministry is doing what.  The Parque Historico is run by the Minstry of Urban Life and Development.  It's in one of the more wealthiest parts of the city and it's FREE!  I couldn't believe it!  Like most of the big attractions here, it is very clean and well taken care of.  I think I've written enough for now and I'll let someone else tell about the wonderful Parque Historico.