The tales of Cuenca Continue

Hola! Two weeks of Spanish in an immersion school was really work. Today is our last lesson and we move on for another three weeks of recovery in the jungle, mountains, and rain Forrest.

I love this city. We have eaten like royals, seen fantastic classical concerts, hiked, and visited cultural sites. The Cuencanos are wonderful people who really take pride in their clean city.

First, a word about learning Spanish. Gay and I started at the same level, but soon discovered one of us has great linguistic skills; alas, the other gets good laughs from waiters when ordering anything but beer. I will let you guess who can charm young men into kissing her on the cheek in museums, dance with a tango king and negotiate the purchase of medicino. The school was very difficult and at the end of the day both of us are really tired.

Cuenca is surrounded by mountains. The Parque Cayes is a national park located at around 11,000 to 12,000 feet. It has over 300 lakes and remarkable views. There are more species of humming birds in residence than in the entire United States and Canada. The flora is very interesting with weird desert like plants abounding. You can really feel the altitude and I experienced a little scorche (altitude sickness).

We also visited Girone Falls National Park. There are three falls much higher than the falls in the Columbia Gorge. We climbed up to the base of the falls; I stripped to my shorts and walked underneath the pounding cascade. Our guide, Marta, drank the water and so did I with unfavorable results.

Speaking of gastrointestinal problems....Well in Lima, I got up in the middle of the nights and chugged a glass of water. I waited to explode, but did not. The water fall cocktail did the damage. Cipro is a great drug and I now am back to eating real food. Purchasing Cipro (a broad range antibiotic) was a good experience. It cost me $45 in West Linn and I had to talk an unnamed medical professional into writing a prescription. Here it costs $11 (for six more pills) and no prescription is required. The drug salesman and the pharmacist who gave me the pills were astounded when I shared this information. Why does it cost so much more for the same drug. How many of our seniors and poor simply go without so the drug companies can score.

On to Inca sites. We visited Incapirca, an Inca outpost on the Inca Trail between Cusco and Quito. This was the tenth site I visited this year and I am coming to know the Inca culture for what it really was: twisted. There are always sacrificial stones where young women were murdered. The temples to the sun are abudant. The stone block architecture does not cease to amaze. They were only in power for a little more than 100 years and their empire was destroyed quickly by the nasty Spanish conquistadors.

The company on these trips is what makes them interesting. The students attending our school are a mixed lot and have fascinating stories to share.

More stories to come: Miguel, our teacher walking to work three hours as a young teacher in the mountains. Gay dances the Tango in a small club.
Rachmaninoff is played by a Russian star in a 16 the century cathedral. Movies on channel 18 include The Bandit and pictures inside my bank. As Dorothy said, "There´s no place like home!