Well, first I should say I never could have managed the last two weeks without the help of friends and family and the encouragement of friends.  Many people offered to help, and  those offers alone provided encouragement and were so appreciated.

Anyway, we pulled it off and the apartment was all packed up, vacated, and everything thrown away or put in storage.  Thanks for that to Sue Westfall and Ross’s friends Frenchie, Brad and Tracey, and Cameron.  Chris, Judy and Carol gave me temporary shelter, and Ross just generally kept me calm and sorted out my electronics.  Walter saved me from some drastic mistakes and fiscal disaster by taking me to the bank and having them alert their fraud division that I would be traveling.

Three days later here I am in Quito.   Quito proper perches on the edge of a cliff, and is at an altitude of about 9500 + or – .  As you can imagine, this has quite an effect!  I went to bed last night at 8:30; slept soundly until 6:45 this morning, and woke up to the news that my airbnb does not serve breakfast yet.  No problem.  My new self does not mind a bit, but is happy to find a little restaurant across the street.  The owner seems amused at my halting Spanish.  I am so tired that half the time what comes out of my mouth is not Spanish at all, but a hybrid of Spanish and my kinda sorta halway remembered French and pidgin English.

Came back to the hotel and promptly returned to bed til 12:00.  All through my nap I was dimly aware that there was some kind of fiesta going on in the courtyard, but I could just not push myself to consciousness.  When I finally managed to wake up, the music drew me downstairs to the courtyard.  Sadly, they were just finishing up, so I went for a short – and I do mean short – walk down the street.  Traffic stops for neither man nor woman, cane or not, so it is best done very carefully.  Also, those white lines in the road appear to be just a suggestion which is generally ignored.  This was demonstrated quite clearly yesterday on my ride from the airport to the hotel.

I found a bench in the shade on my walk and just enjoyed watching people.  I kind of stick out a little bit, as I am not carrying a purse.  Live and learn!  Everyone has one, and the danglier the earrings the better.  Luckily I did bring one pair with me.   Other than the purse thing, I amazingly do look like many of the older women here, and we are dressed quite similarly, so I am happy that I don’t look like a tourist, at least until I open my mouth.

It’s 2:00, so it must be time for another siesta before dinner.  I believe the fiesta will be starting up again later this afternoon, so I am looking forward to that.  More later, and hope it will be more interesting for you than this!  Hasta luego!