Each year, Halloween becomes a bigger and bigger deal in our house.  Decorations, parties, candy gingerbread houses, and usually a cauldron of witch’s brew made of dry ice left over from some shipping containers at work. This year, the mourning for a Halloween misspent started early.  Where will we be on Halloween? No one celebrates…

I could tell this story in real time – that is, if you have six weeks to listen to it.  I’ll try to speed it up, but you’ve got to feel a little bit of the excruciation.   Getting  to the airport in the Galapagos involves a taxi boat (bags piled high on the bow), 45…

One thing that I don’t miss at all in Maryland in Spanish conjugations. Not only have they caused me hours of stress, but they still haunt me to this day. Ironically, of the few things to follow me to Ecuador, conjugations have hitched a ride in one of our many suitcases to Cuenca. Every day from 3…

In our earlier blog about the Jambu Huasi clinic we wrote about some of the traditional medicine practiced by the local Yachacs (shamans), Parteras (lay midwives), and Fregadoras (medical masseuses). We promised to give an update after we completed our month in Otavalo. Since we wrote that first blog, Lena and I had the chance…

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have wasted the week before our departure folding and rolling every outfit I have ever owned in attempt to make it fit into my small suitcase. Because the beauty of the small suitcase is that if it fits once, consider yourself lucky, because it will never fit again. To make my…

Every time we take a family vacation, we make sure to pack our sets of watercolor sketchbooks and paints. For as long as I can remember, the pile of watercolor books and paintings on our family room shelf has been growing. As many of you know, each book makes for some unique memories and a…

We were happy to meet Dr. Sonia Garcia, a family practice doctor with an office on the stately Plaza Bolivar in Otavalo, who also singlehandedly staffs the health center in Mojandita, a small village outside of the city. We we put in contact with Dr. Sonia by the Tandana Foundation, a charity that runs medical…

Jews number about 700 in Ecuador – comprising .004%  of the population of almost 16 million. Most of them arrived from Europe during and after Holocaust, and at its peak, the Jewish population was about 4000.  Ecuador is unique in not having the problem of anti-semitism seen in other South American countries, and the people…

Hello family, friends, and fans! I’m back with more updates. Let’s continue where we left off with a tie. Next topic is one that touches my heart: Clothing. Ecuador- Alpaca sweaters pretty much sums up the clothing situation. Although the sweaters are incredibly soft and warm, fashion is a bit lacking. America- Oh Marc Jacobs,…