As hoped, week two in Cuenca afforded us more time to explore the area. Some of the week’s highlights hit us by surprise: a herd of alpacas all to ourselves; a celebration of the moon and the earth; amazing indigenous dances. Others were planned: biking through the city; hiking in the national park; a spa …
Monthly Archives: September 2019
Mi casa es tu casa: Cuenca homestay
Our grand plan to live with separate host families last week was partially successful. Per assignment of our Cuenca Spanish school, I lived with my host “mother” Carmita and her adult son Diego in a small complex of about a dozen town houses (of which five were occupied by Carmita’s relatives). Peter lived in the …
Ayampe: Tranquilo
Ask anyone in Ayampe about Ayampe, and you hear: ¡Es tranquilo! It’s chill, it’s calm, it’s enveloped by an inexplicably peaceful energy. We are told the town does not allow assertive vendors even during high season (which most certainly is not now). Ayampe is quite small but even so, yoga classes abound and foreigners aplenty …
Canoa Ecuador: The beach, Spanish, a farm, and *not* the resurrected pig
The Canoa Spanish program in Canoa had one big advantage over Vida Verde in Quito: they provided more concrete structure through grammar and exercise books for purchase. But the teachers at Vida Verde were far more educated and talented. In particular, Peter’s Canoa teacher, Marcia, was loathe to stray from the books. And she committed …
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