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 …
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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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Two weeks, two schools: from a high-altitude metropolis to a laid back beach town
We’ve now been out of our home for 26 days, out of Colorado for 19 days, and out of the country for 10 days. After traveling across the U.S., and our little detour through Panama City, we were ready to nest a bit when we arrived in Quito. We bought groceries, cooked, went to the …
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And so it begins…a bit of “adventure” and a bonus country to boot!
After a 9-day trip from Denver to New York with some stops along the way to spend time with our kids and visit other relatives, we finally were ready to leave the country and begin our South American adventure. First stop Quito, Ecuador. But before we even left the United States, the travel gods played …
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Goldin Migration
My husband Peter and I find ourselves at an incredibly fortunate juncture. Each of us has earned a public pension at a relatively (very!) young age: he from a career as a civics and history teacher and I from a career as a lawyer for the state of Colorado. It’s time to migrate to a …