So much time has passed since my last entry and yet it seems like it was just yesterday that I posted here! The last couple of weeks have been extremely busy for me, so the time has flown by and I have not had much time for posting here. I'll fill in the gaps now, as best I can.
About a week ago, I remember seeing a beautiful crescent moon hanging perfectly over the glimmering lights of Quito when I left the office. Later that same night, there was a great deal of fog that rolled in. It all made for a very dramatic evening in this city that looks so picturesque at night. We are now moving into the rainy season, but have not had much rain so far. In fact, since my last post we have only had two days of rain. One day there was a quick shower in the afternoon and the other day we did have a steady, slight rain that lasted for a few hours. The latter is fairly unusual here --the quick and powerful afternoon shower is the norm. Because it has been so dry, there have been some wildfires high up in the mountain range that surrounds the city. It makes for quite a luminous landscape late at night and I can see the wildfires out of my bedroom window.
I have now had my first visitor. A friend of mine from Houston came to visit about a week ago. Brian has been traveling around Ecuador since he got here, but we have been able to spend a few days together, tour the historic downtown area, and have dinner. All great fun. It is nice to see old friends here and that is one thing that really miss about being back home. Oddly, Brian was set to go to Greenland and, when I said 'enjoy, and maybe next time you can come to Quito,' he changed his plans and came to Ecuador instead of Greenland. Quite a change, I'm sure.
I have many friends that I am able to stay in touch with periodically, but I certainly cannot see them as often as I used to. I also just generally miss my familiar surroundings. While Quito is a nice city, I miss my old gym, the people I saw there, the restaurants that I used to go to, the places I was so familiar with, trips to Austin, riding my bike in West Houston, laps at the swim center, etc. I am sure I will keep finding similar experiences here, but it is not a perfect transplant. I do miss quite a few things. The next time I go to Houston, I think I will have to bring my bike back to Quito with me ...and I'm still looking for a good swimming pool here.
Brian wanted to visit an old theater here in the historic part of town, so we went. The show was interesting, amusing, and quite good. The theater was built in the late 19th century and is a very nice sight. It is on a plaza in the historic center. The show consisted of about a 12-piece band and 4 female vocalists --everyone from Ecuador --recreating the music of the famous music group of the 70s and 80s, Abba. Now of course you may remember that Abba was not all women and they were Swedish and not Latin American, still the performance was quite good. The singers
--all dressed in 70s mod attire --and musicians did an excellent job of impersonating Abba ...though Brian and I chuckled a bit throughout the show thinking about what we were watching. Periodically there was a backdrop of Abba photos hanging behind the performers to remind the audience of the real Abba.
I participated in a briefing at the U.S. Embassy last week, too. I was asked to brief the Ambassador and the Deputy Chief of Mission, as well as about 10 other high-ranking officials, on the state of legal reform in Ecuador and what my project is doing to assist in the changes. Of course, I had to prepare a PowerPoint presentation for the group and that was very time-consuming. They certainly paid attention to it, though, and I answered questions after the briefing before lunching at the Embassy with some of the audience members. The security to get in and out of the Embassy is always tight, so that presents some logistical challenges and one has to allow about an extra 30 minutes to get in and another 30 to get out.
My big project for the last couple of weeks has been preparing for a training event that was held this Thursday-Sunday. On Thursday, I lectured on communication and institutional conflict to a group of 50 government officials --another PowerPoint! The purpose of the lecture was to give the officials some useful skills to deal with the conflicts that occur in their institutions and also between their institutions. On Thursday night, I welcomed 4 trainers from the U.S.A. who came to Quito to help me with the project. On Friday, we held roundtable discussions (10 officials per group) to determine what problems exist with the legal system in Ecuador and its reforms, and how all of the institutions can go about finding workable solutions. That lasted all day Friday. On Saturday, the team of trainers worked with me for several hours drafting a report for the event, which I now have to revise and publish.
Saturday afternoon, I took the group out to visit Quito. We went to Mitad the Mundo, which is the geographic center of the earth that separates the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern. We also went to the historic center in Quito and visited some of the famous buildings. They enjoyed the sightseeing, but they had to leave early for the airport. We did not stay out late, since I had to meet some of them at 4:00AM today to go to the airport so they could begin their trip home. Great to see and work with the trainers again --all of whom I know well --and it reminded me (again) of some of the people and things I miss back home.
Today I spent the day wrapping up things after the event, catching up on email, and doing a little shopping at the grocery store. Shopping for groceries and a pizza dinner has become a regular activity for me on Sundays! I enjoy the long walk, too.
Above I have posted a picture of the old theater (Teatro Sucre), which I will now forever associate with Abba! I have also posted a picture of me at 0 degrees, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds --right at the equatorial center of the earth. Notice the difference in the sun on one shoulder versus the other --one on the sunny side of the equator and the other not! I am literally standing with one foot in one hemisphere and the other in the other hemisphere. Notice the red diving line under me. If you click on my picture, above, you can see a higher resolution version of the picture.
Hope you enjoyed reading. Sorry it has taken me so long to post an entry here, but please check back soon ...and please keep writing.
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