Walk in the park

I love the beauty of this place, but having Julian Assange seeking refuge in Ecuador is a mystery to me.
 It is somewhat of a peculiar choice I would claim. A guy standing for free information having done his to spread the word, so to speak, wanting to settle in a land not known, in particular, for freedom of press or speech. However, principles are modifiable I suppose when justice and potential loss of freedom gets too close for comfort. Just wondering what’s on the agenda for the President here, is it just for the sake of Julian’s blue eyes? Vamos a ver.
In spite of the above I have not really tried to get a feel of the social, economic or political realities of our new temporary homeland as of yet, and maybe not really wanting to this time around on this new posting. I am a real long term tourist with no official status and with time to explore history and nature and first of all learn the language.  No job obligations to distract my days, I am a spouse (ugly word I think). In Danish it is “medfølgende” which is much nicer it literally means “follower”. I like that, a great woman took me with her to enjoy life in a new spot in the world, how lucky can one get.
The Spanish lessons have started. We have a private tutor coming to the cottage twice a week, so far two sessions and unfortunately I am not fluent yet. Having once been fairly fluent in Portuguese is both an advantage and a dilemma, advantage as the structure of the language is very similar and many terms are the same, but when trying to express oneself it is very, very hard not to fall into Portuguese pronunciations. As long as our teacher speaks baby language, so to speak, and v e r y  s l o w l y, I am OK, but outside that setting, in the street and real life, WOW this is going to be a somewhat uphill struggle. However, the hill is not steep, it is doable.


Down town, new area

Before we came here we heard all kind of stories about the crime level in Ecuador, carjacking, armed robberies, pickpockets, you name it, they have it. And for sure there is a rather high level of crime and theft, but by utilizing the most uncommon of senses, the so called common sense, you are fine. Although luck can run out at times, as long as you put the “antennas” out and do not flaunt your obvious wealth one is left alone and in peace.  
Just as I was heading out by taxi, a very easy and dirt cheap transportation in this city, the other day to the new downtown area I was asked by Patricia, head of human resources at the school,  if I was bringing any valuables. I said yes, and no - just my camera, a few dollars and myself. “What about the gold chain around your neck?” she asked and then looked up at me and followed up with, “Oh, you are a big man, and Ecuadoreans are afraid of big men, so you are fine.”
Quito is divided into a number of different areas, the new area I was going to explore and practice my few words of Spanish in is an area full of shopping malls, broad avenues, fairly ugly standard architectural structures, but with the redeeming part consisting of an enormous park, La Carolina, right smack in the middle of it all. The park is ½ km wide and 2 ½ km long, and it is safe in the daytime as long as you are big. It is full of Ecuadoreans enjoying themselves, more so on week-ends I found this time, but hey, somebody has to work.
The other main two areas of interest are Gringo Town and the Old Town - another day for those.



 

 I strolled around the park, sat down now and again and took some pictures as discreetly as a 300mm tele-lens allows you. I came across this fellow making a sculpture out of a huge tree trunk with a Husquarna chainsaw. We fell into a conversation and for a while I felt really good about it, I could understand a lot more than I thought and actually answer too, until realising that he had heard my Portuguese mixed in there and started speaking in Portuguese. That was certainly very kind but not helpful for my purpose, and of course his Portuguese was also way better than mine has ever been. Sigh!!

He was an Ecuadorean artist who has made big wooden sculptures in all the parks in Quito as well as in other S. American countries.  The rest of the day downtown only led to ordering coffee and lunch, no long intellectual discussions with the locals quite yet.





Having been driven all over this town now by school buses and taxis I walked home, it is a lot closer than I thought, just about 5 km, however the hills are killers not least combined with the thin air, which still after these almost 3 weeks is a factor.
The air is clean here, exceptionally so except when a big bus goes by in a black cloud but the lack of oxygen does slow you down, burning lungs one of the new teachers called it and that’s how it feels if you move up hill in “normal” pace.
Up here in our little gated ‘oasis’ the air is also full of the fragrance of eucalyptus. These trees are not indigenous to South America. They are, as in Africa, imported from Australia, and planted on steep hillsides to prevent landslides. To me one of the nicest smells ever, it is a strong reminder of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania where Sherry’s and my long term travels started in the last century.