premeria semana en Quito

our second room at the hostel!...we changed a few times, it was kinda fun. These other pics are from our first food buying trip. As we were walking up to the Supermaxi we found this small organic vegetable vendor! We were able to buy a huge bag of fresh veggies for $2.50! We cooked a lot at this hostel....a nice comfort for our bellies!

  we found these great ceramic sculptures in the park at La Casa de Cultura...it was here we also found the film festival.

  this was the first cathedral we went in...didn't catch the name.

Posada del Maple

our first room

we fell in love with our first hostal, adorable, clean, hospitable and with so much character. Dona Rosa y las mujeres de Posada del Maple are so sweet and helpful...so if you ever find yourself in Quito, we highly recommend it!

view from the top terrace

there were all these sweet patios and staircases leading to small terraces all over...it seemed the hostal went on and on.

 

We made quite a few friends here... Jo and Anja who ventured out to the film festival with us, and then a cup of tea. Jo had been working in the amazon with Anja and traveling for about 10 months. 

 

 

the key board in espanol

 

first day

 on our way to the airport....thank you andrea!!!!

 housten intercontinental airport....last phone calls made, and last min mailings sent.


clouds from the window seat...and the last rays of sun on the horizon.

 After a smooth transition through Quito's immigration and customs, our hostel was there to pick us up! We got our first taste of Ecuador's driving and landed safely at Posada del Maple...our home for the next few days.

farthest and highest

traveling abroad is always something i have wanted to do. it felt so far off,difficult and maybe even inaccesible. and now that i´m here - all that feels pretty rediculous. as we first ventured out into the bustling streets of Quito, everything felt quite comfortable. in the streets were ladies cooking and cleaning, and men working. in the park there were babies crying, children playing and even a cheer camp going on! sure there are more honking cars and they drive a lot faster and even the buses have barkers hanging out the door. Quito is lovely, hospitablem welcoming and warm (it seems we bring the Cali sun with us where ever we go). So far we´ve managed an open air market, super mercado, post office, organic produce stand, and a film festival...all on our very limited español. Today we took a gondola up the Pinchicha mountain and we found ourselves looking over the entire city of Quito at 13,116 ft. and i realized; i am the highest i´ve ever been and the farthest i´ve ever been from home.

"ola" ...hawaiian for healing

Every time i arrive in Hawaii i always remember that first feeling when i get off the plane...stepping off the ramp and onto the tarmac, the warm trade winds whip my hair around my face and smell that sweet balmy air that can only come from these islands. For this landing we are received by Michael's uncle Joseph and two cousins Zia and Lillian. With heady tuberose leis around our necks we pile into the van and head to Kula, upcountry Maui on the slope of Haleakala. Once we arrive and settle in the first thing i want to do is walk, to shake off the long day of travel and to find myself. Their house is at the end of the road, surrounded by pasture and spots of waddle forest. So i walk... first on the old paved road... i walk until it turns to red Maui earth... i walk until it turns to a single track trail... i walk until the grass is knee high and the berry bramble catches my clothes. Pheasants spook, shriek and fly away. There are so many shades of green, it goes beyond what i can imagine, the vines, the trees, the grasses. In vibrant contrast, a bright orange lichen grows on the waddle tree trunks and drippy vines with pink blossoms hang down in the way of lush jungle opulence. As i climb over one fence then another the light shifts and i look out over the sea...the late afternoon sun is shinning over the water between the west Maui mountains and Lanai. Drinking in this much beauty makes my eyes fill with tears...I'm home, I'm home, I'm home...in my body and on this earth. I finally feel all that chaos is over....the graduation, the packing, the planning, the moving, the goodbye-ing... in this moment i am here, in this moment i can breathe, in this moment i begin again. I walk until the light shifts again and i stop, this time to look up the mountain. I catch my breath as i find myself locked in a gaze with a deer. He is magnificent. A spotted axis buck with three points to his crown. It rains easy here... frequent, gentile and quick. My tears match that. Here the rain is sacred, a blessing, showering love, and aloha from the sky to the land. I let my tears be the same, let them wash away the stress, melt thee tension, be a blessing to this body, my soul.

view from the lanai, south shore maui, molokini and kahoolawe in the distance

the homestead. platform on the right, main house in the middle and the guest cottage on the left

sunset from the pasture

officially, intentionally homeless

as of 6/9/11 we are with out an address....and although i would like to say i feel lighter or even excited, i'm not feeling much of anything, but maybe a bit automatic. these past few months have been incredibly full...each day packed with obligations and checklist to keep me on task, i haven't dropped in to feel anything. all i know is that if i keep moving forward i will eventually get there, or be able to check off one more task.

so the morning of 6/9/11 we left our apartment for the last time. the car was loaded with gear, boxes, bags, our dog loki and our ball python, pythia. (xylia our daughter left the monday before at 4am on her 8th grade trip through 5 states on the green tortoise bus!) we had a few stops to make along the way to southern oregon, and with each stop we left a box or bag that was intended for friends as we wound our way up the state of california. the trip was sweet with many friends along the way to wish us well and feed us well.

today the family is reunited back in costa mesa for a couple more days...more packing and refining the packing for the month in maui (where we officially start our travel year).

that island can't come soon enough. what i do know i feel is how disconnected from myself i have been in the last 2 months. i'm looking forward to finding myself again. i used to exercise regularly, meditate, yoga, breathe....none of which have found me lately. maui will be a recalibration or re-integration of self, it will, it will it will!

 saying goodbye to loki....this was a hard day

playing with her new brother tapa... she's going to have a great year at shakti moon ranch!