Friday, Nov 2, 2016

I went running with Chase this morning and I swear I can’t get enough air. I am also confused why it seems I haven’t acclimated to running here yet. It’s been months. I have imaginations that my heart is so taxed at this altitude while I run that I am going to pass out and die. And that would really piss me off! I’m a healthy guy so this whole thing is freaking me out.

I have a coaching call at 3:30 pm, so we did decide to get out of the house and grab some lunch before I had to be back for my call. Chase, Heidi, and I walked to our bus stop and waited for the #7 to come by and take us to El Centro.

This bus has a small flat screen TV at the front running advertisements of local businesses. This is the first bus I have been on in Cuenca where I have seen this. With all the people traveling on buses in this city it seems like a great way to advertise. I am curious how many people pay any attention though, especially during times when the bus is packed like an over stuffed can of sardines.

Today we had lunch at a restaurant in Parque Calderon next to Tutto Freddos Ice Cream shop. The soup tasted fabulous, some kind of bean and yucca mix. The main dish was an oriental chicken fried rice. Not bad either. Way more food than anyone should eat at one time though. And yes, I ate all of it.

We stopped at Mercado 10 de Agosto for some veggies and fruit. Since we were there I picked up two pounds of bacon. It is the exact same bacon we buy at Feria Libre (it’s actually commercially packaged) but is one dollar less a pound here in El Centro.

It reminds me of how items are priced in department stores in the States. The exact same item in the same chain store is priced differently based on the average income of the surrounding neighborhood of where the store is located. I doubt that is the reason for the difference in the price of bacon here, but it did get me thinking that items in this Mercado seem less than at Feria Libre. Why would that be?

Heidi was on the hunt for dark, unsweetened cacao so she can make her sweet and/or hot and spicy chocolates. We found it here in this Mercado. It is sold two ways. One type is shaped like fancy ridged truffles and the other is oval flat sheets. Heidi isn’t messing around, she went for the large flat oval sheets of cacao. In either form it is $3.50 a pound.

On our way home we caught the bus again. At 1:30 pm, all of the kids are out of school and many, many of them take the bus to get back to their homes. Again I am amazed how these kids navigate a bus every day. With the older kids, junior high and high school age, it doesn’t seem like a big deal, but the kids who look like they are in 2nd and 3rd grade blow me away. They are seasoned bus travelers, pros. In the US, parents would be put in jail if they let their kids do this. But guess what, the kids do it and no one is the worse for it.

My call went well. I do get nervous about the internet going out, and that would be from the electricity going off. Yesterday the electricity went off for about 30 minutes and I was grateful I didn’t have a Skype call scheduled then. I’m thinking I should get a small portable power source for my modem and computer just in case. But that is first world “think”. Living here one would simply call back when they could and take a siesta until then. Hmmm…

Have a great weekend!

Chau.