June/02/2014
It is cold here today, 59°F.
We are at the end of the rainy season.
They promise us it will be warmer and sunnier after May or June… We’ll
see. But it is still a whole lot nicer
than snow and ice.
Spanish:
Our 3rd class of Spanish is winding down – 2 more
weeks. We both feel a bit frustrated
with our progress, though I know we are improving – it is just hard to see
it. Our drivers are now pushing us to
speak more Spanish, which is great.
Because our drivers have been getting very busy, we have added a third,
a friend of Patricio’s who has his own cab.
He is a hoot. He speaks very
little (un poco) English, and so I try to talk with him in Spanish, while he
tries to talk with us in English.
Conversations often end with a confused look, but we try and have fun as
well.
We went on a field trip on Friday to an art gallery. The artist, Miguel Illescas, was as
entertaining as his art, which consists of metal objects colored by using chemicals
and heat. He has never taken a chemistry
class so it is all trial and error with spectacular results. He says he has been happily surprised by some results, but then he was unable to replicate the process. Ah
yes, the need of taking notes. I took a bunch of pictures on my phone, but
have never tried to download to my computer until today. It won’t do it! You can see some of his artwork at http://www.artcuenca.com/artists/miguel-illescas. Apparently his web site (www.miguelillescas.com) is down, but he shows
up if Googled. I love the blue footed
boobies and the iguanas and the fish and the bicyclers and…well, most of it
Critters (livestock to Frank):
We added to our family.
Another Gringo had adopted a kitten, then didn’t get her spayed in time
and ended up with a bunch more kitties.
We decided to adopt two of those.
We were concerned that they would be afraid of the dogs, or that the
dogs would bully them even though both of these dogs have lived their entire lives
with cats. Well, surprise! Ginger tucked her tail and hid out for a full
day. Gradually she has been joining the
family more and more, but she got so upset she chewed a sore on her tail;
something the vet assured us happens a lot when a new member is brought into
the family whether it be animal or human.
We had to get the veterinarian out to see her, then when it was decided
she definitely was infected, had to haul her in to the clinic for lab
work. She is fine – on antibiotics, cleanings and an immune booster, but still not real happy about the
kittens.
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| Tigre |
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| Tigre & Tizne |
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| Tizne |
Pepper is starting to have real difficulties getting up off the
floor, even when on a non-slick surface.
It is going to be hard to make
the ultimate decision as he is still happy and alert – even wants to play with
the kittens. But once he gets to where he cannot get up on
his own we will have no choice, as there are times Steve is not around to help
him and I cannot get the right leverage to get him up without hurting his back
or hips. I guess that is the real reason
for the additions. We were/are hoping
that they will be company for Ginger when we have to leave for the day.
Phoning Home:
We have been having on-going problems with our Magic Jack. I finally went on-line and "spoke" to one of their consultants. Turns out I have a defective adapter. She knew pretty quick what my problem was so I have a feeling there was a batch of them. Mine just took longer to die. They offered to send me a new one, which is nice, but problematical, so we will just buy one at Radio Shack. By Wednesday night we should be good to go again. In the meantime, I am not without ways of getting in touch if necessary (other than by email). My Kindle and smart phone have the same size adapter as the Magic Jack (she told me that) . Standardizing? Wow!
