The pre-holiday work day. I am looking forward to tomorrow off and almost hoping it rains so I can curl up with my latest book. My father did let me know yesterday that he wanted to know if I would go by Shaw’s Supermarket and buy some cherries on sale. Guess I will do that tonight on the way home and bring them by their house. Sent sister #3 a newspaper piece about a hotel in Quito for her stepson. I envy his trip that starts Thursday to Ecuador and parts south. I hope he gets a chance to go by “my” Peace Corps town – Machachi – 1 hour south of Quito on the Pan American Highway, close to Cotopaxi, the world’s highest active volcano which made life interesting when we had an earthquake when I was there...I shared an apartment with other volunteers in Old Town - so we would have a place to go when we needed to get out of our towns and come into the PC Office to see the Medical Officer… and be around other volunteers and I drank gallons of café con leche.
QUITO, Ecuador - Accommodations abound in Quito for the backpacker budget, but paying a little more brought me considerable relaxation and peace of mind at Hotel Los Alpes, a small hotel ideal for women traveling solo and anyone who values comfort and charm over luxury. It's an easy choice for people who, like me, are spending a little time in the Ecuadorean capital before and after a cruise in the Galapagos Islands.In the New Town area, the hotel is within easy walking distance of restaurants, museums, a daily crafts market, galleries and travel outfitters. Old Town, with its beautiful churches and colonial architecture, is a short 25-cent bus ride away or a few dollars by taxi. The hotel is in a quiet location next to the U.S. embassy, though I couldn't decide if that made me feel more or less safe.Visitors pass under a stand of small trees into a cozy lobby filled with art and woodwork. There is no garden or grounds, but a back sun porch offers a spectacular view of the Andes on a sunny day.
Bottom line: Rates for Hotel Los Alpes, 233 Tamayo at George Washington, Quito, Ecuador, are $49 for one person, $59 for two, $69 for three and $79 for four, plus taxes and service charges totaling 22 percent. Included is a breakfast of fresh juice, toast, delicious cafe con leche, and eggs or cereal. Website: http://www.hotellosalpes.com/
From “Bird by Bird” – the author and her love of the San Francisco Giants and writing about it for her son to read some day. “I started telling him my memories of the strangely reddish dirt of the base paths, the gunfire of batting practice, the feel of being part of a healthy mob, part of a pulse, part of a collective heartbeat. …Little by little, in telling Sam all these details, I got to see the bigger point of baseball, that it can give us back ourselves. We’re a crowd animal, a highly gregarious, communicative species, but the culture and the age and all the fear that ills our days have put almost everyone into little boxes, each of us all alone. But baseball, if we love it, gives us back our place in the crowd. It restores us.” I love that talk! I could say that about any sporting event.
I did not find the information on the Library on Congress site about the oral history project with veterans, but I will keep looking. I might just need to make up some questions and ask my dad myself.
Talked to my old college roommate yesterday. She is back from her Puerto Rico vacation and now we need to synchronize our beach going days. I have my State Park Beach pass and she has the New London town beach covered.
Morning walk with co-worker worked fine. We will do it again today. I walked again after work and helped for a few minutes as a co-worker packed up for her trip to Dobbs Ferry and her new school. I thought it was a “coincidence” that she shared the job prospect with me AND yesterday in the mail that school’s magazine arrived. I am going to take a long look at that and my thoughts about what would make it worth it for me to move again over the holiday tomorrow. I stayed on campus to walk last night because I was off to that Independent Film program at a local library. “Be With Me” from Singapore – didn’t have to worry about subtitles since there was very little dialogue …that is one thing about many foreign films – the scenery and the character/expressions of the actors do the talking. My favorite that I can think of – I hope I am getting the title right – Cinema Paradiso? I had friends in North Carolina who tried to keep my thinking broader than my setting.
But North Carolina mention reminds me that – once again – I forgot to go to New Hampshire for the NASCAR event this weekend. I keep thinking that I need to go there. One to see that part of New England again, and two to see a “local” NASCAR event. Maybe their next time through. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had a calendar year when I saw Tony Stewart AND Rick Majerus in person in the same year!!!!
Speaking of calendars - I kept my little calendar yesterday. I think that will be an interesting chronicle. My boss had her ally back from vacation yesterday so throw the nice guy act out. Oh well. Consistency is always better than nice in the workplace.
Have a good pre-holiday day.
QUITO, Ecuador - Accommodations abound in Quito for the backpacker budget, but paying a little more brought me considerable relaxation and peace of mind at Hotel Los Alpes, a small hotel ideal for women traveling solo and anyone who values comfort and charm over luxury. It's an easy choice for people who, like me, are spending a little time in the Ecuadorean capital before and after a cruise in the Galapagos Islands.In the New Town area, the hotel is within easy walking distance of restaurants, museums, a daily crafts market, galleries and travel outfitters. Old Town, with its beautiful churches and colonial architecture, is a short 25-cent bus ride away or a few dollars by taxi. The hotel is in a quiet location next to the U.S. embassy, though I couldn't decide if that made me feel more or less safe.Visitors pass under a stand of small trees into a cozy lobby filled with art and woodwork. There is no garden or grounds, but a back sun porch offers a spectacular view of the Andes on a sunny day.
Bottom line: Rates for Hotel Los Alpes, 233 Tamayo at George Washington, Quito, Ecuador, are $49 for one person, $59 for two, $69 for three and $79 for four, plus taxes and service charges totaling 22 percent. Included is a breakfast of fresh juice, toast, delicious cafe con leche, and eggs or cereal. Website: http://www.hotellosalpes.com/
From “Bird by Bird” – the author and her love of the San Francisco Giants and writing about it for her son to read some day. “I started telling him my memories of the strangely reddish dirt of the base paths, the gunfire of batting practice, the feel of being part of a healthy mob, part of a pulse, part of a collective heartbeat. …Little by little, in telling Sam all these details, I got to see the bigger point of baseball, that it can give us back ourselves. We’re a crowd animal, a highly gregarious, communicative species, but the culture and the age and all the fear that ills our days have put almost everyone into little boxes, each of us all alone. But baseball, if we love it, gives us back our place in the crowd. It restores us.” I love that talk! I could say that about any sporting event.
I did not find the information on the Library on Congress site about the oral history project with veterans, but I will keep looking. I might just need to make up some questions and ask my dad myself.
Talked to my old college roommate yesterday. She is back from her Puerto Rico vacation and now we need to synchronize our beach going days. I have my State Park Beach pass and she has the New London town beach covered.
Morning walk with co-worker worked fine. We will do it again today. I walked again after work and helped for a few minutes as a co-worker packed up for her trip to Dobbs Ferry and her new school. I thought it was a “coincidence” that she shared the job prospect with me AND yesterday in the mail that school’s magazine arrived. I am going to take a long look at that and my thoughts about what would make it worth it for me to move again over the holiday tomorrow. I stayed on campus to walk last night because I was off to that Independent Film program at a local library. “Be With Me” from Singapore – didn’t have to worry about subtitles since there was very little dialogue …that is one thing about many foreign films – the scenery and the character/expressions of the actors do the talking. My favorite that I can think of – I hope I am getting the title right – Cinema Paradiso? I had friends in North Carolina who tried to keep my thinking broader than my setting.
But North Carolina mention reminds me that – once again – I forgot to go to New Hampshire for the NASCAR event this weekend. I keep thinking that I need to go there. One to see that part of New England again, and two to see a “local” NASCAR event. Maybe their next time through. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had a calendar year when I saw Tony Stewart AND Rick Majerus in person in the same year!!!!
Speaking of calendars - I kept my little calendar yesterday. I think that will be an interesting chronicle. My boss had her ally back from vacation yesterday so throw the nice guy act out. Oh well. Consistency is always better than nice in the workplace.
Have a good pre-holiday day.
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