Cuenca High Life

I have been in my apartment a few weeks now and really do not have too much to write about. I have settled into a routine that takes me back and forth to the Supermaxi grocery store. It has been very cool and cloudy for almost a week and the weather report says this will last a few more days. It is gloomy. I went with Carlos Lara twice on trips for birding. One to the east slope and some warmer temperatures and once to El Cajas and 13,000 ft. Either direction you travel you must got up and cross the Andes before you start down and into the tropics. We came across a very large landslide blocking the road on the eastern trip. People were not going to wait on the government for help so they made a road over the landslide. It worked and after 2 hours we were on our way.The birds we were looking for were easily found, with the exceptions of Black-billed and Gray-breasted mountain toucans. It is a quick drive to these areas so I will find them eventually. Carlos has a habit of calling every bird with an annoying playback. It brings in birds but it intrudes upon the experience. We will talk. He is also too expensive at $80 a pop but we use his nice car and we do get the birds. He wants to take me west to Manglares Churute for sea-level birding. It is a 2.5 hours drive to the coastal mangroves but there are birds I need there. I could take a bus for $5 and stay at a hostel for $30 and tip a guide for another $35 and spend more time in the area. I may do this next week. I need a trip to Salinas and the beach. A very beautiful beach. I have been in touch with a guy I met there last year. He drove me to Ayampe last time and could come in  useful again. And he is a very nice, balanced person.

My friend Michael Jackson in Pa.,who I haven't seen in almost 18 years, I think, informed me he had two friends traveling South America and they would be in Cuenca. We met. Nice guys, one a politician, the other a government worker. They were a little naive about traveling in foreign countries, even though they have traveled frequently. They were robbed in La Paz and lost their cell phones here, both of them, in one night. I didn't ask questions but the bar owner told me they were looking for a little escapade with some locals. There seems to be a lot of retired gentleman who come to Latin America to have encounters with the young. I meet some everyday. Costa Rica is another favorite hot spot for these activities. They end up robbed, or worse. Oh well. They will stop when their pingas turn black. Birdwatching is what they should be doing!

I spent the better part of Friday at the immigration office with my attorney's assistant. All my paper work for residency has been filed and now I wait for about 30 days. Maya is very nice and speaks english well enough but Ill be damned if she didn't want to know why I have never been married. She was late to the meeting so I had already been annoyed with her. I wanted to ask her if she was married at 18. I finally told her that she has in her hands enough of my personal business, she doesn't need to know more than that. She smiled, I think.

Big news from the USA all week long. I give a shit. Every time I read about Obamer he is giving a eulogy, it seems. What a screwed up country. I'll bring some Latins back with me and we will show y'all how to have a proper revolution! It is certainly a landmark event when SCOTUS acts like a legislature. And the bitchy justices! Scalia put Kennedy in his place. I am not religious but If I were and was against gay marriage I should have every right to do so and not bake a cake for them. Gay folks should have civil unions with all the same rights afforded heterosexuals unions. Don't mix religion and politics. I believe in FULL separation of church and state. Americans finally got pissed at the confederate flag? Gimme a break. The damn thing has been there for years.You aren't moving forward, USA. The government is the most fucked-up it has ever been.

On tomorrow's weather map- more gloom. The Pope is coming! I wonder if they wear Depends under those gowns.....I'm getting waxy-yellow build-up on my floors.
Hasta Luego!

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