the river

Often as I walk along the Rio Tomebamba going into El Centro, I reach for my phone to take a picture. You see, the river is ever-changing, and because there’s been a lot of rain every single day during the month of March, the river looks mighty powerful. 

People flock to the river for different reasons . . . there are young lovers head-to-head enjoying each other’s company; a few people sitting on benches facing the river are deep in conversation; some folks are reclining on the grass with a book in their hands; teenagers are happily practicing walking on a rope tied to two trees; there are people simply watching the river while slowly licking an ice cream cone; sometimes people are washing their clothes and placing them neatly out to dry in the sun; children are playing and laughing in the water; bicyclists are pedaling by; always there are people meandering with their dogs; police are strolling along the sidewalk; and across the narrow road from the river are people sitting on their terraces, grateful to have a river view. I pay attention to the activity, noticing that down by the Rio Tomebamba, no one ever seems to be in a hurry. 

  This is a photo of Rio Tomebamba in a more isolated area during a quieter time in February. Do you see a woman relaxing on the edge of the water?

The Rio Tomebamba is an important part of life in Cuenca. As I walk along the river, I sometimes wonder about the people who lived here centuries ago, and what their relationship to this well-loved river was.

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“Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it, always work with it, not against it.” – Eckhart Tolle

a walk in cuenca

IMG_1911.JPG I’m on the most everyone loves walking in Cuenca list. So today I walked from the area of Santa Ines Hospital along Solano, and then crossed over 12 de Abril Avenue to the bridge and saw the lovely Rio Tomebamba flowing by . . .

IMG_1912.JPG and . . . up those many stairs that are sandwiched in between two buildings – such a dark setting – to Calle Larga . . . left on Hermano Miguel to Carolina Bookstore where I had every intention of signing up for Spanish classes, but instead a Robin Sharma book caught my eye, and I conveniently forgot about Spanish. Another night with Duolingo – glad I have it.
www.robinsharma.com
www.duolingo.com

And how was your day?

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There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars. – Jack Kerouac

When you know that you’re capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer. – Harry Browne

comings and goings in ecuador

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In the nine months I’ve lived in Cuenca, I’ve heard stories about expats trying to decide whether to stay or leave, and at Stateside stories of people trying to decide whether to move here, or elsewhere in the world.

It seems more than a few people base their decisions on other people’s experiences; they think that what works for that person will work for them. That’s not necessarily the case. Why would we want to plan our lives by what another person does? Their energy, experiences, memories, likes and dislikes are completely different from our own.

Questioning the lay of the land, etc. is important, then if it seems the right fit, we continue with the lay of the heart. This is another way of pondering what to do . . . because the within has its own wonderful methods of arriving at decisions. Sitting still for a while will welcome an all-important decision-maker – one that knows, one we can trust, one who is eager to assist – if we would just let it play its part, too.

When I look back at the times in my life when I followed someone else’s line of reasoning, and put my own aside, things didn’t flow. Of course it’s a different story when we’re in a helpless state, and unable to figure things out ourselves, on the whole though that’s not usually the case.

Learning self-love is a crucial part of the process, and from there we can go on to learning to trust ourselves. Then we learn to trust Life. It’s a nice way to live.

20140510-180248.jpg Look at the usually tranquil Rio Tomebamba with its waves of water rushing pass – thanks to rain, rain, rain. I like it; it’s so alive.