#3163: January 30, 2024: Happy birthday to me!

Post 3163

- 13 years and 30 days since I started this blog -

January 23, 2024

January 28, 2024

Journal

(written January 30, 2024)

Read this once (it won't change for the rest of the trip(s): I'll be linking this post to Facebook. If that's how you got here, here's some background: About 13 years ago I started this blog as a food journal. I had a medical situation and needed to lose weight. Initially, that's all I did here: Journal my food intake and my weight. It contributed to helping me lose 20+% of my body weight in 6 months, and continuing has kept me on track since then. I started adding commentary after a while, but lately it has become infrequent. 

While I'm traveling, I let go of the weight-tracking and food journaling (except for food shots when I've eaten something interesting or pretty). And that's where we find ourselves now.

This week was mostly about friendship. When I go and stay somewhere for a month or so, I judge the quality of my experience, in large part, by how good a time I have with my friends. That has meant, in the past, when I went to some place for the first time, whether I made friends.

I'm happy to say, without explanation, that I have made friends everywhere I've been.

That's a lot of the reason I go back to some of the same places (looking at you, Chiang Mai and Cuenca) over and over. I want to see my friends. It's joyous work for me, maintaining friendships. 

This week was about some of my good friends in Cuenca.

First, though, a status update on the narco-war that has the US State Dep't. continuing to mark Ecuador as a no-go place. Cuenca is almost entirely back to normal, as far as I can see. What isn't normal? There are fewer tourists. People canceled their plans to come here after the national curfew was imposed (now repealed). When you actually look at the state department warnings, they are for very specific parts of Ecuador, and Cuenca isn't one, and is about 200 miles in crow-flying distance, and 8400' in altitude away from the nearest trouble spot. So I feel safe, as I have every previous year.

Alrighty, then. 

I made an appearance at the Bistro Yaku's open mic, hoping to play some bass, but a lack of guitarists and bass amps relegated me to a nice guitar-and-vocal set (which I call my 'export' set). My set was well-received, and I got to say hello to some expats and musicians I knew from previous visits here.

This week I got to play a bit, including some bass with Blues Enigma, which was a solid blast and is encouraging that the next few times will be even more fun. I'm bookended in this photo, by Nathan, keyboard player extraordinaire, on my right (he's originally from Rochester, NY), and band-leader, vocalist, blues harp player Claudia, on my left.

I've been having almost all my meals with my dear friend Claudia, who lives two minutes from my apartment. It is a rare treat for me, enjoying that much company - over the course of the year, I eat alone about 90% of the time.

The view from the balcony of my apartment isn't as nice as last year's, but the first time I went out, I experienced heavy deja vu - as if it was familiar and comfortable. I visualize things (more on that below), and I think I must have imagined something like this at some point.

In my three previous visits to Cuenca, I've only traveled outside the city going to and from the Guayaquil airport twice, and once, last year, I took a day trip to two nearby towns, Gualaceo and Chordeleg, to look at crafts and scenery. That's it. I've spent a little over three months time total, in Cuenca, never venturing beyond the city limits, except once. 

I was excited to get an invitation to the birthday party of a woman I'd met during my first visit to Cuenca, 5 years ago, who lives in Paute, a little over a half-hour out of town. It was an excellent time. A bus had been chartered to take about a dozen friends from Cuenca, so transportation wasn't a problem (like it was, for me, when I was first invited to visit four years ago). The scenery was nicer, and more interesting than I'd seen on the rides to and from Guyaquil.

Laura and Randy's place is amazing. They've built it themselves on the steep side of a mountain. The entrance courtyard has a large dining area under a tent, there's a pizza counter built into one of the walls, next to the garage, a pool with a waterfall, a perch up a set of stairs, a fire pit, and, in the corner, jazz artist Su Terry, possibly the most internationally well-known musician in Cuenca, leading a wonderful quartet through a variety of crowd-pleasing jazz and fusion tunes. I'm thrilled. And feeling a little foolish for eating right before getting on the bus.

I wish I had some pictures, but they didn't come out - they totally fail to capture the scope, size, colors and vibe of the place and the party.

My friend Anthony had introduced me to Su Terry a few years ago, She told me she would have invited him, but it wasn't her party, she didn't think she could. I told her Anthony was in Connecticut, he'd sent me a screenshot of the weather earlier that day. She said, "Ah, he should be here!". More on that later.

Then, as the party was winding down, Su asked me if I knew 'Stand By Me.' "Sure," I said. "Since it was new." She laughed at that, so I asked the bass player if it would be okay for me to use his bass, a pretty blonde Sire Marcus Miller 4-string, and he was fine with that.

So, the cherry on top - I got to do some jamming with some really good musicians on an extended version of the Ben E. King classic. 

And then, yesterday, it was my birthday.

I just had to start my birthday at Sinfonía Tostadaría y Cafetería, which is my favorite café anywhere in the world. While not that big on food, they have spectacular coffee. With me are Claudia, and my driver and friend from last year, Diego. I just love Sinfonía - the owner, Diego, is a wonderful man. He is dedicated/obsessed with making the best coffee. I had my single best cup the first time I came in. Sadly, that was a one-off, small batch, which Diego has never been able to get again. But many, many cups later, he still puts out the best coffee. Over the years, we've developed a friendship, and oh, boy, when he saw me come in the door, he ran from behind the counter to greet me. Breakfast was tostada de pastrami. Yum.

We talked about where to go next at breakfast, and Claudia and Diego (taxista, not barista) decided on the Incan ruins at Ingapirca, which turned out to be an hour-and-a-half away.

On the way to Ingapirca, we stopped to gawk at this Andean castle. No idea what it's about, but it was too impressive to ignore. I enjoyed the trip a lot. The scenery, the variety of animals by the road, it was all new to me, very different than the ride up the Andes and into Cuenca, the only other view of the Andes I have had.

Then, Ingapirca Inca Ruins. Wow! Unfortunately, it turns out they don't do tours (the only way to get next to and into the structures) on Mondays, so we had to be content (we were!) to walk the path next to and above the ruins.

The big structure is an observatory. On the solstice, the sun rises and lights up the interior. I think. That's kind of everything I know about Ingapirca, except that Claudia makes a good case for the Cańar, who were on the site before the Incas (and after) to have been the actual builders. And nobody knows how they moved the heavy blocks hundreds of kilometers, and then set them to make walls and such. Nobody knows. So, not only do I not feel so ignorant, given the lack of knowledge about this, but I don't feel so old next to 3,000-year-old mystery engiuneering. Photo credits: Most of the pictures of me are by Claudia. Some of the pics were taken by Diego. At this point, I'm not sure which is which.

I had planned my birthday party, inviting select friends as I ran across them. Felipe, Claudia, Tony and George were coming. I made a reservation for a table for six at my favorite restaurant in Cuenca, Capitán and Co.

Yes, I can count. So why, with five people participating, did I make a table for six? There's a story in that.

The first time I came to Cuenca, I stayed at the Hotel Balcón del Arte. I began to use the smoking deck on the roof, which had a great view and comfortable seating. I was almost always the only one there.

About a week into my stay, I ate a particularly memorable meal. It was the largest single portion of  excellent food I had ever been served, a gigantic pasta with seafood dish. After I got back that night, I went up to the smoking deck, and called my pal Marco, and gave him my rave review of the restaurant and meal.

Next night, I'm back on the deck, and a guy comes up and says, "Hi, can I talk to you a minute?" It seems, unbeknownst to me, that my conversation of the night before had "been heard by everybody in the hotel" and disturbed his sleep. He was a little pissed off about it. I explained, I had no idea, that I thought I was fairly isolated, and was just talking on the phone at a normal volume for that. Apparently there are some weird acoustics up on the deck.

I apologized, and told him it would not happen - I would not make that mistake - again. He was gracious about it.

Then he said, "So now, tell me, what's the restaurant where you had that meal?"

And Anthony and I have been friends ever since.

We've met up in Cuenca every year since then. This year, might possibly be the exception,  a matter of timing. This is the earliest in my winter travels that I have gotten here, and Anthony thought he wouldn't be able to get down until later, and there might not be an overlap.

When I was in Chiang Mai, I phoned and messaged him, only to be told to pray for him to get to Cuenca.

I said I'd do something better - I'd visualize him here. It's worked out before, and, over the last twenty-five years or so, I'd actually practiced a visualization process.

As promised, I put a little time into visualizing Anthony in Cuenca. My process doesn't involve imagining the details of how to make things happen,  it involves envisioning the result as if it had already happened, the aftermath.

So when I made the reservations with Julia and Orly at Capitán and Co., with five people attending, I made a reservation for six, as I would if Anthony was in town and coming to dinner.

After a terrific day, as dinner started, and my friends started arriving, I had to tell Orly and Julia that it looked like only five people would be dining.

But when Anthony came in, two minutes later, to surprise me, I already had a place for him at the table.

I was definitely surprised, but not just that Anthony had shown up when I had no clue he was in Cuenca, but at the way I had manifested it. I know, I know, but I'm telling it the way it happened.

The arrival of Anthony, as recorded by my good friend Felipe, who was in on the whole thing. Also in on the scam, musician Su Terry and Tony Mele. I have great friends.

The rest of the night's celebration:

Capitán & Co. is my favorite seafood restaurant anywhere, and my very favorite restaurant in Cuenca. I had my first dinner in Cuenca ever here, and it was the first place that made me feel welcome here (I'd been in town for less than 24 hours). In fact, Hostess Julia and chef Orly made me feel like family immediately. My celebration had to be here.

A birthday lap dance from Claudia!

What can I say - the hat thing is a Capitán tradition. I know how much my friends appreciate my embarrassment and humiliation, so I'm willing to go along, and you know what? I'm still here to write about and experience it all over again. Which is why I almost didn't include these pics.

This is master chef Orly, who does things with fish and sauces that I haven't found the equal of, anywhere. The mutual toasting followed an enthusiastic round of applause by the assembled diners in appreciation of the meal we'd just enjoyed. At the end of the night, it's a tradition for me to take down the locally-made Spanish guitar and serenade my host and hostess, Every time. I love these people.

None of the above pictures are from me. They were mostly taken by Felipe.

Food Comment

Leading off with the most recent, this is birthday dinner from Capitán & Co. It is sea bass with shrimp sauce, which was chef's choice (I don't order there any more, I eat what Orly wants me to). That's mashed sweet potatoes and mixed veggies on the side there. Need I mention that everything was perfect?

From Bistro Yaku, a favorite musical hangout and terrific restaurant, we have a yogurt-muesli-fruit bowl and an order of scrambled eggs. One of my favorite breakfasts.

Escondido (fish stew) at Sofy Glocal Cuisine, a bit of a tradition for me.

Breakfast at Nomadas Bistro - artisanal bread, scrambled eggs and crisp bacon, and yogurt with fruit. Happy me!

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