Ecuador Day 16: Park

For some reason, and by luck, Mathi and Dad left the home early with Antonio in their arms this morning to go wrestle through the tangled business and politics of hospital bureaucratic necessities. That is, they left Sis and I with two beautiful siblings girls to take care of for the day. Lucky them. The girls I mean. And us. What else could Gabi and I ever want to possibly do, then, on a hot spring day in Ecuador, but to visit the biggest and best park we could find.

It had actually happened a few days before. When Gabs and I were on our way home from Imabari, the White City. It was not so late in the afternoon, the sun was lazily hanging in somewhere low in the sky and we weren't really paying attention to our surroundings by the time we finally got on a bus back home; Gabi held her head in the one hand she had rested along the bus window sill, and I would glace over her shoulder from time to time to watch the stripped blurs of green and brown hill side mountains and trees swipe past us. An occasional unfinished concrete house would surprise me from moment to moment. Who lives in these semi abandoned affairs so removed from....anything really.

And so it came to be that when something did pass by that bus window, we noticed it. That day, a Sunday, it was a huge park, set out in the middle of nothing much, yet with families and blankets and food stretched out as far as we could briefly see. It was at least the size of two city blocks, and I don't remember seeing any park that big since I left home more than two years ago. The sight was definitely worth taking note, and we did. Gabs marked it down on the map and saved it in the her pack pocket for the future. 

Today is that day.

Naturally, the parents checked up on us when the girls finally awoke. Emily is always the first to get up, Zoila takes a little bit longer to come around, even after having breakfast, just like my older sis. And so I snapped this little photo of these two and sent it over to the curious hearts at the hospital as proof that we were indeed up and moving around.

It didn't take much motivation, after telling the girls that we wanted to take them to the biggest park we had seen in a while, to get the two children ready. They might have even beaten big sis and I to it. Any day that we can make it out of the house before ten in the morning is indeed a feat. 

Here we are resting along the regular and familiar curbside, un-designated bus stop, waiting for the green bus to take us into town. The local neighborhood dog makes a great habit of walking with us around the streets even on hot days, even if its just to the bus stop. Don't worry, he likes to wonder around the gravely roads, saying hello to all the other dogs in the other yards while we are away, and in the worst case, he lingers around the outside of the house for a bit before our neighbors let him in.

Emily, two seconds later.

The great thing about the rural buses here in Ecuador is that you don't have to wait at "the" bus stop. I cant tell you how many times I've missed buses in San Francisco, futilely running to catch with them because I was still half a block away. Frustration. Here in Ecuador, all you have to do is wait along the route and flag down the bus you want, taxi style. The bad news is that there is completely NO schedule to the bus system - not that there was much of a dependable on in San Francisco either. It'll get here when it gets here.

This leads, however, to some of the more fun times. Needing to pass some unwanted minutes until our ride arrives, Gabi and Emily a game Slide. Its still new to the girls, so we have a great laugh trying to get past level five.  



After a 45 min bus ride, we arrive.

And by the time we do, the day is perfect. The sun is out, but its not oppressive. The wind is smooth and cooling, not a bother. And even if there is not many other people to play and enjoy with, we have this huge space to ourselves to run freely around. Play structures, boats and a mini lake with a bridge, a cafe across the street - I wonder how much I would have enjoyed this place if I were twenty years younger. Then I think, about as much as I do now, that I'm thinking too much, and chased the girls up the grass hill to the top of this view. 

Down at the bottom, where the bus had left us, a giant maze, complete with dead ends and dizzying passages begs anyone who lays eyes upon her to enter. The walls are all brightly painted and some entrances/exits only tease the promise of a passage with their iron grid, with room enough just to squeeze a skinny arm through, blocking the way. You could pass over the walls, that are intentionally left open; though, why would you? It was my dream too, as a child, to find a giant maze like this. I can even remember planing to grow corn in our backyard, only so that I could have a tall enough plant to knock down and construct a bio-maze (pun) to challenge my friends with. Something about the combination of a physical and psychological challenge of a maze that is so satisfying. 

And if you'll notice, as Gabs love to, the graffiti is once again indicative of the love to be found in people here. Its always less about gangs and marking territory, and more about free expression. What kind of free expression. Well, from the ages of the kids who think graffitying is a good idea, romance and political poetry. The green"Te Amo" lettering is "I love you" with some half written name falling out of the picture.  

At the top of the maze, or rather, at its center, you can climb to the top, as my three sisters did, and gaze freely upon the World fresh with the sweat of accomplishment. 

And what park would be complete without a slide? A four piece slide at that! Zoila wins!! 

This round about swing that gains momentum by centrifugal force is not one that I see much of in the states, but in Ecuador just about every park has this style. Pushing the two not so little girls around this contraption made me dizzy too, and that is part of the fun - running around, pulling one of the empty chairs around with me so as to grow the momentum and excitement before a final snap of the arm to really set the whole thing on its way and hear the younger sisters "weee" with thrill. 

This play structure, I'm not sure of. Essentially just pairs of stationary bikes, I was suspicious of the giant metal flower at the center of the stage which all the bikes where pointing towards, wondering if it would turn once one were to pedal with enough revolutions. So the girls tried. And then I tried. Maybe it was broken. No matter how long we worked the machine, nothing came of the effort. 

Gabi never looses her temper around the girls, but I guess Emilie did something out of line since she so obviously here is giving her a swift kick in the rump. 

The cool bridge that connects the park to a small man made island. 

If you take a closer look...you can see some ripples in the water. Those are actually from two brave young souls who, in complete school uniforms, decided to go for a swim. 

And there they are, supper soaked on a supper hot day. I really like the geometry of this bridge for some reason, I cant really explain it. I suppose I find it attractive for its vanishing and ever intersecting lines. That, and it sort of looks like a worm hole to another dimension, no? 

Big sis, pondering Life. We all need some time to just hit the pause button on life and let our thoughts come to us without editing. 


I don't remember what time we arrived at the park, or what time we left, so I have no idea how long we spent playing, chasing, and imagining monsters over grass and dirt, but I know we had fun.

Its only come to my realization now that we do things a little different in this family. We certainly don't measure things much. That is, we place a large emphasis on the now and today over what may never come. The words of Morgan Freeman come to mind, over an interview he gave about his success, about if he was somehow resentful that his career took so long to get off the ground. The man thought about it for a second, and with complete honestly, and with a reason and tone to match the way only Morgan Freeman can do, he said "No. I do not carry with me any reservations about starting out my career as late in life as I did - because....because no where is it written that it had to be."

Time, money, food and so on - its not that saving is not important, but that we never value something in the future over the feelings of the present. I think that our time is much too free flowing to be expected in some future date, that it is much more artistic in approach - one life less about form or content and more about feeling. And that is one of the beautiful things about art, there is no wrong answer.

Much Love,
-A