There’s Much To Like In Cuenca, Ecuador! I Might Stay Here Longer!
July 17, 2014 by admin
Three weeks ago, I promptly got seriously lost exploring the big, port city of Guayaquil, Ecuador, after nearly two months in the serene, Sacred Valley of Peru. The Police had to steer me back to the hotel just before dark. By Cuenca, I was really bushed, so my first week, spent in the cute and welcoming Hostel Malki, was a bit of a blur. I knew that Cuenca would make a good place to hunker down and work on publishing details for my fifth book, if I could acquire a nice, quiet apartment with good Wi-Fi. Luckily, I met an American expat, who arranged for me to see her old apartment, now vacant. I moved in on July 1st.
Modern, but terrible wi-fi.
Just as I’d done earlier this year, in Montevideo, with my fourth book, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Millennium; I wanted to prepare the manuscript for Sleeping With Guys Half My Age: Hosteling Around The World On Social Security, which is, technically, to be a “Blook;” my coined name for an ebook made up of blog postings, sorted into categories. All I needed was to stop traveling for awhile and to hole up in a good workspace.
At last, the non-functioning Wi-Fi is working perfectly and I’ve devoted myself, full-time, to the technicalities of book production, taking time out only for brief meals and grocery shopping expeditions. It helped that the weather turned cloudy and cool and not quite as inviting for exploratory city rambles. I did leave the cloister for a meal at DiBacca’s Italian Restaurant on Tuesday night to meet the drop-in expats and it was a lovely chance to get acquainted with some delightful new friends. This plan was much more manageable than the fancy dance I’d gone to my first Saturday night here, where I felt lost in the crowd.
No sooner had I become reacquainted with my relentless work ethic in relation to writing; than a new project loomed tantalizingly before my eyes, which seems to tie many strings together. Much too involved to describe now, it’s a way to discipline myself to learn the ins and outs of Professional Copywriting and Photostock.com. In Colorado, last Fall, my son-in-law helped me to sort the pictures taken on this last around-the-world trek and to organize them in digital folders. Many are really excellent, if I do say so myself. I was immediately eager to learn how to photoshop corrections and to post them for sale on the various stock photography sites, online, to become a silent income stream, ever thereafter. Almost a year later, that’s still a frustrated wish, trumped by the desire to become an author of a growing number of published books. My new goal is to combine the various disciplines of fun, personal writing, photography and professional writing; as well as maximizing my travel and metaphysical websites. That’s a mouthful! At least, I can try my hand at excellence in those related fields, which have been waiting in the background for the past two years.
Now, I have some well-qualified mentors and reams of easily-accessible instruction, so I’ve gone into full-time-job mode in this quiet apartment to finish the ebook and to begin my studies. I’m even thinking of staying longer right here in affordable Cuenca, now, and cancelling my mid-August flight to Central America, which would throw me back into the constant travel and hostel scene. I can stay here six-weeks longer; and then, fly to Denver in the Fall to visit my dear family on my once-a-year drop-in.
“Don’t fix what ain’t broke!” I always say. No, that doesn’t exactly say it…… How about?: “If study hall is going well, don’t fly away from it!”
Maybe just: “Put The Pedal To The Metal and Do Whatcha’ Gotta’ Do!”
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