How many times have I said we don't see things as they are
We see them as we are.
Probably what's going on with Vilcabamba
It's a mismatch between the last several weeks in large cities and my own clueless expectations
It is a magical setting
And maybe that is the point. In Quito and Cuenca, life came
At you. Big. Noisy.
In V it just is.
Like a Norman Rockwell image of men just sitting outside a barber shop and watching seemingly nothing happen.
So goes the moments here.
It's perhaps a little like Master Doug taught us about photography
Wait for the tree to tell you how it wants to be photographed
Here you have to wait to see life unfold at a pace you are not used to.
It's buzz is that it's the valley of longevity. Maybe or maybe those ancient looking gringos are really really old.
Sitting at an outside table having coffee and a brownie that the waitress convinced me dipped well in coffee.
A Dutch woman sits down next to me and asks if I mind she smokes. Usually I do but I was eager to engage a local. She looked 60. Slender. Had a unique Dutch/English accent. Said she was a landscape designer but made bad choices in Amsterdam. Visited here and never left.
We talked about gringos with lots of money coming here and building huge houses.
There was sustain in her voice but an acknowledgment that rich gringos are the only ones willing to pay to design landscapes.
She moved along and I finished my brownie and coffee The waitress takes my plate and I've been sitting here for maybe 20 minutes.
I watch people come and go.
There is a couple talking to a street vendor. They've been trying out maracas. For at least ten minutes. Listening to the sound. I never realized how each one has a different sound. Even pitch is different. I may need to come back tomorrow and try some myself.
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