criplomats

This was a pretty laid back week. John and I went to a party yesterday afternoon that was nice. Today I sat by the pool and yakked with Mellisa, then John and I went to the movie theater to see “Verity.” It was fun – I haven’t read any of Coleen Hoover’s books, but I may need to because this movie was pretty clever.

I chatted with Lea and Rachel last Sunday afternoon, then on Saturday I had a good long visit with Stacie who recently arrived in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo. I had some back and forth with a former employee about her bidding and wrote a letter of recommendation for another former employee.

John and I watched the three “Star Wars” movies from decades ago. They actually held up pretty well, and it was fun to see them after watching (and enjoying) “Andor.” We watched a decent series called “His and Hers” and started “War,” which looks like it will be a fun series. We were happy that a new season of “Slow Horses” came out. Hooray for good tv!

I finished reading “Heartwood” and enjoyed it. Now I’m reading “Drive your Plow over the Bones of the Dead,” by Olga Tokarczuk (I love the title). It’s a bit of a denser read, but I’m enjoying it.

Sunday morning we disembarked in San Cristobal and flew back to Guayaquil for a last night at the Hotel del Parque. We had a lovely dinner at their restaurant, Casa Julian. The next day we started a long travel day back to Guyana via Panama. We left the hotel at 11:30 AM, transited Panama, and finally got home around 3:30 AM Tuesday morning. Our cruise-mates Brian and Jason were with us through to Panama before they split off to go home to Chicago. John and I spent a lazy Tuesday at home.

We really enjoyed our trip! I promise more photos soon! (BTW, I fixed the photos from the last two blog posts.) We saw so many interesting creatures: marine iguanas, land iguanas, giant tortoises, dolphins, a few Galapagos penguins (who evidently don’t hang out in large groups like in Antarctica), a lone flamingo, lots of sea lions and their babies, and fur seals with babies. We also enjoyed the snorkeling and seeing cool fish, marine iguanas feeding on algae, and curious sea lions. The ocean was beautiful, the boat was very nice, and the food was good. We also enjoyed the other passengers on the boat, as well as the crew!

Our last day we visited the Charles Darwin breeding center for the giant tortoises.

We finished “Andor” this week, which prompted us to watch “Rogue One” (the next in the Star Wars series), which prompted us to start the Star Wars movies again. We also watched a couple of episodes of “Ted Lasso.” I’ve been reading this week: I finished “Erebus” by Michael Palin (yes, from Monty Python), “Mattering,” by Jennifer Breheny Wallace, and “Look What You Made Me Do” by John Lanchester; I started “Heartwood” today, by Amity Gage.

Last Sunday we flew to the Galapagos and boarded the Theory. It was an amazing week of exploring on a small boat, along with three other couples. We had a blast visiting several of the islands and snorkeling. We saw marine iguanas, land iguanas, penguins, a flamingo, fur seals, sea lions, and,of course, the giant tortoises.

More photos to come!

John and I landed in Guayaquil Thursday night and are staying at a beautiful old hotel. It was previously used as a retirement home and a home for other people in need, then was relocated “brick by brick” to the historic part of town. It’s in a park setting, complete with a small zoo next door. It’s really lovely.

We were thrilled to learn our friend Jenae just arrived here to be the consul general, so we met her for dinner last night. We’ve worked with her in both Juarez and Buenos Aires— it was fun to catch up with her and have some yummy Ecuadorean food.

Yesterday our friend Francoise picked us up for lunch and some sightseeing. We rode the cable cars over the (really wide) river and then over the urban areas. It was a neat way to see the city. Afterward we had lunch at a small local place that was delicious.

Earlier in the week we kept Nugget, the little pug, for two nights. She’s so cute!

John and I went to our first cricket match Friday night. It’s a big stadium with a fun atmosphere. There were cheerleaders, fire baton twirlers, and even a very creepy robot thing that walked around and did dances – I’ve seen them on TV but never “in person.” I’m still not sure I understand all the rules of the game, but it was fun to be there amid all the excitement — and yes, Guyana beat Jamaica!

I’ve been glued to the television set this week, watching the US Open tennis tournament. There have been some really great games and I’m so glad I have the luxury to watch the opening rounds!

We’re going to dog-sit a night or two this week for one of the consular officers, so she brought the dog over today to meet me – what a cutie patootie! She’s a little pug and just the sweetest thing – I can’t wait to have an animal in the house again!

John and I watched the Star Wars series “Andor,” which we enjoyed, and have started the newest season of “Ted Lasso.” I finished all six seasons of “Girls” – while cringey at times, I thought it was really good, and amazing that Lena Dunham was only 26 years old when she wrote it and starred in it. I read and enjoyed “Buckeye,” by Patrick Ryan – thanks to Joan for the recommendation.