An Inspiring Video

Jayne and the Children

Here is a picture I found of Thomas and Martin. This was taken on the first day that we arrived. We took a walk to the stream that is up the mountain behind the hostel with some other people.

The Misbehaved Children

Tarquin and Katherine have two children. Thomas is five and Martin is two years old. These kids are the most undisciplined I’ve even seen. Jayne and I had a lot of comments and talked about what they’ve done.

(I don't have any pictures of the children, now, so these cows will have to do!)

They are always doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. I bet that Tarquin says ‘no’ to them hundreds of times a day. Some things are little like, “Don’t go near the stream (three times),” “Get down from that rock pile,” “Don’t hit your brother,” etc. they are always running around or interrupting conversation Tarquin is having with someone.

In the car on the way back Jayne told me how Thomas was pinching his brother which made his brother cry.

Their attention span is very short, as even their mother commented that they don’t sit down and watch a cartoon.

On the last day when their parents were off to the city, the kids were home with the workers. Jayne heard one child crying. We just thought that it was a minor thing until she turned around to look at the window. Here, Martin was hanging from the chicken wire with one foot in the fish pond. What he must have done was, leaned over the rail and flip over. Still hanging on he had one foot in the pond. Jayne got him out, but what if she wasn’t there – as none of the workers heard him.

Then later that day I saw a tap on next to the house with water running out. There was no hose attached, so I knew that it was watering the plants. So one of the kids just turned it on and the water was flooding the path.

We never saw them sit down with a coloring book, or the older one reading a child’s book. We never saw them playing with a toy for more than a minute or two.

The sad things is that the parents don’t see how misbehaved their children are. When they see that they do something wrong, they just say, “Don’t do that Thomas (or Martian)…”

Kids will continue to do what they shouldn’t when they know that all they will be told is “No”.

It’s not that the kids are dumb, but by not having corrected upbringing they never grow intellectually. Jayne told me how far they are behind compared to her daughter, Natalie, when she was their age, and how far behind in intelligence and behavior to her granddaughter, Isabel, too.

And to have children like this when you are running a business is very unprofessional. Having children that are behaved in a business where it’s a family environment is ok, but when they are misbehaved is another matter.

I know I was never like this when I was a child. I had an attention span even at age 2, but that’s because I was corrected when I did something wrong. When I knew that I shouldn’t do something, I didn’t do it. When it was something new that I had done, one “no” was enough, as I knew that I would get the hand. This was how all children we brought up when I was young.

The reason why most parents have problems today is because they never hit their child. In some countries if you do hit your child, the government will come in and KIDNAP your child. Of course they don’t call it that, but that’s what it is.

If Tarqiun’s children got spanked when they did something wrong, everyone’s life would be better. And their children will grow up to be good adults (unless other factors come into play).

A child will be corrected one of two ways – either the parent(s) hit the child and correct them or nature will do it for them. For example, if children don’t listen to their parents (because there is no fear of punishment), they will do it again. If it’s a dangerous situation they can get hurt or worse. This is the hard way of learning and may people have lost their child because of this.

Case in point is when Martin climbed over the rail and had his arms twisted. What if no one was there, he could have hurt himself or even drowned. Whenever the first time he did this he was spanked on his butt hard, you can be sure he’d remember this and not do it again.

These children are not even sent to their room for a couple of hours or told not to go outside for a couple of hours – they are just told as many liberal parents do. their parents just say, “No Thomas/Martin”, which is the worst way of correcting a child.

I was not raised like this. “Thanks Mom for raising me right! I love you.”

Cotopaxi Trip Day 5

Monday August 25

Yesterday the Swiss couple asked when we are going back, and I said Monday. They asked if we could wait until the afternoon so they could go back with us and split the cost of the taxi. We said that it was ok as there was no certain time we had to be back.

The taxi would take us to our home and take them to Secret Garden in Quito. The cost would be $40, so it would be $20 per couple. The other way to get back would be to take a local taxi to Machachi, which would be $15. Then take a bus to Quito, then a taxi from this bus stop. From Quito it would be $10-$12, plus it would take more time.

I had already asked Tarquin if it was possible for the driver to take us to Conocoto, and he said yes. This was great!

Tarquin also offered a ride back with him and Katherine, and that it would cost us nothing. But Jayne wouldn’t like riding back with their two children – which misbehave. Also, one worker would go back with them. There really wouldn’t be enough room. So, Jayne said that we would go back later, but we didn’t tell them the reason.

This morning a group of people went to Cotopaxi, including the Swiss couple.

When Tarquin and Katherine left, they didn’t take their children with them and the other worker decided to take a trip to Cotopaxi. However, they didn’t tell us this and off they went. Had we known we would have ridden with them? As it turned out we would have to wait until after 3pm when the other couple came back.

In the afternoon another three guests arrived. Then we all had lunch.

When the group came back, the Swiss couple told us that they would like to stay longer so they could go back to Cotopaxi – this time climb to the very top. He told us they were sorry. I told him that we didn’t like having to wait and, by implication, that we would have to pay for the taxi ourselves. I could really understand their point, so I let it go.

The taxi driver that brought the other guests also waited about two hours.

I guess Tarquin was told about this on the phone, as the worker, Georgia (a guy), said, “Would $30 be ok.” We said yes.

So, we left with him at 3.55pm. We were in the town of Machachi, when the drive got a call. He said he’d be there in five minutes. As it turned out, he met six other people (a family) who were going to Secret Garden Cotopaxi. He got them another taxi and they were off to the hostel. This wait was only about 10 minutes. Then we were off to Conocoto. We arrived home about 5.40pm.

It was a good trip there, but we were also glad to get home.

Jayne and I talked for awhile about the good and bad points of the trip.

It would sound like the trip was bad, but there were many good points to it. There was the peace and quiet (when not near the children). The fresh air, the beautiful view, the conversations with Tarquin and the guests and the great food.

So, ends our trip to Cotopaxi.

Cotopaxi Trip Day 4

Sunday August 24

This morning the Swiss doctor and I went for a climb up a mountain. A driver took us to the starting point. Jayne went for the ride only, as he foot hurt her so she didn’t climb. This is not Cotopaxi, but another mountain that is close by. From where the driver dropped us off, we were told that the walk back is about 6 kilometers.

(That's Cotopaxi in the background.)

We climb along the trail and got beautiful views. Along the trail were pastures on each side. Some had cows while others had crops.

Then we came to a field that had a wooden locked gate on it. We decided to climb over it. Walking in the field I notice that there was cow poop, though we didn’t see any animals on it. I told the guy this might not be a good idea walking here as there were cows, there is usually a bull (or more). He said there should be no problem. However, I told him that the poop was fresh. I said keep an eye on the crest of the hill in case they come over. But he wasn’t concerned. I wonder where his common sense is, as a doctor should know better! What I didn’t like is that this was a big field and if a bull is found on the horizon we were far from the fence that we can climb over.

I wanted to turn back for three reasons:

1 – That a bull might come over the field.
2 – It looked like it would rain before we got back.
3 – That it was getting late.

I told him I would wait for him on the other side of the gate, but he said to go back if I wanted to, as he wanted to walk to the knoll that is on the mountain. I said ok.

I took some pictures on the other side of the gate then it started to rain lightly. I walked down to the point where the driver dropped us off and where I had a cup of tea and a banana – a part of the lunch that the hostel packed for me.

On the way back I notice that the Swiss guy was behind me a ways back. He finally caught up and we walked back together. Then it started to rain harder. When we came to the point where we were told is a short cut and was about to turn down the road, we heard a truck beep its horn. We turned around and saw it was the taxi-truck that was taking four other guests to the hostel. The driver got out and offered us a ride. (Being that there’s no Europeans in this area unless they are guests of the hostel; he knew that we were staying there.)

This was divine intervention – the driver coming at the exact time where we were saved another 30 minutes walking and that it just started to rain hard, too. We sat in the back with the packing gear of the guests and with a plastic sheet over us. We sat there holding the sheet without heads and legs sticking out, but keep mostly dry.

Lunch was ready when the guests arrived. Since I didn’t eat all my lunch I had the rest of it there. At this time it was raining harder. If we didn’t get a ride we would have really been soaked.

The dinner was a curry dish, with a choice of beef, lamb or vegetables with rice. After dinner, Jayne and I went to the living room, then back to our cabin.

Cotopaxi Trip Day 3

Saturday August 23

We left for breakfast about 8.15am and had a good meal.

Later I volunteered to work in the greenhouse. I dug a canal around one part of the greenhouse and piled some of the dirt on the plastic that the greenhouse is made of. Two other workers worked inside doing watering, landscaping and planting some plants.

Jayne made another painting on a piece of wood. Then she found a place to put it in the dining room. This will be another gift for Katherine and Tarquin.

For lunch, we had a nice pea soup. There was popcorn that we added to it – which is an Ecuadorian tradition.

The Swiss couple that came yesterday took a hike along the stream.

The dinner was excellent.

Cotopaxi Trip Day 2

Friday August 22

I got up about 7.30am and Jayne got up about 8.15am. We got to breakfast about 9am. Guests can have breakfast anytime from 7 to 10am.


The costs

The cost for a private room is $30/per person per night (if one person wanted to stay there I imagine it would be $60, maybe less as only one person would be eating). This includes three meals, with coffee, tea, and soft drinks free. In the shared room it’s $25/per person per night. So, for an extra $10 a couple gets a lot more. All the food is great. The dinner is gourmet, which you’d only find in an expensive restaurant.

So the prices are great.

The usual breakfast consists of small fruit salad, omelet, with brown break and jam. For drinks there is coffee, tea, and fresh fruit juice.


What’s wrong with the room?

Katherine and Tarquin run a good hostel and the make sure there is good service and food but there are things that Jayne and I saw immediately that could be better.

In the private rooms, the shower/bath, sink and bathroom is on the first floor. The bad thing about this is, there are no curtains on the window or the door (the door had windows in it). Therefore, if anyone walks by they can see you washing your crouch!!

I mean, really!!

The bathroom does have a door, so you only have privacy there. OK, there are usually no people walking by, but I did hear some people walk by. After all, they don’t know what you can see inside and it’s normal that people walk around the hostel, hotel or wherever a person is staying at to check the grounds. And if it’s a night, they don’t have to be near your window to see in.

The bathtub is narrow, and Jayne almost slipped because of it.

The shower curtain is too short so water falls on the outside of the tube.

There is no furniture for all practical purposes. Rooms should not be rented out until there is enough furniture. Later in the trip I asked Tarqin about this and he said, “The money we had, we used for starting the greenhouse, but we will get more furniture.”

He should put priorities first. Get the furniture first then later start the greenhouse. You should never rent out a room until its ready, after all guests pay the bills and gives him a profit.

I thought to myself, after seeing hooks on the wall in main house, to at least have a strip of wood with about 4-5 hooks downstairs by the door that people can put their jackets and hats on. In the bedroom have a set of hooks on each side of the bed.

Later in the trip we found this out…The cleaner doesn’t come in everyday but only after we checked out. There was no change of towels and the floor got pretty dirty during the four days we were there. He should have at least a broom and dust pan there for guests. Even if the room is cleaned every day, maybe the guests would like the floor cleaned and would do it themselves because people walk around in dirt and mud, so the floor gets dirty quickly.

The dormitory is cleaned out every day but the private rooms should be cleaned out, too.

The very least he should have done, which would not have been the best thing is, to have curtains on the windows (for privacy), have a broom and dust bin in each room, and have hooks on the wall in each room.

Though the next problem I’m about to talk about is not with the room, it’s related to it. The four steps to the cabin are made of dirt with stones on top and wood to hold back the dirt. There are wood pegs that hold the wood plank in place. Now this is terrible. Some of the pegs are higher than the wood planks. You can easily trip over it, so we had to be careful, especially at night. With wood, it will rot in time – a short time in this climate. Also, he has small lights along the trail but not enough of them. These lights work on photocells, but without enough in front of the private cabin, you need a flashlight.

I’d have tiles down as they last longer and they won’t need replacing with the wood rotting. I know Tarquin wants his place eco-friendly, but who would give a rat’s ass if they fell. Besides, tiles last a long time, is not like plastic where you use it for a short time and throw it away where it will pollute wherever it’s dumped.

At least, if you were going to do it cheap, do it right – and not have pegs sticking out the top of the step where people can trip – day or night.

_____________


Tarquin asked Jayne if she would make a painting on a pyramid shaped board that would have all the mountains that are in view. He would hang this up where the patio is at the main house. She said she would be glad to. However, she would need a picture of how all the mountains look like (there are seven in view). But since it’s mostly cloudy, she had no idea how they look like. He said he’ll find pictures and give them to her to look at.

Jayne painted another mountain that was in view on a long wood board she found. She did another one on a piece of tile, too.

While Jayne painted, I helped Tarqin lay some rocks on the road on his property. We took wheel barrels to a place that had a lot of rocks, loaded it up and took them down the road and put in the ruts that were in the road. We worked about 1.5 hours. Then we went back to the house to have lunch. During this time it started to rain.

The work was hard, especially since we aren’t in shape and there’s less oxygen at this altitude.

This morning a couple went on a horseback ride. The cost is $25/per person for a day’s ride – a good price. Some other people went to Cotopaxi.

For dinner there was rabbit, which a worker killed. Among the animals that they have here are rabbits which are used for dinner when they get big enough. Jayne and I both had vegetarian meals, as Jayne doesn’t like rabbit. We both had mussaki.

When we were eating desert Jayne and I smelled poop! I said, “Do you want to eat in the living room?” She said no. I asked Tarquin that we smelled poop. Another person said she smelled it, too. He said it must have been the dog. He asked a worker to see if it was so. She said yes, but she didn’t want to clean it up. So, he said to tell Katherine and she’ll tell a paid worker to clean it up. He said he is having his dog house trained and has the paper in the corner of the dining room.

Can you imagine training the dog to go on the paper in the room where guests eat!! Where is the common sense in this? Why doesn’t he have it in the room where his family eats? I think I know the answer – they don’t want to smell it! But it seems ok to have the paying guests smell it!
When we got back to our room, the fire was nearly out. Jayne and I tried to start it, but it must have been the log was damp. The worker didn’t have the small pieces of wood under the big log either. So we had a chilly evening. In the evening is when we like to take a shower as the room is warm, whereas in the morning it’s cold.

I’ll have to tell the worker about this.

Cotopaxi Trip Day 1

Thursday August 21



We finished packing and left for Quito. We arrived at Secret Garden about 9.20am where we had breakfast. Then we left with five others who were going to Cotopaxi.

We had transport in a double cabin pickup truck. Three people had to sit in the back with the luggage. Jayne sat in the front seat and I sat in the back with another couple. It took us about 1.5 hours to get there.

When we arrived, we were greeted by Tarquin. Then we all had lunch, which was soup and bread.

We were shown to our private room. This is in another building that houses a total of three rooms, each with their private bath downstairs and the bedroom upstairs. The other building is the dormitory that sleeps 8 people. They have to use the outhouse or the toilet in the main house where there are also showers and sinks.

In the private room, there is a heater wood burning fireplace.

There are narrow steps that go to the second floor where the bedroom is. In the bedroom, the only furniture is the double bed. On the first floor there is only a chair!

Tarqin needs more furniture and a shelf for the clothes or at least hooks. So, we had to leave clothes in the suitcase.

There have been many changes since I was there last year – at the beginning of October. The changes are:

Private cabin, large green house, fish pond, decorated outhouse, chicken pen, pig pen, and a little bridge across another pond.

Tarquin took Jayne and me to the new green house, which is made of wood frames and a plastic roof. Inside is quite warm with a temperature of 30C.

When we arrived for dinner at 7pm they already had starters and there was none left for us. The next time we’ll be sure to get there earlier.

The entree was chicken with noodles and stuffed cauliflower. I had the vegetarian dish, which was eggplant. It was very good but the noodles were dry and could have used some sauce.

After dinner, the guests sat in the adjoining living room that has a large fireplace. Jayne and I were just there for a short time before left for our cabin. Since we got up early in the morning to start our trip we were tired.

The only light we had were the candles, as Tarquin wanted to make this as much eco-friendly as possible. I also think it has a lot to do with not being able to get electric lines out there. He does have a gas generator to providing lights when the cooking is done in the evening, and for doing the laundry. Their stove is gas and using a gas tank, like I have at home.

There is a worker that starts the fireplace before all guests get back to their room, and ours was blazing when we got back. It’s quite cool in the evening so a fire is necessary. There are warm blankets to keep us warm, too. The fire usually goes out a couple of hours later, but a warm bed makes it good for sleeping.

The elevation that we are at is 3,600 meters, but being at the equator is never freezes. But on top of Cotopaxi there is snow all year long. Cotopaxi is 5,800 and some odd meters high!

When we eat in the evening it was by candle light. The bad point of using candles is that you can’t read – unless you have a couple by you.

Sleeping, I opened the window a crack as it’s not good to have any heater going without the window open, as a heater burn oxygen, which we all know reduced oxygen and is not good for health.

Another thing I didn’t like is when you have to go to the bathroom, you have to light the candle and go down narrow stairs to the toilet.

Friends Visiting

Sunday August 17

I went to the local market to buy food while Jayne prepared for the guests.

About 2.00pm Mathieu, Amparo and their children came over. We had a meal here. shortly before the meal their son got a hold of pepper spray that I have here and he sprayed the wall (no one had seen him do it). He sprayed the wall. However, with him and his sister being in the room they began coughing. Jayne thought that they were just acting up. Though the son got over it fairly quickly, his sister didn’t. She started to cry during the meal and complained the burn was on her lips.

The final solution to Bernadette’s problem was a frozen water bottle to her lips.

The brother, at his age of 5, should have been told not to go into a drawer and spay with any bottle. So, it’s not our fault that he got a hold of it.

We had a nice day together.

Our other friend, Richard, didn’t come over.


Monday August 18

It rained all day, so Jayne didn’t feel like going to Quito to see our lawyer. We’ll go tomorrow.

Today we went in town so I could pay my electric and phone bills. I just paid the electric as the line in the phone company was too long.