Dave Nelson

April 16th dawned with a severe case of gout in the last joint in each of my right ring and left index fingers. Very swollen, very red, very sensitive, and very painful and it did not calm down in the usual few days. Gout pain affects my whole body and just slows everything down, inflicting...

Another celebration has come and gone. It is seen as the founding of Cuenca but in reality it was the renaming of this city by the Spanish on April 12, 1557. The city had been around in various forms for more than 3,000 years being in an ideal location in a bowl with four rivers...

How do you see the world? I am paraphrasing an article in the Christian Science Monitor saying that 2015 was a lousy year with the news being a nonstop stream of terrorism, injustice, grieving, burying, and accusing. Ignorant armies continuing their fighting. There was way too much religious, ethnic and racial antagonism. It then went...

Off to the States. Not until July but I have decided, so it shall come to pass. Unless, of course, it doesn’t. I have gotten very comfortable in Cuenca and the thought of traveling back to the U.S. just doesn’t appeal to me. Partly because in the past, other than for Thanksgiving and Christmas, visits...

Some great news, at least for me. I really love my little apartment on the river and with the lease expiring in June I have been worrying about being able to find something that will fit me so well. I was in Rentals Cuenca office last week and the Philadelphia owner was asking if I...

Maria, the receptionist at Carolina Bookstore who will soon be graduating from the university, is an indigenous woman who grew up in a very poor town south of Cuenca. Every Christmas, to give back to her home town, she arranges gift giving and fun for the people she grew up with. Here is a portion...

Gout gets me again. I had a recurrence of gout pains in several joints in late November to the extent that I needed Tom to come over and get some groceries for my empty refrigerator. Extra treatments from my massage therapist; pain pills prescribed by my doctor; no alcohol or beef for two weeks; and...

By Dave Nelson I don’t think that bodily ailments are generally a fit subject for exposition. They come on, last a few days or a week or two and with some treatment and/or patience they go away. But, of course, this time it was different. It began October 5 with severe left ankle pain and...

By Dave Nelson On Thursday morning I was awakened with a jolt at 5:07 a.m. by an earthquake. It was very sharp and short, with the bed shaking for about five seconds. It was centered about 40 miles northwest of Cuenca, 5.4 magnitude, but very deep, causing no major damage. I am very happy to...

By Dave Nelson What a great night!!! A few weeks ago Tom suggested El Nopal, a Mexican restaurant, for our Friday night dinner. I like Mexican food, haven’t had any since moving here, so overcame my reluctance to go to an unfamiliar place, and agreed. It was small, maybe ten tables close together, and we...

By Dave Nelson I’m in trouble and don’t know it. I have never been adept (the word hopeless has been used) at picking up the subtle clues and nuances in conversations and behavior. For instance, after returning home from an overnight trip with three other couples my then-wife began talking about the troubles that one...

By Dave Nelson When I take my Sunday walk on the Tomebamba River, it is not unusual to see people I know or to spend a bit of time talking to someone I don’t. But this Sunday was special. Near the beginning, I poked my nose into a new hole-in-the-wall restaurant to ask if their...