EcuadorSabbatical

I always expect July 4 to be a bigger event than it is. The parade in Woods Hole was small and silly and fun to watch, but not particularly impressive. We drove to Falmouth to watch fireworks on the beach and when they were over we went to bed. I am always disappointed because I want to feel that the day is meaningful. I look forward to the festivals and celebrations in Ecuador. I want to stay as long into December as possible so as not to miss anything. Apparently, in Quito, all of December is a celebration. Carnival happens in February and is not to be missed. Throngs of people fill the streets throwing water balloons, flour, eggs, and more at each other. There are events every month, in most major cities, most of them tied to religious rituals, primarily Catholic, but many older indigenous ceremonies. Political holidays are celebrated as well. Every month has at least one long weekend with a ceremony or fiesta attached, but often the precise date is not certain until the last minute...

I wonder where I will find good coffee in Quito. Ecuadorians do produce their own coffee beans, but the coffee I have been offered is not the same as the espresso I prefer. I am extremely fussy about coffee. And I have an addiction; if I do not drink by 4 PM, I will have a nasty headache that will not respond to anything but a good few shots of espresso. I do not drink much coffee, perhaps just one or maximum two cups a day, but it has to be good coffee. Here in Woods Hole, we eat breakfast at 'Pie in the Sky', which has amazing and dangerously addicting popovers. I can eat popovers for breakfast lunch and supper. It a bakery, with all sorts of patisserie items, sandwiches and smoothies, and horrible coffee, in fact the coffee is undrinkable. Down the street, 'Coffee Obsession has slightly better coffee, but not good enough. So after having breakfast at 'Pie in the Sky' (two popovers for me), a walk through the main street of Woods Hole in lovely sunshine waiting fo...

It takes seven and a half hours to drive from Baltimore to Woods Hole, and about the same amount of time to drive to BWI airport, get through security, fly to Boston, wait for a bus and travel to Woods Hole. We left the house at 8:30 and had drive back to pick up the violin and again to put out the garbage ( I am not sure if it is garbage day on a holiday). The plane left on time, and the bus came on time, but the traffic was heavy and we arrived at the ferry at 4 PM. It is simply a long trip, and perhaps that is part of the charm of the place, it is not easy to get to. Eric's colleagues were practicing a skit they had prepared for the students and faculty of the NS&B course (neural systems and behaviour). I have seen the skits each year and they are always entertaining. Eric always plays a big role both in writing the script and adding the soundtrack and computer assisted background and side effects. Maya and I saw it 'in the raw' and it had great potential but requir...

I spent the evening with my friend Emily. She is going to Australia for a six week sabbatical with her husband and son. I will leave for Ecuador while she is away and will not see her for over a YEAR! I did not realize that 'til now. A year is very long. We will email and skype and perhaps I will return to Baltimore for a short visit at Christmas, but what will a year feel like? Who will I be in a year? I have been saying good-bye over and over again. It was final these past few days in my office. There are people I have seen regularly for years and years and now I may never see them again. There is a finality about this move that resonates every time I say goodbye. I insist that I will be back in a year and that everything will return to normal, but perhaps I protest too much. I try to be lighthearted and positive and encouraging and happy about the move, but I am left with doubts. I am sure that I will see Emily again. Maya and Nathan have an interesting relationship. Maya is ve...

It is time for good-bye dinners. Tonight was a celebration; I am moving to Ecuador, Sharon and I are commemorating a year together at our new office, where all is calm and peaceful and nurturing and happy, and Rina is celebrating the start of her new practice. She is taking over my office; my patients will return to the same building and the same room and will see Rina instead of me. It is an opportunity for Rina to start her own private practice and wonderful for me knowing that my patients are well taken care of. I am so relieved. Rina's husband joined us. We ate at Petit Louis, a restaurant close to my home and a place my children and extended family have chosen to mark birthdays and anniversaries and graduations and mother's days and father's days and valentine days, in fact I think in the eight years we have lived in Baltimore, we have celebrated every sort of occasion at Petit Louis. It is a French bistro, consistent and the wine list is extensive. It was the perfect ...

Today was a momentous day. I packed up my office of six years and removed every bit of me form that office, said goodbye to a day-full of patients and walked away. There had been a farewell luncheon with my colleagues two weeks ago, where I was able to talk about the year in Ecuador and thank everyone. I felt very appreciative that day; my colleagues have been helpful allies these past years, referring patients, sharing advice, offering an ear when I sorely needed to be heard. It is odd that while individually I have excellent relationships with my colleagues, as a group we have not been particularly functional, especially in the past three years. When overwhelmed with frustration, one year ago, I opened a new office a few miles away, where I work three days a week. I have loved my new office, where I have no employees, and I take care of every role in the office, from secretary to receptionist to billing person to medical doctor, and I have been very happy and never frustrated in thi...

I am existing in at least two realities at present. On the one hand, all the disparate pieces involved in our move to Ecuador are coming together and we are on track to leave in early August. On the other hand, I am feeling overwhelmed and astonished at how far behind I am in readying the house and wonder if I can actually do it. When I am away in Canada or Cape Cod or wherever I manage to escape for a short time, I look at our progress from afar and we seem to be fine. Occasionally Eric gets that 'deer in the headlights' look and I panic momentarily and feel paralyzed. I could not sleep last night after coming home late and finding myself behind on my own personal schedule. My friend Daphne volunteered to come over and help pack tonight while the children watched 'Starwars' and that seemed like a good idea. I bought boxes at our storage unit and was home when Maya finished ballet. I cooked lasagna while Maya practiced violin and had the table set and ready when Daphne ...