Back in Ecuador

Dear Friends, Lucy and I are back in Ecuador living in our little building in the historical center of Cuenca. We love our little adobe building which we are planning to turn into a breakfast/ lunch cafe. Lucy will specialize in pies (not the spanish word¨pies¨ which means ¨feet¨). Upstairs there is great space for yoga and meditation. We think Cuenca is very ready for serious meditation practioners and those who will want to study Buddhism and the Shambhala teachings. We shall see! Life in a different culture is challenging. So far nothing overwhelming or unworkable. The suffering and joys of life do seem universal. We just sent our friends from Ridgeland, Wisconsin home. Unfortunately they were robbed of their backpack containing camera, cellphone, and $200 cash when they fell for the trick of robber impersonating a bus ayudante helping them put their pack on the rack above their heads. It is very easy to fall for these robbers tricks because the vast majority of the people here ARE very helpful and go out of there way to be so....yet as in todo el mundo, materialism is increasing here too in a seemingly unstoppable tide. Well we intend to do what we can to encourage a life of appreciation of what we have and the basic goodness that permeates it all. I shall post a few pics of the view from our front balcony so you can see what we see.....yes it is the rainy season. The weaving of the horse will be the logo for our Windhorse Cafe. Googel windhorse and you will find that in Tibetan Buddhism and the Shambhala teachings it is the energy of basic goodness that is always present in any situation. Hasta pronto. Que les vayan bien.
Craig