Of strange food, suitcases and albums
Hi everyone, this is Owen and this is my podcast for Friday 27th of March, 2015. I'm back in Kunming. I was away for almost three weeks and when I left it was still very cold here. But spring has finally arrived in ‘The City of Eternal Spring'. According to the locals [1] the weather will be very nice for the next three months and Kunming will finally live up to [2] its nickname. I returned to Kunming in time for the last couple of days of Spring Festival. On the last day everyone was letting off fireworks. From our apartment you can actually see the city zoo and all the birds in the zoo were going crazy. It almost sounded like they were shooting the birds. On today's episode I'll be talking about the second half of my holiday in Ecuador, the problem with our suitcase and an album I'm very grateful for.
After a fabulous week on the Galapagos Islands, my girlfriend, Vittoria, and I flew back to Guayaquil. Guayaquil is the largest city in Ecuador and it is on the coast. From there we took a bus to Cuenca. The first half of the journey took us past very large banana and sugar cane plantations [3]. The plantations stretched as far as we could see on both sides of the road. Miles and miles of bananas and sugar cane. As the sun was setting, we started driving up into the Cajas National Park. We climbed to more than 3000m and enjoyed some spectacular views. But it was dark by the time we arrived in Cuenca. In the morning we got to enjoy the beautiful setting of the city. The city itself lies at more than 2300m but what makes it so special is that it is surrounded by mountains on all sides. It is a beautiful historic city with lots of interesting architecture. Most of the streets are very old and narrow and there seems to be a church on every corner. We happened to be in Ecuador during Carnival, which is a big holiday throughout the country. There wasn't a big celebration in Cuenca though. A lot of locals leave the city to celebrate Carnival and we got to celebrate with Vittoria's family in the countryside. The traditional Carnival meal is the same as the traditional Spring Festival meal in China, a whole pig. Fortunately, we didn't have to slaughter the pig ourselves this time! And the method of cooking was very different. First they used a big blowtorch [4] to cook the skin. It didn't take long until the skin was nice and crispy. They then cut all the crispy skin off and we ate it with boiled popcorn. The rest of the pig was then cooked in big pots. We also got to experience a very traditional Ecuadorian meal. In Cuenca we went to a famous restaurant where they serve an Ecuadorian specialty. I think it is something they only eat in Ecuador. It's not something they eat every day. It's a meal they enjoy on special occasions. The dish is a barbecued guinea pig. Now, I never had a guinea pig as a pet myself but I do remember our neighbours had guinea pigs and we would look after them when they went on holiday. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to eat one at first. Would you eat a guinea pig? In the end I just thought, who knows when I'll be back in Ecuador and have the chance to try it again. Now the big question is, what does barbecued guinea pig taste like? Well, it tastes just like chicken.
My flights back to China were all on time. I didn't miss any of my connections. But Vittoria wasn't so lucky. She flew back a week later and her second flight was delayed by a few hours. She then missed her connecting flight and was told that all other flights were full. In the end she had to fly the other way. Instead of going across the Pacific, she flew eastwards to Frankfurt and then Hong Kong. Usually, we would just say: “Well, bad luck!” But this time we think there might be more to it. On this trip we took a big backpack and a suitcase with us. I mentioned in my last podcast that they lost the suitcase on our way to the Galapagos Islands. Coming back I took the big backpack with me and I didn't have any problems. Vittoria, on the other hand, took the suitcase. Big mistake! She was stopped at the airport in Ecuador and the police searched the suitcase for half an hour. In Miami she had to get her suitcase to go through customs [5]. She was waiting for the suitcase, when the baggage carousel [6] suddenly stopped. All the passengers had to wait 20 minutes until a mechanic arrived to fix it. It turned out that it was our suitcase that got stuck. After that she missed her connecting flight. Once she arrived in Frankfurt, there were no available flights to Hong Kong. So she had to spend a night in Frankfurt. When she got her suitcase, the wheels on it were broken. In the end she landed in Hong Kong two days later than she was supposed to. And the broken suitcase? Well, they lost it again and it arrived a day later. Luckily, she received it before her flight to Kunming the next day. When she got to our apartment, she was tired and miserable and pulling the suitcase along the ground. Both wheels were broken and the bottom of it was cracked open. This suitcase! All our troubles [7] on this trip were due to this suitcase. We are convinced that the suitcase must be cursed [8]!
I was suffering from jet lag [9] for a week when I got back home. Going on holiday I seemed to be fine. Coming back home and going back to work was a little harder. But the week I arrived home I discovered a new music album and it really helped me recover from my jet lag. Unlike most albums, this album is meant to help you fall asleep. The name of the album is “Sleeping Tapes”. The album consists of ambient [10] music with spoken words. All the words are spoken by the actor Jeff Bridges. Maybe you know him. He has a great voice. The music is very relaxing and Jeff Bridges just talks a little or hums [11]. In one song you hear him talking to some children about dreams. In others he tells bedtime stories. In my favourite song he takes the listener on a walk to the top of a canyon. You can hear him walking over grass and leaves. As he is walking and talking, he imagines the listener is walking next to him. He comments on the environment, the weather, the wildlife and some of the strange things he sees along the way. The whole album is done with a lot of humour. It's a great album and I highly recommend it.
Before I go, I'd like to thank Käthi very much for her comment. It is remarkable how easily children pick up languages. We really miss Anita and of course the rest of the family. Everything's back to normal here. Vittoria and I are already thinking about our next holiday though. In two weeks' time my father, Gerry, will be back. My next podcast will be on April 24th. Remember you can listen to all the podcasts on our website www.podclub.ch or by downloading our app. Have a wonderful month and ‘til next time. Goodbye!
Glossaire: Owen in China [1] locals: here: the people from Kunming
[2] live up to: be as good as
[3] plantations: large farms
[4] blowtorch: a tool which throws flames
[5] customs: the place at the airport where they check your bag
[6] baggage carousel: moving belt that delivers luggage at an airport
[7] troubles: problems
[8] cursed: evil attached to it
[9] jet lag: the feeling of being tired after a long flight
[10] ambient: here: quiet and relaxing
[11] hum: to make a continuous, low sound
