Jan 4, 2012

Wednesday Jan 4/12 update

5:30am again and I had these great plans to get up and start my laundry first thing.   How many of you would need a raincoat to wash their clothes?  Yup it is raining so that will put a crimp in my plans.   I hope the morning sun will chase the rain away for a few hours.  

Second on my list was to bike over to the new house to use my tools to adjust the bicycle seat which is one of the narrow crotch–ripping variety.   I also have yet to locate a good selection of bicycle accessories, such as a bike lock, a larger saddle, a basket or rack.  It is strange that Coral sells bikes but no accessories.  I’ll have to check Gran Aki because I am sure I saw some somewhere.

Well the sun tried to shine around 8:00 so I started my laundry.  Each load takes about 80 minutes with the small washer, mostly due to the poor water pressure.  Once we hung the clothes Bella and I headed to Pichincha Bank for enough money to put deposits on the last of our furniture, fridge, stove, vanity table and dining room table and chairs.   We will pick them all up in about two weeks when we are hopefully close to moving in.

On the way I happened to see a bicycle shop,…Eureka!!  They even had a large saddle seat for a whole $3.50, a solid bicycle lock for $7.50 and a solid basket for $4.00.  Each of those items would be at least $15 each at home.  Once I got home I took these items and the bike to the local bike mechanic.   Together we installed the bike seat and the lock holder.  The basket was actually for a smaller bike so he intends to weld two brackets to support it underneath and we are placing it behind the seat.  This should be very handy for what we need it for.  It will be unique in Cuenca for sure.  He asked me to leave it and pick it up tomorrow.

As I was walking home I stopped to get some keys cut for the new house for Bella.  There was a young fellow there spinning a string top and catching it to spin in his hand    I have uploaded 2 short videos to YouTube at http://youtu.be/bw7DDzwTcEA and http://youtu.be/seS-XNA_wwM  because I thought it was amusing.  I must lead a protected life because I had never seen that done before.

The fellow cutting the keys is named Marco and we have met him previously at community functions.  He speaks some English so I explained how much we will miss the neighborhood and the people here when we move to the new house.   He said “People like you.  You are a good person.”   Gotta love the Cuancanos!  

Then crossing the road I ran into young Jessica and her mother from New Year’s Eve.  Hugs all around and she asked again if I was on Facebook and had email so I gave her the details.  She speaks almost no English so I don’t know what she expects to find, but gotta love the Cuencanos, they are a friendly people.

We are still waiting to hear some details and pricing for some of the urgent renovations from Jorge.  These will be messy inside so we would like them all done before installing furniture, drapes, etc.

Bella went to tutor Segundo but, for the second time this week, he wasn’t there.  She sure wishes he would call to cancel if he knows he can’t make it.
Please enjoy a few more of my Cuenca Kids from Christmas Eve.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.

Cuenca Kids 11

Cuenca Kids 1

Cuenca Kids 3

Cuenca Kids 6

CuencaKids 10