Bella was off very early to arrange to deliver all the gifts
of crocheted and knitted clothes, plus cookies to the children at the cancer
hospital. She said it wasn’t quite as
traumatic as she had expected as they only actually got to visit with 2 of the
residents. Most of the others were too
sick for visitors and their mothers accepted the gifts at the door. There are kids as young as 1-year old, but
most are around 4 or 5. The mothers
stay with them during the day and that must be gut-wrenching.
I was very busy on the computer uploading photos and trying
unsuccessfully to research the type of camera and lens I wish to buy. It seems obvious I am going to have to stop
at some big camera stores before I find what I want.
One of my buddy's from Montreal sent me the new Ecuador Motto (tongue firmly in cheek),
Ecuador, where everything is possible, but nothing is for sure !
Ecuador, where everything is possible, but nothing is for sure !
I laughed and laughed, but the day kept proving this motto indeed has merit.
We then got ready and headed over for tea at Mark & Karen’s apartment (on the same floor as Julio and Paola’s). They are mostly decorated for their party late Friday and have an amazing collection of Christmas decorations and ornaments. I sure loved the many Santa faces they had adorning their tree.
We then got ready and headed over for tea at Mark & Karen’s apartment (on the same floor as Julio and Paola’s). They are mostly decorated for their party late Friday and have an amazing collection of Christmas decorations and ornaments. I sure loved the many Santa faces they had adorning their tree.
The 4 of us then cabbed in the rain over to the Oro Verde
Hotel for a “Meet The Mayor” gathering of expats. It was obvious they did not expect such a
turnout but they did ask us to spread the word, so I did! There was someone I knew at every single
table and everyone was anxious to hear what information they were going to
provide.
We really felt cheated and there was a distinct groan from
the crowd when we were told that the 36-year-old Mayor Paul Granda had gone to a different, more
pressing engagement! 125 expats come to meet the guy, at his request, and he doesn't think that this is the most important thing he should do today...??? I am sure this snub won’t soon be forgotten.
The first person to speak was AnaLucia Serrano, whom we have
met many times and is a good friend of Joe Spotts, of Joe’s Secret Garden Cuenca . She did much of her schooling in Vancouver so has a decent
grasp of English. She recited many of
the obstacles they have overcome and delineated many of the differences in the
processes between Ecuador
and other countries. One major
difference is that Ecuador
has only one central Registry for all resident information, birth, schooling,
marriage, divorce, etc. Our countries
have many separate provincial or state registries that don’t track with each other, meaning a
person could be married in the 10 different provinces and nobody would be the
wiser. So, one of the rules expats found
silly and impossible to comply with was a requirement to prove if a person was
single and had never been married! Ana
Lucia was very pleased to announce that The Registry Office had today finally kindly
agreed to accept a notarized declaration of a person’s singular status.
The next speaker was Gladys El Juri of the Cuenca Tourism
office, and part of
the richest family in Ecuador ,
of Lebanese origins. She gave an
overview of all the positives of Ecuador
and Cuenca , facts
and figures on things most of us already knew.
She obviously spoke good English but started by saying “I am proud of my country so I
am going to speak in Spanish, our language, and have a simultaneous translation
for you”. That was slight number two for
the evening that got under my skin. This needlessly doubled the length of time for her boring speech too.
About this time they started serving a few small sandwiches
and desserts. Again it was obvious they
had underestimated the crowd so nobody got both, just either a sandwich or a
dessert.
Next the Deputy Mayor named Ruth Caldas, a pretty
30-year-old, gave a State Of The Union
address about the improving infrastructure in the City. Cuenca
is not some backwater town and it is becoming more and more modern every
day. She spoke at length on their green
recycling plan where the landfill products are recycled and there are plans for
a biofuel byproduct. The centerpiece of
her speech was a film on the beginning of construction for a Light Rail Transit
line from the Northeast to the Southwest.
The surprising part of this is that the electric train can recharge
itself, meaning it has no need of overhead wires when travelling through the
core! Brilliant!!
Last we heard from Christian, of The Registry Office, who
reiterated the good news for the single expats.
When they started the question and answer section (everyone
could submit a written question during the evening) we departed when time was being
wasted answering really dumb questions about things that anyone should know if
they did any research at all. Any expat who comes here and doesn’t know when they can apply for citizenship should be
booted out for utter stupidity.
We cabbed up Gran Colombia to an Italian restaurant
and enjoyed a very filling meal and scintillating conversation.
That was today’s excitement.
Hugs to all. Please see all photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/
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