Friday September 14, 2012

Friday September 14/12 update

Got a note this morning that JD’s Private Transportation has closed down so that is the reason they have not responded to me.  Hopefully they can give me a recommendation for a competent, reliable driver with access to larger vehicles if necessary.

There was only Chris and I to handle the Amigos class today.  Linda was sick, Tom had to wait for a delivery and Miguel was nowhere to be found.  With the help of two of the teens, and Patricio, we muddled through it OK to keep the 28 kids occupied.  We concentrated on simple phrases and questions and tried to make it fun.  Even the shiest kids had no problem coming to the front of the class to repeat a phrase, knowing the reward was a bag of candy from Chris.

I let the kids take photos with my camera so the photos are mostly theirs.  

We kept the class to one hour and the kids were OK with that.   The one teen that speaks really decent English told us both that we are excellent teachers….   Yeah right!

I then had to kill a couple of hours so I spent them with Chris and Bettye before heading across Avenida De Las Americas to go to Michael and Cody Hamilton’s condo.  We were soon joined by Paul & Anita Wolf and we had a rousing night of conversation, mostly concentrated on photography.  Luckily the two ladies are also into photography and take part in excursions, so they weren’t bored with the talk. 

The Hamilton’s condo is furnished with an eclectic collection of things from their residences overseas, including Taiwan.  The walls are also adorned with many of Michael’s amazing photographs that we admire so much.  We left at 11pm and made it home, sharing a cab with Paul & Anita.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Thursday September 13, 2012

Thursday September 13/12 update

Oh, this is another of those days where I should have just stayed in bed.  I had a bad night, moving from upstairs to downstairs and back upstairs to avoid the Boys.  I love them, but cleaning up 3 separate pukes and then dealing with cat litter is not my idea of a picker-upper in the morning.

I had an appointment with a plumber for 8:30am, the husband of a Gringo facilitator that friends had used.  Bella’s toilet leaks at the bottom so the installation of a new wax ring was needed.  I didn’t want to tackle this myself in case I screwed it up because I could not see a shutoff for the toilet only, and I didn’t want to be without water in the whole house.   I figured it would be an hour job, four bolts and a water line to unhook and rehook.  This guy wanted $20 for that hour which is really excessive by Ecuadorian standards but I would have felt more comfortable.  

Well the guy never showed up, so I emailed them back to ask if they had a place on their website for testimonials from unhappy customers, to match our friends’ glowing recommendation.  No response, no apology either….

I looked things over and turned off the cold water shutoff for the sink.  Guess what??!!  That also shut off the water to the toilet!  So, after a few careful considerations I decided to give it a try myself.  At worst I could call somebody in anytime if I felt out of my depth.   I was in no hurry so I took almost all day to get done right.  I drained all the water, unhooked the water line, took off the tank, and then the base.   I compared the existing wax ring with my new one and they were virtually identical.  I cleaned up the whole area then I took the new wax ring box upstairs to use Google Translate to understand the Spanish instructions.   They were pretty much what I expected.

Now I don’t like playing with pressure pipes and I had not seen a toilet apart in 40 years, so it was daunting at first, but not insurmountable.   I took my sweet time about it, measuring my moves slowly, and actually put it all back together rather easily.   Look Ma, no leaks.

Another headache rose up this morning effectively scuttling our attempt to rescue the two teachers that summarily quit AAC before they started.   This was most unfortunate so now we are back to playing teacher with our dedicated core that began the group.  Dealing with volunteers is tricky and it doesn’t take too long to figure out who doesn’t fit in when they don't play nice.

Tomorrow we have AAC then I am invited out to a supper with Michael and Cody Hamilton, joined by Paul and Anita Wolf, photographers all.   I am sure we will be discussing some possible excursions.   I keep getting asked by complete strangers when we are having another photo trip, so it is time to get busy on that front.  The big problem is getting a reliable driver with access to different size vehicles to accommodate everyone.  I fully expect a huge response to another night tour.

That was today’s excitement.     Hugs to all.

Leaky toilet

I got it all apart and cleaned up the mess

Back together and it is like new.

Wednesday September 12, 2012

Wednesday September 12/12 update

Where does the time go?  By the time I check 5 emails, Facebook, then check and upload to 3 photo sites, the morning is completely gone.

We all showed up at the Amigos Activity Center (hereinafter referred to as AAC) close to 3 pm and the kids slowly streamed in.  Nobody had anything planned so we started with teaching them English words, then sentences, following the 100 Essential Spanish Words I found in an online Spanish course.  These kids are really bright and we really mingled today.   We sat amonst the kids and participated in the games.  The last portion of the class was spent with some animal photos and descriptions that Nancee had previously provided.  

We have so many ideas that can only be brought to fruition with cooperation, donations, and funding.   There will be a few more meetings over the next couple of weeks to iron out a few issues.

Some of the sights today:  a kid doing repairs to a canvas canopy of a moving vehicle, street meat ready for cooking, and they are redoing the outside wall of the Cemeterio.

On the way back I walked through the hundreds of booths set up at Feria Libre.  Rick Smith had let me taste a red banana he had just purchased there and it was so sweet and juicy that I had to get some.  I was also out of tomatoes so I hunted until I found these bananas being sold way in the parking lot.  A bunch of bananas and 6 tomatoes cost me $1.50.

I was only wearing that yellow Ecuador jersey I had purchased yesterday and it was getting pretty cool so I asked a lady in a nearby booth the price of a  fleece jacket.  I got it for $15 and was toasty warm all the way home.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Tuesday September 11, 2012

Tuesday September 11/12 update

I did my morning chores then headed to Coral to get a few groceries.  I managed to find some Peter Pan smooth Peanut butter so that went in my basket, and it was the most expensive thing I bought.  I found two packs of good looking sea bass filets so one is going to be supper tonight.  I got my usual head of heavy cabbage which is good for 5 lunches and it was only 37c!   A dozen mandarin oranges were 57c.  Fresh organic vegetables are very inexpensive here as this is a farming country.   We will never starve here.

Rosa is here on her off-rotation day because she skipped last week.   As a result we told her to come in 3 weeks again to get back on rotation.   However she came with the news that she cancelled her RUC because it was a major hassle for her to come downtown to pay it each month.  It appears she is able to make payments online but doesn’t know how.   Therefore we had a long discussion again about how that shifts a huge burden back to us and how her services would likely need to be terminated, no matter how much we like her.   She wants to skirt the IESS Benefits law but we cannot afford to take that risk.  We have offered to help her to learn how to make her RUC payments online so that everyone will be happy again.   She seemed quite pleased with that and will see about resurrecting her RUC because this will have a ripple effect with many of her customers.

I slipped out to recharge my bus card, just in case, and saw that Raoul’s place is really progressing, although it is still by a lot of manual labor. 

Walking back I saw a lady selling more Ecuador soccer shirts because there is a big game against Uruguay today.  She wanted $12 for a big Ecuador flag.  I asked how much for a large shirt and she said $8.  I said no, I can buy them near the stadium for $5.   She came down to $6 and I said no and started to walk away.  She grabbed my arm and said OK for $5, so I got another shirt.   I hung it in the front window as a show of support.   I just checked and it appeared that Ecaudor snuck away with a 1-1 tie so that is a good result for an away game.   We are getting closer to locking up a World Cup spot.   Go Ecuador!

I am getting some semi-positive feedback from the teachers we lost for the Amigos Activity Center but I think we are far from being out of the woods yet.   It is hard to mesh everyone's interpretations and expectations on how the Center should operate.  Some delicate diplomacy and some compromises are going to needed to salvage all this.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Monday September 10, 2012

Monday September 10/12 update

Last night the hamburgers at Bettye and Chris’ were scrumptious, and I even got to take one home.  I got to see the two lovely wall figurines that they now have installed at both ends of their couch in the living room.  They are a great addition and Bettye has very good taste.

I dallied a little too long and then found that all the buses that go to our area weren’t running near Feria Libre so I grabbed a #28 and soon realized it was not going downtown but headed straight south.   So I stayed on it until it neared Coral Centro where I was sure there would be taxis.  I easily hailed a yellow cab and instructed him to continue a few blocks to the Autopista and zoom down to our area.  That is a really quick way home.

Today I did some laundry and mulled over some options for the Amigos Activity Center in response to an email.  I spent 3 hours composing my thoughts and redrafted it many times before finally having the courage to send it.  It was extremely gratifying to know that we are all on the same page and feeling the same frustrations.   The founder, Miguel, has some grandiose plans that he surprised everyone with at the last meeting and that set off a firestorm of activity culminating in the loss of the two teachers we had painstakingly recruited.  None of us are happy campers over this and we are planning a sit-down with Miguel to establish some firm guidelines for continuing our volunteering.     Then maybe we can concentrate on getting our teachers back.

I walked to Coopera to get my weekly allowance and waited to catch the #16 across from the new Community Police Station which had their ribbon-cutting last Friday.   I am thinking that I should go register us there somehow so they will know who we are and where we live.

We arrived at the school not only to find no teachers, but no Miguel, so we had no interpreter if necessary.  One bright spot is that there were several used desks in the room.  Soon the children started coming in and went to the white board and started writing the months in both Spanish and English, getting most of them right.  They are such delightful kids and that is the reason we continue to help.  Believe me, just getting a smile from one of the shy little ones makes my day and melts my heart.  Then they played with my translator and thought that was pretty neat.   The kids piled into the old desks, three abreast, with no complaints whatever.  Linda and Tom brought an activity for the kids to complete and color while we all helped the kids out.  Christine conversed with Patricio about his plan to sand and paint the desks.  Christine’s idea of painting them all a base white color won the day, so that it can be an activity for the kids to decorate the desks later. 

Just as class was winding up, Miguel showed up so things lasted a lot longer.  Then Emilie (originally from Guelph) from Hearts Of Gold stopped by and gave us more ideas.   Then they wanted us to look at a place down the street that had more rooms, and maybe a yard available to us.  It needs a lot of work and it is hard to pin down Miguel on who is going to end up paying for all this.  He vaguely refers to the community people but we are not so sure.  

I took a few shot of various kids today, even street kids, and it is so heartwarming to hear their giggles when I show them their pictures.   Gotta love the Cuencanos. 

Emilie walked with me to Feria Libre where we each caught buses going different directions.  I found it hard to believe that she had never been on the grounds of Feria Libre and she was so surprised to see all the live animals for sale there.

I got off the bus at the Monay Mall and went to La Victoria to price out a projector for the school.   Emilie had thought that we might see one under $200 but the ones on display were closer to $600.  We feel now that a projector is the thing to get for the school because, even without Internet, we could hook up out laptops and play some previously downloaded material right on a blank wall.   That would make our lives so much easier.

Walking over our bridge I noted the river is as low as ever.  We really could use a good overnight rain.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.

Sunday September 9, 2012

Sunday September 9/12 update

I was up at 7:30 to do the chores and get cracking on the rest of the photos.  It didn’t take long to discover that the Internet was down.   I rebooted everything but that didn’t help.  I could see the ServiCable serviceman’s van was across the street so I figured he would notice the disruption soon.  After an hour there was still no Internet so I went across the road to talk to Javier.  Surprisingly he syas he doesn’t use the Internet at home so he was not aware of the outage.   He came over to check my computer and confirmed the problem was again on their end so he said he would look after it.  The outage lasted over 3 hours so I was very late getting everything done.

I am awaiting a Skype call from my mother at 3pm.  We haven’t seen each other in a few months so this will be a nice treat.  It makes us feel much closer this way.

Bettye and Chris just called to invite me for an early supper of hamburgers so I will take the chance on getting over there and hopefully be lucky enough to catch a bus to catch home.   

That was today’s excitement.    Hugs to all.

Saturday September 8, 2012

Saturday September 8/12 update

Had a bad sleep last night plus I left the door open so the boys joined me about 3am.

I was away by 7:30 to walk to Paul Wolf’s place north of the Hospital Del Rio to arrive by 8 pm.  He was ready so we backtracked to follow a creek down to the Tomebamba.  The sun was very bright for the most part which can make photography a lot trickier than a nice overcast day with few shadows.   We followed the Tomebamba until it merged with another of the 4 rivers at the east end of the city.  Along the way we happened across a pair of bovines and 3 very sick horses.   

Paul is a meticulous and knowledgeable photographer and I learn a lot from him.   We each have our interpretation of what we enjoy in a shot which is very good for diversity.   He mentioned that he met another photographer by the name of Mike Hamilton last week and he was most impressed with his work and would love to work with him.

We walked and walked until noon and we were both pretty pooped.  He decided to walk back along the Tomebamba pathways while I opted to slip north to Gonzalez Suarez and catch the #3 home to Monay.   My legs were like rubber already.

As I was coming out of that park a blond lady I had never met was entering and we said Hello.   Then she said “Oh, you are out taking pictures.   You aren’t Bella’s husband by any chance are you??”   The look on my face must have been priceless!  I finally managed to stammer that yes, I was in fact married to Bella.   This clairvoyant lady turns out to be Lulie, whom Bella had mentioned many times, probably from weaving?  Anyway, once my shock subsided we had a brief chat before I staggered up the hill to catch the bus.

I caught the bus to Monay and then ambled down the hill, stopping next door for lunch and juice again.  I was wrong on the price.  They are only charging me $1.25 without the soup!   Such a deal.

Then it was a wonderful nap time before I re-showered prior to heading to Joe’s Secret Garden.

I arrived at Joe’s before 5pm, ahead of all the guests and proceeded to take some ambience shots.  The menu was Chinese food and 28 folks signed up but 2 cancelled at the last moment.  I got shots of about half the guests before I had to leave.

While waiting for my taxi I saw Barry & Maxine Wilder (from Calgary) passing by so we had a chat.  They wave Hi to everyone (see photo).

I had to attend a gathering at Miriam and Fernando’s place downtown for a lovely potluck supper and some decadent desserts.  There were about 7 couples, many of whom I knew.  I was introduced to this new couple, guess who??? …Mike & Cody Hamilton, so we had a good chat about photography, and myself and Paul will hopefully join Mike on an outing soon.  They are a super nice couple, as was everyone at this get-together.  I had been requested by Fernando and Miriam to be a dance partner for a single lady friend of theirs so I had arrived with Bella’s blessing.   The single lady turned out to be Linda, a former bridge partner of Bella’s.  After the buffet they put on the music for a Motown theme which suited this evening just fine as it was 90% rock & roll.   I sure missed Bella for an evening such as this.   Hopefully these next 2 months will fly by quickly like the first month has gone.

That capped off a very long and busy day so that I had trouble climbing the stairs to my lair.  I managed to get the morning photos processed before hitting the sack and I was out like a light for 6 hours.

That was today’s excitement.   Please see all photos at souvenircuenca.blogspot.com.  Hugs to all.