Thursday July 11, 2013

Thursday July 11, 2013  update #509

Bella was having one of her few rest days at home, kicking back and playing online bridge with friends and foes.

I again had a great sleep and got up late so hurriedly did my chores and uploads.   I was determined to check out a possible venue for the Hearts Of Gold December Gala, the Villa San Carlos.  I mentioned this to Bella and she reminded me that they were holding the Happy Dogs spay & neuter fundraiser there this evening.    I decided to head out anyway.

First, I walked right past it… several blocks then asked directions and came right back.  Good grief, it is the second building on Remigio Tamariz, just behind the Mormon Church, and down from the Primax gas station.  Of course there is nobody around during Ecuadorian lunchtime so I was told to come back at 3pm.

So I decided to wander over to Hearts Of Gold but again, nobody was around, nor expected to be around all day.  Okay, I decided to check in at the Banco Del Pacifico across the street to see what their requirements were to open an account.  Luckily one lady spoke about as much English as I did Spanish so we got along well.  Other than a minimum of $200 to open an account, they seem to want more paperwork than Banco Pichincha, and their interest rates on a $30,000 CD was only quoted at 5.5%.  They want 3 letters of reference and utility bills for the prior 2 months, amongst colour copies of Cedulas, etc.   They do provide International Visa cards but I don’t know how many hoops I need to jump through for that.   I also intend to check the Banco Del Austro near here as I am told the lady Manager speaks good English and is amenable to Gringos.

Then I just bought a new black marker at Papeleria Monsalves so that didn’t kill much time.  I headed back to Vila San Carlos and took some photos then settled down in the lobby to await the American owner and his Ecuadorian wife.

Lo and behold, the door opens and Gayle from Hearts Of Gold comes in!  She said she has already been checking out the place and had shown it off to the HoG brass too!   Great minds think alike.  So we put our heads together a bit and she will make an appointment with the owners for next week.  The owners did show up at 3pm as promised so we only spoke briefly because they had their hands full with the fundraiser starting at 5pm.   Other than some pretty sizeable load-bearing posts causing minor obstructions to sight lines, the place is awesome, well-situated, and has parking.  They can seat over 200 and easily accommodate a band and a dance floor. They also have separate rooms available for things like a silent auction, beautiful reception area and even outside space for those dreaded smokers.   I think it is a winner….

The roadwork is now in full swing on both sides of Solano so we hope this is all completed long before our Gala is to take place.

That was the day's excitement,   Cheers, Al   Please see all new photos at http://souvenircuenca.blogspot.com/