Wednesday March 7, 2012

Wednesday Mar 7/12 update

What a glorious sunny morning and it makes one want to get outside.  I wanted to go see Turi, to the southwest, but I can’t find a 25c bus that goes there.  There is this beautiful white church that is lit up at night and I would love to see it.  The closest the buses go is to the Mall De Rio but I have no idea how far it is from there, probably not more than a mile or two.

I woke Bella to see if she would be willing to join me to El Valle to the southeast where our main bus, the #15 ends and she was agreeable, but wants to go one further, also take the #19 or #8 to San Joaquin.  Our Coopera medical plan basically dictates that our Dr. Pena, and our dentist, are in San Joaquin,  For $4.72 per month we can get 70-80% of our medical bills covered up to a maximum of $400 each.  That goes a long way here.

We are nearing our longest day (twice a year here) at 2.53 degrees south of the equator.  Today the sun’s path is over 4.19 degrees south so it will be directly overhead in a few days.  It took me a while to find a site with this information, but it is at http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/sunearth.html.   I took a couple of shots about 1:30 during our trip and there was almost no shadow.

The trip to El Valle isn’t that far but it is uphill all the way and it is so picturesque as we travel upwards between two huge valleys.  We got off the bus at the top and walked over to where we saw some baby lambs.  They must have just been recently born as one was still trailing remains of its umbilical cord and was pretty unsteady on its tiny hooves.  Then we started walking down and the first thing that struck us was the wonderful quietness.  Traffic is really far apart and there is no industry, just some house construction here and there so it is really peaceful.   If a person had a car, this is one place to enjoy living.

Naturally the valleys are green, green, green and the surrounding hills are too.  There is an unusual plateau to the south that did not seem to have any buildings but we suspect there may be a small airstrip there.   There is a huge townhouse complex on a hillside and some new developments and a country club on the lowers portions.  Higher up there is a beautiful convention center/meeting hall called the Olive Garden that was just gorgeous inside and had breathtaking views.

Once we got to Huyana Capac we were going to catch the #8 or #19, whichever arrived first, which was the #8.  Bella wanted to take it to both ends of its route so we started by going northwest into the industrial area of Cuenca called Trigales, past the airport, SuperMaxi, Kywi, etc.  It is an older area and the bus just kept climbing and climbing to its turn-around area.  We had to change buses for the return trip and this involved crawling through some streets just wide enough to handle the width of the bus.

The trip down took us back through El Centro to the west end of Cuenca.  When the bus turned around and everybody got off we asked the driver why he wasn’t going to San Joaquin.  He pointed to a bridge on the right and indicated that we had to walk the rest of the way.  Our mistake.  We should have caught the #19.  So we walked, uphill, (why is it always uphill?) about 2 kilometres to the centre of town as we knew our doctor was somewhere near the church and we were pretty sure the #19 went there.  This walk wasn’t pleasant as the dirt roads were dusty and uneven, however the scenery was interesting.  This is a garden town and nobody would ever go hungry here.  They grow everything here, and we saw loads of cabbage and corn.  We also saw many of them tilling straw into the soil, even the old way, with oxen.

When we got to the church we did indeed see some buses go by but didn’t immediately see the office of the doctor and dentist.  Just to the left of the church we saw a woman go down the street and we could see some police and security guards so we ventured down.  At first I dismissed it as only the main Coopera bank here but we asked a security guard where the medical/dental offices were.  He pointed and said to go around the building, which we did and found a second building at the rear.  We even had a chance to talk with Dr. Pena who speaks excellent English and she gave us the entire lowdown on how it operates.  Basically we make an appointment to see her when we have a non-critical ailment, otherwise we can go to the emergency at any nearby hospital and submit the bills later.   All in all, these were a very informative trips.

Bella made her own beer-battered fish and chips plus onion rings tonight.  Ummm Ummmm, she did an awesome job.  The tilapia fish was as good as halibut.  I am sure she will try that again.  The leftover beer was very tasty too.

That was today’s excitement.  Enjoy the many pics.    Hugs to all.

120307 Sweet baby

120307 Sweet baby 2

120307 Oh isn't this just ducky!

120307 Interesting flowers

120307 Bella strutting between the valleys of El Valle

120307 Just the corner horse wash

120307 Showing off his clean horse, now to wash the dog..

120307 Lovely foliage in El Valle

120307 Painting the sign for the Olive Garden

120307 Inside the Olive Garden

120307 Gorgeous spiral staircase there

120307 Lovely El Valle View there

120307 Reversing flower in El Valle

120307 Gorgeous colour at El Valle

120307 Butterfly courtship

120307 Milagro church, Cuenca

120307 San Joaquin, working the gardens

120307 San Joaquin, working with oxen+plow

120307 San Joaquin, gorgeous yard

120307 Solving problem with counterbalance

120307 San Joaquin, working the gardens 2

120307 San Joaquin, working the gardens 3

120307 San Joaquin church

120307 San Joaquin indigenous gossip

120307 San Joaquin flower

120307 Doctor Pena

120307 San Joaquin church bell

120307 Trigales view

120307 Not much shadow near equator

120307 Trigales - Just enough room for the bus to go through

Tuesday March 6, 2012

Tuesday Mar 6/12 update

I got an email back that wasn’t very promising from a fellow that we had been referred to for painting a mural.  He says he does the human form and has only done one mural with another artist before.   Then when he says he is a professional and asks us what we are willing to pay, well we don’t want to insult him with our meager proposition.  We will wait until we find some nice paintings like we had found in Quito.

The drapery fellow finally showed up at 10am to take the exact measurements and promised to bring the finished product Friday morning.  We paid them in full and Bella chose a nice fabric.

Bella was off to the book exchange and a book sale so I thought I would tag along but she decided she was taking a different bus so I took the #3 downtown to try to find some magnetic strips for our two metal doors to the lavanderia and the terrace.  I finally found the type used on fridge doors but I tested them and they did not work.  So I marched on up to another well-stocked ferreteria on Calle Larga and picked up some cabinet-style magnets for 25c each.  It wasn’t until I got home that I realized I will have to mount them on a block to make them work…

I then decided to wander in the 10 de Augusto Mercado and was taking the escalator to the second floor when I spotted this lovely woman wandering the main floor.  She didn’t see my wave so I had to chase her down.  Bella was very surprised to see who was pinching her bottom.   We had been told that we could buy inexpensive unsalted butter near the one door here so we asked and, sure enough, they had it for sale there.  That is the kind of information we get when networking with other expats.

Bella had a lot of books and veggies in one bag and some blankets in another so she didn’t want to go down the hill to check out the art at Arte Libre.  Instead we decided to check out the art further north, past the Mercado, behind the cathedral.  We actually did find one piece of original oil artwork that we both liked and that will look good on one of our walls.  He was asking $50 but we could only scrape up $45 between us so we took it home on the promise to drop off $5 the next time we are in El Centro (and he doesn’t even know our names).  We will gladly do so.

Bella decided the painting will go in the living room between the two windows so I took a couple of shots to give you an idea.

That was today’s excitement.  Enjoy the pics.    Hugs to all.

Monday March 5, 2012

Monday Mar 5/12 update

This morning I could hear heavy machinery so I saw they finally brought in a bobcat to clear up the demolition debris from the house on the corner opposite.  At least any noise from new construction has to be a lot quieter than the sledgehammers of the past 6 weeks.

It was slightly drizzly as I left this morning around 11pm so I grabbed the #50 back to our old neighborhood and went to the lamination place.  Five pieces of ID for $1.40, not bad.

Then the sun started to shine so I walked down our old main road, the Paseo De Los Canaris, and encountered a couple of our old neighbors and had some brief chats.

I stopped by the drapery place to see if the gentleman was going to contact me today about arranging a covering for the pipes on the wall in the dining room.  They contacted him and he said he would be calling this afternoon but it is now after 4pm and still no contact.

I was surprised to see the river back to normal so quickly after all the rain we had.  There is a large hydroelectric dam near Paute that supplies much of the country’s electricity.

I took a few shots of the beauty in the river area and the gorgeous flower trellis at the park west of us.

That was today’s excitement.  Enjoy the pics.    Hugs to all.

120305 Clean up time

120305 Riverbank beauty

120305 Our Park along Rio Tomebamba

120305 Rio Tomebamba looking West

120305 Gorgeous flower trellis at park west of us

Sunday March 4, 2012

Sunday Mar 4/12 update

Bella was off to play bridge again today so I tried to find a Pepeleria open to laminate our documents.  First I stopped off at the local video store to exchange a couple of Spanish-only videos and started walking. 

When crossing the river I decided to take a pic to show you my “measuring” rock in the river in the right foreground and also the flood plane to our left, on the other side of the river.  Remember the other day when that rock got submerged in less than an hour.  That was scary.  I feel sorry for those folks that have stupidly built over in the flood plane, it is only a matter of time before they get a good soaking.

I walked all the way to our old neighborhood, hoping the place where we had previously had laminations done might be open but no such luck.  So I caught a bus downtown but had the same results.  The only things open are the occasional stores and mercados.  I made the mistake of stopping at two more video stores.

At Parque Calderon and the cathedral we could hear this wonderful pan flute music so I went to see if it was live or canned music.  To our delight it was indeed live so we took a couple of videos for you and put them on YouTube.  Click on these links:

http://youtu.be/XXGn6IQPukY

http://youtu.be/KBw5COEtEFQ

These are well worth a look as the purity of the music is outstanding.

That was today’s excitement.  Enjoy the pics.    Hugs to all.

120304 Measuring Rock & Flood Plane to the left

120304 Parque Calderon

120304 Quechuan Musician 1

120304 Quechuan Musician 2

120304 Quechuan Musician 3

120304 San Francisco Church

120304 Sunday Flower Market

Saturday March 3, 2012

Saturday Mar 3/12 update

Bella’s task was groceries and groceries and groceries today since we had emptied the larder knowing we would be away to Quito.

I went out to get ink for the printer, buy a DVD player, arrange for the dining room wall covering, and to get my small cloth backpack repaired.

The computer place was willing to deal on the printer ink so I saved us about $3 there.  The Sony DVD player was $57 and a webcam camera was $17 at Coral, less our discount so I only paid about $58.50 for both. The backpack cost $1.50 to get the straps sewn on securely so it was a good day.

Yes, now I have a webcam on my computer for Skyping, and it works really well.

I succumbed to buying 6 more movies for $9, with four of them being triple movie collections, except I found to my chagrin that 3 of them were only in Spanish so I will have to see if they will trade them for something else.

Then I spent a lot of time redoing our business cards and home sign to use a new address L:V4 Calle Popayan which is what they use on the utility bills.

I have also made copies of our cedulas, passports, and my birth certificate for laminating to carry around instead of the originals.

That was today’s excitement.   Hugs to all.

Friday March 2, 2012

Friday Mar 2/12 update

We slept well but I still got up before 7:30 to get to breakfast.  I met a fellow named Tom in the lobby, originally from Alaska who had just spent 5 years living in a small town in Mexico but got tired of their changing rules and the unnecessary expense of complying.  He and his 22-year-old son were scouting Ecuador and were intending to check out Vilcabamba and the Valley of Longevity, at least they were, until they spoke to us.  We now expect to see them soon in Cuenca.

We didn’t have to check out until noon so Bella ran down to the SuperMaxi to see if they had any better selection of spices than in Cuenca, which they didn’t, so she came back empty-handed.  I had attempted to check emails etc on the laptop but it had decided to take a brief holiday and would not respond to anything I tried, totally dead.  Surprisingly it did respond when we got home later though, thank God.

Once we checked out of the Casa Sol we then had two hours to kill before going to our lawyer Gabriela’s office so we had a leisurely McDonald’s lunch before venturing over to the main park in the center of Quito.  We walked for a bit and started going through all the small vendor tents selling all manner of clothing, jewelry, art and souvenirs.  Bella got great deals on t-shirts and pants which she really needed.  We saw two oil paintings that we really would have liked on our walls and the artist was desperate, one for $65, two for $110.  We himmed and hawwed for a bit, because we would have to drag these with us all day, with our backpacks, purse, jackets, etc, in at least 4 cab rides and a plane trip.  In the end we could have had both for $80…

At Gabriela’s office we found out that we would be going to pick up our Cedulas on our own, as they were to be ready at 3pm.  We got the address and headed off and waited in front of the wicket for our names to be called.  Since Bella’s application had been completed about an hour before mine we expected her to be called first and then probably have to wait an hour for mine, but surprise, surprise, they called me first.  The Cedula was perfect, a lot like our Alberta driver’s licence, front and back except it also lists the spouse’s name, and both parents’ names.

Then the other shoe dropped, as they called up Bella to say there was a problem with hers, something to do with the parents’ names showing as LaCoste for the dad, and La Coste for the Mom.  Not a big deal but this was supposed to have been corrected by Gabriela’s last assistant, Juan.  After a few phone calls back and forth with Gabriela, and then locating another of her assistants on the premises, it somehow got sorted out as they called Bella up again and she got her documentation as well, even with the differing parent’s names.  We were definitely heaving a big sigh of relief as neither of us relished the thought of having to go home and return to Quito. 

Documents in hand, we hailed a cab to the airport and caught the 6:05 flight home, leaving right on time.  Leaving Quito is interesting because of the active volcanoes in the vicinity and I was fortunate to grab some shots of two snow-capped peaks poking through the heavy cloud cover.  They were quite close together but I can’t guess at the names.  Further south, it was interesting to see the Andes covered in fields right to the tops of the mountains.  Those photos did not turn out due to the declining light conditions.

Upon arrival in Cuenca we hopped a cab to the Hotel Victoria on Calle Large to have a last meal with Jim and Cindy before they begin their trek home to Atlanta.  We had a delightful filet mignon supper for under $10 and even had free music supplied from a nearby group celebration.  Jim and Cindy will be liquidating a lot of their stuff and later bring what they can by container, returning in September.  They are now thinking of buying a plot of land and maybe building a home here, a bungalow, or maximum 2-storeys.

We got home after 9pm and the boys were very happy to see us and to get a fresh meat supper.  We can expect them to be very clingy for the next few days.

That was today’s excitement.     Enjoy the pics.   Hugs to all.

120302 Casa Sol Art 1

120302 Casa Sol Art 2

120302 Casa Sol Art 3

120302 Casa Sol Art Mirror

120302 Cedula Office

120301 I told you we found it !

120301 Milk Moustache Boy

120301 What a cutie pie

120301 Jet over Quito

120302 Waiting to leave

120302 Snow-capped volcano 1

120302 Snow-capped volcano 2

120302 Snow-capped volcano 3

120302 Dual Snow-capped volcanoes 1

120302 Dual Snow-capped volcanoes 2

120302 Quito Park

120302 Dual Snow-capped volcanoes 3

120302 Quito Park Vendors

120302 Quito Park art for sale 1

120302 Quito Park art for sale 2

120302 Quito Park art for sale 3

120302 Quito Park art for sale 4

Thursday March 1, 2012

Thursday Mar 1/12 update
Greetings from Quito where we are ensconced in the Casa Sol Boutique Hotel not far from our immigration lawyer's office.  Bella slept well but found it very warm.  I had an achy hip and leg that made sleeping very difficult.
We went to Gabriela's office for 9:30am to meet with her new assistant Rebecca who speaks passable English.  Rebecca then led us to the Censo office and luckily it wasn't too busy so it did not take us long to get a letter stating that we had applied for the Censo travel documents.  Usually this is the second step after getting residency approval but everything is delayed because they don't have new fancy encrypted paper to print the proper documents.
Armed with these letters we then went to the Cedula office which was very busy and we were about 150th in line.  Rebecca went back to plead hardship because we were "old", good grief!  But it worked and we bumped up to about 40th in line so that only took about an hour's wait.  We got permission for the one lady to handle us together for ease of translation, etc.  I would never attempt to do this on my own without an interpreter.  There are just too many nuances and customs involved, never mind the obvious language barriers.  Then they couldn't find either Estevan or Radville in their database so they wanted an hour to get the towns installed.  Imagine, we are the first residents of Ecuador to come from those two towns.  We went for lunch at McDonald's and returned and they finished off Bella's application then went to start on mine.  Somehow Radville wasn't installed yet so we had another 1/2 hour wait while they corrected that.  They fingerprint and photograph us for these Cedula documents.
Finally both sets of documents got completed and we are now told to return tomorrow to get our actual Cedula documents which is essentially the internal passport that every Ecuadorian carries. They want us back there at 3pm tomorrow and our flight home is at 6pm so we pray for no further delays. Now we will be officially documented residents.  Bella is real anxious for this so she can get put on the bank account at Banco Pichincha since they have a problem using her passport number for ID. 
We returned to the hotel and Bella had a nap while I snuck out, bought 10 more movies for $14 and got a good haircut for $4.
The area of our hotel is really the tourist area of Quito with many clubs, restaurants, hostels, hotels, and boutiques.  For supper we went to the G-Spot (yes, we found it!), run by a nice Californian  fellow and they were playing country music so we cleared a little room to have a few two-step turns around the floor.  The few Ecuadorians in the place were grinning from ear-to-ear as we strutted our stuff.
I just read a report that Cuenca is coming close to surpassing 1998 rainfall records!  That would not surprise me as we have been getting more than the normal for sure.  It is better than a drought as long as it doesn't cause any flooding.
I did take some pics today but forgot to bring my cord to download them so you'll have to wait for them.  The kids are so cute and I got one with a milk mustache that will be absolutely priceless.
That was today's excitement.  Hugs to all.

Wednesday February 29/12

Wednesday Feb 29/12 update

Leap year day and Abby Foo’s birthday.  He was an old classmate.  He would have been about 16 today.

Today we are preparing to go and finalize our purchase of the house and then rush off to catch a jet to Quito to get our Cedula residency papers.  We hope everything falls into place and goes smoothly.

Last night we walked in the rain to Monay KFC for supper.  On the way I remarked to Bella how I gauge the river’s height by how much I can see of this monster boulder midstream near the bridge.  It has rained quite heavily the previous few days and only a foot of the boulder could be seen, instead of the usual 2 to 2.5 feet.  On the return trip an hour later the water was flowing over the top of it.  I am glad the flood plain is on the other side of the river!  We were happy to see some sunshine this morning.

Jim and Cindy gave us another 30 movies or so, so now we need to get a DVD player so we can watch them on our nice TV instead of on the computers.  I tried hooking up the laptop to the TV a couple of different ways without success.  DVD players start under $40 here, just like at home so there is no sense using the laptops.

The house across the road on the corner is almost completely demolished and they are beginning to truck away a lot of the debris.  It has been over a month of manual labour taking it down.  Since they have had the bricks on site for a month already we don’t imagine it will be long for the new construction to begin.

We wish everyone good health.

That was today’s excitement.     Hugs to all.

Tuesday Feb 28, 2012

Tuesday Feb 28/12 update

We went early, first to the airport only to find they don’t open until 10:30 so we headed towards the SuperMaxi/Kywi shopping centre in search of a place that will take passport-style photos.  On the corner is a regional police station and they had two outside kiosks catering to this so we got the awful mugshots done.

I continued downtown, and spotted this church to the south that I had been meaning to visit so I started a short trek that way. 

In the very first block there was police tape across the road where this place had obviously had an explosion.  Some foolish people have their propane tanks indoors and this was probably a result of such folly.  

I passed this lady selling chickens on the corner and she let me take her picture and chuckled like crazy when I showed it to her.   

The San Pedro Nolasco church was closed and now appears to be part of a convent.   I was hoping I would have a view of El Centro from there but no such luck so I started west.  This Grandpa was sunning himself on the sidewalk and he let me take his picture.  I wish I could have captured his toothless grin when I showed him the picture.  I got a brief view of the Immaculate Conception domes downtown but not as nice as I was hoping.

I bought a few more movies, including “The Artist” which just won the best picture Oscar, then caught a bus home.

Bella went back to the airport to change our tickets to Quito for tomorrow night.  She will then go to the book exchange, then weaving, and then have lunch with Cindy.   Cindy and Jim leave on Saturday, probably returning in September, and Jim is leaving us his movie collection of about 30 movies.  I hope we don’t have too many duplicates.

The cleaning ladies did not show up yesterday, no phone call, nothing.  But they called while we were at the airport and Bella understood they were coming today at 2pm.  They finally showed up at 2:35. 

That was today’s excitement.     Enjoy the pics.   Hugs to all.

120228 Clucker Sales

120228 Home Explosion 1

120228 Home Explosion 2

120228 Immaculate Conception Domes

120228 San Pedro Nolasco 1

120228 San Pedro Nolasco 2

120228 San Pedro Nolasco 3

120228 Sunny Grandpa 1

120228 Sunny Grandpa 2

120228 View of San Blas from San Pedro

Sunday-Monday February 26-27, 2012

Sunday Feb 26/12 update

Sunday is the usual day of rest, getting up late and slipping out for a walk.

I have started to collect movies here as there is no copyright law and most movies are $1.25.

We have just received the sad news that our cousin by marriage, Peter Sikorski, has passed away in the Sarcee Hospice in Calgary this morning.  Peter had been battling a brain tumour for some time now.  Peter had this quirky sense of humour, infectious laugh and gangly mannerisms that could always make me laugh.  Our sympathies go out to wife Colleen, children Joe & Erin, and families.  I really am going to miss him.

Monday Feb 27, 2012 update

Not too much happened today except rain, although we have begun to organize for the rest of the week.  Late today we heard from the house lawyers and have set a Wednesday 4pm appointment to finalize the papers.   I have emailed Michael to join us as I couldn’t reach him by phone.

Then our immigration lawyer wants us in Quito for 2 days (our Cedula app must be done by March 6) so we will go Wednesday night and return Friday night.  Apparently one day will be concentrated on getting a temporary letter from the Censo people stating that we have applied but they can’t give us the Censo until they get the special paper to print it on.  The next day will be devoted to waiting for the Cedula.

So tomorrow we have a lot of running to do, change the plane tickets again, get 2 passport-style photos each, and Bella has more chores.

We have also heard that we will be getting our first Canadian visitor at Easter, in about 5 weeks.

That was today’s excitement.     Hugs to all.