Cuenca Updates: Monday Dec 16/12

Monday Dec 16/12 update

Up at 5 and at the new house by 7am. I had swept, mopped, and hand polished two bedroom floors by the time Enrique showed up (on time) at 8.

Enrique took the news about the wall in stride, tempered with the news that he would be back on Thursday to install the screens. He tore down the rest of the wall and hauled everything away. I still have leftover concrete blocks that Jorge says he can use.

Jorge stopped by to check on the kind of bricks we want for the new wall. We chose a 4” red hollow tile brick they use a lot in construction here and decided to have a white ceramic wall on the inside to add light to the room. He also said the welder guy would be by to paint the gate but I told him I had already painted it so I didn’t need him. 10 minutes later the welder guy came with his paint sprayer but I told him it wasn’t necessary and he said he would discuss it with Jorge.

Then the screen guy came by to confirm the way we wanted the screens to slide and he returned with Enrique a couple of hours later again to re-confirm and to see what kind of screen we wanted.

Meanwhile Bella was wandering downtown to get the drapery lady organized but they were closed so she got a naughahyde cover for the table with enough left over to cover the back of my computer desk and to make cat doors for the boys.

I took a short break from the house and went to try to get some supplies at Coral but could find very little. I did get a small fan to set up in the lavanderia that I hope will speed up the drying process of our clothes, etc. Personally I think we will need a dryer. I also picked up a halogen work lamp for light later in the day because I had to remove a defective light fixture in the garage where they will be building the new wall in the evening.

The Water heater installer finally phoned about 3 that he was on his way. One hour later we had hot water running, much better than in our existing place. He also did not have a 90-degree elbow to vent the hot gases outside but he did give me a name of where to find one. I showed it to Jorge later and I think he will pick it up for me.

I installed the four light fixtures for the second floor that we had bought at Kywi. Bella will be very happy with the light above her vanity. I also installed the assist bars in the bathtub for us old folks. That tub is very high. I think we will have to invest in an escalator to get in, or maybe a small stool.

At 5:30 Jorge showed up with Vicente and his brother and a load of the red bricks and they got right to work. It got dark at 6:30 so I had every light on in the surrounding rooms and the halogen light. I was amazed that there was not one bug the whole evening to bother us! There are very few bugs here.

Vicente is young but a master tradesman at his craft and doesn’t need any supervision although he is certainly a pleasure to watch and learn from. The new wall is absolutely straight in every direction. They got the wall up to the glass block height and they cleaned up the outside of the wall as the intention is to leave it natural, probably with a light glaze later. I am so pleased with Vicente’s work. I slipped out and picked up some Pilsners for everyone and they sure appreciated that.

We had a few laughs as Jorge showed off his English skills versus my Spanish skills.

I also wanted to mention that the workmen refer to Jorge as “Architecto”, I guess it is a mark of respect, and he calls the master workmen “Maestro”.

Bella also mentioned that in Ecuadorian culture they never introduce anyone they are with, and as I reflect on things, this is so very true. The only time I found out other people’s names is when I specifically asked.

They were done around 9 and I asked Jorge to drive me towards his house as that shortened my walk home. On the way I pointed to a tree and said it was “tree” in English and “arbre” in French, expecting that the Spanish word would be closer to the French. Jorge said that tree was “tres” in Spanish, (meaning “three”) and so I had to differentiate the pronunciation for him. More laughs over this.

After 14 hours at the new house I was totally drained I just ate my supper and was in bed by 10.

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