Cuenca Updates: Thursday-Friday March 8-9, 2012

Thursday Mar 8/12 update

Today was insurance and banking day. Finally, our insurance agent Cristina called to say our insurance policy on the house was ready and we had an appointment at 10am. It is a good thing we left early because I was two blocks off in my remembrance of the location of their office. I was sure they were north of the 10 De Augusto but they were south. My excuse is that they repainted the building so I wouldn’t have found it anyway.

We had been trying to arrange monthly payments but our premium is too small so they had agreed to 9 payments but now they wanted us to run there monthly with our bank card to make the payments. There was no way we were going to do that so Bella said we would just pay it off instead. We got the information to make a direct bank transfer, which we did when we got home.

On our way to Banco Pichincha we saw an open gate on the main soccer stadium so we crossed the road at great peril to our lives. We had never seen the inside and, frankly, were not too impressed at the few levels of concrete seating. It looks much more impressive size-wise on the outside. The domes of the Immaculate Conception cathedral can barely be seen in the center of the shot.

Then we walked down Avenida Solano to the bank and I stepped out into the street to get a nice shot of the domes from there. It is actually quite amazing to get such a view from so low. I also managed to get the spires of two other churches in the bargain.

We got a cashier’s cheque from the bank and Bella also made application to be put on the bank account now that we have our Cedula papers. Now she will be able to get her own bank card and do the money transactions without dragging me along. While in the bank I took a shot of another steeple in the distance. I have doctored this photo somewhat.

Then it was off to the Coopera Credit Union to deposit the money taken from Pichincha (which actually came from transferring the funds from a Certificate Of Deposit from the Banco Territorial in Quito). We then bought a new Certificate Of Deposit at Coopera because they pay 10.5% and we do not have to pay the ridiculous exchange by routing the money back and forth to Canada.

We also found that we can deposit more money at Coopera if we each have an account as then both accounts are insured up to $25,000. With our new Cedula papers we made application for online banking as well and changed our address to the new house.

The manager, Juan, also asked us to become part of the Cuenca Referral Network and to join him at an information luncheon at a Coopera restaurant in San Joaquin at noon on the 19^th. He is speaking at this luncheon and apparently this is a good way to find out almost anything, with recommendations from other Cuencanos and expats. It should be interesting.

We then went across the street to the Feria Libre Mercado and picked up some cooked pork for supper that Bella had been craving. She also picked up some apples to make her own homemade apple sauce. Yummy.

I have tried to send this blog before supper, and again after supper but the Internet is completely screwy tonight. I can get into both my Platinum and Gmail emails but virtually nothing else, not even Yahoo or Google. That is very frustrating to say the least.

I attempted to send this via Bella’s laptop because my computer guru is not being very helpful but her laptop is now just as dumb as the other two….

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

120308 Soccer Stadium

120308 Avenida Solano + Immaculate Conception

120308 Steeple

Friday Mar 9/12 update

Jorge, the drapery guy, was here around 10am to install basically a valance on our dining room wall to cover the piping to the on-demand water heater. They did not make it as we requested, with a cover on the top side, and I was a little peeved at this. Then they put the brackets so high they were visible to taller people like myself. I let them install it anyway because they only speak Spanish and there was no point getting upset when I had a potential solution in mind.

Bella was off doing more banking and playing bridge so I went to the Rotary Market to try to find something small and light to conceal the brackets. After much looking and price comparisons I decided on 3 little Ecuadorian dolls and they look so darn good we decided to bypass any further art or mural on that wall!

I walked downtown to Immaculate Conception and Parque Calderon and managed to get to the upper floors of a couple of buildings for some different angle shots.

One of these buildings housed a cultural theatre and there was some speech-making going on by what appeared to be environmentalists so I didn’t stick around long. There were a couple of dance troupes getting ready to perform so I got a few shots of one group practicing.

We had received a warning from the Canadian Embassy to be careful from Mar 8-22 because there were some approved demonstrations to occur in various places. Since it is illegal for westerners to become involved in anything political we decided discretion is the better part of valor.

Then I started walking east to the Inca ruins but was too late to see the museum or spend much time there. I just sauntered in through a parking lot, didn’t see a soul, so just grabbed a couple of shots (not the ones I really wanted) and beat a hasty exit.

I met Bella at Big Kabudas Burgers and we had a recommended torpedo bun filled with chicken, mushrooms, crushed chips, and spices. Mmmmmm good!

We are still going back and forth with our Okotoks home insurer, Canadian Direct, and a proposed contractor over paying for the complete repair. Canadian Direct’s appraiser and the roofing company can’t seem to agree on all the extras involved in the claim.

My computer guru keeps sending me very unhelpful emails on how to solve our dilemma. He wants me to contact the internet provider but I am 98% sure they are not the culprit this time. My guru thinks it is a firewall issue and that my router needs to be reconfigured. A troubleshooting program points to a possible proxy server problem. It’s all Spanish to me so I am asking my guru to walk me through it but now he is not responding.

I am going to send this using Bella’s laptop.

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