Kimbler's Exit to Ecuador

FACEBOOK FRIENDS VISIT CUENCA

2012-02-13T16:17:00.000-06:00

I have had a delightful time with my "friends" on Facebook. There are my regular folks who I have as friends on MY facebook page, and then there are those who are my Ecuador Expat friends. This is a closed group of which you have to be invited, or you ask to join. You are either a current resident in Ecuador or trying your "darndest" to get here. It is a very fun bunch of folks with lots of good questions, and even better yet, lots of great answers! EcuadorExpats@groups.facebook.com (you can ask to join here).

While chatting with folks I have become aquainted with quite a few folks who I have never met face to face. We all feel like we know each other, and to that end, when one of the group said they were coming to Cuenca, I invited them to spend the nite here.. well of course I did..(yes, once again, Randy was taken by surprise).

Graciella Wakefield and her friend Zenerida Gonzales came to visit. Gracie is from Guayaquill and Zenerida is from Piura, Peru. These two met on a tour that Gracie was hosting in her city, a few years ago, and have become fast friends. Since that time they have traveled to several cities together, Cuenca was one that both longed to visit.

Zenerida understands English perfectly, and Gracie is totally bilingual so the three of us chatted away with perfect harmony, and they were so sweet to encourage me to stumble through my Spanish when I felt I had a few words I could put together!

Unfortunately they had a late start and were not able to arrive until late Sat. evening. We
"wowed" them with our left overs and veggie tortilla rolls. Talked their ears off till about 9pm and then we released them to sleep. The next morning we were off to see the city..
We rode the bus in and walked up Calle Larga.. we stopped at the Panama Hat Museum..

Then we headed over to the Itur office so we could get the lowdown on the double decker bus times as well as trips to the Cajas. We ended up only going on the local tour as the bus to the Cajas was not going today.

While we waited to board the bus, we enjoyed the harpist playing out front of the Old Cathedral, now a museum.

The music definately spoke to Gracie.. as you will see in this video!

The view from Turi was beautiful.. Zenerida grabbed a few presents to take back home, and the bus drivers changed the flat that we had about an hour previously..guess there are two tires on each side, why stop.. whats the problem??

I told both of the ladies that I was happy to revisit these places with them, because when you live here you sometimes overlook the beauty that is around you.. today, on my 5th visit to Turi, I saw some of the cemetary, tucked away behind the Church.

After the tour, I left the two ladies to meander on their own, with written directions for the return taxi. They arrived back at the house, safe and sound, tired; but with big smiles and talking of when they would return to visit again!

Buen Viaje Graciella y Zenerida!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS... STILL?

2012-02-05T21:48:00.000-06:00

This is February, right? I had to check, because we are still having Paseo de Nino parades here in Cuenca.. Paseo de Nino is a parade that happens right before Christmas. You might remember in my blog post about the parade,I said that all the photos I took were of the participants waiting to begin the parade.. well I am thinking that these last few days are more that never made it to the actual parade.

We had arrived at Kookaburras for a afternoon bite to eat and I noticed alot of rose petals on the road.. I thought, oh there was a parade this morning. Inside Chris and Jenni said yep. there was a huge one with loads of rose petals that the street sweepers clean up. Within 10 minutes I hollered, OH look Jenni, another parade! Sure enough, it was a big one. Here are some photos I got while out watching it pass.. no candy though.. I was a bit let down..

A little video as well..

Late in the day we were able to celebrate with Diana and Nicco.. tomorrow is his 18th birthday. Randy whipped up an eclectic mix of vegetarian dishes, and we ended the feast with a wonderful cake that Diana and Nicco brought.

So again, we had a wonderful lazy Sunday with lots of fun things happen, that we never expected when we woke up... ahhh life in South America, it's always a surprise!

THE PRICE OF PROGRESS

2012-01-30T16:30:00.001-06:00

Here in Cuenca the local topic of conversation is either the weather ( it's supposed to be the dry season..) or how the traffic is all snarled up due to the construction of the Under/Over pass on Ave. Las Americans and Ave. Ordonez Lasso/Gran Columbia.

We live right next to the area in question.. well a bit down from where they are actually digging the hole, but near enough that we have noticed that alot of stores have closed, and getting to and from Supermaxi takes us rather close to all the construction going on.

I walked all the way around it today and took pictures. Since most of my working life I have worked in the Nuclear Construction industry, I am very interested in how they do what they do here! These gentlemen are working 24/7 to get this job done by Nov. 3. With all the rain we have had, they are fighting another battle with the mud. So here we go on the walking tour.

The road stops at the blue barrier and the median has been cut out so the traffic can do a U turn and head back up the other side. The local businesses and banks are very happy for the traffic pattern.

Part of the path along the outside of the construction to the left.. the right is piping that is staged for later use.

Squeeze by the rebar stacked in our traffic lane.. the coat over the head is to ward off the sun.. it burns quickly.

They are hand placing huge rocks for the bottom layer before they pour concrete. Can you see them throwing those huge rocks along the line.. Oh my aching shoulders.

The orange guy is digging out the dirt, piling it behind him for the yellow guy on top to scoop it out and put it into the yellow dump truck. It rained really really hard last nite so I was amazed at how the dirt did not look that muddy.

In the States you would see all kinds of barriers to hold up the dirt from collapsing onto the workers.. Here the use of plywood barriers is not that common. I am assuming that they are using plastic sheeting to funnel the water into the bottom, and keep the dirt back. I have seen water pumpers down there at other times, but none today.

That is our Supermaxi and Sukasa stores in the background.. they have made sure with a little maneuvering the customers can still get to the market. Oh, and can you see the pole holding up the wires out of the way? That always makes me smile.

I just missed getting a photo of this fellow scampering up the scaffolding to stand on this tiny ledge.. no fall protection. But I was happy to see that all the fellows working with the rebar had on heavy gloves. That stuff is really miserable on bare hands!

My return path on the other side of the street... narrows to make room for this big guy..

It has been quite an inconvience to those who live and have businesses along this road; but everyone is looking forward to the ease of traffic congestion once the construction is finished, and like they say, this is the price of progress.

PAIN AND SUFFERING IN CUENCA

2012-01-16T11:39:00.000-06:00

Most of the folks who know us, think that this life is easystreet all the time... I on the other hand know better... we do have our times when life hands us a comeuppance, even here in Cuenca.

Randy has been having some intermittant pain in his feet, thinking that it was just good old "Arthur" , and since it didn't last long, he carried on.. until the last two weeks. Randy woke up in the nite with a horrible pain and swelling in his toe.. even the pressure of the sheets was painful.. in the morning he could not hardly walk, and as he hobbled to his chair, I commented, you have gout you need to go to the doctor.. Well you knowing his adversion to anything medical.., he said Nah, it will go away.. so 3 days later I demanded he see Dr. Anthony Guillen.

Dr Anthony, is a nice English speaking Dr. just a few blocks from our house, he was able to get us in the very same day. As Randy told him what the pain was, the time etc.. the Dr. said, well Karen has it right. You have gout. We can give you a shot.. as Randy paled, the doctor looked at all of Randys tattoos (he was in shorts of course), and said.. "Oh yeah, you are the guy who hates needles". So an alternate plan was developed. Randy got 3 pills to take every 24 hrs. for the pain.. then when the pain when away he was to take another medicine for the rest of his life to keep the uric acid from forming those painful crystals again. Also to stay away from Red wine, beer and any fruit that creates uric acid. I think the fast track with the shot would have been the best, but long term suffering seems to be Randy's preferred method of healing. Again, the office visit was $20 and we were out the door. No waiting.. I just love that part!

We are into the 2nd week of him sitting with his foot up most of the day. I have had to fetch, carry, and even cook! I am beginning to think he is a malingerer...after my last attempt at cooking he was able to hobble into the kitchen and whip us up a nice dinner; my cooking methods are a bit hazardous, so the less I am in the kitchen the better for all.

I have been trying my hand at Weaving with Sisal.. not so good so far. Also, I have been trying to find the perfect yarn to make a cool headwrap for Kelsey. There is a time line as our friends are heading back to the states and are taking the finished product with them to mail.. Tick Tock.. got to find that perfect yarn.

The sun has been peeking through over the last few weeks, Still alot of rain, but the beautiful flowers and trees more than make up for the rain. Luckily, its still warm so those fuzzy pjs are kept in the closet.

My friend Manon and I went to the Coopera, (a great coop whose meat, veggie and fruit selection are top notch, at a great price) and I found Yakima Wa. Granny Smith Apples.. well I am not too fond of green sourish apples, but I just had to buy them.. they were from a town only 60 miles from our old home town, and here they were in Ecuador! 3 apples, cost 90 cents.. it was worth it!

That ugly fuzzy thing behind the apples is the coolest "fruit".. it comes in a pod. the seeds are covered with a fuzzy coating that is texturally the weirdest thing, like eating cotton balls.. but the flavor.. your taste buds take over and you are going oh yum... as you spit out this huge black seed! I was told the name of this (no its not Tamarind) it starts I think with a G... but it is very good..really!

REFLECTIONS OF 2011 IN CUENCA

2012-01-03T13:25:00.001-06:00

We have had such a lot of amazing times and experiences here in Cuecna this last year. Meeting new friends and doing new things. There are alot of photos that never made it to the blog so I thought Iwould just go back through this last year and post some of the more memorable ones that I never got to show you.

These are beautiful plants that grow all over Cuenca, but these are my favorites in the Parque Calderon..so other worldly..

Randy did himself proud this last year, gaining his Auto drivers license as well as his Motorcycle driving license. Here they give you a whole separate card.

My daughter Kelsey and her boyfriend Daniel came to visit for almost a month..I think we had more fun than they did; but all in all I was happy Kelsey got to experience where we live.

I was invited to visit Macara, in Southern Ec. to join in the festivities surrounding the dedication of a school in the honor of my friend, Graciellas, father Ignacio. He had passed years before, but his name and his family is very well known in this small town next the the Peruvian boarder.

I finally learned how to know something other than just garter stitch, and kept myself pretty busy with gifts for others.

I learned how to weave and was able to share a gift with TOK (the other Karen)... Karen Wine,

Brennie made Randy a cool Apron for his birthday; now that we have time we are discovering our hidden talents!

We said hello and goodbye to new friends who have decided to move from Cuenca to Malaysia..

We were able to meet new friends at house parties over the New Year, some were passing through on visits and some had been here for months... word of mouth parties get to be alot of fun!

I would like to end my year in review with this photo.. This is a gift we received from our housekeepers sister. I was able to order a netbook computer for her and bring it back when I returned from the states right before Christmas.. Marina came to the house with $300 in $20 bills.. more than a months salary. She expressed her gratitude because to buy them in the U.S. is much much cheaper, and she had no way to get one from there. Her son needed a computer for school.. These eggs from her chickens and the dried beans were her gift, with shy thanks and saying in Spanish that is was not much but she wanted to give me something to express her gratitude..I just about cried..

Here is to a wonderful 2012, we are looking forward to what it has to bring, and all our new experiences here in Cuenca.

OUR SECOND CHRISTMAS IN CUENCA

2011-12-25T18:19:00.000-06:00

Our Second Christmas in Ecuador has been a bit different than last. First of all, I spent Thanksgiving way and returned to Ecuador just 10 days before Christmas. I did not put up the "fake" tree before I left, so when I returned and there was no tree, I just looked at Randy, and he shrugged and said, "Hey thats your thing, I just bought it for you"... so it did not get put up.. and ya know, I didn't really miss it.

The second thing that was different about this year is that we went to the parade on Christmas Eve.
Our day began very slowly, and about noon I yelled downstairs to Randy, Hey you want to go to the Parade... silence.. "not really, you know I really don't care about parades.." Then a bit later.. maybe 10 minutes ( he has been thinking furiously about what is the right thing to do in this situation), he yells upstairs to me.. " Yeah, lets go to the parade..", I at this point said .. Nah.. I don't want to go now.. so this puts him into overdrive convincing me that I really do want to go and that he REALLY wants to go.. ( I am such a sneaky devil).. so we went.. and we had fun.. honest.. he did enjoy it! Here are some pics of what we saw.

There were so many wonderful floats, with hours and hours of their time preparing for this event. The Paseo de Ninos is the largest parade in South America, so I have been told. These poor kids wait HOURS in line to get to the start of the parade, and it was hot.. these photos are of those children.. it is 1 in the afternoon and they have not even gotten to the start of the parade.

As we were walking back home we saw a Santa throwing bags of animal crackers to the kids and even adults yelling, Papa Noel.. Papa, aqui!

Then there was the fellow who decided that if he had to wait hours and hours, he was going to really enjoy himself.. he was high up on a huge truck.. singing and dancing... with a little liquid refreshment..

We had a nice time and I took way too many photos for this blog, but if you ever come to Cuenca around this time of year, you need to be sure to put this on the TO DO list.
The Third thing that was different about our Christmas season, is that we did not host any dinners.... we went to a Christmas Eve dinner at Joe & Josephs http://jardinsecreto.webs.com/, We had the traditional Seven Fishes dinner.. oh yum..

This is only 3 of the fish on this plate, The other four were 2 appetizers, soup and salad.. all made with some kind of fish or shell fish.. We were so stuffed, but we managed to do this plate proud.. oh then there was dessert.. Here are some of the others who enjoyed this wonderful feast!

Thanks to Dan Bissette, I got into a photo here with Randy.

On Christmas day we were invited to two fellow expats homes for buffet brunches.. wow, we hit one in the morning and the other at 1 later that day.. it was a wonderful day..

Kitchen one.. at the Watsons... everyone chiping in to help with the brunch... then next door, at their friends house who was out of town, was the other crew...

This is what these two kitchens came up with... of course I had to try a bit of everything.. well not the Chorizo...sorry Randy...

We were off to our next function at 12:30...we ate there at about 2... yea, just a few hours later..

We had a great Christmas day. We are stuffed and ready to put our feet up and relax..and we hear that there are plans for two New Years day get togethers as well...oh dear...

MY TRIP TO OREGON TO CELEBRATE MOM'S 90TH BIRTHDAY

2011-12-15T16:26:00.000-06:00

I was so happy to be able to return to Oregon to celebrate with my mom, siblings and other relatives, it was a great occasion, and we all were thrilled to see each other. Some traveling from California and Washington. I won the who came the farthest award though..

My mom has recently moved into a manufactured home that she bought... for a $1. I know.. sounds pretty incredible, but these things do happen. Here's some photos I took while there.

It got real cold and foggy while I was there, so I started snapping photos of all the frosty stuff!

this is a photo of the sun... it was very dense fog.

I could not resist a photo of the moon. We dont see it very often in Cuenca.
Mom and I had a great time hitting all the Goodwill, Salvation Army and Thrift shops within a 20 mile radius
of her home, but also while we were out and about we stopped at a Pier 1... just to look. I could not resist taking a photo of this little guy. It would have made a perfect gift for my friend Karen Stephenson, but she is just going to have to do with the photo..

My brother put on Thanksgiving dinner at mom's house. He delivered all the goodies and then cooked it all.. we had a great time and of course I had to take a picture of the chef with the turkey, or is that the turkey chef ?

My kids, Adam and Kelsey were able to come down for the party so we got some pictures of them,as well as Kelsey's pup.. Nilly.

I had a wonderful time with my family and visiting with my mom. She whipped my rear almost every nite at scrabble, cribbage and even when I tried to throw off her game with a new one of Rummykub.. she still beat me.. I bow to her craftiness..

Merry Christmas Mom!

VOY A VISITAR A MI MADRE POR TRECE DIAS!

2011-11-19T19:55:00.000-06:00

I bet you got the gist of that... I am flying out tomorrow afternoon to Quito, then at 6 am on Monday I am flying out to Portland, Or. where my wonderful brother is picking me up and driving me to my mom's house in Dallas, Or.

I will be able to spend Thanksgiving with her and also attend her birthday party to celebrate her ()th birthday! Isn't she awesome!

I am a last minute packer.. so I am currently washing some clothes and throwing stuff in the direction of my suitcase. I live on a limited amount of clothes and most are only presentable in the most casual of places, so that even limits me more! The most important that I am bringing is the extra suitcase for the stuff I am bringing back with me to Cuenca.

Randy has been shipping some items and I have been inviting others to ship small items to my moms house. She has become quite aquainted with the UPS and Fedex fellas (she does love those cute shorts they wear!)

I am hoping that my daughter and son will be able to come to Oregon, as they are both in Wa. about 5 hrs away. If the Columbia Gorge is not a ice rink they may be able to come to the party and also see me!

I will try to keep you all posted on what is happening in Oregon, just so you folks in the "new country" can appreciate the wonderful weather you are enjoying... while I appreciate turning leaves and maybe snow!

BUS LINK FOR CUENCA

2011-11-11T10:43:00.000-06:00

I found this link on one of the expat forums and thought I would just pass along this information for those of you coming to Cuenca in the near future.

We love the bus system here and think its the easiest,and most economical way to get around. This link also even has a trip planner, so once you get an idea of where you want to go you can plan out your trip!

The ITUR office in the center of old town (by the big blue domed church), on Mariscal Sucre is a great place to ask questions and get maps and bus route booklets as well. There is always some one there who can speak English, so that helps as well.

Have fun!

http://cuencatransit.com/

LOST IN PARADISE

2011-11-08T13:33:00.000-06:00

Sorry that I have dropped of the face of blogs-ville. Just kind of got busy with every day stuff here in Cuenca.

Our friends Chuck and Nancy Watson have been on vacation in Spain so we have been their condo managers while they are gone. What a fun time we have had! The last tenants were Paul and Gayle from SoCal. How fun they were. We got our feet wet with some really nice people. I think they were happy with us. I know they loved the condo.

We have been happy that the sun has been shining again, we had almost 6 days without a drop of rain, and the sun was just brilliant. Being up high like this we always have some puffy clouds that the sun plays with, but mostly they are nice clouds and wait until the afternoon to rain. Without those clouds we get scorched, it is amazing the difference it makes to just step into the shade or open up the umbrella. WAHLAH! Much cooler. But the air is not hot, it is just the sun temp. It's hard to explain, but it is different from any heat I have ever experienced.

We had a week long art festival here in town, we walked through the stalls each day and did not buy one thing. I drooled alot and whimpered, but we prevailed and held out. I have my trip coming up for the U.S so we are "budgeting" for my spending there. Here is a nice photo of a lady from Saraguaro, EC. they are known for their bead work. Notice her necklace..tiny beads all hand strung.

This is a beautiful tree over shadowing the CIDAP Museum.

A beautiful Cuenca sunset

We have a houseguest again. Jani has returned to wait for her house in Paute to be completed. They hoped to have it done by the first for November, but that feel through, and with the week long holiday its pushed it back a few more days.. but we are having fun with her here. She gives us updates on her house and tags along with us when she is home so she is getting to know quite a few folks in Cuenca and learning her way around. **Jani is from Ellensburg, WA.. just 1.5 hrs away from where we used to live.. small world huh?

Jani on the left, Paula on the right

Our friends Sharon and Jacob had decided they are moving to Kaula Lampur for a test run, so we all went to El Che restaurant in San Joquin for a last farewell luncheon. We will miss them, but expect lots of updates from Malaysia!

Gonna miss those kids!

We also discovered a restaurant that has been all over the FB Ecuador groups and locals lips. It has had both rave and bad reviews. We are on the rave side. We loved the ambiance and thought the food was good too.. ok, so WE liked it.. its an old home turned into a restaurant, and the warm feeling we got when we walked in was perfect.. just our type of place.

Inside one of the rooms of the restaurant

During the festival this week was the Orchid show at the airport. We went last year and bought a orchid.. this year we did not go, but we rejoiced that our Orchid finally bloomed!

When we walk along, every once in awhile I take a picture of something that catches my eye, hoping not to insult anyone.. so I figured this car was ok.

Cutest car I have seen in Cuenca

Smallest coke I have ever been served!

This week is looking like a busy one, we have out new tenants coming tomorrow, another bon voyage to some friends who will be returning to Cuenca in a month or so, and somewhere in there I need to start studying for my Spanish class.. I missed last Mondays as I was sick. so I have to really hustle so I wont be too embarrassed.... and in Spanish, that is NOT embarazada.

ZHUMIR RUM TOUR

2011-10-12T21:29:00.000-06:00

Again the Chamber of Commerce here in Cuenca has outdone themselves with arranging a very informative trip. Today they took a group of 20 folks to visit the main bottling and distributribution facility in Paute, a 40 minute bus ride.

When we arrived we were greeted by the two main gentlemen in charge of the facility.

We all were given hard hats and asked to please stay in the group and not wander off. It was explained how the liquid products were brought to the bottling facility and from there put into tanks. We were first shown the stainless steel tanks and told how many gazillion liters they held..

It was explained to us that water is a very important part of making a great tasting product. There are 5 different types of cleaning that the water goes through. The water comes originally from the mountain springs. They have it piped directly to the facilty!

Then the water is run through the clarifier.

Then filtered through sand and then through activated charcoal

and finally a reverse osmosis. And somewhere in there I missed the UV that the water is exposed to

We were taken to the lab and were shown all of their equipment. It was pointed out to us how detailed they are about checking for methanol. We had a horrible incident here in Ecuador with some bootleg alcohol that had massive amounts of methanol in it, so we were being educated on the stringent protocols to protect the consumer of their products. Zhumir did not have any problems with their products. They were very proud to state that they ship products to the U.S., parts of Europe, and Central America. Because of this, the standards for their products has to pass not only their own countries protocols, but also the countries that they ship to.

We were shown the bottling machines and told that the little pint bottles were bottled at a rate of 60,000 an hour. The larger 750 ml bottles about 12-16K an hour. While we were there they were bottling a specialty Pina Colada bottles, These we were told take longer due to the need for more hands on by the bottling staff.

We all had a great time walking along the bottling lines. We were even let into the juice bottling area which is enclosed and all persons wear face coverings.

Zhumir has a wide range of alcoholic and non alcoholic products. They do a line of juice called Vivant, as well as they bottle Gatorade products. Here are some photos of the different products. Some of these products are specific to the countries they are shipped to.

After our tour inside the factory part of the facility we were taken into the "Cava".. or cave. Here they have a type of Reservado rum that they produce. There were five more rooms like this one.

After our tour we were all offered bottles of water, juice, and tea, as well as some home made Canelaso, and then we were all treated to another product that they make called Tacao..Oh Yum.. look out Baileys, I think you have some stiff competition in Ecuador.

Just before we left we were all gifted with a bottle of Pina Colada!

We were all impressed with how much time and detail they went into with us. It was very informative and fun. My view of the Zhumir products just took a 100% increase in respect.

IKAT WEAVERS TRIP

2011-09-26T14:38:00.000-06:00

One of the things I like about Cuenca, is that the Chamber of Commerce recognizes the tiny community of extrajernos and is making an effort to help us become aquainted with our new home. The way they do this is to offer field trips to businesses around the Cuenca area that we might enjoy learning about. The Ikat Weavers is a prime example. This is the Entrance to the Macana Weavers just between Paute and Gualeceo.

Tiny threads waiting for dye and weaving

Explaining how they separate the threads, wrap groups in a wide plastic tie, and then dye the threads..

These ladies were very busily tying the threads per a pattern

This is a very very old loom that the Spanish brought with them.. it is still used

This is all wool he is weaving. We were told that this material was used as diapers at one time.

He has foot pedals on this loom as well and the shifting on on the top.

In each pot is a different medium to create the colors, bugs, plants and volcanic rock!

Telling about the plants they use for colors

Add caption


Thread all dyed, waiting to be woven

Original looms passed down through the family

He is strapped in and sitting on a leather "saddle" type seat.

This is the dress of his Grandmother, she did all this on the loom. No knitting or crocheting to make the open work design

These shawls take approx. 2 weeks to weave, scarves 2 days.

It was a great time, I would like to return again.

CRAFTING AND COUCH SURFING IN CUENCA

2011-09-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

I have lost myself in a hobby..Weaving..

My knitting friend, TOK (the other Karen), said to me.. "I miss you. I have lost my knitting partner." I would think she would be relived.. I run to her when I mess up my current knitting project. Thank goodness I only have to dash across 4 lanes of traffic and down two blocks on the other side!

The infamous PIN (pain in the neck) scarf

So I have been busy most days getting up early, I know you are laughing at that, but yes, EARLY.. like 7:30! Long gone are the days of 4:30 rise and shine for me! So I am impressed at myself! Anyway, I walk a few blocks to catch a #7, and if my friend Brennie is going I hop off at her house, then we continue on the #7 till its time to get off and wait for the #16.. Clarke got us straight on WHICH #16 (yes there are two #16 routes) to take.. " When you are on Solano.. look across the street towards the bank, If the #16 comes up Solano and around your way... that's the one you want.. don't take the one that comes from 12 de Abril.." We warily eye each bus that is coming from the correct direction.. (why we dont just go across the street and wait for it over there I do not know..) and when the correct bus arrives we elbow our way onto the bus and find a seat. As early as it is, we usually have no issues with getting a seat. We get off on our stop, walk two more blocks and weaving nirvana begins!

My first project.. the scarf..

2nd project shawl..

A few weeks back, I received an email from a friend in my old home town. Strange as it seems, another friend of hers (Denise) was coming to Ecuador, and would I mind my contact info being shared.. well not at all. Denise was going to go to Montanita, to take TESL classes, and eventually teach when certified. I contacted my buddy in Olon, and asked if she would mind being put in the loop (No problem), so we were set.. then after about 2-3 weeks I received an email from the Denise. Well to make a long story short, she injured herself and needed to be away from the humidity so her injury could heal properly. We were not going to let a friend of a friend and from our home town stay in a hostel; so we have a new friend and house guest! She is getting settled in nicely, and looks real good in MY chair, wouldn't you say?

The dynamic duo watching a very scary movie.. sans Karen

I think Randy is getting the hang of this social thing don't you.. ?

KIMBLERS DAY TO DAY

2011-08-28T11:58:00.000-06:00

Randy an I have found a kind of cadence to our life here. Randy has offered his assistance to a fellow expat and friend. Ed, has a wonderful Wood Art Gallery in the La Esquina de Artes, on Av. 12 de Abril. Ed cannot leave the shop unattended; but he needs to make new pieces for the gallery. Randy goes in for 4 hrs about 3 days a week, and takes command of the shop for Ed. Randy gets to practice his Spanish, and visit with local expats who stop by. It's a win win for everyone!

I have filled my days with trying to learn new skills. I am not doing so well at Spanish, but I am pretty impressed with how my knitting is coming along. I did some scarves, and then when Kelsey was here, I whipped out that hat for her. It was somewhat of a success. I am determined to make another that fits better. I have a friend who lives down the street.. Her name is Karen as well! She is a wonderful knitter, and very patient with me. I decided that I needed to advance my skills, I have had to hustle to her out 3 times now for her to save my scarf.. but I think I got it now. Here it is in process..

My friend Brenda and I went to a shop months ago to check into Weaving classes.. as in on a loom... not baskets..Well we finally got our time availability together to go sign up for lessons. Friday we signed up and on Saturday we went for our first 3 hour lesson. I think Brenda said it best, " I feel an addiction coming on!"

Brenda's scarf

My scarf

Our other favorite things to do is play cards with our friends. We have a monthly Texas Hold 'em that we go to, and Randy has a Tournament Texas Hold 'em that he attends.. we have friends who stop by and we play Gin Rummy, or Randy and I will play Spite & Malice.. we keep a running score.. I am ahead this week. He is just too nice.

We often stop at Kookaburra's to say hello to Chris and Jenny; and who ever is around while we are there. Sometimes we get a show of Chris's other skills... I have heard him called the "Bee Whisperer"...

He is urging the bee to crawl on his finger.. as I was cringing way

Here little bee.. see we are going on a little sweet trip to the back..

There was a tragedy to this story.. Chris tried to pacify one little guy, and it ended badly for both.. Chris got stung, and the bee lost his stinger..I had the bees all fired up with my waving them away, so the one little guy was not falling for Chris's sweet finger trick. Sorry Chris for your pain on my account!

When we are not causing harm to the local friend and bee population one of our other pastimes is reading. We have a Book Exchange here in Cuenca, as well as a Used book store but Randy and I prefer our Kindles. We think they were one of our better investments..well that and his recliner...

WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD

2011-08-16T16:14:00.000-06:00

NOTE TO READERS: Photos have nothing to do with this post..just odd ball ones I threw in.

When we first moved to this house, we were the only "Gringos" in a house in this area..oh yeah, there are condos a few blocks each way with other expats in there, but really, we felt like we were striking out into a new adventure in this neighborhood.

We are just a few blocks from what is known as the Puertas Del Sol neighborhood, or fondly called Gringo-landia by us expats. Randy & I were smug in our announcements that we were not quite over that far, and we were smack dab in the middle of locals.. with high hopes of making friends with them. Well we did make an acquaintance with two; but to be "friends" is stretching the truth a bit too much. We wave, and the ones that speak a bit of English try to speak a bit more with us, but the thoughts we had about our relationship with the neighbors has just not come be.. Probably because we have not pushed our Spanish to the level that we feel comfortable speaking with folks beyond a few pleasantries.. we start stumbling when we are trying to speak "off the cuff".

Well back to our smugness.. we are not smug any more.. we now have two fellow expats living right around the corner from us... in houses!

Manon, was staying here with us for a few weeks before she found her rental house; and because it needed massive renovations before she could move in, she moved to a hostel (Nuestra Residencia) right across the street from her house (how handy is that!) She has now moved in to her newly restored home, and has even had two big parties; one to thank those that helped her move in and one to just have fun!

Manon is a wonderful friend, great cook, and just a hoot to be around. We have exchanged keys, and we run back and forth at all hours of the night and day between houses, exchanging food, using the internet, household items, and whatever needs we think of .

Today, our housekeeper came over to meet with Manon so she could talk with her about cleaning her house. Well we could not get Manon to answer her phone.. I took the keys and we marched around the corner and I rang the bell long and loud several times before a sleepy "who is it" came over the intercom..(yes, some house have cool intercoms and electronic locks on their gates). We were buzzed in and Manon met us in all her morning glory, sleepy eyes..oh crud.. you have someone with you! Luckily Manon is as casual as I am, and she just laughed, and then hugged our sweet housekeeper. After some false starts and Google Translate I left them to get on with the house cleaning.

It is very wonderful to have that trust and comfort with folks that you would never have met if we had not moved to Cuenca!

Our second new neighbors are Joe and his son Joseph. They have also remodeled their rental, gotten a business license and now are serving dinners in their home. Its like a Supper Club, you have to be on a special email list to get invited.. and the dinners are always full, they can seat up to 40 guests. Their home is wonderful, the food is always fabulous, and both are amazing hosts. The last time we were there Joe played the Grand Piano, and Joseph sang a bit.. We all joined in and it was fun to hear everyone singing and see all the smiles as they enjoyed a wonderful evening.

Ok, so now we need some Twilight zone music... the funny story about these two neighbors is that they are both from the same state, lived across the river from each other, took bridge lessons from the same teacher.. and never met each other till they moved to Cuenca.. is that not freaky? There are many other stories like this that we have encountered since we have moved here. People have attended the same schools, never met till moving here; good friends in the states have said, hey a friend of ours is living down in Ecuador, their name is so and so... Yep you guessed it, the person living here in Cuenca, knows that person or is really good friends with them! Maybe I should change the music to "Is a small world after all"..

So as we welcome more and more folks to our neighborhood, I hope they don't think we are odd when we start to hum the twilight tune, or It's a small world, as we hear all the similarities that we have...

LINKS FOR THOSE SEEKING ECUADOR INFORMATION

2011-08-10T20:02:00.000-06:00

I titled this the way I did to let my family know its not really a very interesting post if you are not interested in moving to Ecuador. Most of my family are still shaking their heads, and letting us know its ok to change our minds..

It has come to my attention, that I am meeting folks on forums and Facebook who have alot of questions so I thought I would just do a listing of all the sources that I have bookmarked and used when we were investigating Ecuador. Yeah, I'm lazy that way.

So here you go. My advise, "Google" every which way to find info, read it, take notes, and then come to visit. While here.. DO NOT BUY REAL ESTATE! (ok, soapbox is gone).

http://www.cuencahighlife.com/ sign up for the Gringo Tree on the left column!

http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/Cuenca_Ecuador/

http://www.elmercurio.com.ec/ local newspaper! Use your Google Translate to help!
http://www.eltiempo.com.ec/

http://www.123teachme.com/ FREE online Spanish

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ExpatsInEcuador

If you are a Face book person we have a wonderful group on there as well..

https://www.facebook.com/groups/EcuadorExpats/

https://www.expatguide365.com/

http://southofzero.wordpress.com/ COMPLIATION OF EC BLOGS

http://living-and-retiring-in-ecuador.blogspot.com/ Connie wrote a great book, its on Kindle and you can get it put on your computer if you do not have Kindle.. 2.99 worth every penny.

http://ecuadorescape.com/

http://www.cuencarealestate.com/

http://board.totalecuador.com/Introductions

http://www.ecuadoreancoastalproperties.com/

http://www.expat-blog.com/http://www.globeholidays.net/South_America/Ecuador/Cuenca_Ec/Maps1.htm

http://ecuadorfriends.cjmciver.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

OK, now go forth and RESEARCH! We have all done it. It's time consuming, and confusing at times. We all have different ideas of what is acceptable, don't take our word for it.. research and if you think it might be interesting.. come visit.

KELSEY AND DANIEL VISIT

2011-08-02T12:52:00.001-06:00

We have notoriously put out the welcome wagon to all our friends and family, offering a place to stay and a warm reception. We offered our daughter a visit but only if she would come for a month.. tickets are pricey for those of us on a fixed income.

I posted last time about her arrival and our time in Otovalo, but have not brought you up to date of our trials and tribulations once we arrived in Cuenca.

As soon we arrived in Cuenca, we marched over to the Coopera so they could see all the wonderful fruit and veggies available. We bought every odd looking fruit possible so they could make smoothies and try them fresh.

We had bus passes and keys for them, bus routes, maps and several tours of Cuenca, with a list of options of fun things to do while they were here... then Kelsey got sick..she swore it was the water, (I recently heard the term water snob, and I think it might apply in this case. grin). No matter that we assured her our water was very clean; even cleaner than most as we have a Ozone thingy on our kitchen faucet..and her cold we figured she got from the flight.

Well she got well, and no sooner had she gotten better.. I got sick.. well its not so bad that I got sick..it's that when any one gets sick, especially me, Randy becomes the bearer of woe and goes on and on about how he is now going to get sick; and everyone knows how he HATES to be sick.. and.. well you get the idea. I think the word in Quechua that fits is Wa Wa... (it means baby).

Well the "kids" as we so charmingly call them, have done very well getting off into town after a few forays with us. While I was sick, they managed the buses real well; found their way to several museums and coffee hang outs with out issues. They have even been to see things we have yet to see!

We did drag them on the double decker tour bus on Saturday. We had stopped in at the Itur office to see what days were "English" days.. we were told that every day it is in English.. not so.. Luckily, Daniel has alot of Spanish under his belt and we have been on this tour about 4 times previously, so we were pretty up on the things they were talking about, even if we didn't quite catch all the Spanish.

We trooped off to the California Kitchen for a wonderful lunch afterwards, and then we all bussed back home for a nice laid back afternoon. I realized I was still not well so Sunday was another down day, and the kids managed to make it to town in the afternoon.

Today we were supposed to go to Giron falls. Due to our bank having internet issues and other business related chores we asked our friends Sharon and Jacob to accompany Kelsey and Daniel to the falls. Sharon and Jacob are in their 30's so their stamina is much more in line with Kelsey and Daniel's anyway! I will look forward to the photos, that's more my speed.

They have to fly back to Quito on the 9th, so we are trying to mash all the other things on our list into these last few days. I am hoping for clear skies and lots of stamina!

OUR FAMILY VISITS

2011-07-19T17:31:00.000-06:00

Randy and I were contemplating flying back to the U.S. for our favorite time of year, Aug. & Sept. There is the Crush in Washington wine country to enjoy, and there is the fabulous 4 day music festival Bumbershoot, in Seattle. But after much debate and cost comparison we (me) decided that if our daughter Kelsey would like to come visit we would offer to fly her down to Cuenca for a month vacation. She took us up on the offer. Daniel, Kelsey's boyfriend decided that Kelsey was not flying off to a third world country by herself, so he ponied up the money and flew down here as well.

Right before I began leaping around crazily!

Randy and I flew to Quito to meet them, and then I decided since we were "so close" we might as well go up to Otovalo; a place I wanted to visit since we first were introduced to Ecuador. We spent the nite in Quito, and had a quick meal.. we decided to go easy on them and not try any EC food just yet.

Friday we were off in a taxi (2 hrs, $55) to Otavalo. Kelsey dutifully took her dramamine, Daniel dutifully blew up her neck pillow, and she was off to sleep.


Taking a walk in Otovalo, EC

We stayed in a Hostal, $10 per person per nite. It was ok, we did not have the most comfortable beds, but it was nice to have stayed there, as we had wonderful views of the surrounding valley and VOLCANOES!

Cotacachi Volcano

Imbabura Volcano

Saturday was a total tourist day, we ate in a fancy restaurant for Breakfast.

Daniel bought Kelsey a hat so she wouldn't fry her face. We smeared 50 sunblock on..$13 for a bottle! And headed off into the madding crowd...

Indian headdress... I really don't get this..

Awesome spanking spoons!

Local ladies walking by a stand selling indigenous clothing

We ended the day early, by 1, the local sellers were closing up. Most have traveled quite a ways, and they were ready to head back home carrying huge bundles of their wares.

On Sunday we took the bus back to Quito. We decided a bus at $2 per person was alot better!
Back in Quito we took a taxi back to our hotel where we had left the luggage. They were nice enough to hold it for us while we traveled to Otovalo. We would recommend the Eugenia;
http://www.eugeniahotel.com/en/rooms.htm the people are very helpful, most speak some English, the rooms are comfy,the water is hot and it is in the new part of town.

On Monday we met up with a local Epat, Liliya Bykova. She gives walking tours of Quito. We were a bit rushed for time and she was so sweet to take us as her husband had minor surgery just a few hours before our scheduled trip! If you like history and local folklore tales she can fill your needs. She was awesome. I think Randy and the kids were a bit cross eyed with all the history, but I loved it. Next time I am going to just see if I can get a private tour!

This is where the indepence movement began, among the poets and artists on this street.

Liliya Bykova herding us along.

Under remodeling.. I loved the huge photo covering the front..

I don't know why I cant get this to stay straight up, but the look on his face tells you he is ready to be done..

Another sideways ones, but all that is GOLD LEAF!

Group shot in the square of the City Library.

Liliya was explaining that the library used to be the old military barracks, and after all the years of fighting to become a independent country; it took them 20 years to remodel the current building so it could be used for the library. In Ecuador they do not let you leave with the book. There are reading areas all over the 2 stories, where you can sit and read the book of your choice. There are also little areas where you can get parts of the books copied. Liliya says they have the best copy rates in all of Quito.

The traffic in Quito is awful. It took us an hour in a taxi to get from our hotel to the Santa Domingo Plaza, were we were to meet Liliya. When the tour was over, Liliya took us on the bus that has its own line through town. Now I know why they are so packed.. its faster. We paid our .25 cents and got in line. Liliya decided we needed someone more savvy with the bus routes to assist, so she struck up a conversation with a gentleman and he assisted with getting us in the correct bus, hopping off at the first stop to get in line for another bus, and then made sure we got off near our hotel. He was very sweet, and he offered us his business card as we left.. He was the head of Education in Quito! He was very nice to let us take a picture of him and his children before we left.

We walked back to the hotel, and picked up our luggage that they so nicely kept for us .. again. Then we hopped into a taxi to the airport. Our flight was to leave at 5:30, we did not board until 6:30..I think we were finally in Cuenca about 7:20..home by 7:45... it was a long day.. Hogar, Dulce, Hogar! (home, sweet home)

CELEBRATING OUR FIRST YEAR IN ECUADOR

2011-07-03T10:09:00.000-06:00

We celebrated our one year anniversary in our new adopted country, by having our "sponsors" Chuck and Nancy Watson, over for a dinner celebration. Randy thought I was a bit silly with the candle, but it really means alot to me that we are here, and even more that we are HAPPY, living here. So the candle; as every one who knows me knows, I love birthdays (mine is Oct. 7th), so this anniversary was cause for celebrating with a candle!

Do you see that dark dark chocolate ice cream in those bowls... that was Chucks contribution.. we were having Randys wonderful homemade burritos, so Chuck decided we needed Mexican Chocolate Ice cream from the new ice cream store (MIXX). Oh my, they use jalapenos in the ice cream..talk about screaming hot. It was even a bit warm for Randy, but delicious! I am going to go back and see if I can just get the Chocolate..

After our dinner, Chuck, Randy and I (Nancy was not feeling well..) went to a local concert at the University. Normally the concerts here are free, this one was $10 per person. As we stood outside in line, there were ladies selling tickets with a bit of a scalping fee added on. Chuck was able to exclaim and throw up his arms to the amount asked, the lady very sheepishly sold his ticket to him for $10. We on the other hand were not so lucky.. out lady held out, watched us from a few feet away, and finally when Randy said, "dos para $21" she relented and agreed. I consoled Randy, by saying I thought that Chuck only got the better deal because he got the "Anciano" discount..that seemed to perk him up.

The concert was good, and we enjoyed the fact that the ladies singing were doing tribute songs to famous women singers in their culture, then they changed bands and began with American women singers! In English. It was quite fun to hear Madonna's music, Gloria Estefan and others being sung with such vigor and in excellent English. The audience knew each song, and would ooh and ahh when the music began, as they knew what the song would be, and sing along. Their families were in the audience, so alot of love and appreciation was spoken to them, and the audience ate it up. Family is very important here, and it was so nice to see the love shown.

We are looking forward to our new adventures this coming year. We appreciate our family and friends for the love they have shown to us with their support as we stepped off the path and headed out on our adventure.

WHETHER, WEATHER, WHEATHER?

2011-06-21T11:14:00.000-06:00

When I call my family back in the states we always discuss the weather. The weather there, the weather here, and the odd weather all over the world. I don't know if this is just a family thing; as we have always done this, or if its because we are intent as humans to have a predictable pattern to follow.

Well, if we need a predictable pattern to follow, we are out of luck... most anywhere lately. Our Spanish teacher told us this is the dry season, and soon it would be windy. Well we have had wind, chill and the occasional wonderful sunny day that just makes you smile and want to head out for a long long walk... with your umbrella.

To says that we (me mostly) do not trust the weather here is an understatement. When we first came in 2008 to visit friends, (Feb.) we were enthralled that it would be sunny and then every afternoon like clock work it would rain, and then the sun would come back out... what a perfect predictable pattern.. easily dealt with, and predictable.. well somewhere in the world "they" skewed the predictability of weather patterns all over the place.

Ok, so just in case some one is thinking that I am whining.. or upset with our life here.. I am not. I love it here. I guess I am just saying that I would appreciate a bit more predictability 'cause I can't get it right about what to wear or bring when we leave the house. Here is a example. Father's day we went to a Garden Party. It was a gorgeous day, sunny, warm and just an amazing day. We rode the bus with our friends Jacob & Sharon, it was all warm and cozy in the bus, the windows were open and everyone was smiling that is was a wonderful day in the neighborhood!

We get to the party, and the clouds began to gather.. a bit of rain started to fall, then it picked up, the wind came too, and within 5 minutes there was a downpour so strong that all the folks who were squeezed inside the tiny house began to oohhh awww, OH MY! We could not hardly see the trees for the downpour.. Then I realized what everyone was in awe about... it was HAIL! HUGE hail... and it kept on for about 10 minutes. Then it turned into rain again...

I kept an eye out for a break in the weather, and when it looked like the sun was coming back, I gave Randy the high sign that we needed to leave ( he did not bring his coat, cause it was so sunny!)

Hail about 20 minutes after the storm!

Our 12ft tall Sunflower did not survive the hail storm

We arrived home in time to watch the next wave of rain come through, and luckily there was no more hail. We have heard since that the outlying areas only had rain. In old town we were treated to the whole majestic treatment! I wonder if they have hail damage insurance here for cars?

HEALTHY FLORA & FAUNA IN ECUADOR

2011-06-09T12:34:00.000-06:00

We moved to Ecuador on July 1st, 2010. Since that time we have tried to enjoy all of cultural food that we can (Cuy excluded), while at the same time maintaining some semblance of care about where and what we ate. We avoid fresh prepared fruit from carts along the streets, we wash all of our veggies and fruit in a natural grapefruit vegetable wash before using, and just generally use common sense. That being said, we have been repeatedly told, "no matter how careful you are you will get an amoeba or parasite, do the deed, and get that medicine that kills the bugs". The timeline for this "deed" is every 6 months, or at the very least every year. The clock has run out.. it was time for us to "man-up" and go find the medicine.

This is from the last time Randy, "man'd -up" in '08, emergency room of Santa Ines Hospital

We have a favorite farmacia near by. It is called Farmacia Salvador and is located on Remigio Crespo, near the Feria Libre Market. The owner is a very nice gentleman who speaks some English, and one of his employees also speaks a hint better English. Another bonus with this farmacia is that the owner's son is a Dr. and he works upstairs, and his English is perfect!

We girded our loins and with our best spanglish, we explained to the farmacéutico what we needed. In his best spanglish he tried to explain that since we did not know what kind of bug we had or even if we had one we would need to talk with his son to make sure he gave us the correct medicine.

Darn, once again, we have not been able to slide by a doctor ( Randy's words). The farmacéutico called upstairs for the Dr., he came a few minutes later and with a few quick words said, well you really need to bring us a stool sample and then we can prescribe the proper medication or none if you do not have any issues. He then had his father give us two cute little stool sample kits and said to bring it back anytime the following day. He would walk us through the lab and get it taken care of.

The folowing day we returned and to our surprise the Dr. was standing in the door way of the farmacia, he smiled and said we arrived just in time as he was just about to leave for a few minutes. He walked us up to his office, filled out the lab papers, and then took our samples to the lab next door. The lab work would only take 20 min. he said, so while we waited he would do a basic check up on us.

Our check up consisted of taking our blood pressure, pulse, checking our throat and eyes, stomach palpitations, listened to heart and lungs, all the while asking health related questions. Because Randy has high blood pressure he checked his legs, and asked some additional questions about "man stuff". Thank goodness he didn't ask me about "lady stuff" he was way to young, I would have blushed myself silly.

When the checkup was complete he said, well the lab should be done.. and to our amazement it was! We both had amoebas, no parasites. We both were prescribed the same medication but because during the palpitation of my stomach he felt some issues, I was prescribed an additional medication to "quiet it down".

We then asked what the total would be for our bill.. so lets see, Dr's visit, lab cost, for two..
$20. As we pulled our chins off the floor, Randy asked , each? No, no just $20... and that includes the lab? Yep..

So then we walk down to the farmacia and get our meds.. $8 for each pack of 6 pills, $2 for the additional medication for me. so that's $18. total medical cost $38. ( Note: our friends had the same Dr. and medication, they asked for something not so expensive and was given something a bit cheaper, so it pays to ask)

We are on our last day of the medication. We have had no side effects, or strange stomach issues, so we are assuming that the little guys cohabiting with us are are their way "out"

Just in case you want to visit Dr. Guillen, tell him Karen & Randy sent you..

TOMEBAMBA RIVER, SPANISH LESSONS, PLANTS AND TUK TUKS

2011-06-05T19:34:00.000-06:00

Our house is situated across the street from the Tomebamba River. There is a high bank so we cannot see the river even from our Second story window... but we can hear it. Well Randy can hear it. I can only hear it when there are storms in the mountains and the water comes rushing down the river through our neighborhood. I have been hearing it lately.

Randy is always a good visual aid!

White water rafting anyone?

We have continued with our Spanish lessons, faithfully 2 times a week. We understand our stamina and know that anything more, our poor brains will be fried. As you can see from this photo, our teacher has had to resort to some strong teaching methods to keep us on track. Even with just the one hour lessons!

When we are not studying, we are enjoying our garden, and learning about the way plants grown here in this climate. I planted seeds for Sunflowers, not paying attention to the planting directions; even though these were seeds for the South American zones. Well our Sunflowers have grown, and grown, and grown. They are HUGE, but now because it was so cloudy and rainy we are noticing they have major scale and sad places on them. Live and learn... follow the directions.

Poor guys, all covered in white crusty stuff

Somethings just keep on going... even under stress!

The bumbly bees love them!

Can you see how he is covered with pollen!

We were invited to our friends house to see their newest addition. It is a combination motorcycle and truck. They are seen alot in Asian countries, as well in some of the other coastal towns here in Ecuador. I took alot of photos of them in Piura, Peru too. They are not very common here in Cuenca, even though they are sold in a local store. Our friends said the sales people were very excited, as this was the first one that they sold. I never did get a good photo of the OWNERS of this cute little rig, but I did want to show it to you anyway.

A perfect dashboard for a coffee cup holder...

1 windshield wiper

Randy with a expectant look... sorry..not gonna happen...

KIMBLER B & B AND OUR HIKE TO THE CAJAS

2011-05-20T12:25:00.001-06:00

I love Facebook, because it has given me an venue to reacquaint with my high school friends and family that I have not seen or communicated with in years. So using that forum, when we moved here, we put out the welcome mat to all our friends and family.

Because of this, I received an email from my 2nd cousin who asked if our welcome extended to his traveling friends... I of course jumped at the idea. Randy being a bit more socially challenged; I negated to tell him about the offer and just let it work its way into the conversation. Our new potential guests determined that they would stay at a hotel at first and see if we meshed ( I think that was good, since they already knew my cousin, I could see why they might have doubts about us... : >} ).. as it turned out since I was going to Macara for a week, and they were off to Vilcabamba for a week, we would all share space when I returned.

Steven and Randy listening to and discussing music, soul brothers..

Fougere enjoying a book.. I was off reading myself when I happened upon her reading downstairs

While Steven and Fourgere were here we arranged to go to the Cajas. Fougere is quite the hiker, and she convinced us that it would not be "that bad". Steven had just gotten over a severe ankle strain, but he was game, so were agreed. We contacted our friend Arturo for a day trip, and on the Friday before they left we were off to the Cajas.

One view point and bill board telling about the area almost 14,000 ft elevation.. cold and windy!

To walk around Lake Toreador you need to sign in. Arturo sent us off to the building that housed the bathroom and displays of the lake while he completed the necessary fee payment and log in for us.

Photos of the different type of wild life and plants found around the Cajas.

View of the lake from the display building

I just loved this photo..

We cinched our hoods down against the very cold wind and began our hike down the hillside to the path that followed the edges of the lake. As we walked I took lots of photos. Not a clue what most of these are,only that I thought they were very pretty.

Yep, even Randy thought it was cold!

Teeny Tiny flowers...

The building is where we stared from..

I was told that these lakes are not from springs, but from rainwater and waterfalls..

somewhere is the path...

I probably should have put my hand down, I had to zoom in on this ... it was very tiny..

Some kind of ground cover.. loved the yellow, green and tiny pink flowers

In my mind, I thought this might be similar to Tunda.. it is all mushy underneath but pretty solid to walk on

Here we are all posing.. at the half way point! No turning back!

Yep, there are fresh water trout up here!

A waterfall with a nice grassy area for a picnic

There was fungus among us!

That building at the top is where we started from, and our goal.. elevation and lung capacity were bothering me at this point

Oh yes please, I will sit while you take our picture!

Another photo that I had to zoom in on.. these were everywhere, a ground covering

Trees and cool yellow ground covering

Randy loved that they had a bench and wood in case you wanted to stop and have a bit of a warm up before you left

After our hike we went to the Che restaurant and had a wonderful meal

We had a great time with Fougere and Steven, and we made sure they understood if they were back in our neck of the woods they were welcome to come stay with us again.. Thanks Chris for introducing us!

MACARA TO PIURA PERU - LEGALLY!

2011-05-19T13:19:00.000-06:00

If you have not read any of my previous blogs, the title will not make any sense. My host family live in Macara and we all needed to go over to Peru. They zip back and forth without a thought, and one time they took me... twice in one day... without documents...so this time, I was very happy to follow the rules and "check in"

The rules are these. We drove over the boarder of EC onto a bridge, Parked the car and went to the EC boarder office where we all filled out paperwork (no photos the police are intimidating). I have my Cedula so I just put that number down.. no passport needed. You tell how long you are staying, cell # and how you are traveling and purpose. They look at it and your cedula, make sure you filled it out correctly and then stamp it, and return the duplicate ticket at the bottom to you.
Then you walk over the bridge to Peru side of the river and fill out their paperwork, which is pretty much exacly the same except they ask you how much money you expect to spend. You hand all of your papers to them, including the EC stub. They look it all over, stamp it and return the two little stubs back to you. THEN you cross the street to the police station. They look over your documents and stamp them, hand them back to you. So now I was all official to travel in Peru. Arturo warned me .. whatever you do DONOT loose those stubbs! We walked back to the car parked in no mans land on the bridge between the two boarders and proceeded with our trip.

We had gotten up early, said good bye to the other family members who were heading out for their homes; hopped into a truck driven by another unknown person and friend. We (Chella, her son Arturo, and me) then picked up the rest of the crew, Chellas sister., Netta. Throughout the conversations I figured out that Netta's husband knew this man, and we were riding with him because...
A. Nettas husband was the go-between so the man could meet people to talk to about land
B. We could get a free ride.
I just love this country! This idea would probably not cross anyone's mind in the "old country".

Suyo, Peru 1st real town across the boarder

It seems very dry in the part of the country

These little Moto-taxis were everywhere, it only got worse as we got closer to Piura

Thank you for visiting, Good travels..

This part of Peru seemed very poor

Smile, you are in Tambogrande..

This market has motorcycle, car and cow parking

Road side business

When we got to a particular town we stopped at some peoples house and went in. I of course had no idea what was going on. Arturo (who speaks English) was not nearby to ask.. we arrived to find the remnants of a huge party the night before. The family was sitting down for a late breakfast (10 ish), and we were invited to sit and eat as well. Netta's husband came wandering out, obviously hung over. Then I got the story from Arturo. These are friends of Netta's husband. He came here the day before after the lunch at Marta's school. It was a huge birthday party for someone in the owners family. We were here to pick up Netta's husband and talk about storing Arturo's car. (DO NOT drive your car down from the US. There are all kinds of issues you have to cover to keep it here).

Our table woofing down the breakfast

Talkin' turkey about land deals in Peru

Yep, a donkey pulling a cart with a moto-taxi right behind him

Marigolds. Grown to feed the chickens so their egg yolks are very yellow

There was no room so Arturo and Netta's husband got the back seat..great for his hangover I am sure..

Piura, Peru. Population is similar to Cuenca

Some more affluent housing

I just loved this wall made of bamboo

This town is known for their pottery... can you tell?

Our parking guides in Piura craft market

As you turn down the road to find a parking place, little kids start running and waving you to a parking place. When you get into your spot an older young person gives you a ticket. While you are gone the little kids are the "guards" for you car when they are not running up and down the street hailing other cars. When you leave you give the older kid your ticket, pay your fee to park and tip the kids all milling around. I think this would be a wonderful system in some of those parking lots in the "old country" around Christmas time!

Craft Market, exchange rate is about $3 to 1 Sol..(peruvian dollar)

Arturo warned me not to take photos, people would come up and tell you that you owed them money for taking their picture... and would not leave until you did pay them something. So this was just a quick shot when I thought it was safe. It was a nice Market. The children seem to beg more here and do not take no for an answer. The prices were so low that bargaining was just not on the agenda. I bought Randy a ceramic mask for the house and a bracelet for myself.

A type of corn "beer". Its fermented. I thought it was lemonade at first.

We stopped to have lunch at a Peruvian restaurant that had been recommended. Typically this Corn drink comes with the jug and one bowl and everyone shares. We asked for separate bowls..

Our driver who wanted me to take the photo of the Peruvian jug and coconut drinking bowl.

It had to be about 90 degrees.. why would anyone put a sweater on this poor dog?

After lunch we returned to the Party house with Arturo's car. He parked it there and after the discussions were over we all went out and caught two moto-taxi's. The ride was too precarious to take pictures because there were 3 of us squeezed into a seat sized for two small EC folks.. so I guess I was the one squeezing them.. but anyway were were taken to the bus terminal where we were going to catch something... there were no buses. We saw that folks were attacking cars as they pulled up into the slots for Buses. Netta's husband tried to barter with a fellow but a family leaped into the car.. oh well.. so he wandered over to another fellow and worked a deal for Ecuador so we hopped into his car (3 & 3) and we were off. It was getting dark by now, so our ride back to the Ecuador boarder was about 1 1/2 hr into the dark nite, dodging donkeys, sheep and huge cows in the road.

Once we got to the boarder we walked back across the bridge and handed in our papers to each country's office. Then we called a cab and arrived home about 7:30 p.m.

I called Randy and related our journey..as I was talking, Chella came in with a dish of food from the niece and nephew's fast food stand on the sidewalk on the corner of the house... oh yummy... more food (this made 4 times I ate that day..) I sat outside in the hammock strung between the porch supports, ate my food, listened to the family talk, noted the temp had dropped to 24 C. (75F) and thought, what a wonderful life!

ANOTHER SCHOOL EVENT AND A BIRTHDAY PARTY IN MACARA

2011-05-16T15:27:00.000-06:00

On Saturday around 11:00 we all loaded up into a rented van and the family SUV to get all of us up to the school where Marta teaches. Her school is on the way to the family farm. It was started in 1999. Marta is a teacher, janitor, and assistant in the kitchen, and fund raiser. She is a one woman wonder.

We were the only ones that I saw who came to eat. We were a bit early, but I was still surprised that more of the community did not come to support this school.

All gathered around the table in the main eating area.

Marta in pink, overseeing the cooks

Neena and Chella

This school is a public school just like the one we went to the day before. It relies on the government to remember to send funds for its needs. There are only 12 students in this school, so it is one of those who sometimes are not remembered financially. Besides the fundraiser lucheon, the school has a nice paved area for soccer, volleyball and basketball. The local folks come to play and have tournament games as well. The school sells drinks and snacks as another way to fund their school.

There is also a cock fighting pit on the grounds. This is also used as a way to fund the school I am not sure if they only sell drinks and snacks or if there is a fee paid to fight.


Chella demonstrating how the participants sit and cheer on their favorite bird.

After the lunch and a rest at home, Lisandro waved at Chella and I and said lets go! We both declined until Litchee (Lisandro's wife) pulled a sad face and said PLEASE! In Spanish and English! I had no clue where were were going.. I joked by asking "Voy a Peru?".. They said no, no.. up in the hills..ok.. so I knew that much. Well it turned out that we were going to a birthday party. Lisandro had run into a friend who told him about another friend who was having a huge party. Family had come from the US, Peru, Canada, and Columbia as well as here in Ecuador.

As soon as we arrived food was put before us.. Lunch... I told you we were early for the other lunch right? Well we were at the tail end of lunch at this party. We ate.. ugh I was so full, it was pork. Oh yum, it was good, and had the crispy skin that is real real hard, and almost a clear brown. It sounds disgusting but its real tasty!

See that crackly skin.. it really does taste good.

The band had begun to play, there were men walking around with big bottles of Johnny Walker Red Whiskey, pouring into all of the gentlemen's plastic cups. These guys had been here for quite a while, and were feeling no pain. There were also ladies walking around with tall glasses that had ice, water and whiskey. These were for the "ladies" to share! The communal glass was passed around for a dainty sip. I think I shocked them by asking for my own cup. I was either rude or being a lush..

Lisandro grabbed his wife for dancing and encouraged me to come along. I thought, why not.. so out I went. Lisandro immediately passed me off to his "good friend, since grade school".. he was one of those who were feeling no pain. We had a good time but I managed to extricate myself from dancing after a few wild rounds on the grass dance floor.

We seemed to be the center of attention here.

After the delicate extrication process it started to get a bit dark. Litchee asked (in Spanish), "Does it not bother your husband if you dance with men when he is not here"? I smiled and said, no he doesn't mind as long as it is not dark! She grinned and nodded in agreement with that.

FRIDAY - SCHOOL DEDICATION IN MACARA

2011-05-15T17:00:00.000-06:00

The whole reason for this trip to Macara, was to attend the dedication of a school in honor of Chella's deceased father. From what I understand, their family has been a very important part of this town for over 100 years. Their grandfather owned vast amounts of land and so did their father. Through out the years the land was sold off, but their influence in this small town is still apparent.

I asked who built the little school and who would fund it. The school, I was told, was built by the government. The government would supply books, supplies and funds for food and the teachers salary. I was confused on this as it seemed that the family had bought some supplies, back packs and uniforms for the children and were funding alot of improvements. They explained that the government says they will supply all the necessary items, but since it is a very small school sometimes the government might forget, and the school will need the occasional support of private families.

The people of this little area were in charge of cleaning up the building and getting the grounds cleaned of rocks and weeds. Lisandro was a former Colonel in the EC Military, so he enlisted help from the local Military base (the land was donated to them by Chella's Father), so some of the heavier work and painting was done by them.

The dedication was to begin at 10:00 with lunch at11:00 sharp.. according to Lisandro. I am happy to say that the Ecuadorian custom of not starting on time was adhered to. I think the event finally got going around 11:00. We didn't even get out of the house until after 10:00.

Something like, Educate the children and you won't have to punish them tomorrow

There was a nice awning set up for shade, thank goodness, as it was a very warm day. All the important officials and main family were seated up front. The military were there in full regalia, the priest was there with two altar boys who played guitar music while those attending sang. The national anthem and I think local anthem were played and the folks sang with great enthusiasm. The priest performed a mass, and blessed the school. Speeches were made and then the best part. The children came out to get their back packs... all 6 children! Three little girls and three bigger boys.

Kids with their teacher

Going up to get their backpacks filled with uniforms and supplies

After the ceremony ended everyone was fed a wonderful meal of pork, mote (hominy) rice, salad, and Horchata ( a delicious drink make from flowers and herbs). The Special Guests were seated inside, the others we fed outside. I noticed a definite class distinction here that I had never really observed before. I was uncomfortable with it, but everyone else did not seem to mind.

I just loved this handsome fellow

Here are some photos I took, I thought you might be interested in them.


A photo with some of the towns people and ME!

New plants with the new fencing.. yep barbed wire..

Shade, glorious shade!

Military effect

Lisandro, important lady from Loja, Teresa, and the teacher with dedication plaque

People milling around after the lunch

This little sweetie's brother and sister are attending the new school

This is the mother of two of the children

These two are cousins, Carolina and Karen! I thought they both were so much fun

The best photo! I loved these sandals.. will have to go to Peru to get them

After the event was over and all of the tables cleared, tents tore down and packed away by the military; the family returned home to rest and reflect on the days events. It was considered a success by all.

DAY 3 - JUST ANOTHER DAY IN MACARA

2011-05-13T19:19:00.000-06:00

Wednesday started out a lot later.. almost 10. Both Chella and I slept in. Just in case you forgot, they don't speak any English, so I was glad I had rested up my poor brain for another day of intense concentration.

After breakfast Chella and I went over to the Priests offices to speak with him about coming and doing a mass at the dedication. Again he was not there, but were told to come back at 4.

Little park in the center of town, across from the church

We were supposed to meet up with Lisandro (Chellas brother) to go up to the school, but he did not return; so after a bit I was asked to assist Teresa across the street and to the hair salon to get a pedicure and manicure. Ok, if you are a guy you can skip this part, but if you are lady read on!

First off the price for both is $6...not each. The pedicure itself takes almost 2 hours. There are about 5 different parts to it and it is a very intense hands on process. I had to admire how they figured out how to get it all done. The sink did not have hot water. So there is an electric water heater device that drops into the bucket that they place in the sink, when the water is warm, they pour it into the foot massager pan. Then they sit on a small stool at your feet and begin working on all the details of getting your feet smooth, massaged,smelling pretty and the nails perfect. Then you are moved to the manicure table (same lady) who then does your nails in a rapid fire session of buffing, massaging and working over your nails. Oh, and you pick out what kind of design you want painted on your nails.. you can have only one or all of your nails done.. NO EXTRA CHARGE.. and the design is painted, not a press on type design. It was pretty amazing. I did not last for the whole event. Chella came over to rescue me about 2:00, and she stayed with her mom until her fingers were done. I went home and whoofed down my lunch!

Lunch was fantastic, it was Goat. I have never eaten goat, and did not know it was goat until I was eyeing someones plate and they asked me if I wanted more chevo..so I did the dictionary thing.. waaalah.. oh Si, por favor!

After lunch we rested up and then at 4:00 we headed back over to the church. The Priest was in..he checked his calendar and agreed that he would be able to come. The family would need to provided transportation, tablecloth, wine, bread, a candle, flowers, grapes...and his fee of $70. We went back to the house. Everyone was gathered outside in the shade out front. We explained what was needed. Chella's sister Netta agreed to come along and off we went. We got all the necessary items and ordered the flowers. More family arrived, and Marta asked Chella and I if we would like to take a little walk with her. It was about 7:00. We went to the local bank and then she took us out to eat at her favorite restaurant. It was country chicken, it was in a brown sauce. I was told it was a very typical way of eating chicken if you were in the "campo". When the first plate arrived, they made sure that it went to me..I gulped when I saw that it was the neck, foot and something else that I was not able to identify. Marta noticed my hesitation and when the next plate arrived she had Chella switch with me.. Oh did I tell you I LOVE Marta..The chicken was delicious, but I am glad I did not have to eat that foot. I have no photos; I did not bring my camera.. but I did have my documents!

Just a street scene in Macara

After we got home I headed for the shower, as most of the family were outside or in the kitchen discussing the upcoming event. At about 9:30, and a few phone calls it was decided that they needed to head back to the restaurant in town and firm up the dinner for the dedication on Friday. ( Again, the only reason I am able to tell you this is because I am telling you what I found out AFTER we went there, I never really knew what we were doing until we actually got to where we were going..) The restaurant owner let us in (she was in her P.J.'s. We all sat in the restaurant; prices, plate sizes, food and drink were firmed up and the down payment was made. We got home by 10:30.. I smelled my brain smoking so I excused myself and went to bed.

DAY 2 MACARA FARM & PERU ADVENTURES

2011-05-10T15:31:00.001-06:00

After the early to bed the night before, I was awake and raring to go at 6:30 a.m. After a hearty breakfast we were off to visit the local Priest, and offices in town to get the proper documentation for the dedication of the school. Here is a nice photo of the church, the priest's offices were next door.

My favorite, the sun shining on the church

The priest was not in and we were told to come back the following day. Chella and I then headed over to the offices where she would file her paperwork. The young lady there told Chella that she would need some other notary work, and copies of other papers..it was not going to be as quick and easy as she thought. Chella is a pretty quick thinker, so as we were back to the house by 10:00 she asked her brother Marcello if he would take me with him to the farm. I was ecstatic. I had heard about the farm from Chella's son and daughter in law, so I was excited to see it. On the way there we stopped to buy some feed for Marcello's horses.

Rice drying outside of the feedstore

Famous Macara rice fields

View of the mountains along the way

A pretty little stream we had to drive through at one point

Marcello, opening the 1st gate to the farm

The road into the farm

The second gate. The road was still very muddy from the rains

We parked half way and hiked in the rest, the mud was too deep

As we walked into the farm, Marcello tried to explain what the trees and plants were that I pointed out to him. Quien es esto? (What is that).. would be followed by some very laborious efforts on his part to explain in simple and slow enough Spanish. I think I did pretty good. So if I have anything incorrect. I plead the "Silly Gringa".

A smooth barked tree I thought was very pretty

Fencing, on the farm

Coffee drying in a wheelbarrow

This farm was the original home of Chellas's mother, Teresa. Teresa and her husband lived here when they were young. As the family got older they moved into town. Now the house is just used for storing supplies.

REAL free range chickens

Cat does not even pay attention to the chickens

It was a stand off.. I waited for Marcello to chase the roosters off the porch

Marcello was very happy to be at the farm, he has two workers there who do a lot of the daily work. His pride and joy is his horse. He and the horse have won championships all over Ecuador. The horse is a Peruvian walking horse. They have a very precise way of walking, and the judging is very strict. This last year Marcello took home two Gold Ribbons.

Marcello, leading the way to the horse stalls

A bit shy

There is that face

Marcello with his pride and joy

I then just started snapping photos of the farm and surrounding views. It was about 87 degrees and beautiful, if a bit warm.

Papaya or Mango trees can't remember

Limon trees

A worker shucking corn

Cebo trees in the distance

Another beautiful tree

A shot looking up into the trees

Big tall tree with pretty flowers

Porch with a papaya tree right out front

A very beautiful latin lover

When we returned home it was 2:00 so we were fed a hearty lunch. I have to say that I usually cannot eat much when it is hot and muggy. But I ate everything that was not nailed down. If eating a lot is a compliment, I think they were very pleased with my ability to "put it away".

Later in the afternoon more family arrived and I was introduced in a flurry of Spanish. I did figure out that this sister lived there in Macara, and her daughter Carolina was attending school in Guayaquil, but home for the Summer break. Carolina is in the same program as my daughter and the same age. I loved her immediately!

As they spoke it was determined that a trip to check out food prices was necessary. I was waved at and told Venga Venga... so I hopped into the car and off we went. As we were driving I realized we were heading down the road that went to the farm and PERU... I quickly asked in my wonderful broken Spanish " Vamos a Peru"?... Si! I then said... NO, NO Voy a Peru... No documentos! No documentos? No NADA! They confered and it was determined that I would be fine... just a quick trip barely across the border. So we drove right though, no one stopped us or asked for any identification. I was shocked! But very relieved.

The market that they were heading for was closed so we turned around and headed back over the boarder to Ecuador. No problems. We drove to Netas house where she hopped out and got some paperwork, then they turned around and headed BACK to Peru! What? We were just blocks from Chella's house, we could have gotten my documents... They said, it was no problem, just don't say anything if we are stopped.. what? Yes, Chella says, you are "Muta".. oh great. I am remembering all those "Locked up Abroad" episodes and wondering if I would be their next episode.

We drove farther this time and went to a town called Suyo. There was a restaurant there that they were going to get prices from. It was closed. Its dark by now.. We drive further into a tiny little neighborhood. There is no pavement, a cute little pig is waddling off into the dark. They stop and Neta husband begins to honk the horn and yell at a door. MEEENA, MEEENA.. after some honking and yelling she comes to the door with a towel around her. It quickly becomes aparent to the silly gringa in the front that they all know this woman. We stay in the car, and she comes out (clothed), pulls a plastic chair up to the car (the AC is running thank goodness) and negotiations begin. They are not ready to settle so phone numbers are exchanged and we are off.

As we are leaving Suyo I hear a person whistle.. and we pull over.. It is two policemen who whistled us over..they approach the car. I am gulping air, Chella is saying "Muta, Muta", and I am trying to make myself as inconspicuous as possible, sitting UP FRONT hiding behind the blocking body of Netas husband, the driver. The police never even glanced at me. I about passed out with relief.

Across the boarder again to Ecuador and with a sigh of relief, everyone is laughing and saying No Problema!! We stopped in at another restaurant and the discussions began all over again with the owner. Her prices seemed to be better and after more phone number swapping we were off to the house.

It was about 8, so once again I was fed a hearty meal. I was happy to be safe, and it gave everyone a fun story to tell all the new relatives who were arriving by the droves! I called Randy and let him know about my adventure; went and took a shower, said hello to the new family that had just arrived.. and bailed... my brain and nerves were shot. I went to bed and thanked my lucky stars and guardian angel for once again saving my bacon!

DAY 1 ADVENTURE IN MACARA

2011-05-07T16:46:00.001-06:00

On Monday April 25th, at 9:00 am, we (Chella, her family and I) headed to the local van service to get our ride to Loja. We were told that the bus drivers were having a rally and were blocking private van companies. Chella & I would have to take a bus.

Arturo, Chella's son, was quick on the phone to call the bus station and find out when the next bus would be leaving... 10:00; another quick call to our driver in Loja and Arturo arranged for another driver to be waiting for us, as it would take longer on the bus to arrive in Loja.

The bus was in great condition, the ride was nice and uneventful, except for the gagging children behind us as we zipped our way through the windy roads of the Andes. The ride only took 4 hours, and we were both grateful to get off the packed bus.

We ate a quick lunch, found our next driver and we were off by 3:00 for Macara. Our driver was very friendly and Chella drilled him for information on land prices and availability. Her family is looking for farm land, and in this country anyone is fair game for possible leads. The ride over the Andes was nice and calm..

Baby Sugar Cane

We did have some issues with animals and fog.

Bull in the road


FOG in the Andes, I kept my eyes closed most of the time

We arrived in Macara about 6:30. We stopped at the school that was going to be dedicated to Chella's father on Friday. Chella's brother Lisandro was there speaking to the local folks. Afterwards we drove on down to Chella's family home in Macara. We were met by Chella's mother, Teresa, she has been widowed for about 18 years. Teresa is almost 90.

Teresa and Chella

After all of the introductions and dinner the family started to discuss the upcoming celebration and all the details for the dinner for over 100 people. My poor brain was fried at this point.. Oh, did I mention no one speaks English? So yes, I bailed and went to bed.

Here are some photos I took of the family home in Macara. This house is over 100 years old. I was told that the family owned almost the whole block, and over the years they sold it off or other family now lived in it.

My bed

Chella's bed in the opposite corner

Hallway looking towards the front door.

Open air dining room

Chella's sister Marta in the kitchen

Back yard, plant area and laundry room

Suicide shower head. I opted for cold showers.

The family were very gracious while I visited, and always tried to make me feel included. I was fed wonderful food, and included in everything! I was an odd site, trooping along with them, towering overhead of the women, me with my camera and Spanish/English dictionary.

I have a lot more pictures and stories, so I have decided to do this in segments. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed the adventure!

PREPARING FOR MACARA, ECUADOR

2011-04-24T11:21:00.000-06:00

I thought it would be nice to pass on the information I have found about Macara, before I go on my trip tomorrow. I think I said in my last post, that we were leaving on Saturday.. well it was pushed out to Monday due to the Easter holiday.

I pulled up "Weather Bug" http://weather.weatherbug.com/Ecuador/Macara-weather.html to see what the current conditions were of my destination. 29 degrees Celsius. I still don't know exactly what that is so I go to the conversion chart I have in my favorites. http://www.teaching-english-in-japan.net/conversion/celsius/
I know is says something about teaching English in Japan, I just happen to like this chart because I can change the increments and its fast and easy. So I plop in my numbers and find that it is about 85 degrees F. And it is supposed to get down to a chilly 18 degrees C at nite.. 64 F. brrr..(uh, I'm joking...)

When we visited Salinas, EC in December, it was about 27C (80) with humidity.. I was croaking. I was relieved to see that the humidity in this region does not seem to be an issue.

I searched a bit further and found a website that told about Macara. http://www.ecuador.com/sierra/macara/ It seems this is an area known for its dry tropical forests, birds and growing rice. A small town, not interested in the tourists, even though it is a major crossing spot into Peru.

My host Chella, is from this region, and seems very happy to be taking someone who has never been there. She made sure to remind me of all that I needed to take, and that we would be also venturing into Peru. So my passport would be needed. Hooray. a new stamp in my passport! I have made sure to add my Yellow fever card to the bundle I am taking, just in case I have need of it crossing back into Ecuador. I learned my lesson when I had to have Randy overnight my Cedula (Ecuadorian residency document) to me in the US last November.

Since I don't have any photos yet of Macara, I will share with your the links I of found for photos of this area.
http://www.viewphotos.org/ecuador/images.php?Macara&id=59

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sofigiraldo/4315670127/

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/42342055

Oh and I hope you all had a Happy Easter! We are having a few folks over for lunch. Randy is making BBQ Pork chops and Vegetarian Refried Rice. As usual he is going for the Kimbler's take on traditional Easter Brunch! And as usual it's going to be very yummy!

THE ADVENTURES OF KAREN

2011-04-19T21:07:00.000-06:00

Adventure # 1 (Misadventure?)
I fell.. I wasn't watching where I was going..again. I have this little technique that usually works. I keep watch, out of the corner of my eye, on Randy. I make him walk in front of me.. if I see him dodge or change his cadence, then I know I need to look where I am going; to be alert for road hazards. Well my "little technique" did not work this time.

We were walking through one of the Art festival displays at the Otorongo Plaza. Randy saw the drain that runs lengthwise through the whole Plaza. It is shallow at one end and deep at the other (where we were).. His stride was perfect to walk over it without changing his cadence.. I, on the other hand, steped right into it.PLOP. Fell very hard, on concrete. I managed to not break anything and due to ice and one whole day to just recover, I have bounced back to my old self.. minus the "little technique".

Why? you say, would a festival be located with a very long open drain running through it? Where un-observing people can step into it? Why was it not covered with wood, so folks would not fall into it?
Well thats Ecuador for you. They depend on folks looking out for themselves. It's one of those things here that you have to understand. Road work is usually done without alot of danger signs or barricades either. If there is an effort to make the way passable for foot traffic, a very flimsy piece of wood is used, without hand rails or other safety precautions. Each person has to take responsibility for his own safety. That said, I rather love that about this country, even though I fell into that ditch. I wish that they would cover it with a grate, and I hope that they do someday. But in the mean time I am learning to walk with caution and take responsiblity for my own safety, and not rely on others to ensure it. Randy is pretty happy about that too. Here are some photos of a sidewalk on our way home from the bus stop.

Log anyone?

Big chunk of brick and concrete.

Everyone is talking about the rain. It comes and it goes. I tend to hang out at the computer when its too rainy to wander around town. I am lucky that I have this great view too, so I can watch people coming and going. On this one rainy day we had hail that was deafening ! I was looking out the window and noticed that these folks on the other side of the river had just hunkered down with a big plastic cover and were waiting it out..

Right after the hail let up, these two ladies made a mad dash with just umbrellas.. no coats and one is in high heels. I just had to laugh!

Adventure #2 is not so painful...I am going to be leaving for the southern part of Ecuador this Sunday. I have been invited to go with our friend Chella to visit her family in Macara. Her father is being honored with a school dedication. We are also going to be able to go into Peru for a visit with her other family. I am packing for hot weather, mosquitoes and stomach stuff..as I was told to bring something for digestion. Chella is worried that the spices there will upset my stomach. She says their food is much spicier than Cuenca! I am more worried about the mosquitoes, I can never stop scratching! I may have to talk with Chuck Watson about his mosquito cure when he went to the jungle. I think it was dragons blood and whiskey?

This is Chella!

Adventure #3 is our Gardening Adventures.

Here are some cheery flowers we are very proud of

Yep, they finally are blooming!

Bougainvillea

Not a clue, anyone know what this is?

RAINY SEASON, FACES AND PLACES IN CUENCA

2011-04-10T10:22:00.000-06:00

This is a common sight in front of anyones home this time of year. Even if you have a rain coat, its better to take an umbrella. Sometimes it rains so hard that the water will run down your nice REI raincoat and soak your nice jeans... first hand knowledge on that one. Oh and Thanks again Mom, I love the umbrella, its the only one of its kind in Cuenca. I think I am the envy of every black umbrella toter!

Here is a nite time photo of the Tomebamba river. It is very high and very fast. I keep wishing I had a huge white water raft to head down the river. We live across the road from the river. Normally due to the high embankment I cannot hear the water until I cross over the street. Today I noticed that I can hear it from our yard.

We have been having lots of fun going to our friends houses, and discovering new places to have dinner.
Here are some photos of our friends and dinners we have been enjoying.

Chris Bluefield of Kookabura Cafe fame..

Spectators, Geri Johnson, Jenny Bluefield and Randy Johnson

Karen Wine, snuggling one of 3 pups in the house that nite.

We have been invited to a home that puts on dinners every saturday nite. It is a grand event and the food is marvelous. We are notified by email what the dinner will be, and the price. Limited to 28 guests. Its always packed and we always are asked if we want seconds!

Skylight

Sweeping staircase to the second floor

Their rendition of a Capresi salad.

Those tomatoes were peeled, sliced and reformed with the mozzarella and greens inside..

Wonderful homemade noodles, chicken, shrimp and a side of a cheesy spinach ..oh yum.

OOPs I forgot to take a picture before I began.. Chocolate pannacotta with strawberry sauce

It was real good!

To make up for all the food we have been consuming we have tried to walk every day. I have convinced Randy to walk along the river so we have some better sights than buses and houses. Here are some pictures I took along the way.

This climbing yellow flowered vine is covering all these yucca type trees!

Cool house with a monster yucca

Cuenca verson of "Follow the Gray Brick Road"..Tomebamba almost over the banks on the right.

On this day, when I took this picture, we were so excited that it was nice and sunny, so I left the house without a jacket or umbrella. I ended the day by having to call Randy to meet me at the bus stop with an umbrella, as it was pouring down rain, and I could not get a taxi! I had on a nice cool tshirt.. and it was white.. so I was not wanting to dash the two blocks home in the rain. Thanks again Randy.. I won't forget the coat or umbrella again. We have been told for the next two months always carry an umbrella. I think I got that one imprinted in my brain!

GETTING AN ECUADORIAN DRIVERS LICENSE

2011-04-02T13:38:00.000-06:00

Randy has a habit of jumping the gun when someone mentions something that he thinks is a good idea. He blew off my suggestion of waiting for his Cedula before he bought his motorcycle (thanks Clarke), and once again he has jumped to deciding now was a good time to get his automobile drivers license. We do not own a car, and will not own a car for quite some time.. but our friend Chuck was going to go to school and well, Randy thought it would be fun to go along. So he did..

After you attend driving school (everyone has to), you have to wait a week or so to come back for your certificate. Then you take the certificate along with the required documents. These are 2 photos, front and back copy of your blood type card, color copy of your cedula and censo, police record and the driving school certificate.

Randy, Chuck and Tom all took classes together so they all went to the police station to take their tests together. I am told that Tom had a $10 tucked in his pocket just in case the story about bribes was accurate.
They arrived about 11:30 in the morning and was told that they needed to come back at 1:30. I got a call saying they were off to Kookaburras to while away the time and would I be joining them?

I parted company with them at Kooks and off they went all excited to be on the last step of their license journey. Time ticked by.. I received several phone calls from Randy saying he was still in the gristmill of getting the license..he finally arrived home at 4:00 and this is the story I heard.

The trio arrived a little before 1:30 and joined the line that had already formed. While in line Chuck and Tom realized they did not have all the proper documentation, so they dashed off to get some copies made. (50 ft away). As soon as they were out of sight the doors opened and the people swarmed in. Randy being the good friend that he is went to the back of the room, thinking he would save the other guys seats... not to be..Ecuadorians are not very understanding of lines, so Randy saving seats was way beyond them. Chuck and Tom were relegated to standing in the back with some other folks. A gentleman announced that all those standing would have to leave, as they only had a set amount of seats for testing, and those standing were beyond that number. So poor Randy, all alone. He said he offered Chuck his seat, but Chuck declined. His idea of them all testing together just went out the door...

The process as described by Randy is this. You wait as one by one folks take their documents up to the processing person. If you have all the correct documents you go sit back down, and they keep your paperwork. Those who don't have correct paperwork are asked to come back at another time. Once everyones paperwork as been looked at they count how many vacant seats there are and then offer those seats to anyone waiting outside (Chuck and Tom could of gotten in on this if they had known).

At this point you are given a test with your name and cedula number on it. (P.S. be sure to bring your own writing implement!) While you take your test an officer walks around the class keeping and eye on the participants. When you are done with the test you signal the officer who has you sign your test, and takes it. You continue to wait quietly until everyone is done with their tests, and the officer has collected all of them. The officer hands off the tests to a person who we assume takes them to be corrected. The test takers continue to sit and wait for the corrected tests.

When the correction person returns he calls each person up one at a time and shows them their test scores. If they passed they get a slip of paper and are directed up to the second floor to the doctors office.

Upstairs again you sit and wait your turn. The doctor takes your slip of paper, then gives an eye test, notes your height and eye color and blood type. If you pass the eye test he gives you another piece of paper and directs you to another building.

At this building you are greeted by a lady who magically has your test. You pay her your $38 and are directed back to the original building to have your photo taken.
***side note.. When Randy when up to this lady, she rattled off something in Spanish, and Randy did not understand her. He apologized in Spanish, and explained his Spanish was not very good. She responded in perfect English.. What? You don't speak Spanish and you passed this test and only missed one? You must read better than you speak.. he agreed. She said MUY BIEN! He was very happy with the compliment.

Well, after all the flush of the compliments wore off, Randy realized that he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go for the photo.. as he stood there looking bewildered a nice lady came by and said "Photo?" and waved him to follow her. So he got his photo taken and then within 5 minutes he was handed his new Ecuadorian drivers license!

I have to note here that the license is only good for 5 years and then you have to take the test part again, NOT the drivers training part. Which is kind of funny, because we probably wont be able to buy a car for about that many years!

Randy will be returning on Monday with Chuck and Tom. To do this process all over again... to get his Motorcycle license!

VISITORS COME AND GO AT KAMP KIMBLER

2011-03-30T16:56:00.000-06:00

As I posted in the last blog we had visitors of the 4 legged kind for two weeks.. where did the time go? We had so much fun with them! Even Randy had to admit he was quite taken with the little "beasties", but figured that was only because he knew they were going to be leaving soon. Here is my favorite photo that I snapped while they were here.

We also now have a visitor of the two legged kind as well. Manon Stephenson came to visit Cuenca last year, and we met during our cooking class. She has returned to set up a house for her family of 4 dogs and her husband, Steve. We are enjoying her company until she finds a house for rent that suits their needs.

Here are the dogs awaiting their owners return today. We kept telling them about it... I think they knew..

Here is the reunion.. I am not sure but I think hugged Randy first... but I could be mistaken..

Fluffy and Corky never looked back when they left...

While out and about we got some interesting pictures of this and that. So here they are.

Well, not very good, but the little sign was for Junior Achievement!

I liked the name of this internet cafe!

We have missed sweet corn on the cob.. we found it at Supermaxi, 3 ears for almost $4. It was VERY yummy!


Yep, bugs in Cuenca, this "little" guy was sucking the life out of our Tomate de Arbol!

Tonite we are having a Welcome Home BBQ for Clarke & Brenda. We twisted and whined until they agreed. I think they are really would rather stay home, but Randy pulled out the big guns and is BBQing Chicken legs and warming up left overs! Who could resist? I know I can't.. I can smell it all over in the house and my mouth is watering!

Now all we need is that corn on the cob... wonder if I have time to go in search of more?

CHRONICLES OF FLUFFY & CORKY

2011-03-20T17:28:00.000-06:00

We have two very special guests staying with us for two weeks. They are tiny well behaved Pekingese. Fluffy is 8 yrs old, and she is the Aunt to Corky, who is 5 yrs old.

Fluffy and Corky know us from our frequent visits to their home, but this is the first time they have been to ours, and to their dismay we cannot have dogs inside our home. Randy has allergies to dogs, so they are boarding in the office which is adjacent to our house, but does not open up into the house..and playing in the yard. This is a new thing for them as they usually have to be on a lease. So the upside for them is no leash.. I ma not so sure they wouldn't rather be in a house...

They were not too pleased with the situation, but after some hugs and play they decided it probably was ok, for now... but we have noticed that Fluffy has a bit of passive agressive tendencies.. she lets us see her irritation by her choice of resting spots.

We were sure that their humans, Clarke and Brenda would be worried so we made sure to send them Proof of Life photos the very next day so they would not worry during their flight back to the US.

Eating!

Sleeping

Corky and Fluffy have decided that one of their best places to hang out is on top of the picnic table.. preferably with the umbrella up. They keep Randy company when he is out there smoking.

We are looking forward to our next week with them. I am hoping the weather will clear up and we have some sunny days so we can spend more time outdoors with them. I think they are hoping for that as well.

MARCH... TIME MARCHES ON IN CUENCA

2011-03-13T17:28:00.000-06:00

We have had several events lately that have thrown us off our schedule... yes, we have a schedule. It is a very simple one, Randy gets up early, showers, makes his coffee, goes outside to smoke his cigar and then if I am not up by, oh say 10:00; he comes up and asks me if I am ever going to get up. Then after I get around we walk to town and do whatever it was we went to town for. Hopefully we manage this before 1:00. If not we are out of luck until 3:00 when the stores open back up from the lunch siesta. I know in the states we joked about it, but here it is a very living thing that affects anyone who hasn't caught on to the schedule.

So, the first thing that has thrown us off is that Randy was taking his driving lessons. I may have mentioned that looking at the way the folks drive around here, he probably would have to Unlearn a few rules.. such as staying in your own lane and not passing on solid yellow lines or blind curves. His lessons were to be 8 times, but after the second time out they told him he did not have to return for the driving part but to continue with the nite time classes (8-11 pm).

Randy says they must have asked if anyone wanted to take a break during the class, and they all said no... cause there was never a break..3 hrs of very rapid Spanish instruction.. everyone rigidly paying attention, no movement or questions. Randy said he threw them for a loop when he stood and moved to the back of the room to stretch his back. Everyone stared at him and then the teacher resumed the lesson. So, because his driving class was from 2-4 and lecture from 8-11, we pretty much stayed home.

The second schedule disruptor was Carnival. We did not want to play. We had heard that the stores and restaurants closed down for 2 days during the height of the 4 day madness. We stocked up like it was the end of days, and hunkered down to wait out the festivities... oh how boring. We had been told that it was party central here in Cuenca. Well it must have been in another part of town, because our part of town was dead quiet. There were no parties, we did not see roving bands of people trying to spray anyone. Well our neighbor kids were in the balcony trying to splash folks walking down the sidewalk but on glare from Randy and they backed off.

Oh, Randy passed his driving class and will go pick up his certification from the training company, then, take it to the local police station, and they will give him the official test. Then he will get his drivers license. What was the hurry? No, we do not have a car. I think he just wanted to take it with Chuck and Tom so he was not doing it alone. They all are now very happy to have done it and have it over with.

Randy and Chuck waiting to take their driving test

I have daily proof that signs and arrows are just a suggestion in this country. We live on a street that has three lanes converging into two.. all one way. There are signs way up the road telling folks that they are not to continue, and signs farther on again telling them they are going the wrong way. It does not deter them. One friend of ours said, its not a problem unless you get into an accident... then its a problem. Well I think these folks thought it was a problem when this Taxi Cab guy tried to go the wrong way. Then when he tried to reverse, his gear would not hold.. they eventually had to push the car back up the road until it was wide enough for him to get out of the way of oncoming cars.

As this last Tuesday was the last day of Carnival, our cooking class was moved to Wednesday (Ash Wednesday) so we could do a cultural tour of Churches. We saw about 3 really beautiful Churches that were open and about 4 others that were closed. I didn't like taking pictures inside but did manage one nice one of the outside.

Towards the end of our walking tour we were laughing about how chilly it was getting, and then we saw this young lady who was taking the layering idea to a whole new level.

Well at least her head it warm.

We are in the rainy season but we have been having some incredibly wonderful sunny days in the 70's. Evenings sometimes have rain and the rivers flow very noisily with all the water coming down the mountains. But lately the rivers are a bit low, but still very beautiful.

We are going to have the pleasure of babysitting our friends "beasties".. Fluffy and Corky. They are very cute, well mannered Pekingese. Their humans are going back to the U.S. for a few weeks so we are going to hold their paws while Clarke and Brennie are gone. Today they came over for a "get to know the yard" visit, so we turned it into a big lunch for 8. It was fun! Lots of laughter and I think the dogs will be ok with us.

Ms. Fluffy, giving us her best profile

After the lunch and all the guests had left, I went into the kitchen to get to the dishes. Well Karen W. had brought this amazing cornbread, and there was one piece left on a plate with thinly sliced tomatoes.. I didn't even pause... I scooped up that cornbread, shoved the whole thing into my mouth and started to munch... when I looked down and realized that the "spices" on the plate were moving... OH YUCK! BLEAH! I spit out the bread and rinsed out my mouth so quick.. ants.. yes I had a mouth full of sugar ants.. I coughed, spit and leaped around waving my arms going ooooohhh yuck gargled and then drank a huge mug of hot tea, but I still feel like there are ants crawling up my throat... gross...I think I will go make another big mug of tea...

ART, RENEWABLE ART &THE ART OF DRIVING

2011-02-25T17:32:00.000-06:00

I found a bunch of pictures on my camera, that I had never posted, so I thought I would just put them out here and let my mind meander for a bit. Lucky you...

a painting in a breezeway gallery

Ceiling, painting around the chandelier

I just love the ornate ceilings... its art as far as I am concerned!

Street Art

Divine Art

As you know we have been working on decorating our new home. As we find items that we can reuse we have been trying to put them to use somewhere in the house. The Cuecanos are marvelous at this feat, and we are not ones to be outdone.

Root starter

Thanks C & N for this reminder!

Cigar cask.. now a utensil holder!

Randy has decided that as well as a motorcycle license he should get his driver's license. Here in Ecuador the motorcycle license does not require any testing but the automobile license does.

Randy was told he had to take 10-2hr driving lessons, as well as 10-3 hr lecture classes. ALL in Spanish. His class times are from 2-4 driving, 8-11 classroom lecture... all on the same day. Now, let me remind you this is the country where they honk instead of using their signals, pass on blind curves and crowd instead of taking turns through the round-abouts (called rondels here).

Randy came back from the first day pooped and told me that the driving part is 4 cars following the leader through town. Randy's teacher sits and talks on her phone, does her makeup or listens to the radio... with an occasional "A la dereccha" (turn right)... when he gets slowed up by a light and gets behind the others.

Today when he returned with the good news that the main teacher who spoke some English said "You can drive!"... Randy said YES! The teacher suggested that Randy not return until next Friday, when he will take his final driving test..Randy of course agreed.. he will not have to endure the follow the leader for the next week.

To add to all this drama is our goodbuddies, Clarke and Brenda. They are looking at cars, so of course we had to go along. I immediately found the Charlie Brown Christmas tree car... you know the one... its so ugly no one wants it? Well I loved it... even its outlandish interior! DISCLAIMER We did not buy a car

The tag says its yellow, but its the most gawd awful limish green

Yep.. black and lime interior..

Clarke and Brenda on the other hand are looking at a more upscale car, one that can accomdate lots of "stuff", and take on the back roads.

Clarke, is there room in the back for Randy and Karen??


See Brenda, its digital. I don't think they can adjust that kind of odometer!

I need to say right here that as of Tuesday, Clarke and Brenda had not bought a car, they were still looking..but then that was Tuesday!

A VIST TO SIGSIG, SAN BARTOLOME, PAUTE & CHORDELEG

2011-02-20T10:37:00.000-06:00

Sunday, the day of rest.. especially in Cuenca. You have heard the saying about the sidewalks rolling up. Well it't about like that here. Very, very quiet. The museums are now catching on and recently sent out a notice that they would be open on Sundays for a few hours between 9-1. So that's a nice place to go, or you can get an early start and meet up with other "extrajernos" at the Parque Calderon, or Kookaburras Cafe. I am a slow beginner in our new life here, and I have not even tried any of the above activities on Sundays..

Our friends did take us on a day trip yesterday to Sigsig, Chordeleg, San Bartoleme, and Paute. I had only a banana for breakfast, so the windy roads and sudden passing around buses was not to my stomach's liking. Kesha, on the other hand, was enjoying the ride and seemed to not notice.

We stopped at a panama hat factory on a back road of the little town of Sigsig. It has this HUGE hat that they made. I think its the largest in Ecuador.

Right off to the side, in the shade, just sitting on the ground were these ladies just weaving away on hats. Of course the only thing that popped into my mind was why were they not in comfy chairs.. but since this was the way they grew up doing this, its probably not uncomfortable for them.

Well I guess this one lady has a tiny stool..

Drying strands getting ready for weaving

Randy checking out the hats in the factory part.

No, I don't think this is the look for you...

Cute basket we bought, 3.00

Next we went to the little town of San Bartolome, way up on the hill... beautiful view of the valley, so quiet and had of course a beautiful old church.

We next stopped in Chordeleg and checked out the green pottery.. totally bypassed the center of town where all the Jewelry was... I think it was a plan by the guys in the car.. Randy had some fun batering with the ladies, and they were nice enough to give him a bit of a discount. My camera was forgotten at this stop.

I was starting to complain loudly at this point about being hungry so we stopped at a little place that sold Rosero. A wonderful fruit drink. Kind of like a Batitido, but even better. It has chunks of various fruits in it, kind of a thick drink, and absolutely delicious.

Next we went to a roadside stand outside of Paute that had pork and chicken for lunch. I did not take any photos here as I was up to my elbows in tortillas, chicken, hominy, and potatoes.. picture a pig wallow, and thats about the look of ecstatic pleasure I was having eating my food..

We next went to several Guitar makers homes. These were very small operations, and one family showed us how they made guitars. I was most impressed that the gentleman was very proud to point out that his son was learning the trade as well.

The little guitar that owner is holding is made out of a Armadillo shell. It was $150.. the one Randy is holding is $600. We passed on both.

Randy did make a selection.. at another business. This is Eddie's Guitar..when he comes to get it!

We had a great day, Thanks guys. It was nice to get out of the city, and see the countryside!

PONDERINGS FROM LAZY KAREN IN CUENCA

2011-02-14T13:20:00.000-06:00

I am finding that as I relax into my life in this new country, I am getting lax... on taking pictures, and telling folks about what its like to live here. I write my blog mostly for my family and friends, but have been getting quite a few emails from "ecuador prospects" asking particular questions about this and that. I try to answer as best I can, but mostly my suggestion is to read other folks blogs and research the forums.. does that make me lazy? Or hesitant to be blamed from giving the wrong impression?

The lack of super cool pictures is probably because I don't want to offend, or even stand out... well that's just silly, because of course I stand out! I don't fear having my camera stolen, I guess I am just getting used to seeing those things I once thought were odd or different.

"fresh" meat anyone?

"Ala Naturelle" Landscaping Service

We are finding ourselves staying home, and "nesting" alot more, only venturing out for walks to town, meandering streets we have not walked down, and noting places that would be nice to mention to our other friends who are looking for this and that. So no, I dont have lots of cool pictures of new stuff... except what we have been doing in the house and yard... sorry..

We are in the rainy season and I have some videos of the rains. We have a huge skylight over the stairwell so we get some incredible noise from that.

The river has really been rushing along, no flooding which is good; and the rain insures that we will not have a shortage of electricity, as we are powered hydroelectrically in Cuenca. Yes, for those of you who know Randy, he still wears shorts and Birks on rainy days...

I have started trying to knit again. I am happy to say they have TONS of yarn shops here, and each place has various types and quantities, so checking them out is alot of fun. Not knowing how to say knitting needles was fun too. With alot of arm waving and pointing I finally got my point across and I purchased another pair of larger needles. I have one project in process, but due to an error and my friend was sick, I have stopped on it, but began another on the 2nd pr of needles! Randy was noting that I had never made anything for him... to be accurate I have never made anything for anyone... but back to the point... I am knitting him a scarf.. a scarf in Ecuador? Yeah, I know sounds odd. The women wear them here alot.. they think its cold and they use them to cover their face when a nasty diesel bus passes. I only wore one once at nite in bed when I was Freezing to death... really I think I was sick. So it will be interesting to see if he does actually use it.

We have done some nite activities... the California Kitchen had their grand opening of their new bar area... 2/1 drinks ($5) couldn't pass that up! There was music as well, so we went both nites and really enjoyed being out "among 'em" .. Here is a photo of the gringo musician. His playing was excellent, and I hear he had only been here a few weeks and already was working! His guitar, he said, is called a Traveling Guitar. It was very unique, and I was happy to hear it was made in Oregon!

We continue to improve on the inside and outside of the house. Randy had our imminent carpenter Pepe make him a combination Cigar stand / Wine Rack. It turned out very nicely and it gives a nice look to an ordinary item.

Once again we stopped by the flower market next to the New Cathedral and bought flowers from our favorite vendor. We look at her flowers, check out all the other ladies, just to be polite, and the buy everything from her.. She and another lady always get going together pulling out flowers and they are very nice about our waving arms and bad Spanish, we always get a free plant and a MUCHAS GRACIAS!

Yes, we are softies...

One of our potted trees is blooming!

Oh and as a parting note... Randy has joined the ranks of men in Cuenca who occasionally HAVE to indulge in the common practice of public urination... uh no photos for that one...

SUNDAY REVELRY

2011-02-06T12:08:00.000-06:00

WASSUP? Randy woke me at 7:30 this morning! UGH.. its SUNDAY.
"Hurry we are meeting Becca & Kesha to walk down to Kooks.."

Wahhhat?? " Hurry, dont fall back to sleep, she is walking here". "We need to hurry so she doesn't have to run across Las Americas with the baby!!" Blearily I threw on my clothes, brushed my teeth, wiped the mascara off my face and ran a brush (I think) through my hair... We did not make it in time, Becca got to cross back over Las Americas again with us..It was a nice morning walk to Kooks; we were there by 8:30. Kookaburra owners, Jeni & Chris, came to a complete stop with mouths agape when they saw me. Either at the shock of my being up and moving so early, or I did not brush my hair as I had imagined. We had a lovely breakfast.. even if I was still half asleep.

By 9:30 we were off to walk through the flower market, peek into the church doors and walk around the New Cathedral. Then we headed home trying to hit the shade that also had a stroller worthy sidewalk.. some things are just better thought of as a great bonus...

We arrived home and Randy immediately scrawled a list of needs from Supermaxi..I lost the toss so I walked back up to Supermaxi, (Oh and is HOT this morning..picture pitted out shirt and sweat streaked face.. ) when I got back home he said...ok, we are up to 7 for dinner... (did I mention it was 2 yesterday...).. as I gaped at him like a fish out of water, he said WHAT? I'm cooking...well uh, we only have enough plates for 6? Not enough wine classes for those that do drink? He just smiles and says... Not a problem... we have enough food, it will all work out..
And it will... thats whats fun about being here... you start out with no plans for the day, and before you know it you have back to back plans and a house full of the most fun people, all chipping in and hauling wine, plates and dishes to your house with the words... NO PROBLEMA.. But I do think I need to take that shower now.

JANUARY - NO SNOW IN CUENCA

2011-01-27T17:06:00.000-06:00

I have been reading posts on Facebook and getting emails from friends and family back in "the old country" telling me all about the horrible weather, and unusually cold or rainy days. So I thought I would give them all a view of some of the pretty stuff in our yard. We have been having some successes and some failures, but all in all we are learning about the flora and fauna here in our "new country".

Amaryllis? I think these come in a box around Christmas time in the US

Gardenia

I love how they start out orange and end up pink

Such a frilly little lady..

Always have to have a yellow rose

We have had another bout of furniture delivery. Our fellow who does the "rustico" type furniture has been busy and with the holidays that never end around here, he was even more behind. Our facilitator and friend Arturo, returned from his business in the Amazon and Macara just in time to "remind" our carpenter that we were still waiting on the large bench and queen bed frame. Well last nite at 6:00 pm, Arturo and the carpenter arrived with the bench and bed. Again all very heavy and very large.

Seats about 4 large gentlemen, with room to spare

Randy had asked the carpenter to build a very basic bed, queen size, no fancy stuff on it, but sturdy. To prove how sturdy it was, the carpenter stood on the slats so I could see it would hold up. I didn't get a picture, I was laughing too hard.

I cut off the assistants head on purpose; he did not like his picture taken

While they were assembling the bed, I said to Arturo, well now we just have to get a mattress, He immediately got out his phone, called the mattress company, and got us the exact same queen mattress for our guest room bed, delivered the very next day..Please note, most beds in this country do not have a box spring. I suppose you can get them, we just went with what the norm was here for beds.

Basic Queen bed, $220, Queen pillow top firm $215 -Delivery & Assembly Included

I said we had some failures, well I did. I bought some seeds at a seed store. They were supposed to be for this area. But I did not follow the directions on when to plant. Most everyone told me I could plant them anytime. Well they did come up, but they are not moving along as fast as we/I would like so Randy and I have decided to just put in already growing flowers.. and give up on these poor seedlings.

If you look real close you can see the seedlings... about 6 weeks old!

These are in our bedroom window box..

And these

And these.. see the difference?

I wish you all a better February, and on those days that get too dreary.. just go out and buy yourself some flowers! That will cheer you up!

SUNNY CUENCA ACTIVITIES

2011-01-18T13:08:00.000-06:00

The weather has turned into a delightful streak of sunny days. I am very happy to see them. The river has dropped alot but we know some nite soon we will have a downpour and it will revitalize the flow again.

Because we love to be outside, and because the weather has been so nice, Randy and I have been busy sprucing up the yard.

And we finally got all of the curtains installed and furniture moved and houseplants in the "GreenRoom".

I have even attempted to bake some desserts, they worked out well with the fresh phyllo dough they have here and I added Nutella and bananas to them.. ugly but yum-oh.

We celebrated the sunshine by asking our friends over for a impromptu BBQ of burgers. Randy hates gooey stuff on his hands so I got the honor of 'squishing' the meat with the additives for for the burgers. I made Randy take a picture so I had more proof that I do actually help out occasionally.. notice there are no sharp knives near me..I should be safe.

Clarke and Brennie, rode their motorcycle over for the BBQ, and after a rousing game of rummy, they sped off into the nite. I had to take a picture as this is the first time Brennie has been on the bike with Clarke.

Yep for those who know me, that is my Scooter jacket she is wearing!

Randy, hamming it up in the background

The very next day we were off to an early start. I had a NMT session at 7:30, and by 10:30 we were loaded into our friends, Jason & Donna, car to drive out to Paute. We were all excited to see the new land and house that our other mutual friends had purchased. Since it was lunch time, and everyone knows that a stop in Paute is not complete without lunch at Corvels, we all met up there and had a wondrous lunch.

Delicious!

Here are some photos of Jenny & Chri's new adventure in the hills of Paute. Thank goodness they are so young. All us oldsters wont be too much help, I think we will fall into the Supervision category! Who could resist the beautiful views and countryside! Now I know why the Cuencanos have weekend homes in Paute.

While we were touring their property a sweet lady left her grazing cows to come over and talk to the crazy gringos wandering all over the hills..she had no qualms about trying to speak to someone who probably did not know any Spanish. It was a lovely gesture and as it turns out she had worked for the original family years before and knew all about the history for the house and land. Jenny was thrilled and as you can see here they had a nice chat.

The little lady was quick to offer an Ecuadorian familiar greeting!

Jenny & Francis sat down and let her know they were up for a good chat!

Jenny, Francis and Jenny's new friend

I was intrigued to find out that the house is pretty old, and looking around at some of the outbuildings its amazing how we don't understand that these "primitive" buildings have been standing for years and survive all kinds of weather, and are very reasonable to build!

Here we are inside one of the rooms, we were struck by the phone, Jenny found a machete.. well of course..

OK, so they all look alike... very old, which is which?

Outside, a ancient brick and mud oven. We contemplated oven fired Pizzas!

It was a wonderful day, and great to see how others are enjoying Ecuador. I hope that we are invited back soon. Randy has a stack of empty pots he wants to get cuttings from their plants while we supervise!

IN WITH THE NEW

2011-01-09T21:15:00.000-06:00

The New Year has started off nice and quiet for us. We decided after the huge rain storm that day, to stay in and just enjoy what fireworks we could see from our home. We found out that we were not the only ones who voted to stay home and enjoy from afar, so I do not have any photos, mine or others so share.

I have been lazy and have been posting some interesting photos on Facebook, instead of doing a full blown blog. So I will just pop in a few photos here that I thought were fun.


Pretty rainbow over Cuenca

Argentina is producing 6 packs of Malbec/Cab wine..not too bad..

A tiny parade that went by the Kookaburras's on Friday morning

One of the things I love about Cuenca, is their determination to try to keep the city pretty and clean. There is a wonderful green park area that runs along all of the rivers (3) in town. Occasionally you will see farmers staking out their cows or goats to munch on the grass. But the city has a crew of industrious workers who come out and cut and rake up the grass. You would think with all these miles and miles of grass that there would be huge lawn mowers. Not so. The labor here is very inexpensive, so they are sent out to cut the grass with weed eaters.. yes, all across town you will see on certain days of the month workers out in force weed eating every bit of green found in a public area of town. Then they hand rake it into a huge tarp and carry it off. I have a wonderful upper room with a view so I got these photos the other day.

Speaking of cutting. I decided that I too needed a bit of freshening up, and took advantage of my friend's "bilingual-ness" to adventure into a salon. Rebecca Garate, is a very helpful friend, and she and her mother-in law; Chella, were going to go get the "mani-pedi" special, so they invited me along so I could get a hair cut.

Even in the states when you speak the same language the interpretation of what you want is sometimes "lost in translation". Well considering we were working through three folks I came out with a pretty nice haircut. It's a bit shorter than I had expected, but you know, hair grows..and I have learned not to be defined by what my hair looks like.. haha, now that only took 20 yrs!

Randy has been busy keeping the yard in shape. He bought a huge machete and started hacking at the grass, and created a nice wide trimmed area for roses. This country exports roses by the millions, but finding a plant seems difficult. We did find some nice small ones at a flower market in El Centro. $2 a pc. so we hurried home and planted them then sat back and admired our handiwork.

I know, before planting..

We also bought some ferns to put in this shady area. We are excited to see how fast they grown in this nice climate.

We went with Clarke and Breenie to the Artesa warehouse where some fabulous pottery is made. We were off to hit the seconds room, as we are not budgeted for the showroom pieces. Here are some of the beauties in the showroom.

Luckily for Brennie and I Clarke hates to shop so he opted to hang outside, Randy had no one to torment while picking out the pottery that we needed. Not so just a few minutes later. Randy and Clarke were tormenting the poor lady who was trying to tally our purchases. Brennie had bailed and I had run to the other side of the room... where I took this picture..

The poor lady has her head down trying to ignore their banter..

We have been enjoying our continuing friendship with Clarke and Brennie; but Brennie and I have determined that our husbands only act insane when they are around each other. We are continually amazed at how suddenly they both revert back to high school "high-jinks" and unfortunately we, as their long suffering wives, bear the brunt of the odd looks and pity we receive from other wives who see out dilemma. Because of this, Brennie and I have opted to only get together in our own homes instead of in public. Brennie has told me there is a meeting of wives that is gathering to talk about how to deal with our newly retired husbands and dealing with their "retirement issues"... not really but it sounded good... well the meeting I mean. All the rest is true, Clarke and Randy are nutso when they are together. It is rather fun though, because you don't usually see men joke and play together like that unless they have been buds for dozens of years.. these two have been friends for 6 months.. God help us in the years to come!

HOLY MOLY ITS ALMOST 2011

2010-12-29T09:26:00.000-06:00

The countdown has started here in Cuenca. I have seen people selling and wearing 2011 plastic eyeglasses. I haven't been brave enough to take a photo.

We survived our first Christmas here in Ecuador without too much drama. We both are not big night owls or large party folks, so our festivities were limited to a wonderful Christmas eve party given by our good friend Ida and her family. Normally, we were told, the guests have dinner at Midnight, but due to us being invited (6 gringos) they moved the time to 9 pm. Wow, I had to take a nap to just make it that late. The dinner was wonderful, all the expected Turkey and fixings you could want. Champagne and a great white wine. After dinner we were entertained by Ida's grandson,Nicky who played his guitar and sang, then not to be out done, Nicky's dad grabbed the guitar and serenaded us with an Ecuadorian song that struck a cord with the family who all joined in singing. It was very wonderful.

On Christmas day Randy cooked up a wonderful ham with fixin's for 4 of our friends; two who live here and two who are visiting. Our other friends, Chuck and Nancy stopped by to visit before they were off to another home for Christmas dinner. I caught them all outside enjoying our Christmas sunshine.

I got some pictures of our new dining room table all set, ready for the guests to come in..

We have been enjoying gettign settled into our new home. While I was in the States, Randy was in charge of getting the house all ready, and he also had fun buying some pictures that we had seen up at Turi. These are copies of a famous picture here in Ecuador. Ours are not signed so Randy has been trying to get Arturo to sign them so folks will think we have originals... so far Arturo just laughs..

To hang anything here you need a drill.. The walls are concrete block. Great for insulating and sound dampening, but not so good if you don't have a drill. I brought one back from the states, and I am happy to tell Eddie, he did a great job picking it out. Randy loves his new drill and has been busily hanging mirrors, pictures and wall hangings.

I am not too sure the placement of Che with Mickey is the idea he was going for..

We are looking forward to our first New Years here in Cuenca. We hear its quite exciting with burning effigies and lots of fire works. I am thinking I will have to get my naps in so I can stay up late to enjoy all the festivities... Happy New Year to friends, family and readers. May your New Year be all that you hope for...