Every Day is a New Adventure

     We have just finished our second week in Ecuador.  I think I speak for both John and I when I say, this country is growing on us.  On Tuesday, we headed to Cuenca to meet with our attorneys to get our visas registered here in Ecuador so we can apply for our Cedulas (Ecuadorian identification card). We hopped on the local bus in front of our house which took us into La Libertad which is about 10-15 minutes away ($.25/per person).  From the bus terminal in La Libertad we took a bus to Guayaquil which took about 2 1/2 hours ($3.30/per person).  We watched a movie on the bus which was in Spanish and subtitled in Spanish, but we were able to get the general idea.  The bus station in Guayaquil was awesome.  It was like a huge shopping mall with multiple floors, lots of shops and restaurants. We didn't have much time to spend there as we were soon boarding the bus to head to Cuenca ($8.00/per person). This would be the longest leg of our trip. Also our most interesting.  We travelled through the mountains with absolutely gorgeous scenery and many switchbacks.  The trip was going great and then our bus driver and his helper decided to switch places.  I think the helper was just learning how to drive or something.  They stopped right in the middle of a hill, in the middle of the road to switch. Then we heard the gears grinding. Several times.  It took the new driver about half an hour to get the hang on how to shift.  We made it safely to Cuenca where we met up with Roger and Suzanne Yazell.  Roger and I became Facebook friends through my friend, Debbie in Phoenix.  The Yazells took us around Cuenca, showing us some of the beautiful architecture and local merchants.  We met with our attorneys the following morning and quickly found out we were going to have to stay in Cuenca an additional night.  Our passports were going to be held overnight so they could check everything out before we were registered.  We made use of our time by visiting a store to pick out the tile for our house (they have the same store in Guayaquil so we knew our contractor could get it there).  Since I had purchased two beautiful table clothes from an Ecuadorian merchant the night before, I was excited to have time to purchase a couple more.  Our trip back to Punta Carnero was pretty uneventful and went pretty quick. So quick that we didn't have time to use the restroom in Guayaquil and when we got on the bus we noticed there was no bathroom this time (every other bus we were on had one).  It got a little uncomfortable towards the end of our trip.
Slowly but surely, we are starting to figure things out here.  We have so much to learn, but that is what makes each day a new adventure for us.  (And an additional note, the total round trip cost per person for our bus trip was $23.10).

Our First Week in Ecuador

After many months of preparation, we arrived in Ecuador on Thursday, October 11.  Or it was supposed to be on Thursday.  We actually landed around 1:30am Friday morning after a few hours of sitting in the plane in Miami waiting to take off.  Just when we thought we were clear to go, we got delayed again for Airforce One to take off with the President.  We spent the night in Guayaquil at a Howard Johnson's which was very nice.  Friday morning we got picked up by a private van to take us and our 9 suitcases and 2 carry ons to our new home in Punta Carnero.  Our van driver was trying extremely hard to give us a crash course in Spanish on the way.  When we arrived at our house, our contractor, Christopher and our real estate agent, Kimberly were there waiting to greet us. That was awesome. Christopher had picked up some snacks and drinks for us, since we had nothing at the house. Fortunately the people who owned the house previously had lefts some pieces of furniture there. It wasn't the best, but since we had nothing, it worked.  We had brought a pillow top air mattress along to sleep on while we wait for our container to arrive (which should be sometime in the first part of November).  There was a platform bed frame that worked great for putting that on. We soon set up a functional studio apartment in our bedroom (to keep out of the way of the construction workers as much as possible).  When we tried to take our first shower, we found out we had no hot water.  Upon further investigation we found that the gas tank was not hooked up to the water heater and we needed a new regulator. That would actually get hooked up the following Saturday.  We met some awesome neighbors about a kilometer down the road, Gary and Kathryn. They immediately took us under their wing and started showing us the ropes.  They have certainly made our transition much easier.  On Sunday, they invited us over dinner for smoked ribs, shrimp, sausages and swordfish, along with homemade baked beans, roasted vegetables and chocolate cheesecake for dessert.  It was quite the feast.  The night before, our next door neighbor, Alvaro brought us over dinner which was sauteed shrimp and rice.  It was delicious! Alvaro is originally from Chile, but lives in Guayaquil now.  His home in Punta Carnero is a weekend beach house.  I have also fallen in love with his 2 month old beagle puppy, Bruno.   Monday morning, I took my first run along the beach. It was very enjoyable and peaceful.  I was the only one out there. 
    John and I have worked on finding our way around using the bus and taxis. The bus is $.25 and the taxi ride is $3.00.  So far we haven't gotten lost.  We have made several trips to El Paseo, which is the shopping mall. There is a Hiper Markert there which has pretty much everything we need, from hardware to food.  We signed up for our Hiper Market card right away which saves us about 10-15% or so every time we shop.  We are also regulars at the food court there, too.   It will be so nice to have our stove and refrigerator here.  We did end up buying a small refrigerator, which has been great, because we were able to at least buy some meat and cheese to make sandwiches (and ice cream!).
    Another thing we accomplished this week was to hire our caretakers.  We have a young couple, Jimmy and Marian and their 6 year old son, Kevin.  They moved in Friday.  So far, it is going very well.  It is a hard concept for us to get use to having help, but I think in the long run it will be a very good thing. 
    All in all, it has been a very good week.  We have enjoyed swimming in the ocean and taking long walks along the beach at least once a day.  I am getting quite the shell collection.  I will continue to post as we move towards our goal of opening our bed and breakfast, Las Palmas Del Mar (hopefully in a few months).