Ecuador: Not your typical midlife crisis: Another Great Week in Ecuador

     I just realized my blog post title could get rather redundant. Another great week in Ecuador is just ending for us. We both feel like someone is going to pinch us and we will wake up from this wonderful dream.
     On Monday, the new workers started chipping our old tile to get it ready for the new tile to be laid over it. This is all done by hand with a metal tool that is continuously hit upon the tile. It is very tedious, but it gets the job done. We are so excited for the new tile, that the noise and dust doesn't bother us at all. The granite for the kitchen was also delivered on Tuesday. We are slowly making progress. On Saturday, they actually laid the very first pieces of tile.
     Tuesday night, our friends Gary and Kathryn invited us over for enchiladas. Oh my, what a treat. There was also homemade salsa and guacamole. Kathryn can rival any Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, and that is the truth. Needless to say, we are very spoiled.
     Thanksgiving Day is obviously not celebrated here by the general Ecuadorian population, but the gringos here in Punta Carnero from the U.S. got together to celebrate at Bob and Freida's home. In traditional American style, there was way more food than we could possibly eat. I think the local Punta Carnero policia could smell it, because they stopped by to eat as well. We had a very enjoyable day as we also got to Skype with many family members in the U.S.
     There was no Black Friday shopping here. Just another day in paradise, walking the beach and picking up shells. I can honestly say I don't miss it at all. We are very happily adjusting to the much slower pace of life. We did take the bus (for $.25) into La Libertad on Friday. We had Almuerzo (lunch) at this awesome little restaurant called Restaurante El meson del Coronel. Almuerzo consisted of a choice of sopa (soup) which was either de habas con queso (cheese soup) or sanccho de carne (a meat and potato soup). There was two different choices for entrees. One had pescado (fish) and the other had pollo (chicken). We had the chicken which came with rice and fideo with jamon (pasta with ham). On top of that we got a large glass of this most wonderful tasting juice. All which cost us $2.00 each. Not too shabby. We then walked to towards the La Libertad mercado. On the way, we found a place for John to get his hair cut. Total cost was $3.00 (including the tip). From there we picked up some strawberries from a street vendor for $1.50 and five very large cucumbers for $1.00. For $1.00 we took a taxi to El Paseo, the shopping mall and then another $.25 for the bus ride back home. Total spent on our outing = $11.00. Cost of experiencing the Ecuadorian culture = priceless.
     On Saturday, we went to see a movie at El Paseo. They have several movies showing, but there is usually only a couple that are in English. We were fortunate enough to be able to see El Cuervo (The Raven) with John Cusack which was a story about Edgar Allen Poe. It was very good (as was the popcorn!) Our next door neighbors had invited us over later that evening for drinks and homemade empanadas. Alvaro and Yvonne are from Chile originally, but now live in Guayaquil. Their home here in Punta Carnero is their weekend and holiday beach house. Our friends Will and Janis were invted as well and Alvaro served us a Chilean drink called Pisco Sour. It was awesome. And then the plates of empanadas were brought out. There was shrimp and salmon, seafood, mushroom with corn and sausage and cheese. Definitely the best empanadas we have ever had. We were very thankful at the end of the night (after finishing a bottle of red wine on top of all the Pisco Sours), that we only had to walk next door. We are so fortunate to have such wonderful neighbors as Alvaro, Yvonne, their 11 year old son Nico and their beagle puppy, Bruno.
     So, as I stated at the beginning of this post, another great week in Ecuador.