Learning and Adjusting

    This last week has been interesting, to say the least.  We have made some positive changes regarding our house remodel, which has become a huge relief.  It finally feels like we will be moving forward instead of running in place.  And as Forest Gump said, "that's all I got to say about that".
   After five weeks here, we can honestly say that it feels like home here.  I cannot say enough how friendly and wonderful the people here have been to us.  It will feel awesome when we are in the position to give back to all that have helped us along the way.  This week we met some more neighbors who had been out of the country, Will and Janis.  They walk their beautiful husky, Kai, several times a day so we have seen them quite a bit.  Will is a native Ecuadorian so he has helped us with translating as well. They are a great couple, and we are lucky to know them (along with everyone else). 
   The weather has been absolutely amazing.  The temperature year round here averages at 82 degrees for a high and 65 for a low.  It has been in the mid to high 70's every day.  As we are approaching summer here, it will be warming up into the 80's. A major reason why we chose this area to live. Also the fact that the average rainfall per year is about 4 inches.  We had a blast yesterday afternoon watching the surfers out on our beach (ok, not really OUR beach, but it is right in front of our house). One young surfer saw has watching him as he was riding a big wave in and he decided to ham it up just for us with a little hip wiggle and some other fancy moves. I think he enjoyed our ovation and thumbs up.
   The things that shocked us initially have now just become, well, I guess you could say, less shocking. To elaborate, it is very common, any place, anywhere, anytime, to see a mother breast feeding her child.  With no attempt to cover anything up.  To be honest, it doesn't bother us at all, but it is just something you don't see in the U.S. (usually).  Also, men take full advantage of their ability to pee anywhere, anytime and pretty much any place.  Probably the funniest one was seeing a guy who had pulled over on his motorcycle (on a very busy street) and relieved himself, right there on the edge of the road. I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go!  That one is definitely more disturbing than the former : ).   Another thing we got used to very quickly was the fact that you do not flush toilet paper down the toilet.  It is deposited in a trash can (hopefully covered).  This is true in all of Ecuador  It really is not a big deal as one might think it would be.  Another fact in Ecuador- pedestrians do not have the right of way.  I don't think this is a written law or anything, but it truly is your own responsibility for getting yourself across a street safely.  They will beep at you to let you know you are in the way, but that does not mean they will stop.  We did adjust to that very quickly as well.  
    John and I are both very happy and look forward to each day and what it might bring.  We are both very adaptable, so that has helped a lot.  We are truly grateful for all the people in our lives (in WI, AZ and Ecuador) that have been so supportive and understanding of our choices.  Just because there is distant in between us doesn't mean we love you all any less.