The Empanada Man

     What started out as just a normal walk for me a few months ago allowed me to cross paths with a very special man, who has since become a good friend.  I met Enrique Mendez while I was walking down a dirt road not too far from our house.  He was on a motorcycle and stopped to say hello and introduce himself.  Enrique sells empanadas and juice off the back of his bike. After the introductions were out of the way, he gave me an empanada and a cup of juice.  I explained to him that I had no money on me, and he said, "no, this is a gift for you'.  All in Spanish of course, since Enrique does not speak English at all.  I told him to stop by our house some time and we would buy some empanadas from him. 
     Well, that day started our friendship. Eventually he got to meet John as well, and now we buy empanadas from him a couple times a week and if he ever sees us out walking, he stops and gives us each an empanada and juice.  The other day when Enrique stopped by, our friend Ian was here, who is bilingual.  So finally I was able to communicate with him a little more than normal.  Ian discovered that Enrique was originally from a small town about an hour north of us called Barbascal.  He now lives in La Libertad.  A good portion of the money he makes from selling his empanadas goes to help the elderly people that live in his home
town, usually by bringing them large bags of rice and other things they need.  I asked them if they had many children in the town and he said yes, about 100 or so.  We then explained to him about John playing Papa Noel at Christmas time and possibly we could make a visit there.  He readily agreed, but said he would like us to see the town first.  We set up a time for him to meet us at our house on the coming Thursday and he took John, Ian and I to Barbascal on the bus. 

     Ian and Enrique were able to chat on the way, so we were able to learn much more about him.  Enrique is a huge advocate for the elderly people in his town, in fact all of the people there.  He has a foundation that is working on building a place for the older population to be sure their needs are being met.  Already I am seeing the hidden gem of a person underneath this man that sells empanadas. We stopped in the city of Colonche, which is just a few minutes before Barbascal.  Enrique wanted us to see the church there, which was built in the 1700's, totally from wood (Guayacan- which is a very durable and termite-proof wood).  It was gorgeous!  We hopped back on the bus and headed down the road to our destination.  Barbascal sits on top of a hill and overlooks the beautiful countryside.  We walked a couple blocks to a community center (which Enrique was instrumental in getting built) and inside was about 20 elderly people sitting around a table working on a art project. We found out that Enrique had informed them that we were coming and asked them to be there to greet us.  One by one, each of these people came up and greeted, hugged, kissed, shook hands with all of us.  It was an unbelievable experience.  Enrique explained to them what we wanted to do at Christmas time.  They were all so warm and welcoming.  From there Enrique took us to his brother's house where his sister-in-law had prepared us a wonderful meal of chicken, rice and plantains.  We were given a tin bowl of water and a bar of soap to pass around the table and wash our hands first.  To say the food was delicious is an understatement.  Enrique told us they do not normally eat this type of meal and that it was prepared especially for us being there. 
     The experience of this entire day was so overwhelming.  It was a very special day, for sure.  So, tomorrow Enrique transforms back into The Empanada Man.  But his good will and giving nature to the people of his country, of his home town, continues.  Papa Noel will be making a visit to Barbascal at Christmas time and we look forward to seeing all the smiling faces, young and old alike, again.  

Our lives have changed in the following ways;

     We have just completed seven months of living in the midst of renovations of our house.  Would we do it again?  Probably not the right time to ask...  It was kind of one of those things comparable to walking in a snowstorm. You pull everything in real tight, put your head down, squint a little once in a while so you can see where you are going and celebrate when you get to your destination. Yes, that is exactly what it was like.  But now... it is awesome and well worth it. I do not regret at all living here while the dust and dirt were flying, when sometimes we had no hot water, we had no kitchen for about 4 months, many workers were in our house every day.  I am not complaining.  We chose to do this and we certainly made the best of every situation as we came across it.  All in all, we are pretty adaptable people. Some of the changes of been slow and some of been drastically fast.  Now, with the ability to look back (with no snowstorm going on) we can finally sit back and say "wow!!".
     One of the changes that came upon us subtly, but now is very clear, is that we hardly ever leave our house.  And we actually like it that way.  We are not bored.  We don't crave shopping, eating out, movies, concerts, etc... like you would think.  Once every couple weeks we make a point of getting out somewhere just so we don't lose our social skills.  It is very nice to see our new friends here in Ecuador. 
     We are outside every chance we get. Every meal is eaten on our porch (we have three tables we could eat at in the house and have only used them a handful of times).  Instead of 3-4 hours of television a night, we watch about 1 hour or until I fall asleep (whichever comes first).  We watch our U.S. television shows on the computer instead of our tv.  We have turned the tv on a few times.  Mostly just to watch a movie. 
    I just realized yesterday that I haven't driven a car in 8 months.  This came up in a conversation yesterday with my good friend Mary in Phoenix.  We will be staying at their house for a couple days when we go back to visit and she said if you need to go somewhere you can use our car.  I said, "Oh, yes, sure!  I haven't driven a car in 8 months".  I am thinking she will probably drive me where I need to go.  Realistically, I think it is just like a bike. No problem.  We take the bus, we take a taxi. Whatever we need.  It really isn't an inconvenience for us.  John does want to get a motor scooter, so as soon as he gets his Ecuador license, we will do that.
     We speak a lot of Spanish.  Not the flowing kind you hear the natives speak. I would say more pieced together phrases with English words thrown in when we don't know the Spanish word. Fortunately our guardian, Jimmy is pretty good at understanding what we say. And we have become pretty good at recognizing the look on his face when we have totally lost him.  So now we are starting to take Spanish lessons. We have an excellent teacher and I am very excited at the prospect of actually being able to communicate without sounding like a kindergartener.  A word to the wise: do NOT trust Google Translate!  That is all I have to say about that.
     My two best friends here now have four legs each.  They are really good at listening, don't gossip (much anyway) and they are always in a good mood.  Oh, their names are Annabel and Josie. They are full of energy and keep us on our toes, too.  We love our puppies!
      I know have talked about this before, but cooking is very different.  All the convenience items I used to cook with in the U.S. I don't use anymore. At least most of them. There is an international aisle at the grocery store where I can get a few of the things I miss. I try not to overdo it there though, because it is very expensive and it is defeating the purpose of trying to eat healthy.  Milk comes in a 1 liter bag.  I very carefully snip off both corners before pouring it into my pitcher.  (Yes, that was a live and learn, thing there).  Also the milk is bought off the shelf, not out of a refrigerator.  It's ok, though.  Seriously. Same with eggs. 
     It is a much more laid back, relaxing lifestyle here.  Now that the work is done on the house, we can begin to really enjoy that.  We are looking forward to meeting different people that come through on their travels.
      We keep up with our friends and family via Facebook, Face Time, Skype,  and phone calls. Of course we miss everyone, but technology sure helps with that.
      We take the good with the different (there really is no bad), and really try to enjoy everything about our experience here.  And for the most part we do.  No regrets.  It truly is all about being adaptable.

Playing Tourist

     For the last 13 days, we have had the great pleasure of having Matt and Nelly Klein visit from Santa Fe, NM.  I met Nelly back when we both lived in Phoenix.  We were running partners for a couple years and even did a 1/2 marathon relay together.  With all the time we have been putting in to getting the house finished, we decided to take these days off to be able to spend time with them and also to get to see some of the area that we hadn't yet.
     We enjoyed some time hanging out at the beach and in our pool.  The table in the pool got broken in good with some nice, cold beverages.  On Saturday we made a trip down to the La Libertad malecon where Nelly had some awesome shrimp cerviche.  From there we made our way up to the mercado where we had a batido (which is a fruit smoothie).  It was absolutely the best I have had.  Since, we were kind of eating our way through La Libertad, we ended up with lunch at our favorite little restaurant, El Coronel, where we had our $2.00 almuerzo (inludes choice of two soups, two different entrees and two different juices).  To say we were stuffed would be an understatement.
     On Monday we took our first trip away from home.  Miryan, Kevin and her sister's family took us up to Dos Mangas (near Montanita) for a hike to some waterfalls.  The hike itself took about 4 hours round trip.  We spent about an hour or so at the waterfall (a small one), so we could eat lunch and the kids could swim. Having the young kids with made it so much fun.  They ranged from age 7 to 11 years old.  Oh, and Miryan's sister is 8 1/2 months pregnant.  I can't believe there was not one ounce of complaining from anyone.  We saw a lot of different fruit trees and plants and even got to try some mame (best described as something between a peach and a mango). It was delicious!.  We did hear some monkeys for a while but unfortunately never got to see them.  It was kind of an eerie sound to hear them calling.
     After the hike, Miryan and her family headed back home and we all went to Montanita to stay overnight.  We got checked into our hostel, The Hurvinek.  The location was good because we were just a couple blocks from all the action in downtown Montanita.  Montanita is a surfing town with a lot of very laid back people in it.  A very different atmosphere, but enjoyable.  You will never see more dreadlocks anywhere else, I swear.  The lobby/dining area of our hostel was very nice with lots of homemade wooden furniture.  Then we saw our rooms.  The mattress was no more than 4 inches thick and hard as a rock. It would have been more comfortable to sleep on the floor.  At least they did have hot water.  I think their main clientele is backpackers and younger people who don't care about comfort as much.  We had a good time, nontheless. 
     On Tuesday, we took a tour through Montanitours (which I would highly recommend if you plan on spending time in Montanita).  They can help you out with just about anything and there are people there that speak English as well, if needed.  We went in a van north up to Puerto Lopez where we took a boat out to Isla de la Plata (named after the silver color of the island which comes from bird poop).  It took about an hour to get there.  This is also nicknamed the poor man's Galapagos.  The island is uninhabited, but very cool.  We took about a 2 hour hike, where we saw many blue footed boobies and red breasted frigates.  After the hike, when we got back on the boat, we saw sea turtles swimming beside us. Also some very pretty black and yellow fish.  We were then given the option to go snorkeling if we wanted. The water was so cold I didn't stay in long. John, Matt and Nelly were smart and didn't go in.
     Since we had one more night to stay in Montanita, we hit the town again.  We went to a hookah bar, which was a new experience for me.  It wasn't too bad. We tried some fruit flavored tobacco.  It was actually quite relaxing.  The next morning we headed back to Montanitours to go on our zip lining excursion.  I had no idea what to expect, but was very pleasantly surprised on how beautiful it was!  The ziplines crossed valleys of green, lush areas where there were even cows grazing below. I have to admit, I was a little freaked out at first but very determined to try it. I went first and it was awesome! I never felt unsafe or scared, just in awe of the view I had way up in the air.  You can see the beaches of Montanita.  We did six different lines ($15 per person).  Nelly was so brave she even did one hanging upside down! I would definitely do it again. So much fun.
     We had so much fun just hanging out at home, as well.  One day we did surf lessons out on our beach here in Punta Carnero. It is $20 per person for a one hour lesson.  We each had our own instructor.  It was a great experience.  Again, I was determined, but never quite got up on both feet.  Both Matt and Nelly were able to stand up, at least for a short time.   The next day I think we were all a little sore. Nelly was lucky, though because I had helped Matt set up a 2 hour massage at our house for her with our friend, Janis who is a very experienced massage therepist.
    The weekend ended with a fun Cinco de Mayo party at Sin, a bar in Salinas.  Matt and Nelly got to meet a lot of our friends.  On Monday, Nelly and I went to the mud bath in San Vicente.  Was that ever an experience. We hired a taxi to take us there and wait to bring us back.  It is $2.00 to get into the mud bath and mineral baths.  For $3.00 you can get vapors (like a steam bath with eucalyptus, etc...) and for $5.00 you can get either a mud massage or an aloe vera massage. Nelly went with the mud massage and I got the aloe vera.  If you have any inhibitions, you might want to skip the massage part. It is topless and they don't avoid any areas.  Surprisingly it was not as weird as it sounds.  Pretty much you are rubbed with either aloe vera or mud from head to toe.  The mud bath was quite interesting.  I had to shower off the aloe vera first, then rub mud all over and let it dry.  Then another shower so we could go in the mineral baths.  The whole thing is pretty rustic, but we had a good time.  I would definitely go again.
     Today we said our goodbyes to Matt and Nelly.  It was so awesome to have them here and we will miss them terribly.  We look forward to our next visitor, our friend Lynne, who comes the end of June.  And all the new people we will meet as we open our bed and breakfast.  At least we have now experienced some things that we will recommend.

What's a few bumps in the road?

     We have been in Ecuador for almost six months. In that time we have lived in a house that is undergoing major renovations.  People have called us crazy, brave, insane and probably many more things, but as we are nearing the end of this wild ride of construction, I have to say we would not have done it any other way.  Everything has taken us much longer than we thought, but I think in the end we will be very glad we made the decisions we did. 
     About three weeks ago, when we were just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we had a little snafu.  The electricity ground line broke at the pole and sent power surges through our house. It shorted out one of the two phase lines into the house.  Instead 110 volts of electricity we had 220 volts surging through (after speaking with John's brother Jim who is an electrician, we found out this could happen anywhere).  Needless to say, we had some losses of electrical items.  The dishwasher, refrigerator, dryer, coffee maker (my nice big Cuisinart I brought from the states), Keurig and television all have taken a trip to the appliance graveyard.  A couple of the things we could live without for a bit, but the coffee maker and dryer were devastating.  A huge thanks to our neighbors, Bob and Freida, who brought down a big pot of coffee for us the day it happened.  We try to look on the bright side of things, because, to be honest, it just sucks not to.  We now have new electricity lines running to our house, but of course the electric company didn't want to repair anything too quickly. So we hired someone to take care of it for us.  That repair was only $120 so not too shabby.  The cost of replacing the fried electronics, well, hopefully our homeowners' insurance will take care of a good chunk of it. There is, of course, many hoops to jump with and we won't hold our breath for that to be settled.  On the bright side, I was able to find the exact same coffee maker I had, but it was about $150 more than I paid for the original.  Ouch!  The Keurig is nowhere to be found here.  We are very lucky that this happened at the time it did.  Thank goodness we were not open yet, so we were the only ones affected by this.
     I know someday we will look back at this whole experience and say, how did we ever do that?  The short answer is, one day at a time.  And also, you just cannot take things too seriously.  When our puppies dig and roll in the mud of our flower bed and come up on the porch and look at us all innocently, we just laugh.  When one of our workers puts all the handles for the screens on the wrong end, we just .... well, not laugh initially... that one take a bit.  We really just want to be finished with the construction phase. We have had our fun out of it so time to move on.
     The next bit of excitement for us will be having our friends, Matt and Nelly visit. They fly in on April 25 and will be here about 10 days.  It will be a nice break for us, because soon after that, we will be heading full gear into our grand opening.  The tentative grand opening celebration date is Sunday, May 26, with the actual opening being Friday, May 31.
     We have taken the good with the bad, enjoyed every moment we could, but it is time to move into the next exciting phase in our lives. If you haven't yet, (and you really want to :), "like" our Facebook page, Las Palmas Del Mar.  Thank you!

Our Daily Lives

     We have been in Ecuador for over five months already.  It seems like much longer than that.  When we look back to our first month or so here, it seems like eons ago.  Our house is pretty much unrecognizable from when we first arrived.  Slowly but surely it is coming together. Emphasis on the slowly part. 
     Even amidst all the construction and chaos, John and I have developed a routine in our day that has helped keep us sane.  Our morning coffee and breakfast on the porch is one of our favorite times. We have realized we spend most of our waking hours outside, although lately John has been painting which keeps him inside more than usual.  If it weren't for the fact that we were opening a bed and breakfast, we could easily get by with a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen (along with our front porch, of course).  Probably one of the biggest changes we have made is the amount of television we watch.  Unfortunately, in the U.S. we watched way too much tv.  Here, if we watch one hour a night, it is a lot.  And most of the time I can't stay awake for the whole show (probably because of all that fresh air).  That is definitely a positive change for us.  We enjoy walking on the beach which is great exercise for us and the pups. 
     Another change is we really don't leave our house too much.  The grocery store and the mercado are two of the places we go the most. The mercado in La Libertad is my favorite outing. We actually prefer to go on the weekends when it is busier and more festive.  We don't have a car, so when we do go somewhere we take the bus, which we don't mind at all.  In fact, we find it quite nice not to have to worry about driving.  We have also found that we don't really miss going out to eat as much as we used to (one time in the last month).  It is just more relaxing to stay home with the puppies. 
     We are excited to be done with the construction and get ready for our grand opening.  We haven't set a date yet, but hopefully by the end of May...  The pool construction is going great. Our pool contractor is our guardian, Jimmy's dad and so far he is doing a fantastic job.  He has a full crew here every day (but Sunday), and they work hard.  Meanwhile, we just keep plugging away, doing what we can.  One day at a time...

A New Experience (South American Futbol)

 Heather asked me to write the blog post this time, because other than our swimming pool construction starting, not too much new here. I was fortunate enough to have the experience of a lifetime. I went to my first futbol [soccer] game. My good friend Will, my building contractor Rodolfo, and our guardian Jimmy traveled to Guayaquil to see the Ecuadorian champs, Barcelona vs Argentina Boca. Argentina won 2-1, but that is not the story.

To preface this, I have been to over 200 Green Bay Packers games in my days, at several stadiums, but never have I witnessed what I saw on Wednesday. We got to the stadium and it's like any other stadium with vendors selling their goods. Food, beer, water, soda, fireworks, etc. That's right, I said fireworks. In any stadium in the USA, you can not even smoke, but here you can bring in fireworks.

We enter the stadium and security does its thing and searches your bags. I really don't know what they were looking for since fireworks are okay. Again, it was like any stadium in the USA with the hustle and bustle of people, food and beverage vendors. The only difference is that I had a 22 oz. beer and a foot long hot dog combo which cost me only $3.50. The beer was ice cold and the hot dog did the job. My friend treated us all to a bag of plantain chips. These are green plantains sliced very thin and fried like potato chips and salted. Bet you can't eat just on!? They were a perfect compliment to my beer and hot dog.

 Onto the game. The referees came out and everyone whistled. This would be comparable to booing in the US. Argentina came out and the whistling continued. The Barcelona Bulls came on to the field, and the crowd immediately in unison started to sing a song. It was like being at a Wisconsin Badger game when the band plays "Roll out the Barrel". Both countries' national anthems were played and at the end of the Ecuadorian anthem came the first barrage of fireworks, toilet paper, smoke bombs and who knows what else. I was in awe, as my Ecuadorian friend saw the big smile on my face, and was proud of his country's enthusiasm for its beloved team.

The game begins and just like every football game I've been to, fans are shouting out their opinions and ideas for the coaches and players. What I didn't expect was the party happening in the end zone.  This area would be equivalent to the bleacher section at a baseball game. They are the lower priced seats and it's where the party fans are allowed to do just about anything they wish. The crowd in this area was approximately 5000 fans and as soon as the referee started the game, the drums started to bang and the crowd started to sing. I thought how cool to have them singing to start the game. Well, again I was wrong. They sang throughout the whole game except during halftime. One song that they sang, and they sang it probably 5 or 6 times, the crowd would work their way to the top of the grandstand and when it was the correct time they would stampede to the bottom and back up to the top. This happened about 4 times during the song. Yes, people fell and others helped them up so they could continue their dance.

At times you would see them collect the toilet paper that had been thrown and start a little bonfire right there in the stands and people would dance around the fire. FYI, the grandstand is 100% concrete, so really no worries from the rest of the crowd. During the whole game there were roman candles, bottle rockets and various fireworks going off.

In the US opposing fans sit amongst the home town crowd and for the most part with no problems, except at an Oakland Raiders game. Here, for their safety, they must sit in a protected area that is well guarded by the police. I asked my Ecuadorian friend, Will if it was that dangerous for these fans of Argentina, and he assured me it was just precautionary, but there have been a few instances at games, but mainly in Europe. I'm guessing if you have a bottle rocket in your hands and someone upset you, well, you get the drift. All in all the crowd was fantastic and I never felt any presence of danger.

My friend Will drove us to Guayaquil in his new Ford F-150 crew cab, but did not want to park at the stadium. So we parked about 10 miles away at his friend's house and he dropped us off at the stadium and we would  catch a cab back. That plan was a great one until with about 10 minutes left in the game it started to rain. Now normally, most of the fans would walk home or catch the bus, but with the rain, by the time we got to the street all of the cabs were gone. So. in a nice warm downpour we had to hike about 2 miles to get to a major road to catch a cab. We could tell that with the amount of people trying to catch a cab, that we could be waiting for quite awhile, so Rodolfo approached a pickup truck that was at a stop and go light and finally convinced him to give us a ride for $7.00. It was still pouring rain as we all piled into the back of his truck. Soon we realized that 3 more guys climbed in also, and after a small conversation in Spanish with Will, they hopped out and we were on our way. The pickup was a mid 70's Nissan that needed an exhaust, so rain, wind, and noise were against us, but the fumes made it a little more enjoyable as we laughed all of the way. Oh yes, the truck was hand brushed bright yellow. In Ecuador, that is officially a taxi.

We got to Will's friend"s house and after a quick dry off we were on our way to Punta Carnero.  This experience will live with me forever as Heather and I are enjoying as much of the local culture, food, people and fun that comes our way everyday.

Discovering Hidden Talents

     I feel the need to state before this post that the word talent is used very loosely. It is extremely subjective as to whether there is any real talent involved, but moreso the ambition or will to do something.
     I think going without a kitchen and the ability to cook for three months, has brought out my inner Betty Crocker.  I have never enjoyed more in my life, baking and cooking.  And experimenting! Part of it, I think, is having the time.  Ok, probably most of it.  Baking is expecially satisfying to me. And John is benefiting from that as well as all the workers and our guardians.  There are things you can't buy here as far as ingredients, but that just makes things all the more challenging.  For the most part, there is a good substitute.  The first time I made something with sour cream, I am 99% sure it wasn't sour cream I used.  But, it turned out great!
     John is also working on his talents.  Of course, they were always there as well, but he just never had the time to use them.  He has been working on installing light fixtures for me.  Now, this may not sound difficult to the average person, but you have to remember, the ceilings here are made of cement.  So this involves chipping out a space for the designated light fixture.  And it is not easy!  What would normally been done in a couple hours has taken a couple days.  But, we really did want to experience the Ecuadorian life so here it is! 
     We are sincerely enjoying the beautiful weather here.  It really couldn't be any nicer, with the gentle ocean breeze coming off the ocean most all the time. Which brings me to this morning, where the breeze for some reason, decided to stop. Completely.  While I was in the kitchen preparing to make my next project, I noticed I was sweating.  A lot.  So, as I grabbed my sweat towel, I was inspired by a bit of self-written poetry.  Now is the time I will refer back to the first paragraph of this blog post.  So, I am going to put myself and my "talents" out there and share the little ditty that came to me;
The breeze has ceased,
I am on my knees,
With sweat between my breests,
Saying please, please, please,
I need a breeze!
I, personally thought it was very good, my first shot at poetry.  John, not so much. Boy, he is a tough critic!
     We really don't have much to complain about as far as weather.  Seriously.  I think averaged year round, it is probably the best.  That is if you don't like snow and cold.  Which is us.  We are plugging along with our construction.  Crossing our fingers and hoping for a Grand Opening towards the end of April.  The swimming pool construction started today and we are told it will take a month.  But we have to remember, the Ecuadorian interpretation of time and ours is quite different.  So we will not hold our breath and just be happy when it is finished.
    Annabel has turned into quite the guard dog for us. She alerts us when someone she doesn't know is in the front of the house, which is great.  Now we just have to find her "off" button.  She is a really good dog with great instincts.  Josie doesn't seem to interested in protecting the casa, but she does follow Annabel's lead once she starts. 
    The breeze is starting back up, so it is time to head back to the kitchen.  Enjoy the day!

Carnaval Week and Upcoming Election

    This past weekend was Carnaval here in Ecuador.  Thousands of people descended upon the coast to spend time and party at the beach.  We were rather lucky here in Punta Carnero, as our beach only was mildly busy compared to the beach in Salinas.  It did, however, take on a life of its own of a rather intriguing excitement.  We had planned to just stay at our house during this four day celebration which started on Saturday and went until Tuesday.  On Saturday, the fun and festive atmosphere lured us to take a walk on the beach to see what it was all about.  We were not at all disappointed.  The families, friends, children and pets were all having a wonderful time on the beach. There were vendors selling ice cream, slushies, coconut milk, beer, soda, hats, sunglasses, movies... you name it.  On Tuesday, the last day of the celebration, our friends James and Cecilia came out from Salinas to enjoy our much quieter and wavier beach.  We had a blast playing in the waves.  Plus we enjoyed a few cervezas sitting on the beach after our swim. It doesn't get too much better than that.  It was, in a way, sad when it was all over, although we certainly enjoy our quiet beach again, which is why we chose the Punta Carnero area.
    Yesterday was Valentine's Day here as well. It is very much celebrated with many mylar heart balloons and Valentine's Day gifts for your sweetheart being sold on the street (just like Phoenix : ) John and I chose to celebrate by going to a movie in the afternoon.  We saw Lincoln (which wasn't exactly a romantic movie) and it was very good.  Hollywood is good when they have you on the edge of your seat to see if the 13th Amendment was going to be passed. Geez!!
     When we left the movie theater and went over to our corner to wait for the bus, a huge parade of el Presidente Rafael Correa supporters went by.  It was rather exciting.  There was loud music playing and people yelling and flags flying and loudspeakers speaking.  It seemed to go on forever!  The reason for this exciting demonstration of political support is that the election is on Sunday, February 17.  Sunday, now that is a novel idea for an election day.  Not so many people have to take off from work to go vote, which is good, because here it is highly suggested you vote if you are a citizen or resident with a cedula.  You can face a fine if you don't vote.  From what we have heard, Correa is a heavy favorite and there isn't any real competition for him. There are several others running against him, though.  Interesting fact; there is an alcohol ban from yesterday through election day here.  No alcohol to be consumed or served during this time.  Keeps everyone with a clear head, I guess.
     Our construction is moving along.  It is just about time to think about getting the pool started in the back yard.  There are still many details to finish in the house, along with the larger project of the beach bungalow room being torn apart (wood ceiling and wood wall being removed and replaced with termite proof cement).  Looking forward to a grand opening hopefully by the end of April to early May!

Adjusting to Life by the Sea

    First of all, I would like to apologize for the length of time in between postings. I don't really have a good excuse, just that time has gotten away from me. To just say I have been busy is a cop out because there is always time if you make it.  But, anyway, here I am again.
     We love living by the ocean.  As in any place you live, you have to take the good with the bad.  And as long as the good makes all the bad worth it, it is fine, which is defnitely the case here.  There are many things we didn't realize about living in salt air.  The main thing being that anything metal or I guess I could say any metal that is not stainless steel, galvanized or aluminum can and will rust.  And quickly!  When we first got here we had put a metal lock on the front doors to make it more secure.  By the time we took it off to put up the new aluminum doors,  it had completely rusted and corroded.   Plastic is our friend, too, as is WD-40. That rubbed on our metal dresser handles and such helps prevent the oxidation process.  In the evening we can see the salt in the air blowing off the ocean under the street light. 
     We have replaced all of our wood windows and doors with white aluminum.  Not only does it look better, but the maintenance goes down to practically nothing compared to the wood.  We are very excited with the transformation of the house so far.  The reason I haven't posted any pictures is because nothing is completely done.  We have figured it is the Ecuadorian way to finish things 80-90% and then move on to the next project.  It has been a frustration of ours, but we know eventually it will all get done. 
     All the plants, flowers and trees we planted are thriving.  I have some beautiful bougainvillea, roses, begonias, hibiscus and other plants I don't know the English names for.  Things grow like crazy here, so I am excited to see my flower bed mature.  Unfortunately, Annabel and Josie love the flower bed, too.  That is, racing through it at high speeds.  Also picking out clumps of who knows what it eat out of it. I think that is how they got sick recently. They both had a bacterial infection which caused much vomiting and diarrhea.  Thank goodness to an excellent vet who knew just what to do to make them better (and was kind enough to let me bring Annabel to her house at 11:30 at night to start treatment).  She also makes house calls during the day, so that worked out great when Josie became ill the next day.  If you are thinking it is expensive to have a vet come to your house, our vet charges $20 per dog.  It is a wonderful convenience for us since we don't have a car and beats taking the dogs in a taxi.  Thanks to my friend Carlota, who brought a taxi to us the night Annabel was sick so we could get her to the vet. 
     We continue to work on all the details of getting the house ready.  We have installed a perimeter laser alarm and a home alarm for our safety and the safety of our guests.  This is a third world country and as in any area like this, you must protect your home.  I guess that goes for anywhere, though, because Phoenix wasn't exactly crime free : ).  A huge thanks to our friend, Matt Klein for taking the time to fly down here for us and helping us out with some electronic things.  His assistance was absolutely priceless.  Plus we got to have some fun as well.  Hopefully within a couple weeks we can think about starting to install the pool in the back yard.  We have been waiting for the aluminum guy to be finished with the doors and windows as they have been constructing them onsite in our back yard.  It will be wonderful to not have any dust and dirt flying around from construction.  The kitchen is functional and almost done (yeah, the 90% there). It has been wonderful to be able to cook and bake again. The construction workers have reaped the benefit of my baking hobby.
     It is time for Carnival in Ecuador. The next four days will be absolute craziness from what I here. We were told we probably won't be able to leave our house because of the amount of people around.  We have planned for it like a snowstorm, stocking up on food and anything else we might need for the next few days.  It will be fun and exciting to see (from the balcony of our house).  Next Wednesday we will get to celebrate our guardians' son Kevin's 7th birthday.  He has chosen to celebrate here (and invite the rest of their family as well) so that John and I can be there.  I can't tell you how honored that makes us feel.  He has a special place in our heart already : ).
     I promise to be more diligent on my postings.  Hopefully some projects will be completed soon and we will have many pictures to post.
   

Out With the Old, In With the New

     It is hard to believe another year is coming to an end. On New Year's Eve last year when John gave me my kiss at midnight, he said "we are going to have a very exciting year".  And was it ever.  We seem to be writing our story as we go along.  The adventures and experiences we have had were not always planned, but definitely welcome.  I would be lying if I said I didn't feel any apprehension about moving to Ecuador.  It was definitely outside our comfort zone, but I have to say we have no regrets. 
     Ecuador has a New Year's tradition of burning effigies. It symbolizes putting the year behind you, be it good or bad, and welcoming in the new year.  We plan on participating in this ritual, as I think the meaning is very important. 
     This year we also started our own Christmas Eve tradition. The initial plan was to stay home with the puppies and just enjoy each other's company.  But, we had this awesome Santa suit here and Christmas just wouldn't be the same without somehow using it.  We had talked to our guardian family, Jimmy and Mirian, and asked them if their family would like a visit from Papa Noel (Ecuadorian Santa Claus). They said yes, and also that there were many children in the neighborhood where their family lives.  So the idea just snowballed from there.  John and I headed down by the mercado where there are many little shops and bought a load of candy and cute little Christmas bags to put it in. Our plan was to met Jimmy on a corner near their neighborhood and he would take us in from there.  So we are standing out on the road in front of our house waiting for a taxi to take us.  We weren't having any luck and getting to the point of running late.  People were honking and waving at Papa Noel as they went by.  One very nice couple pulled over and asked if we would take a picture for them with Papa Noel. We obliged.  They knew we were waiting for a taxi and asked where we were going.  When we told them, they said, we will take you there.  They got such a big kick out of having Papa Noel ride in their vehicle.  Thank you to Geovonni and Martha,they saved us from being late. We hope we meet them again one day. 
     Our 100 bags of candy did not last long, as Mirian and Jimmy did not exaggerate about there being a lot of kids in the neighborhood.  Within 20 minutes we had given away all the candy and hopped in a taxi to head home.  Next year we will plan on having much more. The experience was priceless to us and are happy to have started a Christmas Eve tradition here in Ecuador.
     Our house rennovating is moving along.  Our kitchen is about 80% done.  The front gates were finished and installed this week.  The tile is almost done except for our room, which we will be moving out of so that can be completed, hopefully soon.  The bathrooms are coming along as well. the next big project is having all the doors and windows replaced.  Everything we get put in new, makes everything old look... well, older (hence the continued additions to the rennovation). 
     The puppies are growing like crazy, adding so much fun and enjoyment to our lives.  We can't imagine our lives without them, even though they are in their terrible twos right now.  It is very fortunate that we have the time to devote to giving them lots of attention and training them.  We will be building a nice gated area for them in the front side so they have a place to go if things get too hectic.  They already like laying over in that area, so it should be a great place for them.
     I was walking on the beach this morning and I met a lady.  We exchanged greetings and she walked past me.  A few seconds later, I heard her call to me and I turned around.  She walked back to me and started speaking in Spanish something about my feet.  It was obvious to her I wasn't quite getting what she was trying to tell me.  She bent down and took off my flip flops and handed them to me. Then she said "mucho mejor" (much better).  The moral of the story is (my moral anyway), is to take the time, feel what is around you, be it the sand squishing between your toes, or the water lapping over our feet.  May you all have the opportunity in this next year to feel the sand under your feet (or whatever it is that makes you happy). Happy New Year, and may 2013 be the best year ever!

Counting the days...

     We are counting the days for our kitchen to be done.  Not that I mind cooking with a George Foreman Grill, toaster oven and electric fry pan.  But the options are somewhat limited, especially without adequate counter space to prepare anything.  Our cabinets are here and will be installed tomorrow.  Then the granite, stove, dishwasher and refrigerator will be ready to be brought in.  The renovating is actually moving along quite well, if only we would quit adding projects.  The bathrooms were demo'd this week and the new tile purchased.  One of the bathrooms even has some new tile installed in it already.  There was amazingly beautiful tile underneath the old tile they removed (not really).

Victor, one of our not camera shy workers (note the beautiful tile)

New tile being installed already in one bathroom

 

          We learn something new for sure every week and maybe every day.  One thing we learned this week is if there is something at the store that you like and don't want to be without, you must buy it when they have it and buy a LOT!  I have a granola that I have become quite fond of and am very disappointed when I am unable to get it.  The other day we hit the jackpot and were at the store right after they stocked it.  I bought 8 bags of it (I wish I would have bought more!).  We have heard of other items that you must stock up on when you see it (coffee filters, dog treats, etc...).   Why do I have a feeling I could end up on an episode of hoarders one day?

 

      Note the ingredients on my favorite granola (or should I say lack of).  No preservatives, chemicals or anything else nasty.  I feel pretty good about eating it, not to mention it tastes awesome!

 

     The puppies are growing like weeds and bringing us endless joy every day.  We are so thankful they came into our lives when the did.  They are a bright spot of sunshine amidst all the dirt and dust. And so much fun!  They are pretty much poop trained and the pee puddles diminish every day.

Josie whispering toAnnabel, "what kind of trouble should we get in now?"

 

     So we end another week here in Ecuador.  We look forward to the progression of this next week and hopefully I will be able to post some pictures of our new kitchen very soon!

 

 

 



 

 



     

Making Progress

     We are continuing to see our house come together with the new tile.  The first floor (which is the biggest area because it included the large front veranda) is completely tiled and about 75% done with the grout.  The upstairs is about 60% tiled with no grout yet.  The bad news is as we put in the new floor, we see what else needs to be done.  We have now made the decision to redo all the bathrooms as well (that would be 5 bathrooms). Our project now seems to have no end.  Patience, must have much patience.  The good news is it is going to look awesome when it is all finished.
     The kitchen is still being prepped for the cabinets which are scheduled to be coming on Wednesday.  We learned very quickly not to hold to much hope on dates since it only leads to disappointment.  They will get here when they get here.  Meanwhile, we have been opening some of the boxes from our container (even though we have nowhere to put anything yet) and found our electric fry pan.  We were able to have scrambled eggs for dinner tonight.  That may not sound like a big deal, but let me tell you, after sandwiches, granola, etc... for 7 weeks, it was awesome!   We have also been able to make pizza in our toaster oven.  They sell these great little personal cheese pizzas at Hyper Market for $1.84.  And we have been splurging on chocolate filled croissants (which are to die for when heated up in the toaster oven  They are so good, we have limited ourselves to one a week just to make sure we don't get carried away.  We also make sure to hit the mercado up at least once a week to get our fresh fruit and vegetables  The mangos are absolutely awesome.  The large ones run about 4-5 mangos for a dollar and boy are they sweet!  They are very messy and juicy, so I justify eating two of them at once since I already have juice dripping all over my face.  The bananas we got this week were 8 for $.50.  Strawberries are about $1.50 a pound, but they make an awesome treat as well.  We are also fortunate because every once in a while our caretakers, Jimmy and Mirian, bring us over a delicious lunch or dinner.  Mirian's mother must have really been a good teacher, because Mirian is a great cook.  And her presentation is awesome.  I did have to tell her I didn't like pescado, though (fish). John said her ceviche was awesome, too (something else I had to pass on ).
     Meanwhile, our puppies, Annabel and Josie, are doing absolutely awesome.  They are a bright spot in our day, for sure.  They had their first vet visit on Friday and got their first set of vaccines, along with a vitiman shot and an anti-parisite medication (total vet bill was $20).  Neither one was happy about getting their shots.  I hope they have a short memory, because they have to go back again in a month.  They are always playing and cuddling with each other, which just reinforces why we took both of them.
     On Tuesday, our friends Will and Janis had to go to Guayaquil to take care of some business and they asked me to go with.  It was a great opportunity to get a little more shopping done.  We went to a huge mall, which was very modern and a lot of fun to look around in.  Our grocery store here in Salinas is called Super Maxi.  Well, in the mall in Guayaquil they have a Mega Maxi!  It is like Super Maxi on steroids.  We had Pizza Hut pizza for lunch in their foodcourt.  And guess what? It tasted just like Pizza Hut in the U.S.  It was really good!  Nothing like good old American junk food to clog up the arteries. A big thanks to Will and Janis for taking me with.  It was a lot of fun. We stopped and bought some honey at a roadside stand on the way home, too.  The mixture I got is supposed to prevent and cure just about everything- lol!
     As we end this week, I now have a operable washing machine. The dryer, well, not so much.  Something shorted out on it and if we can't get it repaired, we are going to replace it with a gas dryer, as gas is much cheaper than electricity here.  Slowly, but surely, we are getting back to normal (which I have always said is a setting on a dryer- just hopefully not my broken one).  Looking forward to seeing what this week will bring us.

New Arrivals

     This was definitely a week of arrivals.  We had been thinking about getting a Golden Retriever and a Beagle puppy.  I had looked at the ads in the Guayaquil newspaper and even emailed a couple of ads for a Golden Retriever that was advertised. Late Monday afternoon John got a call from someone regarding the Golden Retriever puppies. He said he was going to come to Punta Carnero (a 2 hour drive) that evening and would be bring some puppies for us to see.  We told him we were interested in one female.  Well, they ended up bringing two females, and within about 2 minutes of holding them, John and I decided to take them both.  There was no way we could choose and they were so young we did not want to separate them as they were already being separated from their mother.  They were only 4 1/2 weeks old, which is too young, but apparently that is very common here.  I have to say taking both of the puppies was the best decision we ever made.  We will not be getting a beagle pup, but that is ok.  They have slept through the night every night since we have had them and have not whined at all.  Josie and Annabel are very playful, happy, hungry little puppies. We are very lucky to have them.  They will have their first vet visit on Friday for their 6 week vaccines. 

                                               Josie and Annabel, sisters forever
                                                        

Josie

Annabel in her favorite spot under the cocktail table

 

     The second arrival of the week was our container.  After more red tape and jumping through a few more hoops, the container was scheduled to arrive between 9-10am on Wednesday morning.  John had woke up with a high fever and body aches that morning, so we were ok with the container being late.  Unfortunately it ended up being really late and didn't show up until 7:30pm.  John was not any better, in fact he was much worse, unable to even get out of bed.  Our neighbors, Will and Janis came down so Will could communciate with the drivers and unloaders so we could get started.  I am forever grateful for their help because I felt so lost by myself.   Our caretakers, Jimmy and Mirian helped the unloaders and myself and by midnight we had it all off the truck.  Unloading in the dark with no liftgate, no pallet jack, no dolly (you get the picture) was very interesting.  We did have a four wheel cart and a couple dollies that we had brought along.  Trying to teach them how to use it was proving fruitless, so I finally gave up and just let them carry everything.  The semi truck left and the little truck that the unloaders (also the unpackers) pulled in our driveway and all five of them jumped in the covered back to sleep.  They were up the next morning by 7am ready to start unpacking and unwrapping what we could.  Since our new tile floor is still being installed we were really limited as to where we could go with things. Thank goodness we have the workshop in the back where we were able to put a lot of it.  It may be a few weeks before we are able to really get organized.  Once our kitchen is in that will really help (another 3 weeks or so). 

     Right now, we are just taking one day at a time and getting done what we can. The best part is we are now able to sleep in our own bed (big smile : ).  After six weeks on an air mattress (it was a pillowtop air mattress which I would highly recommend if you ever have to sleep on one), it was pure heaven to sleep on the real thing.  It's the small things. We are enjoying our puppies, the beach, the beautiful sunsets and our lives here in Ecuador.





 

 

 



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.

Yummy empanadas!

Our next door neighbors, Alvaro, Yvonne and their son Nico.

Janis, John and Will enjoying Pisco Sours and empanadas

I love their Beagle, Bruno : )

 

 

 

 

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. 

Why Did We Move to Ecuador?

     Many people have asked why did you move to Ecuador, or how did you choose Ecuador?  Some days that feels like a really good question, and other days, we know exactly why.  I would definitely say we have to give most of the credit to John Curran, who graduated with me from Waupaca High School back in 1981.  When I got on Facebook and became friends with John, I was really enjoying following his posts about living in Vilcabamba, Ecuador, a small mountain village.  We soon started corresponding, and John very patiently answered my endless questions.  Soon, my John was interested and before we knew it, we scheduled a scouting trip to the coast of Ecuador.  Through many, many hours of internet searching on climate and everything else, we zeroed in on the Salinas area.  We rented a condo for a month on the malecon in Salinas in June.  Fortunately we hooked up with the best real estate agent in Ecuador (Kimberly Quintana), and if you have seen the Salinas, Ecuador International House Hunters episode, you will see Kimberly as the client looking for a condo. She not only was a great real estate agent, but has become a friend as well.  When she first showed us the house we bought, we saw all kinds of potential.  It was  a couple hours after we saw it that it came to John that it would make an awesome Bed and Breakfast.  Afterall, it had four good sized bedrooms all with private baths.  And enough other rooms to make everyone comfortable.  Not to mention that it is right on the ocean with a beautiful beach right in front.  We knew the house would take a lot of work, so before we left Ecuador, we met with a contractor to get an estimate on what it would cost to rennovate the house.  Before we even got back to Phoenix, we had the estimate and had decided to purchase the house.  Unfortunately, the day after we got back, John had a heart attack (not related to the cost of the rennovations or anything : ), but everything was caught in time and a stint repaired his 90% blocked LAD (widowmaker) artery.  After that, John was even more excited about making our Ecuador move a reality.  I guess having flirted with death, you realize how short life is and you need to make the most of it.   So here we are, living in the bedroom of our house while all the remodeling is going on.  I am pretty sure our contractor believes it is a blessing and a curse to have us here, because we see everything.  It has been an adventure, nonetheless.  Ecuador is a third world country, and I would never sell it as anything other than that.  But it is beautiful, has a wonderful charm and great people.  John Curran had been very honest with us and we had no expectations that we didn't fulfill. 
    Another question we have gotten a lot, is when will your Bed and Breakfast be up and running?  That is a great question and I wish I had a great answer. A few months?  We have added quite a few things to our list of rennovations since we have gotten here.  One of the biggest things we changed was replacing all the tile in the whole house. (one of the curses of staying here is we got really sick of it really fast). It is outdated and a touch busy :).  We will also be added a swimming pool in the back yard along with a Bocce ball court.  It previously had a basketball court back there (not in good condition) and we really had no use for that.  Our 40 foot container is already here in Ecuador and we are hoping it takes a few weeks to be processed through customs because we are not ready for it. 
While we were still in Arizona, we decided to name our Bed and Breakfast "Las Palmas del Mar" (The Palms by the Sea), since it had some large palm trees in the yard.  Unfortunately, when we arrived here in October, the palms had taken a turn for the worse (simply due to neglect).  Well, we already had our logo, t-shirts printed, cups printed, etc... so we weren't changing the name! So we ended up planting ten new palm trees in our front yard.  It looks great and we can legimately keep our name.  I do have to give a shout out to my dear friend Trina, who so patiently designed our logo for us. After many tweaks we finally got it just the way we wanted it.

    So here we are, after 4 1/2 weeks.  We have met so many wonderful people.  Ecuadorian and Expats from the U.S. and Canada.  We look forward to meeting many more and enjoying our adventure here in Ecuador.

The South American Way

   Every day we continue to learn new things, new ways and a new language.  We don't expect the Ecuadorians to know English, so we are working very hard on learning as much Spanish as we can. Fortunately they are really patient with us as we try to explain what we are trying to say. Google translator is great if you have internet and a computer nearby.  Once we get settled more, we hope to take some Spanish classes to help us along.  Watching tv with the Spanish subtitles has been a great way to pick up new words as well. Even the dirty ones : ). 
   Living on the coast we do not have the shopping available to us that the larger cities do. We travelled to Guayaquil this week to try to find some things that we couldn't find in Salinas or La Libertad or to find more choices (such as light fixtures). Hiper Market only has so many items available.  We hired a bilingual driver (Juan) along with his pick up truck to make the trip to Guayaquil. One of the big stores there is Boyaca, which has many household items.  Juan also took us to another area, where we were able to find a new couch (which is actually comfortable and fits us). Most of the Ecuadorian furniture is very hard with not much padding. It also doesn't fit us larger gringos very well.  Juan was an expert in maneuvering around the crazy city of Guayaquil.  I have never seen people drive so crazily. 
   Since last weekend was a holiday weekend here, there was more people around and some of the homes were filled with famlies visiting from out of town.  We met our other next door neighbors for the first time. They are very nice and also live in Guayaquil.  They don't speak English but we were able to introduce ourselves and them to us. Then they brought us over lunch the next day.  We are so fortunate have such kind neighbors.  Our caretakers, Jimmy and Mirian cooked us lunch on Sunday. We are definitely enjoying the Ecuadorian cuisine. I have no idea what is in most of what we eat, but I can tell you it tastes awesome!  Our friends, Gary and Kathryn have had us over every Sunday since we have been here for dinner.  It is always delicious since Kathryn is a great cook. This week we had Gumbo with sausage and shrimp. It was so yummy! And her desserts, over the top good.
   Kathryn had 3 very small kittens at her house this week that she was trying to find homes for.  I was very tempted, but the timing is just not right for us.  With all the construction and noise going on, together with the fact that the kittens weren't much more than 4 weeks old and needed a lot of attention, we just couldn't justify it.  John really wants a dog, so that may be what we get eventually.
   John and I continue to walk as much as we can.  Walking along the beach is my favorite of course, but I get very distracted with all the shells and things there are to pick up .  I am still running at least three times a week, just to try to keep in shape.   There is a very heavy police presence here in Punta Carnero. The police are always driving up and down the road.  We have gotten to know a couple of them and I know they watch out for me while I am out walking or running.  They always honk or toot their siren when they see us.  I guess we kind of stand out a little...  John and I really saw how much taller we were than the average Ecuadorian when we were riding the bus to Guayaquil and we were the only ones whose heads stuck over the seats.  It was pretty funny. 
    Construction on the house is slow right now as we have decided to re-tile the entire house.  The tile won't be in until next week.  Then we can finish up some of the other things.  Hopefully the kitchen construction will start soon as well, since that has been the most challenging to be without.  Thank goodness to our friends, Bob and Freda for loaning us a George Foreman grill so we can have some hot food now and then : ).  When we get going on the tile and the kitchen, I will start posting more pictures.
   

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).