Residentes!

Yesterday,  Steve and I went back down to the immigration office in Quito accompanied by our hostess, Nora and another couple who are in the same process we are, only they are just beginning.  We spent the day waiting…waiting…and waiting some more, but by last night we were official residents of Ecuador.  We also have the paperwork done to get our cedulas which will allow us to open a checking account, buy a car, get a license if we dare, and allows us to utilize all the half price and free services available to seniors.   The other couple that went with us is just trying to get their paperwork approved, and they had a small setback.  They will get it right and join the ranks of resident soon.

We are considering getting a used vehicle (the Russian Lada has been recommended to us) to make it easier to visit all the corners of this country, but the idea of driving is scary.  The drivers here are crazy.  They have to be, especially in the cities.  To get anywhere in the cities drivers play a continuous game of chicken as busses, trucks, cars and motorcycles jockey for position.  What amazes me is that I have yet to see, or even hear of an accident.  What we would consider a one lane road passes for two lanes.  But, in the small town of Sucua, a car might prove handy. 

We went to the mall a couple days ago to send a money-gram to our guide, Jorge, in Sucua to hold the house he found for us.  That didn’t sound too difficult, as supposedly every bank can do this.  Wrong.  We wandered into several banks, and could find no information about money-grams, so I got brave and asked someone.   We were told to try a different bank.  We went there and couldn’t figure out how to send the money, because even though that bank had a sign saying “Moneygrams” there were no tellers – only machines.  We must have looked lost, because a super nice family of three asked us if they could help.  The women spoke broken English and we spoke very broken Spanish, but it was working.  Suddenly the son, about 17, who had been watching the scene, spoke up in perfect English.  The parents went to California for work before he was born, and stayed in the USA for 10 years before returning to Ecuador.  He said he would help us, and before we knew it, he was ushering us around to all the banks.  It turned out only one bank could send money grams, the rest could only receive.  The one that could send could only do so until 12:30 and it was around 2pm.  So he suggested we try Western Union.  We went there and they wanted our passport –the real thing - color copies would not do.  We were about to give up when his mother and father showed up again, and she said she would send it for us, which she did.   The house is being held for us, and we made some wonderful friends who want to come visit us once we get set up in Sucua.  Steve offered to buy them lunch in gratitude, but they refused, saying it was only right they help.  Such great people.

We are going to stay here at Bonanza until the end of the month so that the owners of our rental have time to finish the fence, and a few other things.  I am going to call to get the address today and arrange for our move.  I cannot wait to have my own internet again so I can get my Magic Jack hooked up.  It will work here, but I have to drag the computer and phone into the main house.  I can sometimes get enough signal to send/receive email from our room, but more often I have to go sit outside to make any connection – or go into the house.  I am so looking forward to hearing your voices again.

 

We have a home!

We didn’t take the first house we looked at.  Jorge found a brand new house, almost complete,  for us at the edge of town.  The owners will be putting in the power and fence next week.   I don’t have the address yet, but will send that as soon as I get it.  In the meantime, here are some pictures:

Front

Kitchen sans appliances

Dining room - I think

Back yard before the fence

Back From Sucua

We are back from our trip over to Macas and Sucua.  Well, actually, we went to see Macas, but ended up in Sucua, 23 kms down the road. 

When we arrived in Macas, we were met by the mayor (Jose Luis) and a guide by the name of George.  Two very warm and wonderful people.  Originally we were to stay the night at Jose Luis’s house, but it was upstairs and no dogs allowed, so they found a hotel that would allow the pups. Unfortunately, the hotel we were to stay in had way too many steps – with very high risers, so just wouldn’t do.  In fact, it had two steps down into the bathroom.  The gentleman running the hotel, a very large man, was crest-fallen when we told him, but soon brightened and even practically carried me back out to the side walk.  As is the custom here, as we parted I kissed him on the cheek.  George found a lady south of town who had a room, but I couldn’t even get through that door.  We could have made that work with some wall-walking, but George said to wait 20 minutes – he would be right back.  He then took us to a hotel south of Sucua, which worked much better.  Handicap accessibility is still not a normal thing here, so no rooms designed for that, but it was workable. 

The manager was great and did everything and anything he could to accommodate us.  He is the nephew of the owner who built the place about a year ago, but didn’t know much about running it, so the nephew came home from New York to run it.  Sorry, but I didn’t get his card and do not remember his name, though I would highly recommend his hotel to anyone coming that way.  The rooms were clean, there was a pool, fountains, spa, a cabin or two, plus a huge breakfast every morning.  $20 per night.

Looking out our door

These are everywhere

 

The next day George came by and took us (all four of us) on a tour of both Macas and Sucua.  We were pleasantly surprised with Sucua and fell in love with that area.  It is flatter than Macas which is very hilly and much more open.  Macas is a beehive of activity with 17000 people in a fairly small area.  Sucua (population just under 1000) is a bit lower in elevation, and though everything there is lush and green, Sucua is far nicer, in my opinion.  The next day, George took us on a house-hunting tour which meant driving up and down the streets of Sucua, finding an empty house, and asking the neighbors who owned the house and leaving cards.  We found a cute little 3 bedroom, 1 bath home, but were told it was already rented out.  But, the renter had until 6 that night to confirm, which he didn’t, so we went to do an inspection on the morning before our trip back to Quito.  All doors were passable in my wheelchair except the bathroom and most discussion involved that room.  The door could be reversed (it opened  inward instead of outward) and at the same time widened.  The homeowner agreed if we paid for the materials.  He would also make ramps into the front and back doors. 

With that in mind we headed back.  We stopped in Banos, a hot springs resort, to spend the night and we toured that town.  It is wall to wall shops selling everything from clothing, candy (they pulled the taffy right out on the street , touristy junk, sugar cane, fruits and vegetables, cuy, of course, and just about anything you can think of to eat. 

That night George got a call from one of the homeowners whose neighbor he had spoken with and left his card.  He said the house we called about was not for rent, but he just happened to be building two brand new homes in Sucua that he intended to rent.  One is almost complete, the other a few weeks out.  We decided to put house number 1 on hold until George could go look at the two new ones for us tomorrow.  He knows very well what we need, and he is thinking that, with the home that is about two weeks out, if changes need to be done to make it accessible, it could be done now.  He will be sending me pictures, prices and any other important information tomorrow or Tuesday. 

George (Jorge) is a true find and worth every penny he is earning from us and more.

One other thing that makes Sucua (or Macas) attractive is that Ecuador is building a highway across the mountains west of these towns going to Cuenca. That will make Cuenca an easy 4 hour trip away should we need to do some major shopping, or specialized medical treatment.  It will also bring more Gringos our way, which we don’t really want, but it will cause the town to advance.  Also, the SuperMaxi (supermarket) in Sucua has ramps at the entrance.  The owner is in a wheelchair. 

 

 

 

5/5/13

 

We are still at the Hotel Bonanza.   We have been trying to figure out our next move.  At first Patrick was trying to put together a tour to Macas with several couples, to save everyone money, but most of the guests that have been through here were/are set on going to Cuenca – the ex-pat hotspot.  So we are going to go it alone.  We will leave on Tuesday for van ride there to check it out and see if it is really as I hear it is.  There is another town to the South of Macas we want to check out as well, Sucuro.  Tomorrow we may take a taxi tour of Quito, and go to a mall or SuperMaxi, their version of Walmart, to pick up some necessities. 

 

We knew when we set out that this would be the rainy season – and rain it has.  Nearly every day.  Today was the first day that started out rainy, though.  Most days start nice and sunny and the rains move in during the afternoon.

So far, the only problems we have encountered with my being mobility challenged has been sidewalks, but we expected that, and that hasn’t stopped us from roaming on the scooter or the chair.   Today we walked and rolled to a near-by pharmacia.  Interesting experience, as most of what we had to get by prescription in the states is over the counter here.  Some things still require a prescription though.  We had lunch (almuezo) at a small café with steps leading in, but I just clung to the gate as Steve lifted the chair inside.  Then I, with my usual gracefulness and using the gate as support, clambered up the steps and re-sat.   It was a tiny café and I took up way more than my share of space, but nobody complained.

My only complaint so far is that the wi-fi connection here at the hotel is not good.   I Can get better reception if I carry the computer into the main house, or from the chairs on the porche.  So we will head over to the house after dinner (It is raining outside) so I can let you know we are alive and well. 

I have no idea how to explain this, but I can now eat bread.  It started as our being served a meal that I knew had flour in it, so I figured, well, once doesn’t usually mess me up too bad – and nothing happened.  The next day we were served sandwiches, and I thought I would try a bit of the bread, and again, nothing.  I’ve gotten bolder and still no repercussions.   That alone will make life easier.

Flores

Green!

Lillies outside our door

This tree has oranges and lemons - maybe even limes

Lazy Ginger

Sleepy Pepper

Steve & the pups

Veranda

Yard

First week in Quito

Saturday morning we went on what was supposed to be a tour of four or five towns to the North of Quito.  But, before we could even leave someone left the gate of our little B&B open and Pepper decided to take a walk.  Ginger came running to me, almost like she was telling me something was wrong.   Everyone that could took off to find him.  Steve finally found him frolicking with some of the neighborhood dogs. 

We finally got off on our tour, an hour late, but unfortunately, a lot of folks decided to go the same way at the same time, and that highway is under construction to feed traffic to and from the new airport.  We got so bogged down we decided to call off most of the trip and just go see a town in a different direction, San Jose de Minas, that happens to be the home town of our hostess, Nora.  And, of course, I forgot the camera.  You will have to trust me that it was absolutely gorgeous.  The mountains surrounding the town were so green and covered with gardens that grew almost anything you can imagine.  The corn grew at least 10’ high.  No nice flat garden for these folks. 

We stopped for almuerzo (lunch) at the family home of our guide who happens to be Nora’s brother.   We loved the town, and after lunch our hosts tried very hard to talk us into renting a house on the back of their property from them.  But, though it was a nice home, it was 2 stories with very steep steps.  They tried to sweeten the deal by throwing in all three meals for free.   If I was younger and able bodied, it would be a deal way too hard to resist.  We headed home and got back tired in spite of only seeing 1/5 of the intended towns. 

This morning, Patrick asked if we would like to go with him to a dormant volcano near-by.  I expected a lot of stone and a pit, what I saw was a beautiful green valley with farms all over the bottom of what would be the caldron.  We were up on the rim looking down with the wind whipping up the sides.  There was, of course, tourist shops – actually the reason Patrick wanted to go as he must go to the states next week, and wanted to pick up some fun stuff to bring with him.  No, we did not get away unscathed.  But, we did learn a bit on how to barter.  I now have a really nice alpaca hoodie sweater.

We are talking of renting a car in the near future and driving a loop down the Amazon side of the mountains and back up through the middle of the range (where Quito and Cuenca are) to check out all the places we have been looking at on the computer.  One of the stars of this trip is a town called Macas on the Amazon side overlooking a huge valley and river.  Patrick has told us a lot about it as he plans to retire there.  His nephew is the town mayor, so that helps.  It seems to be what we are looking for.  It has the flatter terrain, warmer weather, but not hot, huge mercados every day, something always going on, safe and friendly and a good infrastructure.  Patrick tells us we can find a nice big house there for $300-400, as it hasn’t yet been found by the tourists. 

I have my Magic Jack set up, but it is spotty.  I can’t pick up a very strong signal, but enough for email and I did get through to talk with Troy for a few minutes last night.  If you call that number, and it doesn’t ring through, it will still allow you to leave a voice mail which I can then download here. 

Week One

We have been on the road for 6 days.  That just doesn't seem possible.

We left Sunday Morning, a bit later than planned, but no big stumbling blocks.  We headed South out of Tucson and then East toward New Mexico.  That was when our first "adventure" happened.  We have good tires on the van, and no-one would have suspected that one of them would totally throw it's tread.  These are not re-treads - or at least they weren't supposed to be.  Steve was driving, and managed to get the van safely to the side of the road while I had my hands full trying to keep Ginger out of my lap.  Poor thing had never done any real traveling except from Phoenix to Tucson, and that was not a good start to her indoctrination.  We, fortunately, had brought along a full sized spare, so Steve changed the tire and we were on our way again.   Steve refused to drive the speed limit, though, afraid another tire would fail. 

We got to our first night's destination Santa Rosa, New Mexico, with little more drama (except when I tried to drain the battery by leaving the lights on when we made a pit stop).  The next day brought us to Haysville - again late.  Tasha had planned a wonderful dinner that we couldn't get to in time, but her parents got to enjoy it.  Haysville was cold and rainy, but we got all we needed to do done, and thoroughly enjoyed our time with the kids and grand-kids.

Thursday we took off for Norman and had a wonderful dinner with Hank and Carol.  Hank had just been awarded a professorship award (sorry Hank, can't remember the title) so naturally, he treated us.  The dogs had a great time chasing around the back yard of their rental home and barking at "Jackie".  Pepper could barely move the next morning.

Friday got us to Shreveport.  The surprise of the day was the beautiful country we drove through.  Gorgeous green country when I was expecting - well  - dry open Texas.  We had taken a route North of Dallas/Fort Worth, avoiding the busy freeways.  We arrived at a decent hour (finally) but the reserved room at the Hotel was not what I had requested.  I had reservations all along the route for accessible rooms - no smoking.   There we found ourselves in a smoking non-accessible room.  A call to the front desk got me a "Sorry, but we are booked up".  Later, they came to us with another room in another motel (same chain) for less money.  What happened?   Someone at the reservation desk got smoking and non smoking confused.  And it turns out a dog show was scheduled for the same day, and the whole area was crawling with poofy foofy doggys.  We finally got settled in our new room late, once again. 

Saturday started nicely uneventful.  Somewhere in Louisiana, we encountered some very rough (although, once again, gorgeous) highway.  After we got past that, the front end of our van started shaking and pulling.  We hope it will hold together another 600 miles, because there will be nothing open tomorrow, and we must move on.  If it gets worse by the time we get to Gainesville (hopefully we get to Gainesville) we may try to get it looked at before heading down to Miami.  Maybe just dump it and get a rental.

So, we have managed to get though our first week of travel. 

Bully

I started this yesterday…but just couldn’t publish it yet.   So here it is:

I have SO not looked forward to this day.  Although we are both excited and eager to get on with our adventure, we knew the day would come when we had to part ways with our beloved kitty, Bully. 

Our veterinarian, Dr. Kipp Metzger, (Animal Health Hospital in Tucson) posted on his Facebook page that we needed a new home for our Bully.  Within a day a young man from Flagstaff said he was interested.  This young man, a longtime friend and fellow bike racer of Dr. Kipp’s, seems to be a custom fit for Bully.  He has dogs (that like cats) and cats (that hopefully like other cats) and an indoor-outdoor environment that Bully is used to.  Plus he is in Flagstaff, so much more like the mountain environs that Bully came from.  I’m sorry I didn’t get the chance to meet Heidi, but I assume she and Bully will hit it off as he is definitely a ladies man.  We met Dan halfway – which meant Phoenix.  

Despite this seemingly being an almost perfect match, I blubbered all the way to Phoenix, then back home again.  Poor Steve would look over at me and start in himself.  Yeah, he tries to be the tough guy…

Dan promises to keep us up to date on Bully though Facebook.  I think I will suddenly be checking in more often.

One week to go.  Most of our personal property is gone to either sale or to charity.   We have an old card table and chairs that are pretending to be our dining set, lawn chairs set up in the living room, and a mattress and box spring on the floor in the bedroom.  Most of everything we don’t need on a daily basis is packed.  The table, chairs, lawn furniture and an assortment of other things will be picked up next Friday by - again - a charity.  The mattress/box spring will be picked up the same day by the city of Tucson – with whatever trash we have managed to find/create by then.  That leaves us the wonderful mystery of where we will sleep on Friday and Saturday nights.  Maybe the back of the Van (in the garage) with a ton of packing blankets to make it sort of soft?  Or maybe the nearest motel?   We will decide that…then.