June 2014

June/02/2014

It is cold here today, 59°F.  We are at the end of the rainy season.  They promise us it will be warmer and sunnier after May or June…   We’ll see.  But it is still a whole lot nicer than snow and ice.  

Spanish:

Our 3^rd class of Spanish is winding down – 2 more weeks.  We both feel a bit frustrated with our progress, though I know we are improving – it is just hard to see it.  Our drivers are now pushing us to speak more Spanish, which is great.  Because our drivers have been getting very busy, we have added a third, a friend of Patricio’s who has his own cab.  He is a hoot.  He speaks very little (un poco) English, and so I try to talk with him in Spanish, while he tries to talk with us in English.  Conversations often end with a confused look, but we try and have fun as well.   

We went on a field trip on Friday to an art gallery.  The artist, Miguel Illescas, was as entertaining as his art, which consists of metal objects colored by using chemicals and heat.  He has never taken a chemistry class so it is all trial and error with spectacular results.  He says he has been happily surprised by some results, but then he was unable to replicate the process.  Ah yes, the need of taking notes.   I took a bunch of pictures on my phone, but have never tried to download to my computer until today.  It won’t do it!  You can see some of his artwork at http://www.artcuenca.com/artists/miguel-illescas.  Apparently his web site (www.miguelillescas.com) is down, but he shows up if Googled.  I love the blue footed boobies and the iguanas and the fish and the bicyclers and…well, most of it 

Critters (livestock to Frank):

We added to our family.  Another Gringo had adopted a kitten, then didn’t get her spayed in time and ended up with a bunch more kitties.  We decided to adopt two of those.  We were concerned that they would be afraid of the dogs, or that the dogs would bully them even though both of these dogs have lived their entire lives with cats.  Well, surprise!  Ginger tucked her tail and hid out for a full day.  Gradually she has been joining the family more and more, but she got so upset she chewed a sore on her tail; something the vet assured us happens a lot when a new member is brought into the family whether it be animal or human.  We had to get the veterinarian out to see her, then when it was decided she definitely was infected, had to haul her in to the clinic for lab work.  She is fine – on antibiotics, cleanings and an immune booster, but still not real happy about the kittens.  

Tigre

Tigre & Tizne

Tizne

Pepper is starting to have real difficulties getting up off the floor, even when on a non-slick surface.   It is going to be hard to make the ultimate decision as he is still happy and alert – even wants to play with the kittens.   But once he gets to where he cannot get up on his own we will have no choice, as there are times Steve is not around to help him and I cannot get the right leverage to get him up without hurting his back or hips.  I guess that is the real reason for the additions.  We were/are hoping that they will be company for Ginger when we have to leave for the day.

Phoning Home:

We have been having on-going problems with our Magic Jack.  I finally went on-line and "spoke" to one of their  consultants.  Turns out I have a defective adapter.  She knew pretty quick what my problem was so I have a feeling there was a batch of them.  Mine just took longer to die.  They offered to send me a new one, which is nice, but problematical, so we will just buy one at Radio Shack.  By Wednesday night we should be good to go again.  In the meantime, I am not without ways of getting in touch if necessary (other than by email).  My Kindle and smart phone have the same size adapter as the Magic Jack (she told me that) .  Standardizing?  Wow!

Steve's walk to Supermaxi

Steve walks the 5 miles to a grocery store in Cuenca proper at least once a week, more for the exercise than out of necessity.  It is downhill almost all the way - sometimes steep.  Then he has to walk back up.  He took these pictures along the way:

Our front door/car port (no car)

Dirt road from our gate which will, hopefully, be paved once all the construction is done.  Lots of new houses being built.

Little park

Nearby restaurant.

Lots of construction.

Down the hill. That's not him on the bike.

More hill

More hill.  You can see a little bit of the city in the background.

More construction

Down

Buses cost 25 cents (12 cents for us old codgers) and run regularly.  No handicap lifts yet, though.

Local police station.

Woodworking shop

Anyone know what kind of tree that is?

The going gets steep.

Down

Near the bottom

Learning Espanol and Playing Tourista

We just received an email asking what we have been doing as I haven’t written in our blog for 3 months!  Sorry Trish.  We have been busy – but nothing real exciting to tell, I guess. 

We are really happy with our new house.  We have a lot of unused space, but what we do use is very nice.  It could be a few degrees warmer here, but we have learned that layers are the answer.   When it rains, and we are just leaving the “rainy season”, it gets bone-chilling cool.  When it isn’t raining, it is quite comfortable.  

We are about to start our third class of Spanish.  We are making progress, but still having difficulties speaking without a lot of thinking about the words.  This next class, according to our instructor, will be mostly working with what we now know and starting to make it more automatic.  We are no longer allowed to speak English in class.  I love reading the story books she gives us.  Each one is more difficult than the previous one, but I find that reading is far easier for me than speaking.   We need to practice more at home, which is happening almost on an unconscious level.  Some phrases are just becoming “normal” and then we branch out from there until one of us hits a word we can’t think of.  Then it’s a scramble to the computer or one of our worksheets that I have been putting together and adding to as we go along, to find said word.   Then we can argue about its pronunciation.  

This week we went on a little trip to a couple of small towns to the East of here; Gualaceo and Chordeleg.  They are towns that sell a lot of the native crafts.  We stopped at a Mercado to buy veggies, and then went shopping for - well - anything else.  We saw ceramics, woodwork, leather, a ton of jewelry in gold and silver, shoes, shoes and shoes, woven straw hats (Panamas), and wool and cotton woven goods.  I bought a hat, a purse and a nice warm poncho.  I love the poncho as it works well with a wheelchair.  I tried to get Steve to buy a Panama hat (a misnomer as they are not made in Panama, but right here in Ecuador) but he didn’t.   They are really inexpensive when bought in the towns like that where they are made.   I would have loved to get a pair of shoes, but they do not make shoes here to fit us larger Gringos.  I could have had some made, but that would require a return trip.  

On our way up to Gualaceo, we stopped at an orchid shop/church.  They had tons of all kinds of orchids.  I especially like the ones that hang in the air – no pot.  You just spray the roots, and I have the perfect place to hang several.   I didn’t buy any, but I have a feeling I will be back.

We have plans to go to the Inca ruins north of Canar in June when it is a bit warmer.  The ruins are at very high altitude, so that’s the reason for the wait.  I asked our driver and good friend, Patricio, to bring his daughter with us.  He said she has been asking about us, and I would love to meet her.   After that, we hope to schedule a trip to Loja and Vilacabamba, and after that a trip to the ocean, maybe near Manta.  I want to tour the El Cajas National park just to our West.  Would be nicer if we could hike, but a car tour will have to do. 

I have met, on-line, a lady and her husband who live in Panama and want to move to Cuenca.  We spend quite a bit of time trading information, as Panama is on my list of places to see.   They live in a smallish town of around 60,000, Boquete, and want to move to a city.  We would not mind at all moving to a smaller town.  They talk of how easy it is to get around there without a car (similar to here) and the more American style of homes (ranch style) which suits me fine.   I am not too sure I want to go through all the hassle of getting a residency in another country, though.  Maybe just a visit. 

Our newest food find:  the achocha or caigua.  An interesting veggie/fruit that tastes like a cross between cucumber and green pepper when raw, more like green pepper when cooked.  

 

House Pictures, as promised a long, long time ago: 

Living Room

Indoor garden w/ skylight above.  Flowers planted by builder were dead when we moved in, but we are now trying to grow veggies and herbs.

Stairs up to three bedrooms.

Note the laundry room outside the kitchen window on the back patio.

We would have picked a different color scheme, but it grows on you.

View across the bar from kitchen.  Skylight above.

Dining with Pepper.  Back door to patio and yard.

My new poncho and hat

Ginger in her room.

January 2014

2014

We survived Christmas and New Year’s.   We are doing well, and looking forward to another year in Ecuador. 

We are now taking Spanish classes 2 times a week which we feel really good about so far.  Our instructor is a native Ecuadoran, so we are learning Ecuadorian Spanish - even Cuencano Spanish.  We are finally learning to use all the words we have accumulated to actually speak, and part of her training is teaching us to “hear” the spoken language as it is used.  That makes a big difference.  The lessons on CD tend to talk in clearly enunciated slow speech, but when in the real world, that is not how the people talk.   We read, we talk, we discuss – and we are learning!  Maybe in 6 months we will be able to carry on a decent conversation. 

I took a tumble out of my wheelchair.  That in itself is nothing new – I have tumbled many times.  This time I was trying to turn around in a too-tight space and trying to move a large heavy bulk (Pepper) out of my way at the same time.  Once Pepper plops down – he stay down unless there is a treat or going for a walk in the offing.  Anyway, I gave Pep a push, the chair skidded back out from under me, but not far enough as the wall was in the way, and I hit the back of my leg, hard, on the struts in the front that hold the foot plate.  It hurt – but like I said, I have fallen out before and didn’t think too much about it at first.  Then the pain wouldn’t go away.  And my upper leg started swelling.  I think it is just two or three large – make that huge – bruises, but I am definitely having more difficulties than normal getting around.  I can stand and put weight on it without much pain.  The pain is when I try to get up off of or down onto my chair or scooter.  None of this would have happened, if I had been using my scooter, but the charge cord for it fried about a week ago, possibly from all the power outages and power surges – not sure.  I need to get a surge protector.  I had a friend of ours scour the city and Guayaquil, and Quito for something similar – no luck.   He might be able to manufacture one, but I worry as this has three wires and most DC wirings have two and I am not certain what the function of the third wire is.  So I ordered another.  It might get here in the next week.  Hope, hope, hope.

We are having a bit of a problem with customs.  Steve and I agreed to give each other a new Kindle for Christmas, and there were a few other things we needed and are not available here, so I sent off the orders.  Orders have to be less than $400 value and less than 4 kg.  So I split up the orders.  Apparently, customs doesn’t like it if you buy two of the same thing – especially electronics, even if they are in separate orders.  So, they have stopped any and all deliveries to me until they can decide if I am trafficking.  It appears as though this may also hold up my charge cord even though it was sent through a different carrier.  I have no idea how to get help.  My many attempts to contact the carrier have met with shrugs.  I was told to call the Customs, but which one?  Apparently there are many in Guayaquil.  I have no idea where to start.  I am told to expect to have to pay business taxes as they now assume everything I order is to resell.   This will likely all work out, but we now know why a lot expats prefer to pay to fly home to buy things they need.

On a more positive note, we are moving again.  No more elevators.  No more feeling like we are trapped when the power goes down.  No more worrying about running into a neighbor who is deathly afraid of dogs.  This time we are heading a bit North and West, but still in the Cuenca area.  We found a nice “house” (actually a townhouse) that is too big for us, but is brand new, very nicely laid out, and has the master bedroom and bath on the first floor.  There are three more bedrooms on the second floor.   There is a small yard – though it is gravel – for the dogs, and a good sized courtyard in the middle of the townhouses that is all fenced in, which will be good for exercising Ginger.  I will send pictures when we actually move which will probably be in two weeks.  They are still doing some finishing touches on it now.  It is higher in the mountains, so may be a bit cooler, has a country feel to it, yet there is a brand new mall going in ½ mile away that is supposed to open in 2 months.  But this is Ecuador.   A more likely open date is 6 to 8 months.   In the meantime it is only about 10 minutes by car to another major shopping center and there are lots of smaller tiendas, farmacias and restaurantes within easy walking distance.