Home. Home? I went to Ecuador because I thought it was a place I might want to live. I went to see if there were any deal breakers because I had done so much research that I felt I already knew everything I needed to know to make an informed decision. Well, decision is made, but nobody gets to know until I talk with my family. So that subject is for another time.
I promised to tell you about dogs and ice cream. In Otavalo where we were most of the time, in our little apartment behind the Cruz Azol Pharmacy, we really didn't realize how special it was to be there. Otavalo is one of the most famous and most visited towns in Ecuador. It's mainly because of the market and the indigenous people. Everyday the streets are filled with local people doing their everyday business, living life. Saturday is crazy day! The market goes from a city block to miles of streets filled with booths and people. This is when the mountain people come to either sell their wares or buy supplies, or both. Everyday there are lots of stray dogs. When we think of stray dogs in this country we think of skinny, starving miserable creatures. Not the case here. These dogs are, for the most part, well fed. They are not pets in the sense that we know dogs. They don't interact with people. They don't seek out affections from humans. It's not something that they have ever known. They are not aggressive either. They are just a part of the community just like all of the humans that are roaming the streets. Oh, there are pet dogs. These people like to put little sweaters on their pet dogs. They are kept in the shops or behind closed doors in there homes, but it's the roaming dog population that is so interesting. Kind of like the clean up crew that helps keep everything tidy.
They do have ice cream in Ecuador, but I'm not sure it's made with dairy products or it could be that it is made with very fresh cream and that is why I don't have a problem eating it. I have an intolerance to dairy and I don't have a problem eating this ice cream. How they make it is not an issue for me because it is so delicious. It is a treat though because it can't be sold the way most things are here, off a street cart. There are a few cold carts, but they are rare because they are costly. You do see vendors walking around with huge bowls of "ice cream" with cones on top of the pile. It is a local favorite. The vendor gets a request and he takes the cone and piles the "ice cream" on and it looks just like the real deal. Difference is this will never melt because its made with egg whites that have been whipped and flavoring added. I'm told that it's very good, but never got around to trying it myself.
So, I am filled with emotions that I have never had before. I drove home alone from Portland. I finished listening to a book that I had downloaded then I put in the CD that I bought with South American music, I prayed and tried to put my thoughts together, but mostly I cried. This experience has changed me forever. Later, I will try to explain why. Thank you my friends for listening.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Garbage
Probably the most impressive fact about Ecuador is that it is very clean. Oh, it's like most places that have there not so picturesque spots, but for the most part it is impressive. That is especially true when you take into consideration that they don't recycle here and they are pretty much used to just throwing their trash down where they stand or out the car window. I was walking down a path yesterday that was lined with beautiful bushes and there was a potato chip bag stuffed into it. The impressive part is that it all gets cleaned up DAILY. You can be out in the evening and there is a crowd of people milling around being trashy and when you go out the next morning the streets are amazingly clean. There are men in overalls with brooms that look like they came out of a fairy tale (twigs on the end of branches) sweeping, sweeping. There are those with heavy brooms and shovels to pick up dog poop and other sticky stuff.
Then there is the trash trucks. EVERYDAY! Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday is food trash day. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is trash day. Guess that could be considered recycling of sorts. You hear the trash truck coming because it sounds like an ice cream truck. The truck that delivers gas canisters has a different tune as does the bottled water truck in some cities. It's a remarkable system that really works well and it keeps the multitude of dogs out of the trash.
The massive amount of dogs and ice cream are fun subjects, but they will have to wait until next time. It's almost 3 am and the taxi will be here at 4:30 to take Sherry and I to the airport in Quito (about a 2 hr drive) for our flight home. Bittersweet for me. Love it here, but anxious to see everyone and get on with life.
Then there is the trash trucks. EVERYDAY! Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday is food trash day. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is trash day. Guess that could be considered recycling of sorts. You hear the trash truck coming because it sounds like an ice cream truck. The truck that delivers gas canisters has a different tune as does the bottled water truck in some cities. It's a remarkable system that really works well and it keeps the multitude of dogs out of the trash.
The massive amount of dogs and ice cream are fun subjects, but they will have to wait until next time. It's almost 3 am and the taxi will be here at 4:30 to take Sherry and I to the airport in Quito (about a 2 hr drive) for our flight home. Bittersweet for me. Love it here, but anxious to see everyone and get on with life.
Friday, July 24, 2015
My Brain Is Leaking
There is so much happening on a daily basis that I feel like I am forgetting. Things come out in a jumble because they happen in such random order. For instance, the things I don't want to forget have no barring on each other. We were walking down the street today and there was an indigenous man with 2 goats. He was bent over milking one of them because a woman was buying a cup of the milk. He handed it to her, she drank it and paid him and walked off. This evening we were walking home with our Ecuadorian fast food and we passed a man peeing on a bush. Makes me laugh because it's so common here that you really don't think anything of it. What I don't understand is how they keep this place so clean. The young people come out at night and street food is eaten everywhere and there is trash and dogs and men peeing and in the morning when we come out and make our walk to the coffee shop everything is sparkling clean and there are never any bad smells.
We went out in service yesterday. Took a taxi to the bus terminal, then the bus to the Kingdom Hall (well, close to it. We have to walk about 4 blocks). So amazing how these brothers work at trying to find interested ones. The addresses are so hard to find because they don't have them. You look for the yellow, two story house next to the blue one story on such and such street. We went to the territory with two brothers in a car, then met up with another group because the brothers were going on a study. We walked and walked and walked some more. Found a couple of people we left literature with. Went to lunch and then to a place that makes donuts pretty close to American made, then took a taxi to the bus terminal in that town, the bus back to our town and the taxi home. There will never be any whining in my car group.
Food, glorious food. Almost every restaurant in every place we have visited has the same lunch special. It's a bowl of soup, small salad, rice, vegetable, meat and a glass of juice. Now, it's never cooked the same so there in lies the diversity. Soups have different ingredients, salad can be lettuce with tomatoes or cucumbers with onions, the veggie can be potatoes, beets or whatever. You can get chicken, fish, beef. One place had tongue. All of this and its usually $2.50. Some places cater to the American taste buds. There is a guy here from Florida and he has a place called "Sloppy Joes" and he serves the best hamburger and fries. Usually a hamburger here is kind of a meatloaf patty with who knows what in it. Today we had chimichangas and they were pretty close to what we can get in the states. Tonight we went to the open air market. They pack up all of the booths at dusk and then the food vendors take over. We ate corn on the cob roasted on a grill, these tamale things that are not made of masa but fresh corn ground up and mixed with other ingredients and steamed in a corn husk. A version of that that is sweet and steamed in a grape leaf. And my favorite fried bread.
We went out in service yesterday. Took a taxi to the bus terminal, then the bus to the Kingdom Hall (well, close to it. We have to walk about 4 blocks). So amazing how these brothers work at trying to find interested ones. The addresses are so hard to find because they don't have them. You look for the yellow, two story house next to the blue one story on such and such street. We went to the territory with two brothers in a car, then met up with another group because the brothers were going on a study. We walked and walked and walked some more. Found a couple of people we left literature with. Went to lunch and then to a place that makes donuts pretty close to American made, then took a taxi to the bus terminal in that town, the bus back to our town and the taxi home. There will never be any whining in my car group.
Food, glorious food. Almost every restaurant in every place we have visited has the same lunch special. It's a bowl of soup, small salad, rice, vegetable, meat and a glass of juice. Now, it's never cooked the same so there in lies the diversity. Soups have different ingredients, salad can be lettuce with tomatoes or cucumbers with onions, the veggie can be potatoes, beets or whatever. You can get chicken, fish, beef. One place had tongue. All of this and its usually $2.50. Some places cater to the American taste buds. There is a guy here from Florida and he has a place called "Sloppy Joes" and he serves the best hamburger and fries. Usually a hamburger here is kind of a meatloaf patty with who knows what in it. Today we had chimichangas and they were pretty close to what we can get in the states. Tonight we went to the open air market. They pack up all of the booths at dusk and then the food vendors take over. We ate corn on the cob roasted on a grill, these tamale things that are not made of masa but fresh corn ground up and mixed with other ingredients and steamed in a corn husk. A version of that that is sweet and steamed in a grape leaf. And my favorite fried bread.
We went to a neighboring town today to visit a couple of weavers. We saw them comb lambs wool and how they die it natural colors and weave it into beautiful wall hangings and blankets and clothes. These are a very industrious people.
Sherry was just reminding me of the exciting bus trip that we had. We took a taxi over to this little town, but decided to take the bus back. We had Charie with us so she was explaining the difference between the buses. We got on and the bus took off before poor Sherry could get in her seat. She never made it back to where we were before she had to plop herself down. We couldn't tell her that when we got to our destination that because we were on the "blue bus" you had to get off the back. The bus stopped and even though all of these people were pushing past her she was making her way to the front. The bus driver let her off the front anyway, so all turned out okay. It just gives us a good laugh when we think of all of the funny things that happen to us.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
What Is Your Town Known For?
Here in Equador all of the little towns are know for their speciality. Makes sense because if they didn't have a reason to be here they wouldn't. No big factories or employment oppertunities so they are a town based on their abilities. Otavalo is known as the textile town. Yesterday we went to Cotocochi which is the leather town. We started out the day with a recheck at the doctor, Sherrys doing fine. Charie came with us and then we went to breakfast. Our usual coffie place is closed on Monday so we tried another place. They had the Americano breakfast; eggs, bacon, juice, coffee and some wonderful warm bread with butter and jam. Also on the menu was Pappa Hash Browns, so we ordered that also. Here they bring you everything at once. You don't get your coffee or juice until the meal is ready. The hash browns came out first. It was like a huge potato pancake served with a salad. The eggs came on a small plate with the bacon on top. Juice here is abundant and you don't go many places that it just comes with your meal. It is ALWAYS fresh made and the flavor is nothing like what we think fruit should taste like in the States. Sherry and I don't even like papaya, but here we love it.
We decided to go to leather town so we hailed a cab to the bus terminal. It was about a 15-20 minute ride. We had heard from some of the friends that there was a shop owned by a brother who sold leather goods for our ministry. We walked halfway through the town to get to the place only to be greeted by a closed door (siesta time). Trecked back into the busy part of town and went to a really nice restaurant that Charie recomended and we had banana splits.
We decided to go to leather town so we hailed a cab to the bus terminal. It was about a 15-20 minute ride. We had heard from some of the friends that there was a shop owned by a brother who sold leather goods for our ministry. We walked halfway through the town to get to the place only to be greeted by a closed door (siesta time). Trecked back into the busy part of town and went to a really nice restaurant that Charie recomended and we had banana splits.
The ice cream is so delicious but haven't figured what they make it from. I know it's not cream or milk because I don't deal well with dairy and this causes me no pain.
We walked back toward the brother's shop and we met up with a man who was carrying his little son. He said to us "I speak English" We asked where he learned and he said "himself". Turns out he is a guide and takes people to various villages where the indiginous people live. He was going to his house so when we got there he took us into his yard where his passion for orchards was clearly seen in all of his various plants.
It was so interesting talking with Luis and turns out his mother is a Witness. As we continued our walk we were a little startled by a bunch of goats coming around the corner. They were followed by a cow and her calf. Then a bull. Then a young boy. Gotta love this place.
Friday, July 17, 2015
No Malaria
Poor Sherry has been feeling so bad for about 7 days of our trip. She has been such a trooper and tried to carry on, but she started getting a high fever when we were in the Amazon rain forest. We got back to Otavalo last night and we called Cherie, the sister we are renting the apartment from here, and she came over and took us to the doctor. We had been introduced to him the last time we were here. He's German and speaks very good English. He was very interested in Sherry's symptoms as we told him that we had been to the Amazon. At first he wanted to test for Malaria, but since her symptoms had started before that trip he went in another direction. Final conclusion: Sinus Infection. She is on antibiotics and a nasal spray and is already feeling better. The most astounding part of the 45 minute visit is when he told her "that will be $9.00". Our mouths probably fell open.
So, when we flew from Manta to Quito and stayed in the cute little hostel we figured out that we could catch a bus to Tena from near there instead of going all the way back to Quito. We did that and rode the 5 hours to Tena. I had found The River People on line after they were recommended to us by some brothers in Manta. We reserved a lodge with them in a package deal. Best choice we've made so far. They said they would pick us up at the bus terminal and they did. The taxi driver took us to lunch to a place that was recommended because they cooked this amazing fish in paper over hot coals. It was fabulous. Sherry got chicken and didn't eat much because she was having a miserable day. Needless to say I got to try both dishes. We were then taken to the River People office and on to our lodge. Thatched roofs, no electricity except at the reception area where we could charge our electronics, everything made from sustainable local materials. We had our choice of river rafting or hiking to waterfalls. We (yes, even sick Sherry) chose the class 3 river rafting. What an amazing day. We traveled 17 miles down the river and will never forget the sights we saw or how many times we thought we were going to drown. We had so much fun and Sherry did so good the whole day, but by the time we got back to the lodge she was burning up with fever and went to bed. To bad cause she missed the "after dark bug hunting expedition" I went on. Actually not to bad...she doesn't handle the bug situation to well. We saw a poisonous snake, a tarantula eat a grasshopper twice it's size, and a multitude of creepy stuff. The night before we watched them make chocolate out of the cocoa beans that grow wild here. Yummy! The rain forest can't be described. The change from the top of the Andes to this dense, lush forest with the biggest ferns I've ever seen is remarkable. Memories I will never forget.
The next day we were taken to the bus terminal by taxi, rode the 5 hours back to Quito, transferred buses to Otavalo, rode another 2 hours, took a taxi to the apartment. We have become world class travelers when it comes to bus and taxi. Bus ride cost $8, $3, taxi $2.
As I'm writing this there is the sound of an ice cream truck outside. Funny thing is it's not an ice cream truck, it's the garbage truck. They come by every day, every other day being either food garbage or paper garbage. Everyday the street sweepers (actual people with brooms) are out sweeping. This is a very clean place with very good smells as the street vendors are cooking all day.
I'm sorry this is long and believe me I could go on and on, but I'll give it a break for a while. Just making up for lost time in the Amazon Jungle. (Can't say that enough cause it doesn't seem real to me). Miss you, but having the time of our lives.
So, when we flew from Manta to Quito and stayed in the cute little hostel we figured out that we could catch a bus to Tena from near there instead of going all the way back to Quito. We did that and rode the 5 hours to Tena. I had found The River People on line after they were recommended to us by some brothers in Manta. We reserved a lodge with them in a package deal. Best choice we've made so far. They said they would pick us up at the bus terminal and they did. The taxi driver took us to lunch to a place that was recommended because they cooked this amazing fish in paper over hot coals. It was fabulous. Sherry got chicken and didn't eat much because she was having a miserable day. Needless to say I got to try both dishes. We were then taken to the River People office and on to our lodge. Thatched roofs, no electricity except at the reception area where we could charge our electronics, everything made from sustainable local materials. We had our choice of river rafting or hiking to waterfalls. We (yes, even sick Sherry) chose the class 3 river rafting. What an amazing day. We traveled 17 miles down the river and will never forget the sights we saw or how many times we thought we were going to drown. We had so much fun and Sherry did so good the whole day, but by the time we got back to the lodge she was burning up with fever and went to bed. To bad cause she missed the "after dark bug hunting expedition" I went on. Actually not to bad...she doesn't handle the bug situation to well. We saw a poisonous snake, a tarantula eat a grasshopper twice it's size, and a multitude of creepy stuff. The night before we watched them make chocolate out of the cocoa beans that grow wild here. Yummy! The rain forest can't be described. The change from the top of the Andes to this dense, lush forest with the biggest ferns I've ever seen is remarkable. Memories I will never forget.
The next day we were taken to the bus terminal by taxi, rode the 5 hours back to Quito, transferred buses to Otavalo, rode another 2 hours, took a taxi to the apartment. We have become world class travelers when it comes to bus and taxi. Bus ride cost $8, $3, taxi $2.
As I'm writing this there is the sound of an ice cream truck outside. Funny thing is it's not an ice cream truck, it's the garbage truck. They come by every day, every other day being either food garbage or paper garbage. Everyday the street sweepers (actual people with brooms) are out sweeping. This is a very clean place with very good smells as the street vendors are cooking all day.
I'm sorry this is long and believe me I could go on and on, but I'll give it a break for a while. Just making up for lost time in the Amazon Jungle. (Can't say that enough cause it doesn't seem real to me). Miss you, but having the time of our lives.
Monday, July 13, 2015
A (very) Little Down Time
We are in a little suburb of Quito staying in a hostel. Very interesting place. We asked for a travel agent in the Quito airport. They didn't have one but the girl at the desk was very helpful and spoke English. We wanted to stay in a hotel close to the airport, but guess that isn't an option. She recommended this place and it was about 20 minutes away. Very nice inside. We are heading South to a small town that has hot springs. It's on the way to Tena. Yep, like Sherry's last name. Tena is in the Amazon rain forest. There are some brothers there who own a river rafting company. Look up The River People in Tena, Ecuador. We hope to be there in the next couple of days.
So backtracking a little. Manta was wonderful. Went to the meeting on Tuesday night. The school is in the back in English, then we moved out to the main hall to get the service meeting in Spanish. Service days are Wed. - Sunday. Went out everyday but Sunday. Hot and humid so not what we are used to, but so fun. We were doing a census work looking for English speaking people. Saturday started the campaign to invite people to the convention. Friday was the highlight of our trip as we got to visit the Ecuador Bethel Branch. Amazing! One of the friends in Manta wrangled us an invitation to lunch. So special. We met many friends from all over the world. Samuel was from Italy and spoke the best English. The tour was excellent. Laundry was most interesting because of all the different machines they use. Our tour guide was a sweet young girl whose husband is from Oregon. They might come visit in October.
Another early morning tomorrow so will close for now. Thanks for tuning in.
So backtracking a little. Manta was wonderful. Went to the meeting on Tuesday night. The school is in the back in English, then we moved out to the main hall to get the service meeting in Spanish. Service days are Wed. - Sunday. Went out everyday but Sunday. Hot and humid so not what we are used to, but so fun. We were doing a census work looking for English speaking people. Saturday started the campaign to invite people to the convention. Friday was the highlight of our trip as we got to visit the Ecuador Bethel Branch. Amazing! One of the friends in Manta wrangled us an invitation to lunch. So special. We met many friends from all over the world. Samuel was from Italy and spoke the best English. The tour was excellent. Laundry was most interesting because of all the different machines they use. Our tour guide was a sweet young girl whose husband is from Oregon. They might come visit in October.
Another early morning tomorrow so will close for now. Thanks for tuning in.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
In The Beggining......
I want to go back a bit to our arrival in Otavalo. Really Sherry and I were both feeling like we had bitten off more than we could chew. When things are so different but you have no choice but to live with it, it's a little overwhelming. The shower, for instance. The water is heated by an electric device that is right there on the shower head. A little unnerving when you have been told your whole life that water and electricity don't mix. Then you have to turn the water faucet just so until you see the spark. Spark?! But, after the first cold shower and you finally figure it out then it's not so bad. Oh, it's the only hot water in the whole house. We heated water on the stove [only one burner works] to wash our dishes. There is a washer. It's a funny contraption, but it does the job. You put your clothes in one compartment and fill it from the hose. Turn the dial and it spins the clothes in one direction, it stops and then goes the other direction. It does this for however much time you set it for. Then you turn another dial and the water drains out. Repeat the process for rinse. Take the clothes and put them into the next compartment. Turn it on and it spins the water out. We were amazed at how well the dryer worked. The Ecuadorian sun did a great job after we hung the clothes on the line.
Sherry and I are constantly reminding each other how blessed we have been on this trip. Yesterday morning, on the way to the airport in Quito I called a brother in Manta. I had been given his phone number the night before at the meeting. I told him we were flying in and could he please recommend the area that was safest in Manta to get a hotel. He asked when the flight arrived and told me to call him when we got here. We did just that. He said he would be there in 15 minutes. I asked how I would know him and he said " I will be the gringo with the Panama hat and orange T shirt standing next to a super model". And there he was 15 minutes later. Cute couple in their 60's drove up in an old SUV and immediately threw our bags in the back. He said there was an apartment we could stay in while here as an American Witness family had gone back to the states to work for a few months. The price was right....free. There is a young Ecuadorian sister living here also. Korina speaks perfect English [she teaches English to children 5-12 years old at a local school] and is in the English congregation. She has helped us so much. When we got here we were greeted by another witness family that lives upstairs. They have been here a month from Australia. He has already been appointed an Elder in the English. They invited us to dinner. Tonight is the meeting which will be half in English and the service meeting will be in Spanish. Tomorrow we are invited to their apartment to watch this months broadcast.
So, just to prove my point.....yesterday morning we didn't even know where we were going. Today we have new friends that we will have for life...forever. We spent the day with our new Aussie family, went to the best bakery [recommended by Korina] put our feet in the pacific ocean, ate lunch at a really good restaurant, did some grocery shopping at the "Super Maxi" then came home and took a nap. Excited to meet more new friends tonight.
Sherry and I are constantly reminding each other how blessed we have been on this trip. Yesterday morning, on the way to the airport in Quito I called a brother in Manta. I had been given his phone number the night before at the meeting. I told him we were flying in and could he please recommend the area that was safest in Manta to get a hotel. He asked when the flight arrived and told me to call him when we got here. We did just that. He said he would be there in 15 minutes. I asked how I would know him and he said " I will be the gringo with the Panama hat and orange T shirt standing next to a super model". And there he was 15 minutes later. Cute couple in their 60's drove up in an old SUV and immediately threw our bags in the back. He said there was an apartment we could stay in while here as an American Witness family had gone back to the states to work for a few months. The price was right....free. There is a young Ecuadorian sister living here also. Korina speaks perfect English [she teaches English to children 5-12 years old at a local school] and is in the English congregation. She has helped us so much. When we got here we were greeted by another witness family that lives upstairs. They have been here a month from Australia. He has already been appointed an Elder in the English. They invited us to dinner. Tonight is the meeting which will be half in English and the service meeting will be in Spanish. Tomorrow we are invited to their apartment to watch this months broadcast.
So, just to prove my point.....yesterday morning we didn't even know where we were going. Today we have new friends that we will have for life...forever. We spent the day with our new Aussie family, went to the best bakery [recommended by Korina] put our feet in the pacific ocean, ate lunch at a really good restaurant, did some grocery shopping at the "Super Maxi" then came home and took a nap. Excited to meet more new friends tonight.
Monday, July 6, 2015
Tomorrow Never Comes
Here in Ecuador manana mean "not today". Could be tomorrow or it could be next week. So when I say I'll write tomorrow, don't hold your breath.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to the meeting. That's an understatement. About 10 am we went to the coffee shop. I had a breakfast sandwich and Sherry had this huge hunk of bread that has become her favorite thing in life. I drink brewed coffee which comes in it's own little pot and Sherry has her iced green tea. We putzed around there for a while watching the market across the street, then went to the ATM and then home to get ready for the meeting. Our new friend Cherie was coming to get us to show us how to get there. She was late so we ran out the door to hail a cab. This was our first taxi ride. I bet there are more cabs here than there are in New York. We got in and before I got my door closed the driver was making a u-turn and I was almost out the door. He thought it was funny. He took us to the bus terminal for $1. The bus was about to leave so we had to run. Sherry and I didn't know what we were doing so we followed Cherie, only problem, I was pushed on the bus first. It was full, but I did manage to find two seats together. Cherie was close by. The ride was about 15 min, two towns over and cost .35 cents. The buses are huge so you can't really see the road which is a good thing because they drive like Taxi's. When we got off the bus it was about 3 blocks to the Kingdom Hall. Have I mentioned that I have already lost 5 lbs with all of the walking?
The meeting was wonderful. A brother came from Quito to give the talk. After we met all of our new friends. A sister with a 9 year old daughter invited us to her home after. She had a car!!! We stuffed 7 of us in and we were off to the most amazing part of the country that we didn't know was this close to us. Beautiful, lush green lawns and spectacular homes on 1/2 acres. The road we went down had many homes and most were occupied by Witnesses. We took a tour of a couple of them and then the sister and her daughter took us to dinner in the little town of Cotacochi. It was called a bar and grill and they served the best hambergers and pizza. Really catered to the Gringo population. Off for now.
Yesterday, Sunday, we went to the meeting. That's an understatement. About 10 am we went to the coffee shop. I had a breakfast sandwich and Sherry had this huge hunk of bread that has become her favorite thing in life. I drink brewed coffee which comes in it's own little pot and Sherry has her iced green tea. We putzed around there for a while watching the market across the street, then went to the ATM and then home to get ready for the meeting. Our new friend Cherie was coming to get us to show us how to get there. She was late so we ran out the door to hail a cab. This was our first taxi ride. I bet there are more cabs here than there are in New York. We got in and before I got my door closed the driver was making a u-turn and I was almost out the door. He thought it was funny. He took us to the bus terminal for $1. The bus was about to leave so we had to run. Sherry and I didn't know what we were doing so we followed Cherie, only problem, I was pushed on the bus first. It was full, but I did manage to find two seats together. Cherie was close by. The ride was about 15 min, two towns over and cost .35 cents. The buses are huge so you can't really see the road which is a good thing because they drive like Taxi's. When we got off the bus it was about 3 blocks to the Kingdom Hall. Have I mentioned that I have already lost 5 lbs with all of the walking?
The meeting was wonderful. A brother came from Quito to give the talk. After we met all of our new friends. A sister with a 9 year old daughter invited us to her home after. She had a car!!! We stuffed 7 of us in and we were off to the most amazing part of the country that we didn't know was this close to us. Beautiful, lush green lawns and spectacular homes on 1/2 acres. The road we went down had many homes and most were occupied by Witnesses. We took a tour of a couple of them and then the sister and her daughter took us to dinner in the little town of Cotacochi. It was called a bar and grill and they served the best hambergers and pizza. Really catered to the Gringo population. Off for now.
Saturday, July 4, 2015
Making A Dream Come True
About 5 years ago Walt and I started planning our retirement in Ecuador. A lot can happen in 5 years. Six or eight months after Walt died I decided I still wanted to investigate the possibility of living in a foreign country. So, skip ahead a year and a half, selling a piece of property in Kansas, intense research and convincing my friend Sherry to go with me and here we are in Otavalo, Ecuador.
The trip here could have convinced me that I was barking up the wrong tree. It took almost 20 hours, 3 different planes. The planes were crowded and the flights were long and they lost one of Sherry's bags. Sherry has been a trooper with only one shirt [the one she was wearing] an extra pair of pants and she had to buy pantaloones the first day we were here.
As promised by the brother here in the Atuntaque congregation we were met at the Quito airport and driven the 2 hours to the apartment in Otavalo. That was an interesting ride and I think the driver was being respectful of our foriegn feelings and didn't pass on as many blind curves and double yellow lines as he would have liked to. We pulled into a narrow street [they all are] next to the pharmacy. There was an ornate wooden door with an interesting knocker. Behind that door was a long hall, a flight of stairs [to another apartment] and then the door to our apartment. We were met by Charie, a 70 year old sister who has lived here 4 yrs. She is in the sign language congregation. She has been such a blessing to us, showing us around the town and introducing us to all she knows.
We actually arrived here early Thursday morning, today is Saturday, but it feels like we have been here a week at least. Thursday, after being introduced to our favorite "hang out", a coffee, sandwich, pastry shop owned by a young brother and sister [couple] from the US, we came back to the apartment and took a 2 hour nap. We got up and took a shower then went out and looked around a bit before we went back to the coffee shop. We weren't able to get on the internet at the apartment yet so we hung out at the coffee shop a lot until we were connected at home. Sherry kept referring to things that had happened that morning as yesterday. I would correct her, but she always seemed a little confused. Finally we figured it out when I realized that she thought we had slept the day and night away and it was the next morning. Poor thing was so disappointed to find out that she had only slept 2 hours.
Don't want to overwhelm so I will write more tomorrow.
The trip here could have convinced me that I was barking up the wrong tree. It took almost 20 hours, 3 different planes. The planes were crowded and the flights were long and they lost one of Sherry's bags. Sherry has been a trooper with only one shirt [the one she was wearing] an extra pair of pants and she had to buy pantaloones the first day we were here.
As promised by the brother here in the Atuntaque congregation we were met at the Quito airport and driven the 2 hours to the apartment in Otavalo. That was an interesting ride and I think the driver was being respectful of our foriegn feelings and didn't pass on as many blind curves and double yellow lines as he would have liked to. We pulled into a narrow street [they all are] next to the pharmacy. There was an ornate wooden door with an interesting knocker. Behind that door was a long hall, a flight of stairs [to another apartment] and then the door to our apartment. We were met by Charie, a 70 year old sister who has lived here 4 yrs. She is in the sign language congregation. She has been such a blessing to us, showing us around the town and introducing us to all she knows.
We actually arrived here early Thursday morning, today is Saturday, but it feels like we have been here a week at least. Thursday, after being introduced to our favorite "hang out", a coffee, sandwich, pastry shop owned by a young brother and sister [couple] from the US, we came back to the apartment and took a 2 hour nap. We got up and took a shower then went out and looked around a bit before we went back to the coffee shop. We weren't able to get on the internet at the apartment yet so we hung out at the coffee shop a lot until we were connected at home. Sherry kept referring to things that had happened that morning as yesterday. I would correct her, but she always seemed a little confused. Finally we figured it out when I realized that she thought we had slept the day and night away and it was the next morning. Poor thing was so disappointed to find out that she had only slept 2 hours.
Don't want to overwhelm so I will write more tomorrow.
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