Olon Again...Naturally

I See What?

2012-03-02T04:22:00.023-05:00

March 1, 2012

The Eagle and the Condor

In 2006, while living in Palm Springs (and Ecuador was not even a blimp on the radar then), I read an article in the March 2006 issue of “National Geographic ADVENTURE” written by Kira Salak about her experience during a shamanic healing ritual involving ayahuasca on a trip to Peru (“To Hell and Back”). I was utterly fascinated when I read the piece and sorta mentally put that on my “bucket list of things to do”, but it seemed unlikely, because South America had yet to beckon me.

To quote Wikipedia:

"Ayahuasca" or "ayawaska" is Quechua for , "spirit vine" or "vine of the souls"; aya means "spirit" while huasca or waska means "vine".

(I think it is a combination of two different plants that grow naturally in the jungle here, and usually drank as a tea).

"Ayahuasca is used largely as a religious sacrament. Users of ayahuasca in non-traditional contexts often align themselves with the philosophies and cosmologies associated with ayahuasca shamanism, as practiced among indigenous peoples.”

To further quote Wikipedia:

“While non-native users know of the spiritual applications of ayahuasca, a less well-known traditional usage focuses on the medicinal properties of ayahuasca. When used for its medicinal purposes ayahuasca affects the human consciousness for less than six hours beginning half an hour after consumption, and peaking after two hours. The remedy also has cardiovascular effects, moderately increasing both heart rate and diastolic blood pressure. The psychedelic effects of ayahuasca include visual and auditory stimulation, the mixing of sensory modalities, and psychological introspection that may lead to great elation, fear, or illumination. Its purgative properties are important (known as la purga or "the purge"). The intense vomiting and occasional diarrhea it induces can clear the body of worms and other tropical parasites”

I was recently honored to be invited to a shamanic healing ritual, held last Saturday night beginning at 10PM, and lasting all night and well into Sunday morning. Our British friend Melanie (who’s been in South America/Ecuador for a long time, speaks Spanish fluently, committed and well on the path towards her “Vision Quest”, and who has become a very special friend to Todd & me), has been encouraging us to attend one of the seemingly “spur of the moment” scheduled ceremonies, but the time never seemed right, or I was just too scared to say “yes” until now.

Ayahuasca has been used here in Ecuador for centuries for spiritual and medicinal reasons, and I’ve either read, been told first hand, or witnessed personally the beneficial effects on those who have respect for the ritual.
I’ve also met folks that should probably lay off the ayahuasca for awhile.

But make no mistake; this journey is not for the faint-hearted, nor those who view it as a recreational opportunity. Lady Ayahuasca should be never treated with anything other than the utmost respect.

It is an awesome experience, but also very, very uncomfortable at times. There is a good reason that it’s sometimes called the “Warriors’ Path” or the “Path of the Warriors”. I think the three most important attitudes to bring – should you agree to this mission are:

A desire and willingness to be healed – AND HAVE A GOAL IN MIND when you do it.
A sense that “you are ready”.
Open-mindedness.

Oh, and don’t mind getting really, really dirty. And it’s a good idea to cleanse before-hand by avoiding spicy or salty food, fats, caffeine, acidic products and alcohol a few days before and after. And drink lots and lots of water, because once the ceremony starts it is forbidden until offered at the appropriate time(s), as well as tobacco, unless that is used for ceremonial purposes.

When Melanie and I arrived a little after 10PM, the ceremonial accouterments and the all important center fire configuration was being prepared in the lodge. It was an unusually large crowd for this ceremony, which normally would have been held outside, but it was raining, and it was somewhat cramped inside the rustic/native lodge that was used instead. I suppose around 35 people were in attendance, not counting the children or the shamans and “shaman helpers” (for lack of better word). Locally, we have a couple of well-respected shamans, Jorge and Jorgito (Jorge’s adult son, who is anything but little).

One of the reasons that this particular ceremony was packed was because we had the honor of a visiting Shuar shaman known as “Taita Segundo” presiding. I believe that he was introduced to me first as “Mario” before the ceremony began – a humble, kind-eyed, gentle man, with a powerful presence – and one who will always be “Taita” to me from now on. Taita has been training as a shaman since around the age of 8-yrs, in the Amazon and has a true gift (which isn’t necessarily passed on from father to son). Interestingly, Taita has no hands (which are both amputated at the wrists, and I’ve heard several stories as to why).

The whole ceremony was conducted in Spanish, and I suppose lots of Quechua (also spelled Quichua).

I think one of my first astonishments as we gathered in the lodge to begin the ceremony was the joviality of the people attending, as well as the number of children that were present. Almost everyone at this ceremony was indigenous Ecuadorian to some degree, and it truly seemed like a family affair, much celebrated and – I thought – similar to an estados unidos Thanksgiving gathering.

Jorge gave a very impassioned yet calm “sermon?” to begin (and while I didn’t understand most of it, felt very soothed as he spoke, and grateful that Melanie and a couple of other ingles speakers were sitting near me to translate certain important points). Much of what he said was greeted with assenting grunts and versions of “amen’s”. While he was speaking he was smoking a special natural tobacco combination stogie (not likely to be marijuana). There is a special consideration regarding the plants used for ceremony. Special, naturally growing tobacco blends are used, since it is considered as sending “incense” to the heavens/spirit world, and may vary according to person/tribe/ceremony? At least to the best of my understanding at this point.

After he was done speaking, the “cigar” was passed around amongst the shamans (Jorgito, Taita and Carmen the “woman of incense” and they each expounded as they puffed). ”Reuben” (to my best comprehension of his name) was minding to the center fire, which I have to think is an honor and a selfless sacrifice, since focusing on the fire is an important part of the ceremony for participants but requires constant vigilance from the tender of the fire.

Virtually every ritual I’ve heard of involves tobacco shared with all (in one form or another) to begin the purging process and I was kinda dreading that. Fortunately, we only had to snort tobacco water, poured into the palms of our hands and then inhaled into each nostril, starting with the left nostril (representing the heart). That wasn’t bad, and infinitely preferable to drinking a combination of chewed up tobacco mixed with spittle that I’ve heard of used in other ceremonies.

Following that, a bag of tobacco was passed around and each of us in turn threw our pinch of tobacco onto the fire, appealing to our heads, our hearts and our spirit for healing, with a specific vision and reason for attending.

Then the liquid ayahuasca was passed around in what may be best described as a jigger, and a full one at that. It is understood that whatever you agree to ingest, you agree to drink the full contents before it is passed to the next person. All of us shared from the same glass/plate in whatever was passed around. Before the ayahuasca concoction is sent around the circle, each one of us was provided a barf bag. It takes around 30-40 minutes for the medicine to take effect. The only way to do it is to chug it; I didn’t think it was too bad tasting, and I have a very sensitive gag reflex.

The ceremonial stick and rattle were then passed. Those who knew sacred songs, (healing songs called “icaros” I think) sang them while holding the “stick” and rattle, and for those of us who didn’t, were asked to bless ourselves with them, and pass them to the next person) as a drum beat played by Jorgito kept constant accompaniment while waiting for the ayahuasca to kick in. It was a special time of sharing, and I did my best to keep my focus on the center fire.

About an hour into it, I was feeling pretty proud (okay, maybe a little too smug) that I wasn’t puking like most around me (including those who were well accustomed to the ritual, and not ashamed about “la purga” portion, however it manifests).

…Until I quite suddenly realized that my purge was going to involve coming out rather explosively from the other end.

There is no lady-like way to explain this next phase. Suffice to say that while I did manage to stumble to the nearby, rather basic bano…I didn’t quite make it all the way to the toilet, and managed to soil not only my undies and the pair of sweatpants I had pulled on underneath my long skirt – for modesty and warmth during the night- I also managed to crap some on the floor. This was probably the most singularly uncomfortable moment during the ritual, since I certainly didn’t want someone needing the bano after me to slip in it, so I spent what seemed to me to be a long, wobbly time trying to wipe up the floor with what was available, washed my only panties in the sink so I could keep on wearing those, rinsed off the sweat pants, and tossed them outside the lodge till it was all over.

I think I earnestly entered into this experience with some idea of what was to happen, and did my best not to have any pre-conceived expectations. But you know, I’ve talked to many credible people that take the ritual seriously, who have had a genuine spiritual awakening and/or awesome visions, and the opportunity to re-visit past life experiences as in a movie reel. In all honesty, I was hoping to taste some of that.

But did I see dead, ancient and wise Amazon warriors speaking to me?... No.

Did I have visions of flying like a condor over the jungle, or any other connection to my particular power spirit animal (“arútams”?)…No.

Did I get to revisit certain moments in my life worth reviewing?...No.

What I did see were trails of what appeared to be dental floss stuck to my hand as I was wiping up the bathroom floor.

After that, I was somewhat fearful. I crawled back into my spot, and I was either laid flat on my back or huddled in a fetal position with part of the blanket I brought (also being shared with those next to me) for the next couple of hours while dozing and enjoying a dreamless “sleep” (that I remember); a rejuvenating siesta. I do remember clearly that at some point I was asked several times if I wanted to sit up and partake of the next round or two of other medicines sent around, which I declined because I was barely able to squeak out “No, I don’t think so; I’m doing just fine at the moment”, though I rather regret that decision now.

During that portion of the ceremony, Taita came around to each one of us (waving/fanning with a “wand” of corn husk leaves and other things to perform individually tailored, gifted healing rituals for each of us. I did manage sit up long enough to receive this. To some he said more or less “stick around tomorrow, you need lengthier and specific work done that can’t be incorporated/time enough or private enough during this rite”. Later, on Sunday morning after the ceremony was officially over, I observed Taita carry out some of those individual treatments and I am still trying to process the methods and healings I witnessed.

After a couple of hours, as the hallucinogenic properties of the natural medicines subsided, or were at least more endurable, all were invited to join in the next phase of the authentic sweat lodge portion of the ritual. I think most all except the sleeping children opted “in” on this, myself included, though I was dreading it. It started before sunrise and lasted into daybreak and was at least a couple of hours long. HOURS LONG.

It was almost more than I thought I could possibly tolerate (thankfully, I was told before-hand to bring a loose fitting sweat-lodge extra pair of clothes). It went on forever, and I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to bolt from that hot, stifling, claustrophobic, unfamiliar environment, if nothing else than to gasp a couple of deep breaths of fresh air on the real or pretext need for the bano (which some did). There is a certain male/female ritual for entering or leaving the tent, and specific rituals for how and when to present/use the heated rocks, the antlers used to position them, the sacred tobacco incense burned atop, the water added at the end to make it steamy right before the only open tent flap is shut (four times this process is repeated in recognition of the sacred elements of air, water, fire and earth)….Jorge was telling stories in Spanish/Quichua, sharing invaluable oral stories and traditions for some time, and while I didn’t understand most of it with my mind, his voice was hypnotically soothing, and I was drifting to the very comfortable in-between place of “not asleep/nor awake” and somehow understood his meaning and tales with my heart. There is much more I would like to add to this paragraph, but will leave it at this for now.

When we emerged from the sweat lodge, we rinsed off/cleaned up some in a not-fancy communal type showering area that did include a couple of curtained of stalls for the women to use before changing back into the clothes we wore, or whatever else we brought to wear that was clean or cleaner.

The final rite of the ceremony was a shared breakfast of corn, meat and fruit after a sweet, females only singing procession bringing in the food (which I felt honored to be asked to carry in the watermelon tray) and then an elaborate prayer, and the meal was shared amongst us on mutual platters, which we ate using our hands. It was very jolly and relaxing time with the kids awoken and frolicking around, and I feel like I’ve been adopted and welcomed into a new “family”.

I admit I was at first motivated by curiosity to attend this ritual. I also became moved to participate because I sensed within myself that it was the right time to “do it” and that I was personally ready to embrace the potential healing aspects of it, despite my considerable trepidation.

I heard from friends and family beforehand well-meant comments and (perhaps well-founded) concerns about this choice (i.e. “whatever you do, DON’T get in the sweat lodge; people die in those”, to one of my daughters firmly admonishing me NOT to eat any strange plants….to which I was wondering if drinking them might be okay instead).

Was it an awesome experience? Yes.

Was it for the most part a miserably uncomfortable night? Yes.

Did I learn something from it? Yes, though I'm still trying to process and articulate my experience, except to say I’m most definitely impressed with a new sense of inner-calm, peace and serenity that I’ve felt since then.

Others have commented about a new “glow” to my demeanor, including some folks who are not/were not aware of what I participated in last Saturday night. It was a voyage into the unknown, and an opportunity to peel back some stubborn, spiritual outer “onion skin layers”, to use an un-original and cliché analogy.

Is it a journey that I am willing to explore some more? Yes. When the time is right.

But next time I’m going to bring a few extra panties and a towel.

*** All pictures included with this post were culled from the internet, and my thanks to these unknown photographers.

A Hole in the Month

2012-02-22T14:16:00.023-05:00

February 22, 2012

I don’t know if it’s just me, or are those “prove you are not a robot” verifications you have to input on certain sites/comments to blogs/etc getting harder???

Thank God I’m not trying to buy tickets on Ticketmaster for a popular concert (when it is a speed test), because I would be lucky to score nose-bleed seats if that were the case – assuming I should succeed to get one of those verifications correct by the third try.

Oh Happy Day when
the beer was re-stocked
after the Reef Classic

Well, we survived Carnavale which just ended yesterday. I have NEVER seen so many people in Olon and Montanita. A few weeks ago, the Reef Surf Classic was held in Montanita, and I think the official tally for that crowd was 25,000 – so many, that the town ran out of beer (which constitutes a genuine crisis around here)…I thought that swarm was crazy, but just a drop in the bucket compared to the mob of people who came to our beaches these last 4 days.

About a week before Carnavale, I read in our local paper that “500 mil” (that’s 500,000, folks) were expected to descend on the southern Ecuadorian coastal towns. I thought it had to be a typo, and figured the writer meant 50,000. Now, I’m not so sure.

Sunday night, I took a car ride into Montanita from Olon (normally less than a 5 minute chicken bus ride) and it took ONE HOUR AND 25 MINUTES to make the journey. Hell, I could have walked there in 30 minutes. Todd and I ended up pretty much cowering in our home for most of the celebration – not because of the foam spraying, water ballooning (etc.) shenanigans, but because it just wasn’t worth trying to beat a path through the horde.

Most of the visitors were Ecuadorian families on holiday, though of course there were an additional multitude of the young surfers in Montanita. Many of the Guayaquil people come out on the buses for the day and return home at night, though just as many, or more, stay through the weekend.

I honestly don’t know where they all slept; every hotel and hostal room or home rental has been booked for months. I think numerous people camp on the beach or sleep in their cars, though I did spy this enterprising woman sleeping in the luggage compartment of a bus a couple of days ago.

I couldn't get a very clear shot,
but look closely at the bottom left of this picture

Most of the Carnavale photos included with this post were taken last year, because we were hiding inside this year.

It’s been kind of a tough month.

Montanita Carnavale 2011

Do you ever have one of those days when everything goes wrong, and the harder you try to fight upstream against the bad karma current, the worse it gets? On those kind of days, I’ve learned sometimes it’s just better to “cry uncle”, and go back to bed with a good book. A New Zealand friend of mine here (Jacqui, who runs the Montanita Spanish School) says the Kiwi’s have a term for it:

They call it “a day with a hole in it”…Good saying, I think. In my case, it seems that most of February has been like that.

It started with an unpleasant flu that has been going around here. It took a bunch of us out (and I very rarely get sick). I spent a week in bed with a fever, lethargy and diarrhea. Others also experienced achiness and some had ear problems. I no sooner conquered that when a tooth became infected and painful until it finally fell out. I’m losing so many teeth these days, I can barely gum my way through yogurt (one of our top priorities for the coming month is to schedule serious dental work, since it so much more reasonably priced in Ecuador).

Olon Carnavale 2011

To compound this roll of events, some type of insect or spider bit me on the hand a couple of weeks ago, and the bite was gnarly. I didn’t feel it when it happened (and I am damn glad I didn’t see whatever insect did it), but the bite area swelled up painfully, as well as my whole hand to the point that I thought I might need a doctor’s attention. Fortunately I’ve been able to treat it with lots of hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol and antibiotic ointment and it has now subsided to a slow healing scab and a permanent crater on the top-side of my left hand.

The one really nice thing about this month is that my brother Jack came to Ecuador for a visit (as mentioned before, he and several partners also own a home in our neighborhood). Jack came bearing two new computers for Todd and me, and we were thrilled. This was a big event for us, since we’ve been sharing the same computer for the last year and a half, which hasn’t been pretty at times. Jack’s delivery of those computers is probably the best thing that’s happened for our marriage since we arrived in Ecuador.

And then my brand new/straight-out-of-the-factory-box computer crashed after 4 days of use. I did notice keyboard-locking-up issues from the start, so it went back to the States with Jack a couple of days ago. Todd’s new computer (different brand) is working great. At least, Todd and I have two computers to work on now. I’m back to the dinosaur laptop we’ve had all along, which is older than dirt, bigger than a nightstand and came loaded with Vista (grrr…..). But it’s better than nothing, except I lost most of my February pictures, including photos of the malevolent spider bite, or I would have posted that too.

Like I said, it’s been “a month with a hole in it”.

Porque Olon?

2012-02-19T00:01:00.004-05:00

February 16, 2012

Most of the small town “grocery stores” along the coast are essentially just a storefront with a barred window, where you stand outside and point to the items you desire. We’ve always been lucky in Olon to have the Oloncito Super Market, which is larger, and one could walk around inside to pick up the things needed.

Our friends, Antonio and Patricia Zamora who own the Oloncito Super Market moved last month to a new location across the street from their old tienda (to read more about them, please see “Trash Truck Groupy” written a couple of posts back). The new store is bigger and better, with several aisles, larger inventory, and – this is a real novelty for our area – actual shopping baskets to use while gathering your stuff. We are tickled to have it nearby, and thrilled for Antonio and Patricia, who told us a few weeks ago that this was “a ten year dream” in the making for them. Eventually, they want to add a restaurant above the store.

We really love our little town of Olon, and proud to call it home. Unlike many of the little towns along the Ruta del Sol (Spondylus), Olon’s road’s are paved, we have a beautiful new central park with a stage, a gazebo, and a sandy playground area for the kids.

Along our beach are a number of cabanas that serve fresh seafood (Lolita’s and Tito & Hannah’s are a couple of our favorites), and our beach now has a “cocktail stand”. More restaurants are opening in town that serve great food at great prices and offer other choices (rather than seafood) such as grilled pork chops, chicken, “chuzos cuencanos” (chorizos). “Leila’s” next to the park is still the most popular; several of their neighbors have recently opened similar eating establishments outside their homes – we haven’t tried them yet – but we hear they also serve yummy food too.

Another restaurant called “Nettuno’s” is now open; the owners are super-nice (he is Italian) and they serve decent pizzas and cheeseburgers. *

A new Columbian restaurant (along the Ruta, across the street/diagonally north from the Olon CLP station) opened awhile ago (called “Chalen – Country Latino”) and on many nights, a talented Latin acoustic guitar player (Cantautor Guitarrista – Diego Jiménez) serenades with some of the most delicious music that we can hear from our new back patio.

Also, para-sailing adventures are now available during “the season” on the Olon beach (I think around $45/pp), and it’s fun to watch while enjoying a cerveza. Todd and I can’t wait to try it (“double sail” offered).

But most of all, the local people of Olon are wonderfully kind and patient and have a great sense of humor.

Some of the pictures on this post were taken last month during the “6 de enero Reyes Magos” (also known as the “Dias de los Inocentes y Reyes Magos”). This holiday is celebrated on the sixth of January in many countries and we enjoyed watching the festivities here.

In Ecuador, the 6th of January is celebrated. The customs of the “Festival of the 3 Kings” may vary according to each town/traditions here.

In a a recent email comment about Olon:

“The nice thing about Olon, is that it has all the necessities needed for any vacation. There is a wonderful atmosphere in the town, fantastic locals, and an extremely quiet ambience at night…

The best part of the "Jardines de Olon" is that it’s in its own little community of tranquility, and just outside the gates you have one of South Americas most beautiful beaches, and a great little town filled with life and good energy” (for the full review, please see the guest comments link on my husband’s website – at ecuafriendly.com

Daisy's Auntie Beth & Todd
Birthday party hats optional.

For the most part, there are some great gringos buying and moving here, many with special talents, skills and passions.

But one of our most favorite neighbors is Elizabeth (aka known as Daisy’s Aunt Beth) who is from South Carolina with a heart for rescuing animals both there and here, and the one who convinced Todd and I to adopt/rescue the Daismeister beach stray when we move here permanently (we think she was around 7-9 months then, hadn’t been through a heat yet, and Aunt Beth paid for her sterilization.

Elizabeth just started a website called homeolon.com, dedicated to the care of the strays in our Olon area. Please see that website, and if you want more details and specifics, please contact Beth directly at homeolon@gmail.com.

Elizabeth is selling tee-shirts and hats with the logo “Leave Me in Olon” and to quote her website:

“You can help eliminate the needless suffering that results from over-population by purchasing one these products. $10 from the sale of each of “Leave Me in Olon” hat or shirt goes toward spay/neuter in Olon, Ecuador.

We love our new
Olon tee-shirts and Todd's hat.

* Nettuno’s is getting ready to move to a new location, as yet undetermined, but presumably somewhere still in Olon.

New Barrio

2012-01-31T15:34:00.006-05:00

January 31, 2012

Sarah's new house
and our lot to the right

Todd and I would like to welcome one more new neighbor to our charming Jardines de Olon neighborhood – Sarah R. who recently bought our house, furnished. Sarah is an Aussie who currently lives in Huntington Beach, and is well-traveled, remarkably energetic, diversely talented, and has experience buying international property. I’ll be talking more about her in future posts, but suffice for now to say that we are delighted to have her as a new neighbor, since our project this year will be building another house on the lot we own next door. Sarah wants to continue making the house available for guests, and Todd and I will continue to manage it for her.

Closer view of the lot

We closed on the deal last week during our stay in Guayaquil.

In the meantime, Todd and I have rented a 2-bedroom/2 bath newly constructed Ecuadorian home in Olon for the next ten months. It’s just a short walk away from Jardines - we needed to be near the construction site, and close enough for Daisy to find us without having to cross the Ruta del Sol highway.

And boy, are we grateful to have scored on a local place during this busy holiday time of year, when rentals of any kind are difficult (if not impossible to find), and especially one as nice and new as this one. We have spent the last few weeks getting our stuff moved in, but we still have a ways to go to get settled and organized.

Keep in mind that local long-term rentals generally run around $200-400 in our area, and come without furnishings, fridge, stove, (and often without hot water showers, though our baths do each have decent “suicide heater” devices that are so far working great). Our kind landlords left a bunk bed in the house for us to use (we are going to convert that bedroom into our office and guest room). We have since then bought and had delivered a queen bed for our bedroom and a full size fridge, which we would have to eventually buy anyway for the house we will be building.

We really, really like our new barrio (further north in town, behind the police station and near the Olon CLP bus terminal). All of our neighbors are friendly, and we are getting better acquainted with this side of town. And since most of our neighbors are Ecuadorian, we have all the more opportunity to immerse in the community and practice our español.

We’ve had a few glitches: a few of the windows weren’t sealed properly, and with the nightly downpours we’ve had lately, we had a few leaks in the new house that have since been fixed. And once again (see “On the Move Again”), we are at the mercy of the city water system because our cute place does not have a cistern. The city turns off the water nightly at 10PM until around 6AM, which can be inconvenient at times, but one gets used to it.

Daisy (in the middle)
Making friends is her business

Showing her friends around

Daisy likes the new place too, but Jardines de Olon will always be her “hood” and she lacks for no attention around there. She follows us over to the new place often, and has spent a few partial nights at the new digs (we have a nice walled in back patio and driveway area) and she has made a few friends herself in the new barrio.

Trash Truck Groupy

2012-01-29T04:43:00.009-05:00

January 28, 2012

Chuck, Nancy, Todd & Mary
at beachside Lolita's/Olon

Last week Todd and I had the honor and pleasure of meeting and spending time with Mary Beckman (from Northern California) who is visiting Ecuador for a couple of weeks. Mary writes probably the most premier and “one-stop-everything-you-want-to-know-about-Ecuador” blog/websites called “South of Zero”. Her site includes a prodigious blog roll of ex-pat (or wannabee-living-in Ecuador) scribes sharing their experiences about living and traveling in Ecuador, as well as links to various newsletters, forums, and governmental information pages.

With her were Nancy and Chuck Watson, who write the prolific and popular blog called "Nancy and Chuck - Retirement in Ecuador". Nancy and Chuck are world travelers who have lived in Cuenca for some time.

All were just great, interesting and fun folks and we spent last Saturday morning showing them around our area. Mary wanted to see some of our coastal areas where expats are buying.

We met at a Montanita restaurant for breakfast, and then headed north for a look-see.

Umm...now, if you wouldn't mind
stepping back a couple of feet
while I take this pic?

Of course we had to first stop at the beautiful santuario, La Blanca Estrella del Mar, that sits upon the Montanita cliff point, overlooking the ocean and picturesque 8-mile white sand beach that stretches past Olon up to around La Entrada. This is an obligatory photo opp, but taking pictures near the edge of the cliff invariably makes me just a little nervous; the cliff is eroding; services are no longer held in the church, though people are still allowed to wander and tour the sanctuary (free).

From there, we drove up to see an Olon hillside development, and then headed up to Curia to see Barb and Robert’s new beachfront digs.

After that, we returned south back to Olon, where we showed them around town, around our neighborhood of Jardines de Olon (and our house, and the house of Doug/Pam & my brother) before heading out to one of our beach side cabanas for a fresh seafood lunch. Todd and I took Mary, Nancy and Chuck to “Lolita’s” where our friend Pablo makes probably the best ceviche on the beach, and just relaxed for awhile.

We had a delightful, fun, easy-going time with them, and feel that we have made new life-long friends. We shared a few funny “war-stories” about writing blogs and got a kick when this gal passed by us wearing the shirt pictured below:

Anyway, Mary, glad we finally had the chance to meet in person; ditto to Nancy and Chuck; Todd and I genuinely look forward to spending a lot more time with you all in the future!

A week before that we hosted an adult group of five Canadians who were here to celebrate the wedding reception of their son Jordan Ward and his new Ecuadorian wife Ivonne Malavé from nearby Manglaralto. Jordan’s parents Elaine and Barry were joined by Elaine’s sister Sandy and her husband Don, and cousin Gloria. A merry bunch of people, and we had a great time getting to know them.

The happy couple with
of course, Daisy who
can never resist a photo opp

Jenny, Ivonne's Mom
from Manglaralto

Barry and Elaine
Jordan'sparents.

Jordan and Ivonne did an amazing job coordinating the logistics of setting up the beachside tables and canopy set-up, arranging for the catering, the bar, buffet table, D.J. and dancing areas.

I rather imagine we will see more of these types of events on our playa – a very romantic setting for a very romantic affair.

One of the greatest things about this party was to watch the large mixed crowd of gringos and Ecuadorians celebrate together, and despite some initial language barriers, by the middle of the evening, all were talking and laughing together as old friends.

Ivonne's abuelo
with her aunt?

Sandy, Gloria & Elaine

"Pleased to meet you"

And of course, our dog Daisy never misses a party. She was there for awhile, and fit right in with her blue collar, since attendees were asked to wear blue woven wrist bracelets to identify ourselves at the hosted bar.

Daniela, Todd & Antonio

Last night we attended the “Bachillerato” graduation celebración for Daniela Zamora, who is the darling daughter of Patricia and Antonio, who own our Oloncito Market (now in a brand new location – bigger, better than ever). It was held at the lovely hillside “La Finca Hostería Bella Aurora” just beyond “El Retiro”.

The Zamoras are a large and influential family in Olon, and all of them have been ever so caring to Todd and I during our four and half years of coming/being in town. We felt honored to be invited, and though we were virtually the only gringos there, felt warmly welcomed by everyone.

"Cake Table"
at Daniela's party

Most of the crowd we already know as friends of ours, since we work and play together daily. Todd and I are appreciative of the kind-hearted way these people have welcomed us into their community.

Tonight (Saturday) we’ve been invited to attend a birthday party for our local friend Sambo’s (he's a local, respected, qualified construction worker). His wife Yesinia helps me clean the house when we have guests coming.

Of course, none of these parties we’ve been going to start until after 9 or 10 PM, so Todd and I are pretty much looking forward to an early-to-bed with books and movies tomorrow night….It is the “season”, and we are getting a little worn out. I'm somewhat concerned at this point if one of us expires shortly, it will be because of "death by partying".

But the thing that has me most flummoxed right now is the trash truck schedule. For four years now, our regular guys have shown up predictably every Monday and Thursday. We could always hear them coming before they arrived in our neighborhood because of a loud, catchy tune (that’s about as hard to get off of your mind as “It’s a Small World, After All”) blaring from the truck as they make the circuit. Around a year ago, I made numerous attempts to video/record the song before I finally captured a video that I was able to upload to this blog (the video with song is posted in “Trash Revolution”). I’m pretty sure they must either think I was stalking them or am a trash truck groupy...Anyway, we have a new trash truck (and maybe crew?) now picking up trash.

The good news is that the new truck comes equipped with a compactor. The discouraging news is that no one (NO ONE, including the Olon natives) have any idea what day(s) they are scheduled to show up, as our trash is piling up, and the new tune is not nearly as catchy as the old one.

A Trip to Guayaquil

2012-01-20T16:40:00.000-05:00

January 19, 2012

Last Sunday around noon, Todd and I headed to Guayaquil (pronounced “why-a-kill”, although at times I have heard some natives pronounce the initial “G” – as in “go”, though with a less guttural/softer “G” sound). Guayaquil is Ecuador’s largest city, and generally the jumping off point for the Galapagos. We had some legal business and shopping to take care of, and planned on staying until Tuesday morning before heading back to Olon.

We took a “CLP” bus from Olon to get there. The CLP buses are nice, comfortable, modern, and safe (though they are full-blast air-conditioned chilly, so bring a sweater for the ride, and keep all carry-on stuff – say for instance, laptops – in front of you, or in the overhead bins where you can keep an eye on them rather than put those under your seat). Any luggage put in the outside-access bins of the buses is generally safe, though you should keep watch each time the bus makes one of the few stops along the way to let off other passengers and baggage.

The Olon "CLP"
Bus station

The cost is only around $6 per person; there is a CLP station in Olon (and Montanita), and it’s a 3-hour ride from here to the main bus station in Guayaquil (near the airport, which is around $4 taxi ride from the bus terminal). Buses leave from either direction 3-5 times a day, though we recommend if you are planning on taking a bus from our area to Guayaquil (GYE), you should buy your seat ticket a day or so in advance at our local CLP stations, especially during busy/high season weekends, since seats can sell out fast. If you are arriving from the GYE airport to come to the coast, take a taxi (once again, around $4 to the Terminal Terrestre) and go to window #83 or 84 (can be subject to change) to purchase a bus ticket to the beach areas. I’m not quite sure of the current bus departure times from GYE to the “Ruta del Sol” towns, but I think the last one leaves GYE to the coast around 3:30-4:30 PM.

During our Guayaquil visit, we stayed at our friend Domenick Buonamici’s hotel – the Hostal Murali, which is close to the airport/bus terminal and the huge Mall del Sol (across the street from the Sheraton, which is connected to it with an over-the-street bridge walkway).

The Hostel Murali is reasonably priced and well-secured; our room was pleasant and included yummy breakfasts, reliable wi-fi through-out, and a flat-screen TV with satellite reception in our room, hot water showers upon request, and a friendly and helpful staff, including a bed “turn down” at night. Todd and I were very comfortable staying there, and met some fun fellow guests during our stay.

On Monday morning, we had to meet with one of our lawyers for a business matter that required our own translator for our portion of the transaction, so we had our Olon friend/driver Guillermo bring Melanie (our Olon/Montanita English friend who speaks and writes excellent Spanish) to represent us. We met at the hotel, and then headed to our meeting together from there. After the meeting, we (Todd, Melanie, Guillermo and I) indulged ourselves to a nice restaurant buffet in the Uni Centro Mall for a fabulous buffet lunch, which was a treat for all of us.

Across the street from the Uni Centro is the “Iguana Park” also known as Parque Seminario and/or Parque Bolívar and is chockfull of iguanas (many of them huge), so of course I had to go over and see them. West of the park is a stunningly beautiful neo-Gothic cathedral, which we didn’t have time to visit.

On Monday night, Todd and I went to the Mall del Sol (a pricey mall, located in one of the ritzier sections of Guayaquil) to shop for household goods at the “Mega Maxi” inside the shopping center…Up until then, I thought there was no more tortuous place to shop than the vast, black-hole called HiperMart, located in the El Paseo Mall in Libertad (which I wrote about in “Thingamajiggy”). At the Mall del Sol Mega Maxi, very few items were priced, the things that were priced were ridiculously expensive, and lines at the check-out counter were nightmarishly long. We ended up just leaving our half filled basket in a random aisle and walked out. I discovered there was a deeper level of hell than the HiperMart (which now looks like a convenience store to me).

We took the over-the-street bridge way to the Sheraton side to have a drink instead and ended up at a sports bar that charged $7 for a thimbleful of cheap wine. Todd commented that we must be in the “Beverly Hills” section of Guayaquil (and I was thinking that may be true, but we weren’t exactly sitting at “The Ivy” either). We ended up just catching a cab, stopping by a liquor store for a nice bottle of wine from Chile, and fled back to the Hostel Murali to relax for the rest of the evening.

Actually, one of the best meals we had in Guayaquil was at the bus station at one the many snack stands outside the terminal when we arrived. We love the sanduches de chancho (a pork sandwich and crispy skin that includes shredded cabbage, marinated onions and spicy ají sauce, if desired) for $1.25 each. There are also sanduches de chancho stands near the Libertad mini Terminal Terrestre, and I never miss the chance now to grab one of those sandwiches whenever I make a chicken bus/shopping run into Libertad.

Speaking of food, a long time high school friend of mine (Dan Hudson) recently emailed me, asking if I had learned yet how to make any Ecuadorian meals. Now, I am not much into cooking, but interesting that he asked, since for the last year or so, I’ve been speaking with some of my Ecuadorian girlfriends (in particular Patricia at Oloncito Market) about getting a group of Ecuadorian and gringa ladies together – like once a month – to start a cooking club, where we could share and teach each other our favorite recipes. And the idea has been greeted just as enthusiastically from the newly arriving gringo expats, especially Pam and Dee.

One recipe that I would like to learn from one of the local gals is how to make “llapingachos” (“ya-ping-gachos”). Llapingachos are potatoes smothered in a peanut sauce, and it is delicious. The recipe below is just one that I pulled from a recipe internet site, but I look forward to learning how to make these authentically from one of our local Ecuadorian friends. Click on the "Llapingachos" title link below to go directly to that recipe for more details and pictures.

Llapingachos

The ingredients below should make about 12 medium sized llapingachos; you can make the patties smaller if you are serving them as appetizers.

Ingredients:

5 large Russet potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks

2 tbs sunflower oil

½ cup finely chopped white onion

2 tsp ground achiote

1 cup grated Mozzarella or Fontina cheese

Salt to taste

To serve: salsa de mani or peanut sauce, tomato and onion curtido, avocado slices, lettuce, fried eggs, fried sausages and hot sauce.

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes until soft
Heat the oil over medium high heat to make a refrito, add the onions and achiote, cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes.
Mash the potatoes, mix in the onion refrito and salt to taste.
Cover the potato dough and let it sit at room temperature for about an hour.
Make small golf size balls with the potato dough.
Make a hole in the middle of each ball and fill with the grated or crumbled cheese.
Shape the dough into thick patties and let rest in the refrigerator for about ½ to 1 hour.
Cook the patties on a hot griddle until browned on each side, be careful when turning them as they will be very delicate.

Serve with a fried egg, peanut sauce, tomato and onion curtido, avocado slices and hot sauce.

Take a Seat

2012-01-10T09:52:00.002-05:00

January 7, 2012

Photo courtesy of Jack
A repeat pic on this blog,
but still one of the best photos
ever of Daisy.

Well, the week between Christmas and New Year’s was crazy as usual. The Olon party scene actually begins several weeks before-hand, with lots of Christmas lights around town, and generally starts with the local beauty pageant in our new park and stage, the Santa Lucia/Olon birthday celebration, and a number of cherry bombs set off at any given moment (as mentioned in earlier posts). Our dog Daisy is genuinely afraid of all the fireworks, and it is one of the few times we let her come inside, so she can feel safe, and cower in the shelter of our downstairs bathroom. Daisy was a beach stray that we adopted when we moved here (thank you, Elizabeth!). I suppose she was around 7-8 months old when she became part of our family, as well as everyone else living or visiting our barrio…Truly, she is the real and best ambassador of Jardines de Olon. Still, she is a beach dog at heart (a beach dog that doesn’t particularly like the water, has never been bathed – there would be no point anyway, since she would more than likely head right back down to the beach to roll in the sand, dig up crabs, eat some really gross dead seafood debris, and play with her playa buddies). She is most comfortable outside, lest anyone think that we are being too stern by enforcing “not in any house” rule. And especially at night, she is fine with sleeping outside – the better to ward away (and keep us all safe) from the vagrant horses, cows, and shiftless dogs that wander the beach at night. And now that she is over two-years old (we think), she has become much more sensitive, bolder, mature, and vocal when people she doesn’t know show up in our neighborhood (day or night), and does keep a protective eye on her family here. There is not a one of us that doesn’t just love her to pieces.

Especially during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, many of the kids dress up in black, with cardboard masks, making spooky sounds, begging for candy or change. Sometimes they can be annoyingly persistent, but it’s a fun tradition (sort of like our gringo “Halloweens”). Also, a lot of (straight or otherwise) guys dress up as girls and put on quite a few fun shows around the area during the holidays (the one I happened upon last weekend included a male donkey – don’t ask).

See the adjacent pictures. These are some that I’ve taken over the last few New Year’s in Ecuador (with the exception of 2009, we’ve been here for all of them since 2007 rang in 2008).

Papier-mâché effigies are burned on the beach, often loaded with fireworks, and bon-fires are lit…many of the rituals here are geared towards “burning away” the previous year, more so than “bringing in the new”.

At the blog site called “Bacon is Magic” (which many of you are probably already familiar with), Ayngelina shares some of her observations regarding some the Ecuadorian New Year’s traditions (some of which are familiar along our area of the coast, or some version of these) at this link: http://www.baconismagic.ca/ecuador/yellow-panties-and-effigies-for-new-years-eve/

A sample effigy spotted this
year in Montanita

Nancy & Melanie

Todd and I had planned on spending a rather quiet New Year’s, especially after our local friend Melanie gave me a reflexology massage a couple of days before. She is certified in the technique, and what a treat! I melted like a Gumby for the next several days. Melanie is from England, but has lived in South America for many years, mostly in this area and has become a dear friend of ours. (She is pictured next to this paragraph, along with another sweet local friend of ours, Nancy, who is a talented seamstress). I cannot rave enough about all the Ecuadorian and transplanted residents living here.

Despite our best intentions to stay low-key this year, we ended up partying for three days, starting the EVE of New Year’s Eve, when friends started dropping by….a blur of a party, and it took Todd and I a couple of days in bed afterwards, reading and watching movies and re-hydrating with mucho agua to recuperate after the finale of fireworks and loud music blaring from everywhere.

Most of all, as Todd and I looked back over the past year, we are so grateful for all the remarkable folks we have gotten to know better since being here (locals, expats, visitors).

Dee & Dave

I first of all want to welcome all the new expats that have made the final leap this year:

Doug and Pam from New Hampshire who co-own one of the best on-the-Olon beach homes with my brother Jack. Doug and Pam also own property on a beautiful hill over-looking the town of Olon and the ocean.

Barbara and Robert from Stanford who made an amazing permanent leap from Stanford to Curia (2 km north of Olon) since the start of 2011.

Dee and Dave (from Santa Cruz) who are probably the most kind, frank, least judgmental, generous people we have known, and we are delighted to have them as new neighbors. They are renting a house nearby while they build their new house on the hill-side of Olon too.

Karl Neumann and his lovely wife Regina (both who are very talented and accomplished) who bought one of the last lots remaining in Jardines de Olon, and are in the process of buying more property in our area as well.

Pam and Dee
decorating cookies for the
Olon Orphange Christmas Party

We are also looking forward to the arrival of new expats coming in the next year or so (who have bought or in the process of purchasing property along this area of the Ecuadorian coast):

In particular, Leigh, Neville, and Kyle Hudson (from Houston) now own property in Ballenita. We spent about a week together in our home when they came to visit last spring. These folks are just a blast, and a wonderful family. Leigh (name spelled the same way as mine) and I have become good friends this past year. She is just a fire-ball of energy and enthusiasm.

Local friends Ruth & Elizabeth
Richard & Judy on the right

Judy and Richard, a fascinating and fun couple who are purchasing land in San Jose (about 4 km north of us) whom we enjoyed for several days (and one very fun, fun evening) may be landing in Ecuador sometime this next year. Judy is coming back down in a couple weeks with a girlfriend, and we are looking forward to that visit.

Candace and Tom currently of Sedalia, MO are also another entertaining couple we enjoyed time with and they are buying property in Manglaralto (about 4 km south of us on the Ruta del Sol). Candace has just started a fledgling blog called “Ecuador...Adventure Awaits!" Candace also has a passion for saving the large turtles that get caught in the fishermen’s nets (and end up dead, tragically swept by the currents upon our shores) and works with an organization called Earthrace Conservation that is providing practical and economically feasible solutions to this sad problem.

Left to Right:
Todd, Candace, Doug, Pam and Tom

And to Davida, who owns property on the Montanita hillside – you will make it here sooner or later…I am a firm believer that all things work out eventually as destined, and when the time is right, you will be here too, girlfriend.

Todd, Katie & Alex

Lastly, we are most thankful for the opportunity we’ve had meeting wonderful and intriguing visitors and guests this last year.

In particular, we enjoyed Diana Scherr and her lovely, lovely family during their visit (expats from Cuenca), Frank from New York/Pennsylvania, John F. (from New York too), Bill and Colleen from BC, Ladd and Marilyn (also from New York) along with Ladd’s mom Dallas. We’ve also enjoyed the companionship of Alex and Katie (from the UK, currently based in Quito for awhile as teachers for an internationally-based school) who have come to visit Olon several times during their vacations.

Recently we had the chance to meet “Kiki” and Mike from Ventura, California. Kiki works for a company called Global Green Carbon (focused on environmental preservation projects).

One person who I didn’t have the opportunity to get together with in person was Tammy from Alabama, who writes a blog called “Tamster'sTravels", but they are returning later this year. However we had several lively phone conversations while she was here, and are still keeping in touch….and – gal – we are going to enjoy a few mojitos when you get back here.

A few years ago, Todd and I had a difficult time telling the Ecuadorians apart…These days, we are having a harder time keeping straight all the gringos that are coming through here. And so many coming are bringing special talents, skills and passions. It’s been an interesting ride so far, and we didn’t have many regrets to “burn away” from 2011.

One thing that can be counted on in life is “change”…It’s going to happen whether you like it or not. Better to flow with it than fight it; something Todd and I have learned better over this past year.

Todd and I wish you all a very adventuresome, peaceful, and soul-satisfying New Year…..

“In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while those who are learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists”

Eric Hoffer

Yonder Valley the Myrtle Breathes

2011-12-28T19:46:00.008-05:00

December 27, 2011

Photo courtesy of
Doug Gould

One of my most beloved writers is Kahlil Gibran, and his essay on “Giving” in “The Prophet” is a particular favorite of mine. I am not going to re-write his whole dissertation on the subject, but am going to share a few of his quotes from this composition:

“It is when you give of yourself that you truly give…"

“And what is fear of need but need itself?...”

“There are those who give little of much which they have – and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life, and their coffer is never empty. There are those who give with joy, and joy is their reward. And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue; they give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space.

Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon earth.”

Photo courtesy of Doug

Last Saturday (Christmas Eve), a number of us had the opportunity and honor to participate in the Christmas party thrown for the children of the Olon Orphanage. This effort was spearheaded by the kind expats in Salinas, primarily Mary and Tod Freeman, and Will and Wendy of Hostal Aqui.

In an earlier post I mentioned that at the Hostal Aqui Thanksgiving party, for a $30 contribution, folks had a chance to draw one of the names of the 50 or so orphans (all under the age of thirteen, with the exception of a couple of special needs children) so that presents and clothing could be purchased for each of them.

Other donations were solicited towards food and other goodies for the kids. A big shout out also to several of you in the States (in particular Davida Julian and my brother Jack) who also sent money to help with the event after reading the earlier blog post. Your generosity was much appreciated and put to good use.

On Saturday a large contingent from Salinas showed up, along with several of us from Olon. Will and Wendy cooked and brought several turkeys and along with the usual holiday food side dishes.

The kids put on a wonderful and touching show for us before Santa handed out the presents.

Perhaps Mary says it best in an email she sent out after the party, and I quote:

“Hi Everyone,

I'm sure all of us driving home yesterday could think of little else other the joy of the children we witnessed while they opened their gifts and were so willing to share all that was given them. Also, the dance and singing routine the kids put on was a real tear jerker! As Peggy said while we were walking to our cars to head home. "This is what Christmas is all about".

As we watched with tears in our eyes, I believe God, with tears of joy, looked down upon us and those who supported our effort and said " A job well done good and faithful servants" We are all sinners but yesterday God saw none of our sins only the joy given to the least of his children.

Merry Christmas and God Bless you all.”

And this email from her husband Tod:

“Hi everyone,

The Christmas party at the Olon orphanage was a great success! The children put on a great song and dance routine that had tears in everyone's eyes. We can't even begin to describe the joy and happiness experienced by the children and everyone in attendance as they opened their gifts provided by so many of you in our expat community. Afterwards the children and staff enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner. Everyone involved in organizing this event appreciates the time, effort and money put into shopping and wrapping all 100 gifts.

With over 50 people participating it truly was a community event!”

In addition to being involved with the Olon Orphanage, these compassionate expats in Salinas are also actively involved in raising funds for the medical clinic in Palmar that perform life-altering/life-saving surgeries on needy children in the area (more on this later). During the party, our neighbor and newly permanent expat neighbors Doug & Pam Gould and Will discussed getting together after the first of the year to coordinate raising money on a regular basis for both of these worthy organizations, since we know there are many in our area that would gladly open their pockets to support the orphanage and clinic. Twenty-five to hundred dollars ($25-100) donated on a consistent basis may not go far in the Estados Unidos, but stretches much further here to make a difference in the lives of these special children. And each one of us CAN make a difference.

In the meantime, for any reading this that would like to make contributions, I suggest getting in touch with Will & Wendy at Hostel Aqui, or please email me at leigh@ecuafriendly.com so that I can put you in touch with Mary and Tod Freeman (as of this posting, I haven’t had the chance to ask the Freemans permission to publish their email).
Also, for those on Facebook, there is a page called “Ruta del Sol Mates” that I hope to develop further to use as a “bulletin board” to share ideas, information, suggestions for those interested, particularly those who live along our area of the southern Ecuadorian coast. Please join, and invite those of like-mindedness.

“For in truth, it is life that gives unto life – while you, who deem yourself a giver are but a witness.

And you receivers – and you are all receivers – assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity
who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for the father.”

Eight Blinking Functions

2011-12-21T18:55:00.003-05:00

December 21, 2011

Christmas in Palm Springs
several years ago.
My granddaughter Avery in
the fore-front

It’s hard to believe that Christmas is less than a week away. Living here, it seems that one day just kind of melts into the next and after awhile, it has become more difficult for us to discern the day of week (let alone the specific date). This is especially true when the weather has been glorious for weeks now. We are heading into our summer season. Last year from June through end of November, it was unusually “cold” (well, 65-75 degrees), cloudy and drizzly with sunny days far and few between along our pocket of the coast) * … Many folks prefer that climate to the more hot and humid weather we have coming. And last year we went straight from unrelenting “cold” to sunny and hot within 2 days.

But this year’s cooler season was milder, often bright, and since early November we have been enjoying balmy spring weather for weeks now. (It’s also been my observation that the weather has been pretty freaky across the globe for several years now, so we haven’t been the only folks on the planet going through unusual weather patterns for the last couple of years…Even after coming/being here for over 4 years, we’re still not that assured about our abilities to predict with any confidence “expected/usual” weather). But we certainly are not complaining.

I heard the “Omnisariato” tienda in Manglaralto was having a sale on Christmas lights, so I headed up there yesterday to buy a few strands for our house. My Christmas decorations are still in California storage, so I made do with what I could find from a pretty picked through Chinese imported selection, and our home does look more festive now. It’s been several years since I’ve had a chance to decorate for the holidays; I miss the traditions and celebrations of years past, especially when my girls were growing up.

One of the more difficult aspects of living in Ecuador is the distance from my loved ones. In particular, I miss my grown-up kids – Elizabeth, Katherine, and Kacie – and my granddaughters Avery and Clara, along with the rest of my family and friends, especially this time of year.

I confess, I’ve been in a little funk lately. Nine years ago (2002), my siblings and I lost both of our parents exactly 2 months apart (Mom died on October 9 and Dad died on December 10), to cancer. Though they had been divorced for 30 years, they lived only 5 minutes away from each other in Kansas City (Prairie Village, to be exact). They handled the divorce well, got along fine, and we kids had the benefit of growing up in two wonderful homes….

Mom and Dad were just GREAT folks – smart, funny, kind people, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of them, but especially now. As anyone knows who has lost a loved one (harder too, when it happens near the holidays), there remains still a tinge of melancholy and hole-in-the-heart nostalgia (punctuated with the occasional grief sucker-punch, even after all these years) that accompanies the festivities since then.

The Christmas traditions in Ecuador, at least along our area of the coast, are very similar to our gringo customs. Most everyone has a dazzling-lit Christmas tree proudly displayed near the front door or window (to be seen from the street), and many have lights decorating outdoor balconies, etc as well. Of course, all the trees are fake, because it’s not exactly like you can head over to the Christmas tree lot or tree farm and pick out a fresh Scotch or Douglas pine. Since we haven’t invested in our “tree” yet, I strung our two “8 blinking-function settings” strands around one of our indoor windows and had several extra lines to throw around one of our front yard trees…Our house does look more cheerful with them up, and my only prayer at this point is that they last long enough to make it through the holidays.

I was asking an Ecuadorian neighbor/friend yesterday more about the traditional food and customs typical of Christmas Day here. I felt kinda stupid for not already knowing, because my guess would have been some type of special coastal seafood dish(s).

He told me that if one can afford it, a turkey is served. Turkey (‘pavo”) is not cheap here. We’ve bought several over the years for the holidays, and the cost of a 20-or-so pound turkey is around $50-plus at the commercial grocery stores (not exactly like the days when I would do holiday grocery shopping/couponing at my nearest Albertsons or Ralph’s or wherever, and spend enough to get a turkey or two thrown in for “free”). Because ‘pavos” are expensive here, many substitute chicken (“pollo”) instead. Also, our friend Mario said that there is always a potato dish, salads, other side dishes served, along with sweets and beer/wine/champagne. It is very much a family holiday here, and most all will attend one of the church services offered. Gifts are exchanged, but without the obnoxious over-kill frenzy that most of us gringos are accustomed to. And like many families in the Estados Unidos, sometimes they open presents (“regalos”) on Christmas Eve, or wait until Christmas morning (or some combination of both).

One of the traditions I am determined to keep this year is to make Christmas cookies. I have a KILLER sugar cookie/icing recipe (see below) that I’ve had since around the age of 8-yrs, that came glued to a baking sheet bought then. Our family has used this recipe since, and always have had fun/special afternoons of cutting and icing them. Since all my specialty cookie cutters are still up in CA, (along with many of the sprinkle toppings/assorted dye colors that are not available here) these cookies are going to be round shaped (using a glass to cut) and less elaborately decorated, but addictively tasty, nevertheless.

A few of my girlfriends are coming over on Friday to help ice them, and then we are taking most of them with us on Christmas Eve afternoon to the Olon Orphanage party to meet up with the generous, warm-hearted Salinas expat group spearheading this wonderful event each year.

BEST EVER SUGAR COOKIES

I always triple the original measurements, because otherwise, you will not have enough, even if you just double.

COOKIE DOUGH

Original x3

2 cups 6 cups flour

½ tsp 1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp 1 ½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp 1 ½ tsp salt

2/3 cp 4 sticks butter/margarine

1 cp 3 cp sugar

1 3 beaten eggs

2 T 5-6 T milk

½ tsp 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

½ tsp 1 ½ tsp lemon extract

In separate bowl - sift first four ingredients together. In your main mixing bowl, cream butter/margarine and sugar till smooth. Blend in eggs, flavorings and about half the milk. Slowly add dry ingredients to mix, while continuing to mix – add the rest of the milk as needed. Chill dough in refrigerator for 2 hours (or freeze and use later).

Roll dough out (flour up surface,etc) – Cut out cookies

Bake – Ungreased at 350 degrees – 8 to 10 minutes.

ICING

1 8-ounce pkg cream cheese – softened

½ cup butter or margarine

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups (1 box) of powdered sugar

Beat first three ingredients till fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar. Mix – you may have to play with ingredients a little for right consistency.

Divided icing into separate bowls and add food coloring if desired.

* For one of the most current weather and tide information, for OUR area, please see the link: "Weather in Montanita"

Duet

2011-12-09T17:14:00.005-05:00

December 8, 2011

I’ve got to hand it to the Ecuadorians….they really know how to party, and do so at the drop of Panama hat (and I hope by now all reading this realize that “Panama” hats are actually of Ecuadorian origin). Just about any reason will do, the partying doesn’t start until 9-11 PM and they dance until daylight or the power goes off – which ever happens first. And these parties can last for days; by early afternoon the next day, they’re at it again. How the Ecuadorians handle these party marathons is beyond me – and I’m a night owl.

The LOCAL party season really starts kicking into gear in early December, surges during Christmas and New Year’s, peaks during Carnavale (usually in February) and culminates with Semana Santa (the week before Easter) or so….And this is just the town-folks…when the gringo and Ecuadorian tourists start arriving for the big holidays, it gets utterly chaotic.

In the meantime, several carnival/ “circus” vendors (not to be confused with the holiday “Carnavale”) set up their rides in our area for a few months.

Now, if you are willing to bungee jump, or fling yourself out of a high-flying plane with a parachute, you will probably be keen to get on one of these Ferris wheels, or those tame looking brightly-lit Pebbles and Bam-Bam ground “trains” that run rampant all over town and the beach, with drivers purposely swerving, and looking for reasons to add to the excitement by possibly make them tip over at high speed.

And we always know when the local party season kicks off, because first of all, the grade school marching band starts practicing their routines on the nearby soccer field and/or on the school playground around the last week in November until end of December.

The band so far only consists of a variety of drums and those triangle bells. Last year, they generally rehearsed from around 8AM till noon, and they got pretty good at:

“DA DA, DA DA, DA DA DA DUM” on the drums and the first two bars of “Jingle Bells” (I think) on the triangle bells. It is cute to watch their earnest efforts, but by the second week of that, not so welcome. Last year, by the fourth week of those 4-hours of morning marathon practice drum and accompanying bell sessions beating non-stop, it started to effect all within hearing distance to think that water-boarding can’t be as tortuous. At least for me, I was ready to stomp out to the field and teach the bell-players the next few stanzas of Jingle Bells, if only to mitigate – to a degree – the f’n drums.

Hit the "Play" button and

Turn the sound up to get the real effect.....

I took the above video a few days ago, trying to capture some of the band’s fervor and dedication – I had to hold the camera over a wall to get it, so the video has a rather bad glare, but it should give you an idea of our daily serenades this time of year.

The good thing about this year’s band practice is that they have gotten better. Much better. The bad aspect is that the school band leader is making them practice around 8 hours a day now. But the thing that is most enigmatic to me is that – I kid you not – they are practicing several songs that sound nothing like holiday songs, but more like boot-camp training cadence tunes and I SWEAR there is one song that they are now practicing that sounds suspiciously like the tune “from the hills of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli”…DA DA DA…DA DA DA…DA DAA DA…DA DA, DADA DADA DADA DA DUM….Also I’m pretty sure I recognize when they are working on the tune “Hey, hey, hey…hey, hey, nah, nah, naah no”. Go figure.

The Olon party scene kicks off each year with a local beauty pageant in early December staged at our new local park and is an entertaining evening. Last year, it was supposed to start at 8PM, didn’t begin until 10 PM and lasted well into the late night/early morning hours. In the meantime, vendors were selling food, trinkets, drinks, and the kids played on the playground. Two emcees (animadors) introduced the show, and the pageant included 5 area contestants strutting their stuff in various outfits (the representative indigenous clothing segment, the esportivo (sports) outfit, the evening gown portion) interspersed by some pretty lame acts. The crowd was enthusiastic, with various cheering sections for each of the girls. There was even the question and answer interview part with each girl (one poor girl was so nervous she forgot her name). I petered out about 15 minutes before the coronation some time after 2AM, but found out later the girl I was rooting for won.

This year, the pageant was last Saturday night, and I popped up to the park around midnight to watch some of it; the whole town turned out to watch it. I didn’t have my camera with me, so the pictures included with this post were taken at last year’s show.

But the most fun party of the year is the 3-4 day festival to Santa Lucia (and Olon’s birthday party), which is the weekend after the pageant, and this year begins on this coming Sunday. I wrote in more detail about it last year in “I Love Lucia” (PLEASE click on that link to get a better idea about this fiesta, and it’s one of my favorite posts), and I am really looking forward to it!

Last year our friends Scott Creasy and his mom Pat came down from Las Tunas to join us, and I believe they are coming again this year, along with some other friends.

The video below was taken last year at the Santa Lucia party, just as Todd and local friend Eduardo were tuning up for the first-night of drinking and dancing (a glimpse of Pat is seen at the end of the video).

A Visit from Bernie

2011-11-24T08:57:00.005-05:00

November 24, 2011

I have been in an “I’m going to have to kill someone today” mood lately… Most likely that will be Todd, who is in closest proximity. Poor guy. Seriously, I’ve been riding a rocket-powered broom for the last couple of weeks. And the sound of my whining has been as grating (and as welcome) as a leaf-blower blaring early on a lazy, sleep-in day off…Which we haven’t had in a while, except for our recent Quito trip.

I took the chicken bus into Santa Elena and Libertad/Salinas yesterday to take care of some things while Todd stayed in Olon to handle other chores. And, for a change right now, I wasn’t complaining about my portion, because I thoroughly intended to reward myself with a meatball sandwich and conversation at Will & Wendy’s Hostal Aqui while I was “in town”.

There is a group of Salinas expats and locals who are actively making a positive difference in our southern Ruta Del Sol area.

Children from the
Olon Nursery School

The pot-luck Thanksgiving being held at Hostal Aqui this year will also be a fund-raiser for the Orphanage in Olon (located next to the church on the cliff point). In particular, expats Todd and Mary Freeman spearhead these efforts. For a $30 dollar commitment, one can adopt a child via a drawing of names.

I am going to quote several of Mary’s recent emails about this:

“Hi all,

While Will will be notifying all by text about Thanksgiving, we know some of you are not on his phone list. So.....The traditional Hostal Aqui's Thanksgiving dinner will be on Thursday the 24, beginning at 6pm. Will supplies the turkeys;, everyone else brings a traditional appetizer, side dish or dessert.

BATH TOWELS FOR OLON ORPHANAGE

Anyone wanting to donate a bath towel can bring it to Will's.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS FOR THE ORPHANS:

If you like we can pick a name for you to buy 2 gifts...1 clothing and 1 toy ...at approx $30 total. And /or Will is accepting contributions for their christmas dinner...he does turkeys, rice, beans, and desserts.

Have a happy Thanksgiving.”

M & T

Will let me draw early (since I’m not sure when we will have chance to hit the “city” again to shop). Blue index cards for boys, pink cards for girls. I picked a blue one, and my new little one may have some special needs according to Will.

There is a 9-yr old boy in this orphanage who was conceived during an incestuous relationship (I’m sorry; there is no other way to say this). But more shocking is that he was chained to a tree outside for the first 7 years or so of his life, until he was rescued. At first, according to Will, he was diffident and non-communicative, but has become affectionate and is learning to socialize. This child (who is “slow” – whether born that way, or as a result of his initial environment, or a combination of both is unclear to me) he now takes great pride in making his bed and carefully sorts his few clothes in the laundry room each morning.

And I’m complaining because I might be first in line to start a “Merry Maids” franchise in Ecuador?

In the meantime, we have “Bernie” the cat staying with us for a little while. Long story short – his owner lives in Curia, but has been traveling South America and the States for awhile, was suppose to be back by now, and it’s a little nebulous to us who is precisely in charge of taking care of Bernie until master returns. Bernie is a cool and healthy cat (a Manx), though at first, I was really, really irritated when he was dropped off at our house a few days ago….”that f’n cat is going right back up to Curia today!”

Except I wasn’t sure how to get him there. My choices were to hold him while riding on the back of German Mike’s motorcycle (hmmm…while getting clawed to pieces), or take the chicken bus (and I’ve seen some pretty strange sights on those, but don’t ever recall anyone getting on the buses hauling a mad cat), so I decided to call a taxi. Todd was in complete agreement, and was understandably confused when I drastically shifted my position to “keep Bernie for awhile” while waiting for driver to show up.

Our dog Daisy is pretty pissed about this decision. She rules the roost around here, but between us, she is SCARED of cats. Bernie is comfortable around dogs, but Daisy’s four feet sprang 2-feet backward at once when Bernie nosed near. Though I think the two of them will learn to tolerate each other during their sojourn, Daisy’s dismay is unmistakable.

Todd and I wish you a very blessed Thanksgiving. May we all count our blessings, because they are many, though we may not always perceive them.

Traveshamóckery

2011-11-18T09:24:00.005-05:00

November 17, 2011

The busy season doesn’t start until December, but - like last year – Todd and I have been going like banshees since the end of October, with lots of friends, family, and guests in town. And the pace isn’t likely to slow down until April, so we jumped on the chance to take a 3-day vacation in Quito last week to join my brother Jack and his partner Doug (“Big Deck”) for a side-trip while they are here. Doug went to attend the International Living (IL) conference; Jack is always up for any trip (this is around his 7^th visit to Quito), and Todd and I planned on some much needed R & R and sightseeing.

This is only my second time in Quito (I was there 4 years ago – briefly – on my initial trip to Ecuador, and Todd’s first time there). Jack and Todd and I stayed at one of my favorite boutique hotels, that Jack introduced me to the first time: the Café Cultura, not far from either la Mariscal (“La Gringolandia”) or the Parque El Ejido. It is on the pricier side, and more than Todd and I would normally spend on a room, but we splurged, since we haven’t had a real vacation in several years. The original plan was to make the 8 to 10 hour scenic drive from Olon, but we ended up catching one of the many available 25-minute daily flights from Guayaquil to Quito (around $80 round-trip). No reservation necessarily required, unless one is on an inflexible schedule (if you are one of those, heaven help you when you come to Ecuador….).

The Café Cultura is a treat unto itself. Every room is creatively and uniquely different, every comfort is seen to and anticipated, the food and the dining room are great, and the staff is stellar. Not to mention the inviting common areas like the main lobby, and an intimate library/den (each with a cozy fireplace) where interesting guests from all over the world congregate and chat, many who are jumping off or returning from the Galapagos. For me anyway, the Café Cultura is a seductive place to hang out and relax, and if we never left the grounds – no complaint from us….Which we kinda ended up doing.

Yes, we had grand sight-seeing and various food sampling plans for our almost 3-day respite in Quito.

Yes, we were going to take at least one of the many day trips out of Quito to shop in Otavalo during a weekday, or see the butterflies in Mindo, or gorge on leather in Cotacachi.

Yes, as soon as we unpacked, Jack and Todd and I headed to the “La Mariscal” district and Foch Plaza cafés for a few drinks, appetizers, and people-watching.

That was after Jack & I first dragged Todd to our favorite – if expensive – store in Quito – the Galeria Latina, (on Juan León Mera y Veintimill; if Maria Augusta is there, ask to have her show you around) to browse. Todd loved it, which is completely out of character (“who are you, and what have you done with Todd?), since he doesn’t like to shop.

And yes, Todd and I finally got to spend some time around “Old Town” (El Centro Histórico), with its Spanish Colonial flavor, old churches initially from the 1600’s, museums, and the Presidential Palace, among other things, with Jack as our tour guide. But it was rainy and cold day on the morning we made the 20-30 minute walk there from our hotel and we ended up ducking into one of the few places around that area to stay dry and quench our beer thirst with a few pricey Pilseners at the Hotel Plaza Grande.

We did tour the Iglesia de San Francisco with its breathtaking gilt-encrusted ceiling and baroque altar, and the attached museum, but because of the weather, did not see much else and Todd and I planned on returning the next day to poke around Old Town some more.

Did we get back to the Historic District to see more? Nope.

Did we get to Equator Museum (“Inti-Nan”)? Nope.

Did we take the TelefériQo cable ride up the Volcán Pichincha? Nope.

But probably the thing that is going to make my friends shake their heads in disgust…..Did we try any of the really great restaurants in Quito?

Well…no…because I discovered (just two blocks from our hotel) a Pizza Hut and ended up eating there not once, but twice. A true traveshamóckery, but – hey! – as a gringa who has missed some of her favorite Estados Unidos pig-out places after a year and a half, I couldn’t resist. That, and we were really enjoying just hanging out and relaxing at the Café Cultura.

We did have a great time, though it went too quickly. We returned to Olon to hit the ground running again, prepping houses for visitors and getting our friend’s Barb and Robert’s house in Curia ready for their permanent arrival later this week. We also helped my brother and Doug host a reception for the International Living tour group that inevitably comes through our area after one of their conferences. The power went out for an hour or two before they arrived, complicating preparations, but Todd and I took a short interlude that afternoon just to sit on our back patio and watch the colorful birds flitting around, and thought: “we don’t do this often enough”…..Another traveshamóckery.

* Don’t bother looking up the word “traveshamóckery”. It’s not a word in any language. It is made-up word, and we have used it for years (combining travesty, sham, and mockery)....except I thought it might be more clear with the accent mark.

The Scream

2011-10-29T05:35:00.008-05:00

October 27, 2011

(I did not have a camera on me the day of this incident, so all photos included here were taken either before or after then).

Last week I was laughing and joking (okay, I was bragging) with a few Facebook friends * about my fearless attitude regarding riding the chicken-buses here. Really, I enjoy traveling on them, maniacal drivers and all. Of course, our area of the coast is pretty straight and level (without any terrifying cliffs to hurtle over) and it helps that as soon as I am in any moving vehicle (planes, boats, cars, chicken buses) for more than a half hour, I promptly doze off. (For some reason I am reminded just now of that old joke that goes something like: “thankfully, my Grandpa died in his sleep, unlike the screaming passengers in his car”).

Anyway, a few days ago I took a chicken-bus into Libertad (around an hour away) to meet with Karla Espinoza who has done a great job of assisting and educating us about visa and other Ecuadorian paperwork and procedures (see footnote below). **

We were scheduled to meet at the El Paseo Mall at 3:30. This requires getting off at the last stop in Libertad at the mini Terminal Terrestre (bus station) and grabbing a 3 minute/$1.00 ride to the mall. Around half way there, I checked the time (2:00 PM, which would put my time of arrival in Libertad around 2:30 or so, with plenty of time to do some quick shopping before meeting with Karla)…And then, predictably, I fell fast asleep.

I mean, I was so soundly slumbering that I missed getting off at the last stop. I slept through the final disembarkation and then - I suppose - for another half hour after that. All I know is that when I finally awoke, there was NO ONE on the stationary bus. Not even the driver (who I presume didn’t notice me snoring in the back).

Until I shook off my drowsiness, I assumed we were parked at the terminal. That was until I looked out a window and realized that I was not at the bus stop, but in a more or less residential barrio on an essentially deserted calle that I did not recognize. That was a little bit of a concern, since as best as I know, most of the bus drivers park their buses at home after their shifts. I did a time check (3:00 PM). That’s generally an early quitting time, but it was a Sunday and …well….Sunday’s guidelines are flexible around these parts.

I wasn’t that scared at first. There were a few teenagers flirting on the corner nearby.

I thought: “well I’ll just jump out and hail the first yellow taxi to the mall.” (if you are near the mini Terminal Terrestre in Libertad, according to my best awareness and experience, this is a safe place to hail a cab without a prior recommendation, though a few drivers may try to gouge a gringo-tax to those who are naïve). Always ask first how much it will cost before you get in one.

Emphasizing again
an empty bus

Then I went to open the shut bus door, but couldn’t budge it. I tried every likely lever/knob/hinge/thingamiggy until I realized it was hydraulically sealed.

Now I have another confession to make: I am slightly claustrophobic. I took a few deep breaths, tried to do my best to access the situation: (“I am in a rather obscure coastal town in Ecuador, in a tightly-sealed parked chicken-bus for who-ever-knows-how-long, and my only hope is attracting the attention of teenagers bent on batting eyelashes with each other…Marvelous…I can see the obit now: “she died in a freak accident”). That tranquil breath lasted for maybe about 45 seconds before I started frantically banging on the door yelling: “Help me! Help me!” to get the kids’ attention.

Now picture this:

I did finally attract their attention, though we couldn’t hear each other because of my hermetically sealed coffin….All they saw was this gringa loca flailing and pounding from inside, and seeing me mouth: “help me, help me…I’m locked in a chicken-bus and I can’t get out”...which for the life of me couldn’t remember how to say any of those words en espanol at the time.

(My thanks to my sweet hubby Todd who took these re-creation pics,

and to the accomodating bus crew who were willing

to stop long enough to let us do it.)

God bless those teenagers. They quickly retrieved my bus driver at a restaurant a few doors down (who was almost finished with his lunch by then) and he un-sealed the doors, much to my unmitigated relief and I made it to our meeting in time.***

I am sure many folks who have ridden these buses in South America have more hair-raising stories than this one, but for the record, that stands as one of the most traumatic moments I have ever experienced since the four years of coming to – and now living - in Ecuador. In a chicken-bus. That was parked.

* (Yes, Chantal Lapierre and Leigh-Anne Hudson, I am talking about you)

** Todd and I highly recommend Salinas-based Karla, for visa paperwork and some real-estate transactions. She is not a lawyer, but highly qualified, very knowledgeable, connected, and especially reassuring and calming during tense moments. She can be reached at: karlaespinoza888@hotmail.com or 09-276-4998 if you are calling within Ecuador.

*** By the way, in case any of you travelers ever find yourself in a similar situation, the button to open the passenger puertas is located on the driver’s-side door (though in my panicked state, I didn’t register whether that was inside or outside the bus).

More Better

2011-10-22T23:08:00.003-05:00

October 22, 2011

The Church
in Santa Elena

Todd and I have been scurrying around like crazy prepping for the next few weeks, which promise to be even more hectic. We’ve made several trips to Santa Elena and Libertad recently.

Santa Elena is kind of a cool little town (at least for shopping) and is on the outskirts of Libertad. There is a central plaza next the beautiful church and is generally where we go when we need to find gardening, hardware, and electrical supplies that aren’t available or more expensive in Olon. There is also a “dollar” store called “TIA” that sells a lot of cheap household items, though their inventory is limited. It’s not my favorite place to shop, but I’ve found a few good items there.

We also took the chicken bus up to Libertad a few days ago (about an hour ride for $1.50 each) to shop the “BuenAventura” shopping district, just a few blocks from the mini Terminal Terrestre. There is a “BuenAventura” mall, which is a two-story bazaar type shopping center, crammed full of various booths, mostly selling clothing, but has a number of electronic and cosmetic stalls as well.

Across the street is a pleasant plaza with a pretty fountain, and an outdoor “food court”. Also in this area is about a 5-6 block radius of a gazillion stores that sell everything from mud boots to fabric to paper goods (even a couple of “party supply” stores). I LOVE poking around these winding streets, though I really don’t enjoy it as much with Todd, since he has a low shopping tolerance, as most men do.

All I had to read on the bus was my Spanish-English dictionary, and just discovered that (and I quote):

“In Spanish, unlike English, the following words are not capitalized: the names of days, months and languages (i.e., jueves, octubre, español)”.

I’ve been incorrectly writing these words if I’ve used them here on the blog.

Ruth

Even though our local friends tell us our language has improved, we still have so much to learn!

Actually, one of the hardest speaking habits I’ve had to overcome is to NOT use the phrase “mas major” which I thought to mean “much better” but actually translates into something along the line of “more better” and considered illiterate-sounding. Our Cuenca friend Ruth (who also owns a home in Curia) pointed this out, and has been wonderful about correcting my grammatical errors and pronunciation. Ruth is several years older than us and a real “pistol” – spry, funny, and energetic.

She’s just a lot of fun, and spends the night at our house several times a month when she is in town, when her Curia caretaker has a night off. Ruth speaks a little English because she has a daughter living in Florida that she visits often.

We are prepping for several groups of guests coming to stay at our house from the end of October until mid-November (though there is a short break between these visits). My brother Jack and his partner Doug are coming to Olon the first week in November for around three weeks (and so we have been busy getting their house ready too). Additionally, neighbors and friends (Rocky and Elizabeth from South Carolina) are arriving in a few days, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone again!

In mid-November our friends, Robert and Barbara Strauss (from Stanford, CA) make their final move to Ecuador into their newly purchased beach home in Curia (next town north of us). Let me tell you, these folks are organized! They were here in January and have managed to purchase/close on their EC house, sold their CA home, set up the cargo for the belongings being brought here, and are on-top of residency visa paperwork/status since then, and certainly have our respect.

And between now and mid-November, Todd and I are scheduled to make trip to Southern Ecuador next week for a couple of days, and then Doug, Jack, Todd and I are driving up to Quito for a few days shortly after they arrive. I’m looking forward to the drive, and to seeing Quito area again, since I was last there in September 2007, and then only for around a day and a half.

Montanita street show

But it’s been a little trying to juggle all these balls in the air right now.

Daisy is thankfully over her sexual shenanigans, but has had an on-going left eye-problem (cloudy, blurry, a little weeping). We’ve had her to the vet twice, who thought it was probably due to some type of external abrasion, but the condition has still persisted after several weeks of injections/medications/eye drops, so we are going to get another vet’s opinion shortly.

Daisy with Dr. Byron, our current vet
who comes to Olon 2-3 times a week,
along with our animal loving
friend Melanie

Paint Ball (s)

2011-10-18T00:00:00.003-05:00

October 17, 2011

It's been a tough week....

Okay, so we just wrapped up the third “in-heat” season with our adopted dog Daisy, which happens about twice a year. Because she’s been “fixed” (with only a tubal ligation), she still has what it takes to attract all the town boys during her temporada de amor. Had we known then what we know now about sterilization procedures and options here in Ecuador, we would have known to request a full spaying, for less money by qualified visiting volunteer vets to have this procedure done. (Proteccion Animal Ecuador).

That’s not to say the local vet we used isn’t experienced, but to the best of our understanding, it is not uncommon for local vets to traditionally leave in a few aromatic/erotic parts so that a former beach stray who’s been adopted (such as Daisy was) can still “bond” with the pack, despite being more or less domesticated at this point.

And “bond” she does……really, it is not pretty. It’s noisy and messy and embarrassing (though less so since her first “heat”). The other night, Todd and I were trying to carry on a professional conversation with some folks, standing in a circle outside on the street in front our house. Naturally, Daisy and her current favorite beaux decided then to squeeze right in the middle of the circle to give us show…That would have been appalling enough, but of course another novio showed up to make it a ménage a trios.

Sorta like this....

For the record, this is a rather disconcerting distraction during business transactions.

The next day or so, we woke to an early 5:00AM morning barking commotion outside in our front yard. Daisy and another one of her favorite boyfriends were STUCK together en flagrante (sorry for my bad French; I don’t know a bit of it) and couldn’t get dis-engaged. I’ve heard of this happening, but never have witnessed this charming tableau in person. Let’s just say they were in butt to butt position. I stomped out in my jammies to spray them with the hose (which I understand is supposed to work)…I was trying to keep the water aimed at the fella…Which eventually worked. But he raced forward like a bat out of hell, quickly pulling a stuck Daisy backwards (facing me). I still have this picture in my mind of Daisy’s look at me for putting a damper on her fun as she was being yanked rear-ward.

For sure, Todd is more disgusted with her behavior during these times than I am, and he keeps a sling-shot nearby to chase off the boys (using small pebbles so as not to really hurt them, but make an impression when he does score a shot) because they swarm the neighborhood during Daisy’s season, pissing and pooping everywhere. Doesn’t go over well with some of neighbors as well, though they now know it’s only for a week or two.

Todd and I got to laughing the other day…. we think we should tell next friends coming down to bring paint ball guns/ammo, hand one out to each neighbor, assign a color and keep a scoreboard of “hits”…I’m not sure, but don’t think paintballs too cruel to these dogs (and maybe we can find a few roosters to stalk as well). I mean, if a bunch of willing adults do this as a hobby on weekends in the U.S….how bad can a paint ball sting be? Never had the opportunity to participate in one of these paint-ball contests, but they sound like fun…

It would be kind of funny to have all the horny town dogs running around with various paint splotch skin decorations that MAY, OR MAY NOT, endear us with the locals.

PLEASE, I’m mostly joking here, and hope I don’t get slammed by animal lovers for these comments….

Instead of running with the bulls in Pamplona, you can race to paint the dogs in Olon.

Bleat & Skitter

2011-10-06T02:04:00.004-05:00

October 5, 2011

Our next door neighbor, Maria has been here for around six weeks. Maria (who is an Ecuadorian/married to an American, and lives in the Seattle area most of the time) is a blunt, no-nonsense kind of gal. The eight Jardines de Olon homeowners haven’t always seen eye-to-eye on some of our neighborhood community issues; we don’t have a “homeowners” association, per se, (there are actually very few common areas, but those projects include gardening maintenance of a small road median strip and the archways over the two entrances, repairs to gates & lights, etc. – and none of us residents has yet to enthusiastically embrace what to do about our seen-better-days tennis court).

The great thing about Maria is that we can generally resolve our differences of opinion during frank and friendly conversations in person, and we enjoy having her around.

Last week, Maria “rented” a goat to eat/trim the median road strip….Which was a pretty good idea, but the dumb goat did nothing but bleat and skitter around on her leash, and didn’t eat a lick of grass that I noticed.

The goat did not go over so well with our dog Daisy either, though we tried to assure her/work with her that THIS goat was okay. It was hilarious to watch those two circle around each other. Daisy’s nature is to bark at all the beach donkeys, cows, wild horses, stray dogs, and GOATS that come into her territory. I think it was a good idea of Maria’s, but ultimately not very successful, and the goat was returned back to the owner after a few days.

Daisy has been our dog for over a year now. She was a 7-8 month old beach stray when we adopted her (and all credit about encouraging us to take this step goes to our South Carolina-based neighbor, Elizabeth Anderson who is passionate about animal rescue and sterilization).

Daisy just entered her third pseudo “heat” cycle (she has been fixed, but the vet here basically tied her tubes, left enough of her “apparatus” in to still attract the boys a couple of times a year). I will not go into a lot of detail on this, since I’ve already written about this in “Doggy Style”, but suffice to say that Todd and I always dread these annual twice/thrice horny seasons. Thankfully, with each new season, Daisy seems less enthusiastic and more able to fend off better the unwanted suitors, but that still does not stop the crowd of wannabe town-dog novios from hanging around our ‘hood, pissing and marking, and fighting for a couple of weeks…Still, Daisy is not exactly objecting to all the attention (even on this third time round)..

Shameless Hussy

Rest my case.....

Based on my observations:

Generally the first week she takes them all on, and never shows up to eat. By the second week, she tiptoes back home now and then for food and our attention, and by the third week she is so exhausted all she wants to do is sleep without interruption, which is one of the few times we let her “stay in” our downstairs bedroom for a few days.

Lydia & family

A few nights ago, I attended the memorial service for our friend and neighbor, Juan, who died a year ago ("Going, Going…Juan"). It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since Juan died. His wife Lydia is a sweetheart, and we are glad that she has such a supportive and close family. Her kids have been great since Juan died. Since then, her kids have provided a cell phone for her (which I think initially intimidated her, but now she works it like a texting-pro...sorta of incongruous (perhaps like how many of us remember our older parents learning how to do e-mail ten years ago).

At least one or the other(s) in her family is always there to give her moral support, and recently they just installed Direct TV for her.

Juan was a very respected member of this community and his hour-long Wednesday night memorial service was crowded (I understood about every tenth word—usually the word “Dios”). Still, it was very special.

A young, new, passionate priest gave the sermon….but in the middle of his inspirational homily, about 5 dogs got into a very loud and vociferous misbehavior fight just outside the church, which drowned out most of the rest of the earnest priest’s message.

I did my best to stifle a laugh, and I felt bad about that, until I realized that many of my pew neighbors were trying to do the same.

After service, I made a beeline for Leila’s restaurant (next to our park) to get dinner to go/ “para llevar” to get ahead of the crowd ….Only the priests (now in plain clothes) beat me there. After that dog fiasco, can’t say I blamed them.

Leila's
One of the places
Where we all go to eat often.
Leila stirring the pot.

A Load a Lodo

2011-09-24T21:16:00.006-05:00

September 24, 2011

Well, one way that Todd and I decided to handle our recent frustrations and busy agenda was to head over to the San Vicente thermal/volcanic mud (“lodo”- "low-doe") bath, and a warm herbal mineral springs yesterday for a day of relaxation and rejuvenation.

We’ve been planning it for the couple weeks, but this easy trip (“viaje”) from our Olon place was delayed for one reason or another. What a treat!

The “Banos Termales de San Vicente” is about 45 minutes south of us by car (and unless on a particular tour, not a trip to take on the chicken buses, since they don’t go there). It is not a fancy place, but I was amazed at how clean it was kept, considering all the people walking around caked in mud (“lodo”), relaxing on the cement, or sitting in nearby lawn-chairs, while waiting for the lodo to dry off on the skin after slathering their body with it (one of the recommended ways to enhance the healing benefits).

The entrance fee of $2 per person includes unlimited access to the mud pool and mineral bath, and a couple of indoor pools (crowded with kids when we were there). For another few dollars, one can also opt for a 15-20 minute volcanic mud (“barro volcanic”) or aloe vera (“sabila”) massage (“masaje”) for another $4 each.

One of the
massage tables

One other thing that is offered is a steam bath of eucalyptus (for $3 each), which Todd and I didn’t try, only because we were too relaxed after the mud bath & sun, then a shower; a mud massage & time to relax in the sun for it to dry, and another shower (“ducha”), followed up by an aloe vera massage/sun time/another shower before heading to the warm healing mineral bath for a soak…And no matter how many times you’ve already showered between these treatments, another rinse off in the outdoor shower nearby required before getting in the mineral pool.

The mud pool smells a little like petrol or sulfur (or a little like both). On top of the mud is about a 2 to 3 foot layer of lukewarm mildly bubbling water. First stepping into it requires a bit of overcoming some squeamishness, because as soon as your feet hit the bottom, the floor of mud (lodo), you sink to about your shins in it…with occasional “surprise” spots that are deeper, gloppy, and be prepared to go head first into the water if you can’t catch your balance.

Which isn’t that bad, since the water has healing properties too. Many folk just float or tread on top of the shallow water to soak up it up.

We met one older Ecuadorian guy who goes there regularly to heal some type of internal stomach issue (not quite clear on which problem, since he was speaking in medical Spanish) on the advice of his homeopathic doctor, and he was enthusiastic about the benefits regarding the improvement to his health.

We also met just a ton of great, friendly, mostly Ecuadorian people from as far as Quito and Houston enjoying the mud baths and other amenities. We all took pictures on each others’ cameras to record (depending on who had the cleanest or driest hands to do it).

Wear an old bathing suit and cover-up. Take towels, a couple of wash rags, small change (nothing bigger than a $5-10 bills and lots of change), a few bottles of water, some toilet paper and/or wet wipes, a few plastic bags for wet stuff, and a spirit of adventure. There is a place where you can store all these in the main office, but we wanted to keep our camera around us for the rounds, and other than keeping an eye on that during our experience, never felt like anyone was going to rip us off.

Everyone we met there were wonderful.

It was an extremely relaxing day. We stopped at one of the cabanitas in San Pablo (on our way back to Olon) for a delicious (if kinda pricey) late lunch/early dinner around 6:30 PM, and blessedly collapsed into bed shortly after arriving home and slept like babies.

PS- I will add more post-scripts to this post about links/info/pics/directions/road-signs on how to reach this these mud baths as soon as I can. *

* Nancy Levin, who writes the blog "Finding our Paradise in Ecuador" wrote a fun post about their trip to Banos Temales San Vincente (the above link will take you to that post).

Frustration

2011-09-19T17:47:00.004-05:00

September 18, 2011

This last week has been has been more frustrating than not, though Todd and I have completed (or nearing completion) on a couple of projects we’ve been working on for some time, which has been satisfying.

This is not the United States, folks…..and for those moving to Ecuador, be prepared to make a number of adjustments. I’ve said it before, and I will say it again and again:

EVERYTHING takes longer here, and much of what we take for granted in the Estados Unidos is either hard to find, not available, or inordinately expensive (i.e. – a scrawny, thin roll of paper towels costs over $2.50 in our area, though I can find them a little cheaper in Libertad).

Iguana who lives in
our yard

I’m aggravated tonight as I write this, and I’m not sure which has me more exasperated: some of the gringos living here, or Ecuadorian inefficiency.

Actually, I think it is the gringos who moved here expecting to live in a “cheaper United States” that are annoying me the most right now. Don’t get me wrong. For the most part, the expats living here are a diverse, interesting and an adventuresome bunch. But there are a few who refuse to adapt or assimilate that are getting on my last nerve.

As a few examples:

One gringo who has lived here for over a year (with several month long breaks back in the States) treats the Ecuadorians in a very condescending manner. He’s a “know-it-all", and brags that he “speaks Spanish fluently” (he doesn’t). This probably would not bug me so much, except that he belittles my Spanish (which isn’t great, but considerably better than his) every chance he gets. This is the same gringo who greets his 8:00 AM work crew with a hearty “¡buenas noches!”
A few weeks ago, Todd and I were at a “café” next to our park. A gringo expat was sitting nearby. A group of Guayaquil Ecuadorian tourists passed by; they mentioned (in English) that some of them had at one time or another lived in the States, but proceeded to speak the rest of the conversation in Espanol (which Todd and I understood). This gringo admonished them to “SPEAK ENGLISH!”, and when they didn’t, he literally clapped both his hands over his ears to confirm his obstinacy. We were embarrassed for him, and we made sure those folks knew we were not with him.
A gringo who lives nearby flaunts his money and possessions in a most flagrant and ostentatious manner (this, in a country where many consider a tin roof that doesn’t leak, a hefty bag of rice, and a working television the height of luxury). He has never made any attempt to learn the language or get to know any of the locals on any type of intimate level. THAT gringo actually said to us a while back (more or less a direct quote) that: “we ought to get rid of that local god-damn school…they don’t teach those kids shit anyway…and we can put in some stores that we gringos want…like a souvenir tee-shirt shop”.

These are the type of gringos we don’t like seeing down here, and who add the adjective “ugly” into “American”.

On the other hand, Ecuadorian “efficiency” has been troublesome for me this week too. Of course by now we know when they say “it will be done mañana” that conveys a flexible concept, to say the least. We’ve become more or less accustomed to this (even from educated Ecuadorian professionals) but this week has been discouraging.

There are a lot of terms I would use to describe Ecuadorians: for the most they are warm, accepting, and kind (at least to our face, but since most Ecuadorians DON’T DO confrontation, will say whatever you want to hear in order to avoid it, so sometimes it’s hard to discern)….

I’ve heard them called “naïve”…I don’t really agree with that…”child-like” may be a more appropriate term, but not naïve…especially when it comes to money transactions…these guys are wily every chance they can get when it comes to money…..But yes, tender, caring, helpful, spiritually generous…..I would say that about most all of them. One word I would NOT describe them as is “efficient”.

Ecuador is progressing by leaps and bounds regarding internet connectivity. Cable lines have been laid underground as far as Manglaralto (a few miles south of us), which will eventually be extended further north to Olon. Todd and I have decided to maintain a “wait & see” attitude before hard-wiring our house. Several of our friends and neighbors have installed expensive technology, but even then, reliable connectivity has been an issue (though we have recently discovered some pretty good, less pricey options). In the meantime, we use a slow thumb drive device at home or use the many internet cafés for faster speed or wi-fi capacity. *

Our home thumb drive worked okay (though slow) until the company recently changed ownership. Until then, we had no problem renewing our $30/fifteen day plan, going through an easy Spanish step-by-step process to activate it on our computer, but since the change, it’s been a HUGE hassle. Three times since then, I’ve had to return to our local Cyber café “experts” for assistance (usually losing at least one day of our plan to activate it). It became such an ordeal, I took a friend who speaks excellent technical Espanol this last time with me to do it.

Our Cyber expert, translator, and I spent the next spent 2 and half hours trying to fix it, and it is still not active….it did not help that a slow-minded guy hovered behind us offering prolific Spanish advice (which Cyber expert, translator and I all ignored)….now I probably need to go to Libertad to reactivate thumb drive.

Not for lack of everyone trying, but I would sooner cut the White House lawn single-handedly with a pair of scissors than go through that experience again.

A recent conversation between Todd and me went something like this:

Todd: “Why are you drinking a beer at 9AM?”

Me, (trying to think quickly): “Hmmm….because we are out of vodka?”

Thus is the level of my frustration right now. On the bright side, we have been enjoying wonderful weather for this time of year, with many more sunny days than we had last September.

I have tried to at least keep the pictures included with this post neutral and upbeat to counteract my rather sour mood tonight.

* See “Alt 64” to see more about technical frustrations here.

A-House-and-a-Lot

2011-09-11T21:57:00.011-05:00

September 9, 2011

Courtesy of guests
Alex and Katie

During this time of year along our area of the Ecuador coast, you are more likely to see whales than the sun right now. From June through September the humpback whales (ballenas jorbadas) pass along near our coastline on their annual migration to mate and calve. They are breathtaking to watch as they leap, and frolic, and spout, and we can watch them from our shoreline. The whales have been plentiful this season, but for whatever reason, Todd and I have missed seeing them until a week ago, when we were treated to a thrilling show while sipping late-afternoon mojitos at one of our favorite beachside Montanita “Bar Alley” stands.

Courtesy of Alex and Katie

One of the best opportunities to view the whales close up is to take one of the Isla de la Plata boat tours that depart daily from Puerto Lopez (about an hour north of us). * The adjoining pictures were taken by recent guests Alex and Katie (U.K. citizens currently working in Quito this year) during their Isla de la Plata expedition.

I miss this
Palm Springs pool

It is our winter now and it’s generally hazy, overcast (and at times drizzly) from July through the end of November, though we do get some glorious sunny days in the meantime…That is if you call 65-75 degrees “winter”, and most folks around here enjoy this weather. But keep in mind that I am most recently from seven years in Palm Springs, where summer temperatures hover somewhere between 110 and 120 degrees, and we shivered getting out of the pool after a midnight skinny dip while the thermometer was pegged at 112°, and (as I’ve mentioned before) we enthusiastically threw on our leather jackets in September when temps dipped below 95 degrees and called it “autumn”.

I know that many of you in the States are enduring an insufferably hot season right now, and I understand your pain – but boy – I am missing that heat and that pool right now! I’m in long pants and shirt/sweatshirt combo…but most people here are splashing around in the ocean and there are still plenty of nubile young gals walking around in bikinis and getting sunburned.

As compensation, the beachcombing is great now, and Todd and I have been finding sand-dollars larger than my hand, and I found my first washed up starfish the other day. Part of the reason is that the tides are coming in higher this month (a phenomenon we noticed in March around the spring equinox, when the tides came as high as the beachside cabanitas and nipped at the edges of our neighbors’ beachfront properties). The fall equinox is nearing, and we understand the “king tides” (or something like that – I need to research a little more before writing on this subject) are almost upon us again.

It was four years ago this month (2007) that I first visited Ecuador with my brother Jack, and Doug & Pam to see the beachfront house they bought. Jack & I stood on the Equator line (Museo de Sitio Inti-Nan) the day after the fall equinox and experienced a virtually “no shadow” occurrence and other Equator anomalies. I came down here with no intention of buying property. Todd and I had been together for several years at that point and had already been exploring buying a second piece of investment property when we thought the U.S. housing market hit bottom (HA HA HA HA HA)……I fell in love with Ecuador, and moved impulsively fast to make an offer on the house and lot we now own in Jardines de Olon. I would not recommend this method for most people considering buying property here, but I had the advantage of my brother’s and his partners’ real-estate savvy Ecuadorian explorations and homework (all of whom have extensive real-estate backgrounds in the States). To this day, none of us have any regrets.

Think I`ll just stand here for awhile

Jack, trying out his blow gun skills

The trick was explaining this to Todd when I got home from that trip. Jack and I had devised a rather elaborate and detailed plan to explain why this was such a great idea over the following week, but – of course – I spilled the beans as soon as I walked in the door….Something like: “say, did you get the ceramics I had Fed Ex’d from Cuenca from Eduardo Vega’s studio, and I bought some great paintings, some jewelry, and -oh- a-house-and-a-lot, and some really cool metal-works and leather...”. Fortunately, Todd has been on board from the beginning, and if anything is more passionate about living here than I am.

To this I want to add my congratulations to several folks who have recently made this leap too, and have closed on Ecuadorian coastal properties (especially to those planning on moving here permanently). Among them, Barb & Robert Strauss (Curia), Texans Leigh & Neville Hudson, and their son Kyle (Ballenita), Davida Julian (Montanita hills), Karl Neumann (a lot in Jardines de Olon, and possibly other nearby Olon properties) and to Judy N. & Richard P. from Washington State who bought property in nearby San Jose (and getting ready to commit to several other acreages in our area). **

I have spent the last week cleaning houses in anticipation of a slew of arriving guests. In particular, I’ve been busy doing “spring” cleaning at our house, which we do 2-3 times a year ***

I have someone to help, but right now the ceilings-to-floor cleaning has not been a lot of fun. I wrenched my knee the other day while cleaning, and my lack of mobility this week has put me in sort of a grumpy frame of mind, and I am in no mood to write anything publishable. I’ve procrastinated about the cleaning and been balky about writing.

But it is amazing when faced with either cleaning toilets with muriatic acid, or bleaching 18 some pillows, or cleaning the dried up pancake mix off the sides of my stove that prodded the latent Ernest Hemingway to be unleashed in me….and it’s been a nice break to write this.

I recently read an article in the Miami Herald (International version) that scientists have come to some sort of agreement that has determined our planet now has officially 8.7 million species existing on earth. I believe that I have either identified or newly discovered 1675 of those that were living behind or underneath my stove/oven.

* Some time ago, I wrote in more detail about these tours in “Call Him Tong”

** Judy, if you are reading this, I tried to call you several times after our fun evening together, but you had already left and I have misplaced your email address. Please contact me at leigh@ecuafriendly.com

*** See “Well, Sugar my Fish” for more on this.

Don´t Leave Home Without It

2011-09-02T13:02:00.002-05:00

September 2, 2011

A new friend met on Expat Exchange recently asked how quiet is Olon? Well, that depends on your definition. Compared to nearby Montanita, we are tame (unless you count the roosters crowing at 3:30 AM, the constant din of buses chugging by on the Ruta during daylight, the horn noises, or the dogs barking at any hour)….but yes, it is a relatively quiet town.

That is until there is a local fiesta dedicated to some saint or town anniversary, or a wedding or some similar type of celebration, that can get very loud (mega-watt booming speakers) blaring until 4 to 6 on some nights/mornings. In which case you can either beat it or join it.

These “seemingly” naïve, passive and “shy” people can party hearty, and they do. Generally most parties don’t start until 9-10 PM and they dance all night long (which is a whole lot of fun -no party here is complete without it). Last Saturday night there was a huge and loud quinceañera that went on until almost 6AM in the morning…. We did our best to sleep, but – instead - after a mostly restless night listening to salsa music and a very vocal D.J., we finally gave up, laughed, and got up around 4AM to watch movies and read instead. I’m a night owl, and yet I still honestly do not know how these folks do it, since many are back working the next morning.

BRING A SENSE OF HUMOR and TOLERANCE (and earplugs, if you really need them).

BRING PATIENCE and FLEXIBILTY.

Nothing starts on time and NO ONE (whether for a social or a professional occasion) arrives punctually, which doesn’t bother me as much as Todd. I was born tardy and rather appreciate the Ecuadorians’ sense of time (or should I say “lack” of it?).

For example, the local Beauty Pageant that generally kicks off the December to April party season (starting around mid-December) was scheduled to start around 8PM. The chairs and stage didn’t get set up until 10PM, the pageant actually started around 11:00, and the coronation didn’t happen until after 2AM.

A few days ago, Todd and I had to go to Manta (around 2 hours north, and a beautiful drive through the Machalilla Jungle Preserve – unfortunately I didn’t have my camera along for this trip) for a 10:00 AM appointment with a lawyer. We were accompanied by our friend and driver, Guillermo, and Carlos, another Ecuadorian friend and neighbor. We were acting as liaisons between Carlos and some gringo friends in an amicable legal matter.

Taken 4 years ago on same drive
through the Machalilla Preserve

We scheduled a 7:00 AM pick-up, and left promptly at 7:30, when Guillermo showed up. We arrived at the designated Manta rendezvous location (the beautiful – if pricey – Hotel Oro Verde) shortly before 10:00, got a round of coffees and waited…and waited. For over an hour. The lawyer we were meeting is a good one, but a busy guy too, and he was delayed. Fortunately, Todd and I are wise to this one now, and had brought a couple of paperbacks to pass the time.

By the time we got to the judge’s office (the first stop), the judge requested we return back after 2:00PM, so we retreated to the lawyer’s office to have some last minute paperwork typed up (this was probably around 12:30). Carlos, Todd and I sat in the waiting room for at least another half hour before we realized everyone had ditched us for lunch – and sure enough around 1:15 the one gal left in the office noticed us, and popped her head out the door and suggested we do the same.

If there is one thing that can be counted to start on the dot in Ecuador, it’s the 1-2 PM lunch hour.

Lunch hour in Montanita

Eventually, Carlos and the lawyer’s assistant headed back to the judge’s chambers around 2:30 (for what was presumably only a quick notarization process) while Todd and I met with the lawyer to discuss a couple of other legal matters. He had to excuse himself at 4:00, and then Todd and I waited until 5:30 for Carlos and the legal assistant to return. I’m still not sure what caused that delay, but by then, Guillermo, Carlos, Todd and I were all more than ready to head back to Olon.

On the way back, we detoured off the highway near the town of Montecristi to visit Guillermo’s very kind parents, who live in a small village of rustic homes (many built on stilts) in a jungle environment, so that Guillermo could drop off some food and money for them. It was shortly before dusk, and the neighbors were sitting out on their front stoops or leaning out high-story windows. We chatted with all these folks for awhile. BRING APPRECIATION for the friendly and warm people of Ecuador.

Lastly (and ladies especially, hear me on this) – BRING TOILET PAPER in your purse always. It is not always available in public restrooms. On our morning journey up to Manta, we stopped to gas up and use the bathrooms. In particular, my tummy was dangerously rumbling from the early morning coffee gulped down. I KNOW to keep some tissue with me, but had forgotten. Fortunately, I checked the facilities first to confirm the “no paper” situation, and then with some panicked urgency was able to scrounge up a discarded newspaper nearby. While it wasn’t exactly in the trash pile, it also was not neatly folded on a clean table either….Hey, it was either that, or sacrifice the paper copies of our passports that I had on me.

Ruth, the Birthday Girl
is in the pink dress

PS - On a more lady-like note, Todd and I discovered several pictures of us were published sometime last week on the society page of one of the Cuenca newspapers. Our dear friend, Ruth, is from Cuenca and also owns a home in nearby Curia. She had a fun Hawaiian themed birthday party several weeks ago that we attended. We met many interesting people, mostly Cuencanos (including a talented wood-carver named Tonu and his son Koa – world citizens – who are preparing for an exhibit in Cuenca soon). Ruth stopped by a few days ago to proudly show us the paper. Unfortunately, it was her only copy, and I don’t remember either the date or the name of the paper. Below are some of the pictures we took at the party.

Locally based Ecuadorian artist Quimbita
is pictured at right

Tonu with one of his wood carvings.
The disk face partially shown on the right
is also one of his creations

Tonu and his son Koa travel the world not only displaying their artwork, but also are dedicated to teaching the local indigenous populations their skills, using reclaimed wood (such as driftwood).

Another Tonu creation

I Am Desk

2011-08-27T13:38:00.001-05:00

August 26, 2011

Okay, so there have been a number of times that local folks ask me “what I do?” or “what is my work?”…While my real job is to help Todd with his job (as a secretary, maid, hand-shaker, networker, sexual minx for Todd, or whatever else)…I also have my own projects too.

I always like to say that I’m a writer. Not that that my “hobby” thus far has made us any money, but I feel pretty confident these days with 55 posts under my belt so far on this blog to say: “I am a writer” in Spanish.

Turns out I’ve been saying all this time “I am a desk” (escritorio).

To Todd’s credit, he pointed out to me that at least I’ve been saying I’m a female desk (“escritoria” –we’re not even sure now that is a word in Espanol).

The word for a “writer/female” is “escritora”…Just one itty bitty letter difference, but BIG distinction in Espanol.

One of my Ecuadorian local friends kindly pointed out this “minor” error to me recently.

Sort of like all the times I would call myself “estupido” (stupid) about something, which in fact, at times in parts of South America can also sometimes mean “asshole”…

Great – just great – I’ve been walking around calling myself a desk AND also occasionally an asshole too.

My Espanol still officially sucks.

For the last year or so, Todd and I have been discussing getting tattoos (which would be a first for both of us) to commemorate our marriage a little over a year ago (in the Estados Unidos, after almost seven years together at that time), and since neither of us care to wear rings or officially change our last names (which hyphenated would be something like Frost-Hebert – yes, dignified in writing, but say that out loud….equals “Frostybear”*). Anyway, we haven’t quite decided when or where to do this, but probably not at this Montanita location. I’m pretty sure all those beers lessoned the pain of this guy’s procedure.

I’ve mentioned before my respect for Ecuadorians’ resourcefulness and ingenuity. As just another example, I’ve included pictures (and video below) of our friend Jorge and his sons, Teo and Carlos, working on a construction project adjacent to their street-side tienda. Todd and I watched with admiration a few weeks ago as they were moving cement beams (that had to weigh at least 500 pounds each) from one location to another. It gave us a whole new appreciation and insight as to how the ancient pyramids of Egypt were built (or the statues - "moai" - scattered and moved around Easter Island miles from the rock quarry) probably were accomplished.

Improvised benches
on the soccer field.

Additionally, I couldn’t resist adding a couple of other pictures of Ecuadorian inventiveness. There really is an attitude of “waste not, want not” here; one that we’ve more and more embraced since living in Ecuador, and a subject I’ll probably expound on more in a later post.

These next pictures are of a cardboard ceiling held in place with nails pounded through beer bottle caps (I guess as "washers" of some sort). I´m not sure the first picture shows this clearly, so I also am including a close-up.

* "Indio to Idyllwild"

Dear Uncle Doug

2011-08-18T01:27:00.006-05:00

August 16, 2011

("Uncle" Doug is a friend, and has an interest in the beach-front home also owned by “Big Deck” Doug & Pam, my brother Jack, and another partner.) We all love it when he decides to visit on one of his infrequent trips here, and we all adore him. He’s a private guy with a great big heart and brings down fun gifts for the local kids. He also loves his gadgets and boy toys and has hauled a number of his treasures down here over the years. Uncle Doug was last here in early March, and Todd and I really enjoyed his too short of a visit).

Dear Uncle Doug,

I want you to know, a while back I went where no sane person has gone before – I cleaned and organized your closet…I hope you don’t mind, but I needed to find places for the latest batch of gizmos you brought on your last trip (some of which are pictured below).

My, my….I’ve never seen quite a such a collection of stuff! The disco ball was a great idea (not sure Pam is going to go for this if you hang it in the dining room), and every house here needs a special event outdoor-spinning-searchlight, and - really - you never know when those twenty or so phosphorous necklaces will come in handy…..Okay, okay…so, maybe I made some of this stuff up.

On the other hand, the walkie-talkies, the high beam flash-light, and assorted outdoor extension cords (taking shot in the dark here, but I suppose at least 300 feet) have potential. As a matter of fact, several times since we’ve been down here, we’ve borrowed the flashlight during power outages, or to chase a rambling beach cow out of Jardines de Olon at night).

I scrounged up several boxes and have your goodies sorted into those – labeled “electronics”, “gizmos & thingamajiggys” and “WTF?” is it. I think you’ll be pleased next time you get here and I did my best, though I admit I suffered a long moment of indecision into which box to put the light-up yo-yo’s

However, the quad and the big red inflatable ball you bought during your stay presented even greater challenges. The quad didn’t really match the décor of the dining room, and the ball was taking up quite a bit of space in the living room (though Todd & I were eyeing it as a potential emergency water vehicle during the Japanese tsunami alert shortly after you left). And for sure, the local neighborhood kids had some fun rolling around in your backyard in it. We eventually loaned it to Mike Sager, who borrowed it for his son Alex to play with while they were at their nearby beach home.

Taken the day of the tsunami alert.
We were all certainly thinking that
it might make a good
"Tsunami Life-vest"

When Jack and the other Doug were here in late June, Todd and I went to retrieve it, using Big Deck’s truck. We took Daisy with us. After the night of the tsunami (when it took both Todd and I to forcefully “fireman” lift Daisy into the truck, we have been working with her some to ride in the back of the pick-up – usually up to the hills, and several times to Curia. I mean, all dogs like riding in cars, right? Despite her original hesitancy (and one of us sat in back with her at first), she has come to enjoy “going for a ride” and we have been able to let her ride short/safe distances by herself in back…..That is, until we went to get the big red ball. Todd and I had already decided I would ride in back to hang on to the inflatable ball on the return trip so it wouldn’t blow out, but there was hardly room in the pick-up bed for Daisy after we got the ball loaded, let alone me…but it was do-able. Unfortunately, before I hopped in with Daisy and the ball, we accidently snagged one of Daisy’s paws in the back gate as we were closing it. Of course, as soon as she started whelping, we quickly unlatched, but she was traumatized. It took us another half hour to get her back in the pick-up bed, and I had to hold onto her and the ball back to Olon. Not sure she will ever willingly agree to get in the truck bed again, though we have been trying and trying to convince her this only happens when “BIG RED INFLATABLE BALLS” are involved.

Daisy on patrol at your
place.
Photo courtesy of
Jack

The quad was another story. I’ll confess here that Todd and I couldn’t resist taking it out for a couple of spins (mind you, with the most altruistic purposes of getting rocks down by the Point for your property). Daisy loved running alongside. Let me tell you, she has natural “herding” and “birding” instincts, but until then, Todd and I had no idea how FAST she can run. It’s amazing. She can almost keep pace with the quad going full throttle. I’ve never seen a faster dog – she’s really an incredible runner and loves to run.

Anyway, Todd and I wanted to store your quad in locked/indoor location, and decided that our friends Barb and Robert who recently bought their Curia home earlier this year (and making astounding progress to be moved here full time by the end of the year) wouldn’t mind if we locked it in the bodega on their property for awhile. The morning Todd rode it up to their place to lock it up, Daisy naturally galloped alongside, despite Todd going as fast as he could to lose/discourage her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to find Todd after he had gone around “front” (the non-beach side) and he hopped on a bus back to Olon.

About an hour later, Todd and I were enjoying “beer-thirty” at Jorge’s on the Beach when we noticed Daisy straggling back south from Curia (about a half hour brisk beach walk away), utterly dejected and worn-out. She was so tired she didn’t even notice us sitting nearby until we called to her. Poor thing, but was she ever happy to find us again and bounded around us like a dog on a pogo stick.

We just love her to pieces; she loves hanging at your place especially because from there, she can keep a REALLY good eye on the beach and potential cow or donkey intrusions that threaten to harm any of us.

Uncle Doug, we miss you, and hope that all is well.

Leigh & Todd