Twelve Off the Truck

June 29, 2010


Kelly, getting ready to give
Daisy an injection.



Wilmer (pronounced “Veel-mir”) is the town vet. He and a couple of his friends frequently play a few sets on the seen-better-days tennis court in our compound. His sister is Doris (a lovely and kind woman). Doris owns the Hostel Isramar and is married to Marcello, who runs a van shuttle service between here and Guayaquil ($100).

When Wilmer dropped Daisy off after her sterilization surgery, he handed me a vial and syringe, and carefully explained in detailed medical Spanish how to give her antibiotic injections (clear as mud).  I did glean that she was to receive a daily injection for the following four days.  Okaaay……

I’ve never given anything a shot in my life, nor has Todd, but we tried, really we did. But after we each took a turn at pinning her down and jabbing her (and Daisy giving us wide berth for several hours after), we enlisted the help of neighbor Kelly, who heroically took on that duty for the duration. I’m sure much to Daisy’s relief.

We are settling in, and starting to get into a few small routines.

Coffee at "Parajitos"

Many mornings we head to a nearby restaurant/tienda for coffee.  Nelson (“Parajito”) and his wife run it. His uncle (also nicknamed Parajito) runs a local taxi service, is a funny guy, and a friend of ours. Nicknames are very popular here.

Interestingly, though Ecuador exports some of the finest coffee in the world, it is not a popular beverage with the Ecuadorians. A cup of brewed coffee is a treat here, and invariably, instant coffee will be served when ordered, along with a cup of steamed water/milk and sugar. At Parajito’s (our "Starbucks”), a cup costs 50 cents, and sometimes we get breakfast (generous omelet and toast) for another dollar each. We’ve actually grown quite fond of morning cup of Joe there.

The beer truck comes through Olon on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

A big bottle of Pilsener costs 80 cents (a dollar if you don’t bring the empty bottle back, and they’re pretty sticky about this).

But a case of twelve off the truck only costs $7.80 (assuming a case of empties is exchanged).   Try as we might, we frequently miss the truck’s passage through town,  since it’s hard to determine exactly what time of day they’ll be around, and neighbor Dan and Todd have been on a minor mission this week to coax the beer guys to circle closer to our neighborhood so we don’t miss them.