We’re back home for about ten days until our next guests arrive, and feel ourselves physically unwinding into Ecuadorian tranquillo frame of mind in the month since we’ve been here. We've only had a few sunny days since then, but we're enjoying the weather (other than wanting to catch some rays to brighten my gringo pallor). Though overcast, it has been a comfortable 70 degrees most of the time, and on hazy days you can still get sunburned this close to the Equator.
We love living here and don’t sense an impending phase of “culture shock” that many expats experience after moving to a new country. Then again, we have spent quite a bit of time in Ecuador for the last 3 years and knew what to expect. The pace of life is much slower, and I concur with other expats in Ecuador who equate it to living in the States fifty years ago, during a kinder and gentler era. People stop and chat in the streets, children play outside, even after dark, and dogs roam free.
We have a dear older local couple who live nearby – Juan and Lydia. I suppose they are in their late sixties, though it is often hard to tell with Ecuadorians; they all look very young for their age. Juan is a maestro de madera (master woodworker) now retired, and he and Lydia sit all day (and into the night during hot weather) outside their home just watching the comings and goings. They have for years (wish I had a picture of this) and have always been very friendly to Todd and me as we pass their house a number of times each day. There is also a perpetual volleyball game in front of their house (a net is strung over the street and a group of teenage boys play for hours).
New neighbors Byron and Julie moved in a couple of weeks ago. They are from New Jersey, and recently bought the large house on the beach that is fondly referred to around
here as the “Miami Vice” house (or sometimes as the “Playboy Mansion”). All of our homes in the Jardines de Olon were originally built and owned by a group of Chinese expats beginning about 20 years ago (ours is 12 years old). The “Miami Vice” house has a somewhat flashy exterior, and the inside is best described as “early American bachelor” (and in fact, the previous two owners were single guys). Byron is brash, funny and talkative; Julie is a sweetheart – generous, heart-of-gold type who likes her wine (my kind of gal). They plan on living here full time, and have ambitious plans for home remodeling and landscaping. Byron mentioned he is eventually bringing in two 40-foot containers from the States, which won’t contain Julie’s four (4) mink coats since she brought them with her. Where she plans on wearing them, I have no idea (and to think my brother Jack and I were giving Todd a hard time about the few neckties he insisted on packing).
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| Going away party for Dan & Kelly, Thompson and Harris |
Randy and Fonda are other neighbors of ours who are due back from Texas in a few weeks. They bought their house about a year ago, and have been living here since. We are looking forward to meeting them since we’ve had some email correspondence and they seem like a fun, down-to- earth couple.
Bobby’s construction across the street is coming along at a good pace, and he hopes to move in to his house by December. He’s frequently in and out of our house all day as he oversees his project and stays at a nearby hostel at night.
Dan and Kelly and their boys (Thompson and Harris) left early this morning. The boys are delightful kids, and I think lucky to have parents that are exposing them to the culture here. We had a lot of fun with them while they were here, and we’re going to miss the ping pong tournaments and Yahtzee game nights. The neighborhood had a going away party for them last night, and a good time was had by all.
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| Daisy eating her favorite delicacy. |
Daisy has adjusted to “having people” quite well. She is such a friendly, smart dog, and clearly grateful to have a home and a steady meal (although far be it from her to pass up a rotting fish on the beach). She is a beach dog, after all (who doesn’t like to get her feet wet) and for that reason, we don’t let her inside because of fleas and ticks, which are nearly impossible to eradicate completely in this environment.
When we first met her, she would drag the food bowl to a private place, protecting it. She clearly feels safe in her new territory…this is HER ‘hood now. She’s queen; we all love her and she knows it, and she has taken to barking occasionally at any strange dog that wanders into Jardines. Fortunately, she’s not a “barky” dog, and generally reserves her noisiest yapping to chase off the beach cows when they get too close to our homes. Because she likes to “hold hands”, she has a tendency to slap a paw on a knee or foot if the petting has slowed down, and we’ve easily been able to teach her to “shake”. She also knows the command “sit”, though is stubborn about it unless food is involved.
Life is good, and we’re getting more and more settled into living in this beautiful little country.
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| A beach cow |
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