Tio

July 26, 2010

Todd and I are staying at the N&J Hosteria (Olon). The guests in our home now are a mother and daughter duo who have been traveling in Ecuador for a month, and wrapping up their last ten days here at the beach. They speak fluent Spanish (mom is Puerto Rican), but seem less than enthused about their travels in Ecuador thus far. Primarily they’ve been disappointed in the cloudy and cool weather they’ve encountered (hullo, it’s “winter” in Ecuador now…ya’ know, that “opposite in the Southern Hemisphere” thing). They are looking forward to sunbathing on the beach, and we’ve got a feeling they are not going to get that fine Equatorial tan they’ve planned on; our weather has gone from steady hazy to predictably overcast in the last couple of weeks. On the other hand, maybe they are nature lovers – humpback whale season is just kicking into gear, and we can watch them frolic from our balcony.

The N&J Hosteria is a modest place next to the beach, behind Lolita’s, and conveniently around the corner from our house. Luis, the proprietor is very friendly, speaks some English, and keeps a watchful eye on the gate and property.  He charges $8 per person (we are paying $15 a night). Our room is Spartan, but clean and big enough that it includes a small table and chairs next to the window so we can look out at the ocean as we work. However, the shower is unheated and the water is turned off at night (not uncommon; many municipalities turn the water off at night, and not all places have cisterns).

In the spirit of adventure, we did want to try several hostels in town so we would know better what to recommend to our over-flow vacationing clients, so I guess we can say now "been there, done that", and this is okay for those on tight budget. 

I would call the unheated showers cold, since not even by a wide stretch of imagination is it lukewarm.  Which wouldn't be so bad in a couple of months, when summer arrives here. But during this overcast, cooler, winter season (68-72 degrees), it's a little harder under the spray. But then again, we're from Palm Springs and consider 95 degrees in September chilly enough to throw on leather jackets and call it “fall”.

I’m taking real quick showers (okay… I’ve had the nerve to take one so far), and my hair is definitely not getting washed as usual. Todd and I are considering crying “tio” and heading over to my brother Jack’s place for the remainder of our guests’ visit. I don’t believe I’ve mentioned yet that he and some friends also own property in Jardines de Olon; it was on my first visit here to see his/their property that the decision was made to buy our house and adjacent lot (another story). Their house is on the beach and has a killer balcony view of the ocean…and hot showers.

A little over a year ago, when Todd and I decided to move permanently to Ecuador, our initial plan was to use the proceeds from the sale of our Palm Springs house (in person I add maniacal laughter to this story) to build a small casita as our living quarters on the lot next to our “big” house, and continue to rent to vacationers.

We went to “Plan B” after nearly a year in the California real estate market nose dive, and decided to put our 3 bedroom/3 bath Olon home on the market as well. Our goal now is to build a roomier house on the lot with an attached casita so that we don’t need to vacate each time we have guests. We both like to entertain; Todd in particular is a talented cook and we are becoming more receptive to running a B& B type establishment that offers separate and private living quarters for guests. I suppose we’ve both been inspired because we recently re-read “A Trip to the Beach” by Melinda and Robert Blanchard, a New England couple who  risked quite a bit to open up a restaurant on the Caribbean island of Anguilla ( I’ve never been there, but that paradise island was one that my late father enjoyed).  Todd liked the Blanchards’ cooking adventures, and I have appreciated her writing skills and am thinking about doing a blog.

Iguana spotted in the N&J Courtyard