Well it is time for a catch-up.

Best friends come and go,  we keep them in our hearts when it is not possible to keep them in our arms.  Nora and Ron who we met the day we arrived in Quito, after 2 years were throwing in the towel and heading home to California.  I got to buy great things from them that they were not able to take back.  I love them for that opportunity.

We decided to move to Cuenca, Ed was not going to learn Spanish,  so to not speak for him for the next ten years like I did for him in Japan I decided it was better to to accept defeat and just move than spend the next ten years talking for my husband.  

We had my best buddy come to Ecuador but forget to keep paying me for Nora's wonderful things I bought, because she got angry that I couldn't meet her for ribs and cole slaw at Sunrise Cafe while I was running our first restaurant.  (in my defense I did offer to take them to go and eat them at the restaurant). I miss her, although I shouldn't.

I had a expat come to me and ask for help advancing her business,, I did help her and after investing time and money, got told that it was not what she wanted.  I respect her telling me this, but not not locking me out, offering the business that I invested in, if I pay her 11,000.00

Yes my faith in human kind has been shaken, I actually don't know if trust is in my vocabulary.  I trust myself.  I know that I take the higher ground.  I am not ready to crawl in a hole and give up.  I will have success.  I am a successful person.  I refuse to believe that everyone is just in it to screw me.  Well,,, on Monday I will walk into the business we had as a partnership and make it mine.  I have the opportunity to give it another go.  I will.

 I will succeed.  Wish me strength.

yes I understand,, please dont tell me it's different because of culture!!!!!

I want to say that anyone that tells you that they will be at your house on a certain day,, if they are Ecuadorian,  don't sit around waiting.  Better yet, tell them that you will not accept this kind of date on the weekends because we actually wait for you to show up.  The better idea is to give them a week day time and after that time, don't feel any guilt when you leave and go about your business.

I have found something to do to leave,, go have coffee, go look in store windows, take a long walk, anything to let go of the stress that still manages to creep into my day when they didn't show up.

The hardest part of this is people who do finally show up and then get angry that you are not there with your best clothes on to welcome them to your house... late.   Like they promise that they will be there in the morning and show up at dinner when you only cooked enough for two and now there are six people and your dinner is getting cold.

Ed and I have waited weekends for maestro's that are coming to repair the freezer full of fish that has been off for two days.. Ed and I have waited for an electric company representative to show up to discuss why our bill has risen from 180.00 to 980.00 when we were not the ones that called them only to have the electric company tell us that they wanted to only speak to the person who called.

You name it,, we have waited for it... well,, no more.  We now only wait for a period of time and then purposely leave.  Lock up and go... it relieves the pent up energy we get when we live waiting for something that now we know we have a slim chance of attaining.  Ed and I are dealing, but it has been a long and hard road to learn this.  Coming from America where you snooze you lose... it has been a hard lesson.  Here in Ecuador, they are just starting the technology phase of education,,, they have yet to learn that the phone that they carry is also being carried by the people who they promised to see,, take things to,, pay,, etc...that it is more than a face book update and electronic messaging board.  That the phone can be used to call the person to tell them that you are not coming, are stuck, have died en route... you get my drift,, right?  Well,, this is my Monday rant, if you make an appointment here with Ed or I,  casual or otherwise, expect us to show up as requested, we will be the only ones there on time, unless you invited other expats.. then we will all be there... waiting for the Ecuadorians to show up.

I hate liars and cheats

We had such good experiences overall on our journey to our retirement.  The exception was the visa facilitator that we hired to help us get our retirement visa.  We lived in their hotel for one month getting used to traveling and the altitude and attitude here.  We found them on Ecuador Craigslist when we could not find a hotel or hostel that would let us bring our dogs.  When we were contemplating our move there was no dog boarding facility as there are now.  We jumped at the chance to be welcomed with our fur babies.  They also advertised that they were visa facilitators and it could be done in a very quick period of time.  

The gentleman that I originally spoke to was gone when we arrived, we were met by a grumpy driver that charged us $40.00 we didn't expect to pay as it was advertised that transportation was provided.  We paid and arrived about 1:30 am and were escorted to a room by the absent owners wife, we did not get the king size bed that was advertised, we didn't have goose down on the bed either.  We didn't have knobs on our wardrobe until 2 weeks into our stay, but my inventive husband made duct tape tabs we used to open the flush doors.  We paid 750.00 plus vat for our room for a month and 900.00 for our visa facilitation to a man that was manning the office and the owners wife took me to the mall to get the other 600.00 so our total was 1500.00 for the visa facilitation.  Now I know that there are others that are much less expensive but when I was researching I was comparing her price to lawyers in Quito that were charging 2500.00  

I approached the woman who was the owners wife, our facilitator, many times asking for her to start looking at our paperwork.  Time and time again she was leaving to go to Quito or Cuenca and during our time there she actually went to America to see her husband.  I was getting worried that our visas would not be done on time.. we moved a month later to a house very close, she came over and even then when I presented our paperwork, she was putting out a fire that someone who also had not been taken care of.. I knew we were in trouble.  I felt so damn stupid that I didn't make a fire for her to put out too.  I was always thinking that we were next.  One year and 7 months later, we requested a  refund as we were doing the work ourselves and since she had not completed our work.  

We finally did our paperwork ourselves and yesterday asked for our money back, she arrived the next day telling me that she didn't remember me paying her or her helper.  Today he wrote to us saying that I paid for the room, not the facilitation.. well,, I did and I am so upset and depressed.

I lived through the month at their hotel with flies you would not believe in the house during meals, with dogs running loose and barking at all hours.  Trying to catch the facilitator, trying to not roll off the queen size bed that had a double as a base, paid $5.00 for each load of laundry, when no one else did and paid $75.00 for another day because we could not check into our house until 3 pm due to our new landlord was not out of his house yet,, but again,, no one else did that either.  I was above board and helped cook the weekend evening meals when her sister was sick.  

I am sad,, it seems that there are so many people here just waiting for the opportunity to take your money, when we helped people it was with an open heart.  My heart has taken a beating this year my trust in people has bottomed out.  I have the person telling me that if I contact her again, she will call the police.  I am disheartened in people and feel like everyone wants a piece of you when all we wanted was what we paid for.  

Middle of the World

This is our new house in Mitad Del Mundo, San Antonio.  It is a bungalow with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a front florida room and a kitchen and living room area.

It is not the mansion that we rented before but it is comfortable and still has a pool in the side yard.  It has a huge open yard up the steps you see on the right hand side and yet another level for parking that is as wide as the property, you can park about 4 cars there.  It is not lacking in the space department and still has the mountain views we had previously.  Best part of being here is our rent is $300.00 a month for all this.  It is totally walled and has a security door with intercom.  The dogs are in heaven with all the space we have noticed that they are barking less here than at our other home.  Thank goodness.

The area has a bus stop two blocks away, shopping and markets.  Our other expenses are minimal, 24.00 for water, 49.00 for electric(we have an electric hot water heater) 15.00 for phone, 29.00 for internet, and 70.00 for cable.   Our food is fresh and runs about 30.00 a week for EdGar and I.

We are thrilled to be so lucky.   Ecuador, Here comes the Toepel's!

Next week we will be in Colombia again to visit and shop, we will be sharing, be sure to drop in!

Moving DAY!!

We first arrived in Quito with 10 bags and 4 dogs,  we are moving today due to a very leaky roof and electrical hazards that we cannot get repaired due to the size of the job and our non-negotiation (unless it is in his favor) landlord.  He would repair it if we stayed and signed another two year agreement.  No way!  It was rented in a bad condition, as you cannot ask the landlord to give you a hose and spray it for an hour or so on the whole roof to see if it leaks, and being newbies we didn't think to ask.   The electricity was a, oh no,, what room doesn't have any electricity now situation, so after 7 months of fixing it ourselves and taking it out of the rent and having our land lord constantly ask us,, when will you pay the whole amount, we had the Quito municipal inspector out to see our property, showed him all the electrical issues and he wrote a report to the city.  The next move was to the city lawyer's office, where he checked to see if the landlord had registered our lease, nope.  We were told to register it, tell our landlord that we would be moving in 30 days and expected our security deposit back.  Wait for our landlord to respond and when he did, he told us that he didn't have our security money to return.  The lawyer told us to expect it and tell him that we would be staying our whole security deposit worth of months(2) then leaving unless he came with the security deposit.  So,, if you were wondering why we are moving,, that's the whole story.  It seems that Ecuador is a pro renter not a pro landlord situation, Hallelujah!


 I thought since we rented a furnished house it would be easy to pack up like when we were in the hotel and moved to our this house.  It seems that accumulation has a creep effect.  I don't see any suitcases in this pile up and it seem that downsizing is still a work in progress!

 
                                     
I consulted our resident Mr. Calm, Sharkey Barkey and he seems to be okay with it,, he is relaxed and not worried about the move, so I thought why not take on his demeanor.  We returned to stuffing into trash bags, buckets and boxes, thinking why sweat the load.  The best was Ed singing "Our house,,, is in the Middle of the World, our house is in the Middle of the World." Sung to the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young song, Our house in the middle of the street.  Then Ed is singing, "Our house is a very, very, very fine house, with 6 dogs in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is easy cause of youuuuuu."  Oh well, he is infectious, off key and a wonderful partner to do this retirement gig with.

Pictures of the move to follow... wish us luck... in our very, very, very fine house,,, in the Middle of the World.    Sing it with me now....

Happy New Year!!

Wow, what a night!  We were really curious to experience the New Year in Ecuadorian style.  Ed and I had read and heard so much about what would go on we were like kids waiting for Christmas!  

Our morning was spent at Condado Shopping Mall in Quito getting some adult refreshments and some extra nibble food along with some champagne toasting glasses.  We were told that we needed grapes, 12 grapes eaten was luck for the 12 new months.  We had to pass as the price for that 12 months was a little prohibitive for us at the SuperMaxi, we thought maybe we could buy some on the street, but the women had moved by the time we completed our shopping.  We saw the red underwear that was worn on New Years for love in the new year and the yellow underwear you would wear for financial wealth being sold in store windows.  We talked about trying this, but passed on it this year.. maybe next year I wear yellow or get out my Sponge Bob ones!  Picked up some dog food as you can never have enough of the brand your pups like and we were going to take a taxi home cause that is how we roll on food shopping days.  

We were surprised to see our Project Manager for our business,  Juan,  in the house as he had just made the long car ride from Cuenca (10 hours) and we expected him to be catching some zzzz's until the New Year celebrations got started.  Needless to say, there was a lot of catching up to do and pictures to see of him and our friends dog he was babysitting, the stories of how he went from getting charged by Robbie the 90 pound golden retriever to best human friend on the planet was hysterical.  He was explaining that the "cone of shame" he needed to use when Robbie started licking a bee sting was when he turned the corner with Robbie.  He said when he realized that he needed me to take it off, he started staying close to me.  Want versus need is amazing, eh?

Juan left early but not before we celebrated the "Three Amigos" for another amazing year.  Juan had been our biggest form of support for everything we accomplished this year.  House hunting, cable companies, water companies, gardeners, housekeepers, employees, textile mill hunting, sewing notions, pattern designs, textile cutting and painting, compressor purchases, new visas,  all would have taken us so much more time than it did with Juan.  His loyalty and his" keep going" attitude is more than any person could ask for.  We appreciate him more than he will ever know.  

The early evening was for watching the final episode of "Breaking Bad"!  I won't ruin it for you, but holy moley they had a lot to close out for the last few episodes.  I had trouble putting it all in order on the Fifth Season, part B.  

The evening festivities really started in earnest about 9 pm with sporadic fireworks, nothing to write home about at this point.  My better half, Ed, went upstairs to see if there were any countdowns that he could find on the tv.  At 11 pm the first real sets of fireworks started, these were on par with some that I have seen at baseball games, I am constantly surprised at the quality of them.  The sky was filled with floating lanterns and fireworks, it was spectacular to see.  When there was only 30 minutes left the music started and the neighbors started gathering outside toasting each other and greeting the other families with, "Happy New Year".  Many of the men were walking around pouring Johnny Walker into their glass and offering it to Ed and I so we could share in the libation and the moment.  It was really cool.  (Ed told me don't worry the alcohol kills any germs... ) I wasn't worried in the slightest, I think it was him!

We then saw the neighbors bring out Magotes which are effigies of politicians, pop culture figures and other icons of the year to torch in the street.  This tradition of burning the "ano viejo"( old year ) is symbolic of cleansing the bad from the previous 12 months before the new year commences.  If your going for extra good luck you can jump the flames 12 times for each month, although you risk joining the Magote (effigies) in the fires.   The tradition of the effigy burning is said to go back to the 1895 yellow fever epidemic that hit Guayaquil especially hard.  That year people packed coffins with the clothes of the dead and set them in flames, the act being a symbol and a purification rite.  Now the figures that are burned are more lighthearted and elaborate, like the figures of Space Jam that were burned recently. Some effigies are vividly painted and paraded through the city, while most families purchase the scarecrow types stuffed with newspaper and covered with a mask purchased from one of the many street vendors.  Before the evenings bonfires, men will dress as "Widows" of the effigies and beg for money in mourning in the streets.  In Quito this is very loosely translated, as the widows look a lot like cross dressers, but they do dance with you and then ask for a few pennies.  Just let your imagination roll on this description and I am sure you can imagine what it looks like.  

 

When we were shopping we saw hundreds of effigies lining the street for sale.  Our neighbors lit their scarecrow on fire at the curb of their house to denote that 2013 is over and it is time for 2014.  They jumped over the burning Magotes (effigies).  I was surprised to see not only kids jumping, adults joined in the fun too.   The neighborhood celebration was warm and fun to watch they didn't keep to themselves, they opened their celebration to us and included us.  It was the best New Years celebration we have had in a long time.  It wasn't inside, it was outside and it was included the our whole development.  

We hear lots of people complain all the time about their experiences here.  I can only say that for us it is not that way, we are part of the community and are welcomed each time we are out.  That is the way I would always want it and I thank them too for making our New Years Eve an experience worth the wait.  It was spectacular.  I am so looking forward to 2014.

This is the family that lives next door to us, their sons soccer ball 

occasionally ends up in our pool so we have met them over retrieving their

SSSSSSSCCCCCCOOOOOOOORRRRRRE into the pool.

                            Our other neighbors' daughter is completing her jump over the burning 

Magote (effigie)!  Please notice her red shoes , she is hoping for a romantic 2014!

  

WWW.Workaway.info

This is the company that encourages people to travel; to follow that wonder lust.  We have had 4 girls with us for two months.  They assist us with Spanish, help with sewing, cooking and walking the dogs for room and board.  Two girls ( Paula and Juli) have been friends since childhood, the other two (Indi and Tati) were partners.  They have been the family that I could not share with over the holidays.  I thought I would share some of our work and fun pictures.

On the left is Tati, myself, Paula (wearing one of our designs), next is Indianna and on the far right is Julianna.  

 Pilates were completed at 2 pm, 

we all needed to stretch after sewing!

This is the whole gang including our Project Manager Juan, tough job eh?

Kito our puppy is trying hard to be patient as our Santa pup.  

This is Indi's shirt along with our pin cushion that 

is a part of The Three Wise Men now sporting blue eyes and a pink grin! The girls

had a great sense of humor and I would find things redesigned for me to discover!

This is Paula's sheep shirt, it has a front and back that is wiggly wool... it is so cute. 

Juli calling us all to her Christmas dinner,  

three of the girls had never had turkey before. 

Indianna packed up and is going on her next adventure, she was leaving

for Columbia with a friend to experience Carnival on Jan. 2, 2014.  I  admire

them all for being the women that take the challenge to experience life.  I love them all

because I see some of myself in all of them.  Fair Winds and Following Seas Indi.