Thursday, June 30, 2011

This post will be shorter than previous ones because it was mostly a travel day, and Jenny has gone to bed so I'll probably forget something without her assistance!

We did have a nice buffet breakfast at the Inca Real this morning; we've had "regular" ones the other days.  I enjoyed the pancakes with syrup; Jenny had an omelet.

We packed all of our suitcases + the backpack we bought near the square a couple of days ago.  We were afraid of being overweight in our carryons so we got the backpack- it counts as a personal item as long as it fits under the seat in front of us.  We had no problems with weight, I don't think the folks at the counter even paid attention, perhaps because the flight was about half full.  It was an enjoyable, short flight.  When we landed in Quito, a guy from the Travellers Inn was waiting for us with our names professionally printed on a placard - impressive!  Unlike some of the hand printed ones.

Once we got checked in, we went to dinner at a very nice little panaderia y pasteleria (bread and pastries) restaurant near the hostal.  Deanne Davoll introduced us to it on the day before we went to Cuenca so I probably mentioned it.  We ate ham & cheese sandwiches then had two scoops of yummy ice cream for dessert.  We came back to our hostal, looked at some excursions we want to do, then came to our room. 

One word of advice: when investigating hostals/hotels, determine if the "cable" tv is in your room or a common area.  We discovered that we do have a tv but all programs are in Spanish. Of course, for those of you who do understand Spanish, that's quite alright but I haven't quite mastered the art of "bilinguality" (for you grammarians out there, I know it isn't a word but it sounds good!).  We also now understand about expats in Ecuador not being able to get American tv programs here.  In the States, if we miss an episode of a program, we can go to the network (CBS, NBC, etc.) and watch the program, as it will stream.  When I tried that here, I could not access them because we are in a geographic region not authorized to receive them.  We did, however, watch some of the performances on America's Got Talent 2011 - we watched them on YouTube!

So, that's about it!  Jenny plans to work out at a nearby Curves tomorrow morning then we'll probably go to a dentist sometime after that. One of the hostal owners (or perhaps manager) will take us to his, who speaks English.  Quito probably won't be as exciting as Cuenca, unless someone has spare time and wants to "show us their city", as Gerard Tretto and Diane & Juan Moreno did in Cuenca.

Hasta Luego!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

With regret, we have spent our last night, of this trip, in Cuenca, Ecuador.  We wish we had planned for a couple of more days but, alas, we did not so it is not to be.  Being in Cuenca has been great and we've met some dear people, Ecuadorian and American alike.  Before coming up to our room tonight, we spent some time talking with the night clerk; she's a very sweet young lady who goes to college and studies in the morning, works at the hostal in the afternoon/evening, then goes home to get some sleep before starting the cycle all over again!  She has one day off each week (Saturday); she spends it with her mother and grandmother!  I'm sure that's the story of a lot of young people here because they want to succeed and have the work ethic for it!  We've "adopted" her as our second "Monica" (her name).

Now, our day:  Jenny slept in, we had breakfast in our hostal, then went to Curves for her workout.  We then took the long way back, going by SuperMaxi (I think I mentioned one when we were in Tumbaco - it's a grocery store.

Shortly after returning to our hostal, we hooked up with Gerard and went to lunch at Grecia's - lunch was $2.20!  We toured a little more of the city, where a lot of ex-pats live, then went for ice cream.

Gerard dropped us off at a Panama Hat museum (remember, I told you those hats are not made in Panama; they're made here)  We saw how hats are formed, then went upstairs for a scenic view of part of Cuenca.  We also had one of those "dress up, posed" pictures made, in authentic clothing with panama hats.  Jenny wanted to get a hat but they did not have the one she liked in her size.  They were willing to resize one for her but we didn't have enough time before we leave tomorrow, so no hat - this trip.

We made our way back to the hostal, met up with Gerard again (in case you don't know, Gerard's wife is currently in Montana, USA so he has lots of free time! LOL) and went to dinner at the Coffee Tree (Gerard, please comment and correct me if I'm wrong - not wrong, different!).

We did get some rain today; it also seemed to be the warmest day of our stay.  As we've discovered, even if the temperature is cool, when the sun shines brightly (after all, we are near the Equator), it feels warm to hot.  At least we shed our jackets and went around in shirt sleeves (long because we didn't bring short).

Our plane doesn't leave until 1:45 p.m. tomorrow so we'll have the morning to pack, try to find a scale to weigh our luggage, and relax before leaving.  BTW, Continental Airlines (and probably most other U.S. carriers allow carry on luggage to weigh up to 40 pounds; Latin American Airlines (LAN) allows them to weigh up to 17 pounds!

So, it's off to bed!  If Quito is this much fun and excitement, choosing where, if we indeed decide to, retire will be difficult!  We now count Gerard Tretton, Diane & Juan Moreno as our friends.  BTW, I tried calling Diane this morning but could not get through so I'll need to send her an email before we go to bed.

Tuesday, 28 June, 2011

My sweetheart and wife's (the same person!) birthday!

Another exciting day of sightseeing and learning about Cuenca, Ecuador!

We ate breakfast in our hostal then met Gerard Tretton at the local tour bus company, in the Cuenca square, for a tour of the city.  In all the years Gerard has been here, he has never been on the tour so we are very honored that he chose to go with us.  The tour lasted about an hour and a half and was very informative; I recommend it to anyone visiting Cuenca.

We then headed towards Caja (pronounced "ka ha") National Park.  The drive was fabulous and the tour guide was very knowledgeable!  We stopped and ate at Hosteria Dos Chorreras restaurant; they have their own fish farm; we saw some small trout swimming in a pool as we entered the restaurant.  The trout was delicious!

We then went on up the mountain to the park, at an elevation of 13,667 feet!  We walked to the edge of a canyon with lakes below; we felt the effects of the high altitude and the drop in temperature from lower elevations.  Pictures, videos (I took both) or words cannot describe the scenery going, there, or coming back!  We hope to experience it again!

When we got back, we attended the ex-pat get together and met some new people.

Gerard told me I need to post some pics with this blog; I told him I don't even know how to enhance it, much less add pics!  We're trying to take lots of pics with two digital and one video cameras so we should have plenty to post, when I, or Jess Moody, figures out how to do it! Of course, I must first get them downloaded (or is it uploaded?) from the cameras!

And now, to bed!  We don't have any excursions scheduled for tomorrow but we do hope to visit a Panama Hat museum (did you know, they actually are manufactured here in Cuenca and exported?)  The manufacturing plant is out near the airport but we probably won't have time to go there; the museum is close by.

Hasta Luego!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Can you believe it, Jenny is actually awake after 10:00 p.m.!!!  We just got back to our "new" room, after relocating from the Macando Hostal to the Inca Real Hostal.  We had been contemplating it, but this morning, we decided it was time for a change, after not being able to get on the internet, either in our room or on the patio.  So, Gerard, bless his pea-picking heart (as Tennessee Ernie Ford used to say), picked us and all of our luggage up at the Macondo and brought us here, a few blocks away but closer to the town square.

We then went to his (Gerard's) home then went across the street and had a $3.00 per person lunch at Pimienta & Canela Restaurante.  It included juice (tamarindo), soup (caldo de pollo - a chicken broth with popcorn instead of crackers).  Our entre was rice, puree of potatoes and pork.  For dessert, we had maracho (a liquified rice pudding).  We were full!

Gerard then took us to his property and future home, waaaaay up in the mountains, overlooking Cuenca.  The view was spectacular!  I took lots of pictures and a video.  We then went further up onto the mountain to a little spot with even a more spectacular view!  I, personally, have never seen a more picturesque place, although I'm sure there are others elsewhere.  We then went to Turi, another place with a spectacular view (they even had the high powered binoculars - the ones that one inserts money into to activate).  A church sits on the side of the mountain that is well lit at night and can be seen from Cuenca.

After a great day, Gerard dropped us off at the hostal; we then ate a light dinner; I had grilled ham and cheese, Jenny had the potato soup with avacado (she loves it and may fix it when we get home - mine without the avacado).  We then went to the square, where the Corpus Christi celebration is still going on.  There we had dessert - I had a banana split, she had a waffle with strawberries, banana, vanilla ice cream, chocolate drizzle and whipped cream - both were yummy (we took pictures!)

We walked around the square, looking at all the confections but nothing really appealed to us at the time because we were full from the desserts - we'll get some tomorrow when it isn't so crowded.  We stayed for the sending up of the globos (the small paper hot air balloons - if you want to know more, google or wikipedia it :-)) and the lighting of the castilla (castle).  We took some still shots but I will probably take my video camera tomorrow night!

And now, it's bedtime - 10:46 and Jenny is still awake!  It's easier for her because we actually have a sofa here so she's not lying in the bed.  It's much quieter here so we're looking forward to a good nights sleep and a busy day tomorrow.

                                                                    

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Another exciting day in Ecuador!  When we got up, it was raining, after all, this is supposed to be the dry season :-).  The dampness causes the temp to feel much colder than the 60 degrees it was when we got up.

After a nice breakfast, we read our emails and kinda hung out until 10:00 a.m. when we met Juan and Diane Moreno.  We went to their house - the one they bought that was shown on House Hunters International.  It is very nice and becoming even nicer as they bought the lot next door and about doubled their property.  They have built a very nice covered patio area.  We saw, perhaps, one of the largest hummingbirds we've ever seen; tried to get a picture but it always fed on the opposite side of the feeder from us.

We then drove (Juan doing it!) to Gualaceo (wa-la-say-o) where we went to the fresh air market. We walked around for a little bit and bought a fruit called chirimoya (perhaps not pretty to look at but sweet).  While driving around town, Juan's brother called; he and his wife are here from San Francisco (?), CA. - they arrived yesterday and stayed in Gualaceo with friends.  We met them in the town square then went to lunch at the Rancho Lindo restaurant (a private home that is converted to a restaurant on the weekend).  We ate a tamale for appetizer then a main course of chicken stew - it's not like a stew Americans are accustomed to, it was delicious!

We then went to Chordeleg (chore-de-lay), the jewelry capital of this area.  Jenny took advantage of the prices and permitted me to get her birthday present early (she's so thoughtful that way)!  She also got an early birthday/ anniversary/ Christmas (whichever comes first!) from Gary Adams (our Sunday School teacher) to his wife, Becky!  BTW Becky, I was not involved in selecting the item!  I found a very pretty pair of earrings for Jenny (different from the set she had already gotten, that I had nothing to do with) but they were too 'dangly' for her.  She did select a gorgeous pair of earrings and matching necklace w/silver diamond cut chain - won't discuss the ridiculously low price I paid!  Oh, while walking around the square (every town has a square!),  we looked at a pair of earrings for which the lady wanted $49.  After a bit of bargaining by Diane (she's great!), the lady came down to $35.  She entered that amount in the calculator and said she'd hold them until we went back.  I took her calculator, erased her number, then entered $30 - she said too low (I guess that's what she said for it was in Spanish and I did not understand), then she entered $32!  I'm a great negotiator, yes! LOL.  We didn't get them though because Jenny determined them to be too heavy for her ears.

We also met one of Juan's cousins, who is the preist of the local Catholic church then went inside his church.

After a very informative (Juan is a native Cuencano but lived many years in Minnesota and now lives half the year in Orlando, Florida) day with two very sweet and dear people, we came back to our hostal, rested a bit then went to dinner in the town square, at Raymipampa's. 

Jenny had Plato Tipico, a typical Ecuadorian dish of fried pork, black sausage (morilla) (cabbage and rice stuffed inside a sausage - the taste kinda like an egg roll), traditional white cooked corn (kinda like our hominy) with egg, potatoe patty and salad (mixed beans & peas) and avacado on the side. Cost = $6.50!

I had the Churrasco - grilled fillet of beef in sauce, with fried eggs, french fries, rice and vegetables (actually the same salad Jenny had), and avacado on the side (I gave it to Jenny since I do not like them).  Cost = $6.00.  We also each had a capuchino to warm us up because it's cold! Oh, that's right, it IS winter here! :-)

We walked around the square; they were geared up for another night of Corpus Christi.  Jenny met and talked to an indigedous (indian), dressed to the hilt in his traditional outfit; quite stunning.  He permitted me to take a picture of him and Jenny.

We are taking pictures!  Oh, when at the market in Gualaceo, we did ask one lady who had a very pretty girl if we could take a picture; she first said no but then said we could if we would give her the picture.  Could not figure out how to do that one since ours is a digital camera and I had no printer!  Perhaps she remembers the old polaroid!

Its' still an exciting educational experience; Ecuador is amazing!  I know Juan loves it because he talked a lot about his Cuenca and his Ecuador.  We did drive near his boyhood home.

Jenny is out (asleep)! so I'd better get outa here and put her to bed!

Buenos noches, mi familia y amigos.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Wow, I'm actually going to get this posted on the correct date, after saying we're staying one day behind! Although it has been a full day, we decided to stay in tonight.  I have on my jacket and Jenny her robe; it was 60 degrees in Cuenca at 7:00 p.m. (last Weather Underground update) so now that the sun has been down for and hour and a half to two hours, it's colder now!  No heat in the rooms, probably anywhere!

Very early start to our day; we got up at about 5:45 to be ready to meet Gerard Tretton @ 6:15 for a trip to a couple of outdoor markets, one organic, the other no so.  The first was small and in what, to us, would be normally a vacant lot but used as a market on Saturdays.  To get the best produce, you must be early!  Forgot what it was called, but Gerard got us something that looked like a pancake, but not sweet and very good.  The second,  Centro Comercial Municipal el Arenal, was very big and had most everything one would want, including fruits, vegetables, meats, chickens, seafood, clothing, shoes, etc.  There was probably a few stolen items (watches, cell phones, etc.) as well!  Everything was in the open - no refrigerators for the meat!  That's why one goes early - to get the freshest meats, including 'cuy' (kinda like a guinea (sp?) pig.  I may try some later, when we get back to Quito; Jenny isn't that bold!

After the market, Gerard brought us back to the hostal but we hooked up again for lunch at the Kookaburra Cafe.  We met two expat couples; one lives here, the other is researching to possibly move here.  Karen and Randy Kimbler live here and are members of the FB expats group.  We enjoyed the food and fellowship.  We pretty much spent the rest of the day walking around, touring the city, including the square where the Corpus Christi festival is centered; amazing how different it was today - much quieter and a whole lot less congested!  For an afternoon snack, we had a different type of Empada - not like the 'authentic' ones we had in Tumbaco with Mike and Abby.  Jenny did get a complete manicure for $4.00 - yes, four dollars!  She said it wasn't the quality of those in the States so I reminded her this is Ecuador.  She showed them to our desk clerk; she said her fingers look very nice!  While she was getting her manicure, two boys, whose mothers work in the salon, and I taught each other our native language!

We made contact with Diane and Juan Moreno, members of the expat group.  Diane is originally from Minnesota; Juan is a native Cuencano (born in Cuenca).  They now have a home in Orlando Florida

I contacted two preachers of a Baptist Missionary church here, but the church is at camp so we will not be able to attend their services tomorrow morning.

Let us close by saying Gerard Tretton is a great expat and friend!  He has been sooooo helpful and accomodating to spend his time with us (of course, his wife is back in the States so he has nothing better to do! LOL). 

It's only 9:00 p.m., but Jenny is behind me on the bed, falling asleep. I guess the cool (she'd say cold!) fresh air and all the activities, especially walking, has worn her out!  Oh, and since the altitude here is around 7,650 feet, that probably affects us!

We have a busy day planned for tomorrow, with Diane and Juan so we'll report in tomorrow evening or Monday.

BTW,  if there are typos or misspelled words, please forgive me.  There appears to be a spell checker here, but when I click on it, everything highlights!  At least you can understand it (I hope!)

Ecuador is a great country and we're loving the experience!

Hasta luego!

Friday, June 24, 2011

It looks like we're gonna be at least a day behind on this, we're staying sooooo busy and running around into late hours!

Yes, yesterday was my birthday!  Since only three of us know how to access my blog account, and Jenny said she didn't do it (I accused her first!), I know someone in Huntsville who is in serious trouble for hacking into my account! LOL!  I should have asked Matt to tell her not to enter this account - she's an obedient wife!

We flew into from Quito to Cuenca around noon; although the flight was only about 35 minutes on LAN airlines, we had a brief video - more than we got from Continental without paying!

Gerard Tretton, a friend we met through the yahoo groups ex-pat forum, picked us up at the airport and gave us a great tour of Cuenca before taking us to our hostal, the Macondo.  It, according to U.S. standards, is not the Best Western, or even Motel 6, but by Ecuadorian standards, is okay.  The room is very small but we do have a private bath.  We looked at another place that was a little larger with a TV (the Macondo has none anywhere) but I (Jenny disagreed but was being an obedient wife (her words as she's sitting behind me watching me type!) decided we could not understand the TV, since it was local channels, so the price difference would not be worth it.

Gerard took us to the Inca Real Hostal (with the TV) restaurant; we had the sea bass entree - it was delicious.  We then came back here; Jenny went to Curves and worked out, then we went to Zoe's (bar & grill) to meet other ex-pats.  We met a couple of people; didn't stay long.  There is a festival going on called Corpus Christi (not Texas!) so we walked around, got some confections (although not sweet like in U.S.), and watched the fireworks and release of the "globas" (small paper 'air balloons').  We then walked back to our hostal - yes, even after dark, but the streets were crowded with festival goers so safe. We had a map but I got confused on the direction  we were headed, so we went several blocks in the opposite direction!  An unexpected and interesting experience in Ecuador.  We "took a deep breath" and carried on.

It was night, night time when we got back to the room.  I had problems getting onto the internet, (and have had today as well), but with help from the desk person, I finally got up and running. The signal here is much weaker than in the U.S., so speeds are much slower, a reminder of dial up days and a lesson in patience.

Happy Birthday Larry!!!

Just wanted to make sure everyone knew that today is your birthday!!!  Happy Birthday!!!!  :)

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Another relaxing morning on a beautiful day.  The mountains were cloud covered at first but cleared into the morning.  We caught a cab a few hundred yards from Mike's place; he took us to Curves for $3.00 (probably 50 cents to a dollar too much, but we are Gringos and it's still a great deal if compared to U.S. prices!  Curves workout is a little different from the U.S., but Jenny had personalized assistance from her own circuit coach.

We hooked up with Jeff and Deeanne (sp?) Davoll; they are ABWE missionaries in Cumbaya.  We went to their church (actually a space inside a medical building) where we'll attend when we return from Cuenca next week. They are having a Gringo get-together on the 4th of July; we are invited and will attend (food!! LOL)!  They were so very gracious to then spend the entire afternoon with us, showing us around Tumbaco, Cumbaya, and even Quito!  They took us to a very special spot overlooking the entire valley; they call it their prayer spot because they can look out over the entire valley and pray for the people who are without Christ.  We ate lunch at a restaurant in Tumbaco, where we ate quesadillas.  For dinner, we ate at La Union Panaderia y Pasteleria, in Quito, near the hostal where we'll stay when we return to Quito next Thursday.  For the four of us, it costed $9.25! Acually, we had desserts and capupucinnno and yummy pastries!

Deanne then took us to an open market where Jenny found lots of neat stuff, including a beautiful alpaca sweater, a blouse, two alpaca scarves, two table runners, and a purse.  Glad Deanne was with us because she was able to bargain for great prices.  They then brought us "home"!  God is richly blessing them and their ministries; we certainly see where and how God could use us here.

It's almost  9:30 p.m., we're tired after a very enjoyable day.  We have to pack and be ready to leave in the morning around 8:45 for our flight to Cuenca.

Until tomorrow night, or later!

June 22, 2011 Update.

The morning was slow and relaxing.  For lunch, Abbey, a friend of Mike's (the owner of the center where we're staying) prepared an authentic Ecuadorian meal - Ecuadorian potatoe soup, baked talapia, and zuchini (sp?) from her garden.

Mike then took Jenny to his son's (Patrick is a chiropractor, who has been in Ecuador for 17 years) office for an adjustment; she really needed it! We then took Abbey to her doctor - he is Japaneese, so I spoke to him in Japaneese; he was surprised!  We then went to a small restaurant called Las Gigantes De Moroch and ate, as an appetizer, some empanadas (they're kinda like quesadillas but are individually folded).  We then went across the street to El Chacal restaurant where we had dinner of steak and two different kinds of sausage; it was supposed to be three types (pork, veal, and blood), but we switched a second veal for the blood. Jenny & Abby had a fruit juice (Naranjilla) that, according to Abbey, only be found in Columbia and Ecuador; it was very good!

An interesting thing about parking:  When you get ready to pull out of a parking place, someone will be there to help you, then you tip them for the service - usually 25 cents.

Oh, and I did get a cell phone but the instructions are in Spanish!

It was a good and interesting day.  We're looking forward to some new experiences tomorrow!

Resting and shopping

Slept in (I got up @ 7; Jenny @ 8:30), although not really since we didn't get to bed until about 2 a.m!  A rooster kept me awake for alittle while; Jenny didn't hear it at first so I woke her up to hear him! LOL!

Mike had a fruit basket for us, from a friend of his; Patrick brought us some fresh bread - yummy, especially with Mora jam!  We relaxed around the room and property until about noon, then went into Cumbaya to get a few food items for breakfast and snacks.  We met Patrick and another expat couple (Kevin & Gail) from! Canada who are having a home built here at one of the local malls; we ate at a cuban restaurant, then got some ice cream and experienced our first "gringo" pricing.  There was a sign that said 2 scoops for the price of one (Mike translated it), so we thought we'd take advantage of the deal.  However, since none of us spoke fluent Spanish, the girl charged us full price, even after Mike tried to speak to her (his Spanish was good enough!),  she just pretended to 'not understand'. Oh well, as Gail said, and often says, just take a deep breath and move on. 

On the way back we went to Kevin & Gail's property; it has a gorgeous, unobstructed view of the mountains!

We are in for the evening; will relax in the jacuzzi in awhile.  Patrick didn't do a full adjustment but helped Jenny's back some and told her the jacuzzi would help this evening; she'll go to his office tomorrow.

BTW, when we got up this morning, it was about 50 degrees but it warmed up nicely, the sun was shining, and the surrounding mountains were clear and beautiful!

June 20, 2011 update

6/20/11 update:  Merlin & Daisy McRee were gracious to take us to the Huntsville Airport.  Checkin was smooth.  We had to get boarding passes at the Continental Kiosk because we're going out of the country; passports had to be scanned and verified.  Processing through security was quick and smooth.

The flight left a few minutes late - the arriving plane from Houston was late, so that made us late.  We were surprised that Continental issues headsets to everyone but they are of no value unless we bought airtime through their pay system from DirectTV.  I point this out because the last time we traveled Continental, movies were free!  With all the talk in the news recently about luggage fees, this one was not mentioned but should have been.  Of course, I would not pay the $7.99 required for airtime so the five hour flight was non-entertaining.  Continental will hear of my displeasure about this additional fee!  We arrived in Quito at 11:25 p.m. (about 1/2 hour late) but by the time we got through immigration and customs (which really went smoothly, just several planes arrived at the same time), we got to the place where we're staying, outside of Tumbaco, it was 1:30 a.m. - late for this old man!  The owner is an American who retired here a couple of years ago - his son has lived here for over 17 years.  Patrick is a chiropractor in Quito; Jenny will be availing herself of his services ASAP!

The day has arrived!

It's hectic!  We've been "playing" with our luggage to adjust stuff around to ensure we don't go over the 50 pound limit, and we have our two carry-ons as well!  My plan was to put my carry-on inside my large suitcase and pack in and around it so we'd only have one carry-on - didn't happen! LOL! We do have extra space in our carry-ons if we need it though.

Dear friends of ours, from our church, will take us to the airport early, allowing plenty of time for checkin.  For some reason, we could not get our boarding passes printed; were told to check in at kiosk at the airport. Since I don't travel on planes much, I don't like these "bumps", but that's what they are so we'll deal with them and keep going.

Larry & Jenny

Two more days!

Although we haven't even begun to pack, we have two days before we leave for Ecuador!  We'll spend tomorrow afternoon packing two large suitcases and one carry-on.  An extra carry-on will be inside my suitcase; we'll probably need it for "stuff" we buy while in Ecuador.  The first leg of our trip will be to Quito; we'll spend four nights there before going to Cuenca.  We'll be staying at a nice little hostel, The Travellers Inn, in downtown Quito.  If you want to check it out, they have a website; there are others that review the hostel as well.

Until someone who knows how to "spice up" this blog shows me how, or I figure it out on my own, it'll stay basic!