Life goes on....

Sometimes it's hard to figure out what to blog about. Our daily life has fallen into a bit of a routine. We sleep till we wake up, Stu usually by 7am and me by 9am. Breakfast, check emails and Facebook, watch a few videos and then decide what to do the rest of the day. Meet new friends, meet old friends, eat out, take a walk, go shopping.

See? Our day here isn't all that different from retirement in the US. Well, except we spend a LOT less on food. Here are two photos to give you an idea of our fruit and veggie costs when we buy at the mercados.

$7 worth of fruit

$12.55 worth of fruit, veggies, jar of honey and a bag of pasta (not shown)

We are in the rainy season now and this means some amazing sunsets and rainbows. Here are a few of the shots we've taken recently.

This past weekend we had a LOT of rain and the rivers were high and fast. This is a 20x zoom photo of the river 1/2 block from us, the Tomebamba. The Yanancuy was the same in two surrounding towns, Paute and Gauleco, the rivers overflowed their banks and flooded the streets.

Shopping - found this adorable Blue-Footed Boobie mobile/wind chime for $5 in El Centro. Stu hung it just outside our door - no breezes but I love to see it when we come home.

We also finally decided to try some local bagels once we realized they would deliver. Stu couldn't get enough of the smell - cinnamon raisin!

The bagels are really good, even without cream cheese (okay, Stu wants that but I'm fine with butter) and we will be ordering them again.

So, that's life at 8400ft - GOOD!

Ciao for now!

Weekend in Cuenca

Well, it actually started on Friday and Sunday I was in bed with a headache all day but a blog title of "Friday and Saturday in Cuenca" didn't sound as good. LOL!

We grabbed a taxi and headed to the gathering spot for those going to the Newcomer Lunch at La Yunta. I had been to the first newcomer lunch at Don Colon's while Stu was in the US, so this was his first. We had eaten at La Yunta on other outings and the choices this time were roast beef with pasta or fish and chips. I had one and Stu had the other, both were delicious as well the two dessert choices.

But the day was really for the families with kids...and there were a bunch! What fun to see them all playing together, riding the horses provided for the day and whacking the piñatas to get the candy.

Here are a few photos, the rest are in our SmugMug album.

We even had an adult Piñata!

We had a blast, meeting friends old and new, barely making it home before the sky let loose. Great day!

Then on Saturday, I had been craving a Cuban sandwich ever since watching the movie "The Chef" (four times). Several folks had told us Domesan restaurant had the best Cuban in town. So off we went....sorry for the bite already taken out of my sandwich, I was hungry!

We went for a walk afterwards, it was a gorgeous day. I had to take a photo of this Royal Enfield - love their classic looks. And of course we had to make a stop at La Fornace for ice cream!

It was good, the French Fries were delicious but it wasn't the traditional Cuban sandwish I enjoyed in Little Havana (Miami) many years ago. According to Wikipedia, this is the contents of a Cuban sandwich:

A coat of yellow mustard is spread on the bread. Then sliced roast pork, glazed ham, Swiss cheese, and thinly-sliced dill pickles are added in layers. Sometimes the pork is marinated in mojo and slow roasted.

Some of the ingredients were missing but I still enjoyed it. In fact, we have plans to return on Tuesday for lunch with some other new folks!

Ciao for now!

Cuenca, Ecuador: Perceptions, Misconceptions and a Third Look

During our exploratory visit to Cuenca, we wrote a post about "Preconceptions, Misconceptions and New Viewpoints". In January 2014 we updated our thoughts in this post, "Perceptions, Misconceptions and Living Here". I thought it was time for another review so here is "Perceptions, Misconceptions and a Third Look".

1. Noise, pollution and traffic
   We notice the noise less and less all the time, I guess we have adapted to city life. The sporadic building alarm behind our new apartment bothers us the most (well, it bothers Stu).
   
   The traffic hasn't changed much, we still walk a lot as well as take the bus.
   
   Pollution is worse due to the construction for the Tranvia and our new location close to it. We expect 2015 to be the worst since construction will expand into El Centro.
    
2. Conservative dress
   I now feel quite comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt when going out but I have also added more solid color shirts (not blouses) and a couple pairs of Duluth Trading pants. Stu has done the same. We still wear athletic shoes most of the time although I love my Ariat slip-ons for days when I'm not walking a lot.
   
   We are seeing more and more casual dress in the teens, even shorts, so I anticipate the continuing trend towards this as those teens grow up.
    
3. Bad Coffee
   Very rarely do we get served bad coffee here. We love the coffee in the restaurants and love the dark roast beans we get at a local shop, Nucallacta.
    
4. Weather
   We still love the weather here and in our new apartment with almost wall-to-wall windows, even an overcast day doesn't seem gloomy. But we know the weather isn't for everyone. It can be a bit cool at times and of course the temperature FEELS warmer or cooler at times due to the altitude.
    
5. Stray Dogs
   Not much has changed here although there are several more rescue groups for dogs. Cats aren't seen as much...mostly with expats. We have seen more locals treating dogs as pets rather than an alarm system. We sometimes wonder if these are part of the influx of Ecuadorians returning from the US and Spain.
    
6. Finding our way around
   We're doing much better, the addresses make sense to us now and we can finally pronounce most of the street names. Of course, we still never remember the address of places we see...thank goodness we have friends that do!
    
7. Language Barrier
   This will be a continual learning process. Our two weeks of Spanish class helped and we both plan to keep working from our notes and workbooks (as well as using the online resources). I get compliments on my pronounciation, even when I'm not sure what I'm saying. So I guess that's a good thing.
    
8. Safety/Security
   We really don't worry about this, as we've stated before, we use common sense when we are out and about. Since we are now in an 8 floor building, we have security at the entrance 24/7. We still don't go out a lot in the evenings, but then we didn't do that in the US either.
    
9. Graffiti vs Street Murals
   We continue to see new murals around town and enjoy snapping photos of them. They are constantly changing. The tagging type graffiti continues but it also moves. Some of it has an artisitic quality, others, not so much. Part of city life...sigh.
    
10. Street/Road Condition & Pedestrians (Walking)
    Nothing has changed here, it's still dangerous to be a pedestrian and you have to continually watch where you walk as well as watch the traffic. But we have had several folks motion us to cross in front of their cars and we even had a bus driver do so. We thank them gratefully!

What we love about Ecuador...this list hasn't changed from our first post other than the addition of #10. Oh, and the list is in no particular order, that would be hard to do. There is something for everyone here in Ecuador whether you plan to vacation or retire. Give it a try!

1. The People 
2. The Greenery
3. The Climate 
4. The Fresh Fruits & Vegetables 
5. The Lack of Stress 
6. The Little Shops  & Markets
7. The Artisans 
8. The Family 
9. The Country 
10. The Diversity

Needless to say, we still love living here. This year we plan to take a mini-trip every month, out to a surrounding town or tourist attraction. We will continue to expand our Spanish vocabulary (grammar and tense are at the bottom of our list). We see something new and interesting daily, whether from our apartment window or traveling around town. Life is good! C'mon on down for a visit...

Weather in Cuenca - what's it REALLY like?

"You live on the equator, aren't you too hot?"
"I heard it's like spring year round, there. Is that true?"
"8500 ft? Wow, that's higher than Denver. How much snow do you get?"
"No A/C or heat? Are you kidding me?"

These and many more are questions about Cuenca's weather. Here is what we've learned and what we do to stay comfortable:

1. Dress in layers - you'll often be removing a layer by 11AM and adding it back by 4PM
2. Always have a hat, sunglasses and umbrella handy (or rain jacket)
3. Keep throw blankets handy to head off the evening chill
4. Have a small electric heater for really cold winter nights
5. Check the river, if the ladies are washing clothes, chances are it's not going to rain that day
6. Don't like the weather? Give it a bit, it'll change!
7. Walking in the sun feels warmer than the real temperature and walking in the shade feels cooler (I experienced the same thing living in Colorado Springs).

Want to learn more? Read this great article that better explains the local weather in Cuenca.

We love the weather although I admit that a little more sun (at the same temperature) would be nice. But we both like the cooler temperatures and low humidity.

Local photos from our walk

I promised you some of the photos we took on our most recent walk to Popacuchu and here they are!

Yanuncay River running high and fast after days of rain

You can see the water line (mashed grass) from the night before

Little cafe around the corner from us, always clean looking. Will try it soon.

Their baños (bathrooms) have a little boy or girl doll on the door.

Beautiful hibiscus flower - they bloom year round here.

We pass several automotive shops on our walk. This one is set back but always has something interesting like this Studebaker.

This little girl was sitting outside and I asked if I could take her photo. She nodded yes but still wouldn't smile, SO serious!

A little less shy, she posed a bit. I always carry some Werther's Toffee candy with me (individually wrapped) just for times like this. When I offered it to her as we left, I got a smile as she tore into it.

That's is for today. Ciao!

Cinco de Mayo - a Mexican holiday in Ecuador

Cinco de Mayo isn't celebrated in Ecuador. Why? Because it's a Mexican holiday and one that many in the US have adopted as a reason to party. In our case it became a reason to meet up with friends, both old and new.

Jack Abercrombie, a well known tour guide-driver from Quito (the capital of Ecuador) was visiting the area for a few days and called for a gathering of friends at Fabiano's (our favorite pizza spot). He anticipated maybe 20-25 people. We ended the afternoon at over 40!

We saw old friends and made several new ones. We caught up on folks were doing, talked motorcycles, listened to stories about health care here in Cuenca, chatted about the adventure of moving here and a lot more.

Here are some photos I took...great afternoon and delicious food (I had the lasagna and Stu had a meat lovers pizza).

[click any photo to enlarge]

It was the nicest day we have had in weeks, warm and sunny. We started out the day walking in El Centro, beginning at the Santa Ana Market (aka the Hippie Market) where I picked up another necklace, moving on to Rotary where I bought some string balls for a basket I am using in a corner (decoration - still need more balls) and browsing in a couple of stores for gifts to take home in June and September. Along the way we noticed another mural we hadn't seen before and as usual, I nabbed a couple of flower photos as well as the street vendors and an apartment owner taking advantage of the sun.

[click any photo to enlarge]