A day in the life (revealed)

 [Including the title, my last post had 40 intentional Beatles references.  Here they are, along with a new one at the bottom that I couldn't work in at the time (and, technically, still can't).]

On our last trip to the States, my brother-in-law asked me what a "typical" day was like for us in Ecuador.  (In the town where I was born, not many people have had a chance to travel to other countries.)  After telling him, I thought that it might make for a good blog entry.  Since we're still adapting to our lives here, and with every mistake we surely must be learning, these aren't necessarily "typical", but it's what we do eight days a week.

Every day starts the same.  We make breakfast, I read the news today (oh boy!), and catch up on messages.  It might sound mundane, but it's wonderful to be here (it's certainly a thrill).  It's spring here so we have clouds and sometimes rain, but it's always warm and the people are friendly.  Who could ask for anything more?  It's a magical mystery tour that brings a new opportunity.

Last Friday, we met our friends Joan and Vic for lunch.  (Vic feels that he is a lucky man who made the grade, and I completely agree!)  They've been here for about a year and are willing to help out somebody new.  Living is easy with eyes closed, but they've followed many of the same procedures that we have and are a great source of knowledge.

On Saturday, we drove up to Puerto Lopez to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Patacon Pisao.  Our friend there, Jaiben, speaks very good English and helps us to improve our Spanish.  (He helps you to understand; he does everything he can.)  Great crepes!

Sunday was a day for doing chores around the house.  Washed the car, sorted things we had packed, etc.  We didn't have power much of the day; when your lights have gone, you break out the Kindle and read.  Some people can't go an entire day without internet, but it doesn't matter much to me.

Monday was a shopping day.  Yesterday, we had no power; today more of the same.  New power lines are being strung just south of us, so it's a temporary situation.  We need to register the new car, so we needed to get jumper cables, reflective triangles, etc. (required for registration).  Ask me why we need these things; I can't tell you.

Last week, we opened a savings account at Banco Pichincha in Guayaquil.  On Tuesday, we decided to take the bus to GYE (about three hours) to get the ATM card for the account.  (No, they don't issue the card the same day.  Many of their practices are helter skelter, but I have to admit it's getting better.)  The bus leaves Olón at 5:30a, and there is a local bus that picks up everyone along Ruta Del Sol to catch that bus.  Again, though, we had no power in the morning and missed that bus.  Walking up to the road in the pitch black darkness, we lost our trail on the driveway and almost walked off a six-foot drop off.  Help!  Emily caught us in time though (she's not a girl who misses much) and we decided to abort the bus mission for the day.  (Gee, it's good to be back home.)

Instead, we decided to go to the ANT office in Santa Elena to register the car.  With a little help from my friends Joan and Vic, we found the office in the new bus terminal.  However, the registrar at the ANT told us that, "You can't do that"; the car was already registered when we purchased it.  Unnecessary trip; we drive my car back home.

On Wednesday morning at 5:00 as the day begins, we successfully make it to the bus terminal.  We get a ticket to ride the 5:30a bus to GYE and arrive at the bank at about 9:30a.  It was a relatively comfortable day in GYE for a change (that is I think it's not too bad).  We stop and say hello to the guy at the service counter to pick up our ATM card, but he told us their computer system was down and we would have to come back later.  You know my temperature's rising when I hear this, but Emily and I just smiled and said, "Okay!".  There were things we said today that we wouldn't ever say to the locals, but I'm learning to just let it be.  I'm adapting to life here, and I'm doing the best that I can.

(I feel some sympathy for the people working at the bank.  They know that one and one and one is three.  You tell me it's the institution, and I'll agree.)

We went back to the bank at 11:30a, hoping the system was back up.  (I'm thinking, "Please, don't let me down!".  We want to catch the 1:00p bus back to Olón.)  The service rep saw us at the back of the line and waved us to the front.  After signing a couple of forms, my heart went "Boom!"; we have our ATM card!  Do you want to know a secret?  In over a dozen trips to the bank, that was the first time that we actually left with smiles on our faces.  Could the trip back home have been any better?  I say no!

Thursday, we visited a new friend, Dave, and saw the house that he's building on the beach in Curia.  Nice place.

Every day in Ecuador brings new opportunities and experiences, and for Emily and I, we are doing tres bien ensemble.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on.

[One of my favorite Beatle's titles was, "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey".  I still don't have a monkey, but Emily made a new friend this week.]

 

A day in the life

On our last trip to the States, my brother-in-law asked me what a "typical" day was like for us in Ecuador.  (In the town where I was born, not many people have had a chance to travel to other countries.)  After telling him, I thought that it might make for a good blog entry.  Since we're still adapting to our lives here, and with every mistake we surely must be learning, these aren't necessarily "typical", but it's what we do eight days a week.

Every day starts the same.  We make breakfast, I read the news today (oh boy!), and catch up on messages.  It might sound mundane, but it's wonderful to be here (it's certainly a thrill).  It's spring here so we have clouds and sometimes rain, but it's always warm and the people are friendly.  Who could ask for anything more?  It's a magical mystery tour that brings a new opportunity.

Last Friday, we met our friends Joan and Vic for lunch.  (Vic feels that he is a lucky man who made the grade, and I completely agree!)  They've been here for about a year and are willing to help out somebody new.  Living is easy with eyes closed, but they've followed many of the same procedures that we have and are a great source of knowledge.

On Saturday, we drove up to Puerto Lopez to have lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Patacon Pisao.  Our friend there, Jaiben, speaks very good English and helps us to improve our Spanish.  (He helps you to understand; he does everything he can.)  Great crepes!

Sunday was a day for doing chores around the house.  Washed the car, sorted things we had packed, etc.  We didn't have power much of the day; when your lights have gone, you break out the Kindle and read.  Some people can't go an entire day without internet, but it doesn't matter much to me.

Monday was a shopping day.  Yesterday, we had no power; today more of the same.  New power lines are being strung just south of us, so it's a temporary situation.  We need to register the new car, so we needed to get jumper cables, reflective triangles, etc. (required for registration).  Ask me why we need these things; I can't tell you.

Last week, we opened a savings account at Banco Pichincha in Guayaquil.  On Tuesday, we decided to take the bus to GYE (about three hours) to get the ATM card for the account.  (No, they don't issue the card the same day.  Many of their practices are helter skelter, but I have to admit it's getting better.)  The bus leaves Olón at 5:30a, and there is a local bus that picks up everyone along Ruta Del Sol to catch that bus.  Again, though, we had no power in the morning and missed that bus.  Walking up to the road in the pitch black darkness, we lost our trail on the driveway and almost walked off a six-foot drop off.  Help!  Emily caught us in time though (she's not a girl who misses much) and we decided to abort the bus mission for the day.  (Gee, it's good to be back home.)

Instead, we decided to go to the ANT office in Santa Elena to register the car.  With a little help from my friends Joan and Vic, we found the office in the new bus terminal.  However, the registrar at the ANT told us that, "You can't do that"; the car was already registered when we purchased it.  Unnecessary trip; we drive my car back home.

On Wednesday morning at 5:00 as the day begins, we successfully make it to the bus terminal.  We get a ticket to ride the 5:30a bus to GYE and arrive at the bank at about 9:30a.  It was a relatively comfortable day in GYE for a change (that is I think it's not too bad).  We stop and say hello to the guy at the service counter to pick up our ATM card, but he told us their computer system was down and we would have to come back later.  You know my temperature's rising when I hear this, but Emily and I just smiled and said, "Okay!".  There were things we said today that we wouldn't ever say to the locals, but I'm learning to just let it be.  I'm adapting to life here, and I'm doing the best that I can.

(I feel some sympathy for the people working at the bank.  They know that one and one and one is three.  You tell me it's the institution, and I'll agree.)

We went back to the bank at 11:30a, hoping the system was back up.  (I'm thinking, "Please, don't let me down!".  We want to catch the 1:00p bus back to Olón.)  The service rep saw us at the back of the line and waved us to the front.  After signing a couple of forms, my heart went "Boom!"; we have our ATM card!  Do you want to know a secret?  In over a dozen trips to the bank, that was the first time that we actually left with smiles on our faces.  Could the trip back home have been any better?  I say no!

Thursday, we visited a new friend, Dave, and saw the house that he's building on the beach in Curia.  Nice place.

Every day in Ecuador brings new opportunities and experiences, and for Emily and I, we are doing tres bien ensemble.

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da, life goes on.

Buying the car

In my last post I mentioned that Emily and I had purchased a vehicle here in Ecuador, a Chevrolet/Suzuki Grand Vitara:

It's been working well for us and we're getting about 50 km/gal!  It doesn't have excessive power and it's not four-wheel drive, so we won't be driving it on the beach (which some people do), but it does everything we need.

Buying a car in Ecuador is a much different process than buying one back home.  In the States, the car dealership provides one-stop shopping that covers everything.  In Ecuador, we get to run all over the place to get it done.  There are multiple times where I had to suppress my inner Lewis Black and exercise patience:

The Chevrolet (pronounced "sheev-ro-let") dealership, Autolasa, was about a half mile from our apartment at El Patio Suites.  We worked with a very nice and informed dealer, Diego Villacis.  He speaks some English and was very helpful in getting us through the process.

The first step was to pay for the vehicle.  Diego gave us the account number at Banco Pichincha where we could wire the money, but he didn't give us a routing or SWIFT number for the bank.  No problem, we thought.  We went to the bank to confirm the incoming account number (didn't want the money to go to someone's personal account) and ask about the SWIFT number.  No one at the bank could tell us what it was.  We looked up the bank online and couldn't find the number either.  Back to the dealership.

Diego gave us another account that Autolasa uses, this time at Banco de Guayaquil.  Again, we went downtown to the bank to confirm the account number, and we also verified the SWIFT number that Diego had given us this time.  It all checked out.  We were able to transfer the money from the States, and the next day we went back to Autolasa to confirm payment.  The money had been received, so they told us to come back the next day to complete the sale.

The next morning, we were excited and looking forward to picking up our new vehicle.  Not so fast!  Before we can purchase a vehicle, we had to prove either that we voted in the last election or were not eligible to do so.  If we violated this law, we would need to pay a fine before conducting our purchase.  This time, it's off to the Conesejo Nacional Electoral to register as voters.  Diego was kind enough to drive us there, and we cleared in about ten minutes.  (To pay the $3.00 fee, we went to a separate cashier's window.  Diego told us that this was a new feature; normally a person would have to go to the bank to pay the fee.)

Next up, getting the matricula (title) for the vehicle.  Back at the dealership, Diego produced a sales record showing that we had purchased the vehicle, but it was up to Emily and I go to back to the bank to get the matricula:

Now we're good, right?  Wrong!  We also have to purchase a SOAT ("so-at") for the vehicle.  This is basic insurance that every vehicle in Ecuador must carry; it covers other parties in the case of an accident - it does not cover the driver's vehicle or passengers.  Fortunately, they sell this at the dealership (and at small shops all around town):

Now can we have our car?  Yes, Diego said.  It will be ready tomorrow.  (Insert suppressed Lewis Black here.)

We also decided to get full insurance for the vehicle (collision, comprehensive, etc.).  Diego has a friend (of course) that works for Ecuadoriano Suiza that can do that for us.  We went and met with Leticia ("leh-ti-si-a").  She spoke no English, but we were able to complete the process anyway.  We paid and were told that the documents would be ready the day after tomorrow at 2:00p.  (I don't know why, but 2:00p is a magical time in Ecuador.  That's when everything will be ready.)

(FYI - insurance rates in Ecuador are about the same as they are in the States.)

The next day, we went to Autolasa and were finally given the keys to the car!  After a walk-around with Diego and a demonstration of the security system, we drove off the lot.  It was only a half-mile to the apartment, but Plaza Dañin is a busy street and it seemed as though everyone was targeting us, especially since we didn't have insurance yet.  There were no issues, though, and we arrived at El Patio Suites with our car unscathed.

On Thursday, October 3rd, we were ready to head to the Pacific.  We loaded the car in the morning with everything from our apartment and went downtown at 2:00p to get the insurance paperwork.  (We took a taxi.)  Was it ready?  Of course not!  (Full on suppressed Lewis Black here, complete with cussing and finger pointing.)  The person that we talked with (not Leticia - she was out that day) said that the paperwork would be ready "tomorrow or Friday".  (Tomorrow was Friday.)  We cheerfully said "Gracias", went back to our apartment, got in the car and headed for the ocean.

We're going to go get the paperwork this week.  Last Wednesday was "9 de Octubre" or Guayaquil's independence day, and, from my experience, I know that very little got done at the insurance office.  It should be ready when we get there.

By the way, did I mention that the matricula says our vehicle absolutely rocks?

'zuki and the beach

We are out of Guayaquil and living on the beach!

Last Thursday, we packed up all of our things from our apartment in Guayaquil, loaded them into our new car and headed for the beach.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at our apartment, http://www.elpatiosuites.com in La Fae (it can be revealed now), and I highly recommend them for anyone seeking a long term stay in Guayaquil.  Delia the manager and Narcisa the housekeeper are very accommodating and took very good care of us.  There are also many good shops and restaurants in the area with many interesting people to meet.

Here's the new car, a Chevrolet Grand Vitara SZ:

It's actually built by Suzuki and OEM'd by Chevrolet in Ecuador.  The car buying process is so arcane to the US buyer (that would be me) that it actually requires it's own blog entry.  That's coming up soon.

After we loaded all of the luggage and lockers, we still had plenty of clothes, kitchen items and other things that we put into plastic bags and stuffed into every available corner behind the two front seats (sorry - no picture here!).  When we were ready to go, there wasn't a spare inch of storage in the back of the car.  Emily even had to hold two backpacks in her lap during the drive.  At 3:30p, we left Guayaquil and headed for the beach; it took about three hours to reach our destination.

We are renting a great two-bedroom cottage on the beach in Olón:

Cool - an authentic thatched roof!  The thatch actually sits on top of corrugated cement board underneath and minimizes the sound from any rain hitting the roof.  The cottage is fully modern on the inside, including a kitchen with all modern appliances:

Our hostess was even so kind as to make us feel at home in our new cottage:

 
To our good fortune, a friend of mine recommended us for this place.  A former colleague of mine from Stanford Hospital had made the move to Ecuador almost three years ago, and he (and his wife) knew of an ex-pat couple looking to rent out this unit.  They referred us to our new hosts and they accepted us sight-unseen.  Our new hosts, who are very accommodating and generous, are also quickly becoming good friends.

I learned a fun lesson the first morning that we were here.  At around 9:00a, there was a man on his motorcycle at the end of the driveway honking his horn and yelling that he had fish for sale.  Our hostess invited him in, telling me that the locals are often trying to sell things but will never enter a property unless invited.  She asked him to come in and see what he was selling.  It turns out that he had three freshly caught fish for sale and that it was the last of his catch.  (I didn't recognize either of the two species, but they were about 20" long and weighed probably 1.5 lbs each.)  He started off asking for $20 for each fish, but, at the end of negotiations, she bought all three fish for $15.  (That's a skill I have to learn!).  That night, we all shared in the grilled fish, cooked to perfection by our host.

The next day, Emily and I decided to walk the beach to get an idea of properties that might be available in the area.  Should we go south:

or go north:

We went north.  We walked about 4km to where the beach meets the outcropping in the distance, looking at houses currently built and empty lots prime for opportunity.  Now that we are on the beach, our house-hunting begins in earnest!

Cedula - the final frontier

We have finally received our cedulas!

The cedula (pronounced "se-doo-la", not "sed-ju-la") is the national registration card for all residents in Ecuador.  This was the last "document" that we needed to get before leaving Guayaquil and heading to the Pacific, and it didn't come without some drama (of course!).

When we received our visas (the day before our trip back to the States), Emily's name on my visa had been misspelled as "Emili".  (Her own visa was correct.)  On the 24th, we went to the Visa office to request a correction; we were able to pick up the updated copy the next day.

On Thursday, September 26th, we took the MetroVia downtown to apply for our cedulas.  Locally, the MetroVia is called "light-rail" when, in actuality, it's just a big bus with a dedicated traffic lane:

The cedula applications are submitted at the Registro Civil building, across the plaza from Iglesia San Francisco (San Francisco Cathedral):

Emily and I decided to try this on our own - without our facilitator.  (Brave, I know!)  The person that we met with spoke little English but he was very helpful.  We couldn't apply for our cedula because we were missing a document.  We had the following documents:

• Passports
• Color copies of our passports
• Color copies of our visas

but we didn't have

• A Declarición Juramentad (sworn statement) of our parents' names and their birthplaces

You might have noticed on the back side of my cedula above that there is a place for both my mother's maiden name and father's name.  In addition to knowing my information and place of birth, we needed to provide a statement of our parents' names and birthplaces.  I have no idea why they want this information, but family ties are strong in Ecuadorian culture and this might just be a cultural holdover.  Cedula applications in years past required birth certificates, possibly because they have this information.

To get our statements, we needed to go to a notary.  (Notaries are probably worthy of their own blog entry; it's a very elitist industry.)  On Friday morning, we went with our facilitator's daughter, Sierra, to get our statements.  Sierra not only knows the registration process; she is also an accomplished translator.  (She also found the apartment that we are currently living in.)  We met her in the same plaza; one of the local notaries is just off the square.  I'm glad she was there; we would never have found it otherwise.  To get to the notary, we had to find the front door:

go up the stairs:

down the hall:

where we could get our statement.  We provided the notary's assistant with the information required (parents' names and birthplaces - no proof required), and four hours later we had our documents:

(The acutal document is three pages long.)  For $44, you would think that the page text would align with the paper sheet.

After that, Sierra accompanied us back to the Civil Registry to apply for our cedulas.  With all of the paperwork in order, the application was accepted!  We were photographed and fingerprinted and told to return at 4:30p to pick up our cards.  We were pleasantly surprised; we had been told previously that cedula processing took two days; now, it takes two hours!  At just past 5:00p, we had our cards.  We are now fully registered as residents of Ecuador.  Many thanks to Sierra and Dana (our facilitators) for helping with the visa and registration process:

After that, back on the Friday night rush hour MetroVia back to our apartment:

We are now finishing our plans to move out to beach - Wednesday is our target move date.  Can't wait!

Back in the saddle...

I'm sorry that I haven't posted anything recently.  Emily and I have been in the States for the past three weeks, and I didn't want to announce that our apartment was sitting empty.

As I mentioned in my last post, we have finally received our residency visas.  It wasn't without drama, of course.  Our flight from Guayaquil to Miami was booked for Wednesday, August 28th.  We had submitted our final visa request on the previous Thursday (August 23rd) and were told to return on Tuesday, the 27th, after 3:00p.  (Visas are not processed on Mondays.)  We arrived with our facilitator, wondering if this would actually happen or if we would have to reschedule our trip; fortunately, however, our visas were ready!  Back to the apartment to pack.

Our arrival in Miami was interesting.  The customs agent that we met asked what was in the four storage lockers that we were packing.  When we told him that one had our clothes and the other three were empty (for our return trip), we were sent to secondary inspection.  After explaining our case to the second immigration officer, we were allowed to leave.  (Who else flies with empty suitcases?)

We spent the next few days with our daughter, hubby and grandkids in Fort Myers.  They had recently purchased a house there, and we were able to spend some time reconnecting with them.  The new house also has a pool, a very welcome addition on hot Southern-Florida afternoons:

From there, a drive to Minnesota!  (What's a visit to the US worth without another 2500 mile drive?)

We needed to do this to get the truck back to Minnesota.  It was necessary for unloading our storage locker and other tasks.

The primary reason for our visit to the States was to attend my brother's wedding.  Lee and Erin had a simple and very beautiful ceremony in their backyard with about 70 people present:

While we were in Minnesota, by the way, we rented a house through AirBnb.com.  This is Katherine's house in North St. Paul:

(The picture was taken through the windshield of the truck; it doesn't do it justice!)

Emily found this service, and, for a long term stay, I don't think I'll ever purchase a hotel room again.  $57/night, fully furnished and a yard to walk around in.  It was also walking distance to Cub Foods (a Midwest grocery store fixture) and a local pub where we did what the locals do:

We also spent a great deal of time with other family members and a weekend down on Emily's folks farm. That's my niece, Olivia, in the "apple picker":

With that done, however, it was time to finish phase two of our move.  We had placed a great number of items in a Bloomington storage locker, and it was time to pack it up:

We were able to pack almost everything into the storage lockers that we had brought with us.  In addition to clothes and kitchen items, I was able to pack some of my hand tools that I would want here in Ecuador.  That, however, made the lockers quite heavy:

(A special shout-out to my brother for taking us to the airport at 3:00a in the morning.  He is a police officer who works many long days, not only doing his job but also providing training for others in his field.  Thanks, Lee!)

We flew business class from Minneapolis to Guayaquil specifically for the luggage allowance.  In business class, Emily and I were each allowed three bags, and the weight limit of each bag could reach 70 pounds without penalty.  (Yes, we weighed each locker as we loaded them to make sure that we didn't exceed the limit.  The other suitcase was only 45 pounds, so it didn't require the special weight tag.)

I also had possibly the most interesting carry-on bag in my history.  It had DeWalt batteries for my drill, gloves, sandpaper of all grits and more wires (cables) than AT&T.  It passed the TSA inspection twice (in MSP and MIA), but not without question.

Finally, on Tuesday, September 17th, we arrived home in Guayaquil with our stuff.  This is a photo of our luggage carts in GYE while we're finally relaxing and having a Heineken:

I think the Ecuadorian customs agent was going to inspect the bags, but once I mentioned that I was "con mi esposa" and he saw that she was pushing a similar cart, he let us go.

We're back home!  Next on the todo list:

• Get our cedulas (residency cards)
• Purchase a vehicle (we're shopping this weekend)
• Get to the Pacific!  (Can't call it "the coast"; thanks to Jos Lips for giving me the right terminology)

Back in the saddle and moving forward!

Finally!

We finally have our residency visas!  We went to the Guayaquil Zonal building with our receipt in hand, having turned in our passports to get the visa stamp imposed on it. It certainly was!

We are now permanent residents of Ecuador!

I like the dollar stamps on the side.  The visa cost $320, so I have a separate stamp for $200, $100 and $20.  Ecuadorians love their official stamps on things!