A Very Pretty Chonera Friend

During my stay at Casa de Cuenca I was lucky enough to meet a VERY wonderful Chonera woman. Her name is Nieve (which translates to "Snow" in English). I am not sure she has ever seen snow, but I showed her a picture of our house back in Canada which was covered in snow and that photo now resides on the main screen of her cell phone.

"Chonera" is a term that is used to describe a woman from Chone, Ecuador (which is where Nieve was born).

I met Nieve on May 22nd when she came over to visit Mariel and Mariel's daughter Madeleine. Since that day I have seen her almost every day and that is likely not to change.

What A Smile!!

What a crazy look on my face!!

Nieve works as a Manager at the Social Security Hospital (IESS) here in Cuenca. And she knows the city very well. Needless to say she is a very great resource. She has been so, so helpful in everything I have been doing.

On May 25th, she took me to meet her family and to have lunch. She has 1 daughter (Hija in Spanish), 3 sons (Hijos in Spanish) and 2 grandchildren (Nietos in Spanish). They were as warm to me as if I was part of the family. Hugging is a big thing here in Cuenca even when you meet people for the first time.

Spanish lesson:   H's are silent and a J is pronounced like our H so Hija is pronounced ee-haw.  Nietos is pronounced knee-ay-tos (the ay is as in the word way).

Nieve and Madeleine (a longtime friend of Nieve's) were very helpful in that they consented to provide me with referral letters stating that they know me. I needed these to open a bank account at one of the more preferential banks in Ecuador (Banco Pichincha). An gringo that holds an account in the same bank is not acceptable as a referral.


Banco Pichincha Bank Account Requirements.

As well, Nieve and I have been looking at rental units. Her help in this has been most appreciated.

We have found a condo in a brand new building called the River View which looks very promising. It has 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is roughly 1200 sq ft. It has absolutely beautiful views of the mountains and river from two sides of the building as it is on the 7th floor. The apartment is totally unfurnished. The owner is asking $600/mth (US) which in terms of what a condo like this should cost is roughly $100 too much (in Cuenca). To Canadians, this would be a steal. But it is important to think in terms of Ecuador and not Canada (or whichever country you are from).

Alternatively, we have found a brand new apartment on the first floor of a three story building which is also completely unfurnished for $450 per month. This one has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and is approximately 1400 sq ft. The only significant difference is this one has no view.

The question is:   Do I pay $150 more per month strictly for a great view?

I have been puzzling over this issue all weekend.

According to the real-estate agent, that is representing the owner, the owner is not prepared to negotiate. I am not sure I believe the real-estate agent. I am going to try to get the phone number of the owner and talk directly. Possibly signing a 2 year or possibly a 4 year lease might interest the owner in reducing the monthly rate.

UPDATE:   No need to pursue either of these as Nieve informs me that these two apartments are fairly distant from where she lives. Since Nieve is a big part of my life now I would like to find something closer to her house. The search continues.

AN ASIDE:   I have read on a few expat blogs of people living in Cuenca that there are no mosquitoes here:  That is not true.  I have killed roughly 6 in the two weeks I have been here. Fortunately, there numbers are not great.

Monctezuma Strikes!!

Onto a new chapter in the saga.

About 8 days ago (May 22nd) I had lunch with another Canadian from Quebec who was renting a furnished house not far from where I am staying. The house was OK, but I think she was paying too much ($650).

I wanted to try a lunch place that had a roasted pig outside and that had all these cooking pots of interesting food. When it came to dishing out the food, the Cuencana used her bare hands. I thought, at the time, that this is not good; however, I went against my better judgement.

This is probably not the time that resulted in me having Monctezuma's Revenge as it was not until about 6 days later (May 27th) that I had a very bad day not keeping too much distance between me and the porcelain alter. Fortunately, the discomfort was gone in one day. I did have some minor discomfort the next day. Hopefully, my system has adapted so that if I should come in contact with another bug it won't affect me.

When this happened I thought it was my Ulcerative Colitis was acting up due to the some of the stress I had experienced the day I arrived in Cuenca. But, ultimately, this was not the case.

Nice Furniture

I visited a fairly high-end furniture store to check out the prices.

The prices are quite good relative to Canada. Here are some examples:

Buffet for $900

$1800 Dining Room Table & Chairs

This set of dining room table & chairs may seem expensive but for a design like this the cost would be considerably more in Canada. Beautiful design work. Might be my next dining room furniture.

Cuenca And The Last 5 Days

It's been a few days since I posted so here is the latest.

The place I am staying at in Cuenca is called Casa de Cuenca (as I referred to in my last post). It is a very nice, clean, comfortable and friendly place. It is a guest house so that means you need to clean your own room and supply all the sundries (e.g., hand soap). Towels are provided as well as toilet paper. But you have to do your own laundry which includes your bedding (which is provided). But then, the cost of a month's stay is quite reasonable ($694.40/mth US - $24/day which includes breakfast).

The Window To The Left Is The Kitchen

Comfortable Living Room And Social Area

My Bedroom

This photo was from the third evening I was here when we all had dinner together. Malcolm is a great cook and charges us a very reasonable amount when he prepares dinner (typically $4 or $5 dollars).

From Left to Right:  Malcolm, Hank, Elise, Brisa, Mariel, Deborah & Andy

Malcolm and Mariel are a couple and are the proprietor's of Casa de Cuenca. Hank and Elise are a couple and were guests whom are thinking of moving to Ecuador. Deborah, Andy and their daughter Brisa are just like me: They are moving here "cold turkey".

It's been very nice to stay in a small place like this as it is just like a family. Everyone is wonderfully friendly and we have had many interesting conversations. It also makes for a great initiation to a country with a foreign language and foreign customs. We all help each other as best we can.

Earlier this day (May 16th) Hank, Elise and myself went walking around El Centro (the Center of the City ("Cuidad" in Spanish). We found a very small place that advertised "Almuerzo" (Lunch). The price was listed as $1.50. We didn't think we would get much for that, but were we wrong. It turned out to be a glass of freshly squeezed juice, a soup that could have stood on it's own, and a main course (consisting of chicken stew, rice, a potato-like vegetable and some avocado). Very nice and very tasty!! I don't know how they make any money charging so little.

To give you a similar situation where I have a photo, I had "Almuerzo" on May 18th at this little place.

And this is what I had.

This is very similar to what we had for $1.50. This meal cost $3.70 without soup, but was very tasty except the meat was tough (which is typical for beef in Ecuador).

Here is the menu.

Just yesterday, Hank and I had almuerzo for $2.00 that was very much similar to the one we had for $1.50. 

In contrast, we had dinner last evening at a place called "Raymipampa" (just off the main square - Parque Calderon in El Centro) and it cost $8.50 (for my meal) which wasn't near as good as the almuerzo we had for $1.50 and wasn't any more filling. 

I was told that many Cuencanos (the local Cuenca Ecuadorians) eat their main meal around lunchtime. Although there were mostly Cuencanos (or at least Ecuadorians) eating at Raymipampa the evening we were there.

There are so many places to eat in this city and we have not experienced very many as of yet. I haven't had a really bad meal yet.

One last photo for this post. I took this inside the absolutely beautiful cathedral just off Parque Calderon.

First Day In Cuenca

I left for the Quito Airport on May 14th (Tuesday) at 6:30 am in the morning to catch a 7:55 am flight via Aerogal (pronounced iyrogal) and had no time for breakfast. Darn near forgot my hat and one of my fleeces in the room. All due to being a bit flustered with carting very heavy luggage and Tiger.

Went through security without any problems except for having to take my laptop out of my backpack and putting all of my paraphernalia into trays. Then taking Tiger out of his carrying case and walking him through the scanner in my arms. I guess he was so stressed he didn't squirm or even try to get away.

The airport security personnel just loved him.

Got him back in his carrying case and then realized I had forgot my hat at check-in. I asked the security guy if I could leave the cat and my backpack so I didn't have to take it all back through security (especially Tiger) and he said "no". Damn!!!  I thought of just forgetting my hat and buying another later, but as it turned out I found a very lovely Ecuadorian woman who spoke quite good English and asked her if she would watch my bags. No problems. Retrieved my hat and was back in order once again.

I'm going to have to glue the hat to my head!!

The Aerogal flight was delayed, 1st a half-hour, then another, then another. Supposedly very heavy fog was preventing any planes landing in Cuenca. Quito was also fogged in but it dissipated fairly quickly. But I am not sure that was the whole story as we didn't end up leaving until 11 am and by then the weather had cleared completely at Quito.

I was feeling very concerned for Tiger. I really wanted that flight to be over quickly for him. Since I was quite stressed as well, mostly again due to worrying about Tiger, I didn't feel very hungry.

Fortunately, I was able to pass the time in the company of three people that were also waiting for their flights. Two of the people lived in Quito as Church of Latter Day Saints missionaries. They didn't try to save my soul, but were very interesting to talk to. The other was a young woman who was going to do volunteer work at an orphanage for handicapped children (I was told - the ones no one wanted).

After boarding the flight and getting underway Tiger was once again very upset by the noise and tried to claw his way out of the carrying case. That case sure took a beating but is still in tact. I guess I purchased a good one. He was so upset I took him out of the case and tried to keep in my lap for a while. But after a bit all he wanted to do is try and get away presumably to try and find a safe hiding place. What he didn't know was there was no place safe (or rather, where there was no noise) for him to go. I had to put him back in his case and just let him get tired out from trying to escape. Not fun for him or for me.

Between worrying for Tiger's welfare, I managed to find some time to look out at the, absolutely beautiful, country I was flying over. Needless to say I was very happy when the plane finally landed in Cuenca.

I loaded my luggage onto a cart (carts cost anywhere from $1 to $3 depending on the airport) and we made our way out to a cab which the porter found for me. I showed the cab driver (who spoke a little English) the map I had from the Casa de Cuenca website and we headed off. 

The day was VERY hot (roughly around noon). The diesel fumes were awful (intensified by the heat). And there was lots of traffic and noise (honking horns and noisy motorcycles). All of a sudden Cuenca turned into a less than desirable place. My initial thought was, I'm not sure I made the right decision. I should have come down for a visit without Tiger and two very heavy bags. But we were here and I now had to make the best of it.

We arrived close to the destination in about 15 minutes, but had a very hard time trying to find the entrance to the place (maybe another 10 minutes - "minutos" in Spanish). 

In retrospect, I should have emailed Malcolm (the proprietor) and had him meet us at the airport. I also failed to write his phone number down so that it was handy if I needed it (and I surely did need it). I was once again very stressed, especially worrying about Tiger's welfare in the heat of the day.

We rang the door bell but no one answered and I wasn't sure we had the right place. Eventually, I asked the cab driver to take me to another pet-friendly hotel called the Otorongo. So, off we went. Another 10 minutes away.

Fortunately, they had a vacancy and I decided to take a room for two nights (as I wasn't sure Casa de Cuenca even existed). I would then figure out what I was going to do. I just wanted to get Tiger into a cool place as quickly as possible.

The room was $25/night. Reasonable but very basic. Not a place I would want to stay very long. To boot, there was a very intense smell from some cleaning solution they used. Not great!

Still somewhat flustered I connected my cellphone to the wireless network and looked up the Casa de Cuenca website to find the phone number. Website not found!! Not good!! You can imagine the thoughts that were going through my mind.

My logic started to return to me and I remembered the emails I had received from Malcolm (while in Canada). There was the phone number. I called him and he answered. I told him what had happened and he said to hop in a cab and come over. At first, I decided to just stay the night to give Tiger a break. But with the obnoxious fumes and the lay of the place I decided to leave right then.

Off we went in another cab and this time I knew exactly where to go. I didn't even have to ring the buzzer: Malcolm was waiting for me. Boy am I glad I decided to leave the Otorongo as Casa de Cuenca is leaps and bounds nicer and more comfortable.

After dragging those awfully heavy bags into Casa de Cuenca and letting Tiger out into a very nice cool room I was SO relieved.

I mentioned to Malcolm that I had not had a chance to have anything to eat that day and he very kindly whipped up some scrambled eggs and coffee. Those were the BEST scrambled eggs I ever had and I was very thankful to Malcolm.

Later that day some of the other tenants arrived back from their daily treks around the city and all of them were very friendly and made me feel very much at home.

This has been a long post so I will add some photos in the next.

I was done in and retired for the evening around 8:30 pm. 

I didn't sleep well as Tiger was sneezing once in a while (loud enough to waken me). And I was also concerned about him as he had not done a #2 at least since the day he was lost. I am not even sure he did one then. Fortunately, his appetite has remained very good.

And I am still concerned as this is now 2.5 days (at least) that he has not had a poop. He is sleeping so soundly that I didn't even wake him when I went into the room a half hour ago to check on him.

Eventually, he will have to do his thing. I just hope it's soon as it will make me feel much less concerned.

But after all that I do now feel better about my decision to move to Cuenca and I think we can be happy here, especially after checking out some of the sights with Malcolm earlier today.

Tababela Ecuador

Well here I am in Ecuador!!

The flight was long and stressful with the cat. He was OK except for when on the plane as there is a lot of noise (especially during landing and takeoff). He didn't even mind all the people. At times I thought he would tear his way out of the carrying case: He certainly tried many times.

If I was travelling with an animal, that is somewhat easily frightened like Tiger, I would not travel from Vancouver, BC all the way to Ecuador in one day. I would overnight somewhere so as to give him and myself a break.

Outside of the stressful trip down United Airlines broke the tow-handle off one of my new pieces of luggage. I will have to put in a claim for that. On the upside, getting Tiger and all my electronics through customs went off without a hitch. The only person to ever look at Tiger's paperwork was the Agroliodad (Department of Agriculture) representative at the Quito Airport. But he was very nice and waived us through. There was also a very nice Ecuadorian woman (who was scanning all the luggage as we entered the country) who took a great liking to Tiger.

In a previous post I had mentioned that United Airlines had a restriction of 10 days to get the paperwork done for Tiger. I wanted to make sure I was going to be able to board the flight in Vancouver so that paperwork had to be perfect. As it turned out United Airlines did not even look at Tiger's paperwork. Very strange since they were the ones, so I was told, that pose the 10 day restriction. However, after landing Quito, I learned that the Ecuadorian Consulate mis-informed me about the 10 day limit: That limit IS imposed by Ecuador and not United Airlines.

Since I had a feeling (before leaving Canada) that this might be a stressful trip, I decided to book a few days stay near the Quito Airport just to have a little downtime. The place I am staying is called the Quito Airport Suites and is managed and owned by a very young man (roughly 25) from the US by the name of Domenic. It is located in the small village of Tababela (about 40 minutes from Quito).

Quito Airport Suites Lounge

There are a few things I don't like about the place.

The big ones are that when travelling with heavy luggage like mine (2-90 lb large bags) I had to drag them over rough and very wet ground to the entrance and then cart them up a flight of stairs into my room. To add more detail to this, it was late at night (1am (2 hours ahead of Pacific Time) with the rain coming down and after my flight was one hour late in leaving. I would say that if you planned to stay here it would be OK if your luggage was more manageable than mine. I suggested to Domenic that he consider putting in some paving stones to improve things.

Another not great thing is the planes roaring overhead between roughly 8pm and 11pm and some coming in at 20 minute intervals. This is one of the countries two existing international airports and is VERY busy, but fortunately and seemingly well organized. Eventually there maybe a third international airport at Salinas (on the coast). It's a new airport which is starting with domestic flights only.

Now for the good side.

The rooms are nice and the price is reasonable ($47 US per night including breakfast). Also dinner was very good last night. It cost me $8 US and which was a very nice chicken taco dish with all the trimmings (quite filling). But the best part is the very helpful and friendly people that take care of the place (many of whom speak English).

There goes another one of those planes! And about 20 minutes later there goes another one! Fortunately, they are gone pretty quickly.

Judy is the maid, cook and bottle-washer and she does whatever it takes to make your stay pleasant. Her name is pronounced HOODI (Spanish J's sound like the English H).

Wow, there is just so much to write about! This could end up being the multiple chapter book that I never thought I would write.

The country is very pleasant and so far, all the people are just wonderful (even people I have met walking in the street). My Spanish isn't that great yet, but somehow you manage to get by.

What presented a bit of an additional stressful event was that I was concerned about the fact that Tiger (my cat) had not had a poop since I left home on the morning of May 10^th despite having a litter box ready and waiting (This was now May 12^th). So, thinking that he might be better outside I carted him down the stairs and plunked him down to sniff around and do his thing. What I didn't understand is that this was a new and foreign place to him and that he was frightened. While he was looking around I turned looking in the opposite direction for no more than half a minute and then he was gone. Oh my GOD!

After completely scouring the perimeter of the building and accompanying grounds, I noticed some holes in the high walls of the concrete and brick fence surrounding the facility and thought he might have gone through.

I went out into the street and called his name. No Tiger. I talked to some local Tababelans (Ecuadorians from Tababela) in my very broken Spanish saying that my brown cat is lost (Mi gato marrón es perdido – Mi = my / gato = cat / marrón = brown / es = is / perdido = lost). But no one had seen him. One persona (person) told me he had seen a black and white cat (which I saw later as well).

Many hours of calling and no Tiger. Until early morning (about 2am) on May 13^th I was out calling for him after all the dogs had quieted down for the night and Diana, Domenic's fiance, called to me saying Tiger is here. I rushed over and found him hunkered down behind some boxes in the laundry room that was on the outside of the building. He couldn't get out because there was a wrought iron gate keeping him in. SIGH of relief!!

Now he is domiciled safe in my room. Although today is a tad warm (22 degrees C on my cellphone) even in my room (Yesterday it was quite comfortable - today not so much). But it will cool down once the sun goes down. Most of today has been overcast, but bright and warm. It feels like mid-summer back in BC, Canada (where I am from).

Needless to say, I am quite tired after this rather strenuous adventure with Tiger. But all is back to normal.

I am leaving for Cuenca tomorrow morning at 7:55am on Aerogal. Since I had been unable to confirm (from Canada) whether it would be a problem to get Tiger in the cabin of the plane, Domenic was kind enough to go out to the airport with me and act as translator. As it turned out, they spoke English quite well and I was able to confirm everything on my own as well as having a very kind and attractive young Ecuadorian woman to help me. The taxi cost $5 US from the Quito Airport Suites to the airport (about 10 minutes away). A taxi coming from the airport would be anywhere from $8 to $10 US. Because of this cost Domenic recommended I take the bus back to Tababela which I did.

Quito Airport - New As Of Last Year

Quito Airport Food Kiosk Where I Had A Very Yummy Lunch

The only concern I had was I wasn't sure if the bus would stop at Tababela automatically or whether I would have to ring a buzzer or something. As it was it stopped on queue. It cost fifty cents. Then I took a leisurely stroll back to the Quito Airport Suites (roughly 15 minutes).

Along the way I was summoned by a guy laying cable underground and it turned out he was wanting a chance to practice his English. So we swapped back and forth between Spanish and English. What a nice guy. The people of this country are very friendly (La gente de esta país es mui amistosa).


I am really loving Ecuador.

More Visa Document Info

In a previous post I mentioned all the documents I require to obtain a Visa in Ecuador.

Some of those documents are starting to come back to me (after being authenticated and authorized). My Birth Certificates should be here on Monday. They are coming back from the Consulate of Ecuador in Ottawa. 

These Birth Certificates have a shiny surface on them (akin to our Canadian currency) and I was told by the Consulate of Ecuador in Burnaby, BC that he would not authorize these documents because the ink from his stamp would not penetrate the documents properly. So, rather than order a different type of Birth Certificate and waste the money I had already spent on acquiring the Birth Certificates ($50 - $25 per certificate) I contacted the the Consulate of Ecuador in Ottawa and they said they would do it. Go figure!

So, if you plan on using the Consulate of Ecuador in Burnaby, BC you should order a COPY of your birth certificates (not the shiny long-form type) from the province where you were born. Also, don't order a copy of the short-form birth certificate (the wallet-sized one): They won't accept it.

Also, if you are getting any documents authenticated by DFAIT (Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development) in Ottawa it will take them an entire 15 days to process your documents (which is what they say on their website and also what I heard from another Canadian expat). However, they don't charge anything for processing and they forward your documents in their diplomatic pouch for delivery to the Consulate of Ecuador in Ottawa, again, free of charge.

So, you need to begin this whole document acquisition, authentication and authorization process as far in advance of your departure date as possible. The limiter in my case was the Criminal Record Report which must be no greater than 180 days old by the time you make application for your Visa. So, you would have roughly 2 months ahead of your departure date to get all this work done. You will need the extra 1 month to have enough time to get your Visa after arriving in Ecuador. Acquiring the Visa in Ecuador can take up to 30 days (but usually less). This is assuming you apply for the Visa in Ecuador rather than doing it locally.

The Birth Certificates you can order from the province of your birth any time you like. There is no time limit on them. I ordered two of them because I need the 2nd when I apply for citizenship after 3 years of residency in Ecuador.

Taking Tiger To Ecuador

Just this morning I got the paperwork, to bring Tiger into Ecuador with me, off to be authenticated (by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) - Animal Division) and authorized (by the Consulate of Ecuador in Burnaby, BC).

First we went to see Dr. Lazlo Simon (my Vet) at the Parksville Animal Hospital to have Tiger inoculated for internal & external parasites.  Then we went to get a couple of money orders ($20 CDN processing fee for the CFIA and $50 US processing fee for the Consulate of Ecuador). Then to Parkswest to FEDEX the document, money orders and cover letters (total cost to come later).

I highly recommend Dr. Lazlo Simon. He is a fantastic Vet. I wish he would consider moving to Ecuador so I could count on his continued assistance with Tiger (and any future animals I might have). Anyway, he and his wife are welcome to come and visit any time they wish.

Another person I would like to mention is Dr. Brian Wormald (the Vet at the CFIA office). He was extremely helpful in managing to meet a very tight deadline.

The deadline I speak of is the fact that you have a maximum of 10 days from when your Vet signs the inoculation records to the date when you board your flight to Ecuador. Because there is a weekend involved you actually only have 8 days that work gets done on. This 10 day limit is imposed by the airlines and not Ecuador according to the Consular General of Ecuador in Burnaby, BC.

I had to make a number of phone calls to try and insure that the document would make it back to me by the time I leave here on May 10th. Here's hoping!!

Tiger has been restless most of the day so far. This was the first day I took him on an excursion in his new carrying case (the one he will be in while traveling to Ecuador). Maybe he senses what's coming.