I can't believe it's been only 6 days since we left Canada.
We have been without the internet, so I haven't been able to blog.
Grab a beer and have a seat and I'll fill you in on the last 6 days...............
SUNDAY
We got off to a rocky start when we got to the Vancouver airport and discovered that I had left my travel vest, (containg all my ID,Passport, travel papers, and money) at the hotel. I have spent the last 2 years trying to convince myself and hubby that a vest like this was exactly what I needed to keep me from losing things while traveling. I was quite tickled when we found ourselves in front of a Tilley store when we were in downtown Vancouver last week. In we went and out we came with my new vest. I spent a few hours selecting which pockets would be assigned which duties............
Thankfully Doug's brother and his wife stayed in the same hotel to take us to the airport and Dave whisked me back to get the vest.
Anywho.....needless to say, I have barely taken the damn off since we left !
There was a huge backup at US Customs and it took us nearly two hours to clear. We were still behind about 60 people at 7:10, which was when our plane was supposed to leave. turns out there were about 40 people still in line and the plane was waiting for as long as it could. They closed the door right after we boarded and some people were left behind.
The rest of the trip went just fine. We arrived in Quito at our expected time, collected our bags, found an info booth and arranged for a cab to take us to a hostel for the night. By midnight we were ensconsed in a "quaint" little room. Not one we would have chose, but one that served its purpose, and, had a surprisingly good breakfast. We were in Ecuador! Safe for the night. Along the way we had lost one umbrella and Doug's hat.
MONDAY
It turned out that the hostal was only a few blocks from our lawyers so we waked over, with the dog, to see what the plan was.
We were immediately whisked away by the lawyers assistant, Anna Maria, to the Ministry of Extrajenerio to get our VISA's . WOW! ..........easy peasy! Doug & A.M. went inside with our passports while I stayed out with Pete (our dog). In less than an hour they were back out. our Passports would be stamped with our VISA's and we could pick them up at the lawyers office at 5:30.
Meanwhile another assistant, Manda, had found us a much nicer Hostel, even closer the lawyers, so we picked up our belongings and moved. Now Pete had a balcony patio where he could stay while we were taking care of business, and we felt safer.
We took Pete for a long walk, found some lunch and had a 2 hour siesta! Life is good.
We headed back to pick up our passports about 5:00, but when we arrived we found out they weren't back yet. No worries, we would get them in the morning and then go for our censo and cedula cards.
Out for another walk with Pete, found some dinner and then back to the hostel.
We were wide awake at 6 in the morning. Had breakfast, took Pete out for a walk. We were at the lawyers by 9.
A.Maria took us back to the Minister where we took a number and took a seat. After 2 hours our number came up and we went to the window. There was great discussion(in Spanish) between AM and the woman behind the counter. No passports were in sight. AM told us to sit back down and wait for her. She left the building. By now, I am feeling a bit of panic. What were they saying? Were we going to be sent back to Canada?!!??
(For those of you that don't know the history, we were notified on March 10th, by the Ministry in Ecuador, that our Residency VISA's had been approved. We were told they would be in Vancouver within 10 days. After much back and forth with our lawyer and the Director, we were told by the Director to come to Quito to get the final VISA stamp. This was on April 12th.)
AM came back in about 20 minutes with our lawyers associate.They had a letter typed up, in Spanish, and asked us to sign it. As near as I can figure out, the letter was to the Director and it explained that we were here at his request to finish our paperwork, we were homeless, had our little dog, and all our worldly possesions with us, and would he please, please, pretty please, give us our VISA's.
As we were getting ready to sign the letter, I noticed that I had been renamed and was now Linda Ham....oh crap....take a seat, we'll be back. Off they race and come back in 15 minutes with a rewritten letter with the name corrected.
We go back up to the window,more discussion, in Spanish, and still no passport in site. AM steps away and tells us that the Director is out of his office and will be consulted when he returns later in the day. By now, I am pretty convinced that we are not going to get our VISA's and will have to return to Canada.
It is now noon. AM tells us to go for lunch and call her at 4:30. I wanted to sit on the curb and cry.
We called our banker and went to meet with her to get our Debit card for the Ecuador account....... in the back of my mind was the thought that we may be needing the money to get home........
Our personal banker, Maria, was a wonderful person. She got us set up and then sat and talked with us for a while. She gave us some useful information, and even took us out to help get a cell phone! Talk about "personal service!
After we left the bank we used our newly aquired cell phone to call AM. She informed us that the VISA's would not be done today. now, I am SURE we will be heading back to canada.
We start walking back to the hostel and the skies opened up and drowned us. Doom and gloom.
Doug and Pete took a nap and I had a good cry.
At 3 the phone rang and it was AM. She siad we needed to get back to the Ministry now!
When we got there she was waiting on the steps for us looking very stern. She says to Doug, "Senor Doog....this is muy importante so do not loose it", as she whips open his passport and shows us the VISA stamp. Then she hands me mine with that wonderful stamp in it. Just like that. We were official.
The only thing left to do was get the censo and cedula. We went inside to finish the paperwork and as Doug was signing his, he noticed that the last name was spelled wrong. AM says not to worry, she will have it corrected and that we should be at her office at 8:30 to go get our censo and cedula.
We had a relaxing stroll with the dog. Got some dinner and had a much needed good night sleeps.
WEDNESDAY
At 8:30 we were at the lawyers office where we were informed that the paper with the wrong name had already been filed with the Registrar and it would take at least a week to get it corrected. No cedula could be obtained untill then, but we could get the censo. OH NO! Another week in Quito? We wanted to get home to Cuenca.
After much discussion, it was decided we would get our Censo and go to Cuenca to wait for the paperwork correction, then fly back to get the cedula.We headed off to gtet our censo. That process only took 2 hours.
Off we went to make arrangements to get to Cuenca. We went to a travel agency and found out that Pete could not go on the plane with us. He would have to come on a cargo plane, 48 hours after us, and be put to sleep before the flight. No way that was going to happen. The wonderful travel agent, Catalina, got on the phone and found a van and driver to take us to Cuenca. The drive would be 8 hours or so. Arrangements were made for the driver to pick us up at the hostel at 10 a.m. Thursday.
Life IS good.
We had a free afternoon. no pressure, no worries. We had a long walk with Pete. When he was tired we took him back to the Hostel and headed out for a late lunch. This time we remembered to take the umbrella. Good thing we did, as the afternoon thunder shower was a drencher.
Sharing one umbrella was not working, so we ducked into an amazing little store, that turned out to be a 3 floor department store. We spent a rainy afternoon looking at all the things in the store and planning what we would need for our new home in Cuenca. We purchased another umbrella and headed back out into the warm rain.
We decided to stop and get some money out of the bank machine, and discovered that we could not get money from our US account. We ran from bank to bank and had no luck. We tried to call the bank, but discovered that the number we had did not work. Doug tells me not to worry, as we can always get money from the Canadian account. We called his sister, Karen and she was able to get a number for the bank that we could call the next morning.
Back to the hostel we go. Pete wouldn't go out in the rain, so we had a nice little siesta. It was dark when the rain quit and we headed out for dinner. We spent the rest of the evening getting things packed and ready to go.
THURSDAY
We got up early and went to McDonalds so that we could hook up to the WiFi and use the Magic Jack phone. We got ahold of the US bank and they promised our card would be funtional within an hour.
We took Pete to a beautiful park and let him run loose for an hour so he would be tired for the trip.
We stopped at the bank to get some US cash. The card still did not work. We needed cash for the driver, so we decided to take it from the Canadian account. SURPRISE......it didn't work either. that was plan B. There was no plan C.............
After a few more attempts, the US card started working. Life IS VERY good!
Our van picked us up at 10 prompt and we were finally headed home. The trip took us thru some amazing country. Unfortunately, clouds kept us from seeing the volcanoes.At times we were so high in the clouds that we could not see more than 5 meters. In the afternoon thunder storms set in and there were places that we were crossing what seemed like rivers across the road. It was very scary. This is the winter season in Ecuador, which means lots of thunder storms. I would like to do this trip again when it is summer here.
About a half an hour outside of Cuenca, we started decending into a beautiful valley. The sky turned blue, and just like something in a movie, a rainbow appeared. Doug & I just looked at each other with goofy grins on our faces and he said "welcome home!"
Life is VERY VERY good.
By 5:45 we were in the apartment that rented for a month untill we find a a longer term rental.
At 6:30 we headed out to find somthing to eat and get a few groceries for breakfast.
When we stepped out of the market, the skies opened up and we got soaked. That's twice we were out with no umbrellas. Lesson learned!
We ducked into a bar we had been to before and soon we were all( Pete included) enjoying a hamburger and a beer.
Have I said it enough? Life, is indeed, GOOD!
FRIDAY
For the first time since leaving, we slept past 6.
We got up at 8 had a breakfast of fresh baked croisants and pineapple marmelade. Yummy!
We have to figure out how to make a decent cup of coffee with the drip system in the apartment.
After breakfast we took Pete for a walk by the river, which is amazingly higher than when we were here last year, due to all the rain.
We made a list of things we would need for the next month and headed out to find a department store we remembered from last year.
Having been drenched twice, I took my umbrella along. Doug scoffed at the idea of an umbrella on such a glorious day and went with out his.
We found the store, did our shopping, and had a wonderful "almuerzo", which is a tipical lunch served in numerous little cafes and restraunts. For 2.00 we had soup,salad,beef & gravy, rice, juice, and dessert! I am looking forward to eating big lunches like this, late in the day, and then having a lighter dinner.
As we headed home, the skies darkened and the rain came down in buckets. Hah! who's scoffing now? I shared my umbrella with Doug and we made it to the corner to catch a bus (for 25 cents) back to the apartment.
After a short rest, the sun came out and we walked to the big produce market to get salad fixings for dinner. We took Pete along and he had a great romp by the river.We both took our umbrellas even though the sky was blue.
The skies remained blue for our whole outing. Umbrellas were not needed, but you won't catch me without one for the next couple of months!
Pete's had a bath. Dinner is over. Dishes will be done by the cleaning girl in the morning.
I'm having a beer. Doug's reading a book. Pete's having a nap.
One more time................
LIFE IS GOOD!
I'll start taking the camera with us tomorrow and will post pictures with my posts.
To our family and friends........... We love you. We miss you. Can't wait for you to visit us in this beautiful country we now call home.
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