A little bit of this and that

Last weekend we went to visit my brother's family. We had a nice meal and afterwards we went to let the cousins hang out and spend some time at a nearby mall. We found a cute toy car for $1.50 rent after no more than 15 minutes Mateo was done with the ride! Isaid was happy in his stroller. 

Mateo and Isaid 

Every Monday at 11 am there is an event in front of the presidents house (few blocks from our house). We were there on time and got to see a nice parade and we even saw Rafael Correa our president! Mateo was very interested on the huge horses that were part of the parade and ofcourse the band. 

Later that day, we went to pick up our pick up! We really like this truck and we hope it will take us safely to our property many times. We also hope to discover more of the beauty of Ecuador on it. I'll like to call it voyager. 

On Tuesday, we made our first trip on voyager to my home town Puellaro. My grandma still lives there and I wanted to spend a special day together. To celebrate we eat cuy, which is a traditional ecuadorian dish. Pat and Mateo preffer not to share that particular tradition with me :). 

To my surprise, my baby started to use the spoon on that day. Most of the food did not make it to his mouth but I was so excited to see him try. This kid is growing so fast!!

That is it for now. The rest of the week we hope to receive some office furniture we order, finally get our boxes and get ready for a family reunion on the weekend. 

Walking in our neighborhood

We love living in down town Quito. Life in the streets is so rich and entertaining. We just need to walk around without any specific mission and we find lots of great things to see. There are many churches, shops, restaurants, hotels, etc within walking distances. Today after spending all morning cleaning the house, doing laundry and making a yummy lunch, we went walking around our neighborhood and came back very happy.
Our surroundings in Quito are so much different than our surroundings in the farm where all is peace and quiet. The richness of nature prevails. We love this contrast!

plaza de San Francisco

plaza de Santo Domingo (two blocks from home)

San Francisco Church

at one side of La Catedral

Yanapana our land

Last weekend we went to Yanapana our property and it took us 7 hours to get there. First we got a taxi to the bus stop, then the bus for 2.5 hours, then had lunch while we waited for the next ride and finally hop in a ranchera for another 2.5 hours in a primitive road. Mateo did very well for his first long bus ride and just the whole experience. At the end, we were so glad to have made it to our beautiful piece of land. Everything is so magic and rich. We were received by our care takers and then visited our dear neighbors. Soon it was time to go to bed and rest. On Sunday, we spent the day seeing the progress our caretakers have made in the past 6 months and looking at things we need to get to make the place ready to receive guests. Casa grande (the main cabin) is almost finished and on our next trip we will bring a stove and kitchen stuff so Pat can start having fun in his big kitchen. And, no, we won't take the stuff by bus and take 7 hours; by then we will have a truck and will be there in 3 hours or so. I also saw our future garden fenced, so it will prevent wild life getting in there. I plan to have a nice garden with lots of things growing there. The pathways and flowers all around the place look great. It does feel like a great place to settle and make it home.

Casa Grande

Caretakers cabin

Guest cabin

Efficient Ecuadorian services

I have been pleased to find that my country has become efficient and organized when it comes to public services. They have state of the art computer systems in a brand new building. Before, to get an Ecuadorian ID (cedula) for example, one had to be prepared to spend a whole day standing in line and usually outside. This week we have focused on getting Mateo’s cedula and our marriage registered. Everyone is so polite and informative and the whole process went very smoothly. We did go back 3 days this week for several reasons but now everything is done. Now, I need to get my updated cedula. The cedula in Ecuador is as the drivers licence in U.E., it is required for everything from opening a bank account to getting a loan to getting a new credit card.
We are also happy because our stuff arrived in Quito on Thursday and my uncle is helping us get them out of customs. It is a long process but I am glad we have someone to help. Next we expect to get the boxes delivered here to our apartment and from there start the unpacking party! It should be fun to have our belongings here with us and make us feel more at home.
Tomorrow we will go to Yanapana and see how things are going there. This time we will adventure by bus and see how it goes. We can’t wait to recharge our energies in nature.

Still waiting for internet so no photos yet…

Taking care of business

We had a busy day taking care of business today. First we went to get Pat’s stitches out from a cut he had last week. Since we contracted medical insurance here the total cost of this procedure was $7 and it was done in the emergency room in less than 30 minutes. We will be paying for medical insurance every month around $30 for each of us. After the doctor visit, we headed to the Registro Civil to ask about legalizing our marriage in this country and getting Mateo’s Ecuadorian ID. Since we did not have all the papers, we need to go back another day. Then we went to get our immigration records which will help us with other business. Later we visited two car dealers looking for a good truck to buy. We were very surprised at the high taxes, interest and hidden costs we would have to pay buying a new truck. We will look some more for use truck and hopefully decide this week what will be in our best interest. We made it back home just as the heavy rain fell in Quito. Usually the mornings are warm, sunny and beautiful and in the afternoon the rain, lightning and thunder takes over.

Hopefully this week we will get a high speed internet service so I can add photos to my posts!

Weekend with the family

Our first weekend in Ecuador had a little of everything. On Saturday we had our first adventure taking the bus from Quito to my brother’s house in the valley which took us a little more than an hour and cost us 0.80. Mateo was fascinated by all that goes on in a bus ride and the busy streets of the city. Then, we saw my grandmother who turned 88 years old this year and my brother’s 6 months old baby who we had not met. It was great to see them and be together again. Later, we went to a graduation party where we saw more family members, some who I have not seen in so many years. It was good to be back. After some good food and some dance with loud music (Ecuadorian style) we left for more peaceful grounds. We spent the night at my brother’s letting the cousins get to know each other. Today, Sunday, we had a B.B.Q and watched the final game of the soccer world cup. It did not have the same taste for me because I was watching Mateo and not the game most of the time, and because we did not have any South American team in the final game. At the end, we had a great time. It is good to be back and have the time to just be and do not feel like we are just visiting for a short time.
(It takes forever to add photos since I have a dial-up internet service, hope to have high speed conection soon)

Here we are!!!

Here we are in Quito, in our little and cozy apartment and we are loving it! The trip went VERY smooth despite few things that could have caused us to be very upset and frustrated. We arrive in Quito with a 3 hours delay but all that matters is that we are here, starting our new lives!
To start, all of us slept in, had breakfast and unpacked. I went down the street with my green whole foods bag to find some groceries and I came back with almost a full bag of fruit, veggies and other and spent only $9! Later, Pat suggested that we go out for lunch so we walked to this very nice restaurant on the 4th floor on the corner of plaza de Santo Domingo. The views of the city, the ambience and the food were amazing and we only paid $7 for all! The rest of the day we have been at home napping and relaxing and looking forward to making few improvements in our apartment.
We already have plans for a big family gathering on Saturday where we will see everyone and have a great time. Life is so good!!
I will add photos to my newt posts …

Almost there!

I am trying to have inner peace while we take care of last minute details of our lives here in California. There is not more time left and we still have many things to do. I need to keep it together! Keep my cool :)

Today is my mom's last day here so I need to take advantage of the help she provide us, specially taking care of Mateo so I can focus of getting something done. We still need to clean the house, we have many things to give away to goodwill. We need to cancel the cable, cell phone, insurance, make arrangements for the car to be picked up and wash the car, go to the library, last minute shopping, have dinner with friends.  All in the middle of making sure we have all our bags packed and with the proper weight. Tomorrow we will get up very early (4:30 am) and take my mom to the airport. On Wednesday we will do the same, this time to catch our flight. I look forward to the moment we are in our seats and all has been taken care of, ready to embark in our new lives!