Our agent had some happy news for us around Valentine’s Day, our container arrived in port a week early! And with that, more paperwork on short notice. Thankfully another long trip to Quito wasn’t necessary as we could get the papers we needed from offices in Ibarra and Otavalo, sooooo much closer. Fingers crossed, the container should be arriving with all our worldly stuffthings in the next week or so, once it clears customs. Our agent is making the trip to Guayaquil on our behalf which is a relief. Excited as well as…. well holy crap where do we put it all? Construction hasn’t even started yet. We are only just getting our applications in for a permit. Going to be playing IRL Tetris for a while but it will be nice to have our things again. Especially our dressers.
Charisma Incarnate:
Watching our agent work was an experience in itself. She is an absolute whirlwind of energy and constant chatter. Being able to schmooze your way into, through, and out of anything is a real skill to behold in those who have the energy to do it. Now just to wait and see how effective it really is.
About those construction plans:
It’s been nerve-wracking and exciting. Planning out how we want the building to be, getting to decide every little detail. Now the plans are signed and being submitted. It’s almost unreal thinking this is actually happening.
Fritada!
There are so many little places that sell the well-made and yummy dish called Fritada. It’s basically chunks of pork boiled for hours then fried up and usually served with llapingacho or whole boiled potatoes, mote or cooked corn, pickled onions and tomato, and fried ripe plantains. We plan on trying as many as we can, as everyone prepares it in their own unique way. It’s supposedly very simple although time consuming. The “learn to cook this” list gets ever longer.
We recently visited a nice little hole in the wall down the street from us and were welcomed into the home of a family that served fritada with some of the best aji (“ah-hee”) we’ve had yet. Family members constantly moving through, and little kids wandering the room as their dog nosed around looking for anything customers may have dropped. It was warm and inviting and comfortable, never feeling awkward at eating in a strangers home.
Purzzz:
Max, Jup, and Athena’s daytime exercise involves sleep. They’ve claimed different areas of the bedroom for themselves while we’re up and out, it’s quite adorable they have the regular preferred spots.
Sunday Mercado:
So getting back into a habit of early morning runs, plodding along the roads at 5:00 am with little light, and several layers on to keep out the chill. It’s a beautiful view on the return trip along the road, catching the sunrise as it starts to creep out from behind the mountains and drips into the valley along the road into town.
Going for a run so early allows us to be moderately awake (and in desperate need of a coffee) for when the “organic market” opens after finishing our jaunt. Only open Sunday mornings for a few hours and down the street from the regular mercado, this is where a lot of locals go stock up for the week. It’s almost insane. Almost.
And about all those veggies:
“When you come to Ecuador, you lose weight. Including the cats.” ~Philosophy of Malena, Book 1, Chapter 1.
Seriously, if you do a lot of cooking yourself it’s not challenging at all to eat healthy here. Vegetables are always fresh and plentiful with the year round growing seasons. Even Athena and Max have toned up with all the space to run around.
Wet Season:
It’s never a bright and sunny laundry day without a torrential downpour not ten minutes after hanging the last piece to dry on the line. Nope. Never fails.
Cafe Con Coffee:
So we’ve discovered that as popular as instant coffee is down here, it’s actually the more expensive option. After drinking so much, the flavour wears on the tastebuds a fair bit. You can get a pound bag of roasted and ground Ecuadorian coffee for far less than a bottle of instant, and tastes great.
So we’ll continue to drink ground coffee filtered through a sock. As appetizing as that sounds.
And evidently Roger has been drinking Dark Angels* wrong this whole time. Who knew! (You’re not supposed to mix it in the glass silly.)
*Not the bar shot, but a coffee drink we get from a local cafe. A shot of espresso with heavy cream layered on top served in a champagne glass. You are supposed to sip in both layers and allow it to blend in your mouth.
Election Prohibition:
So Ecuador’s Federal Election for the new President is on Sunday the 19th and for reasons not yet understood, there is a ban on alcohol. From noon Friday, over the weekend, and not ending until noon Monday. Evidently this is not new, for a period of 72 hours booze is a no-no.
“No occifer ther is no Cristal Seco in my appel jus… that ees….vodk…er. Vodker. It’s special aqua from …. Finland.”
Have a great weekend everyone!