Move Complete!

3 de Julio de 2010 (July)

Hola mi amigos y amigas

Yes it’s been a bit of time (like 2+ weeks) since I last put any words on these 

pages but… I’ve been busy with the move to my new apartemento. In fact…

today is day three of living in my new abode and I’m just about settled. 

My only problematic item was the Internet connection which was on and off 

for a while. I actually sort of expected the Internet situation to rear its ugly head. 

That said and with the help of a Cuencano…who happens to solve computer 

problems and who (thank goodness) is well acquainted with “Macs” got things 

up and running this morning. It turns out it wasn’t my computer but the fault of 

the landlady’s router. Anyway…thankfully (and hopefully) that is now in the past.

I cannot tell you what a pleasure it is…”not” to have to contend with “The Hill” 

anymore. I still however am getting my daily walking exercises around town and 

I do try to walk the six “split” staircases at least once a day (that’s up and down).

Note: on the fifth floor landing...there is a locked gate of which I have a key. 

The gate is usually unlocked so…no big deal. That said I just found out the hard 

way that the gate is “chain-locked” on week-ends. So…it’s elevator time. 

Believe me I wish the stairway was opened as I’m not a fan of elevators at all. 

I guess...I’ll just have to get used to the situation! L

Speaking of walking…I filled my quota “2 times” today. You see in my new 

apartemento...I do not have a washer and/or dryer. So [yes I know this is rough]…

but I need to take my laundry to  what Norte Americano’s would call a laundrymat. 

As far as I know there are two of these establishments in town. 

There are probably more...but I’m going by “the Gringo word of mouth” info-net. 

Anyway…the laundry place that I decided on using is directly across the street from 

where I used to take Espanol Lessons (more on the lesson situation later).

Why the two trips you may ask…well I was told that the wash process takes about 

an hour. My fault …cause I’m still thinking like a “New Gringo”. You see…

yours truly forgot that the Ecuadorian hour well… can be an hour (highly unlikely) or…

well you pick a segment of the day! LOL!!!

OK...getting back on track…I dropped off my dirty clothes package about 11 a.m. 

(this is Saturday) and was told to come back at 2 p.m….WHAT????

Here I planned on killing an hour at Carolinas Bookshop…then picking up said [now] 

clean clothes and heading back to my place. So…Reality Check...HELLLOOO!!!

Off I went and (this was actually nice) decided on chillin’ in Parke Calderone for 

a while…and then on to a leisurely exploration of parts never really explored 

before my move. This was made even more enjoyable do to the fact...

that I was experiencing the beautiful spring weather we’ve been having of late…

like in REALLY SUNNY and just a tad under 70F J

Incidentally...This is Winter in Ecuador :)

As always…time does move on and so did my afternoon. It was now time for trip

“numero dos” and back to get my laundry! Guess what!!! Not ready( big surprise) yet 

and...then told to come back in "veinty minutos" (20 minutes).

BTW you need to remember…at best…my conversing is done through "very broken" 

Spanish along with even more broken English (if that much) on the part of 

many Cuencanos!

Anyway and finally...after having a short but pleasant visit at Carolinas I “finally” 

retrieved my said (clean) laundry. HOORRAY J J

OK…now getting back to my now defunct Espanol Lessons!

Just a little over a week ago our class’ teacher (Nancy) informed us that...

do to a prior obligation she would need to suspend classes until she could restart 

the class this coming September. That said…she continued to explain that Lee 

(Carolinas’ owner)…was trying to find an alternate class for us. Unfortunately that 

doesn’t seemed to have materialized as Lee is leaving this week to the U.S. for 

about three weeks. Upon his return (if all goes according to plan) I will then 

be making a similar trip to the U.S.

So…my best “guess-timate” would be expecting to wait until the Septiembre re-start L

Hopefully this week-end or the start of next week…I plan on taking some pics of 

my new apartemento and will either publish some (or all) in my next "rant"…or…

I will send them via personalized e-mails...as this being quite a bit easier than 

posting "many" pics here!

And now me amigos y amigas I shall go and prepare myself for a real...

Norte Americano Dinner at "California Kitchen. I know I haven’t talked about food…

so here it goes LOL...

Tonights Menu...Meat Loaf, Mashed Potatoes, Veggies, Desert and Drink $9.99 

(I know...not cheap by Ecuadorian standards) but if past dinners be the judge…

well worth it in my book. 

Hey…it’s always nice to treat oneself…Si:? J

Hasta Luego me Senors y Senoras y Senoritas J J

P.S. Happy Independence Day to All