My Trip to the U.S. of A.

   

In starting my U.S.A. trip…

I left Cuenca for Guayaquil Airport a bit before 5 p.m. 

for a 7 pm flight. So…after a fairly decent longish waiting 

period…it was time to board my flight which was to take 

an astonishing amount of time…like all of about 40 

minutes. After landing in Guayaquil…I got my bag in 

about 10 minutes and proceeded to wait.

My flight on Avianca to Ft Lauderdale via Bogota is at 
6:10 am manana. The airline counter opens at 3 a.m.
so yes…I have a bit of a wait.

It’s now about 9:15 pm and there are…a fairly decent 

amount of people just hanging around. Included in this 

group are a few little kids that are being their 

rambunctious selves…hopefully they will board soon…

even so I still…after 4 months in Ecuador can’t get over 

the good behavior of these “little” kids (probably around 

age 8-10).

Now…for the food and beverage report.

Remember…I’m in an Airport!

I actually did not intend to “snack” as much as I did. 

However…the coffee shop (as is the entire airport) is 

modern…clean and people friendly. Back to the “snack”! 

A large…fresh ground coffee…a large Empanada 

(always good but surprisingly good for an airport)…

a bottle of water and a large cookie to top it all off.

Cuanta Costa (how much)?  Keeping in mind I’m in an 

Airport…8 bucks.

I’m guessing here but I have a feeling that just the large 

coffee (with nowhere near the same “fresh roasted” 

quality) and large cookie…would probably set me back 

the same in total or more…in the confines of JFK or for 

that matter…just about any airport in the U.S.

So…now I sit and wait for the next five (5) and half hours 

until the Avianca desk opens for business. BTW…this 

is why I ordered a large coffee…as in to keep me awake 

the whole night…YIKES!!!

That’s about it for now. What am I going to do for the 

next five plus hours? Well…I intend to read my book(s) 

[bought a new one just for this trip]…walk around and 

maybe doze off a bit. To be sure I will keep you in the 

loop! J

OK…leg #2 of my trip to the U.S. is done as I am now 

sitting in the departure terminal in Bogota, Columbia.

Comparison note re: security…

Guayquil was an absolute breeze. Yes they X-rayed 

etc. but nothing over the top. I did however...become 
separated on a "permanent basis" of a small finger- 
nail scissor…which I guess their security deemed 

excessive …ARRRRG!!!!

The BIGGY was in leaving “emigration” (correct S.A. 

spelling) as that took some time. They were very thorough 

via their computer and document checking. I don’t know…

maybe the security guy got confused what with my U.S. 

passport and my Ecuadorian Cedula and Censo 

(it turned out that they wanted the Censo which for some 

reason they deemed more “importante)!

Bogota was a whole ‘nother story as I ended up going 

through Full Security…3 separate times. Thankfully I 

wasn’t carrying anything dangerous such as food 

‘cause the security-dogs would have surely found 

that stash J.

Anyway…I’m now sitting (again) and awaiting the 

boarding of my Ft. Lauderdale leg of my trip. BTW…No 

I did not sleep at all since I left Cuanca. I was up from 

7 a.m. Monday thru…well it’s now Tuesday and almost 

9 a.m. I did however sleep a bit (not much) on the flight 
from Cuenca to Bogota!

Looking back…my Bogota to Ft Lauderdale flight was 

very nice. I also had an amicable woman sitting next to 

me who was from Bogota but now lives in W. Palm 

Beach Fl. Anyway having Nancy (her name) as an 

in-flight neighbor helped the 3+ hours flying time move 

quickly. This acquaintancee…also helped me after we 

were done with the [ever popular] act of clearing Customs 
and getting out of the International Arrivals area of the 
airport.

Now you may be wondering…”what’s he talking about”! 

Well…as it turned out S. Florida welcomed our plane 

(and many others) with a real honest to goodness 

healthy rainfall. Of course there was no way to tell 

this was going on until we were all done with customs…

baggage claim…etc and were out amongst the masses 

trying to meet they’re friends/family (whomever) who 

were trying to pick them in the International Arrivals area.

You see…my friend Donna had the “honor“ J of picking 

me up. Of course this being S. Florida…a place mind 

you that…when it rains…no matter how inconsequential 

or severe…general driving...along with its speeds 

“go right down the tubes”!

Anyway…and keeping in mind that the one cell phone 

I have...that will work in the states…didn’t! 

Ye gotta love it!

All of this was do to the fact..the phone is the “pre-paid” 
type which unfortunately did not have any “time” 
remaining. Fortunately however…my “plane” friend 
was also waiting for her husband who thankfully had  
a his phone with him and thusly I was able to finally get 
in touch with Donna who…surprise surprise…was 
slowed by the “rain caused” traffic. To make a long(ish) 
story shorter…Donna (like the vision she is) appeared 
at the airport pick-up point and off we went...
to places unknown J.

Places unknown…along with not eating anything 

normal in the last 20 or so hours…led us to a 

watering-hole…as in someplace where yours truly 

could absorb food and atmosphere unknown in 

Cuenca. Place “in-point” (this time) turned out to 

be Two-Jays Delicatessen.

Now before I go on…it should be said that one of 

my goals on trips to the U.S. …is to eat in places 

and eat foods…that cannot be gotten in Ecuador 

or at the very least…known dishes that are 

unfortunately… not prepared as they should be 

(well not as I remember them anyway).

Back to my event recounting…

Funny but the foods remembered and now consumed…

for some reason are not those that are expected.

The Combo Corned-beef and Pastrami on Club was 

OK…but as Two Jays…no longer offered a Club 

(Hoagie for those of you not from the East coast) 

Sandwich anymore…well it was just not the same! 

With the “unClub” came French Fries and I ordered 

a Dr. Browns’ Cream Soda. Now...this unfortunately 

arrived in its metal container (can)…instead of the 

“bottle” it should have came in! 

So once again…not the same nor as goodL.

Anyway…after consuming my first meal in the likes of 

S. Florida…we continued our trip to my daughter Jills’ 

place of business. She by-the-way…is in charge of a 

good sized pre-school in Weston. Once there Jill gave 

Donna (they had never met until this point) the Grand 

Tour of the facility…and Donna left to get on with her 

daily life (more on Donna later in my daily musings).

It was then time to finally get to Jill’s apartment…

decompress a bit…spend some time with my grandkids…

and finally to some REAL and needed sleep.

So until manana J

Wednesday, 15 September

Woke up at an “unheard of” hour (for me anyway)…

10:30 a.m. This by the way only happened because 

Donna called and became my alarm clock this morning.

Now I know what “roughing it” means J. 


I had a “scrumptious“ breakfast of a much needed mug 
of coffee and something just a wee-bit different…

((what pray-tell is he talking about now))…a “left-over 

piece of pizza” and for desert (the best part)…

a Krispy Cream Iced Donut…WOW!

So…once again I await the arrival of Donna whom 

is really helping me out…in just getting around and 

doing stuff. I want the world to know this…as it is 

taking Donna probably 45-60 minutes (una via)

[1-way]) to get to me and then what-ever…so I 

REALLY appreciate what she’s doing. That said 

Donna and I never connected on my last trip to 

S. Fl so I guess we are both making up for that too!

Anyway I will report on the days’ events…yet to come 

later today or manana J

OK…I’m back…its still Wednesday but late. Anyway…

Donna and I did a little catching up and eventually 

got out to do a bit of exploring as neither of us new 

the area. Eventually…we (actually me) decided it 

was time to stifle the “beast in the belly”…so off we 

went and luckily found a place called Bahama Breeze.

As you might be able to guess from the name…

the restaurant offered a variety of dishes but…

with a decidedly different and wonderful twist to their 

“foods with a flair”. Can you tell I was impressed? J.

The only down side was the prices…which to 

someone like myself i.e. Expat…were quite high 

when compared to what I am now used to in Ecuador. 

Yes…yes…I know I’m not in Ecuador but “back in the 

U.S.A.”. That however doesn’t mean I can’t complain. 

After all this is my Blog! J

It was now getting a wee bit late…as Donna had to get 

back to her life. So we made just one more stop at 

Walgreens to pick up a few items etc. Upon entering 
the store…I literally forgot the amount of items 

one store can carry. It almost blew my mind! Yes…

Cuenca has large stores that carry similar items as 

Walgreens…CVS… Walmart etc…but nothing on 

this shear scale of sellable goods.

At this point we needed to make haste…so Donna 

dropped me back at Jill’s abode and off she went.

Tomorrow…I had planned to do a bit of reminiscent 

exploring of the old neighborhood after shopping for 

my Western Boots (this has been a long planned item) 

and then a quick meeting with my cousin Bonnie at 

her Mom’s place in Lauderdale Lakes. That’s when 

the BRAKES were applied as Jill told me she needed 

her car for work etc. So…all plans now need to be 

changed…cancelled or I’ll see what happens.

Anyway…this leaves me with a chance to do a little 

morning walk on the way for some breakfast and also 

explore the immediate area. After this it’s back to the 

Jill’s apartment complex…access the Internet via free 

wi-fi at the Sales Office/Pool area and yep…as you 

might have guessed…after my internet session…

make use of the pool…YES! J

And now mi amigos…it’s time to make a few calls…

chill…and do a bit of reading and then off to dreamland J

Thursday, 16 September

“FOOTLOOSE”…which is how I’m describing my current 

situation as in “not” having any wheels.

This wouldn’t have been a problem in that I would have 

been using my daughter Jill’s car for the day. However 

her work plans changed thus so did mine. In a way this 

was good as this a.m. I needed to acquire some 

breakfast. So…off I went (on foot) once again in search 

of food.

I had two choices…go “this way” or “that way”.

I chose “this way” which was the closest but unfortunately 

yielded absolutely nothing. That left “that way”…as in the 

only other choice in which I actually found my target…

which in this case was a Bagel Store.

Now for those of you that have never had the opportunity 

to indulge oneself at an East coast Bagel establishment…

they offer quite a wide variety of foods from breakfasts 

and lunch. FYI…most of these shops are closed mid 

to late afternoon!

I must say this however…I have been in the states for 

3 days now…have eaten in a few restaurants and 

noticed a higher dining cost than what I’ve become 

accustomed too…since living “outside” the U.S. This 

said…this mornings breakfast was “an extremely rude 

awakening” for me…one in which the only way I can 

truly express myself is to say that I’m suffering 

“Sticker Shock”!

To give you an idea…Coffee…a plate of two eggs...

home fries...corned-beef hash and a bagel. Cost…

incl. tax and tip…$11.00… OUCH! God forbid if I 

added juice (I shudder to just think of that)!

I will say this though…as definitely enjoyed the 

“consumption” part of my breakfast ordeal J

Now to give those of you who are Expats a better 

feel for the cost difference…the above cost 

represents minimally…2 times the higher priced 

breakfast (in Cuenca) or up to 5 (yes you read right…
FIVE) times the cost of an average breakfast 
(again Cuenca). Incidentally…for those of you who 
are not aware of Cuenca’s cost of living rating…
Cuenca is situated as part of the “upper” 
cost of living structure!

OK...enough of economics and back to S. Florida…

Being that I’m wheel-less…I’m off to the pool area to 

make use of the complexes free wi-fi…catch up on 

e-mail etc…then maybe a bit of experiencing the 

pool itself and well…just enjoying Florida’s 

warming sun J.""""NOT""" 


Apparently...Mr. Sun decided to take a short vacation 
and invited his relatives (The Clouds) to take it's place.
(It's amazing how plans even simple ones...change).


So...I did a bit more walking to get some snacks 
(this time I took the shorter walk). I'm figuring that I 
probably walked a good six (6) miles today. 
BTW...I'm not complaining...just stating a fact!


So until mananas adventures…ciao for now J