Just Another Day In Paradise

Yesterday one of the neighbors had a party to stomp mud, straw and cow shit to be added to her house that she is building which is in the old Ecuadorian way. Yuck!  Well, as one of my Arlington friends told me that I really was more into grape stomping  for wine then cow shit. The only time I stomp shit is when I step in dog poop that I failed to pick up.

Yippee! Bill got the Magic Jack working so we can now connect with family and friends. We rode the bus to the Otavalo Market for .25 in search of blankets,  baskets and mission accomplished. Later I worked in the yard and planted 4 gardenia bushes and one climbing vine and bougainvilla. Lots of digging and removing of rock. I transplated 5 little hedges to new locations and hope they will live. Oh my I will be sore tomorrow.

Winky has finally found a replacement for squirrles. A rat lives in our wood pile. Winky is constantly investigating and barking. I hope he does not catch it! I am glad to know it is in the wood pile on the far side of the house and out of Winky’s reach due to the backyard fence.  One morning I was sitting on the front porch when this little critter nearly ran upon the porch. I quickly got the fireplace iron to kill it but could not bear to hit it so I woke Bill up and he tried but he said you got to be kidding I am not going to kill this rat without a pellet gun.

Last night there was a full moon and as I gazed in bed  through the skylight I could see bright stars .It was such a clear night.  So I made my wish! Life is easy and full of surprises. Every morning the view is so beautiful and we both have so many blessings.

Tonight fire works are going off far up the mountain the Ecuadorian people really know how to PARTY. I mean all night long. Great music they are very happy people even though they are poor.

Photography class on Monday at Eddie’s the Star Bucks of Cotacachia.

Cheers

November 6,  2013

Hola: This was sent by email earlier but I have now added it to my blog for those folks that may not have received the email.

Pizzeria Blanquita Aliani

The picture below is of a single mom with her 2-year-old girl Paloma swaddled on her back. When we entered this little  Pizza place that had only 4 tables we were greeted by little Paloma dancing around with her mother. Blanca was encouraging her to speak to us. Both mother and child were all smiles and delightful. Blanca also has an 8-year-old daughter that helped us with our Spanish.  Once our order was placed Blanca

swaddled Paloma on her back and started singing softly to her as she started to prepare our pizza. We could hear her start to mix the dough in some sort of mixer. Later we could hear her chopping vegetables. This really was going to be a made-from-scratch pizza.  It was not long before little Paloma was sound asleep due to the singing and swaying movement of her mother. Her little legs dangled limply down  Blanca’s back.

The 1 liter of Pilsner that cost $1.20 waiting for the pizza. Oh, I have my Getaway Girlz  Shirt on and my little Texas earrings that Dorothy and Mike gave me before we left.

Blanca served us each 2 slices and then covered the pizza with a lid to keep it warm. The crust of the pizza was different from what we were used to but I liked it it was thin and crispy. It was covered with a thin layer of tomato sauce, green peppers, onion, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes, cheese, ham, and pepperoni. Blanca did not skimp on the topping. We had plenty left over to take home.

Later we learned that Blanco’s husband had left her. So she was trying to make a living to support her girls. We were the only customers at lunch except for a street dog that poked his head in the door looking for a handout.

Needless to say, this little pizza place is where we will go to satisfy any pizza cravings.

Cheers

November 9,  2013

The following was sent by email and has now been added to our blog.

Bill has been plagued with little black bug bites since he did not bring many long sleeve shirts. The soap maker calls these bugs the little black bastards. They are almost like “no see ums” but the itch is terrible and takes a long time to get over. Bill has the bites all over his arms.  The trick to avoiding the bites is to stay covered early in the morning and evening. I got the bites on my feet when I wore flip-flops to a neighbor’s house. But other than that I have not had the problems that Billy Boy has had.

A friend told us about Lee who uses organic essential oils in soaps and has soap and salve for the bites. What a treasure she is to find. She made a special oil for Bill to use at no cost maybe because I went kinda crazy buying her soap. They smelled so good and were so pretty. She even had some that looked like frosted cupcakes that would look so cute in a kitchen. She had special facial soaps and oils. So glad to find quality natural beauty products that I can afford.

Late note: Aunt Joyce sent us an email and said “try Colgate toothpaste” on the bites. WOW not sure why but it works great and really stops the itch.

Her home was very unexpected she lives with her husband and kitty in a 140-year-old hacienda that they completely remodeled. Bill said that is what we should have done! The best thing is she shared that you can get a post office box in Ibarra and have things shipped or mailed. She even gave us a zip code that we did not think existed in Ecuador. She kind of shook her head and said that’s what people think but it does. She has even bought things on e bay. Not inexpensive but possible. You have to be careful with value and weight and it is not fast but we were excited that at least it is possible. So that is our next project is to get a PO box.

She also told us that once your cedula is issued you have 6 months to bring items into the country without paying duty. So once we receive our container contents Bill may come back to Texas for more stuff….long sleeve shirts.   I told him I would stay here to be with the dogs since I am not ready to leave them with a stranger.

Texas Annie Ecuador