Yes, expats celebrate the 4th of July in Ecuador. A group of friends gather for a potluck lunch and have a traditional party. In my opinion, it is even more robust than we celebrated back in Arlington, Texas. Our hearts remain and respect our homeland and it is nice to celebrate with friends while we are far from our original home.
Y’all thank you for following our journey in little Cotacachi, Ecuador.
July has been a difficult time for our world. Just because we live in a little piece of heaven does not mean we are not connected with the state of affairs all over the world. I watched the Dallas events unfolding live on my sling box as well as the other events happening in our world. Funny how informed the Ecuadorian are with all the pending elections in the United States. Our Canadian friends watch what is going on as a source of entertainment. It is kind of like watching reality TV. Yes, I even watched the RNC and DNC and have registered to vote out of the county. So time will tell how that works out.
The earthquake really affected the coast and is terrible as well as the economy in Ecuador. The Andes did not have damage but it has affected the economy even here. Now is a great to visit Andres especially if you are looking to rent or buy. I encourage you to explore Ecuador. Bill and I are exploring the export business to help the artisans of Ecuador as well as to share their great products. However, more on that later.
What real cheddar cheese in Ecuador!
Another traveling adventure via the Trans-Rabbit Tour with Milton to the Lacteous Yaznan Cheese Factory in Cayambe where we met Greg Perkins.
Turns out Greg Perkins is from Chicago and has been making real cheddar cheese for years and partnered up with this little Ecuadorian cheese factory. He helped them bring their production up to Ecuadorian standards and introduced them to the art of making cheddar cheese. The cheese was difficult to age because all the employees loved it and easily consumed the production. So when we buy the cheese it is suggested that it age in the refrigerator during the daytime and take out at night for about a month. However, it is good without the aging but we really enjoy a sharp cheese! He is such an incredible person and certainly left his footprint in Ecuador by teaching the owner how to produce this wonderful cheese. I always said if anyone ever learned how to produce real cheddar they could make a fortune. What is even nicer is that you can send in an email order and they deliver to a central location in Cotacachi.
Healing Hot Springs
Well, Billy Boy has been suffering from back pain after lifting all those heavy bags from our return trip from Texas. So doctor’s orders are to swim and our favorite taxi driver took us to Chachimbiro Hot Springs. I learned that Chachimbiro means strength in the native Quechua language. Some of the healing minerals contain iodine, iron, and copper to name a few, and are considered some of the most beneficial therapeutic waters in the county.
Our taxi driver showed us a smaller spring and much more private. All three of us had a good soak and swim in the warm water and then gradually stepped into the soothing therapeutic very hot pool. Of course, the water looked murky but then so do Texas lakes. Later, we had nearly had our fill of this wonderful spring when suddenly a bus load of children started arriving from Tucan near the Columbia border. Turns out this was their end-of-year school party. The teachers were very respectful and would not let the children join us in the pool even though we were saying it was fine. They directed their students to go to a different pool. We decided to get out of the pool and then the children gradually began to get into the pool. I have learned that no matter where you are children will be children. One of the teachers was so interactive with his students in the pool. They played a game of tag after one of the students pulled off the teacher’s swim hat and tossed it around to each other. The teenage girls strolled around in their swimming suits holding hands and not daring to get their hair wet. All and all it was a beautiful day enjoyed by all. I only wished I had my camera on that trip. We have been back several times and the pools are indeed healing.
How time flies! It is hard to believe we are now experiencing our 4th Inti Raymi! Our first experience was simply an exploratory quest of Ecuador. A friend living in Cotacachi advised us to cancel our trip since it was so dangerous. Well, we did not cancel our trip even though I was anxious. Upon arrival at our hotel Land of the Sun, we learned we had nothing to fear. Think of New Orleans at Mardi gras.
Inti Raymi is a kichwa word that translated refers to the beginning of the summer solstice and is the most important celebration of the year. It is one giant party with dancing and drinking to the extreme. The hills were certainly alive with music, fireworks, and barking dogs. There is a time-old tradition of bathing at midnight in a river or waterfall to wash off the old negative energies. It really is a family affair starting with a children’s parade, men’s and later woman’s parade. Turns out little Cotacachi is the heart of the celebration as all of the tribes come down from the mountains to capture the town square and is a sight to behold. We always stay on the sidelines to watch safe out of harm’s way.
The even of the season is La Mirage Summerfest which included shopping and tasting wonderful products of Ecuador. Then we had a wonderful La Mirage Dinner!
This month there are just too many parties to write about individually so I think pictures or better than words. We went to two 4th of July parties. Yes, we celebrate the 4th here. Plus celebrated two birthdays mine and a neighbor’s. Dian and Bob also had the party of the year. So, yes we have been soooooo busy and having fun living off the grid!
I have noticed on Facebook that there is a campaign in the United States to clear all of the dog shelters. This is close to my heart since I was a volunteer at Arlington Animal Shelter in Texas. So, I urge everyone to do their part and find a new best friend that may actually rescue you. Turns out this a world wide problem. Click and enjoy the music Take A Chance on Me from Mama Mia. I hope you will listen to the the music which is one of my all time favorites and my theme song for dog rescue..
Cotacachi Amici Cannis Neuter Clinic
A few weekend’s ago in Cotachachi and surrounding communities hosted a non-surgical neuter sterilization clinic which this time was held for the male dogs. A total of 82 male dogs where sterilized which will make a huge difference. Recently, another clinic provided sterilization for the female dogs. So, this time is was the boy’s turn. It was a simple procedure and the male dogs were given a light tranquilizer followed by general anesthesia. Then a substance was injected into their scrotum which would render them sterile. Each dog received a small tattoo near their scrotum that local vets would recognize indicating the dogs were sterilized. What the group realized was that a lot more education was needed since the owners of the dogs did not think the male dogs were part of the problem . After all they did not see the results of the puppies. So, there was not any cultural or religious reluctance involved it was simply more education. The volunteers sat with the dogs as they recovered from anesthesia.
A special shout out of thanks to Heather and Phillip Steyn, DVM from Colorado who brought all the drugs from the United States as well as the local vet’s and volunteers that participated.
I had volunteered to help but turns out that Bill did more than I did since since I had a leg injury. Here he is pictured with a pit bull recovering from anesthesia with two young boys that were the owners. Apparently, they had owned the dog for just three weeks. But here they were trying to wake up this sleeping giant by pulling his tail and blowing in his ears.
All turned out well and all three were soon on their way. Kudos to Bill since we are afraid of pit bulls after he and our little Cavalier King Charles Spaniels were attacked in Arlington by this breed.
So now, it was Texas and Dallas’ turn to be spayed. Yesterday we took all five dogs to Dr. Lara in Ibarra. Our three Cavalier King Charles Spaniel’s for their yearly immunizations plus grooming. The two pups for spaying. We were surprised that the spaying cost was $150 each which seems more like the cost back in the States. We decided that taking all five dogs to Ibarra is just to much! So next time we are going to use the new vet Dr. Richardo Rodriguez, Happy Animals, Cotacachi for Kitty, Texas and Dallas. The poor pups just to stressed going for a ride in the car. Plus Dr. Rodriquez will make house calls. We used him when Lucy ate a chocolate bar. He was at our house within twenty minutes and charged us $20.
Dallas was not feeling herself this morning after her surgery and wanted to stay in her dog house. But both are now up and bouncing around and just ate their first post op surgery breakfast.
July 4th Celebration
Yes, the expat’s celebrate the 4th of July in Ecuador! A nice gathering of a few of the neighbors and good food.
Yikes!!! We furnished the hot dogs but why on earth did the cook prepared them to look like grande Ecuadorian worms? Guess he wanted everyone to eat his hamburgers instead.
Another Parade! It is always a surprise.
So dressed up!
Marching band.
Dancers
What is a parade without a fire truck?
Rescue Truck
WOW I never knew they had fire dogs!
All breeds of well trained dogs
Fireman
Fire Fighters
What is a bodega?
8 water leaks in bodega that a joined a bathroom
Decided time to replace the old bodgea with a larger one
Where leaks were located
Adobe bricks
Wall going up
More progress
They found a use for the wine bottles I had been saving.
Hole for post out of one of my wine bottles
Bill offered advise but they kindly declined.
Progress
Apply stucco over bricks
Doors that were are old front doors
Apply final touch of stucco
Finished! We love it...great job!
The bodgea is like a storage building and home to our washer and dryer as well other items we had for storage but oh so small. The bodega backed up to one of our bathrooms. Suddenly, the bathroom wall was wet and the stucco coming off. So the workers investigated and turned out we had three water leaks in the wall that finally ended up to be eight. Since they had to tear down the wall to make the repairs we decided now was the time to enlarge a new one and has ended up to be a man cave for Bill. So the 4 week project turned into 10 weeks. All this occurred during Inti Ramyi Celebration! Whenever there is a holiday celebration the workers do not show up. If you live in Ecuador this is a general expectation and we understand. During this time I did not have access to my washer and dryer! I used the community center washer and hung the clothes out on our clothesline. The community center washer was so dirty and only had cold water so I hated using it. Plus it took me all day. Kudos to my neighbor Dian that came to my rescue and letting me start to use hers.
I ended up repairing the stucco plaster in our bathroom!
8 water leaks in bodega that a joined a bathroom
Decided time to replace the old bodgea with a larger one
Where leaks were located
Adobe bricks
Wall going up
More progress
They found a use for the wine bottles I had been saving.
Hole for post out of one of my wine bottles
Bill offered advise but they kindly declined.
Progress
Apply stucco over bricks
Doors that were are old front doors
Apply final touch of stucco
Finished! We love it...great job!
After updating this blog I realize I have so much more to post but it will all have to wait until next time!
So many folks ask us how we like Ecuador. The Ecuadorians are welcoming and have patience. But who you have to watch out for is the Expats. One of my pet peeve’s are Expats that want to make the community into a little United States. They have packed their emotional baggage with a hurry up attitude, health problems and really should find another place to live. We are guests in this beautiful country and should not inflict our stress, timelines and attitudes on the locals! It made me sad that some of the Expats fired workers simply because they did not show up to work during the Inti Raymi Celebration. Cotacachi is a small town and I guess they never think that everyone is someway related to each other. So when you fire a worker you are firing someone’s uncle, brother or sister. There are some Expats that contract workers and then when it is completed refuse to pay stating it did not meet their expectations. Well it is Ecuador and these folks are trying to support their family. On an average they make about $400 a month. I think this is where the term Ugly American came from but not all the Expats are American and some come from other counties. So I guess it should be coined Ugly Gringo or Expat. Enough said!
