Preparing

I've found that blogs offer so much information, I recently found one about international eating establishments here in Greensboro. Not only does this blog post food reviews, but pictures, and since we eat with our eyes first, this is a plus. Mike and I decided to be brave, and try one yesterday after my sundress shopping, and we were blown away! From the outside, it looks like a Latino market (which it is) but adjoining the market is "Mr. Taco". From the Ecuador blogs, I've learned that the dining experience "down south" is quite different than here in the states, more often than not, you place your order and then get little attention, unless you ask. As long as you know that, you won't feel neglected, we are so used to servers fawning over us, and if they don't we chalk it up to poor service...another thing I've learned from the Ecuador blogs is "almuerzo"

 lunch special, and right away the waitress yesterday tells us of the special, she warns it's slightly spicy, but we take one anyway. I also ordered a sandwich which the Greensboro Eats blog recommended. I asked for water, and she asked if I wanted orange? She saw my confusion and left for a minute, came back with the spicy sauce to try (on chips) and two small cups of orange water. The sauce turned out not too spicy, and the orange water was glorious! Think very weak Tang, they make it fresh, with oranges, water and a little agave sweetener, it was very refreshing. Lunch was amazing, fresh, filling and completely satisfying ! The special was green enchiladas with side of rice, it came with four! My torta was pork loin and all the fixings, lettuce, tomato, avocado, queso fresco and jalapeños on the side. We shared it all, and when a bite of green enchilada was too spicy, we chased it with a bite of cool sandwich...yum The orange water even acted as dessert, being just enough to satisfy the after meal sweet tooth. Total meal $12, now in Ecuador, I've read the lunch specials are usually $2.50 so we could be looking at lunch for $5, sounds good to me! So as we wait, we continue to be adventurous, and consider our lunch out to be preparation. We are practicing (our Spanish, and patience) and preparing to be amazed!

The other thing we've done in preparation is secure a rental house, we have it for June and July and it's located in Crucita. 4 minute walk to beach/ tourist area and close (30minutes) to major cities. It's getting real, and real exciting! Waiting and preparing! 

Waiting

We are adventurous. We bloom where we are planted, but are not trees, and know we can move. When we make big decisions, we don't make them lightly, we research, but ultimately it comes down to faith. Faith that God has our back, faith that the research we've done is well rounded, and faith that no matter what we will be together, a united team. We have never been ones who like to wait...18 years ago we got engaged and then married within a year of our first date, why wait, we knew it was real. We bought a house a couple months later, why wait, the opportunity was there. Our adventure continued with an unfortunate event, a house fire, but after it was all said and done, we were more united as a team and we survived. 

The first time we thought of Ecuador was back in December 2004, but the time wasn't right, we needed a "home base". So we started brainstorming. Our research showed us we could downsize and buy a " home base" for cash, lower property prices led us to North Carolina. We got busy preparing our house, repairing, repainting and releasing our junk. Several yard sales, and painting parties later we were ready, (probably 6months) the house was going on the market May 2006, but how long would it take? It took 2days, yep you read it right! The very first person who saw it, she took the weekend to think it over, but on Monday we got full price offer. (Did I mention, we listed it for 10k over what our realtor said it would sell for?) we took it as a  sign, God knows we don't like to wait!

When one adventure ends, another one begins. Now we were homeless, rich, but homeless. Not to worry, we bought a used motor home, packed up our dogs and what we could, and headed East. North Carolina here we come! What an adventure we had, it was captured in "the road to NC", read the blog. So now we are in the same boat...Waiting for all the ducks to get in a row, not waiting for the adventure to start, because it never ends, just waiting for the sweet spot. Waiting on shipping quotes, waiting on passport renewal, waiting for spring so we can have our first yard sale. (Knowing better what we will ship and what needs to go, after shipping quotes come in.) After we get some stuff sold, we will get the property management team to come take pictures, and start getting renter applications. We will have this house ready to be rented June 1st. 

What we've learned, is to continue to enjoy life and each other as we wait. Waiting can be sweet, anticipation grows and every bit of research fuels the fire. We are moving forward, baby steps, it may seem slow, but when we look back, and see it was only 6months, we will be amazed. Part of getting ready is shopping for clothes, going to thrift store today to look for sundresses, I'm sure no one else will be buying them in this winter weather. Let the adventure continue!

So much snow!

Our little part of the world is being bombarded with snow, mostly they don't know how to handle it, so it's a big mess! I sat this morning reading the Ecuador blogs I'm following and waited for the "big storm" to start, Weatherbug said the snow would hit at 3 pm, but by 3 pm there was plenty already on the ground. It snowed fast and furious for a good 5 hrs, and only has slowed down after dark. Will be exciting to see how much more is out there in the morning, needless to say we are staying close to home, no driving for us tomorrow. Will play in our last snow in the states...that'll be fun, but I'm ready for warmer climate!

Looks like we got about 6 inches yesterday, was not snowing this morning, but now (noon) it is slushy snowing Great! Again, glad we have no place we have to go today. Hot tub could not keep up last night, but is 97 and rising, so I'm sure we will be in it before too long. Life can be good here in North Carolina, but will be better soon in Ecuador! Until later, adios!

So many choices

Since I last posted, we haved changed our minds about where to start. First, thanks mom, I misread that Cuenca was 2500 ft above sea level, it's 2500 meters... Which makes it 8000 ft above sea level, not horribly high altitude, but there could be health issues. (Mike has had asthma in the past, and it may be difficult to adapt) And while reading blogs of people who settled on the coast, we realized that we would really like to be near the ocean, so we are looking at rentals anywhere from Salinas up to Crucita. Bigger beach cities will have better internet connections, and more people who speak English, but the accommodations are smaller and more expensive. We found a furnished house in Crucita with lots of outdoor space, 4minute walk to ocean including utilities $645, while the places available in Salinas are mostly condos for $800+ ( not including utilities) and the only outdoor space would be a balcony, not great for the pups. These condos also rent by the week ($150-200) so maybe we will use them as vacation places, and rent them short term to check out the bigger beach scene. Inland are the bigger cities and buses or private drivers will take you from the coast inland to do shopping or govt buildings for cheap. Buses are $1 per hour ( and remember the whole country is the size of Colorado) and private drivers are making a great wage if they get $10 for The DAY. What an adventure! Stay tuned, who knows what we'll learn next! Till then, adios!

Passport to Latin America: Quito Ecuador (Part 2)

Passport to Latin America: Quito Ecuador (Part 1)