Our day in Porto Viejo

Wolf made me a doctors appointment yesterday, suggested he pick us up early and he'd take us around Porto Viejo and back to Supermaxi, so we did. We started off at the fruit stand, which we thought was about 2 miles away, he told us it was 10 miles! (Maybe we'll take the bikes) they had almost everything, and prices were great!

We got all this for $2.00, and found out on the weekend the next town over has a really good "farmers market" that we can get to by bikes, so soon we will be doing that!

Onto Porto Viejo, some sights I found interesting. Chicken vendor, outdoor sports arena of some kind, and pool hall.

Notice how clean the streets are, we've been very impressed with the cleanliness of the cities. Smoking doesn't seem to be very popular, I've only seen maybe 3-4 people smoking the whole time we've been in Ecuador, maybe it's the expense of it, but it makes for clean gutters. Next is a building under construction, notice the bamboo, they use it as scaffolding, and they build one floor at a time, then when it's finished they move everything up to the next. Sometimes this takes a while, as they may run out of money, and the Ecuadoreans are not big on credit. They do what they can, when they can.

This one is a "historic sight", Yikes! in the States the government would have this condemned! But they let them keep it here, for history, they don't have to tear it down, but the owner could restore it if they wanted to, or could afford to. Next is a government building, and just more around town.

Gasoline is subsidized by the government, at $1.48 gallon but when the average Ecuadorean only makes $6000 a year, it's still expensive, so many have scooters or motorcycles. They are everywhere, here is a popular place to park apparently. I'll revisit an earlier post about power lines turns out most of these wires are telephone, there are power lines in the mess, but it's not as bad as we first thought.

Now, on to Supermaxi, every bit as accommodating as the grocery stores in the States, they are in every larger city in Ecuador.

After we apply for residency we can get a discount card, and if we submit something at the end of the year, get reimbursed on part of the taxes we paid on groceries. More on that as I know more. After the shopping we went to the doctors, I've been cleared to start walking! He looked at my previous X-ray, said it was very minor, and to walk one week with one crutch and the boot, and then try to walk without the crutch. He said to wear the boot for another month, then I should be good as new. I could go back at the end of one month for new X-rays, but didn't sound like it was necessary. Luckily we had Wolf, because the doctor spoke very little English, but it was $40 and Mike and I feel good about it. I could have gone to a government run hospital for free, but Wolf said there are long waits and very crowded, as you would expect for being free. He also made the comment, " you get what you pay for", but for many it's the only option.

So there you have it, our day trip to Porto Viejo. Hope you enjoyed the photos, we are really enjoying this adventure, and bringing it to you. Now that I'll be walking, I can get to the beach!  Buenos Dias!

Questions from readers

This morning I will answer some questions I've received from readers. Many questions refer to other Americans or Expats; An expatriate (sometimes shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country other than that of the person's upbringing. The word comes from the Latin terms ex ("out of") and patria ("country, fatherland"). Here in South America they call us Gringos, and because the locals know we have more money than they do, sometimes will charge us more, they call this "gringo tax". When one becomes aware of this, they know to haggle price BEFORE services are rendered, such as for a taxi or labor. It doesn't happen so much for food, not at restaurants, but maybe at the street vendors. You just need to remember from one to the next how much you paid, and if the price seems high, tell them " it's too much" and apparently they'll come down. When I'm walking we will get to do more of this, so far all our eating out has been with our guides.

Speaking of guides, our Quito driver, Jose called last night to check on us, that was nice. And Wolf is making me a doctor appointment, someone he went to when he had broken bones, said the price would be $30-50, including X-rays. Wolf also said the house across the street from him on the hill is for rent, we'll go see it, and find out how much. Just from the little we've seen of Crucita, we've decided we'd like to stay after our rental contract here is up. Which reminds me, I'll post a map, it's been awhile.

Ecuador has Provinces, instead of States. We are in Manabi province, Esmeraldes is the Northern coastal province, and Guayas is the coastal province just to the south of us. But we think with the proximity of Manta (192,000 pop) and Porto Viejo (300,000 pop) this is a pretty good place to be, now it just depends on the weather, but so far it's been glorious! Crucita has approx 15,000 population, of course that doesn't count chickens or dogs.

When in Quito, fellow travelers at breakfast said they had just come from Cuenca (600,000 pop) the third largest city, and said it was full of expats. (Guayaquil 2.2 million pop and Quito 1.6 million pop) I think the reason they gravitate to the larger cities is for the similarities to the States. They probably are not waking up to roosters like we are, or having the milk man walk down the road selling out of his 5 gallon bucket. The roads are all paved, or at least cobble stone, and the choices for eating and shopping are huge in comparison. But that is one of the reasons we chose this place, was how different from the States it is. We were looking for a different life, and boy have we found it! 

The peritos, or doggies (as Wolf calls them) are enjoying themselves. Shadrach loves a nap in the hammock, and Veronica is enjoying the warm weather. 

One last item, (this post has gotten long) we are on the west coast, but in the Eastern time zone. Of course they are not on Daylight saving time, so it's one hour different this time of year. So, there you have it. I'm posting some links to some blogs you might enjoy, because of our young age, We won't encounter all the things that are important to some of you, but I will post my medical experiences as they happen with the broken ankle. 

http://johnandmarylivingitupinecuador.wordpress.com/author/johnandmarylivingitupinecuador/

http://clarkeandbrenda.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2009-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&updated-max=2010-01-01T00:00:00-06:00&max-results=50

http://nanlevin.wordpress.com/2014/06/03/cafe-de-pacoche/

Hope these work, I'm such a novice at cut/pasting. Buenos Dias!

Beach life

So we made it to the coast! Had our Quito guide, Jose pick us up at the hotel at noon on Sunday, we toured another area then headed to the airport. Where Delta charged us $200 per dog, and $75 for over weight baggage, our new favorite airline Avianca charged $20 per dog, and $20 for over weight. The plane was late, but we didn't even notice, we were enjoying people watching. We got preferential treatment, even upgraded to first class, we've decided to take the wheelchair and "boot" every time we fly :)

The Manta airport is tiny, but beautiful. Our Crucita host, Wolf told us it used to be an United States Air Force facility. Since we were late, we all decided to skip his offer of the grocery store, and opted to get "home " and unpack. The house did not disappoint, true to the online pictures ( something people worried about) the only thing was the stairs. I knew it had stairs, but they do prove difficult with crutches, I've since decided to "crab walk", and that works.

This morning we awoke to roosters, had coffee on the deck and enjoyed watching the world wake up. Wolf came at 9am to take us to breakfast, then the grocery store in Porto Viejo (30 min away)

The juice is passion fruit, the tin is a corn frittata, the "blob" in front is plantain "bread" filled with cheese ( it was our favorite) the brown bread was made from yucca and filled with fish, mild and very tasty. And the beige bread was also made from yucca, it was so moist inside I thought it too was filled with cheese, but Wolf said no. All this for 3 with enough for leftovers was $11. 

The grocery store was big like American stores, actually played American music. We bought the staples, and some meat and fruit to get us by ( in case we don't want to go anywhere tomorrow) spent $111 for way more bags than we'd get in the States. Stopped at the beer guy on the way home, turned in a case of empties ( from previous renter) and got a new case of 22oz bottles for $13.

When we got home we met the neighbor, Carlos. He's the one with the roosters, and it turns out he fights them. Offered to take us to a cock fight, they are held on Saturdays...hmmm that does sound adventurous! Also drove thru the town of Crucita, found the bakery ( Mike will go in the morning ) the farmicia (drug store) and the recommended market and restaurants. Only half of our street is paved, so it may be a week before we get to the beach. (Wheelchair and crutches) it's been 3 weeks since the break.

Weather is beautiful, probably 80 and sunny, with a nice breeze. I'm writing this from the hammock and Mike is starting the grill for the chorizo and chicken. Awww, life is good in Ecuador! Stay tuned, the adventure continues! Buenos tardes!