More gifts from the Fishermen

The other day we got a surprise visit over the fence from one of our fishermen Nexar, I had been in the house and heard him whistle for my attention, I went out and saw him holding this...

I'd seen this type of crab before, once at the Manta fish market, it had been the size of a backpack, and the man said it cost $10. (Turns out it's a Southern King crab) Well this one wasn't that big, but it was free! Nexar kept trying to hand it to me, but I just couldn't get my hands to grab hold of it, thank goodness Mike came out at that point and took it.

I had just been talking about wanting some cangrejo so I was bound and determined to find out what to do with this monster. First, we had to kill him, because, yep you guessed it, he was still alive! We put him in the shower to sit while I looked online about killing, cleaning, and cooking. Here's the ever inquisitive Shadrach checking him out.

He was so furry, like the algae that grows on pilons and piers, how was I ever to get him clean? And how necessary was it to get his outside clean? Mike and I researched Google and Pinterest and formulated a game plan, a pot of water went on to boil, and he went in the sink to get a bath and a scrub. After the water boiled, we plunged him in for a minute to kill him, then we could work on cooking. It turned out to be quite a bit of work, and for not much pay off...

My idea of crab salad sandwiches for lunch was not going to happen. But, plan B was save the crab salad for Happy hour and eat with a cold cerveza at sunset, yep, that worked!

Several weeks ago Fernando Father Fishermen gave us these fish, I tried to tell him we didn't know how to filet or clean them, and he said "just scale them, gut and throw them in a  soup".

And these...

Langosta, yum! I'd already looked them up, so I knew how to clean and cook these. I don't remember, but I think these went into a lobster Alfredo.

So much fresh food and time to mess with it! Because it's papaya season, I've started adding papaya to my morning smoothies, getting healthy benefits and vitamins, and I don't even know it! I've started buying real butter, and gave up on margarine, just one more packaged, manipulated food product not going in our bellies anymore...

Welł, that's it for the gifts, for now! Can't wait to see what we will be given next. I've got oranges, and will make a batch of orange water to pass out to the fishermen in the morning when they are doing their nets in the sun. I'll leave y'all with this, a cute picture, and epitome of Ecuador...when something doesn't work, go with plan B

Stay tuned! The adventure continues!!

New House

We recently moved to a new rental house, it did not have Internet set up, which is why I was unable to post for so long. We moved on December 15th, and started looking for help in installation that very day, but it wasn't until Friday of that week that we made contact with the Internet company. We set up an installation appointment for the upcoming Monday, but that day came and went with nobody showing up, we found out later it was car trouble, but the new appointment couldnt be made til after Christmas, so that meant the following Friday...that appointment also came and went with nobody, but alas, now we do have Internet and all is right with the world...

Our new little house is amazing, it feels so safe and stable. The San Alejo house was in rough shape, it needed a lot of TLC, some of which we tried to do, but bottom line, without our container of household items and furniture it was too much house for us, and we had to move. The new house is small, probably 800 square feet, but nicely divided into three bedrooms, master bedroom, one we are using as office/tv room, and the other is storage. Small living room kitchen combo, but we spend so much time outdoors we don't need anymore and the space is very cozy. 

We hired a young man named Paulo and his truck for about 4hours, he worked like an ox and charged us $15, well worth it, and will use him again.

As you can see our front yard is literally boat parking! We wondered how we would get along with the fishermen, and all I can say is they are a treasure. They've cleaned the beach and even gave us a fish the other day.

One seasoned Gringo expat told us that if the fishermen leave their motors on the boat while its parked on shore, they aren't worried about theft. That means someone is always watching, or close by, that means my house is safe as well, good to know. I went to the "farmers market" in Charapoto and bought a bunch of oranges (40/$2) and made a big pitcher of orange juice that I then took out to the fishermen not too long after we'd moved in, needless to say they appreciated it and we are well liked.

The new house also came with a mascot, actually we've been walking with this street dog for some time, we'd seen her over here by the fishing boats when we walked the beach, and now she thinks she lives here. We had named her Dulce, spanish for sweet, but found out the other day her name is Arielle, she answers to it, so I guess it's true, but she's still a street dog. We need to have a fence built, because the concrete wall isn't high enough to keep the big dogs out, our little dogs can't jump over, but Dulce/Areille jumps over everyday, and we have to tell her to Vamos! But a slightly taller fence will do the trick, and give us some wind break, it does get windy in the evening, so that's next on the agenda.

The new landlords paid for paint, but I'm doing the painting as to not be disrupted by workers, and I can do it at my leisure, I've got the bathroom and living room almost done, just need to borrow a ladder for the high areas (vaulted ceiling). Getting settled, and enjoying it, will take pictures as the decorations get put up.

We had a very nice Christmas, expected crazy festival, but here in San Jacinto it's more about Family, so it was quiet. (Apparently San Clemente was crazy and I'll pilfer from other bloggers to fill you in someday this week) We made goodie bags for our special neighbors and favorite store owners, and they were well recieved. We are enjoying being closer to town, San Alejo was a mile from anything, so every time we needed bread or eggs, it was a 2 mile roundtrip trek, but here I'm only two short blocks to the town square, and I can run in and get my things in 5minutes, very nice. The following pictures were taken on Christmas at La Boca, stunning.

Thanks for checking in, I've got to get caught up, so much to post about...there's more adventure to come, so stay tuned!