Is it really DECEMBER?

I really can't believe it's December, and we've been in Ecuador 6 whole months! WOW! It seems like yesterday boarding the Avianca plane in Quito, landing in Manta 35 minutes later, how humid it was when we got off the plane...glorious tho, compared to the cold weather in Quito. Crucita, on crutches, and the wheelchair, such a long time ago. Thankfully the ankle is well healed, hardly any pain, but I'm careful, this place can be treacherous. 

I'm not much of a news person, most of my "news" comes from Facebook, so I don't know much, ha ha! I do know that Black Friday happened, and that there has been some bad weather already. It all seems very distant living here. The weather is still the same, 75-80 F and combination of sunny and partial cloudy. We noticed a bit more wind in November, and some cooler days, but still never drops below 67 F. We don't hear Christmas music in every store we go into, as well as Christmas decorations are far less prevalent. We realized that decorations of any kind are kinda frivolous, as are tattoos and smoking cigarettes. Not to say they don't exist, just not as main stream as in the States, or other First World countries, Ecuador is definatly a Developing country. One area that has already "developed" is the mall, here's what we found the other day.

This mall has the grocery store/ hardware store we frequent. So nice to have it all under one roof.

Some things we are used to, Shasta Cola! The mall also has other stores, pet store, Hallmark and of course a Movie theater.

Appliance store, shoes and clothing, perfume, pharmacy, food court, pretty standard as far as Malls go. So here it is most certainly Christmas, but in the sleepy fishing village, you'd hardly know. Some restaurants have decorations, but not much. Maybe as it gets closer, because Christmas is a big holiday, it's just early...maybe

We have not decided if we want to purchase a tree, we saw some small artificial ones in Bahia for less than $20, and we've been getting supplies together for projects, making Christmas ornaments is one of those projects. The beach is full of supplies, and our trip to the mall got us some more at the Art supply store, glue gun, paint, glitter. Apple Barrel Craft paint that you can get 2/$1 sometimes with coupon at Jo-Anne's or Hobby Lobby are $2.41 with 12 percent tax, but cheaper than a flight back to the States, so we bought primary colors and will mix, not to mention most of the other items are free from the ocean and we really enjoy our beach combing.

I've been scouring Pinterest looking for crafty projects, and some ideas.

The possibilities are endless, as is the beach debris, I'm cleaning up the beach too, it's a win win! So on that note, maybe I'll get out there once more before lunch. The first 6 months has been a whirlwind, I'm hoping we can continue to get settled, and move forward. Stay tuned, the adventure continues!