Cuenca Chronicles

Shorter post

2012-02-25T08:22:00.001-08:00

A quick answer to Geri who commented on my last post: yes, my fibro was worse in the US when I visited. It came on slowly but built to a crescendo by the second week. still I was able to keep up a fast pace, seeing lots of people and doing lots of things. I was happy about that. After getting back to Cuenca, it is taking awhile to return to the "70% less pain" level. Right now I'd say I'm feeling 50% less pain than one year ago when I was living in raindrop-ish Portland.

I talked to another Cuenca person with fibro who did not find the high altitude and low humidity, lack of severe cold or hot weather, lower stress environment changed her experience. I've also spoken with one person who had nearly total relief of symptoms. So it is probably too individualized (like the disease of fibromyalgia) to know how it will impact you. The whole tranquilo attitude in this city helps most people in general feel better day to day. But expect a little time to "settle in" to see how it all impacts you. Hey I want to meet you when you arrive so let me know. Happy "end of crush" to get moved and safe travel.

And to Bob who commented about my interest in birds, thanks for your thoughts. I have a seed feeder and simply have not hung it. Will do that today. Also will get a hummingbird feeder up this week and see how long it takes to see some hungry hummers.

And some random thoughts, activities:
I am working on a new quilt I started while I was in the US called "the melon block" quilt. It has lovely earthy sunset colors - should look kind of elegant. I'll post pictures of its progress.

I attended my first ever drawing class with Gary Myers this week. garymyersartist@gmail.com
It was an excellent experience - I've had two of six classes now. Gary is teaching the small class basic drawing techniques and to be free of anxiety in the process. He is very comfortable teaching, encouraging, patient, full of ideas, has his own beautiful art work around/near the class space. I started out very anxious and ended the week relaxed and pleased with what I'm doing. Gary has created a safe space where people can explore at their own level.

This is for my son and daughter-in-law who fear Ecuador is really under-developed and cannot picture the safety and beauty of Cuenca:

This is a photo of a typical little housing group. Our friends rent a 1600 ft home for $550. Renter buys own appliances (and furniture, of course).

Cuenca was just so lovely this week! The weather was great with sunny days and the usual late afternoon rain. I spoke Espanol with taxi drivers, shop keepers, restaurant owners and friends. I'm getting so I can put together tiny "cave man" sentences. In one particularly touching scene, I had just completed almuerzo (lunch) at a tiny restaurant. I left and then remembered I wanted to visit a shop but did not know exactly where it was. I stepped back into the restaurant to ask for directions.

Using the store name, I asked the owner (who was at the cash register) where it was. He did not know it and we struggled in Espanol for a moment. Suddenly a customer seated behind where I stood at the register offered in English to help. I spelled the name of the shop and attempted to pronounce it "Pycca". He did not know it but a woman seated at the end of the tiny eatery who spoke only Espanol offered both pronunciation and location. "It takes a restaurant to guide a newbie!" All were smiling. I was delighted and proceeded to visit the store where I bought some storage items and baskets to help organize drawers and shelves in my kitchen.

This just demonstrates what life is like in Cuenca. People are very helpful, friendly and go out of their way to connect. Me gusta Cuenca!
Me gusta Ecuador!

Have a terrific new week, everyone.

Cuenca, EC is home

2012-02-20T07:45:00.001-08:00

I have not written for some time, over a month. My esposo, Lenny, and I flew to the US recently to visit the grandchildren, extended family and friends in the US. It was a wonderful visit.

We enjoyed going to the school open house of each grandchild: 3 yr old grandson in Oregon and, in San Diego our 9 yr old granddaughter and our grandson Andrew who turned 6 last week. We enjoyed soccer games and play time, playing games, reading together and talking about hex bugs and geodes.

This is a small wall hanging or doll quilt I made for my granddaughter. The embroidery is a love message: on the left is my home in Ecuador, the 3 hearts represent her Grandpa Lenny, Emma and me - our hearts are joined even when we are not close by. Feisty is next - Emma likes Feisty. The flowers represent the path to my darling Emma who lives far away in the house on the right. It is very hard living so far away.

We visited my parents, my 3 brothers and their wives in Idaho, as well as 2 nieces. Wonderful times with friends in the Portland area were such a joy. I managed to go to 3 quilt sessions with Victoria who is my fav teacher. My bestie Cindy was right there with me. She also demonstrated why she is the Packing QUEEN, organizing my gluten free products, grain mill, fabric, etc into the fewest suitcases.

We had a wonderful if short visit with my stepson Robb and his bride Connie. Connie is a lovely person with a really positive attitude- we were charmed and we are so happy for Robb.

As most people say, we were shocked by grocery and restaurant prices in the US. The price of everything seemed crippling. The chasm between people with money and people who are staggering under the weight of the current economy continues to widen as the middle class disappears into debt.

We got an "up close" look at the attitudes of people we care about regarding our move to Ecuador. The reviews were varied but that is to be expected. Not everyone is up for "an excellent adventure" in retirement. Most people we know do not want to visit South America and have a distorted view of what Ecuador is like. Often people think it is in Central America. It is below Columbia and above Peru on the Pacific ocean. Frequently people think of Mexico and Ecuador being the same. They are not. There are some similarities but many strong differences. Ecuador is over 2000 miles from Mexico with about 7 different countries in between. The food is not the same. The currency is not the same. The folk history is not the same. The economies are not the same.

It would be excellent if more were known in the US about Ecuador besides the Galapagos Islands. It is a little gem of a country which embraces diverse habitats, from the dry Pacific coast to volcanoes of the Andes to great forests of the Amazon basin. It is a small country, a little smaller than the state of Nevada.

Let's talk about birds for a moment. Ecuador is home to about 1600 species, including many spectacular and unusual birds. I recently purchased "The Birds of Ecuador" Vol II field guide by Robert Ridgley and Paul Greenfield. It flew back with me from the US as it weighs over 5 pounds! In this book, there are 55 pages describing different types of hummingbirds that migrate to or live permanently in Ecuador.

I am not a serious birder. With fibromyalgia affecting my legs, I will not be tramping through the brush or crouching in a hide. But I love that these birds are out there. I love hearing birdsong when I'm sewing early in the morning. Someday, I may go on a birding trip for people who have some physical limitations - its a future dream.

Ecuador is about diversity in all things. The country has a large number of people who can trace their ancestry to Spain. There are many different groups of indigenous people with history leading back to the Inca and beyond. For thousands of years, people have created homes, raised families, worshiped, raised food and fought to keep their land. The earth is steeped in history here. Ecuador ROCKS, folks. It is a little secret but it ROCKS!

Life in Cuenca: We had a marvelous visit in the US. The love expressed to us is priceless and warms my heart. And yet, it felt so good to return to Cuenca and know that this is our home.

Several people asked "what do you do there in Cuenca?".
Lenny and I feel our life in Cuenca is delightful. We have been here for 9 months and feel very comfortable. Our everyday life is varied and interesting. We study Espanol daily. Len walks miles each day exploring the city. He speaks tentative Espanol to shop keepers, a baker nearby, two sisters at a fruit booth in our favorite mercado, the woman at the laundry, a clerk in a busy "US style" grocery store.

Sharon speaks VERY tentative Espanol - I study Espanol daily. I am newly retired - I love having time to quilt or read mysteries or explore subjects on the internet. I have begun designing my own quilts and find it quite satisfying. I'm also making some clothing that I like better than things I find in stores, whether in the US or here.

We feel secure and relaxed, we enjoy exploring new pathways, we love our apartment which is kind of "modestly elegant" and very comfortable. We miss our family and friends in the US but this is where we should be at this time. Lenny and I are each very energized by getting to know a new culture, learning a new language and experiencing day to day life in Ecuador. It enriches our life together.

I hope this finds you living the life you want or dreaming about how to take a couple of steps to make your life move toward what you want. Life is short. One never knows what lies ahead so we must live today with gusto.
Hasta pronto,
Sharon

A New Week, some comments

2012-01-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

I never tire of the changing views in Cuenca

In response to some of the great comments I've received, thank you for reading my blog and your kind thoughts. Carol noted that a comment I made about "why wait to retire when you could live on less now and be in a healthier environment?"

It really impacted Carol and I am very glad to hear you are in San Miguel - I know that lovely town through a friend. Enjoy!

and the ideas were great for la gata. It was encouraging to me that you had a cat who did fine over 6 wks alone (with daily care). Gracias.

A reader asked what grain mill I got. I bought the Wondermill Whispermill on Amazon. It is sort of mid priced at $260 - I could not justify spending over $500 on this item. I hope it works out and grinds brown rice finely enough for my baking needs.

A friend let me use her powerful blender Vitamix that grinds grains also. However, it was not fine enough when grinding brown rice. Very crunchy cookies are ok but in cakes or pies etc, not so good. I'll report later on how successful the Wondermill is. The frustrating thing is that there are Vitamix devotees who are almost religiously passionate about it. And there are plenty of people who have one sitting in the back of the cupboard or closet and never will use it. But don't want to sell it for a reasonable used price. I talked with 3 people who sorta wanted theirs sell theirs for absolute full price, no discount for it being out of box, looking like it had been used. Arrrrgggghhhhhhh!

Readers please know that I read any comments and love to know that you are reading my blog. This started out to be something for my family members and friends to read to relate to my new adventure.

However, I have had 10,000 viewers from all over the world. What a grand compliment that is. Thank you, readers. It inspires me to think and write!
Sharon

PS: the funny thing is that very few of my family and friends read the blog. So ironic!

HAVE A FANTASTIC NEW WEEK!!!

Our First Visit Back to the US

2012-01-13T07:20:00.000-08:00

Our first visit back to the United States since we moved to Cuenca in May is about to begin. It feels long awaited because we had planned to return every 6 mos and it's been 9 mos. I am very excited to see the grandchildren who are 3 yrs, in Oregon and 6 yrs, 9 yrs old in San Diego. I will admire how they have grown, go to a soccer game, buy a box of Girl Scout Cookies (with wheat flour in them so I won't eat them - darn), read to them every night, play at their developmental levels, get silly with them and generally enjoy every precious minute.

I will also see my entire extended family in Idaho, except for three nephews and their families who live elsewhere. I will have quality time with my parents, who are in their 90's. I will continue to answer questions about why it is important for me to live in Ecuador at this life stage. My mom is 93 and is enjoying her new IPad 2 - she is amazing. She loves doing face time {:-D with grandchildren, daughter, great-grandchildren.

I will spend time in Portland, seeing all the dear people I can. I'll spend every possible minute with Cindy, hanging out, sewing, searching for things on my list of stuff to bring back. Oh, and attending 3 days of quilt classes to add new skills. I'm going to be making a melon block quilt www.quilterswarehouse.com/m-70-elisas-backporch-design.aspx

Using these fabrics

I LOVE my quilt teacher, Victoria Jones. If you want a sincere, funny, non-judgmental, incredibly skilled teacher, call Art and Sewl in Vancouver, WA and schedule a class with her. artandsewl.com She teaches at some other places but I'd start there. She also may be doing some national shows. I'll update this after my visit.

My beloved Calico cat Feisty will be cared for by a wonderful, kind friend. Feisty has become very clingy since we moved here and we have no other pets for her to annoy. She also sleeps most of the time, being almost 17 years old. I hope she will get along fine... but worry about this a little - will she know I'm coming back?

When she was a young cat, we lived in the country outside Portland where we had alpacas, chickens, dogs and horses - and 2 barn cats plus this small tyrant of a cat who bossed everyone around. She was a fierce hunter who dropped off a steady supply of mice, voles, moles but left birds alone, making me happy.

As we unpacked container boxes, a new place to sleep.

She would go on a sojourn every August when our neighbor began combining (harvesting) wheat. My stepson Robb called it Feisty's Catabout, like the Australian Walkabout coming of age journey.

I hypothesized that harvesting the wheat caused a huge supply of small creatures to be vulnerable for her hunting. We had no houses near our property so she apparently just lived off the land and wandered for awhile. Each year her time away was longer. The first year she was missing for a week, the second year 2 weeks and so on until her 10th year when she was gone for 13 weeks. I had mourned her loss each year only to have her return - to delight me again.

So that last journey, when she was gone so long, I decided that if she returned to me, she would become an inside cat. We were moving to the city and she had no city smarts to make it in the mean streets of Sherwood, OR where there were 2 dogs and a cat in nearly every small yard, just waiting for a new cat to become lunch.

She adapted well to being an inside cat, accepting that it was time to remain inside and live a slower pace. I've never left her for more than 2 weeks so I wonder how she will do without our daily interaction. The "cat sitter" will do her best to give Feisty some attention each day but...we shall see how it goes.

Yesterday, a friend made some gluten free scones and shared them with me. Such a treat! And they were delicious. He plans to experiment with more. I asked to be the official taste tester.

A couple we know from Portland is moving to Cuenca for a 6 mo job. We have been e-mailing back and forth about getting together some time after they arrive. Yesterday, Lenny was buying some groceries and ran into them. They had arrived about 2 hours before! Cuenca is a good sized city but you will run into someone you have met here or someone you know from home nearly every time you go out! It is cool but a bit eerie.

For weeks I have been ordering fabric online and gluten free flours, grains, chicken broth and sauces, having them sent to my dear friend Cindy who is housing a TON of stuff for me. I will pack things as well as I can up to that 50 pounds per bag limit. There are so many items I wish I could bring back to make living gluten free easier. But I'll do my best. I do miss good yeast bread so I hope to bring back my fav items for gluten-free bread making, i.e. sorghum flour, millet, red quinoa. I am also bringing back a grain mill so that I can grind arroz integral (brown rice) into a very fine flour. Other gluten free grains too, like quinoa and millet.

It will be interesting to see if the lower altitude, higher humidity and cold weather causes increased fibromyalgia pain and lessened mobility. I'm hoping I can skate along and not have to slow down. My level of energy is excellent in Ecuador now - I hate to let go of that!
I am approaching this as a wonderful break to see my family and friends - that is the most important thing.

I also look forward to our return back to Cuenca to continue my new life here, where new things happen every day.
Cuenca, Ecuador is home now.

Have a terrific week end and stay tranquilo - a state of mind.
Make every day a new one to remember.
Sharon

Mi gusta Ecuador!

2012-01-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Have I come right out and said that I LOVE Ecuador? Well, it is true. I am really interested in the layers of culture and socioeconomic differences.

The Tomebamba River is a terrific asset to tranquility.

I am delighted by the gentle, open people of Cuenca. I'm sometimes confused by something but things get worked out. I've only lived here 7.5 months so there is still SO MUCH to learn.

I am having conversational Espanol lessons 3 times per week. After about 4 months with the early focus on grammar and verbs, I am beginning to speak a little more. I understand a lot of a conversation if the subject is in context, which is very common.

Looking at Solano Avenue

Once per month I have the joy of spending an evening with several members of two families we have come to know. It is "todo espanol" so I find it very challenging and tiring but also thrilling when I can keep up. And I can put rudimentary sentences together some of the time.

I have not discussed this (often) on Cuenca Chronicles but I have fibromyalgia. A painful illness they think is immune related but there is currently no cure. It does not kill but it was robbing me of quality of life while I was living in Oregon for about the past 7 years.

Since I moved to Cuenca, I have much less pain and my mobility has increased, as has my stamina and energy. Hooray! Lower humidity, no really hot days, high altitude and a more tranquil lifestyle seem to synchronize to improve my quality of life. Hooray Hooray!!!! I am blessed to have all of this. This is a desired outcome of moving to Cuenca so this is very wonderful!

The first quilt I completed was for my granddaughter.

Different things work for different people but this is my experience.

So, just sayin', I HEART Cuenca and our life here.
Sharon

New Year's Eve Effigy

2012-01-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

I learned from my Espanol teacher y amiga that there were no fires burning effigies in the historic part of Cuenca because there is a ban on any fires in the historic district. Makes sense.

"Mandarinas, mandarinas!" they sing

She grew up right in the center of the historic section and described that there were huge fires in the streets back then (about 40 years ago) but now...not allowed.

So next New Year's Eve, we want to explore a specific barrio (neighborhood) in another part of the city to see the effigies burn, representing both current and historical cultural custom - saying good bye to the old year. It was fun walking around the streets at night on New Year's Eve, seeing lots of Cuencano families going around together, greeting people and just hanging out. It felt very safe and friendly.

Santo Domingo at night
Have a great week.
Hasta luego,
Sharon

For my quilting readers around the world

2012-01-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here is a sweet little resource for quilters www.craftsy.com

They are offering a free block of the month course where you learn some new techniques and can share/ask questions as you go. Yes, it is FREE!

They have other crafts too, like knitting. check it out.

I still buy fabric from the US as I've not been too impressed with the fabrics I've found in Cuenca but that's part of Ecuador. Some textiles, fabric & linens seem to be not up to US selection.I think that Australia and the UK have wonderful fabric choices. I do not know about Russia, Israel, Chile and other parts of the world. I'd love to know so drop me a note at the bottom of this post if you want to educate me. Happy New Year, Quilters!

Here is part of their blurb:

This is a FREE quilting course, perfect for all skill levels, whether you’re a long-time quilter, or just quilt-curious.

If you’ve been interested in trying a Craftsy online course but haven’t had time or resources, the Block of the Month is a great way to familiarize yourself with all that Craftsy has to offer. This is a perfect chance for you to experience high-definition instructional video (and sound), our interactive course platform, learn to create two gorgeous new quilt blocks each month, AND learn how to finish the whole quilt...all for FREE!

Here’s a note from Amy Gibson,
Block of the Month instructor:

Creating a Craftsy Block of the Month quilt is an excellent way to keep your New Year’s resolutions all the way through 2012 – to be more creative, learn new techniques, and have more fun – absolutely free!

Loose thoughts about moving to Ecuador

2011-12-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hola Readers:

Guaguas (pronounced "wa-was") That's what kids are called in Ecuador. I believe it is a Quechua word, not in my Espanol dictionary. Think of the sound you make if you are going to say "watch" or "water". The pronunciation is like the beginning of that word, repeated "wa-was". It seems it is an endearing way of referring to children. In Cuenca, it is used by everyone, across income, cultural and class differences. It seems when anyone uses it, the word is greeted by a small smile, as if the listener is recalling some endearing or comical thing a kid said or did.

I showed some pictures of my young nietos (grandchildren) to a Cuencana friend's 6 young grandchildren. They sighed and murmured "guaguas" with this air of interest and contentment...and a big smile at me. Very sweet. So I will get to see my nietos in just a few weeks. And my grown guaguas too!

Are you moving here? A random thought about packing. This is a small thing I always forget to mention: I love old t-shirts. You know the good quality ones that are really soft and friendly after a couple of years of wear. Over the many years that I was a gardener, it was common to see me out there in an old raggy t-shirt and jeans. No worry of stains or rips that can happen during garden work. It did not matter to me if I was in the front flower garden or back, I was going for comfort. Same for housework and other chores like cleaning the parrot cage or emptying the hot tub --- old t-shirts reigned.

What did I do when we decided to shed our way of life in Oregon and move to Ecuador? I knew that there would be no gardening, no parrot cage, no hot tub to clean....so I got rid of all of my used, ratty looking t-shirts.

So what do I miss now? An old fav t-shirt to wear when I'm knocking around our apartment, re-potting a house plant or reading a good book. The recommendation is this after talking with other ex-pats who came with only new clothes and miss having some worn, comfy clothes: bring a couple of the older things you love to wear just around the house.

Informal dress occurs a lot in Ecuador. Business people dress up really nicely, like any metropolitan city, but the majority of people I see around the city are dressed very casually. I think I'd describe my old clothes as "sub-informal" and "not for prime time". Consider keeping a couple of "sub-informal" items for private times. Just a thought.

Another thought: it is cooler here than you may expect. Yes, there are beautiful days year around with afternoon temps of 70 degrees(F) (21 Celcius). But nights are rarely mild, often dropping to 35 degrees (F) (1.6 Celcius). It does not snow here. Frost is very rare. But it not a balmy beach either. We are located high in the Andes mountains at 8500 ft alt (2591 meters) so Cuenca is cooler than most of Ecuador. Go to the jungle or the coast and there are higher temps and higher humidity. That is where it is really tropical.

If you are coming to visit or to stay, pack sweaters, different weight jackets, a sweatshirt along with lighter wear - you will benefit from dressing in layers so you can peel off as needed.

An elderly acquaintance came to live in Cuenca for a month. She had packed tank tops, capris, sandals and flip flops along with one cardigan. No socks, no raincoat, no sweatshirt or warm sweater, no long pants. She arrived during a 10 day streak of rainy, chilly weather. She was cold and miserable but did not want to spend the money to buy warmer clothes. She thought because Cuenca is close to the equator, it would automatically be balmy. To her credit, she did not complain much.

Although I have written this before, it is worth emphasizing - come prepared for 3 seasons of weather in one day. That's Cuenca! It is a wonderful city, muy lindo, full of many things to explore and enjoy. Researching what is needed to be comfortable is important to allow you to focus on the multitude of fun stuff. I'm just sayin'......and even with lots of research and some visits, it is easy to forget some of these things.

As you pack to move here, bring different weight coats, keep your sweaters, pack your tank tops and new clothes and a couple of old raggy t-shirts along with the newer things you pack. You will be set for anything that comes down the valley.

Another thing to note:
If you move to Cuenca, you may have a more lively social life than you have had for some time.

Retirees have time to have lunch, chat over coffee, explore new places, go on picnics, etc. The ex-pat community here is supportive, friendly, big on sharing ideas, recommending services, etc. And its large enough to have variety and interest for most people. Most Cuencanos are kind,open, friendly and enoy getting to know people from other lands. It is a very pleasant surprise to me that it has been very easy to meet people we enjoy so quickly after moving here last May. Our transition to living in a South American culture has been mostly smooth and quite delightful.

Lunch (almuerzo) at mi amiga Maria Elena's home in Paute

A custom in Cuenca is to celebrate New Year's eve by burning some effigy. To represent getting rid of your hostility at your boss or your anger at not getting that job you competed for. So hand painted masks and even whole figures are sold everywhere the week before Dec 31 for this purpose. Here is a photo of some masks for sale:

The year 2011 draws to a close. Have a safe, enjoyable New Year's celebration.
Sharon

A jumble of thoughts

2011-12-28T07:11:00.000-08:00

Some shots Lenny took on 12/24 - sadly I have had the flu but got to see some of the activities through Len's photography. Above Neuvo Catedral(above) and Parque Calderon are always a center of buzzing activity when there is a festival.

People began gathering early for a festive day. There were horse rides, llama rides, and many other things to do.

Angels walked among the crowd and princesses and pirates were plentiful.

It is the end of the year and I'm pondering a few things:

I spent 26 years as a mental health counselor in Portland, Or. I worked with a lot of different types of people as they addressed their life stages: teens, older adults, twenty-somethings, 40's life assessment,health issues, career changes, relationship difficulties, etc. I loved offering therapy and always felt honored that people trusted me and allowed me to sit with them while they sorted out whatever was going on. I was also active in the community, belonged to a church, met with other therapists,volunteered at school functions.

My point is that I was "out there" interacting with the world. Observing people was part of my living but I've always been curious about people, what choices people make, how do people trust, when do people feel fear, what makes a person fall in love.

As an adult, I lived a couple of years in the state of Washington, a few years in Berkeley, CA. Also a few in Washington D.C. But the majority of my adult years were spent in the suburbs of Portland, Oregon. Everywhere I go, I talk with people whether it is in line at Costco or across the therapy office. People are interesting and enjoy talking about themselves. For me, it makes life more interesting. A harsh punishment for me would be to put me in a room where I could not talk to anyone and I could not read anything. Ahhhhhhhh, it makes me sweat to even think about that.

Making and keeping friendships: I have some great friends in the US so this is not in any way dismissing them. You are wonderful and I miss you. Skype talks really help me feel connected to several friends and family members. My grandchildren talk via Skype, showing me a soccer trophy, a new art project, the latest sign language the youngest has learned. Technology is a terrific help to ex-pats who move away from their home country. Other friends write email which is wonderful to receive. Sadly, some people do let a friendship go, do not put any effort into connecting once you are out of sight. But this is to be expected - it is part of life. Different people have different strengths and challenges.

Point 1: Friendship and familial love - each is an interesting and beautiful thing. A person can make a new friend in a new country without diminishing the love for the friend back at "home". Think of how a candle works. You can light one and then start other candles all from that one light without diminishing the first candle's power. Friendship is like that.

And love for one's family with all of their flaws and delights does not disappear just because a family member is living far away. Some people will deal by not making an effort to connect because of their own issues. With email and visual phone calls like Skype, the distance seems less important. Many family members come through in new ways, forming new pathways in the relationship. Some people even report growing closer to a grown child or a parent after moving because the relationship now has importance placed on connecting as adult to adult.

Point 2: What am I experiencing in Ecuador? The people here are exceptionally friendly. Many Cuencanos I've met tend to be open about emotions, generous-hearted, thoughtful, trusting and curious about people moving to Ecuador from other countries. They are feircly proud of their country. They love it if newcomers try to speak Espanol. Many of them open their home to foreign guests from time to time. It is a pleasant shock to be "adopted" by a loving Ecuadorian family. In my experience, people in the US, while they often are kind, would not be that open, generous and helpful so quickly with a stranger. Remember, I am just describing my experiences and response, not yours.

Point 3: What feeling was I aware of in the US that does not seem prominent in Ecuador? A pervasive fear. Today, many people in the US seem choked by fear. They are afraid of strangers. They are afraid of finances. They are afraid they'll lose their job or that they will not get a needed promotion. They fear if they invite a stranger for dinner, their home will be cased for burglary or something bad will happen. As I've said before, crime happens everywhere. But what I'm noticing is that this city, Cuenca, does not operate on fear. The media and citizens do not have a constant focus on disasters. Television does not show over and over all day long people being afraid. For some years now, citizens of the US have been bombarded several times per day about terror alerts or the latest tragedy. Monitoring a "threat level" eveny day takes a toll on one's existence. It causes a person to run on stress which is not healthy for anyone. It seems that level of fear does not permeate the air of Cuenca.

A comfortable day to wander and watch people, Christmas 12/24/2011

Of course there is still crime. Some crimes we have heard of here are frightening. Taking specific precautions and being "street smart" will usually be enough to keep one safe here. Crime can occur anywhere. If you don't experience any crime, that is great. But do you want fear to run your life and limit your choices? It is a tough spot to be in.

Another thing many people are frightened about in the US is their health. The cost of medical care in the US is prohibitive even if one has medical insurance. Many people live constant fear of having a serious medical event. They put off dental care or skip routine annual check ups because they cannot afford the costs, even if it is "just a co-pay". If a child is inured playing sports or a fender bender means mom needs physical therapy - these events could add up to hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Many people in the US are uninsured. And those with insurance often have impossibly high deductible. If the insured has to pay the first $1500 before his insurance company pays a cent, that amount can present an impossible barrier to normal health care needs. For the uninsured,a medical event could ruin them financially, aousing them to have insurmountable debt that ruins their credit ratings and impacts the rest of their lives. These things are overwhelming for many regular Americans. Some fear is warranted.

I am not sure when this shift took place in the United States - unemployment has been rising for some time, medical costs have been spiraling out of control for years. But it seems like it was during the Bush administration that fear became a commodity. After 9/11, the country was flooded by a smog of fear. Government spokespeople and the media began trading in fear. Suddenly reporters loved to tell the daily terrorist threat level and privacy disappeared. Any citizen questioning if all the disclosure and homeland hyper-protection was wise was suspected of being a threat.... but I don't want to get into politics.

Where I'm heading with this is to encourage you to look at the role fear plays in your life, wherever you live. Has that changed for you in the past dozen years? Is there a way to reduce that level of fear so that you can experience more joy on a daily basis while still being reasonable about safety issues?

A beautiful 12/24/2011 with weather to match. The pace of activities picked up with 8000 school children marching through the streets for a parade in their school uniforms. There is often great pride in neighborhoods.

Are there one or two tiny changes you could make to make your daily life more fun? Can you experience the moment rather than living for the future? It is a difficult thing for me to do but when I notice little things that give me pleasure, they are often simple free things. For me, noticing the light at different times of day, hearing a birdsong and looking for its owner, re-potting a plant with my hands in the earth, listening to a brilliant piece of music are small free things that bring moments of joy.

Take the next day or two to quietly notice what things bring you peace, pleasure, tranquility. What eases your heart. This is what I recommend rather than New Year's Resolutions. Experience the journey in the daily moments for that is what makes up one's life.

Sharon

Tranquilo is a state of existence

Trip to Quito a success

2011-12-17T19:51:00.000-08:00

Great news for us in our saga to get legal residency. We flew to Quito this week to complete the process of becoming residents of Ecuador on Len's pensioner visa. There were the usual snags but after 2 days in Quito and 7 months since we applied, we cleared the final hurdles. The actual cedulas will be delivered to our attorney's office in the next few days. Hooray.

We had a quick peek at Quito, the capital of Ecuador, which is over 9000 ft altitude, about 2 million people. It is also a world heritage city due to the Colonial architecture, among other reasons. It was founded by the Spaniards in the 1500's, making it the oldest capital in South America. We only stayed one night. Had no luck in locating a Thai or Chinese restaurant. Sigh... However, the little

b & b where we stayed (Traveler's Hostal) recommended a very good Indian restaurant across the street. That was a treat.And easy after hours of waiting, standing. I am delighted: very proud to be both a citizen of the United States and to be a legal resident of Ecuador.

So what else is going on? A couple of loose ends:

A blog reader asked ABOUT THE KNIFE pictured previously and again here:

For those of you who are curious, I copied some info on that knife for you. It is made in the USA by Dexter, called DuoGlide. The design is very comfortable, approved by arthritis foundation, as well as others. It won several awards. It comes in 4 sizes. The knives are spendy, as good knives tend to be but worth it if you have hand pain or wrist fatigue, fibromyalgia or arthritis. If you need to chop, slice, prep some food, this is much easier on your hand. Len and I are very careful with ours, treating it with respect and care. It has held its edge and performed very well for 3 years.

Here is some info from their ad: "Now you can cut, chop, or slice with greater comfort and less fatigue. With DuoGlide, we’ve combined our renowned blade technology with an ultra-soft, right-sized handle that can be gripped in several ways for more comfort and control. The result is precise control and reduced wrist, arm or hand discomfort. See “The NEW way to cut” in action. DuoGlide knives come in four models for all your cutting needs. NSF Certified."

dexterduoglide.com is the website, if you are interested.

I have not been blogging lately because I've been sewing like crazy.

I completed the quilt for my dear friend Cindy who loves snowmen:

I'm almost done with a beautiful wall hanging that is the scene around the manger. It will be our main decoration this year. I bought a tiny ceramic Christmas tree that holds a candle so the light shines through the decorations on the tree.

I'm gearing up to have the days around Christmas/Hannukah busy because I will be missing family and friends particularly BIG at that time.

I love Cuenca and my new life in this exotic, 3rd world country for a hundred+ reasons.

Here are 3 reasons it is hard to live in Ecuador:

Have a terrific week. Take a risk, hug a friend, kiss your dog - enjoy life!

Sharon

What is it like for me after 6 months of life in Cuenca?

2011-11-15T07:41:00.000-08:00

In Portland, OR 4/2011 with my daughter Tenley who lives in Oregon with her husband and 3 yr old son.

A few months before I moved to Ecuador, like...oh, last January, for instance, I was full of excitement and apprehension about moving to Ecuador. How foreign would it be? How much would my husband and I stand out? How difficult would it feel to live in another continent, another country, another culture? Would there be hostility toward someone from the United States? Would there be a lot of crime? I had lot of excitement about having an overseas living experience, at last, something I'd dreamed about throughout my life. And I had a LOT of anxiety about what was ahead in this adventure.

Well, life is made up of each plodding day we experience as we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night. The journey we each create is what is important. That is made up of how we face each day.

My husband and I have been here 6 months now. We each find Cuenca to be amazing in so many ways. We both love it here. It is beautiful, calm, friendly, interesting, just to name a few things we cherish. The tropical fruits and vegetables are to die for. An avocado a day costing about 30 cents is not a bad habit to cultivate. The intrigue of learning to blend in with a new culture is very challenging in a good way. Every day, Lenny makes a delicious smoothie from different healthy fruits, many we had never heard of before. Babaco, guyanaba, taxo, and pitajaya to name a few.

Of course there are things I still need to adjust to: improve my ability to speak Espanol, increase my level of patience when things take much much MUCH longer here - to name 2. But generally it has been an easier transition than I had expected. I still feel excitement and an eagerness to greet each new day but my anxiety about many issues has dropped significantly.

Mi esposo, Lenny, has flourished here. He grew up in Brooklyn so he loves going to little shops each day and speaking Espanol with the shop keepers. He says it reminds him of the New York City of his childhood. So after living for 20 years in the suburbs in Oregon, he is in a city again, shopping each day for that day's needs, exploring new streets and tiny shops around each corner, meeting people everywhere he goes. By practicing his rudimentary Espanol daily and asking others to teach him a word, he is now able to communicate basics in his new language.

Lenny formed an IPad/IPod/IPhone Users Group which is flourishing

Here is my take on the subject of Espanol, btw: Question: does one need to speak the language in order to thrive here? Answer: Absolutely! Even a little Espanol gains kinder, gentler encounters. People light up when they hear you try to speak their language. It seems only fair since we are in their country. We came as guests and elected to live in a Spanish-speaking culture so learning the language is a basic building block to having an enriched life experience. And you will feel more comfortable because you can communicate and understand what is going on around you. These are my opinions. Yours may be different.

By walking every day 3-5 miles, Lenny has lost weight and trimmed down to a "fighting weight".

By speaking to shop keepers whenever he can, he has improved/expanded/increased his knowledge of Espanol by a TON! We take lessons 3 times per week. We delight in our Espanol teacher, Rebeca, who is a bundle of non-stop energy. She praises progress, encourages, nudges and we learn!

Len also enjoys meeting expats and touristas as he moves around the city. Frequently people ask him for directions. In all of the days he has been here, he has only encountered a couple of negative comments and those were minor.

I also have met wonderful ex-pats, visitors and Cuencanas. The community of ex-pats is generally friendly and helpful, keeping an eye out for each other in times of personal duress. In this city, people are generally friendly, kind, courteous and love to hear that we are enthused about Cuenca and Ecuador in general. I mean exceptionally friendly and courteous. In my first 61 years, I lived in Idaho, Washington, California, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Oregon. I am an outgoing, friendly person. I have met many people throughout my life who are interesting, helpful and kind. I also have met my share of rude, self-centered, mean people. Both types of people live all over the world, of course. Yet, here in Cuenca I have experienced such an unusually high percentage of friendly, helpful people that it stands out for me.

So Lenny is adapting very well. What about me?

Well, before we came I knew the hardest thing for me would be missing our 3 young grandchildren, our grown kids, extended family and friends. And indeed, that IS the hardest thing. Skype calls help tremendously. Hearing a loved one's voice is reassuring but seeing your loved one right in their living room going about everyday life is a wonderful boost and feels more like an actual visit. I can see how each of the 3 young grandchild has grown. Each child can interact with me at their own level.

I retired early a short time before we moved here so adjusting to retirement is also new. I LOVE it! I have time to walk by the river, focus on a quilt for an entire day, meet up with people for lunch or hunt for a shop that sells tumeric. Many days Len and I head out to explore a slice of the city. It is a terrific life.

I gave myself 6 mo to a year to become brave about going out in a foreign city alone without knowing the language or the territory. I'm doing pretty well with that. I go out alone 2 or 3 days each week just to test my Espanol with people I encounter and to do a little exploring and a bit of shopping. At first, I went out with Lenny who knew enough Espanol to ask for needed items and ask the cost of things. Now I can do that by myself. It is even starting to feel kind of normal. I do not get so anxious when I'm surprised by a phrase. I rarely feel like a deer frozen in the headlights if someone asks me a question. I know that continual study is required to master even basics of a new language.

Last week end, Len and I walked into Diez de Augosto, a large market in El Centro (the central part of the city) where local people are selling vegetables, meats, eggs, etc., in little open stalls. I like to go there but this was the first time I shopped by myself, negotiating both language and charges while Len chatted with our friend Bill on another floor and tried not to be concerned. I did great! Ecuador uses the US dollar so that part is easy. Understanding how much each item is when I'm told in Espanol is a bit more challenging. But I had fun. And I'll take longer next week. I really like interacting with the indigenous people who work so hard (and live on so little). Talk about a work ethic - WOW!

Another thing that strikes me is how much value is placed on family here. It cannot be said enough when contrasted with how remote many US families tend to be: geographically, emotionally and even physically - not giving frequent hugs, for example. Ecuadorians cannot understand why anyone would move here away from their family. It simply would not be done by most Ecuadorians. Each day, many many citizens close down shops midday and head home to have lunch with family. Almuerzo (lunch time) is the main meal of the day and is about a 2 hour break - roughly 1-3 pm or so.

Another thing that takes some getting used to is that most stores do not open until 9:30 am. Can you imagine Safeway or Kroeger's not opening until 9:30 each day? It seems to be part of a more relaxed or tranquilo way of life Ecuadorian's enjoy. Yes, some people are up early rushing to work but many people begin their work day a little later than a lot of US citizens do. There is not the same push here to make every possible penny and quickly spend every penny to consume ever more "stuff" or cosas.

I have a time line in my head - a casual one- of when I plan to begin different tasks or mark some milestones on my way to being fully acclimated to this new culture. So far, this gentle approach with myself is paying off in several ways. Less pressure, less anxiety, enjoying things unfolding as I am ready to face each new challenge.

I have not learned my way around this "very easy to navigate" city. Why? Well, not driving is part of it. Street names that seem difficult to pronounce and hard to recall - both a language and a memory issue - factor in. But learning this city is just about next on my agenda. Street names are sticking in my head better and I can now pronounce Juan Jaramillo and Remegio Crespo well enough that taxi drivers understand me - progress!

Another challenge here for me has been that I am allergic to wheat (and barley and rye) so I eat gluten free. It is not hard to do these days in the US. Many convenient gluten free products and an increased understanding of celiac disease have made it an easier task in the US. Here, although several non-gluten grains are grown & exported here (red quinoa, milo), it has been a struggle to find restaurants and merchants who understand the issues. Consequently, we eat most meals at home, which is ok but a little limiting. Locating items I need to bake breads made from other grains and cook gluten free meals has been a bit like hunting for a needle in a haystack. But I've been determined to succeed for my health. The positive side of this is that I am gathering resources for others who have similar needs.

And good news today: a new restaurant has opened that has gluten free items. It is named Nectar and is located on Beningo Malo near Gran Columbia It is vegetarian. Lunch costs $2.50 and includes fresh made juice, a main course with rice and vegetables and a tiny dessert. The owners are Greek and Ecuadorian and are showing all the signs of being great "inn keepers". I am SO excited there is another restaurant that understands the gluten free concept. It joins El Maize, in my book, as a place to seek out.

If others know of different Cuenca restaurants where the staff understand "sin trigo" needs, please let me know.

So there is my 6 month update. I love being here. I have homesickness for family and friends. I miss some conveniences but all is outweighed by living this incredible "excellent life adventure".

Have a terrific week!
Luego,
Sharon

Layering the quilt and Pacific Sea Bass for dinner

2011-11-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Today's post comes as Cuenca, in the Province of Azuay, is about to conclude 5 days of celebration of their 195 year independence from Quito (sort of like Idaho becoming a state separate from the Oregon Territory -which was in 1863). Many visitors, many people off work,crowded parks, stores closed, fireworks, a terrific arts and crafts festival - all were part of this week.

[NOTE: In today's post, I added some Espanol phrases to translate what I wrote (just before the phrase) in English. Along with my budding skills in Espanol, I used Google Translate a lot so... forgive me, Rebe and mi amiga in Espana Sully. Maybe one year from now, I'll be able to translate correctly myself as I keep learning Espanol.]

This is the king size quilt top I'm working onand writing about today. Notice the cat just can't seem to relax. The heating pad is not on - she just loves to lie on it.

What a successful day for me today! I got up early to clean the hardwood floor where I planned to lay out the king size quilt to be layered. Next I spread out the batting and measured it. It seemed huge at 124" x 118" (315 cm x 300 cm). My quilt top is 101" x 101" (256.5 cm x 256.5 cm) so a queen size batting would not be wide enough. I trimmed the batting to be a few inches larger than the quilt top and marked the center. Picked it up and laid it aside.

My friends, Bernardita, Maria Elena and Rebeca arrived right on time to help me layer this huge quilt. Estefi could not come but promised to help on another layering.

Just before they arrived, it was time to mark the center of my backing that I had spliced together a bit on Monday. I bought 8 1/2 yards of fabric but because of the width of the quilt top, I needed 9 yards. So I got creative and spliced in an orange "racer stripe". With that and a couple of extra seams it was completed and ready to go. I marked the center and laid it out on the floor.
Fabric Note aside: I bought this fabric online from equilter and had it shipped to Florida and then on to us by the service Correos. It takes a long time (2-4 weeks from Florida) but we have had good luck with things arriving. No duty is charged as long as the package is under a certain value and weight. We pay $5/pound on any package that arrives in Florida to come on to us.

Just then, my wonderful "quilt crew" arrived to help. Three wonderful women of Cuenca: Maria Elena, Rebeca and Bernardita worked hard and offered their opinions throughout the process, making it really fun. I love that each woman expresses her opinion and is not too shy to speak up if something did not make sense or did not seem right. One question Bernardita and her mother Maria Elena had was "why are you putting this beautiful fabric on the back of the quilt where it won't be seen. I pointed out that it would make the "bedspread quilt" versatile as it would be a two sided "bedspread quilt", giving the bedroom a different look when flipped over. They both understood and could see the advantage of that.

So we got on the floor on hands and knees and each one of us had a corner/quarter to work to get it smooth, work out wrinkles and uneven spots, while keeping it centered. Everyone worked hard for about an hour. Even with windows open, it seemed very warm (mucho caliente), although it was not much over 70 degrees outside. This step in creating a quilt is hard work, mucho MUCHO trabajo.

Bernardita is an architect so she took right to the process. I can see that she would be a great project manager because she quickly saw what was needed and grasped the whole process as well as individual parts. She is also a very dear perfectionist so she kept us working to get every wrinkle out. When we had all of the layering completed, there was one stubborn wrinkle that we worked and reworked without success.

Finally I said sweetly   "Bernardita, if I were entering this quilt in an art festival, I'd keep working to resolve this. But this is going on my bed so it does not have to be perfect. This is just for our bed. (esto es solo para la cama). And when I see that wrinkle, it will remind me of our time together today - its a good thing. (Y cuando veo que se arrugan, se me recordara de nuestro tiempo juntos hoy en dia - es una buena cosa.)

Rebe and Maria Elena sighed, Bernardita understood and we decided it was "good enough"
lo suficientemente bueno, and will be gorgeous. My quilts are not made to be hung on a wall, generally. They are made to be used and washed, enjoyed and hopefully cherished by the owner. I actually think a few imperfections do not detract and even show a slice of humanity in the creator. Like life - nothing is without flaws." (Translates roughly to"Mis colchas no estan hechas para ser colgado en una pared, en general. Estan hechos para ser utilizados y se lavo, disgrutado y espero apreciados por el proprietario. De heco, creo algunas imperfecciones no restan, 3 incluso mostrar una porcion de la humanidad en el creador. como la vida - no esta exenta de defectos.")

Yes, I may be justifying not being a perfectionist, not creating perfect beauty, but that's my philosophy and I'm sticking to it.

This was such a wonderful gift these 3 women gave me - to help with a project that is pretty impossible to do alone, crawling around on the hard floor, trying to get each part straight and smooth. (I hope translateGoogle got this right! "Este fue un maravilloso regalo estas tres chicas me dio - para ayudar con un proyecto que es bastante imposible hacerlo solo, arrastrandose por el suelo duro, tratando deconsequir que cada parte recta y lisa".

SO MUCH easier with 4 of us! (Google Translate: "Era mucho mas facil con quatro de nosotros!")

Thank you thank you super GRACIAS, MIS AMIGAS! You were generous with your time during a big festival week in Cuenca. I appreciate your kindness. Google translate says that's: Que Feuron muy generosos con su tiempo durante una semana de gran fiesta en Cuenca. Le agradezco su amabilidad.

I put the layered pinned quilt by my sewing machine to complete very soon. It was a job well done! (Fue un trabajo bien hecho!)

I was really elated and really tired. So the cat and I had a nice nap in the sunshine. I had sweet dreams. Tuve suenos dulces.

I worked on some other things the rest of the afternoon.

For dinner, Len bought fish - sea bass. So I pulled a recipe out of "The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook" by Vanessa Maltin (available on Amazon). Let me recommend this book highly. It has Italian, Asian and Mexican recipes. Mi esposo has raved about everything I have prepared from this book. It gets 5 stars from both of us in a rating system of 1-5.

Try making the tomato-basil bisque sometime - out of this world! And soups are usually not safe for those who eat gluten free so this is all good.

Tonight's meal was a fresh, delicious dinner. I tried using a recipe for salmon on the sea bass. Let me go on record as someone who does not love fish. I avoid it whenever possible but I know it is good for me, low fat, has beneficial oils, etc. So we are trying to eat fish more often. And Ecuador makes that easier because it has delicious offerings fresh from the Pacific Ocean. This fish was delicate and delicious.

Lenny cooking the fish

The recipe included coconut rice, which I love. It called for coconut milk. Since I have not yet sawed/whacked a coconut apart to try making fresh milk, I experimented by putting dry shredded (unsweetened) coconut into the blender. I added enough coconut water (bottled) to make the 2 cups the recipe called for. I blended/pulverized that for about 40 seconds, adding more coconut water when the mixture became very thick. Then it was looking good and tasted great. Although this method created milk that was a bit gritty, it blended into the jasmine rice/broth to produce a delicious dish.

rice cooking in coconut milk/broth mixture

The recipe also includes making a fresh papaya-cilantro salsa to top the fish. This was a huge hit with Lenny as well as me.

Papaya-cilantro salsa

I added an avocado salad to complete the meal.

Here is a picture of our dinner.

Tomorrow I'm going to explore some of the Festival of the Arts that is in full swing in Cuenca this week.
LG= Life is good in Cuenca. I am full of joy.

Backing fabric, quilt top and Cuenca is glorious!

2011-10-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

Today I am racing to sew all the pieces of my backing fabric together to layer this quilt.

The quilt top has been complete for 2 years. it was close to queen size. When we moved here, I decided I wanted it to be our king bed quilt so I added about 10" more borders (2 borders added) which made it cover the mattress/box springs edges that show here.

However, I've been using it just alone, not completed with batting and backing as a quilt should be.
I have 4 friends coming Wednesday to help me layer it, pin it and get all the wrinkles out so that I can at last quilt it. The quilt is 101" x 101" before quilting and binding so it will finish out as a "BIG BOY" size in my book.

Cuenca continues to delight me. We have had a number of social activities. Last week a lovely couple took us out for lunch at a great place for a gluten free person, El Maize. It was one of the best meals I've had in Ecuador, certainly the best lunch! Every item on the plate was delicious. and there was no wheat flour in anything I had. Healthy for me and a great relief to be able to order and eat without worry.

I also visited Fiere Libre, a huge indigenous market, for the first time. I bought a couple of plants. A gorgeous 3 toned bougainvillea which I put outside on the "sorta patio" I look at it with the other bright colored plants when I am sewing. Against the clay color of the brick, the plants look gorgeous.

And I got a lovely small fan palm that is supposed to be a house plant and not get over 3 - 4 feet tall.

We were treated to a dessert/ tea/coffee at Bill and Dean's. She made a flourless chocolate torte which was rich and delicious. No gluten there!

I made a big dinner Friday night for our friends who are Cuencanos. We had 8 aadults at the table and 3 ninos at a little breakfast bar. I made India spiced chicken with rice and all the other things. We finished with a limon' cake that was gluten free, my last mix from the United State. It was pretty tastey. . The conversation was all in Espanol with either one of the two lovely young women(below) translating when I would get stuck understanding or expressing myself. It is pretty tiring to me trying to follow a conversation but I am getting more all the time ...and thank goodness for context! This family is are so lovely that the conversation is secondary.

Bernardita turned 31. I made this wall hanging for the serious owl lover.

At one point, Bernardita was translating for me and then turned to tell her mother who only speaks Espanol what we were discussing. She got mixed up and said a couple of English words instead of Espanol. That started a series of giggles, laughter to the point of tears that was wonderful to be part of.

Rebeca(in photo standing on the left below) translated to me that in Espanol when people laugh really hard, they get tears. We all looked at each other and burst out laughing because of course that is universal, at least between South America and North America. It was a great evening and a very successful dinner. I feel so grateful to know this extended family who include us as if we are one of their own.

This is the group of women who will assemble the quilt in a couple of days. I'll do the quilting myself on the machine. This "quilt party" will be the first for the Ecuadorian women who don't really sew and had never seen quilting in progress until they met me. Very cool! Cheverey!! They are great sports to help out in the layering process which will be on the hardwood floor and be hard on knees.

Cannot find a picture of the quilt backing fabric - next time. It is a luscious paisley flannel - should be very cozy when the batting is added.

I had some great skype time with my kids and grandkids recently. My youngest grandson, Blake, said "I love you gramma" for the first time. it was such a delight...but I got off the phone and cried really hard because I was not there to hug him in person. Blake clearly still knows who I am and enjoys the skype calls.

We have tenative news on our progress to getting residency finalized with a cedula in hand someday. The attorneys who are a husband and wife couple, Grace and Nelson, notified us it was time to give them our passports to be sent to Quito for the inspection process that is required. So we did and now we are living in a foreign country with the 90 day extension to our visa about to expire and we have no passports in our possession. A little frightening if you think much about it but we decided not to.

We are told that in about 2 weeks, we should have our passports back and be able to fly to Quito later in November to meet the attorney's rep and spend one day getting the cedula all finalized. Then we will be legal residents of Ecuador. As a pensioner, Len will be eligible for 50% back on airfare that originates in Cuenca, a 50% discount on the already cheap bus fare, and a decrease on utilities, which are amazingly low.

Ironically, our attorneys are to be on vacation for the next few weeks so we will be going to Quito after they return from vacation and get the next steps in order. I must be making some progress on being "Cuenca like" because I felt it was not worth getting upset about. So we continue to get settled but feel joy each day to be here. There is also pain each day that we cannot be with loved ones as well.

back to sewing that pesky quilt backing. Have a terrific week!

A Lovely Lively Day in Cuenca

2011-10-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

A view of the city, taken near Mall Del Rio

Thoughts about making friends and living in Cuenca:
Recently, I corresponded with a couple from Nashville, TN who are moving to Cuenca. They are here for a week to get things started. It is their first visit.
We met them at a local cafe to talk and have coffee. Cafe Austria is frequented by expats and Cuencanos and has a pleasant sunny exposure for the intimate tables. While we were at the cafe, in walked three other expats we know. Two of them live in our building but we rarely see them so it was nice to chat for awhile.

When we parted ways, Len and I walked to a farmacia we have come to appreciate for the owner who is both a pharmacist and a doctor. Most of the pharmacies here seem to have a doctor on staff who is also a pharmacist. This particular farmacia is tiny to the extreme but the prices are very competitive and the owner, Marta, is friendly to everyone who comes by.

Lenny waited while I conversed with Marta in my very basic Espanol and Marta answered as if I was a native speaker (read: she said a lot of words and I got about every 6th one). A woman was sitting in a chair waiting so Len struck up a conversation in Espanol with her. It turned out to be Marta's sister who tried to recruit Lenny to volunteer-teach English in her school. She suddenly sang a famous Latin American song, Besame, and was so proud she was singing it in English. Quite a sweet character.

Lenny and I continued our walk. A block later we ran into Santiago, our Spanish teacher's brother. We chatted with him for a brief time in Espanol. He knows to talk in basic sentences so I can keep up. We invited him to join us for a casual meal next week when several members of his family will be over.

Three blocks farther on our route we met an Californian who attends Lenny's IPad Users Group. They exchanged a couple of tech ideas and we moved on.

Suddenly it was time for lunch. We met with an American couple, our amigos Dean and Bill who had invited us to celebrate her birthday. Tiesto's - we had been there once before. It is not cheap but it is a great experience and the food is excellent. The chef Juan is quite a showman, delivering each patron's main course himself with a dramatic flourish. You really feel that he cooks each dish just for you and you are welcome in his casa. He invited Lenny into the kitchen to taste the birthday cake before it was delivered to Dean, the birthday girl.

It is amazing to see so many people we have met in just 5 months of living here in one random trip into El Centro (the older part of the city). Remember, Cuenca has the same population as the city of Portland proper (not Greater Portland) but because most people walk or take the bus it "lives" like a very small town. One could say it is very user friendly!

After lunch we walked across the Rio Tomebamba for an appointment at the Chamber of Commerce to consult with an attorney who is a legal counsel/attorney for the Chamber. He is also our Espanol teacher's son. He is the picture of professionalism. We were talking with him about the overly-lengthy process to get our residency/cedulas completed, to see if he has any suggestions.

The Cuenca attorneys we hired (and paid 80% up front) came very highly recommended by 3 people we respect. The attorneys say the same thing every time we call them: "the application looks fine and it is out of our hands - it is just taking a long time for many people and we must all be patient". When we talked with them yesterday, they reported that our "applications are in order and are in the office of the Director of Foreign Affairs and has been assigned a file number." So someday...we will get the call to go to Quito to finalize the process but no one knows when.

We have been in Ecuador long enough to be patient to a degree but not long enough to accept fully how inefficient this system is. But is it Ecuador, not the US, and we have chosen to live here... so enough about that.

OK, back to the happy stuff. We are now hoping that we will have our residency and can visit the US in January. At the suggestion of my very wise friend, Cindy, I am seeing 1) how much Espanol I can learn and 2) how many quilt blocks I can complete before our visit. Just a way to keep a positive focus in the glorious setting in which we are living.

By the way, I don't feel "homesick" for my kids/grandchildren/family/friends all of the time, every minute. But it is there, quietly behind the scenes, all the time. Planning a trip to see everyone is a positive way to manage those feelings. Calling with Skype is very positive as well.

It's been only 5 months since we arrived. We have things we need to be better at: Espanol, patience, remembering street names...but I feel we have adjusted to life high in the Andes near the equator quite well. I cannot say enough how wonderful it is to have such a resource as the group of ex-pats, many of whom offer assistance at the drop of a hat. And I could go on and on about the kindness, generosity and warmth of many, many Ecuadorians.

So loved ones, expect to see us in January 2012, more likely. I look forward to it!! Know that we are safe and enjoying SO many aspects of our new life adventure. And I miss you! All for now. S.

Link to make your own coconut milk

2011-10-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

I labored over a wonderful post about making your own coconut milk. And posted it a week or more ago.

The next day, I read it and found 2 typos so I went in to edit it. When I had it completed to my standards, I went to save it, I somehow wiped out the entire post. It is gone,gone,gone. My techie husband, Lenny, could not find it either. aaeeyyyyyyyaaahhhh!

I have not had the heart to try to recreate it.
Here are some links about how to make your own:
Making Coconut Milk many choices abound The easiest form I found is posted last at the bottom.
http://nourishedkitchen.com/how-to-make-coconut-milk/

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art6474.asp

http://asiarecipe.com/cocomilk.html this one looks like the authentic, harder way to achieve coconut milk

Here are some great photos of coconuts in one form or another:

Coconut sticky rice looks tempting!

Preparing green coconuts for tourists and locals alike. People drink the water with a straw and toss the empty coconut. This is not the mature coconut one needs to make coconut milk.

Coconut Lime Curry Soup

How to Make Coconut Milk

Learning how to make coconut milk is easy. Select a ripe coconut by holding it up to your ear and gently shaking it; if you hear the sweet slosh-slosh of liquid, you’ve got a good one. In this recipe for homemade coconut milk, we call for hot water which produces a richer coconut milk that’s higher in coconut oil; however, if you’re intent on making an unheated coconut milk, you can use cold filtered water.

Ingredients

2 brown coconuts
3 to 4 cups filtered water, preferably hot

Equipment

sharp knife
mixing bowl
hammer or rolling pin
kitchen towel
vegetable peeler
blender
butter muslin
mason jar or pitcher

Method

Pierce the eyes of the coconut with a sharp knife and drain coconut water into a mixing bowl.
Split the coconuts by covering in a kitchen towel and smashing with a rolling pin or hammer.
With a sharp knife, pry the coconut meat from its husk, then peel off any remaining brown bits of skin that adhere to the coconut meat.
Place the coconut flesh and coconut water in a blender, adding three to four cups hot water.
Blend until the coconut and water forms a smooth slurry.
Pour coconut mixture through a butter muslin or nut milk bag into a mason jar or pitcher. Squeeze out as much liquid as possible, and transfer the coconut milk to the refrigerator.

YIELD: about 1 quart.
TIME: 20 – 30 minutes (preparation), under 5 minutes (blending)
NOTE: Save the coconut pulp and dry it in your dehydrator. It can be used like any dessicated coconut – in pastries, baked goods, sweets and as a coating for fish and chicken.

2011-10-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

If you are moving to Cuenca, Ecuador or coming for a visit: Bring enough warm clothes. I knew ahead of our move that Cuenca is not humid and never gets over 85 degrees F. But I did not quite"grock" how cool it often is. I have only lived here 5 months so perhaps the next 5 months may be very different... but I've been a bit surprised by the temperatures. Now, this is nothing compared to facing winter in Michigan or the humidity of Washington, D.C. in August. And I realize as I write this that winter is approaching fast for much of the United states and other parts of the world.

A friend who is coming to visit soon asked for advice in packing. So I told her I did not pack our winter coats when we moved here from Oregon. I was thinking we could leave them with my friend Cindy and would then have them when we fly to Portland for our first visit back to the US. Well, that was not the best decision I made.

Lenny's stir fried shrimp and vegetables made a delicious dinner!

The dwellings here are not heated nor are they air conditioned. When we arrived in May, we rented a cute cottagein a gorgeous setting that was not tight. The wind would come up and blow right through it. So the first week we were COLD several evenings! A hot shower before bed felt SOOOO good. Luckily, we had a new electric blanket in our luggage - it is a great thing to have.

Often, during the daytime, Cuenca gets up to 70 or 75 degrees degrees. The sun is out, it is gorgeous. But when that sun drops, the Andes Mountains keep things very chilly many night year around. By the way, "Cuenca" means basin - the city is at 8200 ft altitude with a ring of mountains around it. For those of you who have been to Mount Hood near Portland, OR, this is about the same height as Timberline Lodge.

Cuenca has a population of about 500,000 people but it feels smaller. Lenny walks every day and bumps into people he knows nearly every time he walks. A trip to the grocery store usually includes seeing at least one person we have met. And you often strike up a conversation with another English speaking shopper or practice Espanol there. It is a very nice thing about Cuenca - the friendly people living here.

Back to the coat issue, I bought an alpaca jacket for about $20 at a local market. It is warm and beautiful - that is a great solution. But I'll still bring our winter coats back from Portland when we visit. So I am writing this to underscore for people planning a visit or a move, you probably will not need long underwear in Cuenca but sweaters, a rain jacket and a warm coat will all be useful.

I am not complaining about this because I am not a great fan of very hot weather or humidity. I enjoy the fresh breezes that often prevail here in the late afternoon. The wind seems to come up many days at this time of year around 3-4 pm. About that time, the clouds often roll through and a heavy rain may ensue and continue off and on for an hour or two. and some spectacular thunder and lightning quickly rolls through the city.

Another thought about what life here is like: you wear layers and change them often. Something warm is helpful in the morning, you'll need to peel layers off by noon, you may enjoy wearing a tank top for a little while but then you'll often need to have rain protection by 3 pm. And most evenings this time of year require a jacket or coat as the temperature drops to 40-45 degrees F.

Weather is really a background issue in life here. Visiting markets, meeting kind, warm Ecuadorian people, chatting with friendly ex-pats about where to find certain household items or who found a great place for organic vegetables, wrestling with the challenge of learning a new language and practicing new Espanol words in public, sampling South American fruits, observing ways Ecuadorians parent young children...all of these things are what it is about to me.

This young nina is enjoying an ice cream cone on a lovely Sunday afternoon.

So why am I mentioning storing our winter coats in Oregon? it is just a word to the wise: when you are packing to come to Cuenca, pack that coat too!

Hope this finds you having a fantastic week end and looking forward to a fresh new week.

Sharon

Is Sharon Capable of Writing a Short Post?

2011-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Buenos dias, readers, friends and family,

The flower market 1 block from Parque Calderon in El Centro

This will be a short post today. I am determined to do it! Once I start to write, it just pours out but this time I will really, actually keep it short. Honestly. "For Reals" as my kids used to say. BTW, when I was thinking of moving here a year ago, I was hungry for any photo of Cuenca and to know approximately where it was...so I add photos here we shoot when we are out for any reason.

I made a list of all the "quilt kits" or specific quilt projects I have created. Then I added how many quilts I have to complete. The number is around 20! Several are near completion.
OK, this was a sobering thing to do. The post will be short so that I can focus on quilting!

A pretty good sized chunk of the fabric is in Oregon at my friend Cindy's, waiting for me to bring it down in a suitcase (or suitcases) after our visit back to the US, whenever we get our cedula/residency papers.

Yup, we are still waiting for our residency to be approved/cedula. It is supposed to take 90 days and its been 5 months since the day we turned everything in to our attorneys. There is no specific problem but the ministry of immigration got way behind when they fired a couple of directors and then fired the whole staff due to fraudulent behavior or something similar. And now they have converted to a new computer system. But it is a bit FRUSTRATING!

However, I am practicing being adaptable, going with the flow.

Looking across the Tomebamba at the hanging houses

Not counting the quilts I have given away in the past, I have 20 projects to complete. Some are complex and at least one is beyond my skill level. Some are simple wall hangings and will be fast to complete. Some will require new skills I will be happy to learn. Some are Christmas gifts so I'm working on those now (like small wall hangings). The majority of the projects will be lap quilts or twin size quilts and will be displayed on the walls of our home or reside on beds. One very positive thing about Cuenca usually being around 40 degrees at night is that quilts are quite welcome and can be stacked on a bed.

The flower market in El Centro. I bought bags of soil here to repot some of my little garden residents.

It is wonderful to be retired and know I have lots of time to focus on this hobby. And my work on learning Espanol is showing some progress - hurray! Also, my goal of slowly learning the city of Cuenca is, well... slowly progressing.

Today I am full of joy that I exist right here in Cuenca at this time in history!

A wall hanging I have nearly completed for a friend who loves owls.

I'm getting back to sewing right now.

OK, that's it. A short post accomplished!
Have a fantastic end of the week.
Sharon

How does one adjust to life in Cuenca?

2011-10-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

Getting to know Cuenca is exciting.

The flower market near Nuevo Catedral and Parque Calderon.

My husband and I both love many things about life in Cuenca. After 5 months here, we know a lot more than the day we arrived at the airport but we also know we have much to learn. We approach this adventure of living in Ecuador very differently.... but we each respect the other's process.

Len, since day one, has been the poster boy for how to enter a new culture. He goes out every morning to walk around the old parts of the city. He drops off laundry to be done at a lavanderia 2 blocks from our home. Len usually has a camera with him so he can catch some amazing shots. He meets shopkeepers and practices his Espanol. He bargains with someone selling vegetables, of course in Espanol. He chats with ex-pats he bumps into on his walk - that exchange is invariably in English. He notices street entertainers, including who gets the busiest street corners on which to perform He smiles as he follows a small herd of goats going to market with their owner to sell fresh milk and nimbly steps around metal rods protruding from the sidewalk and steps over broken cobblestones.

On a bus ride to the Coopera, Len watches older indigenous women board the bus bent over by heavy bags of produce to sell at the markets. Len often chats up a video store owner he frequents, where the owner's 9 mo old daughter makes Lenny's day by breaking into a huge smile when he walks in.

He stops by the local bakery and talks, between patrons, with the owner in Espanol. He asks after the owner's daughter who is 2 weeks from delivering her first child. Before he circles back home, Len observes where the herd of Holstein cows is grazing along Rio Yanuncay and makes a note to tell me Violetta, our name for our favorite cow, is grazing just a block away.

He returns home with some fresh pan de yuca, a gluten-free local bread made from yuca starch instead of wheat flour. These tiny delicious rolls have a bit of cheese in the center and are best eaten warm. Lenny usually enters our home with a bag of fresh produce. He loves trying new produce so he often brings home some vegetable or fruit I cannot identify. Then we ask around, search the internet and show a photo on this blog to ask for help in identifying said produce. Then, once he has completed that 5-6 mile walk, he makes a fantastic fresh smoothie, layering in the tastes of tropical fruits he has selected.

I, on the other hand, am approaching the new culture at a different pace in a different style. My initial need in this new adventure is to explore slowly. To me, it feels like there is plenty of time to see places, visit people and get acquainted with life in Ecuador. It is very fortunate that I have hobbies and interests I love that keep me happily occupied much of the time at home.

When we were still working full time and living in Portland, OR, I knew that once we arrived in Ecuador, part of my job would be to relax from the frenetic pace I had lived for the past 10 years. It was time to change the "climate" of my daily life. Getting used to retirement is a process and for us, it is mixed in with adjusting to a new life here.

Each day, I luxuriate in the fact that I can elect to sew, if I want, or to look up new recipes that have ingredients I can find in Cuenca, or go out for a walk or a shopping venture. Then I plan some meals for the next few days because we eat at home most of the time. At times, I read a great book at times of the day when I used to be so busy at my job. Cool!

I check email, FB and Cuenca Chronicles. I listen to a variety of favorite music all day long. I give the cat a good brushing and hold still long enough for her to take a nap on my lap at some point each day. I look at pictures of my grandchildren and imagine where they are in their development right now. I may make a long skype call with one of my kids, my parents or a friend.

The family Lenny and I created when we married is a blended family. The 2 sons were virtually out of the home but my daughter Tenley was 14 when we married. She very much needed a male advocate in her life. Len was very involved in her high school and college years. He taught her to drive a stick shift and coached her about the driving exam. He went with me to confront the high school when the math teacher was refusing to allow female students any tutoring time with him yet was offering it freely to male students. Yes, that really happened in the mid-1990's!

Tenley is in her early 30's now. She is an excellent mother, very patient and consistent with her 3 year old son. She works part time but loves her work and takes it very seriously. Her husband is a city engineer for The Dalles, OR. He is very family-oriented, shy at first but very funny once you get to know him. He LOVES to golf but lives along the windy shores of the Columbia River where golf is nearly impossible. Not much farther east of The Dalles, the Columbia River Gorge is banked on both sides by huge wind mill farms creating electricity for Oregon and Washington.Yes, LOTS of wind.

My son Tyler is 5 years older than Tenley. He has been a high tech guy since he was 3, experimenting with a desk top computer. His life work is all computer-centric but he has excellent managerial and social skills. He is a natural leader but is somewhat self-effacing about his accomplishments and talents. He and his wife Kathy are raising 2 wonderful kids in San Diego. Kathy just completed a PhD in organizational leadership from Pepperdine. The children attend school close to their home and are busy learning sports and crafts.

Lenny's son Robb is a year older than Tyler, in fact he is turning 39 in a few days. Robb recently married so we have a new daughter-in-law in southern Oregon. It will be wonderful to meet Connie in person when we visit the US. They are excited to be newlyweds and look forward to shared goals and family life.

A big part of my job right now is to learn to speak Espanol. So I spend some time working toward that goal every day. I have lessons three times a week. I plan outings alone to practice speaking to strangers in this new language. As I do these outings, I am less self-conscious about my poor grasp of the language and less anxious about getting lost in a city where I do not communicate well enough to find my way out of a paper bag! I still have moments where I forget words when asked in Espanol - go completely blank and speechless - but more often, I am able to move with increasing ease through my outings.

I have some goals of things I plan to do. In 2012, I plan to take a weaving class. I also plan to have a trip to the beach and a trip to Otavalo, north of Quito. More immediately, Len and I plan a trip to the US, as soon as we have our cedula - or residency papers allowing us to come and go from Ecuador. It is a frustration that it is taking so long but it will happen at some point.

I want to note for people thinking of moving here: the ex-pats I've met have been great about asking after me, checking with me to see if I am isolating or if it is a planned "slow ramp up" to more participation outside of home. People who leave one culture to plop into a new one seem to know that depression and avoidance are common traps that can cause a person to stumble. Having been a mental health counselor for 30 years, I am very familiar with the issues of depression, anxiety, denial and avoidance. I monitor myself for these feelings.

I suspect that most people have brief times of being down, discouraged, and feeling alienated in a new continent. If the feelings continue or expand or a person stays in bed much of the day or avoids all outside contact, those are signs of concern. So I think I'm doing ok along those lines...but it touches my heart that people who are relative strangers here ask after each other and check in with new arrivals.I had been told by a couple of friends that ex-pat communities tend to be friendly, caring people who welcome new arrivals. It seems to be very true.

To balance all of the new things to explore and learn here, I am dreaming of a new quilt. I want to try a new block, to stretch my skills by working with curves. Its called "the melon block" because of the shape. If you are curious, go to backporchdesign.com look under patterns

Here is a shot of part of the dreaming stage, playing with colors, contrast and design. What did people do without the internet?

Now its time to study Espanol!

Happy new week to you
Hasta luego,
Sharon

Hankering for Thai food in a Thai-less city

2011-10-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

A beautiful spot on Calle Larga, across from the Kookaburra Cafe

As I've mentioned, I have not been able to locate a Thai restaurant in Cuenca. Aiieeeuuuh!Is there one in
Quito? Yes but it is a LONG way off. Is there one in Guayaquil? I'm not sure about that but very possibly - still its a 4 hour bus ride.

It is hard to locate any Asian sauces and food needs in Cuenca to make our own version of Thai and Chinese dishes we love. There are rice noodles, even at SuperMaxi, but no plum sauce, sweet chili sauce, tamari, and so forth. I'm going to try making my own sweet chili sauce, Ecuadoriana style using the chilies I can find here.

Yesterday, I made a meal of sea bass turned into Thai fish balls. Usually an appetizer, this was a delicious meal with stir fried vegetables. Only bad thing is it is fried in oil. Do any readers out there think this dish could be baked instead of fried? It is like the coconut shrimp I made a few weeks ago. Delicious but also deep fried - our Oregon heart doc is crying!

My main man Lenny
Len and I are kind of wimps when it comes to chili peppers and hot sauces. I like a little but not too much spice. Lenny usually has no hot sauce. But for this dinner, we made the dish as the recipe stated, only using about 1/3 the amount of fresh ahi chili. The sauce was absolutely wonderful and not too hot for us wimpy former Oregonians.

The fish balls were not hard to make. Here is the recipe, SO easily adapted for gluten free needs.

600 g white fish fillets, roughly chopped(I used a delicate sea bass)
2 red chilies, finely minced - This is where I cut it to about 1/3 of what is called for.
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tablespoon grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons very finely chopped peanuts
2 tablespoons finely chopped coriander/cilantro
2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 small red onion, finely chopped
the sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup coriander/cilantro, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon grated lime rind
1 teaspoon lime juice
plain flour, for rolling - Use rice flour if gluten free is needed.
oil, for shallow frying
lime wedge, to serve

Adaptability - a most important word!

2011-09-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

I frequently talk with people about what is helpful in moving to a new culture, starting a new life around
middle age or older. I think adaptability is the most important concept to consider.
adaptable =able to adjust oneself readily to different conditions

This is not a word to skim over lightly if you are considering a move to any new culture or community with different values. Some values will be similar to things you may be used to but many will be different.

I personally wonder how "plastic" or moldable the human personality is regarding being able to adapt.
It takes more than mental determination or an intent to be able to adjust oneself to new situations. Can you change yourself to tolerate more than your usual comfort with new situations and major changes? An acute awareness of the need to be adaptable is key in making a major life change. This quality helps one survive a divorce, process loss of a loved one, rebound from losing a job and other challenges. Having an ability to be flexible, find new ways to cope and a thirst for many challenges all feed into one's "adaptability".

I have no way of estimating the number of Americans who move to Ecuador, buy property and within a year or two, decide it just is not right for them. But it happens. I have seen some people make huge life changes to come to Cuenca and then be shocked at the cool nights, the prevalence of pick pockets in certain parts of the city, the lack of familiar conveniences that are common in Estados Unitos. Conveniences such as Jif peanut butter at a reasonable price, having a garbage disposer, missing the convenience of big box stores where so many things can be purchased in one stop, having a dishwasher, accepting that not every country has a post office that delivers mail in a reasonable amount of time (or at all), other issues reflecting your own interests and biases.

It is one thing to note the inconveniences and feel a little frustration, it is another to let it ruin your day, day after day. Whether we live in Midtown America or a city in South America, we all complain and get frustrated from time to time. But these little things ruin the experience of some people and make life miserable. Take a careful, thoughtful look at yourself and see if you fall into the adventurous group or the group who want things to be the same as the US, only cheaper.

What I am suggesting is that it is important to consider inconveniences, such as those described in books, the press and the blogs on any new country you are thinking of moving to. Think about how that may impact you. Could you "roll with it" or would it get you seriously down? If you felt anger about some issue, could you handle it appropriately or would you expect your new place to be "a smaller version of the US" with all of the same rights but costing less? Please do not think that you will change a whole culture to meet your needs. It will be your job to adapt to the way things run in your new culture, should you move. are you ready for that? Are you flexible enough?

Most important - evaluate yourself. What are your hopes and dreams? What are your goals in moving to a new culture? Are they realistic? Do tons of research. And then do even tons more. "Due diligence" is a fancy way of saying read everything you can on the blogs, in books,at the library, anywhere you can find a resource. And beware of stories by people who have never lived in the culture about which they rave, be very cautious about people who have an agenda. Study the weather patterns, the health care system, the local foods, common recreation. real estate, rental prices, hidden costs - and think over and over "am I being realistic in my dreams? Will this be right for me? Am I a person who is a risk taker and can be flexible in a new culture?" I know one couple who moved here sight unseen - BIG risk takers - but that is an unusual way to approach the issues of living abroad.
I asked them "What would you have done if you did not like it here (they LOVE Cuenca)?"
They both answered "move somewhere else!" That is an adventurous spirit!

Second most important - visit. Many people say visit more than once and as long as you can to get a sample of life there at different times of the year. A lot of people move to Cuenca, for example, expecting there to be long, balmy evenings with a late setting sun and hot sand. Hmmmm...Cuenca is situated high in the Andes where it usually drops to around 40 degrees nearly every night of the year. The sun sets about the same time every day of the year - near 6 pm. There is no sandy beach at 8200 ft altitude. Carefully research every aspect of life you can think of .
Consider what you would sacrifice to live in a new culture. An example: I love the moderate weather here. The chilly nights feel a little colder than I expected but I've adapted. It helped that I read other blogs where people said they were buying an electric mattress heater or blanket. And there are beautiful alpaca jackets for $25. A little reality check. Yes, I miss the balmy evenings but there are so many other things I love here. It is something I can adapt to. Next year, perhaps I'll visit the US in summer to get a taste of balmy evenings and hot pavement again.

And yet, I had not considered that I would miss the angle and deep gold color of the setting sun late on a summer evening, the long moderate Oregon August evenings, walking with bare feet on hot pavement and music floating on the cooling breeze. Is that a deal breaker for me? Certainly not. But for some people, these type of things would contribute to unhappiness. And perhaps eventually returning to the US, feeling they failed.

Of course, there is another way to look at this issue. You could cut yourself some slack and say "I'm going to try living in another culture for xx months or a year. Then I'll return to the US... or I may decide I want to stay or move to yet a different place."

A couple of issues I want to touch on. These are sensitive issues and I am not saying I know the answers. I'm just bringing these up for you to investigate on your own and assess for yourself.

1) the state of life in Cuenca for physically handicapped people is not at all forward thinking. Cobblestone streets and broken pavement are not friendly to wheel chairs. Some of the sidewalks in old town are about 12 inches wide and pedestrians have virtually no rights in traffic. Buildings up to 4-5 stories tall do not need to have elevators. Most houses and apartments do not have grab bars or other helpful conveniences in my experience. Even single homes for older adults usually do not have simple adaptations to make life easier as you age, like grab bars and easy clearance into bathroom and entrance.

There is talk of building a retirement home with mixed types of housing where these sort of adaptations would be built in but...that is a way off.

2) The second issue
Let me preface this by saying I am a feminist. I have worked toward equality for women in the workplace and in university settings for about 40 years. Having said that, consider the stereotype of some Latin American males looking differently at single women or a woman alone. It may be an accurate assessment of some people in Latin America.

Investigate this for yourself. Some people live here as single women and report no problems. Yet a couple of women have told me of different incidents that caused each of them to return to the US. One woman had her earrings pulled off in mid-day in a crowded market area The earrings were from Walmart so it was not their value that was sought. She felt it was an assault on her being an "unprotected" woman out on her own.
I had a very minor but interesting incident where I was walking alone and workmen along the path stared hard at me and spoke to me - I did not understand the Espanol but but their tone and expressions were clear. It made me recall walking by construction sites in 1970 where the same behavior and worse was evident. Whistling, leering, jeering were common at that time in US cities. Back to Cuenca and present day: An hour later I walked that same path with my husband at my side. The same workmen looked up and said "buenas tardes" in a respectful fashion, unlike their behavior half an hour before. I am not talking about all men, just a few who seem to practice certain behaviors that we saw in the US prior to 1980, behaviors that are more unusual in the US now. Ecuador may be on a different time line in its own development of how to treat women or it may remain stable with the cultural values held for women.

Now remember these incidents can occur anywhere. But consider the stereotype and investigate for yourself before making huge decisions like selling everything you own.
And I want to say again that these are my thoughts and experiences reported to me. I am not saying this is a problem across the board. Some women have lived alone in Cuenca for years and have never had a difficult incident. I am not trying to be offensive or politically incorrect but I have said I would bring up difficult issues.

I know people who live in New York City, take the subway, go out in the evening to concerts, jog in Central Park on busy week ends and never have had a problem with safety issues, although they do have good "street smarts" and are aware of their surroundings all the time. No big deal.

I also know people who would not even go to New York City because of fears about crime and safety. Riding the subway would be so far out of their comfort zone...it would never happen.
So please, take the best and leave the rest.

Have a fantastic week end!
s

Daily life bumps in Cuenca

2011-09-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you have not thought of this, bring a kitchen timer. I tossed ours in at the last minute but it has been a small item we use several times per day. First of all, many ovens/stoves here do not have a clock or timer. Secondly, most people soak their vegetables and fruits in a mild cleaning solution to avoid intestinal issues so one needs a timer for that constantly. It is a small thing but a handy thing to pack if you have one. Avoids spending money on a new one.

For me, living in Cuenca for a little over 4 months has been a mostly easy transition. With a few bumps. The biggest challenge for me is not being able to see my kids or grandchildren at regular intervals. My son lives in San Diego with his wife and 2 children so when we lived in Oregon, we often saw them only 2-3 times per year. Portland and San Diego are a long way apart. But I could count on those visits. We would plan them and look forward to them and feel blue when each visit was over. Now that we live 4000 miles away, it is harder to plan. From their perspective, school schedules, jobs and the business of managing a home with a large garden impact when they will visit us in Ecuador.

My daughter and her husband and pre-schooler live in The Dalles, a small town east of Portland. Len and I were delighted to see them about once every month or two. We often cared for our grandson overnight once per month. We LOVED that time. We were there from his premature birth forward. He just turned 3 years old. We saw B often enough for him to really recognized us. He was only slightly shy with us at the beginning of each visit. I do not know when my daughter and her family will be able to visit Ecuador but I hope it will not be too long. They too have a school schedule to maintain, jobs and working on their home... so maybe it will be next summer. There there are my parents, the amazing 93 yr and 94 yr old, and my 3 brothers and their families many of whom live in the Boise, Idaho area. It will be great to see them when we visit as soon as our cedulas are completed.

I will say once again, a major factor in me feeling confident and at home here is to learn to speak Espanol. I am working on it but it will talk quite awhile before I can hold my own in even a simple conversation. Once I am a little more able to speak the language of this city/country, I will venture out more frequently and really explore the surroundings.

It was very fortunate that I had discovered a hobby i really like. I began quilting about 3 years ago and find it ever more absorbing. I have begun to design my own wall hangings and quilts. None are completed yet but one is about half done. As usual, I have about 3 projects going at once so that I can move to another one if the first project seems to tire me or I get stuck.

It is very thoughtful that some people have written to ask how our 16 year old cat Feisty is doing. Feisty is a pistol. Sometimes, I'm told, cats are hesitant and have a very difficult time adapting to a new life style. Feisty used to hunt a huge patch of orchard behind our country home. Her specialty was the mouse family: voles, moles, shrews, mice and squirrels. She seemed to leave wild birds alone which was nice.

We moved into this lovely Cuenca apartment where Feisty has no outside space at all but she just took charge of life here. She is relaxed, has favorite sleeping spots but rotates them often, explores every inch of the apartment and asks very clearly for food if her bowl is not topped off. It used to be when new people came to our two story home, she would disappear upstairs and not return until company had departed. These days, if someone comes, she greets them with a loud but friendly meow, she follow them around to see what they are doing, uses her meow being "chatty" or demanding. The second of those two vocalizations means she needs food, or at least her opinion is that she needs fresh food.

All of that summarizes my main bumps in adapting easily to live in Cuenca. Oh, except for one that is requiring a LOT of patience and mature behavior because there is truly nothing we can do to impact how fast this is done. I am referring to the cedula every immigrant requests to become a legal resident of Ecuador beyond the tourist visa of 90 days. Normally it takes about 90 days to complete. We got all of our info to our attorneys in February but had to be here in person to submit the request, meaning we submitted everything May 16th.

A personal goal about moving to South America is that we had planned to visit the US every 6 mos or with our first visit planned for October, 2011. However, we are still awaiting for receive residency to become legal so that we can leave the country without having to begin the process all over again. We were told it would take 90 days? A snafu in the Ecuadorian ministry that handles residency requests has resulted in hundreds of immigrants piled in a queue with no word of how long it will take. In addition, Ecuador has determined that each citizen (man woman and child) needs a new cedula now so there is a huge hubbub among people trying to get that accomplished. So we may not be able to visit when we had hoped. Or... our process may be completed suddenly in the next few days. No one knows. It is a little frustrating. But this is part of living in a new country.one with different procedures and strengths, as well as some weak points.

The good news for people who are thinking of moving here: the residency process will hopefully be a bit improved for your applications. I'm told the department of immigration (i call it that, I'm not sure what the official name is) is installing a new computer system to upgrade the entire process. Once that is completed, the steps may go more smoothly for people wanting to become residents of Ecuador. I'm told that since August 1, any applicants need a criminal background check from your home country - others have blogged about this in more detail - in order to apply for residency. Some other blogs have discussed all the specifics.

On another note:
Today I plan to make some Thai fish appetizer rolls, a recipe in The Almond Cookbook. Except it will be our main dinner entree. There are NO THAI RESTAURANTS in Cuenca. This is a sad state for Lenny and me because we love Thai food. I have not found any stores/tiendas that carry some of the basics of cooking Thai food: coconut milk is incredibly expensive here, and finding things like plum sauce or sweet chili sauce - well I've not been successful, yet. I DID find fish sauce at a specialty spice and import shop located on Remigio Crespo, Canalaes is the tiny but packed tienda. The fish sauce is good but a large bottle was $20! Worth it to me to enable us to make our own Thai specialties and that bottle will probably last 5 years but I was shocked. Its imported, clearly!

My daughter-in-law in San Diego sent a care package with some brown rice flour and my favorite brand of chocolate chips as well as new tubes of Blistex. It took a month to get here, going through Florida/where the international service Correos opens and inspects the package. But it arrived. Hooray!! Thank you Kathy! Oh, and Pamela's brand of gluten free pancake mix for fun meals in a hurry.

My granddaughter E.C. helped weigh things because packages have to be under 8.8 pounds. She helped package them to be sent. Part of a math project for a 3rd grader. She loves science and what makes things work. She collects rocks and has her own polisher. Pretty cool, huh? She and her mom are talking about seeing if her class could befriend a class of 3rd graders here in Cuenca for some international sharing.

My grandson A.E. is playing soccer (football in South America and the rest of the world). He went to a goalie clinic and wants to give that position a try. He is 5! But he is incredibly physically talented and has been since he could walk. He also loves to hop, jump and be on the move.

For the gluten intolerant readers, I was alaredy mixing some gluten free items to create a nice baking mix: Mandioca, a large, white-fleshed, and very nutritious tuber also called cassava or yucca, is native to the Amazon region and has been cultivated here for more than a thousand years. Its use as a staple spread as far north as Florida and to Africa, via Portuguese slave traders in the 16th Century.
Resembling a slightly gummy, subtly-sweet potato, mandioca can be boiled, fried, grated and transformed into fritters and hearty soups, or processed into meals and flours used in both sweet and savory baked goods. Tapioca comes from the same plant.

Also with the gluten intolerant readers in mind, I did a little research on arrowroot which has become more popular with the current popularity of almond flour to make foods suitable for gluten intolerant individuals. I have adapted the following info from theperfectpantry.com:

Arrowroot in Espanol is arrurruz and is, in fact, a powder made from the ground root of a Marantha arundinacea, a plant indigenous to the West Indies. The starch is extracted from rhizomes that have been growing for 6-12 months. One explanation of how arrowroot got its name is that the Arawak Indians (who called it aru aru, meaning "food of food") used the starch to draw out the toxins from wounds made by poison arrows.

Considered easier on the stomach than other forms of starch, arrowroot contains calcium and carbohydrates (less than in cornstarch) as well as other nutrients, making it an effective digestive and nutrition aid. In many markets, arrowroot biscuit packaging now features happy, smiling babies on the box.
In the kitchen there are several advantages to using arrowroot.
First, it's a more powerful thickening agent than wheat flour. Substitute two teaspoons of arrowroot for one tablespoon of all-purpose flour. Half a tablespoon of cornstarch will give the same thickening power.
theperfectpantry.com said she usually substitutes one-for-one in recipes calling for cornstarch.
Second, arrowroot is flavorless and becomes clear when cooked. Unlike cornstarch, it doesn't taste like chalk when undercooked, and it doesn't dull the appearance of sauces, fruit gels or ice cream.
Third, arrowroot mixtures thicken at a lower temperature than mixtures made with flour or cornstarch, making it ideal for delicate sauces. Like cornstarch, arrowroot should be mixed thoroughly with a cold liquid before being added to hot mixtures.
Penzeys.com sells arrowroot in the US, which can be a bit difficult to find in the supermarket but is readily available in health food stores. I believe Whole Foods carries it. I will warn you that it is expensive. Try using it instead of cornstarch or wheat flour in stew, gravy, stir fry cooking, thickening fruit sauces, etc.

The Almond Flour cookbook uses arrowroot in many of the recipes.
OK, that's all for today.

Wherever you are, have a fantastic day!
Sharon

Additional costs to moving

2011-09-09T17:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm thinking about my dad, Milt, who turns 94 years old on 9/10/2011. Milt is amazing - he continues to live with my mother in the home they bought in the late 1940's. They moved from York, Nebraska, US where they had both grown up to live outside of Caldwell, Idaho. They had not visited first. They knew no one except Milt had an uncle who had a farm to rent or sell. Milt had farmed through the dust bowl years in the midwest and the lure of irrigation water and plenty of it was strong. The country was working its way through very difficult times, not unlike now.

They loaded everything into a railroad box car, including a new tractor and 2 heifers (young cows about to give birth for the first time), the dishes packed in flour in barrels. Dad rode on the boxcar for the 3 day trip to Idaho. Uncle Jack met the train as it arrived in Caldwell. They got things unloaded and the livestock set up with food and water for the night on the new farm. The next morning, one of the heifers had given birth to a healthy calf. What an arrival!

My mother traveled with a 2 yr old and 3 yr old (my older brothers) as her parents drove them to Idaho. My Gramma Eva had been very close to the children and was not at all happy with my parents moving their young family so far away. So my parents farmed and raised 4 children there. They continue to live there to this day. The house has been remodeled, renovated, improved and now has had adaptations made by my brothers for older adults to live comfortably.

When Lenny and I told my parents and brothers (and other extended family) we were moving to Cuenca, EC, my parents were not too happy. It is understandable. 4700 miles is a loonnnnggggg way! Skype calls help, regular magic jack calls are good too. We hope to visit them in 1-2 months. I understand their feelings... I long each day to see my grandchildren and kids. I know it is now going to be more like 1 time each year that I will see them. I face the reality that my grandchildren will grow up not really knowing me and I cannot pop over from Portland on a $99 flight for a quick visit. Yet, I also understand what drove my parents to strike out on a new path... .to make their way in the world as they saw best. Just as Len and I have done in moving to Cuenca.

Milt in 2009 with great-grandson Blake, Tenley and Todd's son. Playing the harmonica followed.

So Happy Birthday to Milt. You've been a good teacher, a wonderful parent, a great model of how to be both strong and gentle at once - as a parent, a farmer, a community worker, a friend. I have many stories I could tell of your humor, your strengths, your trials and triumphs but I will leave it at this.
Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.
Sharon

18 years of a journey unfolding...

2011-09-09T16:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Anniversary and may even more interesting chapters reveal themselves.

Concluding a joyous week of social activities

2011-09-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hammocks on patio at Vilcabamba lodge.

Let's talk about money for a moment. Ecuador is a primarily cash society - credit or debit cards and checks are rarely accepted by everyday merchants for smaller items. Did you know that Ecuador is "dollar-ized", using the same currency as the US. When you are here, US gold dollars (Sacajawea coins for example) are very popular, handy and in demand. Ecuadorian 50 cent pieces are also commonly used each day. There are many small merchants, taxi drivers and the bus fare - all require small coins. Well, the bus is only 25 cents so quarters are great also.

If you are reading this in the US, you may recall the quarters from each state that some of us carefully collected? Those are very popular here too! And those books that hold one quarter for each state - Cuencanos love to collect that whole assortment and have a difficult time locating one of those quarter books. If you are moving to Cuenca and can find any of those "quarter books", it will help you break the ice here with some merchant, such as the video store owner or the leather hat maker. The children often are collecting the state quarters. You will make acquaintances quickly if you can give away a cardboard quarter book.

A twenty dollar bill, that standard of daily life in the US, is nearly useless. You need change, MAN, and small change at that! And you may need to go to the bank during open hours to get lots of small change. If you are coming from another country soon, I recommend bringing as much US change as you feel comfortable carrying. My esposo (spouse) thought I was wacky before we moved when I got 3 rolls of quarters, 2 rolls of dimes and one of nickles as we left the US. Also a big wad of $1 bills is practical as most merchants can make change for a dollar. Definitely carry on items.

One day we were at an organic market where all the merchants were farmers. A large cabbage was a dime. A bucket of potatoes was 50 cents. A large bunch of swiss chard was a nickle. You get the picture. My esposo bought an item for 10 cents and gave the merchant 50 cents. The merchant asked if he had anything smaller. It is understandable. This is a cash society but many products are priced well under a dollar so they need to collect and hang on to the smaller coins to make change throughout their sales day. At the indigenous markets and organic produce markets it is good to have a pocketful of dimes, quarters and a few nickels with a few bills in case you buy something much larger.

This is my 93 yr old mom, Maxine, in Idaho with a lap quilt I made for her a year ago. She and my dad just celebrated 71 years of marriage!

This morning we are out of fruit. This is the first time it has happened in 4 months! Lenny says he must go buy fresh fruits and veggies so that he can continue to explore his wonderous ways with pitajaya and other tropical fruits in smoothies. The last one he made had pineapple, tangerine, papaya, pitajaya and just a little cheramoya. And some pina coco yogurt (pina colada). It was heavenly with many delicate flavors teasing the tongue. I personally love the pulp of guayaba - guava (which one can find in the frozen section at grocery stores called "pulpa") to add a little at a time. There are many combinations and permutations to be explored - Len frequently brings home an unknown fruit to try in a new smoothie. It is 10 am and he is heading out now to get some provisions.

We are taking a van to the famed Vilcabamba gorgeous valley of the centaurians (later disproved but a good myth, nonetheless) later this week to read in hammocks, hike, maybe ride horses, get a massage. It is a lower altitude and quite tropical, south of Cuenca toward the Peruvian border. Honoring18 years we've been married.

This week we had several opportunities to meet with other ex-pats in various settings. It is very pleasant, chatting about our search for the right place to live, exchanging stories of our lives before moving to Ecuador, comparing and recommending tiendas, restaurants, Spanish classes, where to locate a hard-to-find item. And it is surprising to me that friendships can begin to form so easily among ex-patriots. Retired people have more time to socialize, ex-pats enjoy hearing the stories of others, people enjoy a good meal and telling their own experience, etc.

Lightly sauteed carrots, beets, garlic, onion and pepper

Len and I also had a wonderful evening with two Cuencano families who have sort of adopted us. It is such a delight to be with them. There are always 3 generations present and all give the wonderfully warm Cuenca greeting of a gentle hug and air kiss to the cheek, even if we are meeting this particular family member for the first time. The children and teens sweetly and willingly participate. The rule of these evenings is to speak Espanol only so I am language challenged. However a couple of the young women in the family help out with translation. Everyone is patient with my basic struggles with a new language. My next round of classes begins in 8 days. Hooray!

Here is a shot of Len with a few of the grandchildren transfixed by things he showed them on the IPad.

Have a terrific week. For many of you, your children are returning to school this week. When my children were young, it always brought a little sadness along with the excitement and joy of a new year of exploration for the children.
Happy September!

Sharon

The Cheerful Yellow Quilt top is completed

2011-08-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Just a short post tonight to note that the yellow/black/white quilt top is completed. I could tell you all of the mistakes I made but instead I'll tell you that this quilt makes me happy. It turned out to be much larger than I expected - my quilts have a way of growing like yeast bread.

I'm waiting for the backing fabric to arrive. I ordered it from equilter.com in Colorado, using the service of Correos. I expect the backing fabric to come this week. Once I have the that fabric, I will layer the quilt and do the quilting. I'm excited for those steps. I brought batting with me from the US so this next part should go well once I get the 3 parts layered. Most of my quilts have been for other people. It gives me great joy to see others enjoy something I created. However, I am happy that I am keeping this one to enjoy.

This is a photo of one of my favorite flowers in the garden I designed in my Oregon backyard. Echinacea, or coneflower, is related to black-eyed susans. It is a perennial that will give you years of joy if you get the plant established. From the Big Sky series, this variety is named Sunrise, if my memory is correct. It was fragrant and attracted butterflies and hummingbirds. It glowed at dawn and dusk, like a lantern in the garden.
The new quilt reminds me of this flower. For a good site with photos of many varieties of coneflower go here" http://www.daytonnursery.com/encyclopedia/perennials/echinacea.htm
Looking at plant selections online made me long for a small garden. Sigh.
----------------------------------

Right now, the quilt top is on the twin bed where my 9 year old granddaughter ECM will sleep when she comes to visit and it looks fabulous. There will be chilly nights when I drag it into the living room and snuggle under the cheerful colors while reading in my chair. Looking at the photograph, the border fabric appears to have a green reading. In person, it looks great, matches the yellow in the leafy fabric.

Tomorrow I'm going to swim and have dinner with friends. Later this week, we play cards with some lovely Cuencanas we have come to know. 4 months in Cuenca and I'm feeling more like an ex-padorian than a tourist. Len and I love it here.

Soon I will start on the next twin quilt, one my 5 yr old grandson AEM will sleep under when he visits with his sister. Then, not to be forgotten, will come a quilt for BRS who is 3 now.

I hope you have enjoyed Monday and have a great Tuesday coming up.
Sharon

A "Block of the Month" quilt lingers on

2011-08-26T20:57:00.000-07:00

City buses on Solano Avenue, Cuenca, Ecuador. Buses run every 4-6 minutes all day long. Cost to ride? 25 cents. The US dollar is used here, making it easy to drop a quarter in the slot.

A languishing project? This began as a "block of the month" quilt project. It will be a king sized bed quilt for us. Here is how it unfolded:

I took a "block of the month" quilting class with tons of good intentions in 1/2010. The idea is that you take a class that meets one time each month. At each class you get the directions for one quilt block to do that month.
The goal: complete the block to show at next month's class to avoid paying $3extra for that class. The next class is where you get the second block to complete, and then the third and so on. By the end of a full year, you should have a completed quilt, right?

A festival in the town of Tarqui, outside of Cuenca about 15 miles. Women in traditional dress.

Well, I started out pretty well. I spent 3 solid hours picking out the 12 fabrics that had to be in specific color groups. The full quilt pattern is not given until the last month. The example the teacher gave out was a scratchy black and white copy that was hard to figure out just what the quilt would look like. A beautiful sample quilt was hung in the shop but the colors were not at all to my taste so it was hard for me to visualize what I could do to make this project mine.

I am pretty independent when it comes to fabric. I did not want someone else picking out my fabrics ,but I worried quite a bit about how to make my quilt "look right". It needed to suit both my taste and that of my husband and still turn out to be something beautiful for our king size bed. Not being able to really see the pattern before spending over $250 on fabric is not something I will sign up for again!

However, selecting fabrics and coordinating colors is one of the steps I especially enjoy in the process of a quilt. There were several color issues I needed to address: I really like eggplant/ deep purple and found a great sunflower batik fabric in a deep purple and sunset orange to become the outer border as well as the center of each block. However, my husband really likes blue so different shades of blue needed to be incorporated that would coordinate with the sunflower fabric. I needed to create a quilt that is somewhat feminine but is manly at the same time. So I ended up with a couple of shades of lavender/purple and several shades of blue. I selected a range of vanilla through rose-tinted tans for the third color group to suit to the pattern and add contrast.

Here is the stack of fabrics I selected:

Here is what the first blocks look like:

Around the fifth month, I got a little derailed in spite of all my good intentions. From day one, I had some challenges with this project. First, class members are not allowed to see the entire quilt pattern but have a vague black and white sketch of what it will look like. A sample quilt was hanging in the shop but it was hard to sort out colors and no one knew which block we were doing first.

Class members could not get quilt block directions ahead to cut out fabric for later blocks if one had some unexpected time. This was hard for people with handicaps and limitations (time, physical, etc) and was not made clear until the 2nd month of class. Because I was working full time, I rarely had extra time to cut out fabric for a project. And yet, sometimes, I would be feeling well and have the energy so that I could have cut out extra pieces to help me stay current. But I understand this is a"hard and fast rule" of block of the month classes. It also would have helped me know if I had enough of each color of fabric. Even today, I worry that I will not have enough of one or another fabric as I continue to complete the quilt. Although that worry is misplaced because any fabrics I purchased in 2010 are long gone by now. Plus I am living in Ecuador! A quick trip to the fabric store is not easy to accomplish.

I am not an advanced quilter. The talent of the women in the group taking this class was phenomenal and exciting to see...and more than a little intimidating. I only saw these women one time per month so there was not a spirit of camaraderie developing where I might have felt comfortable asking one of them for a little direction. The teacher also was quite busy with an unexpectedly large class. So I remained quiet about being a little off the rails.

The first 5 months, I did great and was pleased with the blocks. Then I got behind when my elderly mother fell and broke her hip, leading to frequent trips to another state to help out a bit. She is doing much better, by the way. She is 93 and quite a pistol, spunky and strong. Then in August of 2010, my father had a very bad reaction following a hip replacement so that he also was not doing well at all. I am glad to report that he is much improved but has a longer road to regain his former mobility. He turns 94 in about 2 weeks. I am so grateful I was able to make several trips from Oregon to Idaho to visit/help out the year before we moved to Ecuador. I have 3 brothers and sisters-in law who live near my parents and are a tremendous help to them. Thank you to my siblings for your careful work and devotion to our parents.

However, my quilt project was officially now languishing. There was one block I simply could not figure out and the teacher was not available for specific questions. Finally, I asked my wonderful other teacher Victoria if she could help me sort out what I was doing wrong. She looked at the teacher's directions and found places where specific corrections had been made to the pattern - by the pattern company - but I had missed the classes where this was explained. So some of the directions handed out each month had incorrect directions. Sheesh!

I got discouraged about the time a few of the other women were showing their completed projects in December, 2010. Many of the were quite beautiful. A couple of them were actually stunning. Several others had not yet finished their project. I imagine some dropped out entirely. But this is the way of quilt classes and projects.

When we decided in January of 2011 that we were moving to Cuenca asap, I decided to wait until my move to Cuenca was complete and then find the right time to pull this project out again to make the king size quilt.

One thing you need to know about me and quilting is that I always have about 3 projects going. For example, this week I put more borders on the cheerful yellow quilt, I learned to make button holes for a pillow I am making and I finished a pair of pajama pants. Iwill put a project away for awhile if something is a roadblock but I pull the project back out later on. I will complete this quilt. I have a "quilt queue" as I call my list of projects. The king bed quilt is slated to be completed by 12/12/2012.

Looking at the fabric and laying out the completed blocks to photograph for this post got me interested and psyched up again so it may get moved up in the queue.A few months from now will be the right time to pull this project out again and complete the king size quilt.

Wish me luck in getting this BIG project completed by 12/2012 which will make it a 2 year long quilt... or as I have dubbed it (tongue in cheek), my "block of the year" quilt.

Hey: Here is a peek at another project in the queue: a tribute to my great-grandfather on my dad's side, Milton Sovereign, who was in the civil war (I showed in a previous post the fabrics for another civil war tribute to my great-grandfather on my mom's side, Spencer Douglas)

I plan to fussy cut that fabric in the center as it has about 4 different flowers like the one above. The flower will go in the center of each star in the quilt.

So my days are busy with quilting, meeting people, exploring tiendas in different Cuenca neighborhoods, working to learn Espanol and the usual activities of cooking et al. I am a happy jubilada (retired woman).

Happy quilting. Thank you for your interest in my blog!
And happy weekend to each of you!
Sharon

PS If you are interested in civil war era fabric, you should know about the site:
http://www.reproductionfabrics.com it is really fun to browse. They carry fabrics representing many periods in the 1800's.

A Few More Thoughts About Life in Cuenca, especially if you are sensitive to glutens

2011-08-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

Much of this has been written elsewhere in the blogs but I thought I'd touch on a few issues I've discovered after nearly 4 months of life in South America. First the info I've gathered about being gluten intolerant or celiac= cannot eat wheat, rye or barley. May cause intestinal problems with permanent damage, inflammation all over, keeping certain areas irritated and painful.

This typical almuerzo (lunch) made in the home of a friend was nearly all safe for those who cannot eat wheat, barley or rye. The pancake looking things center left - some were made of corn only. Incredibly considerate of this friend!

There is a lot of barley here in Cuenca, it kind of sneaks into things like soup and cereals so this is one to watch for if you react to it. If you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, it seems reasonable to be a little nervous about eating in Ecuador if eating glutens can make you sick. Being intolerant of gluten just makes life a little more complicated. I am sharing some thoughts about ways to manage. These are just my own ideas because people react to different things.

Making a transition to local foods is fine with this caveat: if you are moving here, I would bring a whole suitcase of brown rice flour, some sorghum flour, and a gluten free mix for either bread or pancakes, because those things are NOT available here anywhere that I have found. Pamela's or Authentic Foods both have fine products in the US. Can be ordered on Amazon but watch the prices and be sure it is free ship. Finding products locally is also a great option in the US. I have not been able to locate teff flour here. I liked adding a little teff because it is unusually high in protein and adds a slightly nutty flavor to baked goods. Related to that middle eastern grain, there are not many Thai foods here in Cuenca, such as the noodle mixes, coconut milk for some reason is beyond expensive here, and I have not located any coconut flour although coconuts are everywhere. I tried pulverizing coconut in my blender and it was successful but fairly coarse. Fine for cookies.

On the positive side, in Cuenca I have found banana flour, quinoa flour, blue corn flour (which Ecuador calls harina de negro) and something I don't think I'll use even though I bought some: vetch flour. Its gluten free but later I read that it is described as a noxious weed in the US. On the plus side, these grains are packaged in small quantities (approx 1 pound) and usually well under $1. so you can experiment without a big outlay of cash. The banana flour made a marvelous cake!

I have ground brown rice in a coffee type grinder but it is not fine enough although its ok for cookies in a pinch. I went to a specialty shop to get corn starch and potato starch (to make the gluten free baking mix). I plan to buy a grinder when I visit the US next - expensive but I believe we will realize a savings because of grinding items I simply cannot find now.like to bake and usually make all of our food.

Remember I have only lived here about 4 mo so there are a ton of tiendas I have not explored. I have had both a Cuencana friend and ex-pats try to locate brown rice flour and finally the woman/owner of Kookaburra Cafe, Jenny, told me I just would not find it anywhere. She had some good tips and is aware of the needs of people who are gluten free .Her husband Chris told me where to buy fresh pan de yuca - little rolls with a bit of melted cheese inside, delicious when just baked. I have yuca flour but have not tried making pan de yuca yet myself. Must do that. It is easy and gf.

We do not go out to eat often but that is just how we normally are. I like to make healthy foods and manage the type of oil used, etc. And I need to manage how things are prepared. Also Cuencanos will tell you what they think you want to hear so if you ask if there is wheat used in the soup after explaining to them that it is not ok for you to eat it, they will say "Oh, no wheat" (in Espanol of course). They are not lying, they genuinely want to please. There seems to be no understanding of celiac disease or gf needs of some people here. I'm sure there are celiacs here but perhaps it is much less known/diagnosed/treated. More than half of the population of Ecuador does not get adequate basic health care.

I love the fresh veggie markets. The tropical fruits are cheap, exotic and delicious. There are supermarkets "SuperMaxi" has 3 of them around Cuenca where a lot of upscale Cuencanos shop, as well as a lot of gringos. Prices are all over the map. Peanut butter, the imported brand name is $7+/jar. Most people who are addicted to peanut butter bring it back and then have others bring some down. Products made in Ecuador tend to be surprisingly inexpensive. 2 kilograms of sugar for $1.25 (that is over 4 pounds). Bananas 30 cents per pound but on Wednesdays, all produce is 20% off at SuperMaxi.
Good to know!

Breakfast is no problem, easy to work around regarding wheat sensitivity, so we go out for breakfast usually once a week. Sometimes, I can find a gluten free granola cereal at SuperMaxi grocery but not always. It is made in Ecuador and is called "Quinua y Amaranto". Today it was in stock and cost $3.28 for about 1/2 pound. Everyone says if you see something you like, stock up because it may disappear and not be stocked again for a long time.

Lunch is great if you have no allergies but hard for celiacs because it is fun if you bump into someone and they say "lets get almuerzo". You never know just what will be served or how it was prepared(dipped in flour?). They love corn here and make it into many things: breads, tortillas, etc, etc. So that is ok except that sometimes there is wheat flour in the recipe too. After a few more months of living here, I predict I'll know where are good places for people who need to eat gluten free.

We don't go out for dinner often. We are aware of a couple of places where there are things on the menu that are fine. The Hotel Victoria, the restaurant is called Les Jardins, has a fabulous chef who speaks English, was trained in Argentina, is such a great, friendly fellow. He was very solicitous when we were there after I explained the gluten thing. I'd recommend having Hotel Victoria on your list of places to eat. They also have a fantastic view and the prices are not high compared to the US. You'll be creating your own path to restaurants you like when you are here.

Remember people are all different so what you react to may not cause the next person any problem. And what I like may not be a place you'd enjoy. Weaving a path that suits you is really what retirement is all about. Most people have budget concerns but can work within those boundaries here in Cuenca. Many people need to try a number of things before settling into retirement that includes activities, people and places they love. Cuenca lends itself very beautifully to this quest of retirees and others.

Back to food for a minute: pasta and pizza are big here and several are delicious but...all wheat so far as I've found. So that is one item you may want to bring if you buy any prepared gf stuff to pack because I've not been able to locate pasta, pizza crust or gluten free bread mixes. I had a favorite pasta brand but cannot recall the name. I believe it had quinoa and something else and did not get soggy like some do.

Well, this got too long as my things tend to do. Hope this is helpful. If you are researching a place to which you may move, spend as much time there as you can, explore other cities in the area, try to get a sense of each place - how are people treated, how clean is the area? Is housing available?

Oh, one more thought. There is an airline approved foot locker you can order on Amazon for $40 plus free shipping. It holds a LOT and counts as one checked bag. A retired airline pilot told us about it. Of course it cannot weigh over 50 pounds but....still. Some people bring their favorite "Costco sized" detergent because those sold here are kind of different. I have not had any problem. We decided not to buy a washer and dryer now because a laundry service is a block away. They wash, dry and fold all of our clothes for about $2.50/week. We take the detergent (it saves a little).

I have had moderately dry skin all of my life but it is better here.
The cream used for whipping is out of this world delicious. Rich and thick like cream from the 1950's
The water in Cuenca is treated AND it is delicious right out of the tap. I took probiotics (at Target or any drug store) for 2 weeks before I arrived and 3 weeks after and had no intestinal upset or related issues. Check with your doctor, of course.

If I step one foot out of Cuenca, I drink bottled water. There are parasites and amoebas and nasty things. We soak every single edible fruit or veg when it comes in the door. The soak stuff Kilol, a bacteriacide, required only 3-4 drops in a quart of water, soak for 3 min and rinse off. Kilol is available in every grocery store in the produce section, lasts a long time and is not expensive.

Well, lets wrap this up for today.
Hope you are having a tremendous week wherever you are!

Sharon

Feisty the cat just cannot seem to relax. Yes that is a heating pad - she likes to lie on it (it is not on).

And the next blog post will be something about quilting. These things seemed timely.

Cuenca University is very centrally located. They have a nice pool for swimming.

The Tomebamba River
Below, a bag of 40 limons (like limes) cost 50 cents today. Len the photographer thought it looked pretty on the new quilt.

Learning about vegetables in Cuenca

2011-08-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

See info in post on Aug 15, for discussion.
The purple and white vegetable is...
Two people thought it looks like a Peruvian potato which is indeed, well, purple. However, a friend who was born and raised in Cuenca, said the photo looks like a type of yuca. She did not see the actual vegetable in person so I"m leaning more toward potato, myself because the texture seemed between that of a potato and the fibrous, almost stringy nature of yuca. Perhaps shredding it in a food processor helped with the tougher texture.

Len brought home a different vegetable that was small and dark colored on the outside like a beet but shaped longer with a little pointed tip like a yam. It was a very deep "eggplant" color of purple but when I peeled it, it was a palest buttery color inside. It was pretty tough but not fibrous/stringy. It seemed to be some sort of yam. Its in today's soup so I don't know the texture or taste yet.

Len also brought home a camote, a different type of yam, not very pretty - kind of like a knobby brown potato, but it too is delicious when cooked. I'll post pictures next time he brings those home. I forgot before peeling them yesterday. {:-D I was hungry!

I'm working on the next post which is about quilting and some of the things that arise in Cuenca for people who sew.
Have a marvelous Monday!
S
A reader, Carol N, shared a great link about sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes go back in South American culture 5000 years! I'm going out to hunt for some sweet potatoes and yams. kumar is the Quechua word for sweet potato while ipomoea batata is the word in Espanol.
The word for yam in Espanol is camote. For more info go to
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/difference-yams-sweet-potatoes/
Thanks for the great resource and info, Carol.
Sharon

A Brief Change to the look of the blog

2011-08-17T03:10:00.000-07:00

Made a brief change to see if it is easier to read. Let me know what you think. Thanks.

Can someone identify this Cuenca vegetable?

2011-08-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

I never tire of the views around this gorgeous city!

Lenny does nearly all of the produce shopping in our family. He loves finding good bargains and takes joy in bringing home new things we have not had before moving to Cuenca. He makes a delicious smoothie every morning with a variety of fresh tropical fruits and yogurt.

A terrific selection of lovely tropical fruits and veggies.

So the other day, he brought home what he thought were some dark skinned yams. Len bought them at the Coopera where there are often no signs identifying produce. I was making soup today so I got the purple things out of the fridge and peeled them. The outside skin was almost black. Just under the outer skin is a gorgeous deep purple color but it is a thin layer. Then, as you can see in the photo, the inside is kind of white with purple veins or dots. I shredded it and put it in the soup. It had a wonderful texture, between a potato and a carrot. The shape before i peeled it (oops, I did not think to take a picture BEFORE I peeled it) was like yams or sweet potatoes in the US. However, the flavor was not like yams and the cooked texture was more like a carrot.

Can someone please tell me what this interesting vegetable is? I liked it and will use it in soup again.

The soup was a tomato base. Len found a dozen tomatoes for $1, on special because they needed to be used right away. For about two hours, I cooked the tomato with some onion, garlic, a little hot sauce, the mystery vegetable, fresh pepper, dried oregano and salt with some chicken broth. At the last minute before serving, I added some cream and heated through. Then I topped it with a slice of avocado.

Hey, this was out of this world! It made enough for 2 or 3 more meals for both of us if I make a salad or side dishes to go with. I'll freeze one meal. I'm really enjoying cooking in SA as a jubilada (retired woman) with time to experiment!

Looking at Cuenca. That is Solano Ave going up the center of the photo. The view is from Turi. The old part of the city would be toward the top of the photo, beyond this view.

Have a terrific Tuesday in your corner of the world!
S

some more thoughts about packing/shipping...and another week in a new continent

2011-08-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

If you move to Cuenca, you may notice several things you used to take for granted are not on the grocery shelves. It is not a BIG deal for most people. After all, Cuenca has friendly people, pleasant weather, luscious tropical fruits at inexpensive prices, beauty all around us and many of the conveniences we were used to, as well as some fantastic new experiences.

I have a few more suggestions to help you think about what you may want to pack, if you are bringing a container or buying some space on someone else's container or shipping goods in any way. We had the good fortune to rent a little space on another couple's container. I was very occupied with what few household goods to ship. I am glad for all the things I DID bring but I wish I had packed a couple more boxes. I am enjoying life here every day so don't get me wrong. Its not a big deal. Some of it is getting used to living in another culture with the new lifestyle of retirement.

It reminds me a bit of when I moved from Berkeley, CA to Washington D.C. many years ago. I could not find a brand of yogurt I favored. I needed to learn which seasonings to buy because there were different regional choices . Back then, there were no chain stores so it was a bit of an adjustment to find the products I was used to on the West Coast.

So let's imagine that I had 2 large moving boxes to fill up with some things I'd like to have now, even though I can live very well without them. 2 new boxes of baking soda, plenty of good quality tupperware type of items - the ones here are cheaply made and incredibly expensive. Lots of printer paper - the paper made here does not fit American printers. A powerful blender. Any small appliances or electronics that you think you may need will be less expensive in the US and possibly better quality or the very same brands. Toaster, mixer, food processor, microwave are all considerations. Also DVD player if room, (you can get most DVDs here but if you already own favorites, bring them). Your fav reference books. I gave away about 20 cook books and miss a couple of those greatly. Remember, although books are very heavy, buying books here in English is a little complicated. There is no Barnes & Nobel down the street! A Kindle or similar reading device allows you to have books without the weight and you can easily add books here.

More warm clothes for chilly evenings and early mornings. I gave away 5 beautiful 100% alpaca sweaters of my husband's and mine because I could not imagine we would need them here. Duh! Pack warm pajamas for cold evenings. Consider an electric blanket - it is cheaper to run than the room heaters they sell here. By 8 am it is warming up most days so it is the darkest hours of night that may challenge you regarding temperature. Also pack plenty of good quality towels and linens (bath, bed, kitchen). They do not seem much cheaper in price here but it is hard to find the quality you are used to in the US. If you have favorite shampoo, other personal products, toss a bunch of those in because you will run into that inflation for imported products, even if they do have the product you want here. Well I think the two boxes are getting full.

A total aside: yesterday my grandson in Oregon turned 3. We had a wonderful visit on Skype. Happy Birthday BRS

An aside about shopping here:
I just located a place to buy rice noodles so that is great. I was down to my last 6 oz of rice noodles brought from the US. We really like them with stir fry. There is good pizza here to suit all sorts of tastes. I plan to make some gluten free pizza crust soon. Grinding whole brown rice in a little coffee grinder is working for now. But I will probably burn it out soon. I tried almonds and it got pretty hot. Either the almonds were moist or they are naturally oily and gummed it up a bit. still it worked to make some flour for cookies. I'm researching powerful grinders - boy, they get expensive quickly! But it would make life easier and can be amortized over several years.

I'm about to break down and ask a friend to ship me some Nestles Toll House chocolate chips. I still have half a package...like an alcoholic looking at that half bottle of vodka! What an obsession I have going. I sometimes go months without eating chocolate but right now is not one of those times. Generally, I'd rather skip dessert if I cannot eat toll house choc chips cookies. I pass on chocolate that is not dark and semi-sweet. We found a couple of good, responsibly grown and produced Ecuadorian chocolates but they do not come in chip form, as I've mentioned before. It is good eating chocolate - very healthy for that one bite you are supposed to have per day. But too expensive, even here where it is grown and produced, to put in cookies. So Nestle Toll House remains my favorite.

We joined a service here that ships things from a Miami address to Ecuador. So I can order something on Amazon, for instance, have it shipped to this Miami address, they open it, clear it for drugs and contraband, etc, it cannot be over 8 lbs and then charge us $5 per pound additional shipping and send it on to us. It takes about 2 more weeks from Miami to Cuenca but has worked great on a couple of things we tried. For us, it is to be used for important needs only due to that extra shipping plus we get charged Florida tax on the purchase. Gets us coming and going but then we get the item that seemed important/needed so it is worth it in some cases.

Social front:
We have met some lovely expats who are quite interesting and have some things in common with us. Len is kind of a hero to a guy here who loves anything Apple = IPhone, IPod, IPad 2 so those two talk on a similar geek plane. We met up with them 2-3 times this week. Meeting people is helpful and easier than I had imagined, easier than when I was in Portland because peopled live so far away and did not have much time. Being retired has great advantages! And Cuenca is 400,000 people but in a basin, much less spread out than Portland, OR so things seem closer and more accessible in ways. The ex-pat community is smaller than some inflated numbers indicate. Probably not over 1000 English speaking expats but no one has hard numbers. Even the US Consulate representative - she estimated only 400 US expats here in Cuenca but many point out that does not include those of us who are awaiting residency status, nor does it include those who are here illegally.

We hosted an Espanol-speaking card party this week. Ironically we never got to cards but we spoke Spanish all evening with 3 women who are the most generous, welcoming Cuencanas. I prepared a great dinner of Italian soup, antipasto platter, made a new kind of coleslaw with the great cabbage they grow locally. I also made cobbler from Ecuadorian mora - black berries. The berries looked gorgeous but were quite sour. R. told me they are usually used in juice but I had the crust made, waiting, the oven hot and my mind set on cobbler. I added more sugar and some canned peaches and baked it for an hour. With a dollop of whipped cream, it was delicious. The dinner turned out really well and the company was excellent. Thank you R for the tip about sour mora!

Oh, I have to praise the whipping cream here. It is divine! Like the silky, rich cream I recall from my youth on a farm in Idaho. My mom used to make the most fabulous butter. Sometimes she shaped it into roses, which I doubt we 4 kids appreciated. Hey - I do now, Mom. That butter was a work of art!

A favorite colonial building facing Parque Calderon, the city center.

Not knowing Spanish is my biggest issue. I went out each day this past week, to shops to a meeting, to wander around looking at the beauty and unique scenes that make up Cuenca, and tried speaking Espanol as much as possible.

Last week I ordered some curtains for my sewing room - you may have read that in my blog. Riding in the taxi for about 2 miles in total silence because the seamstress/decorator did not speak a word of Eng and I did not have enough Espanol to get a whole sentence going. Interesting. Kind of uncomfortable but I lived. I'm so used to chatting. But once we arrived at her studio, she and I got the basics covered and I LOVED the textile place where we got the curtain material.

This week she came to hang the curtains. They are lovely. I am really pleased with them. Now I'm enjoying the thought of painted walls so I'm browsing the Sherwin-Williams web site. You can upload a photo of your own room and then try out a combination of paints on the walls. It is really fun! Here is a photo of the room. Remember, it is a work in progress. The light through the curtains made the walls look spotty, they really are a solid color.

The walls are a light cream now.

One wall will be an accent wall and the rest will be a fairly light but not too neutral color.
Selecting colors is 60% of the fun of painting a room for me.

Now back to the issue of what to bring:

If you have special dietary needs, check with the shipping company to see if unopened boxes and cans of food can be shipped in a container. If it can be, load up on the products you need/like and bring them. Include a note in large font taped securely on the top of the food box written in Spanish and English that explains your food sensitivity and why you are bringing these foods.

I brought some food in this way, not in the container but packed in a suitcase with a bilingual note, and had no problem at customs or with security. GREAT TIP: You can purchase an airline approved foot locker on Amazon.com for about $45, free shipping to a US address. A former airline pilot who is living here told us about that. The foot locker can be used as a suitcase/checked baggage on future flights. It would help keep your food secure while in the container and then could be used on flights back to visit the US, etc. I worried, perhaps unnecessarily about varmints on a ship being attracted to the container if it had foodstuffs. But your shipping company will have advice about that.

It is helpful to know that there are airline approved foot lockers you can check like a bag, it must meet the weight and size limits, it counts as one of your checked bags. But it holds a lot. Just remember it cannot be over 50 lbs. Otherwise, pack that puppy to the brim!

A brief aside about food issues:

Ecuador has wonderful coconut that is not sweetened. Its dried and full of natural flavor, shredded very fine but long shreds - it is terrific. I used to love Baker's coconut but this healthier coconut is great. Anyway, I'm quite sure I could beat the heck out of it in the blender and it would be like the coconut flour I have been unable to locate anywhere in Cuenca... so thanks to Lynette in Oregon for another idea. "Blenderize" the dried coconut.

I have looked at Vitamix over the years and always nearly pass out at the cost. A reader of the blog suggested a high quality grain grinder so I checked out the brands that are rated highly for quality of grinding and durability - and again nearly passed out in a heap at the cost. But maybe I'll save toward one of these. I know that Vitamix would do juices nicely with pulp and skin of some. However, we are doing fine making smoothies with the blender we bought here. And it is the grains and nuts I need help with for eating gluten free.

So back to what to bring in the container or boxes you may ship? That is your tough decision to make. Others have blogged about the difficult choices of what to pack and what must find a new home. A moving example is Nancy of nancynrich writing about her camel box - does it go? does it stay?Those tough decisions are part of the wrenching yet exciting decisions you face if you are launching a new adventure.

Regarding packing your valued objects, I bought almost no packing material because it worked so well to wrap things in my fabric stash, towels, sheets, etc. We brought basics by renting space on someone else's container, as I mentioned. We had about 10 boxes and a few household goods. Amazingly, everything arrived with only one casualty - my office chair had an important piece broken. But the chair was 10 yr old and can be replaced.

All the china, art objects, paintings, computer equipment, etc arrived in perfect condition - just as I had packed it. If you sew and are coming to Cuenca, pack your things in fabric. It gets your fabric here and protects your belongings from breakage at the same time. I lined boxes with bath towels and small rugs, cushioning the china and other delicate objects inside that protective cover. When I packed pans and pots, I added Tupper-ware type stuff to keep the box as light as possible. I lined the sides with cookie sheets and flat objects, only wrapping things with a fragile component, such as a small handle on a pan. I wrapped those items with kitchen towels.

Shipping a container is risky and expensive. Sharing a container with someone else is a good solution for some. Just as some people elect to have a moving company pack their goods, others elect to come with just 4 suitcases and leave all the rest for a brand new start. These are personal decisions and quite overwhelming at times. You will sort out what is right for you and what works for your budget and time-line.

So, I hope this is helpful to some of you reading this who are contemplating coming to Cuenca. It gives you a peek into one person's process.

Have a terrific weekend - enjoy each day, wherever you are in your life journey.

Black Corn Waffles and Finding A Great Tienda

2011-08-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

A friend in the US began talking on Skype about Waffle House on Sunday and got a craving going. The West Coast of the US has no Waffle House restaurants and I'm in Ecuador anyway so....I made gluten free waffles using some blue corn flour harina morada (the package says 100% negro maiz - grown in Ecuador). I added about 1/3 cup to the usual gf flour mix of brown rice flour, sorghum, corn starch and yuca starch. Black corn sounds dramatic, the waffles were the color of blueberries.

I used some of the ultra-pastuerized MILK (in a plastic bag kept on a room temp shelf at the store) that I was afraid to try. It smelled like the milking parlor of my childhood farm. Poured in the mix, it was fine. The yuca starch seems to make the waffles rise very nicely, compared to when I use corn starch.

Of course, I added baking soda which is so hard to find here and very coveted, along with the rest of the recipe from a gf cookbook. The result was quite tasty. Could be either savory or sweet, depending on topping. Lenny who does not have to avoid wheat pronounced the waffles "delicious!".

Photos of what is still around. The waffles disappeared before I pulled out my the camera .

Today I went to a tienda, Cadelaes, on Remigio Crespo Tor and felt like I hit the jackpot. It is a tiny store maybe 20 feet wide - you step up to a counter where you can see a lot spices and other goods but cannot browse or touch. You quickly ask for what you want and one of 2 staff women complete the transation fast because there are usually 3 or more people instantly waiting behind you needing attention. A friend invoked Seinfeld in desscribing the owner as the "Spice Nazi" (remember the "Soup Nazi" skit?) because she sits back in the corner while her two helpers race from front counter to her desk at the back, asking her where items are.

I saw a HUGE Nestle's chocolate bar, 10 pounds of cooking chocolate, but that was not my mission.
Instead, I found cornstarch, sesame oil, rice vinegar, vanilla and potato starch. The starches are used in making gluten free flour mix because wheat has a stretchy quality that needs to be somehow created/imitated in gf baked goods.

Oh, they had several types of nuts including pine nuts. Hooray!
And I bought a tiny bag of baking soda. The government requirement of giving passport number, picture ID, phone and local address again occurred because soda is used in some way related to drugs. I am too naive to know what. But it cracks me up, in a way. The use of the word "crack" was not an intentional pun.

Baking soda in the largest package you can buy.

Next time I go, I will get some chili flakes (I saw them but forgot) and a couple of other things they have there. Paprika. The sesame oil will help Len get back to making great stir fry dinners - just a touch adds such flavor. I also found out where we can buy fresh "made on the spot" tofu that is great tasting.

Len is a great chef when it comes to stir fry:

Things are slowly beginning to reside on our pantry shelves so that we can cook a variety of meals more easily.

I did practice Espanol, telling the cab driver directions and I was able to interact pretty comfortably with the tienda senorita (who spoke a tiny bit of English). I had written out translations for the flour, spices and other things I was seeking so that helped.

Feisty the cat named it a pretty successful day.

I hope yours was a good day also and that tomorrow is terrific !
Sharon

Sometimes it's hard

2011-08-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

I am new to Ecuador and Cuenca. 12 weeks ago, my husband and I elected to move here. I'm a guest in this country. I have great intentions to maintain a good attitude about honoring the Ecuadorian people and learning the ways of a new culture. I do NOT want to be "an ugly American", pushing my values on another culture, expecting a little American community to be set up in a 3rd world country to cater to ME. I really want to be the non-complaining ex-pat in a new country... but I will note that at times it is harder than I'd imagined.

So I don't mean to complain. My intentions are good. Things crop up that are frustrating no matter where one lives. Of course they do. There are so many positive things here in Cuenca - the delicious exotic fruits and some wonderful vibrant organic vegetables. Beef and chicken that are grass fed, hormone free, not raised in inhumane and unclean conditions. Accessible health care that is inexpensive. Dramatically less conspicious consumption. Content children who rarely seem to whine and scream. Friendly native Cuencanos who greet us warmly and welcome us to their beautiful country.

I can go on and on with positives and I've only been here 3 months!

So what's up? I'm a little down and homesick. I miss my kids. My grandchildren are going to be growing up without seeing me often. My plan to fly to the states every 6 months to see my 93 yr old parents and the rest of my family and friends is on hold for now because we do not have our residency papers. We do not have our residency papers because the minister of immigration is in jail for fraudulent immigration practices and the new minister has not been appointed yet. Oh, and the government talk is of changing the whole process and doing immigration differently. No one has a time line. No one knows just what is happening. A lot of people,"ex-pats" like us, are waiting "in line" for the same thing we need.

What else is bothering me. I miss friends with whom I've developed connections over years, I miss my quilting buddy/friend Cindy who postponed lots of things to spend time together. I miss wandering aisles of gorgeous, varied cotton quilting fabrics and I miss my favorite patient, kind, funny quilt teacher.

I miss picking out milk that is in the cold case rather than sitting on a regular shelf in a plastic bag (I'm afraid to even try it!). I miss smelling the luxurious scent of a pink rose in my garden. I miss the occasional Starbucks cupa.

I miss Target, for God's sake. Oh, the convenience of having many different items under one roof at fairly good prices, where I know what brands I like from years of experience.

I miss the warm weight of a child sitting on my lap, the soft cheek against mine. I miss the bedtime routine of reading a story to bright little faces while their breath slows and their muscles still, preparing for sleep.

So what do I need to do? Well, I just need to buck up when these waves of home-sickness wash over me. Of course I miss familiar things. When a person spends over 50 years immersed in a culture, it is a BIG change to learn a new one.

What else? I need to double up on the efforts to learn Espanol and learn faster. I need to practice the words I know by speaking to people every day... rather than doing that deer in the headlights thing.

I need to walk by the river every morning and soak up that positive energy.

I need to recenter my self.
I need to recommit to being adventurous and brave and upbeat in this new life adventure.
I need to ask my dear husband, who is being so incredibly adventurous and adapting so quickly, to give me more hugs.
I need to take a trip on Monday going out alone to deal with the new culture by shopping for a few spices and a couple of other items I need. Blundering through with my herky jerky Spanish will give me confidence.

And maybe I need to loosen up and buy one of those ghastly expensive grain mills so that I can more easily live gluten free here, grinding the grains I need to more easily avoid wheat and prepare foods I enjoy and can eat safely.

So this is "Buck Up Sharon" signing off.
Tomorrow is a new day waiting to unfold with new adventures.

Exploring Cuenca

2011-08-01T21:42:00.000-07:00

San Blas Catedral, one of many beautiful churches in Cuenca.

Cuenca has many small shops and businesses. Whenever I ride in a taxi, I look out the side window at the shops and scenery I'm passing. NEVER sit in front or look out the front window of a cab! There are 2 reasons for this. Looking straight ahead is too terrifying because you see the near misses and seemingly crazy risks drivers take here. I really do not know how anyone is brave enough to drive in Ecuador! The second reason is to spot shops for future reference. You know, where to look for a sofa, when we decide to get more furniture, for instance - our place is partly furnished.

Tiendas - there are many tiny shops all over Cuenca.

Another way to learn about services is to ask others in the ex-pat community. People tend to be very helpful with information and generous with their time. Most of them have been in the same situation of trying to build a new "nest" after leaving most of one's belongings behind. And getting acquainted with new people, building a support network, sorting out who you may have interests in common with, etc.

In the past few days, I got recommendations for different people who could make curtains for my sewing room. Yes, I know how to sew but I'm not confident I would do justice to filmy organza curtains. I want to have sort of embroidered organza elegant curtains which will be very pretty and then a heavier fabric for drapes at the same window for privacy when I want it. I called several people. Or I should say I had help from my friend Silene who grew up in Venezuela and is very fluent in Espanol. Silene has been very kind, helping me by translating, bargaining on fabric, asking questions and generally doing a great job.

That is Silene in the white shirt.

It is SOOO frustrating not to speak the language of this country. My next Espanol classes begin in Septiembre, which cannot come soon enough! I am not sure I will ever be fluent but I surely would like to know most of what is being said and to be able to participate in a conversation beyond the "pidgin" Spanish I attempt now.

So I selected a person, Daniela Delgado, after she came over to measure the window. I showed her what I had in mind. Dear Silene was on the phone with her explaining Then we went to Daniela's studio in El Centro near San Blas church, where I looked at some fabric samples and showed her the type of fabric I had in mind for the drapes. I changed the color of the drapery to a shade between ivory and taupe. After that, she drove us to a textile/fabric store, Decortextiles. Wow! I could spend 3 hours there just looking at fabrics. This was my second trip and I still longed to look around more. But we stayed on task and bought the fabric I had picked out on my first visit.

The store is on Av. Hurtado de Mendoza y Jose Joaquin de Olmedo. Honestly! The names of the streets here are so challenging for a gringo who does not speak Espanol. I am having a bit of a challenge learning my way around because the street names are so complex and because I don't speak the language. Kick kick kick - that is me kicking myself for not taking Spanish when I was 16 or 20 or 30, etc.

Once the transaction at the fabric/textile store was complete, we went back to Daniela's studio so she could finish the paperwork. Now, imagine, all of this is completed with me speaking very little Espanol and her speaking NO English. But she was good at pantomime and I am also so we did ok.

All of that completed, I stepped out on the busy street and hailed a taxi to get home. I actually was able to exchange a bit of information and pleasantries with the cab driver. So it was a great afternoon adventure and I'm proud of myself for venturing out.

San Blas from across the square.

I'll post a photo in the future of the curtains/draperies once they are completed. She estimated she will be ready to hang them by August 10.

Hope you are having a terrific Tuesday!
Sharon
PS a warm nod to my esposo Lenny, my IT go to guy, my fav photographer. For more fantaastic photos and a different perspective, check out his blog Faces Of Cuenca

quilts in progress

2011-07-31T19:17:00.000-07:00

Blue and yellow french country quilt-to-be pieces laid out

When I moved to Ecuador, I knew there were no quilt shops in Cuenca (reportedly at least). So I stocked up on fabric, patterns for new quilts and planned to spend some of my new retirement time quilting. As it turns out, I have quite a few quilts in progress. I thought today I would show you some.
The French country quilt above is from a pattern I found in an Australian magazine. Half way through making it, the magazine disappeared, never to be seen again. It took me about 3 months and the help of my dear friend Cindy who had to go through inter-library loan to get a copy of the pattern so that I could complete the quilt. well, its still to be completed. Lesson learned? Always make 3 copies of a quilt pattern, just in case!
It will also be my first attempt at machine applique.

This is the first quilt I completed. It is also the pattern I use often, with variations. It is easy and people seem to love it. I gave the first several quilts away as gifts. This is where my grandson Andrew will sleep when he comes to visit us. He is 5 and about to begin kindergarten.

This quilt top needs to be completed. I am using it on our king bed so need to add a couple more borders and then layer and quilt it. It never fails to cheer me as I come down the hall on a cloudy day and see that glorious color.

This quilt is a Fig Tree design as are some of the fabrics. I was working on it when I suddenly needed to pack it to move last spring. I just pulled it out of the plastic bag this afternoon. Poor thing needs some love.

When I moved here, I brought only one blanket (our old blankets were ready to toss out anyway). So I am making quilts for us to use. I'll just pile them on a bed as needed. Like the old pioneer days. although it does not really get THAT cold here. Around 35-45 most nights of the year. But it never snows here. Hooray.

Sharon's grandfather Joseph sewed awnings in York, Nebraska, USA in 1930s and '40's.

My dear grandson Blake who will be 3 next month. He is always fascinated by the sewing machine and loves playing beside it. He wants to figure out what makes it work!
I'm not sure which quilt he will snuggle under when he comes to visit but I know I'll have one he will like!

This red and caramel/cream quilt is one I'm excited about. It was a ball picking out the 18 reds and 15 caramels for this quilt. I found the pattern in that same Australian magazine ("Australian Patchwork and Quilting"). Its ready to start but on my list after I complete some of the projects above.

Here is what it will look like.
One day I was in a quilt shop with Cindy looking for the perfect caramel to use and another shopper began talking to me about the pattern and project. Turned out we had a lot in common and now she reads my blog and we communicate about our quilts. Hi Verla!

And how is the yellow/black/white quilt coming along? I have the rows together and will add the setting triangles tomorrow. In this photo, you can see where the triangles will go. Also, the pleasant circle of leaves that showed up once the blocks came together.

This is the quilt that will be for my grand-daughter Emma to enjoy when she is here. She will sleep in my sewing room. The twin bed is all ready for her whenever they come (probably, maybe, I hope at least by next summer).

I hope you had a great week end and now look forward to some interesting things as a new week begins.
Best,
Sharon.

Living wheat-free in Cuenca, Ecuador - Is It Possible?

2011-07-28T19:50:00.000-07:00

Oh my gosh! I did not anticipate how challenging it would be to avoid wheat here. Some people have what is called celiac disease, meaning they cannot eat wheat, barley or rye, which all have gluten (more on that below). Avoiding gluten in the US has become much easier in the past 5 years because a lot of products have been showing up as well as specialty stores where there are many great products without gluten .Even Betty Crocker and Rice Krispies offer a gluten free choices.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are fine,as are meat, chicken, dairy, eggs - just not wheat, rye and barley are the trouble-makers for people with celiac disease. This photo shows pitajaya, a tropical fruit Len and I have really fallen for. It has a taste similar to kiwi, has many health benefits and is terrific in a smoothie.

In the US, one can buy pasta made of quinoa, rice or corn, cake mixes without any wheat in them, sauces and condiments that are wheat free, pizza crust and many other things. At an upscale grocery store in Portland, I found products from Peru that were delicious. I assumed they would be easily available in Ecuador. Blue corn flour, sweet potato flour, a couple of grains high in protein but I can no longer recall the names.

I knew the ready-made wheat-free products would not be available here but I assumed products like the grains and flours from Peru would be easily available in Ecuador. Coconut flour, almond flour and date palm sugar are all good products I figured would be here. After all, palms and coconuts are growing all over the place at lower elevations in Ecuador. Fresh coconut is offered by street vendors every day.

Wrong! Ecuador (for better and for worse) tries not to import products, encouraging people to buy and use Ecuadorian products. So even blue corn flour from Peru is nowhere to be found. I'm not sure why there is no coconut flour or palm sugar but...I have not been able to find any.

There are many many tiendas here (small shops) so it is possible I have missed where these products are sold but...so far I have not had success in finding some basics I need.

I adapted a recipe for coconut shrimp, making the batter out of "approved" quinoa flour. The green stuff is chard picked that morning and sauteed with garlic and a little olive oil. That is fresh pineapple and the strawberries add color. It was delicious. Ecuador has an enviable supply of fresh fish from the Pacific Ocean.

x
I make most of the food we eat. I enjoy cooking and baking. I had found ways to work around the gluten free challenges, making pizza crust, salad dressings, soups, whole grain bread and, cupcakes that were all delicious. Now, I am a little too challenged. Striking out at finding flours and grains that I can have. I have found no brown rice flour. No teff flour (the oldest and smallest grain in the world with a nice nutty flavor and high in protein). No sorghum flour. I could go on but you get the picture.

These are some of the flours I have found that are gluten free.

The other day I found banana flour. Yup, somehow it is made from banana and it has no gluten. I mixed it about half and half with some sorghum flour I had brought with me and made cookies. They were delicious! OK, so we have a start. I made a fresh banana cake which was delicious and gf (gluten free). And corn is fine so many ways to make corn flour into delicious things.

Gluten free chocolate chip cookie dough - makes cookies that do not seem any different from the regular recipe. I used about 1/3 banana flour. There was a very bare hint of banana flavor when the cookies were cold but not at other times.

Ecuador has wonderful pan (bread) in many neighborhood bakeries - there is nearly one on every block! But I have not found any that are making gluten free products. I don't mean to whine but...am I the only one in Ecuador who is trying to be gluten free? That is not possible, is it?

Why is it important to be gluten free if you have celiac disease? gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, spelt, kamut, and oats. My non official explanation: gluten causes inflammation in some people with sensitivity which damages the small intestine and also causes pain in people with fibromyalgia and possibly arthritis. Joints, muscles and connective tissue seem to be impacted by the inflammation. Many people report digestive upset, bloating and other unpleasant intestinal effects if they eat gluten. Some people are really sensitive and can be sick for days from one small exposure or a slight contamination from wheat. Others just find that they feel better and have more energy if they do not consume gluten loaded products.

This is baked chicken with fresh salsa made from tomatoes, avocado, papaya, pineapple, lime, garlic and red onion. Rica and salad round out the meal which is gluten free and made from scratch at home.

It is really fun to go out for lunch in Cuenca. Many restaurants have a special almuerzo which costs around $2.50/person. It includes usually a delicious soup, rice or potatoes, popcorn (to put in the soup), a main entree like fish, chicken, beef, a fresh juice and a tiny dessert. The problem is for me that most places are unaware of gluten problems so wheat flour is used to bread meats, to thicken soups, and other ways they would not think of to mention if asked "is there any wheat flour or barley in this?"

I have tried a couple of vegetarian restaurants, hoping they would not use wheat or barley but there also wheat is used as a thickener in soups and added to so many foods. I found barley in one soup after the owner told me there was no gluten in the soup.

So mostly I do not go out for meals. Better to feel good than have a social experience that causes problems.

My Espanol is not good at all, I am learning Spanish but slowly.
I carry this note with me at all times:
"Soy alergica. (I am alergic)Sin trigo (no wheat), sin cebada (no barley), sin centeno (no rye).
Libre de gluten (gluten free)"

This smoothie has papaya (orange colored fruit), cherimoya (which lends a cloud like quality to the drink), pitajaya, an orange and coconut-pineapple yogurt. All gluten free.

I need a Gluten Free Users Group!! Please let me know if you are eating free of wheat/gluten here in Cuenca, EC.Or if you know of a market that sells coconut flour, palm sugar, other gluten free flours.

Tonight I am blanching almonds and will grind them to make my own flour. Yesterday, I found brown rice (arroz integral) and ground some to make brown rice flour, a great staple for cooking/baking gf. It was not as fine as I'd like but it was a great start.

If you think you may react to wheat or gluten, there is a simple blood test that can be done.

Here are some helpful sites:
http://www.celiaccentral.org/News/NFCA-Blogs/Recipe-of-the-Week

http://gflinks.com/ many sites, resources and books are listed here

glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/

Gluten-Free Goddess Karina shares hundreds of creative gluten-free recipes with luscious photos, baking tips, dairy-free recipes

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/celiac-disease/DS00319/

Scott Adams put up Celiac.com in 1995. It was the first important site on celiac disease. And Scott has been relentlessly expanding it ever since. This is where most people start.

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Almond flour is a healthy choice but I've not been able to find any here. I have a new, unused coffee grinder for grinding my own flours. I have a pound of almonds. They need to be blanched (taking the brown husks off) and dried before I can grind them into flour.
How Do You Blanch Almonds? I found these directions online.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 5 minutes

Here's How:

Place almonds in a bowl.
Pour boiling water to barely cover almonds.
Let the almonds sit for 1 minute and no longer.
Drain, rinse under cold water, and drain again.
Pat dry and slip the skins off.

Tips:

Don't let almonds sit in hot water too long or they will lose their crispness.
1 pound of almonds in the shell will yield about 1-1/2 cups shelled.
1 pound shelled = 3 cups whole or 4 cups slivered.

What You Need: almonds!

A few things you'll need - the nitty gritty

2011-07-27T23:37:00.000-07:00

If you are moving to Cuenca, here are a few things you might not think of that would be good to pack if you are bringing a container. A BIG box of paper towels and Kleenex-type tissue. Paper products here are so expensive that it takes a big chunk of budget to buy any. Of course, it is good for the environment not to use paper products but...how do you pat the chicken dry before cooking it without a paper towel?

By the way, toilet paper is no problem so don't pack that.

Go to a dollar store if you are in the US and stock up on gallon and quart size plastic bags. Again, not good for the environment but sometimes one really needs a plastic bag. In our house, we are cleaning and reusing when possible the ones we brought because they are so expensive here (and for the environment). We'd rather spend our money on things we like than plastic bags. Same for packing some "tupperware" type stuff that is microwave safe. They have it here but it is another item on the "How much?" list.

Bring some rags. Old towels and t-shirts to use for cleaning. If you hire a cleaning person here, you will still need rags. Also a couple of old comfy shirts for lounging around - we brought only our nicer stuff and miss having some old knock-around clothes to kick back in. FashionFlash: People do not wear capris in Cuenca, unless you are a tourist, from somewhere other than South America. For one reason, it is usually too cool in the evenings to wear capris. For another, well, gee, I'm not sure why. When it is "hot'' here, ie 75-80 f degrees, which locals call "mucho calor" very hot, people wear light weight slacks and shirts. No capris. And NO ONE seems to wear shorts in Cuenca, unless you are a foreign tourist.

If you are a Women's size 12 or larger, plan to bring any and all clothes you will need for quite awhile. There are really cute clothes here but most are size 10 and smaller. Ecuadorian women are very small, in general.

Also, do not expect to easily find the cute, cheap flip flops here. Touristas, again. However, if you are looking for cute women's heels or boots, this place is NIRVANA. Soooo many cute shoes in little shops all over the city. Really fashionable and REALLY sexy shoes! With high high high heels! And I have to say, I have never seen women anywhere walk so well in high heels. Seriously! While carrying heavy boxes, going down stairs with a toddler on a hip, cleaning a floor, rushing along cobblestone streets with broken sidewalks, running up steps at an angle. Women wear high heels in Ecuador and look FABULOUS!

Definitely bring bath rugs, towels, kitchen towels, sheets, tablecloths and napkins. Many of these seem to be, thin, rough, very poor quality with high price tags compared to Bed, Bath and Beyond or overstock.com prices. Worth stocking up on your favorites.

Bring a few office supplies: rubber bands are hard to come by here, paper clips, pens you like, colored markers/highlighters. There are tons of notebooks in various sizes and they are very cheap. Printer paper is not a problem and there are lots of copy shops if you do not have your own printer. An extra printer cartridge or 3 is a good idea, again due to price.

Basically, anything Ecuador has to import is quite expensive. Small electronics, small kitchen appliances, computers, washing machines, electric blanket or mattress warmer. Someone told me she saw a Kitchen-aid mixer (which is pretty top of the line) priced at $900! Check Amazon pricing - the EC price is about 4 times more.

However, do not forget: food in restaurants is generally an amazingly low price. $2.50 buys you a delicious soup, rice, fish, a small salad and fresh strawberries and a fruit drink. Fresh fruits and vegetables are very low priced in the markets. Many grocery items are priced at very reasonable levels. Sugar is cheap. Flour is cheap.

Housing is generally about 1/3 the cost of the area I lived in, Portland, OR. Hiring someone to make curtains or to clean your home - very reasonable.Water, gas and electric are all amazingly low prices for utilities. Internet and cable/satellite are not cheap but each are under $100/mo depending on service you select.

I have not found TUMS here yet. Might want to stock up if that is something you need from time to time. Same goes for Blistex. You can buy Chapstick but I have not seen any Blistex. OTC things like Aleve or Tylenol is available here but does not seem cheaper than Costco prices.

Back to the container, if you are allowed to pack some food item in tin or something like that, consider this mystery: there is a Nestle plant in Guayaquil cranking out tons of products (chocolate drinks, powder for making chocolate drinks for kids, coffee additives, etc) but they do not sell chocolate chips as we know them anywhere I can find in Ecuador. Now of course, Ecuador sells many other types of chocolates, some of them with excellent flavor. But if you love chocolate chip cookies, bring a lot of Nestle's Toll House semi-sweet dark chocolate chips or whatever your fav brand happens to be.

DVDs can be purchased in any of many little shops for $1.50. Copyright law enforcement seems to be non-existent so illegal copies are the norm. If you want to buy a DVD at full price, honoring the copyright, it will be hard to locate where to do this! And yes you can get the DVD in English and the original version. It will not have the extras like interviews with the director, etc, but the price is very tempting and makes a lot of movies you were only semi-interested in seem more appealing.

Now, if you are like me, you wonder why all the gates and fences. And big dogs. Why is that when the reported crime rate is not unusually high? It has to be more than just the Spanish Colonial tradition which is certainly part of it. I am told home invasions and theft are two main concerns. So yes, there are gates for security, there are hot wires or jagged glass at the tops of some walls. There are many barking dogs. But it feels safe to my husband who walks every day for miles around this city. Again, remember smart awareness of what is around you, as discussed a few days ago.

Electric fence along top of wall between properties.

I left my binoculars with a friend at the last minute due to weight issues with suitcases. Wow, I wish I had brought them. I'll get them my first trip back to visit but it would be so nice to have them now. There are so many vistas to admire. And there are tiny hummingbirds too fast to see without binocs.

There are great bargains here and many convenient, wonderful surprises, like papayas and creamy avocados for 20 cents each. Of course the things I wish I had included are all slanted toward my interests and taste but I hope these ideas can be helpful to someone thinking of moving here. If you are packing a container, pack a few things that are hard to find or expensive compared to the US.

Best of luck!
Sharon

The Cheerful Yellow Quilt project

2011-07-26T19:54:00.000-07:00

I'm knee deep in a new quilt. I am using yellow, black and white prints. I bought these fabrics some time ago. On my first look this week, in pulling all the fabrics and the pattern out, it seemed one fabric did not to go with the others. The shade of yellow was different and yet I really like the fabric. I think I need it for contrast, it has some orange in it with yellow and black print - it is a very cool print. I worried and fussed about this quite a bit as I was sorting out the pattern, making design changes and doing the math that goes with that.

Here are the fabrics stacked and waiting for their assignments.

I went into my closet of fabric and found a soft two tone yellow that I thought might pull it all together. I changed the pattern somewhat to include the soft yellow and now have the basic blocks completed.

I noticed, not for the first time, that working with fabrics at nearly any stage of a quilt project makes me happy, lifts my mood from wherever it was to a higher plane! That is always a good thing, right? And these yellow fabrics are so cheerful!

A little aside: here is a business op waiting to happen. There are no quilt stores in Cuenca. There are fabric stores but not like we have in the US, Britain and Australia. I believe it is very difficult to import fabrics into EC. Local Ecuadorians sew a lot and make gorgeous things but I do not know if they make quilts. In the Andes, quilts seem like a great idea. We moved here with no blankets at all so I'm making quilts as fast as I can! Oh, I forgot, we brought an electric blanket, thank goodness! Nights get quite chilly here. So if you are looking for a business op, opening a quilt shop is one!

I learned to sew in 4-H as a kid. I wanted to be out with the animals, not doing some silly apron. I was kind of a brat to my mother who is a good seamstress and wanted me to learn to sew. Sorry Mom! I'm so glad I learned.

However, when I had two young kids, was in grad school and then began working full time around age 30, I stopped sewing and did not sew for 30 years! I got interested in quilting about 3 years ago and have found a great hobby that suits me. I feel so fortunate.

Lenny calls this "Sharon's Workshop"

I've had my machine for nearly 3 years and it makes me happy every time I turn it on. It is a Pfaff 4.0 but the main thing is just that it is well suited to what I do. I did not need a "Mercedes" type of machine and neither did I want a bottom of the line machine. This one suits me just great. It has a walking foot built in, it hums when I run it, it has way more stitch choices than I can possibly ever use. Its all good!

I still have to cut the setting triangles and 4 borders but this quilt is moving along. And I believe the colors and prints will all work together. Of course, the colors may not represent as true colors on the web! There will certainly be movement and contrast in this quilt! And I hope harmony.

The quilt is twin size - it will look good on the twin bed we have ready for my granddaughter Emma to sleep in whenever she can come see us. Emma is 9. By the time they come, I will probably have a twin quilt for the bed her brother Andrew will sleep in too. Andrew is 5. And maybe I will even have completed one for my grandson Blake who is nearly 3 yrs old.

I hope my kids (that includes their spouses, of course!) and grandchildren will visit in summer of 2012 but I'll be happy to have them visit any time! We have 3 twin beds in the ready for visiting grandchildren. Then their parents can enjoy evenings exploring the city and stay nearby while we see if we still know how to entertain grandkids. I can hardly wait!

I changed the pattern to include more stars and less elongated 9 patch blocks.

Photo of some of the stars as they come together. The blocks are 12". NOTE to my friend Cindy (and quilting buddy in Oregon) and to Victoria, my quilt teacher, I'm off the reservation here on the Quilt 201 pattern. My stars will not 'float' due to the pale yellow but I wanted to see how the changes would look.

Photo of starry center block and the pale yellow used in same block.
I'm calling this quilt "Starry Starry Night".

I hope this finds you having a terrific week.
Sharon

A brief chat about retirement with a psychological spin

2011-07-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

I want to talk a bit about the psychology of retirement which has been on my mind a lot lately...so it seems like the right moment.

Let's start with baby boomers.
First let me say that I love my generation: screaming at Beatles concerts in the '60s, serious anti-Viet Nam war protests in the early 70's, the "sit up and take notice of what is really needed" of the later '70's and '80's and the "OMG, I've gotta make a living" of later years, the boomer generation has had its own expression of many different beliefs and values. And left a stamp on American society that has had a big impact on daily life.

Now we boomers are hitting retirement age. Although it seems to anyone working full time that retirement would be really easy, it is not always the case. And the fact that people in their 20's 30's and 40's should be thinking about leisure activities to develop for retirement is a shocking concept to many. People are not very good as saving $ in the US but they are even less likely to develop hobbies or interests they can pursue when they are retired.

I spent my career working in the field of psychology. I often counseled people about the issues of retirement that many do not think of. The "what will you do every day, day after day?" questions.

I taught therapists about the need to educate clients to prepare for "the leisure years" of retirement. With good health and longevity, you could end up being retired more years than you actually worked at a job and spent raising children to adulthood. Age 62 and up is a big chunk of your life.

Humans evolved having to work to survive. Hunting, gathering, planting, weaving, etc. Even today, after you may quit your "main work", you need some sort of work to survive and thrive. As a retired person, each of us needs three or four things to do. These need to:

1) absorb our interest

2) engage our skills

3) address needs for both connected time with people and time alone

3) challenge our self esteem and intellect as we shift from "importance at a job" to a whole new identity: that of "aging retired person".

There is a need to redefine yourself in this new role. By that I do not mean you will be a whole new person. Your values and core beliefs are likely to remain constant. However, you now can decide who you want to spend time with and how long you want to stay. You can develop an exercise plan you perhaps never had time to fully engage in. You can eat differently to address concerns about health before they become larger. You can put more energy into a primary relationship that may have been flagging. You may want to develop a few close friends or to build a large circle of acquaintances. You can investigate places you never had time to do before and try activities that are new: the tango, scuba diving, playing bridge, etc.

If you are reading this and you are young, begin thinking about what hobbies you might enjoy, things that might interest you for those retirement years. As the years go by during ages 30 to 60 try out different hobbies, develop interests with this in mind. This in itself is important work!

If you are reading this and you are 55 or older, take stock and see if there are areas that need some attention in your life.

What to do?

I'm big on lists:

A list can help you clarify your thoughts and fine tune interests.

List the things with which you might occupy your time

for example: exercise, learning to cook low fat meals, learning to tune your own motorcycle, learning to paint or weave, studying a foreign language, develop some new friends, learning wood working, learning self defense, etc.

What else?

List some things you are pretty sure you are not interested in but try to be open to new experiences.

Doing a little volunteer work is a great way to give back to your community. There are tons of volunteer opportunities and great need for your help all over the globe. List 3-5 things you can "try out" in a small way to see if helping in that area would work for you. If not, then move to another project and another, until you find a good fit. Remember, the boomers are also people who have had many advantages and now CAN give back to the globe. Many are dedicated to a cause already. If not, now is a great time to explore.

Next, list things you KNOW you want to do and have been looking forward to having time to pursue.

I'm big on boundaries too: Set boundaries about how much time you give to any hobby, volunteer work, interest. I would suggest keeping it low at first, you can always add more hours later. Also set friendly boundaries about how much time you spend with your best friend, your partner, people you are getting to know. Take your time. Ask for more time from those with whom you wish to be closer. Gently set limits with those with whom you want to spend less time.

Set good boundaries so that others do not end up taking all of your time, leaving you feeling empty, resentful and exhausted. Set clear boundaries in a polite but firm way right from the beginning and stick to them. Of course, you can always change your boundaries if you want to. But it is important to establish a precedent at the outset which gets you respect of others. You are the one at the wheel of this retirement car you are driving. So you can set the driving course, control the speed, stop as needed, make periodic tune ups and practice good maintenance on the Retirement Highway.

A couple of us were recently talking about the art of being polite and moderately sociable as needed. It seemed a consensus but novel idea that retired persons can set boundaries about spending hours with people or subjects we do not find interesting. Set boundaries with people and topics if you do not have good level of comfort. Of course, use your good judgment. If there is a meeting on how to better invest your retirement money, perhaps you should listen well and learn things to make the best informed decisions.

Here is an example: I spent a few years in corporate America. I was not particularly good at corporate meetings. I had good ideas but I learned fairly quickly that the managers were not seeking ideas or innovation but attendance & compliance. Management just wanted people to show up, to be silent, to let them get through their required data and to sign a paper that the meeting was completed. What a waste of human potential! And a waste of time for a room full of bright people! So I now find it very pleasing that I do not ever have to sit through a "be silent" required meeting again. I just will not do it!

Evaluate your schedule. Look to see if you have a good balance with time alone, time with others, time helping, exercise and taking time for yourself. The number of hours needed will vary for each person, and a person's needs change from time to time. Balance is the important word here. You will feel better and your mood will be brighter if you strive for a good balance of these things.

Moving to a new culture presents new issues, such as leaving familiar haunts and losing regular contact with family and friends. With free video calls through Skype and similar services, you can keep up with family and friends if they are willing to give it a try. It is not the same has hanging out but it is a great way to stay in touch when you are half a world away.

This is my grandson who was eating peaches when I was packing to move. It is hard to be 4700 miles away from my grandchildren and kids (and friends and extended family) but for me there are compelling reasons to live in Cuenca.

With Skype, the video part really adds to the feeling of closeness because you can see their expressions, watch their body language, even see if they are in their jammies or their best outfit to go out!

There are many more thoughts about how to have a happy retirement. Others have written on blogs about this subject. There are books on it. A little work and trying out different interests can provide a great structure for a lively, active retired life. If health issues crop up, you can do your best to work around them and adapt your activities as needed.

Let me know your thoughts too. What are your experiences that have turned out well and those that did not?

This got long! Tomorrow, a short entry about quilting!

Have a fantastic week!
Hasta Luego, Sharon
One's acquaintances may fill the world, but one's true friends can be but few. anon

Retire to Cuenca, EC: Different and yet the same

2011-07-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Weekend!
What is Cuenca, Ecuador really like? Part 4 of 4

I was told recently by someone who has never lived outside the borders of the US: "Well, Ecuador is just a little farther south but pretty much the same as Mexico in terms of diet, people, music and everything, right?"
I sort of stared at him, feeling rather taken aback, trying not to let my jaw drop. And I felt a need to grab this "teaching moment". Especially since I, not long ago, had a few similar stereotypes and lack of geographic knowledge.

The geographic distance from, oh, let's say Mexico City to the where I am living in Cuenca Ecuador is approximately 2000 miles (3219 kilometers), or about the same distance as Portland, Oregon, way over on the west coast, to New York City, way over on the east coast. 2000 miles is a long way! Central and South America encompass lots of regional differences, lots of different histories. To me, it does not seem realistic to expect things to be "the same".

However, here is a favorite picture of mine because it shows the behavior between teens to be similar around the globe - the wish to connect,the looking while trying to appear not to be looking, the standing closer but not knowing how to connect yet... seems universal.

Just as one cannot say that Canada and the US are the same, it cannot be said of Latin American countries. Each country in South America and Central America has their own identity, with perhaps some similarities in culture and cuisine but also many many differences. I hope one day to travel around South America to learn more about these similarities and differences.

Already in my short time residing in Cuenca, I have observed a national pride among many people in this country, a national identity. I have seen it when they talk of football, when they discuss practices within the country such as eating food grown in Ecuador first rather than buying imported goods, when they talk of crime, when they talk of festivals and dance. Ecuadorians are aware of differences between people from the coast and those from Cuenca or Quito, for example. But they also cite ways they work together and communicate easily about many things. Generalizations just don't work, anywhere in this global community.

So what about being a minority of the non-hispanic Caucasian, citizen of US variety in the larger culture of Ecuador? Well I need more than 9 weeks to know much about that. But I can say that Cuencanos tend to be initially more friendly than the people of some places I've visited or lived. It appears to be easy to begin to get acquainted with Cuencanos. They seem to be an accepting and outgoing people, generally. Is this is partly due to the Latin American way of life? My husband walks all over the city, rides buses and feels very safe. He stated he feels safer here than he did on the bus in Portland. He practices the recommended precautions of not carrying much cash, not flashing expensive gadgets around (such as an expensive camera or phone) and understands that crime like pick pockets can occur anywhere.

Here the woman dressed in older traditional clothes and the modern woman on the right in tight jeans and heels both are in the village to celebrate a festival. and unconsciously demonstrate the struggle between traditional ways and modern ways among indigenous people.

Indigenous children often take a second and third look if we are riding the bus which is mostly used by working class Cuencanos. The really young children will smile shyly or even touch your back if they are seated behind you. We are different looking to them. It is ok for them to wonder about these different looking people. There is a sweetness about this that touches me.

Is the open friendly nature of the people of Cuenca somewhat because this part of Ecuador was not really accessible until the 1950's when well paved roads were completed, allowing Cuenca to be visited by many more people. Is it possible they have less influence from "possession hungry America" and have had generally positive experiences with people from Estados Unidas (US)?

In the village of Tarqui, at the celebration of the festival of the Virgin Carmen.

Indigenous or native people are often less willing to talk to a foreigner, more shy, less open to having their pictures taken. They are very hardworking and have exceedingly strong family values, in general. There are many middle class people in Cuenca who are working hard to have a higher standard of living. And there are very wealthy people in Cuenca who sometimes have some lineage going back to Spain. They often are struggling to raise standards for the good of social issues, such as improving orphanages or working on environmental issues. Although of course, people from any group may be working on each of these issues. I do not mean to generalize but to give some idea of the tone of Cuenca's population.

I am distressed personally to see Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King here in Cuenca to name a couple of the handful of fast food joints popping up here. Distressed because, to my way of thinking, this represents some of the worst of the US: fast food with high, empty calories. Distressed because this may signal many changes already in progress toward less healthy eating, less family connection around meals at home, and other ills similar to this. Keep the healthy eating and family values!

Gluten free coconut shrimp with fresh pineapple and steamed chard picked that morning (with a little olive oil and garlic - yum!) These strawberries did not measure up to Oregon's best but it may be that it is winter here. But this is a wheat free dinner I can really get behind! In a couple of posts, I'll discuss the challenge of being wheat free/gluten free in Cuenca.

But back to Cuencanos. Many seem to have their own version of being warm and open to the world. Some of the Cuencanos I have met have not shown the initial caution and hesitation people of my former neighborhood in Oregon would have shown. I find I like that quite a lot! The greeting of a quick hug and cheek kiss is a great way to start out and end interactions. It seems one can be friendly and still hold back judgment about a person until you get to know them. What a concept! And it just naturally feels better to be open and friendly than it does to be reserved, cautious and frightened, which is a chilly place to occupy. Fear is a crippling emotion and much of life in the US has been immobilized by fear in the past decade.

HOW TO BLEND IN?

Well, it is OK to face up to reality if you are obviously not a native Ecuadoran. It is pretty impossible to blend in if you don't speak Spanish well and you have the skin of a Scottish barmaid and rather thin light gray hair! Hiding in a crowd is not easy. But that can be accepted with good humor. People from other countries who are English speaking are referred to as "gringos" here and it is not usually said in a rude way but with a wry smile and shrug.

As a new person in this country, I want to present as a pleasant, self assured but not pushy woman. I want to embrace life in Cuenca with my own timeline. I want to learn about and honor this culture. If I need assistance, I ask a shop keeper in a polite manner - using just a few words of Spanish is usually met with a generous effort to help. People will help you if you are disoriented or cannot find what you are looking for and you let them know it. But basic Spanish is required. And good judgment in who you ask.

I was told by someone who grew up in a South American country that the Latin American way to greet a person is to ask how they are, take time to ask after their family or where they come from. Then, it is time to ask a question or get to the point. The first exchanges cannot be left out or skipped - it is seen as very rude.

Again, these are my observations and opinions after living in Ecuador for just 9 weeks.
I hope you have a wonderful week end and a new week about to begin.
Sharon

Cuenca is tropical, right?

2011-07-20T15:11:00.000-07:00

What is Cuenca REALLY like, Part 3

ISN'T CUENCA TROPICAL? ITS ON THE EQUATOR

Well, Cold is Relative and Mindset Impacts Experience

Let's talk a little about weather and expectations:
Yes, Cuenca is just 2 degrees south of the equator. However, Cuenca is nestled in a high basin in the Andes Mountains at 8200 ft altitude (2500 meters). That is HIGH. Denver, Colorado in the US is called "The Mile High City". A mile is 5280 ft so Cuenca is about 3000 feet higher. Yes, that's high. This causes the nights to be chilly, sometimes downright cold.

I've only been here 9 weeks but there have been few nights warmer than 42 F degrees. So do not expect balmy, long evenings at 80 degrees. Nope, truth is at 40 degrees you need a sweater or two, maybe a coat, and an electric blanket is not a bad idea! Buildings in Cuenca are built most often with no air conditioning and no heating system. There are portable heaters that people use to take the chill off of a room. They work well. These little heaters would not be good for, oh, say, winter in Minnesota or Norway, but they are helpful here.

National Chamber of Commerce buiding, Cuenca.

It is also important to know that the nighttime temp in Cuenca rarely falls below 35 F degrees, which is a good thing! Now picture Anchorage, Alaska or Krasnoyarsk, Russia - those places get COLD! Si. Mucho frio!

If you are coming to Cuenca, EC, think of adopting this mindset: Cuenca is a part of the world that is moderate but not balmy, there are periods with rain and cooler temps and there are periods where days are in the 70 degree range. If you are coming here expecting hot nights and hotter days, you will be quite disappointed.

I borrowed the following info from goecuador.com
"The weather in Ecuador is exceptionally difficult to predict. There are virtually countless micro-climates due to extremely varied topography that cause varied weather in neighboring geographical locations.
One generalization that can be made is that the temperature is usually colder the higher the altitude. Still, people in Quito and much of the Andes have a saying, "We have four seasons in a single day." Although the temperature does not vary much throughout the course of the year - the country does straddle the equator - Ecuador's rainy season coincides with winter months in the northern hemisphere."

Cleaning the streets, on Calle Larga street in El Centro (old part of the city)

And the rain? Pinning down the avg rainfall for Cuenca has been a bit of a challenge. With research, I found avg rainfall estimates from 20" per yr ( 0.508 m) up to 39" per year listed on Wiki. I believe 20" is more typical.

Now, I am talking about Cuenca. Go to the Amazon or the coast and you will have balmy, humid, hot days and warm nights, heavy rains - a very different climate.

And while we are flogging this subject of weather in Cuenca, what about daytime temps? The average = 55 F degrees. It is rare for the temp to get over 80 F degrees. There are often days that hit 70 F degrees in the afternoon. At the same time, it is rare for the daytime temp to dip below 50 F so that is also a good thing. Moderate is a great word to describe Cuenca. Most days the sun is out for a little bit. Think of getting out there to walk or enjoy that brief sunshine if you are in the middle of a rainy stretch.

A typical festive almuerzo (lunch) for a gathering of guests and family Almuerzo is the main meal of the day in Ecuador.

Also, Cuencanos have told me it is important to wear layers here year round because the weather changes so quickly with big swings of daytime warm to nights that are brisk.

It is all part of living in this part of the world. Cuenca is not humid. It does not get snow. "Cold" is a relative term. Also true of "hot". What Cuencanos call "mucho calor" (very hot) is what people in Sweden or Washington, D.C. would call mild and pleasant - for example 75 F degrees with low humidity.

I hope all this weather talk is helpful. Some people who move here seem to complain a lot about the weather. Perhaps I should look at that as an outlet, a mild venting or a conversational topic and not take it too seriously. But it is good to know what to expect if you are thinking of visiting or moving to Cuenca. And remember, alpaca fiber is one of the warmest in the world and it is incredibly inexpensive here... so buy an alpaca sweater and stay warm!

A different angle of the beautiful Neuvo Catedral (new church) built in the 1800's in Cuenca.

Special thanks to my favorite photographer, mi esposa Lenny Charnoff

What is Cuenca REALLY like? Those are my personal observations in 3 parts.
Next? Lets focus on quilting for the next post.
Have a terrific day!
S

What is living in Cuenca really like?

2011-07-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

CUENCA: Part 2 Does this 3rd world city have dirty streets and unclean water?

This stereotype of Ecuador by some people is really not accurate: the streets of Cuenca are spotless. I have not spent any significant time in other Ecuadorian cities but Cuenca is a clean, friendly, beautiful Spanish colonial city nestled high in a basin in the Andes Mountains. The water tumbles out of the higher mountains surrounding Cuenca. There is a treatment plant at the edge of town and most people drink right from the tap in the city of Cuenca. Outside of Cuenca, bottled water is a very good idea. I personally recommend using probiotics (available over the counter at your local drug store) for a couple of weeks before you come and the first few weeks you are here. Check with your own doctor to be sure this is a good product for you. It builds healthy flora in your intestines. This is not medical advice, of course. Just a personal opinion. And some people drink bottled water, soda or beer all the time.

Back to the streets: you see are people quietly cleaning the streets the old fashioned way - walking along sweeping and picking up trash at all hours of the day and night during the week and yes, even on week ends.

At the recent festival of Corpus Christi, there was a huge celebration each night in the main park around which this city revolves - Parque Calderon. It included a street fair going all day with food, entertainment, people of all ages passing through hour by hour all evening. Many people were milling about, eating, laughing at entertainment. The crowd had that happy roar that accompanies a celebration. People were having fun.

Each evening of the festival, several paper and wood castles was constructed around Parque Calderon. At 9 pm, festivities would reach a climax and the castles were lit on fire. For anyone who knows the complications of managing an area used for a multitude of things during a festival, you know this could be a nightmare. And yet... Crowd management appeared to be very good. During Corpus Christi, the plaza in Parque Calderon was actually hosed off and scrubbed each night following the burning of the "castles". Men quietly appeared in rubber boots and work overcoats, carrying large hoses. These workers showed up all around the plaza with large brushes, brooms and suds and cleaned diligently so that the plaza appeared fresh and renewed the next morning.

What about concerns regarding the environment? Well, this is a huge complex subject and gets political pretty quickly so let me just comment on what I have observed:

Recycling is picked up 3 times per week at the front of your property. There are special BLUE recycle bags to separate as you discard things throughout the week - all recycling goes in the BLUE bag. I rinse the items out of habit but recyclables are tossed into that BLUE bag to recycle. After the city picks it up, it is sorted into specific types of recycling and much of the materials are, well, recycled..

However BEFORE it is picked up at the curb, it already is screened. Impoverished indigenous people move slowly along the street the day trash and recycling are put out, quietly sorting through both trash and recycling bags, placing items in a bucket or basket carried on the back of an elder family member. I was told by someone that they collect cardboard and make a little money by turning it in. There may be other items as well. In front of the building where I live, it is often an older couple or a young woman with a small child wrapped on her back, working alongside an older person, possibly from the same family. Things are not just thrown out here. Parts are recycled. Items are repaired. New uses are found for items that no longer work.

Ecuador is a democracy and uses the US dollar for currency. President Raphael Correa just announced that he hopes to have a bottle bill passed very soon. A deposit of 5 cents would be on every bottle, I believe on either glass or plastic. The 5 cents is refunded when the bottle is returned. The idea was not popular with some people but...we know about that in the US also.

The stores do not use paper bags at all. The plastic bags they use are a thinner product than I've seen in the US so that probably saves in some tiny way toward a greener environment. Many people carry bags and baskets for shopping. We brought ours from the US because we had read on another blog that it was recommended due to better quality reusable bags.

But what about the Amazon and all the natural resources Ecuador enjoys within its borders? What about deforestation and oil drilling in the Amazon? That is a HUGE subject beyond my musings so I'll let another blogger tackle that one.

What about MEAN STREETS?

Here is another myth buster for me: I pictured that Ecuador would have "mean streets" with primitive buildings, frequent crime and broken down buildings with flaking paint. Well, one can certainly find this situation in Ecuador and even in parts of Cuenca. And yet Cuenca is a beautiful city with a lot of light adobe, tile roof and "terra cotta red" brick, giving the city an ethereal rosy glow at dawn and dusk. There is construction everywhere, with modern buildings going up next to Spanish colonial gems that have been restored and well maintained.

A 4 word description? This city is beautiful!

The city has many diverse, friendly people who live in apparent racial harmony and religious tolerance. I find the people of Ecuador to be very hard working, generally cheerful, with many skills, a friendly attitude and a gracious way of interacting with you.

If you are coming here, learn at least a few basic phrases in Espanol and try them out with shop keepers, in a taxi, asking for directions. Ask how a person's day is going. Showing a little respect and interest goes a long way. More thoughts/info on Spanish language in another post.

A city brimming with history and architecture from the 1600s and before. There are Inca ruins within the city itself. In the old part of the city, there are numerous restrictions on how buildings may be altered to keep the integrity of the Spanish colonial architecture. Cobblestone streets are painstakingly repaired. Although I will point out that plenty of sidewalks and spots in the streets need repair. One has to get used to walking carefully with one eye on the ground as strange holes sometimes appear in the middle of the sidewalk. Other times, the walk simply gives way to chunks of gravel and cement.

And what about those" mean streets"? Let me state that I am not an expert on crime. There is crime everywhere in the world, as we all know. If one exercises precautions that are recommended (i.e. do not wear flashy jewelry, do not carry a camera or purse of any sort into a crowded market, do not go into certain areas at night, remember you are a guest here and do not challenge customs and people in your daily interactions) the likelihood of crime decreases. Also, come on guys, we need to adapt to the predominant culture. If you moved to New York City, you would learn ways that you'd need to be cautious and wise about safety there. Remember, I am expressing my opinions here, not saying what is right for other people.

If one observes these and similar good sense approaches, Cuenca is as safer than many cities in America. Crime still can happen. Be prepared psychologically to handle this if something befalls you, such as theft of a phone or being the victim of a pickpocket. A lot of how we handle things and recover from difficult events in life is our mindset. If we think we can handle something, we probably will.

As a former mental health therapist who worked with trauma victims, I recommend presenting in an assertive confident way. By that I mean walk with good posture and a confident stride. Do not wander along looking vulnerable and lost. Take note of your surroundings. LOOK at what is happening around you, be aware of the "tone" of an area. Ask locals if an area is safe for walking, go out after dark with other people - not alone. Common sense stuff a person should exercise in New York or Berlin or Quito.

Other bloggers in Cuenca have given more extensive, well-thought out recommendations about staying safe so check that info out.

My husband several times has traveled to a village/neighborhood called San Joachin. Above is the town church. The streets are dirt and were very rutted on this rainy day. The tiendas (small markets) look like they probably did in 1950. If Butch Cassidy and Sundance had come riding down the street, I would not have been shocked. And yet, it is a lively little community when you look a little more closely. It is the cabbage growing capital of all of EC. The popular Coopera food cooperative has new headquarters there. The little community clearly is a community with pride. So not really such "mean streets".

All this said, we love it here. I cannot say enough about how kind and helpful most Cuencanos have been to us. They are curious about visitors and newcomers. They will speak a little English often if they know that you are struggling with your Spanish and it goes both ways. MANY times someone has said to me "Oh, I'll practice my English if you say words in Spanish." And I must say...the people are physically gorgeous. Many different looks but a very handsome population with that noteworthy thick shining black hair. OK, I have hair envy, I'll admit it!

This is our 9th week as citizens of Cuenca and we just marvel every day at the joy and challenges of living in a new culture, an exotic new continent, and a beautiful new city!

Next: Part 3 Why Isn't Cuenca more Tropical? Isn't it Basically on the Equator

Another view of the quilt and a pile of yellow fabric for the next project

2011-07-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more shots of the wall hanging I just completed but have not pressed or hung.

I kept the quilting simple: stitch in the ditch and then outlined each cup. The paper pieced quilt pattern is by Karla Alexander Cups Cups Cups! available at www.saginawstreetquilts.com

I am an intermediate quilter, I think, but slow. This took mostly patience and persistence because of all the little pieces in each cup. But it was fun once I got the hang of paper piecing. Selecting colors for each cup was the most fun!

I miss my compatriot on this project, Cindy. We spent hours side by side at her dining table, each working on our own cups. She is in Oregon working on a Dalmatian quilt. Thank goodness for Skype! We are able to chat each week with video.

Also, it is amazing how much I can get done on a quilt project now that I am retired and have some hours to dedicate to sewing - rather than grabbing just 3 hours of class (thanks to Victoria Jones my FANTASTIC teacher at A Common Thread in Lake Oswego, OR) and maybe 3 hours on a week end to sew, while working full time. I'm a lucky girl! And living on less $ in Cuenca, Ecuador made retirement possible.

and here is a photo of the fabric I am cutting out now for the next twin size quilt.
I love quilting!

What is Ecuador and specifically Cuenca like? Part I

2011-07-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

I am reflecting this evening about how I, as a citizen of the US, thought of South America and specifically Ecuador before I ever visited here. This was coming from my own world experience, which was quite limited as far as travel goes. 18 months ago, I was like many US citizens: I had a vague idea of Ecuador but thought it was part of Central America. 1 year ago, I was rapidly learning about Ecuador, had purchased a guide book and a good map of the country. I knew it had jungle and Andes Mountains within its borders. I knew of some Inca ruins and was hungry for information about what it would be like to live in Cuenca, its 3rd largest city.
I had expected a "3rd world country" with few amenities, friendly people, dirty streets, high crime and food similar to Mexico - lots of corn tortillas and spicy fillings . And what have I found in my first weeks here? I am going to reflect on that answers for about 3 posts - intermingled with other ideas in separate posts because I want to do it that way {:-D This is the first of those

Third World
Well, Ecuador is a 3rd world country with poverty and employment issues to demonstrate that. I have read that 35% of citizens of EC live below the poverty level. The minimum wage in Ecuador, when it is paid, is $2 and change.
One Big Adjustment for US citizens? There is no postal mail delivery to one's door. There is one post office in the city of Cuenca, a city of 400,000. People just do not mail things except for emergencies, like a key needing to be returned.
There appear to be few if any unions and many protections are missing. Example: protective harnesses for people working on scaffolds seem to be optional.
Seat belts in taxis are a luxury and rarely present.
If you buy something, it is yours - no returns of goods here.
Motorcycle helmets are optional although they are "required"
If you see people working high on a structure for a new building, they probably do not have helmets on but they will have some type of "harness" on in case they fall.
There are NO STREET SIGNS! Some streets are marked by having charming tiles set into the building on the corner telling each cross street's name. But many times on MANY corners, there are no street names.
Street numbers are optional and rarely used. You tell a taxi to pick you up on X street near Y intersection. Then you stand near the curb and watch. They always find you!
Taxis are fast and usually well run, usually very clean. And they are very inexpensive. Take a cab from the airport clear across town and it will cost you $2. It may be 50 cents more if it is night time or traffic is very bad but you can politely barter. But remember 50 cents is not worth a fight!

So yes, it is a 3rd world country with many of the struggles associated with that.
However,there are also many positives.

Children are wrapped to their parent's chest or back, getting lots of physical contact. Many people have many children so an older child or grandmother may help get the toddler up on mom's back to be carried. Children also walk a lot for little ones. It is just part of life.
Children hardly cry here. Why is that? As a family therapist, I would like to know but I speculate that having extended family and constant early contact helps children feel more secure and enfolded in the family warmth. Also the focus in on family and not on acquiring "stuff" or cosas.
You only rarely see a stroller or pram.
Children seem to fight less. There are of course arguments of who gets what first but one just does not see the aggression that I have observed among children in the US.
The level of education is higher than I had expected. It seems that higher education is the right of citizens of Ecuador to pursue at no additional cost (unless attending a private university). Here is one example of what I mean:

We met one 30 year old man native of Ecuador who had studied 4 different fields extensively before finding the profession into which he had settled. He knew a lot of other aspects of life in Ecuador and global issues, partly because of his experiences at different colleges he attended around the country and the people he was exposed to during that journey.

He also had traveled extensively. By the time he turned 30, he had spent time in 20 different countries. He came from modest financial background and from a small "3rd world country" yet he had a world view and cultural awareness that showed wisdom beyond his years.

Poor children and those living in very rural areas have a harder time getting a good education but serious efforts are made. English is not routinely taught throughout the country but it is being taught in some schools. As one of the main languages for global communication, it is valued. But it is rarely spoken well in Cuenca. Most people know a little English but are reluctant to use it because they do not get to practice. Espanol/Spanish is the important language used all over Ecuador. Quechua is a complex language spoken by many indigenous people and is being taught in some schools after a long period of not honoring its importance.

Soon more thoughts: so are the streets dirty?

Cuenca thoughts and Quilts

2011-07-16T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today, a video about another walk by the river, thoughts about retirement and the new life we have chosen here in Cuenca, Ecuador. Oh, and the new quilt project I started with a little peek at the fabric.

Hope you are having a terrific week end. S

Wall hanging quilt CUPS! CUPS! CUPS! is complete

2011-07-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

The CUPS wall hanging - just one thing left. I need to hand stitch the hanging sleeve you can see at the top so when I hang it on the wall, that will not show. Oh, and I need to figure out how to drill holes in the super hard plaster the walls are made of here in Ecuador. Of course, it is not perfect but I'm very happy with it and proud I learned a lot about paper piecing. I LOVE quilting!