Equator

Enjoyed a visit to the equator today with Ken. My third visit. It never gets old. I finally balanced the egg today and received my certificate!

Nice day ...

It was a very nice day today in Quito. We spent most of the day shopping at El Condado. Much to my dismay I have discovered that my shirt size here is XL!  Imagine that. Most clothes for men are XS, S, and M...so, that means I can't even fit into a large. It's messing with my mind. Today was very warm. It's currently rainy and cool. Loving it. 

I am sorry to hear about the weather related issues in Atlanta. I'm sure all of my friends and family are totally stressed over the situation. The Governor of GA and the Mayor of Atlanta are not so bright. I'm in Ecuador and I was fully aware that a major winter storm was headed to the area. How can they claim to have been "taken by surprise."  Something seems so wrong about that. I assume they are ignorant and out of touch with reality. 

Here is my contact information:

Cell: 09-89062452

Landline: 07-285-0512

MagicJack: 404-874-1014 (toll free from USA)

howardwood@yahoo.com

Back in Quito

We arrived in Quito last night.  The purpose of this trip is to complete our permanent residency visas and to receive our Cedulas.  We surrendered our passports today and paid the fees for our 9-II visas.  We are scheduled to receive our visas on Monday.  Then, we wait forty-eight hours to receive our Cedulas.  Afterwards, we are free to travel again.  We will also be able to vote.  In Ecuador voting is mandatory! There will be some travel restrictions.  During the first two years of residency we can only leave the country for 90-days in a 12-month period.  After two years we will be able to apply for citizenship in Ecuador.  The US will recognize dual citizenship with Ecuador so we are not giving up our US citizenship.  We will then be able to travel using either our US or Ecuador passport, enjoying the benefits of both countries, and yes, paying income tax in both too. So, now we wait.  We are at a beautiful property located on the equator.  Not a bad place to be.  I'm sure we will make several trips to downtown Quito over the next week and a half.

  

Almost done!

The residency process is almost complete. We fly to Quito tomorrow to surrender our passports. I am in the process of getting a local cell number so the one you may have for me now no longer works. I can be reached by email, howardwood@yahoo.com or on my Magicjack number 404-874-1014. This is a toll free number so don't be afraid to call me!

Furniture and Direct TV

The furniture was delivered today!  No more sleeping and sitting on the floor. 

Also, Direct TV hooked us up today. 

Just a few accessories to buy and a bed for the guest room. 

Cuenca, Ecuador

We arrived in Cuenca Saturday night at 8:00. We then took a taxi to our apartment. The ride is just a few minutes; maybe ten minutes. Our landlady greeted us at the apartment building, and after we dropped our extra heavy luggage, she walked with us to a nearby store, Tia, to buy some breakfast items. This included instant coffee, which they seem to adore here, yogurt, bananas, spoons, and Doritos. Malena, our landlady said that gringos love Doritos. When we got back home we unpacked our suitcases. This was a great feeling. We had been living out of our suitcases for the previous eleven days. We were in bed at about 2:00am. 

Our first night was spent sleeping on the floor, well almost.  Malena let us borrow a mattress from a vacant furnished apartment in the building. Our first full day here was Sunday. Things are slow in Cuenca on Sunday's. But, that did not slow us down!  We walked three miles to one of the local malls and ate lunch before starting our shopping spree.  After lunch we went to Coral.  Coral is like a super Wal-Mart but even larger. The place was packed with people. The locals shop on the weekends. I think we will shop only on weekdays. It was a mad-house!  However, it was fun to see the locals and to explore new products that are not found in the USA.  After the shopping spree we did not walk the three miles back. We hailed a taxi and loaded up our purchases, with the assistance of a Coral employee.  Yes, they carry the items to your car! The trunk was packed and we had to put a few items in the back seat with us. The rest of the day was spent unpacking the coffee pot, toaster oven, etc and then we swept and mopped the apartment. We have no furniture yet so Malena said for us to take a table from the rooftop and use it until we purchased our furniture. It's a small, round, outdoor cafe table 

Yesterday, Monday, Malena took us shopping.  First stop, a TV. We were able to find a Samsung 46" Smart TV like we had in Atlanta. Malena negotiated the price for us and saved us $1,000.00!!!!  We love Malena!  Next stop, mattresses. We purchased two mattresses, pillows, and sheet sets. Again, thanks to Malena, we received a discount on our purchases. Next stop, furniture shopping.  WOW! The furniture store had exactly what we wanted. Took some pics for future reference. Next stop, lunch.  Malena's Aunt owns a restaurant, Willboj's. We had the typical Ecuador almuerzo lunch which consists of soup, mote, rice, popcorn, meat or pasta dish, salad, tea, and dessert. How much you ask? $2.50 per person. I was full. Even left a little on my plate. Next stop, a few more furniture shops. Then, we finally settled on the furniture we wanted. So, we purchased a dining room table and chairs, sofa, bedroom set, and entertainment center. When we returned to the apartment Malena took us to the roof and introduced us to the former tenants of our apartment, Bill and Barb from Minneapolis. They moved up two floors. Bill and Barb have a couple visiting them for a month. It appears that the couple have never travelled overseas. They seemed to be relaxed and having a good time. Afterwards, we went to dinner, Mexican, and then to Tia and bought some breakfast items. When we got home we noticed on the egg carton a notation stating that the yolks are orange, not yellow.  We did not eat them this morning. 

Immigration Day

Today was our appointment with immigration.  The first thing we had to do was stop at the Notary office to have all of our documents notarized.  Afterwards, we walked down the street a bit to have photos made that were then attached to our application for permanent residency.  Next stop was the Immigration office.  Here we had to take a number and wait a while to be cleared by the police.  Once cleared we had to get back in line, take a number, and wait again.  When our number came up our immigration advisor submitted our application for residency.  We then had another picture taken and we were on our way.  This may sound simple but I am leaving a few details of the day out.  Let's just say it was hectic.  It was nine hours from the time we left this morning until the time we returned to the hotel.  We are tired.

Now we wait for approval.  The approval process may take seven to ten days.  So, we are flying tomorrow night to Cuenca.  Cuenca is where we have our apartment and where we will be living.  The only issue is we have no furniture.  Tomorrow night we may stay in a Hostal and then go shopping for a bed on Sunday.

When we receive approval we will have to surrender our passports which means we cannot fly.  We will then take the ten hour bus ride back to Quito to receive our visas and cedulas.  When we have those two things we will then officially be permanent residents of Ecuador.