Updates (Last update 05/2015) - Atuntaqui, Ecuador
Atuntaqui, Ecuador
On May 10, 2015, we actually got to return to Colorado for the first time in 4 years. The visit was mainly to take care of business that needed to be done, plus see lots of old friends and take in a Regional Convention of Jehovah's Witnesses--in English. It was a good trip but we're happy to be back in Ecuador. With that said, this blog has come to a close with a "return" date to officially bring this long blog to an end. However, our adventure does continue at our new website: www.expatduo.com -- with highlights of this blog being moved over to there.
We are extremely sad today, September 22, 2014. Our beloved cat Milo had to be put to sleep because of kidney disease. He was only 9. He was the perfect cat. He never climbed, clawed furniture, never bit or scratched people, was always calm and very, very effectionate. We truly loved him. A vet came to our home and put him to sleep in daddy's arms ($20.00). He was buried in our yard under a newly planted fruit tree. He blessed us from Dec. 7, 2005 to Sept. 22, 2014.
September, 2014:
When I read the last Daily Text for the Service Year--August 31, 2014--it got me thinking, and, very oddly enough, a chorus to a song by a well-known artist popped up into my head. Although the rest of this song pertains to another subject entirely, it goes like this:
This is the time to remember,
Because it will not last forever,
These are the days to hold onto,
Because we won't although we'll want to.
This is the time,
And times are gonna change.
As we have seen in the past, world events can change without notice. And possibly--who knows--our stay in Ecuador may suddenly come to an end. Is living a so-called normal way of life, the thing to do right now? -- or is staying put here, while we still can, where the need for preachers is greater?
Athough we did not come to Ecuador as "need greaters" originally, we certainly have become such by default. Not to mention, we're accumulating precious memories along the way. These will be times to remember with great fondness, and no regrets. These are the days to hold onto.
Anyway, just had to post this thought, because on those days when I have my doubts, I'll log on and read this. :-)
September 1, 2014: August was a good month of pioneering for us. Also, we have a Public Talk and Watchtower Study once each month in Spanish in Imantag (see below) and one of our studies there, a Quichua woman, went to the meeting for the first time. She speaks both Quichua and Spanish equally well, but cannot read, so naturally we are trying to teach her how to read Spanish. So far she is faithful for her study. We'll have to wait and see how it all goes. Lots of interest in this tiny town. The tiny pueblo actually reminds Fred and I of Truchas, New Mexico.
August 2014: Because of the recent earthquake in Quito, there evidently was a heck of a landslide. Until they get it fixed--they're talking quite awhile--it now takes 4 hours to get to Quito, instead of two.
May 17, 2014: Atuntaqui is moving up in the world. Our small community now has a regular city bus. Correction: City buses, as I was informed, there are several routes.
Not to mention, a new museum & a convention center, along with it's restaurants, cafes and a beautifully restored train station. The restored train tracts and stations will open up shortly to provide tourists with a scenic and historic ride, from Otavalo to Ibarra.There are 4 restored train stations in the route.
April 22, 2014: From GringoTree:
--GMO Food Labeling Requirement Set: Ecuador's Food Standardization Institute and the national Ministry of Health will soon require all processed food products to carry a label if they contain more than 0.9% of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). The label will read: "Contiene GMOs" and will be required in August.The Ministry of health says that the awareness of GMOs has increased among Ecuadorians from 9% in 2008 to 56% today. "Ecuadorians are much more conscious about the food they consume and we believe that those who sell processed food need to provide information about the GMO content of their products," the Ministry of Health said in a press release.
--Ecuador's economy grew 4.5% in 2013, well above the official target of 4.05% but below the 5.1% growth registered in 2012. In its quarterly report, Ecuador's Central Bank said that last year's growth was driven by non-oil sectors, especially construction, which continued to be the growth engine of the Ecuadorean economy.
--Also in the news, a political science club at a university in Ibarra is pushing for a tax on foreign residents. Club members say expats put a burden on government services and infrastructure and should pay their fair share. They are taking their case to the National Assembly.
April 14, 2014: So our Spanish congregation in Atuntaqui is trying to get a Spanish group started in Imantag, a small pueblo about 20 minutes away. Last year they held the Memorial of Christ death in Spanish there. Eight persons attended. This year 50 persons attended the Spanish Memorial in Imantag. The Quichua congregation held their Memorial first -- that attendance was 45. 43 of those stayed for the next Memorial in Spanish, for a total attentance of 93 at Imantag's Spanish Memorial.
Just twenty years ago there was such fierce opposition in that tiny town. Rocks were thrown at our brothers and sisters when they preached there, along with many other threats. The first bible student found there 20 years ago, was at this 2014-Memorial and she related how a machete was put to her throat when she first began to study the bible and her house was threatened to be knocked down. This dear sister was almost in tears at seeing one of her neighbors in attendance. In fact, some of our American brothers and sisters have told us about a few of their hair-raising experiences back then. Anyway, now Imantag has a brand new Kingdom Hall and Memorial 2014 was the first held in that Hall. Fred had the privilege of saying the opening prayer. Unfortunately, I had to go to the Memorial in Atuntaqui because of a bible student showing up there, so I missed his prayer, which I was told was in nice clear Spanish. And 252 were at Atuntaqui South's Memorial.
March 9, 2014: This little piece of news came through on GringoTree today:
Ecuador Expat Arrested for Sex Trafficking
"U.S. federal agents in Florida have arrested a man who was allegedly coordinating "tours" for Americans to have sex with girls from Ecuador and Colombia. According to a criminal complaint filed in Orlando on Friday, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations agents began investigating Patrick Minga, 50, in August, after he posted an ad on Craigslist about "sex tours" in Ecuador.Minga, who lives in Quito, was involved in a business that operated a hotel and provided "relocation services" to North Americans expatriating to Ecuador."
We stayed at his hostel and his wife helped us, and many other expats, get their visas.
February 2014: Some news that came through on Gringo Tree:
Trouble Brewing for Gringo Health Insurance: "After actively pursuing expat business for several years, some local and national health insurance programs are now considering drastic premium hikes or even dropping coverage for foreigners altogether. The reason? Gringos are too sick and too expensive to insure at Ecuadorian rates.
An administrator for one Cuenca insurance program says that many Cuenca insurers have been shocked by the number and amount of claims that have been filed. "Our prices were based on the assumption that foreigners were in the same health as Ecuadorians of the same age," says the administrator, who asked not to be identified. "What we are finding is that gringos, especially those from the United Sates, are much sicker and need more services."
An expense that was grossly underestimated, she says, is the cost of medications. "In Ecuador, most people use medicine when they are sick and stop using it when the get well. Many gringos take large amounts of drugs and don't want to stop, even when their doctors say it isn't necessary." She says that several of her program's gringo client's routinely submit monthly claims of more than $400 for medicine. "It is the main reason that we may decide not to insure expats in the future."
The administrator says that much of the fault lies with the insurance companies and programs themselves. "We, and other programs, did not always require physical examinations to assess applicants' health, and we should have. We have discovered that too many of our clients are obese. We have found that other clients knew that they needed thousands of dollars of medical services before they signed up and didn't tell us in the application. After they have been approved they start taking advantage of the services."
Meanwhile, several expat customers of a popular hospital-based insurance plan with dozens of foreign members, report that the plan is refusing to pay claims due to an apparent glitch in an automated premium payment arrangement with local banks. One unpaid claim amounts to more than $20,000. Two of the plan's customers with unpaid claims say have hired an attorney and May pursue legal action."
January 2014: Well, we bought the apartment that we have been living in since we first moved from Cuenca to Atuntaqui. And now we are remodeling it even further. We are home and now Ecuador is beginning to feel like home. So, for now, we will not be building a house on our vacant land here.
January 2014: Fred was just informed by a farmer that the president of Ecuador passed a new law, saying that all pesticides that are illegal in the US are now banned in Ecuador also.?!?!?
January 2014: In an attempt to shop at two places at once, I sent my husband over to Supermaxi while I shopped at the Grand Aki. He did not find what I needed, but what he did find proves just how small this world can be. He spotted an old friend from Colorado that we knew back in our Denver days 28 years ago. In fact, our latest round of guest from the States, who visited last month, are mutual friends of her's. She even came up in conversation during their visit, saying how they lost touch with her in recent years. Anyway, she has been here in Ecuador for 5 months and lives in a town nearby. Crazy!
January 1, 2014: An interesting tidbit: A young friend of mine just informed me that at her school, a Colegio (High School, not a University or College), the health department comes to the school each month and hands out to each student parasite medicine. Maintenance for parasites is encouraged here.
To find out exactly which parasite one may have, and any fungus too, any pharmacy will provide a kit to take home for just a few cents -- this is to provide a stool sample. Then that sample can be taken to any lab; Atuntaqui has one downtown. The cost is around $6 or $7.00 dollars.
October 2013: One very fortunate week: A funny thing happened to Fred at a market in Ibarra. He happened to look down and caught a woman's hand in his front pants pocket trying to grab his wallet. He grabbed and held onto the woman's hand while she kept saying disculpe, disculpe, as if Fred was at fault. Everyone who saw was glad for Fred. Needless to say, she may not be showing her face again in that part of the market anytime soon.
That same week some money fell out of his pocket and a local woman ran after Fred to give it back.
*************************************** ***********
A helpful chart for bed sizes:
Talla Plazas Medidas en metros
Twin.........Una plaza y media........1.05 ancho X 1.90 largo
Full..........Dos Plazas...................1.40 ancho X 1.90 largo
Queen......Dos plazas y media.......1.60 ancho X 2.00 largo
King.........Tres plazas...................2.00 ancho X 2.00 largo
from: http://www.kalido.com.ec/informacion.pd f
June 2, 2013: Can't believe that two years ago today we headed to Ecuador. Now that the honeymoon period is over, how do we feel? Really no different than if we were still living in the States, as the routine of life continues. Of course, there are the frustrations of having to learn a whole new language; and as of yet, not having a car, which we believe we'll start working on. There are definitely the underlying cultural differences, and no matter which way I look at it, it's still not home and simply may never be -- who knows?
On the up side: There is the comfort of not having to be overly concerned about the costs of seeing a doctor, dealing with a medical emergency, or the affordability of health insurance. Plus the medical care is very good -- not just cost-wise, but the fellow-feeling that our doctors, for the most part, have displayed towards us. We also lack the worry of having to heat our homes, deal with harsh winters or hot summers & whatever dangerous winds the change of seasons brings with them. And here in the Andes, when we're in the rainy season, there certainly can be lots of it, but the rain is okay by me. Although, here in Imbabura we do not get the amount of rainfall as Cuenca received when we lived there, nor the colder weather. In fact, I would go as far as dubbing Cuenca the Seattle of the Southern Hemisphere.
Anyway, & most importantly, there's the ministry -- quite nice. If we could just learn the language, it would be awesome. Tonight, one sister assured us that we WILL get the Spanish because our brains are like computers. Yeah....think our "computers" may have a virus, or at best, limited hard drives
And, like one friend, who just recently came back from a visit to the US, expressed to us -- he is no longer a Norte Americano, as he could not believe just how expensive everything is now. And, a totally different friend, who arrived back at the same time, said she could not get over how many home invasions and murders there were in her hometown of Reading, PA--one per day during her visit, as compared to around 1983, when perhaps, there was one murder per month and no home invasions. Whereas, here in Ecuador, our main concern may be theft, not so much the physical harm, especially if we make the theft somewhat of a convenience for the opportunist.
A word of caution though, unlike what some organizations will have people believe, Ecuador is not as cheap as they claim. In our personal opinion, it still takes a moderate to good income to enjoy a modest lifestyle -- at least one that most Americans are used to. So, with the Sucre gone, the US dollar in, as well as the many Gringos, prices are higher than they were..
May 2013: A little about the water in Ecuador: A few months before we came to Ecuador, I bought new glasses. Then a few months after being in Ecuador, my lenses had spots on them that could not be removed and they distorted my vision. Something to do with the anti-reflective coating or whatever they do to make the lenses anti-reflective. So correctly, the doctor said I needed new ones . Then a few months later, the same thing happened to the new lenses. Thankfully my glasses were still under warranty, and of course, I asked how this problem can be prevented. He said it was the chlorine in the water and that my lenses should never be cleaned with tap water, as Ecuador uses a lot of chlorine and it was the problem, at least, with my eye-glasses.
May 2013: The following came thru in an email newsletter: "There's an interesting article going around the ex-pat communities from here to Cuenca suggesting that gringo residents should take responsibility for explaining to Obnoxious Gringos (OG's) that that ugly-American attitude of loudly complaining is an unnecessary display of arrogance that will expose us all to repercussions sooner or later. Until that article finds its way to you I will leave you with a tidbit here.I hope that the rest of this OG's letter will eventually be published openly by some blogs."-----So, here is that article the above quote was talking about:http://www.cuencahighlife.com/pos t/2012/02/10/The-Ugly-American-revisted -arrogance-plus-ignorance-is-a-recipe-f or-trouble.aspx
May 2013: Think that MAYBE the propane is starting to be made available again in Imbabura??? The trucks have not been coming around for MONTHS, but Fred was told that the propane trucks are starting to roll again.
April 2013: Get back from the coast on a Friday night; by Saturday night a fever sets in; then by Sunday evening my temperature shoots up to 104. Fred and Sheila take me to the emergency. The nurse gives me a shot for the flu-like pain and to get the fever down. In addition, they give me a pill form of that same medicine to take home in case the fever shoots up again -- worked well. Anyway, the tests results came in the following day and the reason for such a high fever was a urinary tract infection that I didn't even have a clue about. They said that I very well could have gotten the infection from the water on the coast. We always drink bottled water, of course, but I was not careful of a street vendor's fruit juice with ice, & I bought a bottle of water from a vendor on the bus back to Guayaquil, but forgot to pay attention as to whether the bottle was sealed. ??? FYI -- That emergency room visit only cost $25.00. Blood work totaled about $45.00. PS: Man, was the weather on the coast in April HOT!
April 3, 2013: The English Group in Atuntaqui became a congregation. So, as of now, Atuntaqui has two Spanish Congregations and an English Congregation.
March 2013: Our friend, who works at a new private school for teaching English, had a young teenage student come into her class one day with what looked very much like a real baby. Well, it wasn't, it was a doll. A doll that cries throughout the day, that needs feeding throughout the day, and needs changing and cleaning, with a special cloth, throughout the day. If this life-like doll does not get the care it needs, it will continue to cry. (And it did cry during her English class). When it gets fed with a bottle, it even makes the sounds a baby makes when it drinks. This is part of a program at the high school, where this young student attends, to teach young women the responsibilities of motherhood. If I had a young teenage daughter, I'd be buying that doll!
February 9, 2013: A 7.0 earthquake hit at around 9:20 this morning, in Colombia. But man, did we feel it in Atuntaqui. Ben and Sheila who live downstairs, and Fred and I all felt the need to leave the house, at the same time, as the shakes seemed to just keep on coming.Nothing like having a concrete roof over one's head, which is typical in Ecuador.
February 2013: And they really do have a powder, made from a flower that grows plentiful down here! This powder literally makes you do anything a thief wants you to do. The Ecuador news just had a story of this happening to a wealthy gentleman in Quito. He was given a dose of this powder and gave the thieves everything -- his passwords, pin numbers, etc. You know what is happening, yet this powder actually makes you lose control of your actions.
February 5, 2013: This month is Carnaval. At 5 am this morning comes a parade down our street, along with loud firecrackers going off and music. So much for sleeping in. The big days of Carnaval here are Feb. 9, 10, 11, 12, in 2013. There are no official meetings for field service, as bibles and literature may get soaked. They also like to use cans of foam. I was told that along the coast, the full-brunt of Carnaval last 2 weeks, instead of 4 days? In Ibarra, they also like to throw eggs and flour on people and cars. On Feb. 8, Fred and I were taking a walk outside of Cotacachi and a group of kids with buckets of water came up to us asking for money or we would get doused. Fred just joked with them, then tipped one of the water buckets slightly onto one of the boys, then ran screaming and laughing. The kids didn't do anything. I did not run and they left me alone.. The whole thing wasn't serious. The boys were just trying to have fun - Carnaval style. And a cascade of water did come dropping down next to me while standing in front of a wall in downtown Cotacachi -- they missed. :-)
February 2 & 3, 2013: Here's a little happy news: Had our Spanish Circuit Assembly in Otavalo. On Saturday morning we had 1,080 in attendance, with 24 baptized, the oldest being 80-something.
January 2013: Fred & I have now completely switched over to the Spanish. Must learn.
January 1, 2013: This is the time of year for the burning of effigies, and major partying in Ecuador. A New Year's party down the block started at 12:00 midnight and it is still going on -- it is 9:25 AM as I type this. Along the coast, where many go during this time of year for vacation, it can really get loud.. --But this is a culture for parties. It is not uncommon for them to begin at 10:00 or 11:00 pm, and go until 3:00 or 4:00 am, in general. And then you gotta love the priest in our neighborhood, who starts blasting church music starting at around 3:30 am from time to time.
December 27, 2012: We have a new member to our family. A very friendly dog parked herself in front of our gate and wouldn't move for a couple of days. She just stayed there and rested, rain and all. Then we started feeding her. Ben finally brought her inside the yard. We named her Libby and now she and the other "puppy" Butch are best buds. Milo, on the other hand, still no le gusta. The vet said Libby is 8 months old. ---That's what they do here, if the dog is a female, she is dumped when it comes time for her to be able to have puppies. Our vet charges $150 to fix her, but a vet in Atuntaqui will do it for $50,00. However, he will not fix her until she has a litter of pups first; Otherwise, according to him, she will get cancer. -----That's ridiculous considering all the street dogs. Update: Anyway, Ben & Sheila have opted for the pups, to avoid the cancer scare. And Skippy had to be put down due to old age, so now Butch won't be alone.
December 2012: Been enjoying teaching English, but I will not be working past this month. The school has a real problem paying. First of all, my first two months pay (we get paid monthly) was paid in segments, never in full. Now they're overdue in paying us for November. I'm certainly not going to hold my breath for December's pay, but gave them a fair quit-notice, nonetheless. This can be a big problem in Ecuador (not always), as some do not get paid on time, and some, not at all. And government jobs are said to be a particular problem. One American teacher who taught for a while at a nearby University has yet to be paid for his time there -- he has since moved on to another school about an hour away. And a friend was telling me about her friend who waited a whole year! She had to finally quit. I can't believe she waited that long.
December 2012: Talk about the right hand not letting the left hand know what it is doing around here. One day early in November, I arrived to work right on time at 7:00 in the morning, only to find no one at the school. So I waited a little while, then some students starting showing up. I called a friend, who was scheduled to work that evening at 4 pm, to see if she could find out what was going on. As it turned out, the school was closed that day and the next. Why? Because it was in the process of moving to a new location a few blocks away. So...not only were most of us teachers not informed, neither were the students.
November 2012: Heard a funny story a few months ago and I just have to tell it. One night, a visiting sister (Jehovah's Witnesses worldwide call each other brother and sister) was walking down a nearby street along with her husband. Well, I've warned in a much earlier entry how, in Ecuador, you must always walk looking down and ahead at the same time, however, when it's dark this is not always so easy. Needless to say, our dear sister fell into an open manhole, while her husband just kept on walking. Good news is, she was wearing a large backpack and, thankfully, this backpack prevented her from falling in. Her husband, once he finally realized that his wife was no longer with him, helped her climb out and all was okay. We heard they both got a good laugh out of it.