Looking for furniture

This afternoon Steve and I decided to go look at some furniture stores and see what deals are available. We need to find a living room and dining room set but we are on a tight budget. First stop was Vitefama on Manuel J Calle y Alfonso Cordero, there we were greeted by Diego and followed around until we had a question to ask and he quickly was able to assist. He spoke some english which made it a little easier for us. He told us that it would only take 15 days to have a couch done in the fabrics we liked.

Next store was Gout on Av. Paucaarbamba y Manuel J Calle, if you are ever looking for lights this place has some nice choices and reasonable prices. Patricia helped us there she spoke no english but that was fine and walked around and she would turn lights on and off for us. They didn't have very much indoor furniture but they had some nice outdoor pieces. She didn't seem to agree with me when I said that the couches were to hard and she told me no. I guess I don't know what hard is.

We continued our search for more furniture stores on the same block and we came upon Mora Chocolate Factory we stopped in and picked up 10 pieces of chocolate for $4. My favorite was the chocolate covered strawberries. On to look for more furniture

Last stop Ovelinea on Jose Peralta y Paucaarbamba, There was a young man names Diego working there who spoke english very well. He knew the prices off the top of his head he even showed us what he liked, he was very personable. He knew a lot about the company and told us we could change out chair at different tables.

We had a great afternoon out looking at all the furniture choices out there. I think the prices are the same as we would pay in the states. We haven't made any decisions yet on what we want. More to come on that...

Residency Visa...

Our residency visa was approved February 16, 2012, and within the next few weeks the three of us will be heading to Quito to get our Cedula's. A little over a year ago we began to seriously discuss relocating to Cuenca, and after a seemingly discombobulated process we are about to become official residents of Ecuador. We survived changes in residency requirements (criminal background check), missed filing deadlines by our attorney, an unplanned trip to Quito on a very cold bus, last minute requirements for additional paperwork, and a system which evidently does not believe in first come-first processed way of doing things. BUT, all-in-all, after surviving the process to this point, we are thankful the end is near.

Courtney

Our oldest daughter Courtney arrives in 11 days, and it will be nice to see her expressions and hear her comments as we show her Cuenca. We moved into a larger apartment to make room for her, and have discovered our weekends are now filled with music from the reception hall (Villa San Carlos) next door, and construction in the apartment above us at 7am on a Saturday morning. So, we have a beautiful modern apartment with wonderful amenities, but instead of bus noises outside, we have music, and construction sounds.

Racquetball Court

Our friend, and my business partner Bill is moving next week into a new apartment across the street from us, so we hope to play racquetball several times a week in our building. We have decided to work out of Moca as we get Ecuador SB Marketing fully developed, and supporting clients. Last week we picked up three new clients that I designed websites for totally is Spanish, and they are very happy with the results. The goal is design primarily in Spanish, because we are not looking for clients that are targeting the expat community, but instead Ecuadorian clients. We don't want to be in the expat referral service, or imply by designing websites for clients that we recommend any business over another. Well, enough about work, and now it is time to get away from the laptop, and enjoy dinner out with the family. Take care...