Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Changes is in the Air

Change: "(verb) to become altered or modified, or to become transformed or converted."

The last three days we have had wonderful sunny days with a slight breeze, and beautiful moonlight nights. The weather has changed, for how long, I don't know, but I hope this is what to expect for the immediate future. We are changing as the weather changes, and it feels great. Nick's Spanish skills have progressed to the point he impresses Susan and I each time we hear him converse totally in Spanish with an Ecuadorian. Courtney has become comfortable working at Moca, and seems to be smiling and talking much more than I remember from when she lived in Atlanta. Susan is involved in several projects (Mediation group, Women's Group, and helping out our friends), and we are both spend Wednesday evenings in a book study group. The family seems to be smiling more, working together more often, and I can't remember seeing our home so calm. At Moca, we are gradually building a regular clientele, and welcoming new customers daily. Deportivo Cuenca Southern Express Fan Club, an idea for an expat fan club of the local futbol club by Thomas Golden has created a buzz in the community, and it is nice to be involved in futbol again. In the last week, we have sold our friend's second car for her, leased her rental apartment for two years to nice lady named Judy, and helped an expat get his upholstery, and rugs cleaned in his apartment. Additionally, we enrolled Nick in a new school for the fall, Centro Educativo Alborada.

Change, for us started with moving to Cuenca in July2011, and now after almost eleven months all the experiences we have had, the good and the bad, have changed who we are as human beings, and as a family. We are at peace with our surroundings, and the new culture, and no longer fighting uphill against things we can't change. Now we accept our friends, family, even strangers, and most importantly ourselves for who we have become. Cuenca has changed us for the better, and for that we are agradecido (thankful). 

5 comments:

  1. Your post is an encouragement. It gives me hope that I too will find a home in Cuenca someday. I will be living there for three months starting August 1, 2012, and studying Spanish at the Simon Bolivar School. Depending on what it's like for me---I'll decide whether or not to retire there.
    I'm writing a blog too---

    myecuadorexperiment.blogspot.com

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    1. Michael,
      Let us know when you get here. We would be happy to meet another potential expat.

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  2. The peace and joy in your "voice" is evident. I am so happy for you that you have found a place to call your home.

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  3. I love reading your blog because your decision to move to Cuenca most resembles our line of thought. My wife and I will be there next week to get a better feel for the place and to make a decision whether or not to live there with our boys (twins age 11). We hope to run into you at Moca. I was even thinking about going to the futbol match on the 16th if I can figure out how to get tickets. Keep up the blog!

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  4. Thank you for your comments. We like to help others, and sharing our experiences hopefully will make the move easier for those coming after us. Please if you are coming to Cuenca, let us know when you are arriving, and would love to meet you.

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