Our View

Front of Our Building

View from our Living Room

We moved into our permanent apartment four days after arriving in Cuenca, and luckily it is in the same building, and just one floor below our short-term rental. The views from the apartment are beautiful from our living room as well as our bedrooms. We love the mountains in the background, and the view was one of the top things on our wish list in a new home. The apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, laundry room, dining room, living room, breakfast area, large kitchen, fully furnished (nicely too), excellent internet connection, and a lot more space (1200 sq feet) than we expected to find at a reasonable price. So, we spent 4 days in our short-term rental, which I guess is a very short-term rental, and are now comfortably established in what we hope will be our home for a very long time. 

Steve

Arrived in Cuenca

We are settled into our short-term rental for our first night in our new home. Did some wandering around looking for an ATM, and a mini-market for some stuff for tonight. Nick ordered a chili dog in Spanish, so he has been successfully fed. Tomorrow we plan to venture further from our apartment, which is near the Sports Coliseum, to find the markets and Super Maxi. We really enjoyed the van ride from Guayaquil, and would recommended it to future travelers, because the views were amazing even on a cloudy day. Speaking the language will take some time, but we have been able to get from Atlanta to Guayaquil to Cuenca successfully and without any embarrassing language difficulties.  Sleep will come easy tonight.

Steve

Arrived in Guayaquil

We arrived last night on a Delta flight at 11:00PM, and are ready for the drive to Cuenca this morning. A few notes about the trip here. We purchased one way tickets for the trip through Expedia ($322 per ticket), and no one questioned the one-way tickets at anytime during the process. Immigration and customs were easy to navigate, lines are a little slow moving, and disorganized. Our hotel (Hampton Inn) was waiting for us with a sign, and loaded all our luggage, and delivered them to our hotel room. Susan is a little overwhelmed by the language, but we are not having any problems communicating. This morning we are getting a shuttle to Cuenca, which Juan from Ecuador Central arranged for us, and we should be in our short-term rental this evening. So far, so good.

Leaving USA...

We leave in less than 5 hours for Ecuador, and we are still packing, and scrambling to get our daughters settled. Stressful, but not too bad since everyone is helping, and the realization of our move is sitting in finally. Said our goodbyes to family and friends, and our next post will be from Ecuador. Everyone be safe.

Steve

2 Days and counting

We are in Warner Robins, GA saying our good byes to family and friends. I am feeling the stress and anxiety I can't believe we leave Monday for GYE, Ecuador. I was hoping to see our son Frank before our trip but he can't make it out.

6 Days to Go

Today is the day to get a new tire for Susan's Civic Hybrid that we are leaving for Christina. Well, as things work with us, instead of one tire, we needed three tires and an alignment. Additionally, the catalytic converter is bad, and need replacing. I budgeted $150 for car repairs, but instead we are looking at $1500! Nothing like the last minute surprises to add a little stress to your life. We are leaving tonight to drive to Washington, D.C., because I never received documents that required an apostille by the US State Department. It has been over two months, and I have left phone messages, and sent numerous emails requesting status, but no reply. Today's experiences reinforce my desire to leave the USA. Poor customer service and dedication to one's job is the exception in the USA instead of the norm. Automobiles are expensive to maintain, and depersonalize our movements through society. We hide behind glass encased vehicles, park in enclosed garages, and enter our houses from the back or the garage. Most front doors in America are no longer used, because we do not participate in society as our parents did. If we gain anything from our move to Cuenca, is I hope we are move involved in the world around us.

7 Days!

We are running out of time to get everything done.
last day of work: tomorrow
Washington DC: Tomorrow after work
Find all my stuff I wanted to take:?????
I hate the way we (Steve) moves, I call it a mess he calls it guerilla moving. Computer dying forgot the cord at the girls place.