Volunteering in Cuenca

This weekend I started my new gig as the volunteer, volunteer coordinator for Años Dorados an assisted living home right here in Cuenca, Ecuador. The home currently has 10 residents. It is not like any other nursing home that I have ever been in and I have been in quite a few. Since I was a CNA way back in the day before I join the military.

 Años Dorados is a beautiful home that has many different choices of rooms all having their own bathroom. The residents get to decorate them any way they like. There are an upstairs and downstairs dining room, a TV room downstairs, and sitting area upstairs and even an occupational therapy room. The staff is very kind. I loved meeting the residents.

I attended the Expat Day festival sponsored by Cuenca for Expats and the Cuenca Chamber of Commerce this Saturday.  Años Dorados had a booth there we gave information on the home and I tried to find volunteers. I was happy with the amount of people who signed up, I wish more would have but sometimes people are just here in Cuenca to hide away from real life.

The above picture is of me, Katy Johnson (head RN), Sonya (Occupational therapist), Fabio (Administrator) at our booth. We were giving out Tamales, Quimbolitos, Empanadas de carne y queso.

Now, I have to work on an orientation and a schedule. I hope this all works out for me and Años Dorados.

If you are interested in volunteering let me know. It doesn't have to be a long commitment or hard. You can come and chat, read, play games, help with feedings, work on your Spanish and the most important one just listen.

Update: Email VolunteerCuenca@gmail.com if you are interested in assisting. Thank you!

Up to Seven in the house

Well, it has been a while since we have posted, as we've been busy with the influx of new people in the home. On September 11 our son Frank and friend Bill came to Ecuador. This was Bill's 3rd trip and hopefully he will get his residency this time and this is Frank's first time here. We are happy to have them here, but of course it makes for a more chaotic home.

In our home we eat and cook strictly vegetarian so that is a big change for Frank and Bill. Frank loves to go to the little snack shacks and get almuerzo (lunch) for $2, and if he'd stay there it would only be $1.40, but he brings it home. The first time he brought it home he wasn't sure what to do with the bag of red stuff. I informed him that it was some type of juice. So, he poured it into a cup and drank it all up. Bill goes out for lunch a lot to get his protein fix; he wasn't too sure about eating our "fake meats". I don't think he minds them much anymore.

Frank, Courtney and Steve have all started taking spanish lessons at Carolina Bookstore. They go twice a week. I am afraid they will pass me up, I better start doing my computer lessons :). Steve takes lots of notes and Frank says this is the most he has every learned, he attributes it to his teacher being nice to look at. Courtney doesn't take much notes, but says the class is reminding her of what she has learned already.

The first week Frank was here we let him settle in. The second week he and I worked together at Moca to get him trained. Then the next week he went on nights with Jenny, our Cuencana manager, so she could show him the ropes of nights and work on his spanish. Within Frank's first month here he was invited to attend the Miss Cuenca pagenant with a young lady he had met at the Mall. She was running for Miss Cuenca. Not too bad for only being here a month.

Nick has been doing alright at school. Courtney has been doing well working on her blog, her scarves and Moca. For all of the month of October, Courtney and Frank had been doing Halloween-themed movies on Saturday night for FREE. The turn out was low so I don't believe it will continue. The kids didn't make much money for Moca or for themselves (since they only get paid via tips for now).

Last Friday Bill's brother Tom finally made it to Cuenca with all his paperwork in hand and his life packed in two suitcases. He is ready to become an expat. We went out Saturday night to El Azteca and had some good food and good margaritas. This morning I went to meditation and my family, Bil,l and Tom came to have brunch at the Windhorse Cafe. Our friend Katie was there so she joined us. It is great to have a good bunch of friends.

I am still struggling to find things to do with myself. Being so young and retired is hard. Most of the retirees here are older and have other interests. I want to go to the Cajas and hike and go visit other small places near Cuenca. I have tried knitting and volunteering. I have to find something that I enjoy that makes me happy. I really enjoy meditation but I think Steve may be lonely if I meditate for hours on end. So I need to find something constructive.

We hope everyone is safe on the east coast, we see the nasty storm coming. We will keep you in our thoughts.

5 Goals in Cuenca

We have been here over 10 months now and I still don't know where certain places are or where to get certain things done.
We have also made a new friend who has interests in knitting and I have no clue where those types of stores are so this week I have some new things to do.
According to www.drjoetoday.com
There are three main obstacles that make goals hard to achieve; stress, our subconscious, and emotional addiction.
I know stress makes it hard for me to achieve my goals at times. I stress about my spanish communication skills which in turn makes it difficult for me to go out and look for the things I want. What obstacles are in your way?

Five goals for me this week

1. Find knitting stores for my friend
2. Find someone to make a few wood projects for me and my friend (step stool, meditation stool and an over the sink shelf)
3. Find someone who can make me a cushion for the meditation stool and maybe one to go under it (helps with my ankles)
4. Find a copy place to make color copies for my meditation group
5. Find low cost sturdy furniture for my friend (maybe a bed frame for me)

I have a general idea of where to look, El Centro :), but I usually don't have the patience to look for places on my own but Steve has been busy at Moca so I must do it.

Wish me luck as I attempt these goals!