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.

School Starts for Nick

Monday was the first day of school for Nick, and his first day at a new school. He is now attending Centro Educativo Alborado which is a private school located in San Joaquin just outside of Cuenca. The campus is beautiful, and has grades 1-13 (k-12 US). There are a few other expat students, including Nick's friends Sage who is a grade ahead of him. His first two days found him being asked by the other expat students to act as interpreter since his Spanish is more advance than the others. We had to buy new uniforms ($115), luckily his dress shoes fit, but today we found out he needs white tennis shoes instead of brand new black and green ones we bought last week. This week we need to buy his books, and school supplies. He rides the bus to and from school, and it picks him up at 7:00am, which means we wake him up at 5:45am to get ready for his day. So far Nick like this school better than his previous school (Santana), because he says the students are nicer, and more open to talking with him.

Our middle son Frank arrives late next Monday night from Atlanta, and our friend Bill is also on the flight, so my friend Eddie and I will pick them up in Guayaquil at the airport. Also, Frank is bringing Nick and I two new video games for our PS3, so we are excited.

At Moca Cafe we are trying out new items for the menu from a new baker, and so far we think we have found some great new additions for our customers. We have officially closed down the Cuenca Flats Property Management web site, and replaced it with a blog site to list the three properties we have decided to manage for now, and no longer will be assisting people in finding rentals other than the ones we manage. The reality is that the energy required to manage even three properties is taking its toll on my desire to relax more, so we will see what the future holds.

Susan is the healthiest person in the family lately, because I have been sick for three weeks, and now Courtney and Nick are experiencing similar cold symptoms to mine. The recent cold temperatures we have been experiencing in Cuenca have not help my motivation to get out of the house as much. Well not much else going on here, so take care, and everyone stay safe.

UPDATE 9/7/2012: Cuenca Flats Property Management is officially, and completely closed down for good as we no longer have any properties under contract. If you are looking for any future assistance I recommend  www.ecuadorablehomes.com .

Rumors travel

According to Wikipedia a rumor or rumour (spelling differs between American and British English) is often viewed as "an unverified account or explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in public concern".

Rumors can hurt people, families and business. Rumors have been around from the beginning of time. I myself have listened to them but I would check with the person themselves before saying anything. I think it is the smart thing to do.
Here in Cuenca the Gringo (Gringo (Spanish: [ˈgɾiŋgo], Portuguese: [ˈgɾĩgu]) is a slang Spanish and Portuguese word used in Ibero-America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States. The term can be applied to someone who is actually a foreigner, or it can denote a strong association or assimilation into foreign (particularly US) society and culture. While in Spanish it simply identifies a foreigner, without any negative connotation,^[1] in English the word is often considered offensive or disparaging) population is small in comparison to the Cuencano's. So word spreads fast good or bad. For instance if a store gets in American Peanut butter the community will know fast.
In this day we have many ways to receive rumors. Face to face, Facebook, Yahoo groups, Blogs and the list goes on. We have a responsibility to ourselves and each other to verify this information with the source. We should try not to hurt people intentionally.
Last year we met some people that started to try to spread rumors to our landlady but she knew us and asked us and it was fine, but it still hurt to know that people would try to that.
My POINT of this blog post is to get you to THINK before you share news/information.

Rumors hurt! Thanks for reading, Susan

Changes

We have been living in Cuenca for slightly more than thirteen months now, and hopefully are daily lives will begin to slow down over the next couple of months. Our son Frank is scheduled to arrive September 10th, so we will have three of our five children living with us here. In the USA we would have never considered inviting our older children to move back home, but here families treat each other differently, and it is more accepted to have unmarried adult children living at home. Our oldest daughter Courtney has already taken more of a leadership role at Moca, and the goal is have Susan train Frank once he arrives, so he can work at Moca with Courtney, and our manager Jenny. This will allow Susan and I, along with our partner Trish to act as mentors, and provide assistance when necessary. Susan, and I came here to retire, and the time to sit back and relax is becoming a real possibility with the arrival of Courtney and Frank.

Our other business, Cuenca Flats is gradually winding down, and we are limiting ourselves to managing only three properties for the immediate future. Managing properties is time consuming, and the money we earn does not impact our quality of life, so we have reevaluated the properties, and eliminated all but three. From the very beginning we let everyone know we weren't real estate agents and never had any interests in becoming one. We knew a few people (Ecuadorians) who owned properties, and they asked us to help, and we did for the most part. But, lately as more and more expats move to Cuenca I have become disenchanted with working in an area (real estate) that exposes me to so many expats, and so few Ecuadorians.

Let me explain the reason for my disenchantment. I grew up in San Antonio, Texas. We used to call San Antonio the capital of Northern Mexico when I was growing up. I was always comfortable being surrounded by the Hispanic community, and felt I had more in common with them than people for Minnesota, Virginia or Oregon. The Air Force sent me to live in the Azores for four years, and I loved the Portuguese culture, and left many friends behind when we returned to the USA.  My Air Force career of twenty-five years introduced me to many cultures, and countries beyond the borders of my home in Texas. I grew to understand that there were many great cultures throughout the world, and people regardless of where they were from, were just like me, but shaped by the uniqueness of their own culture and experiences. So, when we discussed moving from Atlanta, Georgia, we weren't moving out of a dislike for our own country, but instead in search of expanding our experiences, and those of our fourteen year-old son Nick by living in a different culture, and by not having to work any longer. Nick is now on his way to being bi-lingual (Spanish-English), and has matured so much in the last year, and I feel is because of his surroundings, and the additional time he spends with Susan and I compared to back in the USA.

So, in the last month in attempt to surround ourselves with more opportunities to experience the local culture, we have moved out of the very nice apartment in an affluent neighborhood to a house in a middle-class Ecuadorian neighborhood where we are the only expats. Our house is older, but our landlord allowed us to refinish the wood floors, paint, and refinish the kitchen ourselves (cost and labor) to make it our own. Our neighbor across the street is very friendly, and greets us with a smile when he sees us, and I have been accepted into the group that plays futsal in the park near our house. I am proud to be a Texan-American, and I am very fortunate to have grown up with an abundance of amazing opportunities that my family and country provided me. I am also proud of the twenty-five years I served my country, and feel great pride in what I accomplished as a member of the Air Force. And as a result of being raised in such fortunate circumstances, I know am blessed with the opportunity to live in Cuenca with my wife, and children. So, I will continue to offer a helping hand to an expat when I see they are in need of one, but I want to spend more time relaxing and getting to know my new neighbors, and understanding their culture.

While I will NEVER be accepted as a local, my hope is to be able to practice my Spanish, and grow as a person through interacting with my neighbors on a daily basis. I don't want to change my neighbors or my neighborhood, but I want to earn the trust of my neighbors, and to be a small part of the community. Hopefully they will gain something from interacting with my family as well. When you get down to it, we are all human beings, very similar in physical form, but our minds and beliefs are shaped by our experiences, and the people and cultures we interact with during our life. So, it is time for a change, and for me to take a big step back from all the things (Moca, Cuenca Flats, etc...) I have been involved in for the last year to relax, and get to know my new neighborhood, and my new neighbors.     

First Dentist Visit in Cuenca

About two weeks ago I started having a toothache. We were in the middle of moving into our new house when the pain started. I self medicated with motrin. Last week I started trying to call some dentists that were on a list on a Facebook group. They must have been on vacation or busy. I wasn't able to reach any of them.
My husband emailed our friend Oscar to get his wifes information so I could go see her. Today I got to go see her. Dr Paula Dominguez 097-868-908. She was very gentle with me since I am not a good dental patient. Her office is located just off of Solano on Daniel Cordova Toral. so far with my experience with the doctors and dentists in Cuenca they don't have assistants when you call you usually talk with them directly. Even at her office it is just her.
I asked her how much a cleaning would be for those of you interested she stated that it would be $30. I am not sure what others charge, but she is really nice and gentle.

Children in Ecuador

Today a friend and I went with our lawyer (who is bilingual) to visit Tadeo Torres. It is an orpanage just on the outskirts of Cuenca, that is currently caring and housing 24 children under the age of five years old. They were so adorable. It is sad to see so many children without loving families. The orphanage has a nice main house where they dine and the infants room is there then out in the back are play areas and rooms which they call their houses. The rooms that open to the outside courtyard. There are playrooms and therapy rooms and a medical office. On the back part of the property is the nuns house.

We found out that in order to adopt in Ecuador you need to be a resident for 2 years, which puts a damper on my friends plans. She would really love to adopt a child and give them a home right NOW, but she will have to wait. They also have a screening process (more to come on that) and classes that you have to take once approved.

Here in Ecuador you don't get to chose your child. You can ask for a specific age range and gender and they give you a resume (basically) of a child. You then have two weeks to review it and make the most important decision in your life and theirs. You have to ensure that you are willing to become this childs everything.

We asked what they needed. They asked for diapers size medium to large and a formula brand called Nestle Nan 1 and 2. If anyone is interested in donating please bring the items or cash to Moca Cafe Bar on Gran Colombia y Manzaneros, Moca sits in between Unidad Nacional and Las Americas at the base of Edificio Excalibur next to Banco International.