Cuenca Blue Bus Blues

The blue buses are the stuff of legend here in Cuenca. There are 29 different routes that criss-cross the city and continue a fair way out of town. Each of those routes has buses that run 7 days a week, with a frequency of 10 minutes or less. Do the math, and you'll see that Cuenca is crawling with blue buses!

A lot of bus stops serve several different routes, which results in a line of buses jockeying for position when they approach the bus stop.

The upside of this is that for a fare of 25 cents, you can hop a bus and get just about anywhere in the city. Well, after a few false starts in the beginning - I'll bet everyone who rides the bus here has a story to tell - here's mine.

After studying the city's bus guide, and a map, I determine which bus I need to take to reach my destination. I'll have to get off the bus and walk a fair distance to get where I want to go. No problem, I'm a walker. Coins in hand, I board the bus and off we go.

The bus driver often has a pal sitting next to him, helping with change or just talking. The rectangular box in the upper left hand corner of the bus is a rolling sign that shows the current stop and announces the next stop. Very helpful when you don't exactly know where you're going! Note: not all buses have this amenity.

I get off the bus, take care of business, and then, because I've already walked awhile, I get on the first bus that comes along. I can tell by the guide that this bus will eventually stop somewhere close to where I live. I'll just have to ride it to the end of the line - which is okay - another blogger mentioned that she did this all the time.

From my vantage point in the back of the bus, I watch as the bus moves through El Centro, out past the airport, into an industrial area, and then heads up into the hills. Now we're in cow and corn country, and I'm getting a little nervous. I'm starting to feel a long way from Cuenca, almost into Peru, and the bus is showing no signs of stopping!

Hey, is that a llama??

Finally, the bus stops, on a dirt road surrounded by little farms. A couple of other buses are standing idle at the bus stop. The bus driver gets out and heads towards a little bodega. So much for staying on the bus until it loops back to where I want to get off! I suddenly feel very alone in a foreign land!

A short conversation with the driver, and I realize that all I have to do is get on one of the idle buses and wait and eventually the driver will appear and start driving the route again. In fact, this is what happens, and the bus slowly winds its way back through the industrial area, past the airport and into the center of Cuenca. As soon as I see anything that looks even remotely familiar to me, I get off the bus and walk the rest of the way home.

Out in the sticks, I was the only passenger on the bus for quite a few stops, but the bus gradually filled up again, and was packed when I finally stepped to the rear door to get off.

That experience taught me to pay closer attention to the bus routes, and study the map a little closer, before hopping onto any old bus. But I have to admit, it was quite a ride for 25 cents!

Bus guides, guia de buses, are available at Cuenca's tourist information offices - free. There is also a website, cuencatransit.com, which shows all routes and has a tripfinder - and is in both English and Spanish.

A Visit to Artesa Ceramics

This morning, several of us took a tour of Artesa Ceramics, sponsored by the Cuenca Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber has created a great program for expats, that includes tours, speakers and email notices for upcoming events, like concerts.

It was so noisy in the Artesa work area that it was hard to hear the guide, but my observation was that a staff of about thirty people turn out this ceramic ware, from start to finish. I was surprised at how few people were working, considering the stacks and stacks of drying ceramics that filled the workspace.

One of the first steps - vats of clay, waiting to be processed. Once the water has been pressed out and the clay has been formed into cylinders, it's ready for the molds, shown in the photo below.

The warehouse work area was filled with stacks of drying mugs, plates, lamp fixtures, bowls, pitchers, ladles - and much more... 

I've never seen such a large kiln! Pieces move through this kiln in an assembly line.

Once fired, they are ready to be hand decorated. The artwork is applied with wax, which melts when glazed and fired, leaving the finished design.

I'd say there were about fifteen women applying the designwork. It takes a steady and deft hand to do this!  

 In the photo above, you can see the black wax pencils that are used to apply the designs. 

Howdja like to do this all day, every day?!

Once glazed and fired, the pieces go through a rigorous inspection, and if perfect, they are ready for sale. Artesa also makes pieces that are solely for museum display.

The adjacent showroom is a colorful and cheerful place, and the finished pieces are beautiful. It's hard to pick just one!

There is a seconds shop for bargain shoppers, which is open every Friday morning.

Artesa is located at Av. Isabel La Catolica 1-102 y Av. de las Americas in Cuenca

www.artesa.com.ec

Tel: 2881 755

Second Thoughts and Reservations

It's time for me to 'fess up to some extreme tunnel vision in planning this adventure. I failed to take a couple of things into consideration and they are now staring me right in the face.

I failed to consider how my medical problems (resulting in part from my earlier travels) would play out in Ecuador. And they are not playing out well. I haven't been able to sample the vast array of restaurant food here, because my digestive system is not tolerating the food well. Yuk!

And while I was thinking about all the things that I wanted to escape from, I failed to take into account all the things that I valued in Vermont. Washed out roads and lousy weather aside.

I didn't think about what it would mean to miss Friday night dinner at my friend's house every week, or how much I would miss my opera buddy.

I'm thinking about it now, that's for sure!

But, in fact, the real issue is that I don't feel safe in Cuenca as a woman alone. I have been all over the city on foot, and I have walked the parks and neighborhoods, and I am constantly looking over my shoulder. I don't feel comfortable going out at night. I feel constrained.

So now I'm going to spend some serious time thinking about what's important to me at this point and I'll let you know.

Spider Plants follow me to Cuenca!

When I got out of bed Monday morning, my right ankle complained painfully. After a little limping around, I decided it might be a good day to stay home, instead of putting in my three to four mile daily walk!

So I started poking around in the yard. One thing led to another, and before I knew it I was weeding and pruning. I was surprised to find so many familiar plants.

Allium, I think.

The people in the yard behind this one have a coconut palm, and there are a couple of small trees in this yard, as a result of drops from their tree. There's a fairly ancient grape vine, and ivy covering the back brick walls.

These white irises run around all four walls of the house.

I picked out the two trees to suspend my hammock from, but Maria Elena, my landlady, pointed out that one of them was a lemon verbena. For years I've been buying a lemon verbena every spring for my yard, and now I have a tree to enjoy all year round.

Growing around the lemon verbena are geraniums and creeping charlie, blooming with small white flowers.

These purple wandering jew plants are everywhere, but I've never seem them flower before.

Some of the houseplants that I had in Vermont are growing here in the yard. Geraniums, ivy, impatiens, and spider plants are all thriving outside here. I even found a little potted violet and some allysium.

All the trees, and even the jade plants, have these air plants growing here and there on their limbs. You can see a tiny one at the very top of the photo.

I spent a very pleasant day, limping around the yard, weeding and discovering, pruning and watering. An afternoon breeze made for very pleasant work, and I was very happy that I had chosen this place to live, and not a seventh floor apartment!

P.S. The fruit in the top photo is called a Chinese Cherry. I think Maria Elena said you could eat them, but they're not very good.







Now, to Make this House a Home

What a pleasure it was to be awakened this morning by roosters crowing and dogs barking. No more roaring traffic and beeping horns, even though I've only moved about a mile and a half. I'm still on a busy street but back far enough from the street that the noise is muffled.

So, welcome to my new place!

Downstairs is the living/dining area on the left and the kitchen on the right. Tucked under the stairs is a tiny bathroom - what's called the 'social bathroom', for guests.

Little dining area - big windows!

Living room with small furniture, but just my size, and big windows onto the back yard.

Kitchen area, just big enough for one person. Brand new stove w/oven (lots of kitchens only have cooktops) and refrigerator!

And note my Vermont license plate in the window! Back door opens out onto the yard.

Today I took a good look around the yard, and I'm looking forward to puttering around back here and planting some things of my own (I brought seeds with me).



Needs a little TLC... but plenty of room for a little dog!

That white rectangular box on the wall over the sink is the hot water heater for the whole house. It only gets turned on when hot water is needed. That means you can't just step into the shower and hope for hot water - you have to plan ahead.



Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bathroom, and I'll probably use one bedroom for working.

Here's a view of the 'big house' from a bedroom window. Notice those closed iron gates? Those are the second set - there's another one on the street. Very safe and secure!

There is a bus stop literally across the street from the front gate and it's about a 15-minute walk to the middle of town.

Next step is to walk around the neighborhood and start settling in.

Casa Sweet Casa

Tomorrow I am moving into my casita, and I am anticipating being unplugged and offline for a few days. Amazing how cranky this is making me - after a couple of weeks, I am totally wedded to my iPad and Facebook!

I'm consoling myself with the fact that I can walk a couple of blocks to a WiFi oasis, if I really get the DT's!!

I am so looking forward to being able to unpack my four suitcases, stock my refrigerator and relax in my own space. Seems much longer than a month since I put my suitcases in the car and pulled out of the driveway of my Vermont farmhouse.

We'll take a tour of the inside of the house once I'm moved in and connected to the cyberworld again.

In other news, and in keeping with my plan to get my blog out to the entire world, it is now being posted on www.southofzero.com, which is a summary and list of blogs about moving to and/or living in Ecuador.

Stairs, Gasp, Stairs, Wheeze, and more Stairs!

A newcomer to Cuenca might be forgiven for cursing the city's many stairways. While much of the city is relatively flat, there's only one way to get to the old center of town, and that's to climb some stairs. A lot of stairs.

And these are not simple flights of stairs, as you can see. These are monster staircases that leave you gasping for breath after the first flight because of the altitude (8300 feet).

After the second flight, a heartfelt thanks goes out to the staircase builders of old for putting landings every so often, where a novice stairclimber can rest and walk slowly back and forth to catch her breath.

By the third and fourth landing, not only is the novice stairclimber out of breath, but thighs are burning and water is desperately needed.

My first ascent of the steps above, the day I arrived in Cuenca, was illuminating, to say the least. Maybe it was just oxygen deprivation, but it seemed to me that a lot of people were stopping on every landing for a breather. So why not me?

Then I noticed that street vendors had their wares laid out on the landings - must be a lot of people stopping, I figured.

Okay, there were some guys who could trip along all the way to the top without stopping. Awe inspiring, to say the least. And my Spanish conversational teacher suggested that taking the stairs two at a time was easier. She actually did that as we went up the stairs together, lightly taking the steps two at a time, with me gasping along behind her.

It is true that one could avoid the stairs altogether by taking a bus or a taxi. And it's also true that coming down the stairs is delightful, with the city spread out below and the Tomebamba river gurgling along.

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to the day that I can climb one staircase all the way to the top without stopping. Forget about that two-stepping, though.

Vamos a have a conversation en Espanol

With some trepidation, I presented myself this morning to a Spanish school for 3 hours of Spanish conversation with Rebecca, or Reby, for short. Every twenty minutes or so, my brain totally turned to mush and I couldn't say anything at all in either Spanish or English, but we managed pretty well.

At the end of the session, I knew that she and I had a lot in common and that I had found my first amiga cuencana (Cuencan friend). For the last fifteen minutes or so, we sat in the sun on the roof terrace - a beautiful day with almost no clouds in the sky. Reby said this meant it would be cold tonight, which means about 40 degrees.

On Friday, we will resume and she is going to start showing me the city, with an eye to finding an apartment. This is muy bueno, because there are two kinds of rents here - one for gringos (higher) and one for locals (lower). I'm going for the lower rate, with Reby's help.

Most shops close from 1-3 pm here, which is a good excuse for a long lunch and a nap. I had an appointment at 3 pm to look at a couple of apartments, and the realtor emailed me to meet her at Banco Pinchinca y Solano. I wasn't sure what this meant, so I walked to Banco Pinchincha, which is a high rise building on Solano. I figured she would see me, the conspicious gringa, but after moving from corner to corner and waiting on the steps of the bank for about 45 minutes, I gave up.

Next I wanted to find a cutting board for my little kitchen. I walked to the supermercado and found one, and also checked out some puppies in a local pet store window. There was a white miniature schnauzer! I had to sternly steer myself away from her, but not until asking whether she was a he or a she and how much she cost!

Just as an aside, the length of day here is twelve hours, all year long. It gets dark about 6:30 pm. Both the nights and the days feel long to me. After all, how many days in the year are like that in Vermont?

World's Worst Blogger: Me

Ok, I think we can all agree that I am the world's worst blogger. I just can't seem to make it to the site and put my fingers to the keys. I'll try harder.

Wow, a whole month has passed and I'm getting closer and closer to my April trip to Cuenca. I have my plane tickets and hotel reservations in Quito and Cuenca.

I booked a tour for people thinking of moving to Cuenca through Dixie's Davey's excellent blog, http://www.retire-in-ecuador.com/.

All that's left is finding a secure parking lot for my car near the Boston airport. This is actually the worst part of the whole trip! Once I almost missed a flight because I got lost in the maze around the airport and couldn't find the park/fly lot.

Waiting is hard. I'd like to be whisked through time to April now so I can start my adventure. Notice that I don't have any hesitation about the fact that I am going to have an adventure. The idea of moving to Cuenca has become so much a part of my everyday life, that it is comfortable now...inevitable. Yaay!

In the meantime, we have a couple of feet of snow on the ground here in Vermont, and last night had thundersnow - snow with thunder and lightning! I'm not liking it, but shoveling snow is good exercise, at least.

Saturday, I had a real estate agent to the house, to talk about prices and listing. This is exciting!! I only had a couple of hours notice, but I was able to go through the house like a cleaning tornado before she arrived. Although I do have someone already interested in buying the house, I feel more comfortable with a professional helping me through it.

I am still clearing stuff out of closets and knee wall cupboards, and finally, there's empty space in the house.

I've thought a lot about what to bring with me. Do I really want to drag all my past life stuff with me, or do I want to make a clean break? Making a clean break means getting rid of everything, all the little mementos that I have from all the places I've been. There's a lot of it.

Right now I'm going with the premise that I'll put together a small shipment, not a whole shipping container. I've been wandering around the house, looking at pictures on the wall, pottery on the shelves, and saying "that goes, that stays, that goes...." I don't mind buying new dishes, but my vegetable peeler that my mother gave me when I moved out at 17 has to come.

I still have four cats that I need to find homes for. Soon would be good.
I'll put together little kitty kits for them to take to their new homes: a blankie, their food bowl, a toy, and some food. Their new people will only have to add love and kitty litter. 

Since I can now go out and look at where the dogs are buried with loving remembrance, I know I can shuck whatever I need to to get where I'm headed now.

Finally, ta da, I am making some money online! In fact that's one reason why I haven't been posting - I've been doing jobs and getting paid!

It's all working. I'm actually doing the things I told myself I had to do in order for my plans to work. It feels good. I'm outta here!

El Tiempo Cuenca

I was very happy to usher in the start of 2011, because this is the year that I make my move! Well, I’m making it every day, a little bit at a time, but now that the calendar has turned over to the new  year, moving to Ecuador seems a little more solid, more real.  I mean, I can actually look at the 2011 calendar, point to a month and say, this is the month that I am going!

That little bit at a time part – trying every day to do something that will get me closer to Cuenca – is fantastic. Thinking this way keeps me focused on what I’m trying to do, and even if all I do one day is check my Cuenca blogs and read El Tiempo Cuenca, one of Cuenca’s daily newspapers, I’ve made a connection.

I’m actually feeling a little schizophrenic these days; some of me already in Cuenca, some of me here, filling a cardboard box with stuff to get rid of. Over Christmas, when I read an account of El dia del Nino, when people from all over Ecuador come to celebrate the Christmas Child, I really wanted to be there.

Thanks to the Internet, I could read about it and see photos in El Tiempo Cuenca. Very nice.

The Christmas that I did have here was wonderful, spent with dear friends and filled with good food and good conversation. But I could feel the pull of another Christmas to come.

Progress report: I’ve finished my first online job, and got a 5.0 review from the client – the highest rating possible. Very nice.  Looks great on my profile.

Took advantage of the three-day New Year’s weekend to plow through more stuff and resign it to the trash. How I ever managed to accumulate all this stuff is beyond me.

Time to Do the Work

To my hundreds of readers, who probably wonder what’s become of me, I can sum it up in two words: FALL BACK. Or, Daylight Savings Time Ends. Or, wake up in darkness, go to work in darkness, come home in darkness, get in your pajamas.

That’s my experience, anyway. There’s some light in the far off distance this year, because I keep saying to myself, “This is the last winter, this is the last winter, this is the last winter.”

A lot of people ask me why, if I hate winter and have Seasonal Affective Disorder, do I live in Vermont?  Well, like a lot of people, I kind of got stuck in one place. But I’m moving now.

I’ve started telling people that I’m moving to Ecuador. Yes! I am moving to Ecuador! Just Google Cuenca, I tell everybody, and you’ll want to go, too. Lots of incredulous looks and questions  - and then people are really very enthusiastic about me going (not them).

I’ve found an internet site for brushing up on my Spanish language skills, and I added one of Cuenca’s newspapers to my favorites, so I can start (trying) to read the paper.

 I’m in a little bit of a hiatus right now, but next week I will start bidding on online jobs, beginning the work that I need to do to establish my income stream, so I can support myself wherever I am.

After countless hours of crafting my online profile, looking at the profiles of people who are already successful, consulting with my guru at Barefoot Consulting on how to break into the biz, I'm more than ready to start. 

If I’m indulging myself a little right now, it's because I know that once I start bidding on jobs, I’m going to be coming home from a full day of work and hitting the computer here for more hours.

I want to believe that I will struggle a little, but will, in the end, get what I need to keep moving with my plan. This is so important that I can’t allow even a wisp of self-doubt to appear.

So, picture me for the next few months in front of my computer, doing the work. Whatever it takes, doing the work.

I’ll be using this blog to vent my frustrations and celebrate my successes, so stay tuned!

Put One Foot in Front of the Other. Repeat.

What was it that I said in that previous blog? Oh, right –

All I have to do is find a way to make $800 a month, sell my house and all my belongings, get rid of my dogs and cats, renew my passport, figure out how to move money around, and I’m gone.

This is not an offhand list that I just threw together – this is the essence of what needs to be done before I can hit the road. The big stuff that I try to make some forward progress on every day.

Here’s a report on how I’m doing so far:

-          No more dogs (sob)

-          Talking to someone who might buy the house

-          Getting rid of stuff weekly with the Three Box Technique (see previous blog)

And the really big one – finding a way to make a living overseas – I work on that almost every night after work. The world of online commerce is alive and well, and I am determined to find my niche – soon!

It’s all about forward movement now. Fortunately, I have a whole team of supporters behind me, rooting me on almost every step of the way. These guys have provided me with so much valuable information in the last couple of months – it’s piled up all around my computer and banging around in my head 24/7. As soon as I figure out how to create links here, I’ll start posting contact information, so if you catch the itch while you’re reading my story, you’ll be able to find answers to your questions.

In the meantime, I am putting one foot in front of the other, moving forward, getting a little done every day.

Hoy, 3 de Noviembre, es el dia de Independencia de Ecuador.

P.S. Better learn some Spanish, too!

Why Ecuador?

That’s the question that everybody asks. So I’ll just say that, contrary to what most people around here think, there can be a better quality of life overseas. A better quality of life at less cost. And reasonably priced health care. Fresh food that hasn’t been radiated out the yingyang. Lots of other things appeal, but those are the biggies. Did I mention the Amazon?

Since I already have the itch, and I’ve lived overseas before (another blog entry), the prospect of moving to a foreign place is not as daunting as it would be for, say, the people living down the way who have never left Vermont.

Okay, my friend says to me, but why not Canada? CANADA??? I’m already living too far North, I say, watching the sun go down at 3:30 in the afternoon.

ECUADOR!! Twelve hour days ALL YEAR LONG! Apartments for rent for $350 a month, just a bus ride away from the Amazon, which I’ve been dreaming about all my life.

You might think I’m crazy, but International Living, a magazine/organization that has been scouting out overseas locations for 30 years, has just named Ecuador the top retirement destination in the world.

They say that a person can live pretty comfortably in Cuenca, a city in the Andes (no bugs) for about $800 a month. So that’s why Ecuador.

All I have to do is find a way to make $800 a month, sell  my house and all my belongings, except for a small air freight shipment, get rid of my dogs and cats, sell my car, renew my passport, figure out how to move money around, and I’m gone.

Now it begins

My travel itch was born when I was fifteen and my mother took an overseas teaching position in Medellin, Colombia. I didn't know I would get an itch - I was dragged kicking and screaming from my California teenage universe. I'd never been in a plane when I got on the flight to Miami.

On that flight from Miami to Barranquilla, an engine blew [chronological give-away] and my brother turned a pukey shade of green in the heat and humidity of the airport lounge where we waited while they repaired the plane. The delay meant we had to overnight in Bogota, because the Medellin airport had no lights for night landings.

The next day, a man pushed me down the escalator at the Bogota airport, as he rushed to get his seat on the plane to Medellin. Ruined my nylons and started a lifelong fear of getting on the down escalator.

So, okay, it might be hard to see how the itch to travel got started with this beginning scenario, but somehow, it did, and basically, I've been trying to get somewhere ever since.

After eight (8) years in rural Vermont, I'm getting pretty itchy, and have begun looking into how I can escape to another country. Today, my country of choice is Ecuador and this blog is going to take me there.