A Life Lesson - Ecuadorian Style

The world is, sometimes, a worrisome place. Ron and I were talking about how humanity seems to have lost its way when it comes to what is truly important. We've become distracted by bright glittery advertisements and the pursuit of some impossible ideal. It's become about "what's in it for me?". We've lost sight of our fellow man.

Then Ron reminded me of a beautiful, selfless story. Well, not a story, a truth. 

The (mostly) women who make Ecuadorian paja toquillas (also known as Panama hats) come from a long line of hat makers. Their craft involves, not only the production of hats, but the harvesting of the fibres, washing, smoking and bleaching/dying. The very final step is the weaving. Most hat makers earn less than $5 a hat...less than the cost of the process I just mentioned. Some Panama hats can be sold for $1000's, or even $10,000s, depending on the quality of the weave, the "straw" and the shape and colour. I bought mine for $25. The hat makers do it more to preserve their traditional arts than make money, at least for the most part. They are also farmers, vendors and personnel.

An enterprising importer decided to offer the manufacturers a really good deal. He offered to pay them more, cut out the middle man and improve their financial lives. Great deal, right? Who wouldn't want to earn more money for their craft?

The hat makers turned the offer down. They were incensed at the idea of taking a living from the "middle man". They asked how those people would earn money to help their families, how would they provide? And they turned down the higher income, a chance to improve their lives, so that others could also feed their families. Incredible, right?

This is the thing we've forgotten: a concern for others. I'm not the best example. I am patently self-concerned, but that doesn't stop me from wanting the best for others or trying to do better. I, for one, think this is revolutionary; that those with less are willing to sacrifice "more" to help their fellow man. Just a little something to ponder.

The Sounds of Cuenca

When we were researching San Miguel de Allende and other parts of Mexico, we came across an expat site that explained that one doesn't move to Latin America for peace and quiet. This is true.

I've come to believe that Ecuadorians (and other Latinos) just don't hear noise the way I do. Ron's pet theory is that Latinos believe that death is quiet, therefore life should be loud. It's a full and joyous expression of being able to suck air into one's lungs; proof that you "are". For me, the cornucopia of sound that encompasses daily life here is often overwhelming, sometimes diverting and, almost always, unexpected.

I've written before about the barking dogs, car horns and alarms. I've waxed on about the home and business alarms that sound off endlessly and the "sonidos" that are used to call the faithful to prayer at the churches. (Imagine a cannon going off next to your bedroom, that's pretty well what they sound like. If it's close enough the windows rattle, not the best way to start the day.)

So why, you may ask, would any peace loving gringo retire or even vacation with all of this nuisance noise?  For all the other noises. The marching bands that parade down streets for no known reason, the children's choir, the symphony and the random concerts. For the chimes of the nearby church that play Ave Maria, which floats over the air and falls calmingly on my ears. It's the  long string of HUGE speakers that run along the shopping streets, all playing a different Latino classic. I'm here because I'm waiting for the perfect record of bad karaoke to be broken and to enjoy the actual fireworks that flower in the sky on any given evening. (Sometimes even during the day...I'm still trying to figure that one out.) I'm here for that fleeting moment of silence, on a Sunday morning, before all the other sounds rush in.

My point, I guess, is that yes, life IS noisy here. It's not a serene island with bobbing palm trees and endless expanses of white sand and blue ocean. It's vibrant and reminds those of us that take life for granted that we should celebrate the fact that we're above ground, where the flowers bloom, rain falls and the earth continues to rotate.

The Dodgy-Wodgy House Across the Street

A while ago, I did a post about Ecuadorian construction, as it relates to home additions. It featured the house across the street, that already had interesting nooks and crannies, the sort of which you'd only see in sprawling estates in Canada. (You know the type, the ones that have wings for family members?)

Crazy angles, no?

Anyhow, we noticed a man up on the roof of said house. He appeared several times this week and we finally determined (thanks to my prior blog) that the family was building another addition. We think it's likely just another room, peeking out from behind the last addition. 

Adding another room

Now, I have a fairly fertile imagination, but try as I might, I can't come close to imagining what the house's interior layout looks like. In my mind's eye, I see a sort of labyrinth like warren of dens, with random stairways and hidey-holes. Based on the roof layout, there can't be any decent sight lines or open spaces, just a interconnected series of tiny rooms - enough for everyone in the family, or so I presume.

But for the small part at the right,
it's all the same roof

Like most things here, necessity is the driving force behind changes, so I'm not really sure if the family has thought things out, or is just wodging  in the needed space where it will fit. Either way, it's an interesting spectacle to behold and maybe, one day, I'll get to peek in the house and can stop imagining the wild and wacky arrangement.

Danica's Rough Guide to Retirement

It wasn't really my intention to have rules for the blissful part of my life labelled "Retirement". I fully intended to do whatever the heck I wanted. But, like all plans, one must be adaptable.
The hike to Patul reinforced certain thoughts I had about aging, laziness and a cavalier attitude towards body maintenance, if not life in general. (How all encompassing!) So, here are my 7 rules for retirement. (Don't wait, start now!)

A new hair cut always helps.

1. Get up when you want. No alarms (unless necessary), no rigid schedules. Go to bed when you want, too.

2. Nap, there's no shame in it. Chances are you're not sleeping quite as well at night, so make up for it in the day. (I try not to nap after 4pm, as it affects my sleep in the night, but that's not a hard and fast rule, even for me.) Resting or meditating counts, too.

3. Eat well. Fruit and veggies are our friends and keep our body rhythms regular. I'm an adherent of Ron's philosophy when it comes to food. (His rules for life are below, don't blink or you'll miss them.*) That being said, the more natural the food the better. Doritos are okay once in a while. I am weak when it comes to junk food, but limit my intake.

4. Lift weights. Your bones and muscles will thank you, your future self will thank you (even if your present self hates you and the task). Staving off muscle loss will allow you to do the things you dream of when you have time. (Dive the Great Barrier Reef? Check! Walk part of the Appalachian Trail? Check! Wander the volcanoes and surf the swells of Hawaii? Check. Everest Base Camp? Done...you get the picture.)

5. Stretch. Keeping limber can help with balance and reduce recovery times when injured. I do a quick yoga routine almost daily and have incorporated stretching into my afternoon routine. (Thanks to the torn ligament of a few years ago. Never again, fingers crossed.) My balance and flexibility have improved. This will help when I'm clumsy and trip (this happens frequently, sad to say) and if I ever fall, the extra muscle (from strength training) and limberness will protect me.

6. Honour your body's limitations by don't be ruled by them. The group on our hike proved to me that age is no limitation to ability and the power of the mind goes a long way to achieving things, even when your body might think you're nuts.

7. Laugh and cry. I sometimes feel that there is nothing that laughter can't heal, but to get there, sometimes we have to cry first. No shame in getting out the emotions, either. Your brain and heart will be grateful

(* Ron really only has two life rules: everything in moderation and use it or lose it. It serves him well, and I happily benefit from it at the same time.)

Bonus tips: wear sunscreen. Be kind to your skin and it will reward you. 
                   Disconnect. No, that tweet, post, text IM isn't that important

Be kind to yourself and yet demand more of yourself at the same time. Oh, and don't forget to enjoy your retirement.

La Busqueda (the search)

If you've ever lived abroad, you know one thing to be true, nothing is where it should be. It seems that every culture has their own sense of order. It applies to traffic, layouts of stores, government offices...you name it.

Our first real sense of this was when we were looking for a voltage adapter to take with us to Australia. We struck out at the usual electrical stores, large department stores, mom and pop shops and every store that carried luggage. We finally came across one in a little hole-in-the-wall tienda and happily coughed over the $20 or $30 that they asked.  It took us three weeks to find what we were looking for. (It's a bit like living in the Amazing Race, just when you think you've got it licked, something else goes awry.)

The Latest Challenge

It happens, on a smaller scale, at the grocery store. Sometimes, they just don't have what you want...say, dijon mustard. (We went two years before some finally appeared on the shelves of the local grocery store.) Other things, like duct tape are stashed in an obscure corner with car accessories, or shoe polish, right next to the candles. I'm sure it made sense to someone. We've learned to walk the aisles very slowly, with great attention to the lower and upper shelves. 

Fast forward to our return from the northern climes. Cuenca is DRY. Part of it is due to altitude and thin air, part of it is just because of the general climate. While it can rain a lot, the moisture just doesn't hang around, except in cloud form. Against all advice for sanity, we decided to look for a humidifier. (How hard could that be?) This is not a hot commodity here, only crazy gringos could ever want such a thing. We found a couple (literally two...in the whole city) of units that would probably moisturize and three bedroom house, but we were hoping for something smaller. The internet wasn't helpful, the local store that we set our hopes on didn't have any humidifiers in stock. We decided to walk to a large department store on the other side of the city. (Coral Hipermercado, for those who are curious.)

Upon arrival, our hopes were buoyed. There was a good selection of fans, heaters and air conditioning units , but no, no humidifiers. We went to the bathroom area, still nothing. The baby department...nope. About to abandon our search, we noticed the shelves of canes, walkers and various medical aides...well, why not, we thought. There...low and behold...were nebulizers (so close!!!) and...miracle of miracles...small humidifiers. We were jubilant in our success! (The units were also $50 cheaper than the large ones we'd already found, that counts as a super bonus.) It even has mood lighting, that changes colour. (Sure, the video would be more impressive if it were dark...you get what you pay for, right?)

Moral of the story? Things are not going to be like they are back home - period. If you can't embrace this concept, don't do the expat thing. If you can find exultation in the little victories, then living abroad might just be for you.

To cap off this good news feed, I thought I'd let you know that our voltage adapter didn't make it past the first plug in, but hey, that's how it goes. We're still feeling pretty good that the humidifier will work as required.

Embrace it or Die

I can't begin to guess how many blogs I've done about the whacky world of Ecuadorian bureaucracy and just general quirkiness, but I can't resist another one.

Yup, I guess the blush of being home has worn off slightly. Of course, this is the "life we've chosen" as a friend often says, but some things are just so...well...foreign. 

Sunset in Cuenca

In an attempt to comply with the health insurance requirement here, we decided to apply for the government medical coverage, known as IESS (not I E S S, but eeeyes!). So the spousal unit applies with little effort, and then we try to add me as a dependent...nope. So we trundle ourselves down to the IESS office, line up, get a number and then wait for our turn. The nice lady helps us, getting all my information and entering me into the system. Was that it? Was I registered? Nope. She tells us we have to go back home, log in to the system and add me properly now that she's registered me as a possible dependent. Off we go and low an behold, there I am on the list of dependents. We check the box, press continue and finalize. I am now supposedly registered. We shall see. (I did get a certificate of insurance, so that's a good sign, right?) 

Little man so proud to be astride

A bit round about, but such is the way things work here. Our chocolate contact suddenly wasn't offering her services anymore, so we had to go directly to the source; a manufacturer on the coast. Of course they'd help us, and it would be less expensive than going through and intermediary. We received the product list, got together a big order for ourselves and friends and placed it. They'll deliver the next day...(yup, wait for it)...if we can deposit the funds to their bank right away. Wait, what? We can't pay on delivery? Nope. But the banks are closed.  "Go early tomorrow." But we have another appointment tomorrow morning. "Deposit when you can and send a photo of the receipt and we'll arrange the deliver."

Cotton candy vendor

Much back and forth ensued. We weren't crazy about depositing almost $100 in a bank account where we'd never see it again. Needless to say, we wound up rolling the dice and doing the deposit and low and behold, the chocolate showed up the following day - 10 minutes after we set the delivery deadline, of course.

Sweeping vista of the coastal BC mountains

So, this is the craziness that we've signed on to, at least for now. So we must embrace it or risk losing our minds. We just have to realize that this isn't really a problem...it's not like we don't have the time and we've chosen to be here, so we have to play by their rules, no matter how unusual they seem to us.

Costa Rica - Not just beaches

Both Ron and I like beaches, or at least the sound of the waves. (Sand is overrated in my humble and unpopular opinion.) Is that why we came to CR? No, we came for the hiking and wildlife. The whole transit cop things put us off driving overly much, but we girded ourselves up and headed out to Parque Nacional Barra Honda, which boasts lots of bird life, monkeys and caverns that can be visited. What could be more interesting than hiking through the "dry" rain forest - so called because it only gets rain for half the year - and scrambling down slippery ladders to investigate the world underground?

View from the bottom of the ladder

Further in, a look back at the entrance

The Elephant trunk, baseball bat
and shark tooth

The Abyss, not a place to lose your footing

Moving further into the darkness

"The Cathedral"

"The Trees" formation

One piece of advice, if planning on touring around Costa Rica in a vehicle: get a 4 wheel drive. You can hope for an upgrade (we got one because we took out the very expensive full coverage), but some of the roads to these spectacular places really require a vehicle with high clearance and independent traction. We haven't even been on a road that "requires" doble traccion yet and we've been grateful to have it.

As Barra Honda is a national park, there is an entrance fee of 6,500 Colones each ($29USD) to access the caves or 6,800 Colones ($12USD) just to hike around. The extra money gets you a guide and spelunking equipment.

Perfect camouflage

Mama and baby Potoos making like logs

Roadside Hawk

White-throated Magpie Jay

The best part of having a guide is that they can show you unexpected things. We managed to catch a few different bird species on camera, because of our guide's diligence and we also got to see Howler monkeys in their natural environment. Their calls through the jungle are quite haunting, and I can imagine terrifying, if you didn't know what was making all the racket.

Another early start sent us off to Tenorio National Park (same entrance fee as for hiking through Barra Honda) to see the much lauded Blue Lagoon. (No not the movie from the 70s, but a lagoon so blue that it defies imagination. The water turns blue when volcanic minerals coming from thermal springs merge with the river water.) As we're here in the rainy season (May to October) there was a chance that the lagoon wouldn't be blue at all, but we decided to risk it. It's a three hour drive from our accommodation, so we wanted to leave by around 7am. There are restrictions on how many people are let into the park, both at one time and per day. The best reference site for information is the Costa Rican Parks site, but it's all in Spanish. Nothing a translate button can't handle, I'm sure.

Pretty spider

Stunning bloom!

Taking in the amazing colour

River changing colour

We managed to time it perfectly, as we missed most of the rain and several tour busses full of school students who were entering just as we were leaving. We did have to drive through a torrential downpour reminiscent of some drives out to Maple Ridge for family gatherings. Considering that this is a tropical country, we thought we'd come across more of that, but so far, we've been lucky. (It's currently raining as I type this, though.)

A little blue butterfly

The money shot...quite amazing!

My green flying bug - he has orange wings!

Yellow bamboo amongst the greenery

As we drove out of the park, we were graced by the appearance of a band of coatis (white nosed coatis, to be specific), around 15 or so, crossing the road with all their babies, kit and kin. All I have is a bit of blurry video (darn you cell phone!), but it was such a lovely surprise. The video is just the tail end of their mad dash to safety.

They actually look like this (there were more babies, though):

Source: http://www.mightymac.org/costarica/08costarica03.htm

So, I think it's safe to say that Costa Rica has a little something for everyone.

Next up, beaches and other adventures! 

Costa Rica...the unknown country

We've been a fair amount of places, but really haven't spent any time in Central America, if you don't count airports. We decided that it was an opportune time to drop by, as it was between home (Canada) and home-away-from-home (Ecuador).

Playa Junquillal, near Paraiso, where we're staying

We embarked on our 6 week hiatus from real life, renting an Air B&B and car (Alamo) to get us around the diminutive (relatively speaking) country. This portion of the blog will cover the first week of our new experience.

View from our patio

View of our patio (it's a shared entrance porch)

Right out of the gate, we got to enjoy (if one can phrase it that way) the transit police corruption. We'd been on the road for 3 or so hours when we got pulled over by a motorcycle officer. He claimed that we had passed in a no passing zone. (We didn't.) The long and short of it was that he wanted money to "help us out" with the ridiculously high penalties for traffic violations. (The high cost is actually true, but  he really just wanted some easy cash.) We were taken aback, not expecting it. (In general, but more specifically, during our first few hours in country.) We weren't equipped to play it cool and handed over enough Colones to make the "officer" laugh all the way to the bank. 

Near Playa Blanca

Needless to say, it ruined our first day. For general information purposes, 10.000 Colones would likely suffice. Play dumb (if you do speak Spanish, don't admit it) and claim only to have a small amount of cash on you. Doing my research (after the fact), some people claim that you can just ask for the ticket, which is unlikely to be produced, especially if they've offered you a "get out of ticket cheap" solution. Asking for a bribe (and paying one, btw, as we discovered later) is against the law here. I've also read that the Transito can't actually arrest you, but have to call the Federales or municipal force to take you to jail. This can make for awkward questions, which the transit cops want to avoid. It's your call and I'm certainly no expert.

These crazy patterns are made by...

...these industrious little fellows

We've also learned that Costa Rica is NOT Ecuador. Of course, we didn't expect it to be, but the CR is much more expensive for many things, including a lot of produce, food staples and gasoline. Happily, wine and our accommodation are both fairly affordable.

A resident lizard

He feels that this is his good side.

Costa Rica is a land filled with butterflies. Everywhere you go, they're flitting through the air, flaunting their colours and giving more sensitive souls heart attacks as they blithely soar on the currents in front of the car's windscreen. We have yet to peel any off the front of the car. While numerous, I've been having problems getting a photo.

Good milk, not so good beef, so we've heard

Barely another beach goer in sight

Other denizens of the nearby area include Brahma cows, crabs and numerous birds. It's also HOT. Of course, we're here at the start of summer, during the wet season, which makes for humid weather. We're finding the heat okay for now, but I do occasionally wilt under the sweat running down me. Thank heavens for the pool!

I'm pretty sure we'll have a good time here, despite the start. So, if you're coming to Costa Rica, bring your cash, a vacant smile that indicates you don't understand a word and lots of sun screen.