After the Fall - Rise Like the Phoenix

To my American friends,

I know that a lot of you are despairing right now. That fear and embarrassment have taken over and it feels like the end of something precious to you. I also know that 50% of the people who took time to vote are feeling pretty excited and that might be scary for some of you. Never has there felt like a larger divide in your country. I'll be honest, your president-elect scares the crap out of me and I don't feel he's a good person. I don't quite understand his appeal to a portion of the electorate, but I don't understand the gun thing or abject fear of universal health care either, so maybe it's me. That isn't my point though. I don't want to create more division.

I want to give you words of hope. Canadians did almost the same thing your country just did. (Perhaps not as grandly, but that's what makes us a little different.) We voted in a minority government two terms in a row. That meant that we had a conservative Prime Minister, but that the majority of the house was left leaning. They didn't get much done. So we decided to give the conservative guy all the power. He got his majority government and proceeded to tear our country down  (he would say in its own best interest). Of course, there are those in Canada that felt he did a great job, our economy didn't take the hit yours did in 2008 - we're suffering more now. He supported the oil industry, he promoted xenophobia and muzzled our scientists and snuck through large omnibus bills of legislation, burying the stripping of our rights in minutiae. Some of our people were happy. He was making Canada "great" (White North) again. Sound familiar? Then the next election approached and the crisis in Syria was front and centre. He talked about banning the niqab and closing our borders. That was our line in the sand.

Canada is a nation of immigrants, like you. Sure a lot of them are white, but they came to our country with a dream of a better life and while we now have a rainbow of skin colours, we all have that same hope. We've done terrible things to our immigrants, too. We're no angels. But we, as a country, finally stood up and said "No more". No to prejudice and fear. We said "yes" to our scientists and (hopefully) to protecting our environment, to adhering to the only true Canadian value - TOLERANCE. 

In the meantime, while you're waiting it out, stand up for what you believe in. Don't allow the hate spewed by your president-elect to define you - as if it could. You will have to be louder during this difficult time, braver and more steadfast. This is not the time to weaken. Loving what you don't understand is the hardest task of all, but it's so much better than surrendering to hate.

I accept that not all my fellow Canadians believe in climate change (or change in general for that matter) and they're allowed their opinions. I believe that they have the same fears and desires that I do. They want to feel safe and have opportunities to prosper and grow. They want their children to live in a better world than what we have now. This is common ground. We may define it differently, but if we can take fear off the table, we can work together. That didn't stop us from getting our country back and you can, too.

It may be a frustrating, embarrassing four years, but perhaps that's what is needed for the country to come together again.  You will be tested. Your commitment to love over hate will be tried, but this, too, shall pass.

We're your friends and we are trying to be a rational example in an irrational world. We have your backs America. 

With much love and hope,

Your Canadian friend 

When Home Isn't Home

For the most part, life abroad is pretty awesome, and in many ways, strangely the same as being in your native country. (Let's be honest, you bring yourself with you and that influences a lot of your day to day life - you are YOU after all.) But every once in a while something happens (or doesn't) and you realize that where you are in that moment just isn't the same as home.

Roasted turkey

Homemade cranberry sauce in the making

For me, this happened quite recently. It started with Thanksgiving - Canadian Thanksgiving for you US folks. There aren't a lot of Canadians down here, so the holiday is about as much of a non-event as something can be and I saw pictures of my friends and family gathering with theirs - tables loaded with all the trimmings and I felt a little pinch, somewhere deep down. I shook it off. Then I started seeing Halloween decorations pop up in photos. Admittedly, there are Halloween decorations in Cuenca, but they're a bit of a sales gimmick, more than anything.  We certainly don't get trick-or-treaters (though I hear rumours that it's starting to happen in some areas) and people generally don't dress up unless you're going to some sort of gringo style party. Halloween was one of my very favourite holidays, so it's weird to see it  come and go with so little fanfare.

Halloween and Christmas Combined

Not exactly standard, if you know what I mean?

Now, we're heading into the traditional holiday season. US Thanksgiving is coming up, which will be a bit bigger happening down here and then Christmas. Even Christmas isn't quite the same, in good ways, but still different, nonetheless. Just being in the southern hemisphere makes it so, as the days are usually warm and sunny, because we're in the start of summer once Christmas rolls around. They do have one heck of a party for Christmas Eve - if you like parades that is. El pase de Niño Viajero is a nine hour parade that I've spoken about (ad nauseum) and there's tons of photos on this blog of the incredible event. If you're lucky you'll have already booked a hotel along the route with a balcony overlooking the festivities. We usually just go down for a bit in the morning, go get some lunch and then return for more in the afternoon. We've never seen the entire parade, but I imagine not many people do.

They also really know how to celebrate New Year's Eve. (Although they call it old year - año viejo.) If you read my post about Cuencano festivals this is one that's really not to be missed.So it's not like there's a lack of festivities - they just aren't the festivities I grew up with, which, every once in a while, is a reminder that I'm not in my natural habitat.

Latest acquisition from Festival de Cuenca

With that thought floating out in the universe, I'm off to check out the tres de noviembre festival of Cuenca - this will be our fourth, surprisingly. Nothing celebrates freedom from Spanish overlords like art, music, food and dance! Feliz festival!

Living the High Life - Life at Altitude

If you've never been above 2,400 metres (8,000 feet) or so , you may not entirely get that living higher up can be challenging. In fact, some people are affected at elevations as low (relatively speaking) as 1,500m/4,921ft. The ,oxygen is just thinner up at high altitudes and aerobic activity can be hard. 

Vancouver, BC, Canada
Sea level, we know you well!

I noticed it first when we first got to Quito for a visit. Climbing the stairs at the hotel made me breathless. (It was a pretty hotel but nothing so luxurious that it took my breath away, if you know what I mean.) I didn't really notice it when I was walking around, unless I hit a steepish hill or stairs. I was lucky, I didn't get any of the "hangover" symptoms that some people get. (Things like headaches, nausea, lightheadedness etc.) That is, until I got to Cuenca...a city at a lower elevation than Quito, ironically. This type of altitude sickness is more formally called AMS (acute mountain sickness.) There are worse and more deadly types that involve liquid in the lungs and on the brain. These are deadly and best to be avoided. AMS is a good precursor to the others, but isn't necessarily a requirement.

El Panecillo in
Quito - 2,850 metres (9,350 ft)

This is the perversity that is altitude sickness. Just because you don't get it once, doesn't mean you can't get it another time. It also means that if you want to live an active lifestyle you have to be okay with feeling like you can't draw in enough breath. I've learned that even though I feel like I might suffocate, I really won't. I might puff up inclines like the little engine that could, but I still make it up. It's not so bad in Cuenca; stairs still wind me, but I recover a lot faster, but get me up into the Cajas and any incline makes me feel (presumably) asthmatic.  In truth, the higher you get the harder it gets, but I've found that if I can keep putting one foot in front of the other, I'll hit a sweet spot and stop suffering eventually.

Cusco (3,399m/11,200ft)

It's not just that, either...being short of breath. Sometimes, when we come back from being at sea level I get sick (as in nausea and vomit - sorry...I know that's a gross thought) and it wipes me out for two or three days even though I'm only talking to the toilet once, usually in the middle of the night on the day I arrive. It happened the first time I came to Cuenca and it happened again the last time, but there have been at least four times in between that I was fine. You just don't know.

Cuenca - 2,500 metres (8,200 feet)
Mirador Turi (slightly higher than Cuenca)

This last time I was cocky, we ate empanadas for lunch and then had pasta for supper. Not exactly light eating if you know what I mean and I paid the price. You can try to counter balance it or take steps to avoid it.

How to (try to) Avoid AMS:

In the first 12-24 hours it is best to avoid:
          1. ALCOHOL (none, zip, zilch, nada, zero)
          2. Heavy foods, stick to clear liquids like broths, clear juices etc (no, still not alcohol)
          3. Physical activity - keep it to a minimum
(These three rules our are from Jorge, our hotel manager in Cusco.) 

Oh, and HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE! You loose tons of moisture up at altitude, so you'll want to drink lots of water. Fortunately, Cuenca has some of the world's best drinking water, but most other places you'll need to drink bottled water. Most of us don't have enough time to do what really needs to be done to avoid altitude sickness which is only ascending 500m (1,640ft) per 24 hour period.

Peru - the Salkantay Pass
4,630 metres/15,190 ft

Living at high altitude also affects how things cook, including how water boils (it actually boils at a lower temperature, so things cook more slowly), and how cakes and cookies bake. You can't just whip up your favourite batch of chocolate chip cookies without making changes to the recipe. (Which means they may never be the same again, no matter how hard you try.) The good news is that there are lots of sites out there to help you. Just be prepared to make adjustments to those tried and true recipes.

El Cajas - Tres Cruces Summit
4,200m/13,779ft

This is life at altitude and some people need oxygen and others need to get themselves to a lower altitude ASAP. You can actually die from altitude sickness at it's most extreme, so it's something that you have to be aware of when considering the leap to the stunning Andes. If you want to find out more visit Altitude.org, a nifty site with everything you ever wanted to know about high altitude living, including how long you should cook an egg at your exact altitude.

Huayna Picchu (2,720m/8,920ft)

There are actually benefits to living at high altitude. You tend to lose weight, as your body is working so much harder to get oxygen. Your heart gets stronger (assuming it was originally healthy) and your red blood cells increase and when you go back to sea level physical activity is easier. (At least for the first couple of weeks.) I was much more able to perform in Australia without incident because of my high altitude life. That being said, it's still hard to workout here, but I'm training to improve my cardio performance and am likely in better physical condition now than when I was in my 20's. If that isn't a recommendation, I don't know what is!
 

Hard to BULK Up in Ecuador

Let's face it, we're a consumer nation, and there's nothing we like better than a "good deal". This concept has spurred on things like buying clubs, IKEA and (of course) Costco. To be right up front, many things in Costco scare me. Have you seen the size of some of the tuna tins? (Ron's parents only wished something like that existed back in the day, what with the 11 kids to raise.) It's given us the idea that bigger is often better: yes the idea of bulk purchasing. 

Now, there's only two of us, but we still bought 20kg bags of rice, 24 roll packs of toilet paper and 3 litre tins of olive oil. Why? Because we knew we'd use it and it was always cheaper in the long run. This leads me to Ecuador - land of the single purchase. You can actually buy a single cigarette from the corner stands. When you go to the pharmacy and are looking for ibuprofen (for example) you can actually buy ONE PILL. It can be challenging to buy the whole packet - at the very least you get a strange look. Heck, I've even seen them hand out single shots of cough medicine. (You can also buy eggs individually.)Toilet paper is the same price whether you buy 4 rolls or 24 - actually sometimes the 24 is more expensive and almost all food items are individually wrapped. When you buy a packet of saltines they come in neat little packages of three crackers. Talk about over packaging!

Single serve pills

So, why? Why is this? It actually comes down to cash flow. Just because 24 of something costs less per unit (in theory), you still need the money to buy the larger quantity and not everyone has that luxury. So the smaller stores sell the smaller individually wrapped packages at maybe a penny or two higher than the big stores sell the multi-unit packages (per unit). Why buy 10 when you can buy 1? (This also applies to instant versus brewed coffee. Instant is cheaper and you don't need extra equipment.)

Tons of tiny instead of one big one

This has been a life lesson for us and it's been very difficult to get our little North American brains wrapped around. It's really hard not to reach for the "family sized" items, but we're getting a handle on it. It's actually so crazy that I've seen restaurateurs buying 50 tiny bottles of soy sauce. (You can't get bulk soy sauce here, at least from what I've seen.) They don't have food distributors like they do in NA. either, they all shop at the mercados and at the big chain grocery stores...can you imagine the nightmare of running a restaurant???

Here, the answer is mainly..."no"

Anyhow, this realization is humbling and, in many ways, simplifies everything. There are no coupons to worry about, sales to chase (at least most of the time) and you buy what you can afford and no more.  That's not to say that there aren't people here with money. Cuenca is actually quite a well off city, but we can learn a lot from people who only operate in cash.

So the next time you're buying your jumbo pack of [fill in the blank], think of me and my Ecuadorian neighbours with our little pack of one.

The Perplexing Case of Lost Time

If I had a dollar for every time that someone asked me what we do to fill our days, I'd have at least a hundred bucks. For people with things like full-time jobs, school aged children (or younger - aigh!) and students trying to survive the post secondary education system, the thought of having almost endless free time is pretty mind boggling.

Me lazing around reading

I know. I've been there. I've squished in the house cleaning on a Thursday night so I could go somewhere on a Saturday. I've spent the whole weekend running chores only to find, much to my horror, that it was almost Monday again and I had nothing really to show for my weekend except an extra hour's sleep.
 

Us taking a break on a rock

So when I'm asked what we do everyday, I say one of two things: "Whatever we want" or "As little as possible." In my mind, this isn't actually true. We still have to clean the house, do the laundry and go to get groceries. Sometimes we have social engagements or Spanish classes to attend, the dentist needs a visit every once in a while and we try and get out every day for a "constitutional". Then there's our gym schedule. We go three times a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. We're almost always doing research on our next great trip; as the whole point of this adventure is to get out and see the world. With so much dedication to such things, a nap is usually needed to get us over the midday hump. Sometimes it's a bit overwhelming. (A can hear many of you laughing right now.) 

Yup, sitting on our butts again!

So here's the thing. Humans are adaptable and we adjust to the demands of our lives, more or less. That I find it stressful to have two appointments in one day would have been laughable only a few short years ago, but that's actually how it is now. The luxury of a two hour breakfast is now standard. I sip my coffee, surf the net and before I know it, it's 11 am and I haven't even made the bed yet. My time fills as necessary, things have slowed down and I'm hardly ever in a rush to get something done. (Including the housework, much to Ron's chagrin...he's a disciplined creature who knocks out his chores as soon as they are due and puts me to shame.)

Waiting for the bus to come pick us up

I don't know what happened to time. It still passes rapidly and I'm usually at a loss as to where the day has gone, despite not really having anything to do. (Thursdays are my favourite, as they're "free" days, no chores, no exercise, no anything...just sloth...yes, I'm that lazy.) So this is retirement; this is why retired folks can write letters, hang out in Timmies for endless hours and tell the same stories over and over again; we have nothing better to do. (Okay, there's some retired people out there that never learn to slow down...bless their hearts.)

Yay, retirement!

So while you can't imagine having each and every morning to just whittle away  the hours, I can't imagine having to rush anymore. Two sides of the same coin, you might say. Lord help me if I ever have to go to work again. Have hope, this could be you one day! No time is lost, really, it's just passed quietly.

PS Check out my interview on expat.com: http://www.expat.com/en/expat-mag/637-interview-of-a-canadian-expat-in-cuenca-ecuador.html

And hello Costa Rica, you're officially country 100, followed closely by the Dominican Republic making 101! 

The Little Blog that Could

The very first picture on this blog

When I first started this blog, it was kind of an exercise in vanity as well as an easy way to keep our family and friends up to speed with what we were up to. We had moved more than 6,000 kilometres away and this was our equivalent to the annual Christmas letter.

Our one time home

That was over 6 years ago and my little blog has expanded into something bigger. It's a place for wannabe expats and first time travelers to get info, as well as a glimpse into the lives of people living abroad, and a place for the fam to see what's going on, where we are and, occasionally, to see what we look like.  (Not to mention, a place to shamelessly flog my books!)

A rare sighting of the black jacketed
Robertsons

Well, as of today, I've had hits from 99 countries (6 of the seven continents)...who knows where the 100th is going to be from! I'm slowly sliding towards 40,000 hits (less than a thousand to go) and am hoping to get there before year end. By no means is this a wildly successful blog, but for what it is, it's doing pretty well.

Home, for now

Despite the world upheaval, some people just want to get a little  peak at someone else's life and we're happy to oblige, no matter how dull it seems in the heat of the moment.

My forever home

So here's to the 100th county, whomever you will be and to the 40,000 reader. Here's to all of you who got us this far and to whatever lies in the future. 

Thank you!