Have to share this....

One of the things I was really looking forward to with this move was adopting the local custom of having a housekeeper.  Its a luxury in the states that I haven't been able to afford on a regular basis.  Well, we have been in our place for a little over a week and our housekeeper came for the first time on Wednesday.  She spent nearly 3 hours busting her butt, very admirable, especially considering how small our place is and our minimal furniture and lack of stuff to dust.  The place looks great and our beautiful South American hard wood floors look shiny and amazing.  And as a special bonus, I just discovered that she even organized the drawer where I was stuffing plastic bags (who knew people even did this)!  Had to share this picture. All for only $12.00!!!

Walk at your own risk

Came across this on our way to Super Maxi yesterday. Spencer almost fell in.  Be sure to watch your step in Ecuador!

Also came across this burned out section in the woods behind our house.  Trying to decide if this was a deliberate burn or not. It's very other wordly, but contained to a small section and my walking paths seem untouched.

Look what we found today!!

A little bit of New England here in Quito!

Found the DD while out shopping for a washer and dryer for our apartment.  After a week of pricing them out in a variety of stores, we finally stumbled upon one where we think we got a great deal.  Apparently, they dont really do rebates here so instead they throw in "Regalos" or freebies to sweeten the deals.  We bought the washer dryer and a microwave from a store, but the lady threw in an iron, rice cooker, glass bowls, spatula, big spoon, and even a 5" portable TV! She literally kept running back for more.  It was hilarious.

We also had another pricing quandary, bonus points to anyone who can figure out how much the dryer cost from this sticker posted on the item:

Making Progress Everyday

So, I think the problems with the altitude have passed for the most part.  I seem to be the only one that felt anything at all.  Apparently it is very random who gets affected and who doesn't. It was a great kick start to the diet though, so I'm not all that bummed.

Still functioning on minimal furniture.  We have just been hanging out on our bed with Maia for the last 5 days, which has gotten annoying.  We finally bought a couch and big chair today and are thrilled!  We are able to accomplish about one project per day as things here move so slowly, which is annoying but something we will get used to.  Tomorrow we head back to a market area that has some beautiful hand made wood pieces for a coffee table, side table, book shelf etc.  Once we get these core pieces in, everything will feel a little more settled for all of us.  It's taking some getting used to which items to buy where, as there is no consistency in pricing between stores, so we do a lot of looking and negotiating (which is why everything takes so long).  Once I get the place set up a little more I will include some pics here.

The best thing we have going for us right now is our location because our apartment backs right up to the biggest park in the city (3 times the size of central park). We went for a big hike deep into it yesterday with Maia and some other new teachers we met, which she loved (see pics below).  It is beautiful and full of eucalyptus trees so it smells amazing. Its a tough hike though as it goes straight up initially for a while (another reminder that we are in the mountains) and I had to stop a number of times to catch my breath. But, once we got to the top it evened out and there were tons of trails (and a random little village of people seemingly cut off from the rest of the city).  I expect to spend a ton of time back there.  We even stumbled upon a random cow just hanging out in the woods.  You never know what you're going to find around the corner here in Ecuador!

Price Not as Marked

We just returned from our first trip to the Super Maxi grocery store.  Overall a good trip, but we've discovered some odd price structures here.  Nothing seems to be priced as marked.  For example, Spencer bought a cheap bottle of rum (the Jack Daniels is way out of our price range here, see photo below) and it was marked $11.00 on the shelf, $17.00 on the sticker on the bottle and rang up as $7.00.  hmmm

That one was a win.  I bought a bottle of wine.  Marked $9.00 on the shelf, $15 on the sticker and rang up as $21.00!!  That one was a loss.

We will have to pay much closer attention to these things in the future.

Also, came across some strange fruit, can't wait to figure out what these things are (note the disinfectant in the photo.  Everything must be soaked in this for five minutes, strange things):

     

  

Also, we found a great little dinning room table set today for a reasonable $177 in a different store.  We were thrilled and ready to buy it when the girl helping us went to check on its availability.  Unfortunately, she came back with the news that the price had not been updated and it was actually $450.  No thanks.  Lesson learned on getting your hopes up before confirming the price!!

Spencer is not pleased with his first pour, this little sip of Jack Daniels was $7.50.  

Needless to say, he's planning to find a new drink.

It's all part of the adventure

It's been another interesting day in Ecuador.  Today is Independence Day so most of the city is closed.  We tried to do a little shopping for our still completely unfurnished apartment, but had minimal luck so we headed home to await our Wi-Fi installation.  About 15 minutes after we get home a guy shows up and rings our bell with some equipment that looked techy and not speaking a word of English.  We just assumed he was here for our Wi-Fi and dragged him up to our fourth floor apartment.  After a very frustrating 10 minute conversation we discovered that he was not here for us but to check the water meter on the house (we think). Poor guy, must have thought we were lunatics!!

About 30 minutes later (and 2 hours earlier then actually scheduled) the actual Wi-Fi install team arrived.  Thankfully we were home because one of the other teachers has missed her install guys 3 times now.  The guys who came were very nice, but didn't speak a word of english so it was a difficult transaction to say the least.

Anyway, it's all set up now and we can stay a little more connected and have something to do at home until we figure out how to get some form of TV.

Still no actual furniture though, so we are sitting on the floor.  It's all part of the adventure...

We've Arrived!!

Buenos Dias from Quito!!

After a very trying day travelling from New England (JFK was a nightmare), it's been a whirlwind first day in Quito.  I am not adjusting to the altitude as well as I'd hoped and I've been pretty nautious and headachey since about 4:00 am.  Hope it will pass soon.

Maia went immediately to a doggy hotel yesterday after travelling like a champ and is hopefully meeting lots of other new dogs and resting while we get set up.  

We decided not to take the apartment that we had lined up as we didn't like the neighborhood.  It was sketchy and super central and chaotic.  We found another one that is much nicer and closer to Spencer's school in a much safer and more residential area.  The only downside is that it is completely unfurnished.  Spencer has been awesome running around all day with someone from the school buying a fridge, stove, bed and stuff while I napped at the hotel.  We hope to get it all delivered tomorrow and move in.  

We feel much better with the new place and we met a bunch of other teachers and staff today so that helps the initial sense of unease we had last night.  Once we move in tomorrow and get Maia back around 5:00 pm I will be much happier.  I hate being away from her and being so unsettled in this strange land.  Setting up a home and comfort zone will be the first step and then we can really get to exploring this city and our new culture.

Pictures to come.