Dear Family and Friends,
First of all, a comment on my last post about my blood pressure. I went to Dr. Marteniz on Wednesday afternoon. He checked my blood pressure in each arm and told me that it was in the normal range. I was very happy to get that good news.
Now for today's post.
Everyday, my email contains comments from friends about how tired they are of Spanish speaking people living in the U.S. without learning and using English. It is clear that these comments are forwarded from another source…which means the sender did not create the comment, but by forwarding it on, put their stamp of approval on it.
Actually, the intolerance of language is just one topic forwarded on to me about non-English speaking residents of the U.S. You receive them too, so you know what I mean.
Right now, for me, living in Ecuador, I could be at the receiving end of this intolerant attitude.
Today I went to our local co-op to shop. While shopping the fresh produce, I remembered I wanted mushrooms. I didn't see them, so I asked a clerk if she had any.....oh goodness I couldn't remember the Spanish word for mushrooms....I asked if she had ‘fungi?’ She looked at me completely confused. I told her it was o.k. and I kept looking. When I came to end of the aisle she came over to me and said “Ingles” (English) and pointed to a lady customer who was talking on a cell phone. So I went over to the lady and she handed me her cell phone and motioned for me to ask my question into her cell phone. I took the cell phone and asked this invisible person on the other end if the co-op had mushrooms. Then I handed the cell phone back to the lady who had given it to me and she talked with the English speaking person on the other end. As soon as I heard her say “champiñón” I felt so dumb. Of course, that is the local Spanish word for mushrooms. I knew that! I see it on restaurant menus all the time.
Where am I going with all this?
After I came home from shopping, I was checking my email and there was another forwarded comment about the sender’s intolerance of Spanish speaking U.S. residents not speaking English.
Intolerance …emotionally cold, bigoted, narrow-minded
Tolerance … emotionally warm, sensitive, open-minded
I am so blessed to be surrounded by tolerant Ecuadorans who go out of their way to help me adjust to my new language.
Just a little something to “chew on” as you interact with others in your daily existence.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
A Trip to the Doctor
Dear Family and Friends,
The night I arrived in Quito I was having a lot of trouble with my shoulder. I didn't sleep well because every time I moved my arm in a certain direction there was sharp pain.
Chuck wanted to return to Cuenca the next day, so that I could see a doctor but I told him that I had been putting up with this bad shoulder for several weeks. I think lugging about 3 pieces of luggage at 50 lbs. each had just made it worse. I really wanted to enjoy our time in Quito so I promised Chuck that as soon as we arrived back in Cuenca I would go to see our doctor, Dr. Martinez.
We arrived in Cuenca on Sunday. On Monday, Chuck called the office of Dr. Martinez. His receptionist made an appointment for 4:30 pm. Yes, that's 4:30 pm that same day.
When we went to see Dr. Martinez we arrived a little early so we had a wait about ten minutes until he was finished with another patient. But, at 4:30 we were called into his office.
I described my symptoms. I was some what surprised when he already knew I had been traveling. He told me that he reads our blog. He suggested that lifting the heavy luggage may have irritated what was going on in my shoulder. After examining my shoulder, he said that I should have an ultra sound done to determine the exact cause of my pain.
He asked when I would like to have the test done. He said I could have it done right away if they were not too busy. I said let's get it done as soon as possible. Dr. Martinez wrote out an order for the ultra sound and had his receptionist make a call to see if they could see me. They said come on over. So Chuck and I took a taxi to the ultra sound doctor.
When I arrived there I was immediately seen. The doctor did the ultra sound and gave me a copy of the results. By now it was 5:15 pm. Only 45 minutes time had elapsed since I stepped foot into the office of Dr. Martinez.
When we got back to Dr. Martinez, we were seen right away. I had spied a restored antique truck on the way up to his office. It was painted a bright yellow and had FARGO on the front and back. I asked Chuck if he thought it belonged to Dr. Martinez.
We went into his office, Dr. Martinez read the results and told me that I had an inflamed tendon. That it could be treated and with care I should be good as new. I asked him about the truck. He told me that it belonged to someone else. I asked him about the name...Fargo. Where was it made? He said in the USA. Oh my goodness, I never new there was a truck by that name made in the states. He went online and emailed me information about the truck right while I was sitting there. Oh, and he also wrote a prescription for Motrin for my arm and suggested that I try to keep it immobil.
In case you are interested, here is the link Dr. Martinez sent me about Fargo trucks.
http://www.allpar.com/old/
As Chuck and I left his office, I noticed that it was 5:45 pm. We had accomplished all of this in one hour and 45 minutes. For this Gringa, that is absolutely incredible. I can't imagine this response in the U.S. It would have taken 2 or more days to get accomplished what we did in such a short time.
When we got home, Chuck made a sling out of one of my dish towels.
Oh, one other thing, Dr. Martinez said that my blood pressure was a little high so I am going into see him Wednesday afternoon for another reading. No appointment, just drop by. It may have been elevated because of coming from the U.S. to the high altitude, but if not, I know he will get me on the right track quickly. How lucky can one person be....I am so grateful to Dr. Martinez.
Oh, speaking of doctors, our computer doctor, Jose Cortez dropped by this morning. Here he is enjoying a cappuccino with Chuck.
He had asked me to bring back a color printer cartridge for him. He also was delivering our little computer he had repaired. Chuck's little net book computer had died after Chuck spilled some passion fruit juice on it. This juice is sticky and sweet. Not Good!
Jose had opened the computer up, cleaned it out and it now operates as good as new. Jose's charges are very reasonable and he is bilingual. So, if you live here in Cuenca, you may want to use him if you have a need.
Jose's email is: willmaya@hotmail.com
His cell phone is: 095561077
Tomorrow we have a busy day. We are meeting Tom and George (the men I met in Atlanta on they way to Quito) and Charlie and Bruce and Rich and Nancy for lunch. Then I'm off for a blood pressure check with Dr. Martinez and tomorrow night we are going to the Russian ballet.
I am also in the midst of making travel plans with our daughter, Kylie. She and I are planning a road trip across the U.S. in June...but more about that later.
Hugs,
Nancy
The night I arrived in Quito I was having a lot of trouble with my shoulder. I didn't sleep well because every time I moved my arm in a certain direction there was sharp pain.
Chuck wanted to return to Cuenca the next day, so that I could see a doctor but I told him that I had been putting up with this bad shoulder for several weeks. I think lugging about 3 pieces of luggage at 50 lbs. each had just made it worse. I really wanted to enjoy our time in Quito so I promised Chuck that as soon as we arrived back in Cuenca I would go to see our doctor, Dr. Martinez.
We arrived in Cuenca on Sunday. On Monday, Chuck called the office of Dr. Martinez. His receptionist made an appointment for 4:30 pm. Yes, that's 4:30 pm that same day.
When we went to see Dr. Martinez we arrived a little early so we had a wait about ten minutes until he was finished with another patient. But, at 4:30 we were called into his office.
I described my symptoms. I was some what surprised when he already knew I had been traveling. He told me that he reads our blog. He suggested that lifting the heavy luggage may have irritated what was going on in my shoulder. After examining my shoulder, he said that I should have an ultra sound done to determine the exact cause of my pain.
He asked when I would like to have the test done. He said I could have it done right away if they were not too busy. I said let's get it done as soon as possible. Dr. Martinez wrote out an order for the ultra sound and had his receptionist make a call to see if they could see me. They said come on over. So Chuck and I took a taxi to the ultra sound doctor.
When I arrived there I was immediately seen. The doctor did the ultra sound and gave me a copy of the results. By now it was 5:15 pm. Only 45 minutes time had elapsed since I stepped foot into the office of Dr. Martinez.
When we got back to Dr. Martinez, we were seen right away. I had spied a restored antique truck on the way up to his office. It was painted a bright yellow and had FARGO on the front and back. I asked Chuck if he thought it belonged to Dr. Martinez.
We went into his office, Dr. Martinez read the results and told me that I had an inflamed tendon. That it could be treated and with care I should be good as new. I asked him about the truck. He told me that it belonged to someone else. I asked him about the name...Fargo. Where was it made? He said in the USA. Oh my goodness, I never new there was a truck by that name made in the states. He went online and emailed me information about the truck right while I was sitting there. Oh, and he also wrote a prescription for Motrin for my arm and suggested that I try to keep it immobil.
In case you are interested, here is the link Dr. Martinez sent me about Fargo trucks.
http://www.allpar.com/old/
As Chuck and I left his office, I noticed that it was 5:45 pm. We had accomplished all of this in one hour and 45 minutes. For this Gringa, that is absolutely incredible. I can't imagine this response in the U.S. It would have taken 2 or more days to get accomplished what we did in such a short time.
When we got home, Chuck made a sling out of one of my dish towels.
Oh, one other thing, Dr. Martinez said that my blood pressure was a little high so I am going into see him Wednesday afternoon for another reading. No appointment, just drop by. It may have been elevated because of coming from the U.S. to the high altitude, but if not, I know he will get me on the right track quickly. How lucky can one person be....I am so grateful to Dr. Martinez.
Oh, speaking of doctors, our computer doctor, Jose Cortez dropped by this morning. Here he is enjoying a cappuccino with Chuck.
He had asked me to bring back a color printer cartridge for him. He also was delivering our little computer he had repaired. Chuck's little net book computer had died after Chuck spilled some passion fruit juice on it. This juice is sticky and sweet. Not Good!
Jose had opened the computer up, cleaned it out and it now operates as good as new. Jose's charges are very reasonable and he is bilingual. So, if you live here in Cuenca, you may want to use him if you have a need.
Jose's email is: willmaya@hotmail.com
His cell phone is: 095561077
Tomorrow we have a busy day. We are meeting Tom and George (the men I met in Atlanta on they way to Quito) and Charlie and Bruce and Rich and Nancy for lunch. Then I'm off for a blood pressure check with Dr. Martinez and tomorrow night we are going to the Russian ballet.
I am also in the midst of making travel plans with our daughter, Kylie. She and I are planning a road trip across the U.S. in June...but more about that later.
Hugs,
Nancy
Friday, May 7, 2010
Almost Home to Cuenca - Back Where I Belong!
Dear Family and Friends,
Matt and I left on Wednesday, April 27th, for a long trip back to Washington state. It was the worst connections I have ever experienced between Cuenca, Ecuador and Richland, WA. We left our condo in Cuenca at 6:00 pm for the airport. We flew to a 45 minute flight to Guayaquil and had to wait until after 11:00pm to start our flight from Guayaquil to Atlanta, GA. After we arrived in Atlanta, we had over 6 hours to wait until our flight departed to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake City we flew to Seattle and from Seattle we flew to Pasco (our airport). We arrived on Thursday night about 7:30 pm (9:30 Cuenca time), that is over 24 hours of travel.
We were so tired as we waited for our luggage. Matt's suitcase showed up right away. Mine never showed. So we walked down to the desk and learned that we had to wait until after the flight that was boarding had left because due to monetary cutbacks, the desk people also service the airplane.
We waited in a stupor until someone showed up and took the information for locating my lost luggage.
We still had to secure a rental car. I drove Matt to his place and then I finally drove to Glenda's house....arriving there about 9:30pm. I told her that I was just too tired to be social, I did send a quick email to Chuck letting him know we made it safely.
Glenda lives in the house that we used to live in. Glenda is renting the house from us and she is maintaining the house and yard. We have one bedroom that is for Chuck and me. So when we return to Richland we always have a nice bed in familiar surroundings.
I took this picture of our front porch. Glenda has made it so welcoming. She is so creative. She even has the flowers set up on a drip system so they will be beautiful all summer.
While back in town, I had a nice Sunday with Kathie, Heidi and Cannon. We went to Red Robin for lunch and then headed to the park.
I also spent time with friends, mostly eating and doing some shopping. Here is a breakfast meet-up with Karen and Randy (they are moving to Cuenca in just a few weeks from now), Glenda and Chris.
I had a nice week but I was so ready to head back home by the time I left. I really like it better when Chuck and I can travel together.
My flight back to Quito was so much more sane. I left the Pasco airport at 5:15am and arrived in Quito at 10:15pm the same day. A long day, but doable.
While I was waiting in Atlanta for the flight to Quito, I went online to check my email. The first thing I opened was an invite to lunch in Cuenca to welcome a couple of new folks moving down. The email said they would be flying from Atlanta to Quito on Wednesday. Hey, it was Wednesday. We were on the same flight. I looked around the waiting area and sure enough, I found Tom and George. We had a great chat while waiting for the boarding to begin.
Chuck flew up to Quito. He met me at the airport and and also got to meet Tom and George.
We are spending a few days here in Quito. We have had back to back house guests since February, so we are taking a little mini vacation.
We fly home to Cuenca on Sunday.
I am so looking forward to getting back to where I belong!!
Love,
Nancy
Matt and I left on Wednesday, April 27th, for a long trip back to Washington state. It was the worst connections I have ever experienced between Cuenca, Ecuador and Richland, WA. We left our condo in Cuenca at 6:00 pm for the airport. We flew to a 45 minute flight to Guayaquil and had to wait until after 11:00pm to start our flight from Guayaquil to Atlanta, GA. After we arrived in Atlanta, we had over 6 hours to wait until our flight departed to Salt Lake City. From Salt Lake City we flew to Seattle and from Seattle we flew to Pasco (our airport). We arrived on Thursday night about 7:30 pm (9:30 Cuenca time), that is over 24 hours of travel.
We were so tired as we waited for our luggage. Matt's suitcase showed up right away. Mine never showed. So we walked down to the desk and learned that we had to wait until after the flight that was boarding had left because due to monetary cutbacks, the desk people also service the airplane.
We waited in a stupor until someone showed up and took the information for locating my lost luggage.
We still had to secure a rental car. I drove Matt to his place and then I finally drove to Glenda's house....arriving there about 9:30pm. I told her that I was just too tired to be social, I did send a quick email to Chuck letting him know we made it safely.
Glenda lives in the house that we used to live in. Glenda is renting the house from us and she is maintaining the house and yard. We have one bedroom that is for Chuck and me. So when we return to Richland we always have a nice bed in familiar surroundings.
I took this picture of our front porch. Glenda has made it so welcoming. She is so creative. She even has the flowers set up on a drip system so they will be beautiful all summer.
While back in town, I had a nice Sunday with Kathie, Heidi and Cannon. We went to Red Robin for lunch and then headed to the park.
I also spent time with friends, mostly eating and doing some shopping. Here is a breakfast meet-up with Karen and Randy (they are moving to Cuenca in just a few weeks from now), Glenda and Chris.
I had a nice week but I was so ready to head back home by the time I left. I really like it better when Chuck and I can travel together.
My flight back to Quito was so much more sane. I left the Pasco airport at 5:15am and arrived in Quito at 10:15pm the same day. A long day, but doable.
While I was waiting in Atlanta for the flight to Quito, I went online to check my email. The first thing I opened was an invite to lunch in Cuenca to welcome a couple of new folks moving down. The email said they would be flying from Atlanta to Quito on Wednesday. Hey, it was Wednesday. We were on the same flight. I looked around the waiting area and sure enough, I found Tom and George. We had a great chat while waiting for the boarding to begin.
Chuck flew up to Quito. He met me at the airport and and also got to meet Tom and George.
We are spending a few days here in Quito. We have had back to back house guests since February, so we are taking a little mini vacation.
We fly home to Cuenca on Sunday.
I am so looking forward to getting back to where I belong!!
Love,
Nancy
Sunday, April 25, 2010
More about Enjoying Matt
Dear Family and Friends,
Chuck, Matt and I drove up to Ingapirca in Puff-Puff on Thursday. Ingapirca is the biggest archaeological Inca complex of Ecuador. The ruins are located about 2 hours away from Cuenca. They date from the 15th and 16th Century. Chuck and I have been multiple times, but this was the first time for Matt.
I think that Matt was thrilled the most by seeing the llamas that roam the site.
Here is Chuck checking out the temple of the sun.
Since we were in Puff-Puff we were able to tour around the town of Canar. We had our lunch there and looked around a bit. Here is a sculpture in the middle of a traffic circle in Canar that I had never seen before. It is quite unique.
On Friday, Matt and I took the red double deck tour bus. He did it last year and was game to do it again. On this particular tour, we shared the top of the bus with school children. They were enjoying a field trip.
When we got to the top of Turi, a nice man offered to take our picture. Here we are: a happy mom and son.
Matt and I spent Saturday morning shopping. We met Chuck around noon and went to the Mall del Rio for lunch.
This morning was our customary Sunday walk to town with Rich and Nancy. We got an early start and went to Cafe Austria for breakfast. On the way, we passed a little old lady outside of a church frying pastries. I succumbed, they were only 5 for a $1, we needed to keep our energy up until we got downtown. Matt captured us sneaking a snack.
We had a nice breakfast. Nancy and Rich had errands to do, so we went to the park and met up with some friends and went for more refreshments.
All in all, I think Matt is having a marvelous time. His visit will soon be over and he and I will be heading back to the U.S.
We are enjoying him while we have him.
Love,
Nancy (Chuck and Matt)
Chuck, Matt and I drove up to Ingapirca in Puff-Puff on Thursday. Ingapirca is the biggest archaeological Inca complex of Ecuador. The ruins are located about 2 hours away from Cuenca. They date from the 15th and 16th Century. Chuck and I have been multiple times, but this was the first time for Matt.
I think that Matt was thrilled the most by seeing the llamas that roam the site.
Here is Chuck checking out the temple of the sun.
Since we were in Puff-Puff we were able to tour around the town of Canar. We had our lunch there and looked around a bit. Here is a sculpture in the middle of a traffic circle in Canar that I had never seen before. It is quite unique.
On Friday, Matt and I took the red double deck tour bus. He did it last year and was game to do it again. On this particular tour, we shared the top of the bus with school children. They were enjoying a field trip.
When we got to the top of Turi, a nice man offered to take our picture. Here we are: a happy mom and son.
Matt and I spent Saturday morning shopping. We met Chuck around noon and went to the Mall del Rio for lunch.
This morning was our customary Sunday walk to town with Rich and Nancy. We got an early start and went to Cafe Austria for breakfast. On the way, we passed a little old lady outside of a church frying pastries. I succumbed, they were only 5 for a $1, we needed to keep our energy up until we got downtown. Matt captured us sneaking a snack.
We had a nice breakfast. Nancy and Rich had errands to do, so we went to the park and met up with some friends and went for more refreshments.
All in all, I think Matt is having a marvelous time. His visit will soon be over and he and I will be heading back to the U.S.
We are enjoying him while we have him.
Love,
Nancy (Chuck and Matt)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Puff Puff - Our little Red Dragon
Dear Family and Friends,
You may remember, awhile back I posted on the blog that we had bought a car. We bought the car (a SsangYong) in early March. It takes awhile for money to get transferred from the U.S. to Ecuador and for checks to clear the local bank.
The day before we left to return to the U.S. Chuck got a call from the dealership saying that their bank had cleared our check and that we could pick up the car. Chuck asked them to hold the car until our return. So for a couple of weeks, the dealership had our money and our car.
We returned to Cuenca last Thursday and Chuck called the salesman on Friday. Chuck decided to have an add on installed so the salesman told him he could pick up the car on Saturday at noon.
Chuck took the city bus over on Saturday and drove the car home.
Yesterday, we took it for it's first ride. Chuck wanted to drive up into the Andes (Caja mountains) to test the car's performance on the steep mountain climbs.
Before we left, I suggested that we should name our car. We thought and thought. Finally Chuck said that Ssangyong is Korean for twin dragons. He thought "Puff" might be a good name. We all agreed but decided since we were talking about twin dragons we should go with "Puff-Puff."
The trip went great....the road was great and not crowded and Puff-Puff performed great. The mountain highway was a cinch for her.
Since we were in the car and not in a bus or other public transportation, we were able to stop and explore and take some pictures.
Here is Chuck with Puff-Puff.
Here is Matt by a mountain river.
The scenery was great. I would just say when and Chuck would slow down so I could take pictures.
We drove all the way up to the top of the mountains. There is a place at the top called "Three Crosses."
Here is Chuck and Matt getting out of the car and Puff-Puff's rear end.
Here is Matt and Chuck posing behind the three crosses.
Here is a couple who were sitting across the road waiting for the bus. They watched us park the car and watched our every movement until we left. I am sure we were entertainment for them because we could hardly breath up there....14,000 ft. Slow walking.
On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that specializes in mountain trout. I had never been to this restaurant before because it is away off the road. It would easily be possible to get there from Cuenca by taxi, but it would be very difficult to get there on the bus.
Matt took this picture of Chuck and I outside the restaurant.
And he took another one of "mama" fixing to dig into her fried trout.
Although we will not be using Puff-Puff for transportation inside the city of Cuenca. She will make it easier for us to visit surrounding areas, explore the rest of Ecuador and even explore the rest of South America.
We are happy with her, she proved herself to be a fine little red dragon.
Hugs,
Nancy (and Chuck and Matt)
You may remember, awhile back I posted on the blog that we had bought a car. We bought the car (a SsangYong) in early March. It takes awhile for money to get transferred from the U.S. to Ecuador and for checks to clear the local bank.
The day before we left to return to the U.S. Chuck got a call from the dealership saying that their bank had cleared our check and that we could pick up the car. Chuck asked them to hold the car until our return. So for a couple of weeks, the dealership had our money and our car.
We returned to Cuenca last Thursday and Chuck called the salesman on Friday. Chuck decided to have an add on installed so the salesman told him he could pick up the car on Saturday at noon.
Chuck took the city bus over on Saturday and drove the car home.
Yesterday, we took it for it's first ride. Chuck wanted to drive up into the Andes (Caja mountains) to test the car's performance on the steep mountain climbs.
Before we left, I suggested that we should name our car. We thought and thought. Finally Chuck said that Ssangyong is Korean for twin dragons. He thought "Puff" might be a good name. We all agreed but decided since we were talking about twin dragons we should go with "Puff-Puff."
The trip went great....the road was great and not crowded and Puff-Puff performed great. The mountain highway was a cinch for her.
Since we were in the car and not in a bus or other public transportation, we were able to stop and explore and take some pictures.
Here is Chuck with Puff-Puff.
Here is Matt by a mountain river.
The scenery was great. I would just say when and Chuck would slow down so I could take pictures.
We drove all the way up to the top of the mountains. There is a place at the top called "Three Crosses."
Here is Chuck and Matt getting out of the car and Puff-Puff's rear end.
Here is Matt and Chuck posing behind the three crosses.
Here is a couple who were sitting across the road waiting for the bus. They watched us park the car and watched our every movement until we left. I am sure we were entertainment for them because we could hardly breath up there....14,000 ft. Slow walking.
On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant that specializes in mountain trout. I had never been to this restaurant before because it is away off the road. It would easily be possible to get there from Cuenca by taxi, but it would be very difficult to get there on the bus.
Matt took this picture of Chuck and I outside the restaurant.
And he took another one of "mama" fixing to dig into her fried trout.
Although we will not be using Puff-Puff for transportation inside the city of Cuenca. She will make it easier for us to visit surrounding areas, explore the rest of Ecuador and even explore the rest of South America.
We are happy with her, she proved herself to be a fine little red dragon.
Hugs,
Nancy (and Chuck and Matt)
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