Don't Stop the Party

In Which, We Hit the Town

So the other day, it was Andrea's birthday! The original plan was to go to Baños on Saturday and dance the night away, but she ended up having to work this weekend, so we went out on Thursday night.

All in all, it was a great time. There was dancing, drinking, laughing and a chilly walk to catch a taxi at the end, but we had fun.

We haven't been downtown a lot lately, so I was super excited to see that several streets and parks are dressed up with lights and decorations for Christmas!

Parque Cevallos, all lit up!

We DID have plans to go to a Christmas concert at the local theatre here in Ambato Friday night, but we had to go to Quito for more visa stuff, and by the time we got back we were absolutely exhausted. I was super bummed to miss it, but hopefully they'll have another concert before Christmas that we can go to.

SPEAKING of Quito - I'm really starting to hate going there. Mainly because it's a 2-2.5 hour drive each way and it costs us almost $50 roundtrip each time in the private taxis. It would be cheaper to take the bus, but that would take SO much more time. 

So we finally received the official email telling us our applications were approved and to come make the visa payment in Quito on Friday morning.

Now, last time we did this, we got there REALLY early, waited for about 2 hours, paid, then came back at 3 pm, waited another 1.5 hours, and finally received our passports with the visa applied in them. It was a whole day of basically waiting, but it was just ONE DAY.

This time around, we decided if we were going to be waiting all day, it didn't matter how early we got there, so we rolled in around 9:15. After a 3-hour wait, we finally paid for the visas and left our passports for the visa to be applied.

THEN. Goodness, then we were told, "Come back Monday afternoon" to receive our passports back. 

YOU.ARE.KIDDING.ME.

So we have to go to Quito YET AGAIN on Monday afternoon. Ugh.

At this point in time, between transportation, hostels and food, we've spent over $250 in this process. Frustrating to say the least, since that number would be ZERO had we known beforehand that we could apply in Ambato.

SIGH.

Anyway, Monday should be the last trip to Quito for a very long time. 

At least we got to spend some time in one of the parks, El Ejido, which we love to do. 

Statue in front of El Ejido

Entrance into El Ejido from La Patria

They were having some sort of fair as well, because there were vendors selling jewelry, art and clothing. We picked up a bit of art, just to have something to put on the walls.

John with his refreshing, handmade, $1 OJ

And that's where we're at for now! Monday will be our last trip to Quito, and then we hit the holidays.

Friends of ours have told us that for the next 3 months, Ambato's like a giant party town. We've got Christmas, New Year's, 3 Kings and Innocentes, all culminating in Ecuador's titular celebration of Carnaval - Fiesta de Frutas y Flores, which takes place in February.

So stayed tuned for the party, it's bound to be a good time! 

Round and Round and Round We Go

In Which, I Describe How I (Wish I Had) Packed

So this is the first post that's not directly related to stuff we've done lately or what we're up to now. This one has actually been rolling around in my head and even been sitting here in my drafts for a while since it's something I run into just about every time I leave the apartment.  

I've discovered that packing to go live in another country is vastly different than packing to travel. I had a slight inkling of this before we moved, but now I'm really wishing I had paid more attention to the differences between the two.

The biggest difference, in my opinion, is the fact that you're going to live somewhere (DUH), not just travel through it for a few days/weeks. Unless you're someone who normally lives in Lululemon or NorthFace-everything (I'm neither), then you will want regular clothes. And by regular, I mean whatever you normally wear on a day-to-day basis, while keeping the local weather of the place you're moving to in mind.

For me, this means jeans, tshirts, sweaters and flats. I brought 2 pairs of jeans, a plethora of tshirts, and one pair of flats. I'm not entirely sure what I was thinking. Maybe 'balance' or 'equity amongst clothes' or something like that. I don't know.

Now that we've been here for a few months, I find myself wishing I had packed according to the following -

1. More jeans. Seriously. I could've brought at least 4 more pairs, preferably in multiple colors and washes. They love colorful jeans here, and I'm sad I left my yellow ones at home.
2. Fewer tshirts/more business-casual shirts. I'm not sure how I forgot, but the Hispanic culture loves to dress up. And I don't mean fancy-schmancy, but they typically don't go out running errands looking like slobs. I've grown up around Puerto Ricans, Dominicans and Colombians my entire life, I've seen it every day, and yet I still managed to forget it. Tshirts are great for a casual trip to the park, but when I want to hit up a cafe for breakfast or go out in the evening with friends, a tshirt just isn't making the cut.
3. Fewer skirts. I'm in the mountains, y'all. The ANDES MOUNTAINS. I'm 8500+ feet above sea-level. It's frequently sunny and 70+ degrees, but it's also JUST as frequently rainy, cloudy and 50 degrees. If anything, I would've been better off bringing capris or long shorts. Skirts will be good for when we go to the beach, but until then, they're basically just taking up room in my closet. 
4. More flats. Now, this one I am slightly conflicted on. I love to be comfy, and walking for 3 hours on uneven concrete sidewalks or cobblestone roads or in the dirt is NOT comfy. My Sperrys are pretty darn amazing at delivering comfy, but they're also pretty darn beat up. Plus, going to the discoteca in Sperrys is just a huge faux-paus.
5. Sweats. OMG. I DIDN'T BRING ANY. I really wish I had brought at least one of my sweatshirts and a pair of comfy lounge pants. I sleep hot, so I was only thinking about pajama-wear, but I totally didn't think about lounge-about-the-house wear! In case you haven't heard, we're 9,000 ft above sea-level. I also spend a good portion of most days inside, either in the morning (when it's chilly) or in the evening (when it's chilly). Since we don't have (or really need) any central heat and since I didn't bring any sweats with me, I end up bundling up with the blankets in bed in order to stay warm.

This is me in the morning

So, to sum up, I would've brought more jeans, more business-casual shirts, fewer skirts, more flats/business casual shoes and DEFINITELY some sweats.  

That being said, honestly I didn't do too bad. Most of the wardrobe that I have is solidly middle of the road, leaning slightly towards casual. It's only really noticeable when I've got something a bit nicer to go to, like, a baby shower (more on that later).

This is definitely a case of "you live and learn." Thankfully, my learning experience doesn't have to last for too long. When we visit in October, I'll be sure to rectify my clothing imbalances to the best of my ability. 

The Market and The Park

In Which, We Go Shopping and Take a Walk

This is just going to be a short post today, but I wanted to show you guys a couple of the places we go shopping pretty regularly. Generally, we'll go about once a week to downtown Ambato (El Centro) to hit up our chicken and meat vendors. 

Puro Pollo is where we get our chicken, and when I say it's the best chicken I've ever tasted, as a full-fledged Southern gal whose diet consists of chicken, chicken and more chicken, you can take that to the bank. Seriously. They fry it a little differently here (not so much breading) but even still, it's amazingly flavorful and moist and tasty. 

Carnessa is where we like to get our ground beef and, occasionally, some chuleta de cerdo (literally, cutlet of pork). John likes the chuleta we've gotten at some of the little restaurants for breakfast, so we keep experimenting with spices and sauces and such to see if we can get the same result. 

This is one of the entrances to the Mercado Central. Downstairs is all veggies, fruits, breads and almost every type of meat you can imagine. It's huge inside, taking up practically a whole block. Upstairs is their 'Patio de Comidas' or Food Court, where you can get llapingachos, an AMAZING Ambato specialty. The best I can describe it is a fried potato ball with bits of chorizo, topped with a fried egg. Doesn't sound like much but they are incredible and if you come visit us, you will definitely be eating some. 

I didn't get any pictures today, but they hang a lot of their meat out in the open air. There's very little refrigeration going on while they're selling it. It's kind of gross but cool too. You see every cut of meat and every piece of the animal. Seriously, we walked past what looked like giant pig legs, with the hoof still attached. Not sure what they use it for and I'm pretty sure I don't want to know (in case I eat it in the future) but it's still pretty cool to see the entire animal being used. 

These next few pictures are of the outside of our apartment and the park we take Jethro to every day. It's just around the block from us, so it's an easy walk, and there's plenty of space for him to basically run free for however long we end up staying.

This is the front of our building. We're on the third floor, which you can't see too well from this angle, but we've got a balcony area with an amazing view of the city. The little gated area on the second level is the terrace (or, terraza) and that's where we hang our clothes (air drying, yo) and that's where Jethro stays when it's sunny out. He likes to watch (and whine about) a cat that's across the street. 

There are 2 other families in this building. The people on the first floor have the garage on the left, which also backs up into the second half of their apartment. The first half, with the main living areas and kitchen, is directly under our apartment on the first level. We saw the entire building when we first looked at the building and it is NICE. Like, North American-standards nice. 

Juan and Andrea live on the second floor, and they've got a lovely little apartment that's roughly the same size as ours. They have a bit more living space, but we have a balcony, so it's a fair trade.

A bit of graffiti, but still a nice park

Parque La Cantera is where we go every day. Like I said, it's quite large, with a lot of fun things for kids as well as plenty of space for Jethro. There's actually a skatepark there as well, and we'll see skateboarders as well as a few kids on bikes practicing different tricks. 

The bowls for the skaters. Grey and cloudy today, and quite cold, but we still have to go to the park!

Continuing on, the park ends at this little valley, which goes down to concrete soccer courts. We see people out here every day. There's a school on the far side that uses it for recess and PE, and there are several high schools in the area that will come a few times a week for the same thing. We also see local soccer games on the weekends, REALLY late at night. I think we saw one this last weekend that was happening at 12:30 am?! And there were people watching and everything. They were enjoying themselves though, so who am I to judge? ;)

Also, this picture doesn't do justice to how steep these hills are. Jethro will be coming at a dead run from the bottom, and by the time he gets to the top, it's almost like he's barely moving. These guys are STEEP...so I want him to run up and down as much as possible. Nothing like a tired hound dog.

Space for soccer games and PE!

Speaking of the hound dog, here he is! I honestly believe he's going to severely dislike us when we bring him home. He's still spoiled here, but he gets waaaaaaaay more time with us and he gets a lot of freedom to explore. 

Overlooking his new domain

Anyway, that's today! Tomorrow I get to go help out Beth and Jill with baking sweets for this upcoming expo they're doing for the bakery. I'm REALLY looking forward to taste-testing ;)

Catching Up and What Next?

In Which, I Write a Long Overdue Post

Hi guys! Victoria here. Sorry we haven't posted very frequently. Neither of us is really good at sitting down for an hour and just banging away at the keyboard, but I promise, we are working on getting better!

So it's been a little more than a month, and we're starting to really settle in. Our apartment is still looking a bit bare, but we're going to be filling it over the next few months. 

This is our living room and our dining room. We're still not entirely sure which is going to be which, but I imagine we'll figure it out as we go. Right now though, it's quite bare and echo-y, which is the most annoying bit. Hopefully, with a bit of furniture and maybe a rug or two, we can eradicate that issue.

SO. Lots has happened, but none of it really big stuff. We're finding a daily rhythm, thankyouJesus. I love the 'no schedule' feeling of vacation, but after a few weeks of it, I really start to feel lost and adrift. I just work better with a schedule, I suppose.

Anyway. We're getting into a rhythm that includes, as John mentioned in the last post, Crossfit! Our torture of choice involves a 20-ish minute walk down and then up some pretty steep hills (baby mountains, really), followed by a cardio-intensive WOD, then a nice hot shower, then, depending on the day, we'll do another 20-ish minute walk BACK to the apartment or we'll take the bus into El Centro for groceries and lunch. Needless to say, the bus days are my favorite. 

Welcom back, Crossfit still hates you!!

One of my LEAST favorite thing about this Crossfit is that they love cardio. Oh man, do they ever love their cardio. And burpees. They REALLY love burpees. I've made an agreement with Santiago, one of the trainers, that I'll do 3 doubleunders for every burpee I don't have to do. I really, really hate burpees. 

I struggle through a lot of the WODs due to their aforementioned love of cardio (which I have always severely lacked) in addition to the altitude. Have you tried to do wallballs, wallclimbs and a 200m run at 8000+ feet? No? Then shut your mouth. It's ridiculous y'all. I feel like I'm on the moon, but without the whole weightlessness effect. THAT would be appreciated  but nooooo...I just have to feel like my lung are about to be ripped out of my body. 

In other news, we're getting more and more comfortable with the local markets. We've been going to the Mayorista roughly every other week, and we still go down to El Centro every Monday for our meat. We have the best chicken vendor - a place called Puro Pollo, and it is, indeed, THE.BEST. chicken I have ever tasted in my life. Seriously. I'd ship you some if I could, but I can't, so come visit us and I'll feed you. In the meantime though, I'll try to remember to take pictures this Monday so you can see what I'm talking about. 

Heaven in a bag!

One of the strangest and yet most common-sensical thing you'll see here is people eating out of little bags. You get them from street vendors selling their wares, anything from snack food to straight up lunch or dinner. This is one of our favorite street foods (so far) - papas fritas (fried potatoes or, if you prefer, french fries). The lady at the tienda around the corner from us sets up this huge grill/fryer most nights and fries potatoes and sells them in these bags for a buck. She tops it with a few fried hotdog pieces, ceviche (onion, vinegar, tomato and herb sauce), mayonnaise and the Ecuadorian version of ketchup. SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. They are so good. And awesome for a snack to hold you over while you make dinner. 

One of the best things that's happened in the past month is that we've become really great friends with the people who live on the second floor (our 'vecinos'). Juan and Andrea are just a few years younger than us, with a 7-month-old baby boy, Juan Martin. They have been absolutely wonderful! We've had breakfast, lunch and dinner with them in their apartment multiple times, and they've helped us immeasurably when we're looking for things for the apartment, like curtains for the windows or mirrors for the bathroom. They've taken us to Baños and we've somehow fallen into a habit of going out to dinner with them on Saturdays. 

They've introduced us to their friends and family and basically just welcomed us with open arms and open hearts. Juan speaks pretty good English and Andrea understands, so between all of us, we have some really amazing times and awesome fellowship.

And that's basically where we're at now. We haven't found a home church yet, so please keep praying for that. We really want to get plugged in with a spiritual family here. But the Lord has blessed us with so many other people already, who have been nothing but open and welcoming to us, and we are so grateful for them. 

OH! And we still see Marco and Elena, athough not as often as we'd like. No fault of theirs or ours, we're just all busy with our lives. Their daughter Tania and her husband John-Mark have been visiting for the past 2 weeks or so as well, so they've been busy catching up with them. However, we're planning on seeing them tomorrow at church, and John and I are really looking forward to that!

Speaking of my favorite husband, he recently trimmed his mountain-man beard, so I'll leave you with the pictures of THAT particular event at the end of the post. 

In the coming weeks, we've got a couple of things happening. Our Canadian friends, Beth, Wayne and Roxana (Jill, really, but apparently the 'J' is really hard for Ecuadorians, so Roxana it is), run a bakery out of their house, Panaderia Canadiense (Canadian Bakery). They make a lot of really great things, and we've been able to sample most of them. Perks of being friends ;)

Anyway, there's a sort of expo-market going on this coming week in one of the surrounding towns that they'll be attending to spread awareness of their bakery. We've offered to help them in the past with either baking or deliveries, and they've taken us up on that offer. I'll be helping Jill bake the sweet treats (crisps, brownies, energy bars) and John will come along as the muscle. That's going to be at least 2-4 days, so I'll be sure to take lots of pictures of that and post them up.

Also, we're planning on going to Quito very soon to get John signed up for his distance Spanish courses and get the Student Visa squared away. We also might sneak in some sushi there, but who knows, it's tough to tell. Anyway, that'll probably be the week after next and we'll probably make a daytrip out of it, since Quito's only 2.5-3 hours away. Should be good fun, and again, I'll do my best to remember to take pictures of whatever we do. 

Let us know what you want to hear about - food? Friends? Where we go? What we do? There's a lot going on every day, and if we were to write it all, then you DEFINITELY wouldn't read any of this. So leave us a comment with what you want to know more about, and we'll do our best to accommodate you :)

In the process...

The aftermath...

Finished product!

Things to Think About When You Move

Setting Up and Settling In

   
      Well we have been here for a month now, how time flies. A lot has happened.... Not big things but many small things. Victoria and I found an apartment to rent by God's good grace. We were really lucky because places tend to go very quickly here. If a place is listed in the paper in the morning it is usually taken by 12:00 noon the same day. Elena and Marco were hugely helpful in helping us find a place. We searched through papers and online and then went out and visited them. It was encouraging when Elena and Marco was expressing how much they would enjoy us being close to them if possible. And then as if it was preordained (which I believe it was) we found a note in the paper about an apartment building 2 blocks away from their house. We went with them over to check it out. It was a brand new building that has 3 floors and each floor is 1 apartment. All 3 were listed in the paper when we saw it and literally the next day when we got there the first 2 floors were taken. We walked in and the woman (Monica) started to show us around. We found out that Monica actually used to be a student at the University that Elena used to work at! So we are walking through the building and looking around, and we notice people are still painting the walls and putting in light bulbs and things. The place is literally brand new and being finished. We walked through the 3rd floor and asked some questions about how the renting process works, would we have hot water, can we set up internet, etc. While we are being shown the place, 2 other families showed up to look at it as well! Being that Monica knew Elena, she told them that we had first dibs as it were. Which put us in a position where we needed to make a decision promptly. Vic and I weighed our pros and cons about the place and then asked what would it cost per month. Monica told us, which I waited for the translation from Elena. Then with a chuckle we said yes!

Jethro inspecting for safety

 Victoria and myself had already made an agreement not to rent a place higher than $400 a month. Monica quoted us $200. Hence the chuckle. Being 20/20 and looking back, God had planned out every step that we unknowingly walked in. God led us to Elena, God impressed Ambato upon us, God worked out everything for us to depart to live here, God had this apartment built at the exact time we would arrive looking, God had already made a connection between Elena and Monica, God knew what our income would be and provided a brand new place in a good neighborhood for us to call home, and there is no telling how many more graces God has set in motion that we haven't even seen yet. Now we all know that part of God's great love for us can hurt sometimes when He is growing us, maturing us, and conforming us. But man how sweet are the times that He abundantly gives you joy and we get the pleasure of giving Him the glory for it.

Yes that is a massive propane tank
on the ground beside the oven

Breaded chicken with peppers and celery
(the suspicious fruit on the right is a naranjilla, I think)

You Don't Need a Microwave

We have been in this apartment for 2 weeks now and we now have internet set up. Sorry for not having posted sooner! It took a while to get things set up here. The apartment didn't have a thing in it. No refrigerator, no oven/stove, no bed, no table or chairs, no couch, plates, eat utensils, cups, nada (nothing in Spanish). So that was interesting in and of itself. We looked online in various places that we could find, and was able to find a bed, a stove/oven (gas), and a refrigerator for $480 total (yet another grace). Since then we have picked up some of the small things that are needed for everyday life, and we've been going to the markets and the mall to get food. "I have been considering myself a master chef" (said in a proper English accent in a very proud manner). Many-a things mighty tasty have been coming from our cast iron skillet that we brought with us even though it weighs more than my right arm, but thanks to the persistence of my lovely wife, we have it here... The foods here are super fresh! All the fruits and vegetables, eggs, meats, and the best milk I have ever had in my life. When scripture talks about the land flowing with milk and honey, I imagine that milk tastes like this milk. NOT fat free, or skim, or 1%, or 2%, and even thicker than the vitamin D back in the States, it is A.....mazing.

This is the view from our balcony
on the 3rd floor

We have a good size closet but we did
not have any hangers to put up our clothes

Exercise

I believe we have told you about the difference in elevation here. It will take a toll on you with just regular walking. Vic and I finally got acclimated pretty well. Enough to say," Hey why don't we find a gym close by and start working out again." Two gyms were pretty close and so we went to them and worked out for a day in each. And then.... BAM! We found a crossfit gym within a 15 minute walking distance. A real game changer for everyday life. They have everything needed for crossfit workouts and the guy that owns it really cool and can speak a little English. And here is the kicker, they have really hot showers! So, at our apartment and most places around here they use these little electronic heaters for the shower head. It's super cheap to buy one but this is how it works: It WILL heat water but only about a 15 degree, at best, difference from the temperature of the water coming in. And to get it to heat you cannot have a lot of water pressure coming out. It doesn't have enough time to heat. So you have to barley turn the water on to a drizzle and hope that the water coming in to the unit is at least 65 degrees. Time management has now taken over my shower time. Whereas back home I would take a 20 minute shower, I now take a 2 minute shower. And I could not be any more awake by the time said shower ends. Which I guess overall is a good thing cause I study Spanish on Rosetta Stone in the morning.


That's pretty much whats been going on from my point of view, I'm sure Victoria will post a more intelligent and descriptive post that will answer the questions you have after reading mine :)

For those of you that saw Victoria's post on
Facebook, no, she still has not let me buy a
box of mac n cheese...

Love you guys and thank you for keeping up with us and for your prayers!