It takes a village

Fishing is a team effort. A dozen fisherman from the nearby village used a boat to string a net in front of Linda's place yesterday.

They started with 5 men ashore anchoring a rope fixed to a long net. The boat containing 3 men and a huge pile of net slowly unwound the net into the ocean. Making a half-mile arc they fed the line on the other end ashore to more waiting men. With slow but steady pressure they pulled the lines in at both ends and sideways down the beach. Once the wood spreader ends that held the net open were in the surf a couple men on both sides started working the net itself.

More folks from the village showed up for the final pull. The excitement among the birds increased as did the number of birds, all anticipating the catch. Their anticipation was justified as the small fish were flung into the air for the birds to pick off in flight.

The men and women had what looked to be a free-for-all picking fish out of the net; however, I suspect some unwritten agreement prevailed, as everyone left with a bag or box of fish and a happy expression.

Thanksgiving on the beach

75 expats and fellow travelers (like us) gathered at 18 for Thanksgiving. The resturants are numbered along the beach front, and although they all have names it is easier for gringos to just refer to the numbers each has as part of their sign.

Our table with Joe in the red shirt, Justin and Janet (his new bride), John standing with his lovely Ecuadorian wife of 3 years, Jassolyne who was moving quickly and almost escaped the picture completely.

We had turkey, dressing, mixed steamed veggies, purple sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, mushroom rosotti, and rolls. I even got a drumstick! For dessert we had rum cake, pumpkin pie and apple pie. The meal serving was orderly; however, the dessert was a free-for-all. I'm not real proud to report I had 4 slices of apple pie with whipped cream. In my defense the pieces were thin cut and the pie was not very thick, with a half inch apple layer. Something may have slipped a bit in the translation. On the plus side the whipped cream was a real treat - very stiff, very thick, and I think slightly sweetened. During my second attack on the dessert table I wielded the serving spoon with abandon and hid my apple pie in a rough textured white mountain. I think I heard an artery snap shut; but I rely on the satin drug I take every night (just like every man over 50 does - or should) to roto-router my arteries while in nightly repose.

Note you can just make out the beach and Pacific ocean in the background. I still don't miss snow and cold weather.

Holes

I love going to the point. A 3 mile round trip hike on my own private beach to a scenic spot of natural beauty!

Note the daylight center right:

Same hole closer shot:

De Anne wanted me to climb the 20 feet up and see if it was stable. Try to guess my answer:

It's all precarious:

Dogs on Patrol

Even though Linda's dogs are 'free range' dogs they still accompany us on our beach walks. Sometimes, because of some wanton behavior  we feel the need to pretend we don't know them; however, that always seems to end in the miscreants happily bounding up to us.

Now one might think of a beach as barren sand and rock, but that is far from the truth. All sorts of denizens of the deep die and repose in various stages of decay on the beach. The dead population is refreshed by a twice daily high tide. I have so far spared my gentle readers 3.5 meg pictures of these graphic nature shots... and the vultures feeding rambunctiously.... and the enthusiastic canine investigations of same.

Scenery is wasted on dogs:

Today the dogs had their interest peaked more by wild goats. A mother and two kids, separated from the herd, proved to be an irresistible sport - at least until the mother goat gained the high ground on a small knoll and turned to face her antagonists. The dogs conferred ever so briefly and decided life was better back on the beach.

During a second goat encounter Barney (the ugly one) surprised himself when he caught a young kid. Of course De Anne insisted I '''do something''. I demurred pointing out they were on a cliff 200 yards east and 100 feet up. Since Barney did not understand the concept of prey and the next logical step he wandered away and the kid rejoined it's distraught mother. Both most likely in need of long-term counseling.

The cute little tan dog, Bailey, is the smart one. Pepe, the black dog, is sadly the stupidest mutt in the world. He chases cars and runs head first into trash cans that have been in the same place for years.

Eventful Day

We packed two cars on Friday with Manta expats and zoomed north on a field trip to San Clemente. Linda and Bonnie were the drivers. They could not agree on the route so - race on! Linda is not normally a timid driver. She follows the old saying "drive it like you stole it". Linda knew Bonnie would be pedal to the metal the whole way and she wasn't about to lose the race. We got to the restaurant a minute ahead of Bonnie.

Miers, the restaurant owner, had lobsters in stock so 12 of us indulged in the $7 lobster lunch. A pound of the bottom feeder plus salad and a large pile of homemade chips. The real treat was a trip to the "back room". I stocked up on a couple of my favorite bad habits at fell off the truck prices. The rest of the group was crowded in behind me, either indulging in similar vices or just gawking.

Waiting for lobsters. No idea why I have such a stupid look on my face.

The trip back was uneventful until the last 50 feet. A crew of men was erecting an enormous sign on the other side of the sand road in front of Linda's house. Linda gunned the car up right in front of their truck and jumped out yelling in her broken Spanish "VERY BAD! STOP! GET OUT!".

I ran to the house to get Edger to translate some of the finer points. Meanwhile, with De Anne at her side, Linda picked up a big rock - still yelling. Edger arrived on the run and the men pleaded with him to tell the crazy woman to put down the rock. What the men did not know was that the rock was not as bad as it could have gotten. I was ready to instantly execute a duck and cover maneuver if Linda really got mad.

With great acumen the workmen quickly agreed to remove the sign. I think they realized just what they were up against. They had turned the power off for the whole beach since one of the workmen had unwisely touched the power line with a sign pole. Of course, we had to wait until after sunset for the power to be turned back on.

Finally, a bit of peace and quiet! I got my iPad out and started reading emails. Suddenly, the whole days' events paled. De Anne's sister De Linda sent an email about their Father passing away. De Vere was 86 and had just been put into a nursing home a month ago. He had Alzheimer's but died quickly from a stroke. I remember some advice my Mother gave me when she was in a nursing home - Have some fun now because you don't know when it will end. Words to live by and we are.

Obit to be published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution:
Captain DeVere (Dee) Bunnell took his final flight on Thursday, Nov. 15th.  He rejoins his wife of 50 years, Opal “Dixie”, who predeceased him in 2000. Dee Bunnell was an Army soldier stationed in Austria during the European Occupation.  He returned home to finish college, learned to fly and became an Air Force cargo pilot during the golden age of large piston engine aircraft.  He was a veteran who logged many years of long Pacific flights, flying supplies to the Korean conflict and flying wounded soldiers home.  His military contribution was followed by 30 years of flying for Eastern Airlines, piloting large piston engine aircraft through the era of transition to modern computerized jet aircraft.  He finished his career as captain in the Airbus A300.  Dee retired in 1986 and enjoyed a long happy retirement traveling, boating and gardening.  He is survived by his son Alexander and three daughters, DeLinda, DeAnne and Denise and by seven grandsons.    His life will be celebrated on Sat, Nov. 24th, at 11:00pm at 5630 Queensborough Dr, Dunwoody 30338.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the ALZHEIMER’S FOUNDATION OF AMERICA (www.alzfdn.org). 

De Anne's Adventure

While I spent a few days supervising a staff of affable, hard-working Ecuadorians, Linda and De Anne had an interesting trip to Cuenua (quink ah).

The 2 kittens were together in a carrier for the first 100 yards of the trip. After breaking up the cat fight De Anne held the kitten for the rest of the 8 hour trip.

De Anne loved Cuenua. Clean, drinkable tap water, cobblestone streets, and sophisticated locals who look down on the coastal Ecuadorians as crude and uneducated. De Anne says it looks like a whole different country up in the Andes.

I have heard stories from several expats about Linda's good luck. It was in effect on the trip back. On mountain roads the car overheated. De Anne said they were out in the wilderness on narrow winding roads with not even a place to pull over for miles at a time.

When the car started spewing steam they just happened to be at a pull off spot. To compound the good luck a fire truck was parked there too. Adding to the luck there was an english-speaking Frenchman training the firemen about how to use the truck. After help from the Fire truck mechanic who just happened to be there also, they were ready to travel again.  From that point on it was downhill the rest of the way and they made it back to the beach late but without further crisis.

De Anne has now made a deal with Bonnie, an expat resident of Cuenua, that in return for feeding her cat (at least a 2 minute job every day) we can use her condo from Dec. 3rd until our return Dec. 9th while she is in America. So we will spend our last days in Ecuador in the Andes.

Picture of Cuenua stolen from Michigan Tech:

Back in Management

With Linda and De Anne gone I am in charge now. Lucky for me Edgar from Spain is here to provide translation. My pitiful Spanish is not near good enough to supervise the staff. Edgar is helping with my Spanish; but, it is hard for an old dog to learn new tricks.

 Linda bought a waffle iron this weekend, so tomorrow I teach the cooks to make waffles. I anticipate a big breakfast tomorrow morning!

 Edgar is painting a new sign and Jacqueline the maid, has her back to the camera, while Fernanda, the cook is admiring Edgar - or at least his work:

It's a small world

The photo below is breakfast time at Linda's Donkey Den Cafe a couple days ago. The people you see represent six countries.

John from France is the gray haired gentleman sitting in the foreground with Nicholas a temp worker for Linda, from Sweden, sitting across from him. Andy, from Germany, is talking to John. Lordis, from Ecuador, is Linda's attorney and like lawyers all over the world is on the phone. Frank, from America, is in the green shirt in front of the bar. Linda is talking to Oleg - a big, muscular Russian.

Today Linda and De Anne leave for a short trip to Cuenca to visit Val. Val was so happy that Linda rented out her condo that she asked what she could do in return. By the end of today Val will have two more cats and Linda two less. One of the cats moving to Cuenca will be our foster kitten.

Another kitten picture:

A small addition

Linda allows some customers in her cafe to run tabs. Roberto paid his large tab last week and Linda gave $5 of it to the cook/waitress as a tip. In return the cook, as a thank you, bought Linda a tiny kitten. Of course the last thing Linda needed was another cat.

 Luckily Dennis and Cheryl (mentioned in a previous post) took it with them to their new apartment in Manta. Unfortunately, the building manager found out and evicted the kitten.

 The end result is a kitten too small to be released into the general population of dogs and cats. De Anne offered temporary asylum to the wee one.

 De Anne lending a shoulder:

A white kitten on my black pillow with gray toy mouse:

Mañana

The correct way to define mañana is not "tomorrow", but rather "not today".

Linda ordered a bed from her handyman who works on her house 3 or 4 days a week. She showed him another bed and wanted an exact duplicate. She paid him $150 which was twice what she would have paid in a store, but she wanted an exact copy. Sanchez - the handyman - did not deliver it when promised; however, Linda never expects deadlines to be met in Ecuador.

A week after the original delivery date passed she rented out Val's condo for 3 months and decided to use the new bed in one of bedrooms. She called Sanchez and he promised to deliver it at 8:00 am the next morning. At 9:30am the next morning Linda called him and he said it was an hour away. At 11:00am another call to Sanchez got a promise that it was a half hour away. The noon call promise was that delivery was just 15 minutes away. During the final call that afternoon Sanchez said it was not his fault - the carpenter had not finished the bed but it would be delivered tomorrow.

Without going into details, the next day was more of the same. On the third day of this comic scenario Linda called his bluff after several telephone exchanges and hired a truck for $15 to go to Sanchez's house since he now claimed to have no way to deliver the bed. Sanchez gave the driver instructions on how to get to his house. When the driver arrived Sanchez then admitted he did not have the bed.

 Day four was move-in day for the new tenants. After a couple more calls to Sanchez Linda gave up and hired the truck driver again to take her own bed apart and truck it over to the condo. Just as we were loading into the truck Sanchez arrived in a taxi with the bed. The bed was the wrong color and style. Linda suspected he bought it from a cheap furniture store in town. He wanted another $30 for cab ride. Of course readers will remember a cab ride from town is only $9 or $10. Linda told him he was fired and never to show his lying face on her property again.

The moral of the story is not that Ecuadorians are liars. It is that they will say anything to avoid saying "no". It is a culture difference that leaves gringos feeling cheated and lied to when exactly the opposite is intended.

Another day in paradise:

Holiday in Ecuador

We had nothing scheduled for the weekend except laying low because it was an Ecuadorian holiday weekend. The Ecuadorians take their holidays seriously. The partying is intense and loud. Alas, relaxing and hiding from the masses was just not going to happen.

 Linda rented out her friend Val's condo as furnished. Val is a British expat we met on our last visit, who has since moved to Cuenca (in the mountains). Val had left some furniture behind , but a few more pieces were needed, so Saturday was furniture buying day. Sunday was my time to shine putting it together. While I did that De Anne organized the kitchen with new dishes, coffee maker, etc. The delivery of the bed did not happen as promised - but that is a whole story in itself.

 View from Val's patio:

Waiting for something to die:

Relaxing cats favor our patio:

Party girl

De Anne has had a week of parties. First off was an all-girls party in Cruceita:

Next was her birthday party Tuesday night. Twenty expats and a few Ecuadorian friends joined us at Restaurante Martinica for a fun evening. Linda had a special cake prepared for De Anne by Hotel Oro Verde.

On Wednesday afternoon De Anne finished her whirlwind party circuit attending a Red Hat Society pool party in Manta.