One Year!

 Here we are at one year! Hard to believe! January 19, 2020 was the day we arrived in Loja and took up residence in the Air BnB we had booked. All the hard work and planning we had done over the previous two years had finally paid off. We looked around and realized that for better or worse this was going to be our life for the foreseeable future. But little did we know!! And who could have? Nostradamus maybe, I should have checked.

We did get a month to get ourselves organized before the proverbial hit the fan, so in many ways the fates did protect us from being in the middle of nowhere when everything went south. Our first few weeks here we were able to wander the streets, explore the city a bit, get ourselves an apartment, go to some concerts, and in general settle into what we thought was going to be our new life. And then the Gods said, "Sit down and shut up, we have bigger things to do  right now!" Eleven months later I still feel like a kid who has been bad and is sitting on a little chair in the corner, facing the wall, and waiting for the recess bell to release him. 

Of course it has had its moments and, after the first wave in March when things looked pretty grim, especially in Guayaquil, the experience has been more boring than frightening.  Kind of like standing at the window of the bakery looking at all the treats, but the store is closed. The sad part is that because I am slightly older than Methuselah at this point and therefore a prime candidate to take it between the eyes if I'm not careful, I have to look at everyone I meet as if they are the Walking Dead in disguise. Not a great attitude when trying to make friends in a new place. Picture the guy with a knapsack on his back trying to get an unescorted tour of Fort Knox.  "You do realize that before you can get within six feet of Mr. Taylor you will have to strip naked and have a thorough body cavity scan!".  Needless to say I can count my new Ecuadorian friends on one finger. I have some

acquaintances who will wave to me from afar before they scurry off down the street, but friends, no. And although Sharon has made friends, as she always does, they are beginning to think she has me locked in a tower somewhere, if I exist at all! She did bring a few over at Christmas, one at a time, during my scheduled feedings, to show them what she has to put up with. But basically I am the man in the iron mask.

But we have made it this far, and looking back it has been a good decision. I've put on a jacket twice in the last year. The butter is always as I like it, soft. I am disappointed that the planned festivities scheduled to celebrate our one year anniversary had to be cancelled. If you go back to the beginning of this blog you will see the lengths that the local dignitaries went to to acknowledge our arrival, with bands and military parades and children in native costumes giving thanks at local churches. On the upside, ever since I gave the guys on the garbage truck 20 bucks to buy beer at Christmas, I do get huge smiles and waves whenever they see me. It's the one time I feel sort of part of the community! Now I know what millionaires feel like when they buy new friends every few years! And there is one bonus to all this that is infrequently mentioned. If you DON'T want to see someone, you no longer have to dig deep to find excuses for being a curmudgeon. "Sorry, you're not in my bubble. You understand. Maybe next year." And then you secretly hope that one of you will be dead by then, hopefully them!

So, adjustments are being made and life goes on, thankfully without snow, which was a large part of the original plan. I joke about being isolated but everyone we have met here has been extremely welcoming and friendly. We are constantly presented with new challenges and experiences and that's what life is about, isn't it? That's how you grow and become a better and more interesting and evolved human being. People keep telling me that, for me, it should kick in any day now! I would like to be able to interact with more people so as to improve my Spanish. We are studying a couple of hours a day and Sharon is getting very good but the listening and understanding is still very slow. It's hard enough without trying to understand what's being said through a mask. But now I understand why people are slow to react when being held up by a masked bandit. Whoever thought that a pandemic would make me more sympathetic to criminals! Thankfully everyone here wears a mask at all times with little controversy and as a result, although there has been a bit of an uptick recently, there is nothing like the problems elsewhere. For now!! And being born in the crustaceous period means I will be near the top when the vaccine arrives. Then I will be out clubbing every night!

In our next post I promise I will get back to telling you about our wonderful fulfilling life here in the Land of Eternal Spring. This has just been a bit of a ramble through some dust bunnies in the back of my head. If there is anyone out there who still remembers who we are, we are doing great and, in looking back, would not change anything. Anything we have control over I mean. If I had the power, I would have cursed D.T. with a wart on the end of his nose that slowly grew to cover his entire face, but I digress. Here's hoping you all are warm and dry and have your three square meals a day. Everything else is a bonus!

 Remember, if you have change in your pocket you are better off than 90% of the people on earth!