Why We Moved - Episode six, ....seven, eight, nine, and ten.

   When we left our couple in the buckboard they were headed over the hill with their dog and cat still searching for their elusive dream, a place to put down roots that was safe, warm, and secure. 

   As the camera lens opens this week we find them in green hills with mountains on both sides, both near and far. The sun is shining and it is obvious that it is warm and pleasant. The road is winding and as they round a corner they are met by a darkly tanned man, dressed in unusual colorful attire, walking in the opposite direction. They stop and converse and it is obvious that there is some language difficulty, but eventually they move on and their anticipation mounts. Finally they crest a rise and below them is a small Spanish style town with a river running through it and small houses rising up either side of the valley. A church bell tolls softly in the distance. They have arrived! 

                                               The End

   I was going to try to continue my little ode to Saturday serials for ten episodes along with our ten reasons for moving to Ecuador but I decided that you are probably as tired of it as I am. Getting too cute by half! So I'm going to squeeze as much into this post as I can and move on. Without further ado, here goes.

   One of the things we wanted to accomplish with this move was to simplify our lives. Get off the treadmill and attend to what is really important. We were looking for a different culture and somewhere more laid back and less hectic. Here, most everyone still takes a siesta mid afternoon, something I incorporated into my life a number of years ago.      Now some of you will be frustrated by the fact that almost everything here is sold from small shops and the shop you wanted to visit is closed for siesta when you get there, and won't be open until 4pm. Rather than get upset, you are supposed to either go home, relax and have a nap, or get yourself a coffee and go to the park, sit on a bench and relish how lucky you are to be alive. Then go back to the shop at 4pm and have a long friendly conversation, in your broken Spanish, with the shop owner who by now knows you personally.  He won't have what you want but he will know someone who does or he will go out of his way to get it for you. You might go home empty handed today but you connected with another human being and, since you no longer have a deadline for anything except living well, life is good. Welcome to Loja. And the weather is always good. 

   But here comes the warning! If you can't drop your type A personality and adopt the "go with the flow" lifestyle, then perhaps here is not for you. And there are other advantages. The country is, for the most part ,very safe. Like everywhere there is crime, but here it is mostly petty crime. Maybe we are foolish but we walk the streets here without many worries at all times of the day. There are areas in every city I have ever been that I wouldn't walk in at three in the morning. But I'm in my seventies, I can't remember the last time I was awake at three in the morning!

   And speaking of being in my seventies, health care here is great. There is a national health care system which you can only access once you become a temporary or permanent resident with a government issued Cedula (identity card). But fear not, there are a number of very good private hospital plans that, depending on your age etc., will run anywhere from $100/mo. to $250/mo. And most plans are connected to private hospitals which have excellent facilities and well trained doctors who most often speak English. Once you get your cedula you can access the national health care for approx. $75/mo. if you wish.

If you have pets there are vets everywhere and the cost will be about 10% of what you were paying at home. You can walk everywhere within about twenty minutes and if you decide to live further out there are regular buses everywhere for about 30 cents. Around town a cab ride is $1.50 and every second car in the city is a cab so the wait is usually less than 3 minutes to flag one down. So you will probably be walking everywhere and before you know it you will have lost weight and be in far better shape. I have lost 50 pounds in eight months without even trying. Well, I tried a little.

One last thing that attracted us to Loja, well two things really. This is a university town. There are two big universities here which means a younger vibrant city, and Loja is the cultural capital of Ecuador. Both of these facts mean that there is art, theatre, dance, music and indigenous culture everywhere. When we first arrived we were going to some kind of cultural event two or three times a week, mostly free.  Covid 19 has unfortunately put a stop to most of that but slowly things are, and will be, returning to normal. I guess everyone in the world is looking forward to that.

Lastly what attracted us here was that everywhere else in South America is readily accessible from here. We are looking forward to being able to explore further afield in places like Chile, Argentina Brazil etc.. I may be old but I'm not dead yet.

So there you have it. The remaining five reasons we are here.

1. It's Safe

2. It has good affordable healthcare.

3. It has a simple laid back lifestyle.

4. It has a vibrant arts and culture scene

5. It's a convenient stepping stone to more exploring.

I'm sure I could think of a few more reasons but you're probably packing already. I will leave you with one story. I was talking to our landlord the other day( in my completely fluent and grammatically perfect Espanol) and I mentioned that I had to go to another city, about four hours away, to complete my visa process.  He instantly offered to drive me and two days later we made the 10 hour round trip so I could do the required paperwork. Without him it would have been two days on a bus and a night in a hotel in a strange city. A small sample of why we feel completely at home here. And did I mention that the weather is always good?

We Interrupt our Serial

   We interrupt our serial "Adventures in a Buckboard" to bring you the following:       PATHE MOVIETONE NEWS SPECIAL REPORT

  

 World renowned explorer and adventuress Sharon Taylor has just reported from her latest adventure in the wilds of South America. Following are pictures from her most recent trek with exclusive commentary only available to PATHE NEWS. Stay tuned for further adventures as they are available. We will return you to our exciting Saturday serialized adventures shortly.

I have found hikers! I am exploring the lower mountain ranges of 1000m to the higher elevations of 3000m in the provinces of Loja and Zamora Chinchipe. 

I am now hiking with a group from Vilcabamba. And I have met hikers from Loja. Invigorating outdoor exploration that follows the Covid 19 protocols of keeping safe while being physically, mentally and spiritually active during these tumultuous times.

This short vignette of photos gives you a taste of the surrounding area of Vilcabamba as well as the megadiverse zone and jungle (selva) of the National Park of Podocarpus; a protected area of more than 1400 km2 of the eastern Andes with 25% of it in the province of Loja and 85% in Zamora Chinchipe (see April post 'Wishing' for more photos of Podocarpus)

Vilcabamba is a town 45 minutes south of Loja. From Loja, I get to our meeting place in a shared taxi for $3 ($9 for one person), or I can hop on a bus for $1.65. 

Vilcabamba has been referred to as the Playground of the Incas. It also has a reputation for it's inhabitants to grow very old, to reach over 100 years. Many people from around the world have travelled (and remained) in this town after it was first introduced in a cover story in the National Geographic magazine in 1973.

Because Podocarpus is protected - no dogs allowed. Thus, the sad faces of the dog owners who were turned away at the entrance.

At one of the waterfalls in Podocarpus we were lucky to see a South American Coati. Referred to as a cucuhucho in Quechua, the indigenous language of the region. He was great entertainment and wasn't too nervous of us. They are about the size of a healthy racoon but with a much longer tail and snout. 

Some of the photos are of the Yamburara Alto of the surrounding area of Vilcabamba. Dry and desert-looking but with an abundance of water. The climate of this area is subtropical, and known as a sacred place: Valle Sagrado. We traipsed through and over rivers and on one hike found the Cascada Secreto (Secret Waterfall). 

On another hike we were above the Cascada Secreto and came upon an even grander waterfall in which we quickly bathed in (or poked our toe in).

The area around Loja and Vilcabamba is a treasure trove of hiking possibilities and I expect to be able to enchant you with more spectacular vistas in the future, from the mountains to the jungle. This is truly a year round outdoor paradise. Stay tuned.

      PATHE MOVIETONE NEWS  will be following the further exciting travels of Sharon and will bring you further pictures and videos as they become available. We will return you to the serial "Adventures in a Buckboard" next week. 

Join us then!

Why We Moved - Episode 4 - Sharon Retires

 

 When last we saw our intrepid couple they were trudging off into the distance in search of a better situation for themselves.

   This week as the lens opens we see a run down shanty on the edge of an even more run down small village on the edge of a foreboding dark forest. As we get closer we see our hero sitting on the porch obviously waiting for his love as he peers down the rough road towards the village. After a moment we see our heroine walking dejectedly toward us carrying what are obviously cleaning supplies. Her head is wrapped in a bandanna and she is clearly exhausted. As she mounts the porch our hero gets up and gives her his seat where she slumps, completely spent. As they talk it is clear that they are in a situation that cannot continue and from their gestures it seems as though winter is coming again and, this time, they will not survive the cold in this rude structure. What will they do?

Sharon Retires! (Well, sort of)

   It had become obvious that for the past few years we had been working simply to keep our heads above water and to service our debts. Being debt free was a shining beacon which hovered tantalizingly in the distance but was getting only marginally closer each day. Every time some progress was made something else like a car repair 

reared its ugly head and we were back behind the eight ball. 

   Living from pay cheque to pay cheque was the hardest part of living in British Columbia. I loved my position at the community centre but keeping up with the bills and trying to get away from the dock a few times a year was becoming a struggle. I was working to live with very little living time. Obviously the solution was to sell the boat, pay off our debts and move somewhere where our available assets and income would keep us comfortable, and unstressed.

   And, having the option "to work, or not to work" would allow for some freedom. So that's what we did, and the relief of being debt free is liberating!

White building center is our Apt Bldg

   Ecuador is one of the few affordable South American countries that does not require one to wait up to 2 to 3 years before you can apply for a professional visa. The university degree must be applicable to the needs of Ecuador and my educational degree is an asset. English as a second language is a required subject in Ecuador.

   We will soon be celebrating the receipt of my 2 year professional working visa and cedula (like a combination identification and social insurance card). Not that I am eager to start working. In fact, I have taken to retirement like a duck to water; another reason we moved to Ecuador (not the part about becoming ducks).

   And, guess what?! I have recently started a small job teaching English as a second language online through a platform called Speak Louder. I teach 2 hours a week to Ecuadorian children between the ages of 5 - 11 years old. I make enough money each week to afford a good bottle of Chilean wine, a couple of bottles craft beer with some change left over.

   So as we fade back to our brave explorers in the old west we discover that they have packed up and are on the move again. They have acquired a cart and have piled their belongings inside as they set off. From off screen a scruffy dog starts trotting after them, obviously a new addition to the family, And as we close in on them we can see a cat on top of the loaded wagon. So now the family has expanded to four and, even though they have to pull the cart themselves, as the iris begins to close we can clearly see that all four are eagerly looking forward to the next stage of the adventure. Tune in next time!

   

Why We Moved - Episode Three

When we last saw our couple from the Saturday serial they were stuck in a cabin with the winter wind roaring outside.  As the big fish eye lens opens on this episode, we find them standing outside the cabin with the sun shining and the snow almost melted. All seems well until we see another buckboard coming up the muddy trail and stopping in front of the cabin. In the buckboard is an evil looking thin man, dressed all in black, and sporting a big handle bar mustache. He seems surprised to see our couple and, although there is no sound in our serial except for a tiny piano playing sound track,  it soon becomes evident that this is his cabin. As he strokes his mustache and leers at our heroine we can see that he wants money (or something else!) to let them stay there. Our hero brings out a very thin cloth wallet and begins counting out money. When he is finished there is not much left in the wallet. The evil landlord gives them a long look with special attention on our heroine and, with a last twist of his mustache, heads back down the trail. Our couple look at each other and at their thin wallet. It's obvious he will be back. What will they do?

(Photo is Pre-Covid)

Which brings us to the third reason we moved to Ecuador: The Cost of Living.


 Remember, with both Ken and Sharon not working, our monthly income was going to be reduced by 60%. As you can imagine, not an insignificant amount. All essential services had to be within our meager budget. (No more waiting until the next pay cheque). Daily expenses here in Loja are minimal.      There are markets, food stores, pharmacies, medical clinics, dentists, hospitals (we think six in Loja, both private and public) everywhere throughout the city. In fact, there are pharmacies practically on every corner since the Covid-19 pandemic began.                                                                               

                                                                                  And, veterinarians everywhere.  The cost for a check up at the vet is $5.00, with a blood test the cost skyrockets to $10.00, with the results in 24 hours. Dylan had an examination, ultrasound, then needed intravenous medication twice within two weeks and received oral medication for two weeks. The total cost ... wait for it!...$45.00! 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           No more leaving the grocery store with 2 bags of food costing $50.00. There is an abundance of meats, seafood and fish, produce, legumes, pastas and fruits often with the choice of deciding the quantity too.


This photo shows one purchase at the local market  for Vegetales! Verduras! 

Lemons .50, 15 limes .25, 1 lb fresh peas .25, 4 peppers .25, celery .25, 6lbs tomatoes $1.00,
4lbs yams .50, 1lb acorn squash .50, broccoli .30, bananas .40, 4 zucchini .40, bread (buns) .80  The total? Wait for it ...............$5.40!   The flowers cost $1.50



Meals in restaurants or to take-out vary from $2.50 - $8.00. A typical mid-day meal (almuerzo) is $2.75 - $3.50. This would include a hearty soup, followed by a main meal of fish, prawns, meat or chicken with fresh vegetables, rice and salad and a choice of juice or coffee.
Snacks (bocadillos) - Sharon's favourite is a bag of fresh chifles with salsa which are fried plantano chips, or chicken or cheese tamales, or humitas, or an empanada all for .50 each!



Currently we are on private health insurance ($250.00 per month which covers both of us). We do not yet have the national health care insurance ($75.00 per month). But we can afford the basics without the coverage. Sharon recently had her teeth cleaned with x-rays taken and this visit cost .....wait for it......$60.00!

So there it is. The third reason we are here in this quiet friendly place and enjoying every minute.

And spare a thought for our intrepid couple from the buckboard. After pacing back and forth with much gesticulating and some tears we find them walking down the road into the sunset. As the camera zooms in we see a piece of paper drop out of the woman's handbag and flutter to the ground. The camera zooms in to reveal a poster advertising free land for homesteaders in California. We pan up to see the dust rising from their worn shoes as they disappear over the hill and the fish eye slowly closes. Will they make it? Tune in next week.

Why We Moved - Episode Two

 When we last left our intrepid pair their buckboard was going over the cliff and it looked as though they were doomed. But this week we are back with a different camera angle and just as the horses and wagon plunge over the precipice we can clearly see our brave couple leaping to safety. As they get up and gingerly brush themselves off, we can only marvel at their lucky escape from what you see pictured here. You will now appreciate the second reason they have moved to Ecuador, and that is... The Weather.
   Both Sharon and I have lived the extremes of weather provided by the lovely north country in Canada. Me in Alberta and then the Yukon and Sharon in Ontario and then Baffin Island, Nunavut. Both of us have trudged to school in -30 and have a host of fond memories from our time there... when we were younger. And therein lies the heart of the problem. Things that were fabulous and fun when you were twenty or thirty somehow lose their luster when you are sixty or seventy. The opposite is also true. While we were sailing down to and through the Panama Canal, we spent several years in the heat. When it's 35 C with 85% humidity, you have to get up at six am, work for an hour, then find some shade and lay gasping for air until 6pm, when you struggle to get another half hours work done. Then, before it gets dark, you allow yourself a cold rum and coke. Not particularly productive! The amount of working time and the cold Cuba Libres suited me fine. It was the gasping for air and running with sweat that I hated.
                                                                                       
So now the search was on for the perfect weather. But what is that? The weather in BC is gorgeous in the summer. The problem is the summer is 3 months long, with another month of hoping.  Then there is a month of maybe at either end followed by six to seven months of "we gotta get outta here for a least a couple of weeks before I go stir crazy or just rot away".  After much reflection we decided that a lovely spring day in May or early June was perfect, when the temperature is around 20 C and the air is clean and fresh. Right, so where are we going to find this paradise?
   Well, guess what, if you go into the central valley of Ecuador, that's exactly what you get! For ninety percent of the year the temperature is around 20-23 C during the day and 14-16 C at night. What could be better?

Imagine never having to spend 15 or 20 minutes getting bundled up against the cold or wet every time you have to take the dog for a walk or go shopping. Just slip on your shoes, maybe a light sweater at night, and off you go. T-shirt weather almost every day, but not hot enough that I have to expose my spindly white legs to anyone. Those of you who have seen me in shorts in the summer will be letting out a loud cheer right about now.
   During the day there is no need to run from one shady spot to the next as the sweat pours down your back. Stroll beside the river as a light breeze ruffles your hair.                                                                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                       Now I want to say right here by way of a disclaimer that nothing is perfect. Not even here. Since the seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere, we have just gone through a winter here in Loja. Before I describe the hellish conditions I want you to remember, and have some sympathy for us, when we remind you that there is no central heating or double glazed windows here. With that in mind, picture the fact that we have just suffered through a Month(!) of temperatures that would challenge the strongest among you. Daytime highs rarely reached more than 16-17 C, and at night the temperature plunged to a bone chilling 10-11 C. We were required by these desperate circumstances to go to our last resort, wearing a sweater inside and putting an extra blanket on the bed!! So you see, we are still roughing it. But we summoned up our northern experience and spirit to help get us through. Like the cowboy and his sweetheart in the serial, we were huddled in our cabin while the storm raged outside. With food and firewood running low and wolves howling in the night, we thought of our loved ones back home. 
     Will our handsome couple see another day? Stay tuned for episode three to see if we froze to death. It doesn't look good.                                                                     

10 Reasons Why We Left Canada and Moved to Loja, Ecuador

"The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things".

Banos, Ecuador

We have had a lot of questions about why we decided to uproot ourselves and move to South America, and specifically why we chose Loja, Ecuador.  It's not the city that most expats choose but it held some attraction for us for very specific reasons. We have spoken about some of this in previous posts. But I am getting way ahead of myself. 
Don't worry, we are going to do this in 10 installments as opposed to one long blog that no one will read to the end. Remember as a kid, the Saturday morning serials at the movies, where the cowboy in the buckboard went over the cliff at the end of the episode and you had to come back the next Saturday to see how, or if, he survived?  (Come on, some of you are as old as me!)  Well, this is kind of like that. We'll jump off a cliff each time and you will have to come back next week and see if we survived.

Episode One

Terry Kelly flies in to Visit us in Panama

   This all began in 2018 when I turned 75. By that time we had been living on a boat for about 15 years and although we loved the life style it was time for a change. Both of us were bored and I have to admit that I was tired of the stress that comes with trying to keep up with all the work that it takes to maintain a large, older boat. We had both had a taste of the travelling lifestyle when we went offshore for three years on our sail boat and it seemed like we were working just to pay bills and had little or no time to be with each other and enjoy life. Sharon had accomplished almost all she wanted to at South Arm Community Center so it was time to get selfish. I personally have no problem with being selfish, which most of you can attest to, but it was harder for Sharon. But I have learned through the years that once you get Sharon turned in the direction you want, just tie yourself to her and hold on for the ride.
   The main thing we wanted was an adventure. We wanted to take ourselves out of our comfort zone, challenge ourselves, see if we still had the spirit that made our offshore sailing such a satisfying experience. We wanted to strip ourselves of the things which were tying us down. I also hoped that learning a new language would keep my brain from becoming porridge. We had taken a three month tour of South America by bus while the boat waited out hurricane season in Panama and had had a great time, so we looked there first.

Top of the Andes between Chile and Bolivia

   Now South America has a lot of stunning countries and adventures that are free for the asking around every corner. On our bus tour we had been to Santiago Chile and Valparaiso, Mendoza in the Argentine wine country, the Atacama in the Andes, Bolivia, Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines in Peru, and had only scratched the surface. So we sat down and started to think about what we needed to do to make this happen and what we were actually looking for in a new home. A little plug here, a magazine called 'International Living' can give you all sorts of ideas.  It can also become addictive, and on a cold winters night when you look up from pictures of sun dappled beaches and watch the rain pouring down, it can stoke a dangerous sense of dissatisfaction. You have been warned!
   So, Reason Number One boils down to ... ADVENTURE

But that word means a lot of things, to a lot of people. So, in future episodes, we will boil down in greater detail what it meant to us, and what we needed to be sure of before we took the leap. We had a lot of 'must haves' and we will go through them all and explain how Loja fit the bill. Suffice to say that, for us, the buckboard had gone over the cliff. Tune in next time to see whether we survive!
   

Escape!

 Last weekend this lovely couple, who happen to be our landlords, invited us to their Hacienda in the country. First time we have been out of the city for six months. A demonstration of how warm and welcoming all the Ecuadorians we've met have been.

Click on any image to enlarge

 Their place is south of Vilcabamba about an hours drive from Loja and on the way to Peru which is directly south of Ecuador

 As you can see it is a lovely  acreage nestled in the hills and very secluded. A river runs right past the property and we were lulled to sleep at night with the sound of the rushing water.

We stayed in the little guest house off to one side next to the river and we brought the dog and the cat since we were going to be away for two days. The animals had a great time.

As you can imagine our dog Dylan had a ball running around here.

 Sunday we drove south toward Peru and up into the mountains amongst the clouds, passing through a number of little villages on the way. Every village has it's own cathedral and town square. Then we returned to the farm , had lunch and spent the afternoon exploring the area around their Hacienda.

When was the last time you visited an orange church?

The area around here produces a lot of the vegetables for the various cities and towns in the south of Ecuador. It is also a large producer of sugar.  There are sugar cane fields everywhere. If you have a sweet tooth you can buy a kind of unprocessed sugar cane toffee which is delicious.

The rivers are fed by rain in the Andes mountains. You can just see them in the distance with the almost ever present clouds on top. On the other side is the Amazon Jungle

The air is beautifully fresh and filled with the scent of flowers and the fields.

Unusual flora is everywhere and the temperate climate means that it is always green year round. Unfortunately, Covid 19 has kept us from doing more of this kind of exploring but this too shall pass.  It's exciting to know that all this, and more, is just outside our door and waiting for us to find it.

Time For A Change

"We spend our lives learning many things, only to discover (again and again) that most of what we learned is either Wrong or Irrelevant. A big part of our mind can handle this; a smaller, deeper part cannot. And it is this smaller part that matters more, because that part of our mind is who we really are, (whether we like it or not)"

But What If We’re Wrong -   Chuck Klosterman

   Covid 19 has forced a reckoning on most everyone in the world whether they are admitting it or not. Nothing is going to be like it was, for a very long time. And if the truth be told (a scarce commodity in the present environment), things may never be the same again. The time has come for a reassessment of almost everything. How we live, what’s important, and what we should be striving for both as a person, and on a grander scale, as a species. Suddenly we have had to stop what has been routine for the past seventy five years. Most of us, if we even thought about it at all, have just been accepting the idea that the direction we were travelling in was the direction we should be travelling in. We’ve been walking along with our heads down, only looking up at loud noises. And it has led us here, trapped in our houses, fearful of our neighbours, having to wear a mask just to go shopping, and trusting our very existence to people that, if we met them in the local pub, we would laugh out of the room. The question now becomes, do we want to go back to what got us here, when the present crisis is over? Do we want to just sit and wait for the next threat, and the next one?

  But there is an upside. Suddenly we all have our heads up, looking around. And we have time. It’s like we are kids again and we’ve been sent to the corner of the room for a time out. Just enough time to think. Time to assess. Time to question long held beliefs. Time to wonder whether we can do better. Time to wonder if the promised rewards, now that it looks like they won’t be there, were even going to be worth the effort and sacrifice in the first place. How many times, both personally and as a society, have we walked past things that we knew should be changed and done nothing? Well there is no doubt now that changes have to be made, and are going to be made, if we expect to survive at all.

  So what are these changes? I’ll leave that to younger and wiser heads than mine. After all, I’m responsible for the present dilemma. I could have done more and didn’t. Trying to explain why at this late date would just be whining. I swallowed the Kool-Aid with the best of them. I grasp the straw of hoping I did less damage than some, but the effort to stand up for what I knew needed fixing was sadly lacking. And now that I’m old and hiding out in South America like some repentant aging Nazi maybe I’m safe from retribution. I feel sorry for those to whom the burden is falling and I can only hope they are more up to the challenge than I was. If you are one of those, don’t look to the past for any answers. You only have to look at your current leaders in almost every field to realize the futility of that course of action. Perhaps more than at any time in the past they are emblematic of the futility of the old ways of thinking. Literal live embodiments of stupidity and avarice. Fiddling while the world burns. This pandemic is giving you the chance to throw those people and ideas away and head down a new path, look for new solutions. Scary, and exciting at the same time. Because the next fifty years will decide how the story of Us turns out. And you will be its authors. Remember the old saying, "Risk is its own Reward". Don’t be afraid to burn some bridges, in fact burn a lot of bridges. Not being able to go back will keep you going forward. Not much can be worse than what we have now so what have you got to lose? This old geezer will be cheering you on. And I won’t be the only one.

Local Lojano Food

Since we are still not patronizing the local restaurants, we have taken up the hobby of cooking local meals. We have enjoyed preparing and eating encocado de pescado (a coastal fish dish cooked in a sauce of cilantro, onions, tomatoes and coconut milk), menestra de lentejas (lentil stew), empanadas de carne (a common stuffed pastry), pan de yuca (fried cheese balls made with a yuca flour) and patacones (an appetizer of thick green plantain chips)
Here, Sharon is preparing a traditional southern Ecuadorian soup called arvejas con guineo. It is a version of a typical dish called 'repe lojano' from the province of Loja. This version is a split pea and green banana soup which includes other local ingredients like garlic, cilantro, achiote (a subtle spice that is used more often for it's red colouring) onions, and a fresh, young cheese known as quesillo (similar to feta). It's typically served with sides of avocado and hot sauce. It was easy to make other than finding the right kind of banana since there are many kinds of bananas and plantains in this part of the world. Interestingly, the chef of this recipe warns one to be careful when peeling and dicing green bananas, and true to the warning, my hands got very stained after preparing them. The finished production:

We are becoming accustomed to shopping daily for fresh produce and learning about all the new ingredients. I thank Layla Pujol, an Ecuadorian chef, now living in Seattle, who has created a really thorough and interesting website about Ecuadorian food which includes many recipes - laylita.com. When I visit her site I get so hungry from the photos of all the amazing dishes, desserts and appetizers. We are so grateful for this website during this pandemic. It has educated us on the local foods and kept us busy at home cooking up feasts for ourselves.

Above is a meat dish called carne colorada with a side ensalada (salad), rice steamed in ground achiote which gives it the yellow colour and mote. Mote is prepared from dried hominy corn and then one can add onion and garlic, or spices. Colorada refers to the marinade of the beef. It is ground achiote, cumin, oregano and beer. It has an amazing aroma...and so tasty!


Around the corner from where we live is a family run business selling freshly made tamales, humitas and quihimitas for 50 cents each out of their home. Humitas and quimihitos are corn cakes steamed in corn husks each with a different level of sweetness.  I often ask Ken to pick up a humita for my breakfast on his morning walk with Dylan. The family usually has a line up outside their door just before the afternoon siesta or at dinner time for their delicious tamales. These are wrapped in banana leaves and stuffed with chicken, pork or cheese. For the price, and the taste, we're not making these at home!

Another common Ecuadorian breakfast or lunch is the bolon:

Bolones are large plaintain dumplings (balls) stuffed with cheese and/or chicharrones (chorizo or bacon) fried until crispy and often served as a breakfast or lunch. We bought 2 for $1 each to go alongside our homemade corn and lentil soup.

Sharon's favourite salsa (below) is made with tamarillos - tree tomatoes/tomate de arbol which is a South American fruit, orange-red in colour, similar shape to a roma tomato but has a thicker skin. They are often made into sauces and juices. We have been regularly making this local aji hot sauce that has hot peppers to accompany everything Sharon eats!

What do Dylan and Coral eat? 2-3 times a week they get fresh liver to supplement their regular diet. One lb of liver = 25 cents!


Buen provecho! (Bon appetite)

IT'S DIFFERENT

THE SUN COMES UP HERE   

click any image to enlarge

                                     

every morning at 6am. Never earlier, never later. And it goes down at 6:30 pm. Never earlier, never later. In fact, the length of the day here varies by a total of 2 minutes over the year. One of the things that is noticeably different here from what we were used to.

   Well here I am again with another installment of Ken Taylor's, “What shall we talk about today?” Brought to you by the ever present sunshine of Ecuador and the ever looming “When’s your next Blog post?” There are times when having friends can be a burden! And you know who you are!

    I thought I would ruminate today on a few things that are different here. What brought it to mind was watching the garbage truck pick up our trash today. Monday, Wednesday and Friday they pick up the green and recyclable garbage and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it’s the… what, garbage garbage? Anyway, the truck has three or four guys hanging off it and, unless there’s a big pile of stuff, the truck doesn’t stop. The guys jump off, run to your garbage can, grab it, run after the still moving truck, throw your garbage in and then just pitch your can to the side of the road as the truck keeps motoring down the street. I can tell you, these guys are in great shape! Sometimes your poor can is a block up the street and you have to go out and fetch it and bring it home like a wandering puppy. Today my lid was around the corner. And you better grab your can right away or it will get run over or disappear. But on the up side, as you will have noticed, some kind of trash pickup Every Day! How good is that!

   Next we have groceries. Everything is grown locally and comes into the market fresh every day. All the fruits and vegetables you could want grown right outside the city by little family farms and brought to the Market daily, sometimes in the trunk of a taxi. The variety is astounding. All the things you would recognize and a lot you wouldn’t. And the prices are... well reasonable is an understatement. It's an adventure for Sharon to ask questions about how to cook things that we have never seen before, and then after dinner to watch me closely and see if I die before deciding whether it’s safe to cook it again! I hadn’t thought about it until just now but at dinner she is always about three or four bites behind me! I thought she was starting to call me Petey for some reason but now that I think about it, I think it’s Petri. (Think about it!)

   What about meat? Well there’s lot of it, again all local and fresh, but good luck recognizing a cut. In the supermarket you can get something that is recognizable but the cost is quite a bit more. If you go to the market, find some beef, (at least I think it's beef, for now I've decided not to ask) and indicate what you want they will cut you off a nice chunk of steak (???) for the price of what you would pay for a single sausage in Canada. And if we get something on our plate that is… slightly inferior… to what we had hoped for, then the fault is mine.  I’m the one with the pointy finger who assured Sharon that I knew what I was doing. Good thing she was standing behind me and didn’t see me close my eyes and cross my fingers. More Spanish lessons here I come. I’m not sure but I thought I heard a woman the other day say, “They must have a Very big dog!” But it was in Spanish so I was probably mistaken.

   A lot of people here cook with propane and there are trucks with full propane bottles prowling the streets from six in the morning, all playing the same tune announcing that they have propane for sale. You can hear them everywhere. Talk about an ear worm. But after awhile you don’t even notice. And if you run out of propane, no need to get in your car and go to fill up. Just listen for the ice cream man and go to the curb with your bottle. How convenient is that. Quite often there is someone with a loudspeaker going by with a truckload of produce as well, so you don’t even have to go to the market if you don’t want to. On the side streets next to the market are stores selling whole chickens. Somewhere from $4 to $6 dollars for a whole chicken depending on the size. Plucked and cleaned with the feet inside to be used for stock. And guess what. I’m getting quite good at butchering a chicken at home in the sink. Sharon uses the carcass for chicken stock and Monday, Wednesday and Friday (see above) they come and pick up what’s left.

   This is also a great area for coffee growing and there are a myriad of choices of really good, fresh ground coffee for around $3 a pound. Before the virus every street had a little restaurant with great coffee for breakfast and lunch. Lunch would be something like a hearty soup, rice, beans, and chicken with a big drink for $2.50. Couldn’t make it at home for that. A lot are closed at the moment but hopefully they'll be back. And then we come to dessert. Called pasteles. They love their pastries here. There is a pastry shop on every block in the downtown area. When we are out shopping Sharon has provided me with a special pair of blinders, like the old milk wagon horses used to wear, just to keep me focused. So I just plod along in a straight line, pretending not to see. But I do get out by myself occasionally, and, like the milk wagon horse, I don’t forget the route. And there are little fresh homemade bread stores everywhere. When I am out walking the dog early in the morning the whole city seems to be filled with the aroma of fresh bread and buns. Not great for my aim to cut back on bread. 

   And finally, it seems as if every second house here has a dog. But they never take them out for a walk or let them in the house. In fact, half the time they are on the roof of the house since there are a lot of flat roofs here. So that means occasionally there is a concert. Hundreds of dogs, all over the city, barking, barking, barking. Luckily they are usually short five minute sonatas, not symphonies. Sharon can quite often follow my progress when I walk the dog because as we walk by each house the resident two pound killer canine will come rushing out to protect his or her turf, barking furiously and warning the next dog in line to get ready to take up the chorus.  And then in the morning roosters, crowing. The city seems to always be alive somehow, at least when I’m awake. And then, because of the curfew, at 9 pm it all goes quiet. Sparkling street lights on the hillsides. No traffic, no dogs, no roosters, just quiet. Getting up the energy for another day of crowing, barking, baking, cooking, talking, laughing, and just living. To hell with Covid 19, it’s a new day, we’ve made it this far, let’s not waste it.

                                 PS. R.I.P Carl Riener Thanks for the laughs !