Have you heard the word, "manana? Students of Spanish will tell you it means tomorrow. We were told in Ecuador it can mean two days from now, two weeks from now, or longer, particularly if you're trying to hire someone to do work for you. We also were warned "Ecuador time" is not the same as gringo time. Punctuality is not their strong suit. Imagine our surprise yesterday when the team of house cleaners showed up ten minutes early, the electrician arrived five minutes early, and the painter arrived ten minutes late, and apologized because of rush hour traffic! Life is good!
The apartment is shaping up beautifully. The grout between the kitchen tiles is clean, all the windows are so clean they have virtually disappeared, and the beautiful wood floors are gleaming. The colors have been selected, and the painter is scheduled to begin tomorrow morning at 7:30am. I can't wait to see how it looks!
We're picking up our furniture purchases in the morning, and if all goes well, we'll be able to finally stay in our apartment. How sweet it is! Who cares if we don't have living room furniture or anything on the walls?!
While we're working on our place, the building management is redoing the lobby. It looks great. We've also learned some neat thing about where we chose to live. Three days a week, someone goes around during the night and picks up our garbage outside our door. We were also handed a remote for the front gate, and since we don't have a car, we'll use it in inclement weather so the taxi can take us to the underground garage where we can get out, unload our groceries, and stay dry.
One of our favorite things about living in this building is our security guard, Jorge. Terrific guy. We're helping him speak English, and he is helping us with our Spanish. He always has a smile on his face, and is more than happy to call a cab for us. Amazingly, they tell him how many minutes it will be before they arrive, and darn if they aren't always right on time! Our driver yesterday told Ken he believes I'll be fluent in Spanish in two months. What an optimist! The Spanish spoken in Cuenca is beautiful, and my comprehension level has risen significantly in one week. Even my conversation has improved. This is the way to learn a language................ you have no choice because no one speaks English!
Our current roommate, Ken has a terrific maid that comes once a week. My wonderful husband went ahead and hired her for our place, one day a week. What a guy! Alba will begin next Friday morning, and will continue every Friday thereafter. Total cost? Ten dollars per week. I'm loving Cuenca more and more!
We also met a lovely gringo couple yesterday in our lobby. Robin and Joe have been living here six months, and love it! They're originally from the Austin, Texas area, and extremely friendly. We spent about an hour with them in their penthouse place, and they were delighted to know there was another "gringo" family in the building. The majority of our neighbors are locals, and we're looking forward to getting to know them better.
Gotta go, another Spanish lesson calls!
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