Independence Day

This morning I woke up to another gorgeous day in Cuenca. The sun is shining and the red roofs on the white houses doting the hills are sparkling. My visibility of the surrounding mountains is excellent. There's something very unusual about today's blue sky. There isn't a single fluffy white cloud in sight! The gorgeous, daily cloud formations add to the majesty of the Andes mountains. The temperature right now is about 60 degrees devoid of any humidity. We've come to really enjoy the coolness of the eternal spring weather.

Today is the day we finally move into our new apartment, exactly two weeks after arriving in Cuenca. Our host, Ken has been a delightful and extremely interesting host. A doctor of renal physiology, his command of the English language is astounding. He is fluent in Spanish and has helped us tremendously. Originally from Long Island, his NY accent, even though having lived in Hawaii and Utah for many years, is still right on. He and my Ken have enjoyed watching sporting events on TV at times, and the hooting and hollering occasionally, reached epic proportions. I guess boys will be boys!

Yesterday we met with Ken's friend Denise. A lovely, sweet young lady who does interior design and makes curtains. We spent two hours in the fabric store making selections for each room in our apartment. The most colorful curtain will be in the guest bedroom. Those of you planning a visit have been forewarned!

Our new neighbors and friends, Robin and Joe from Texas, have just been a joy and delight. We still do not have a washer and dryer, and Robin insisted we bring our used blankets and sheets to her apartment. When we arrived, she demanded we leave them for her to wash and pushed us out of the apartment and insisted we get out and take care of business. When we returned yesterday, with a box of Ecuadorian chocolates in hand, I asked her if she would trade the blankets and sheets for the box of chocolates. She readily accepted!

Joe and Robin are extremely outgoing with a great sense of humor. We have thoroughly enjoyed their company and feel truly blessed to have them as neighbors. Yesterday, Robin decided she wanted to learn more about her new adventist friends, and did a search on line. Last night we had an impromptu two hour discussion about the Bible and our beliefs. It turns out Joe has been studying world religions for years and Robin was delighted by what she read. Both are interested in learning more. God is so good! They also introduced us to their Cuencan friend and mentor Juan Perez. Juan speaks excellent English, has a heart of gold, and helps ex-pats new to Ecuador, navigate their way through the legal, cultural, shopping and everything you need to know about Cuenca system. Today he is going to help us move into our apartment, and get our cable and Direct TV set up. Not being fluent in Spanish is a handicap, but one that we are on a fast pace to overcome!

The highlight of our day will be our visit to the "Coopera". This is the huge organic food coop we plan to become members of. We'll be able to purchase the already low priced produce, at an even lower cost. As coop members, we'll be able to visit their farming operation, something we've never seen before. They also offer discounts on travel within Ecuador, a very appealing perk.

It's time to start packing..........again!