WANDERING WITH WILLIAM
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Birthdays and Ecuador Prep

3/26/2023

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PictureFischer Emmett
On March 15th our son and daughter-in-law become proud parents of their second son.  He comes into this world at 5 pounds 13 ounces and he is so precious in the photos!  We will be able hold him in a few weeks when we are scheduled to spend nine days in Charlotte.

March 26th is William’s birthday. To celebrate I make a reservation at Brazeiros, a Brazilian restaurant complete with gauchos and all-you-can eat meats. There’s also a nice salad bar, but William chooses only some cheese and salmon before flipping his marker over to green to tell the gauchos to bring on the meat!  Oh my - they rotate the choices between 15 different cuts of beef, pork, lamb and chicken.  We leave stuffed, and spend more than a few hours reclining on the couch and living room chair digesting all that food.

Alongside the birthdays we tackle some tasks needed for our Ecuador visas and preparation for living ~ two years primarily in Ecuador.  While we were still in Cuenca we pursued two avenues to obtain the letters needed to accompany our diplomas and transcripts.  The advisory office at UW-Milwaukee is very disappointing - William receives a field of study letter which doesn’t address the requirements, we’re sure it is because the head of office is tired of William contacting her.  After strategizing he appeals to the Dean of the Architecture school.  She is very helpful and sends a letter which our attorney says should work.

My experience with Northwestern is fantastic.  The Registrars Office is very helpful both in e-mail and on the phone and process my transcripts and diploma as needed.  My request for the mode of study letter and field of study letter is forwarded to my masters program.  The current director of the program responds the same day letting me know when she can complete the letters.  When she ran into issues finding a notary for the letters on campus she made visits to bank and had them notarized there.  Definitely a huge attitude difference from William’s advisory office!

With the aid of William’s sister all the needed documentation is packaged and sent to the two different Secretary of State offices to be apostilled.

We also research and find a mail handling/forwarding service, iPostal1.  They have 2,500+ service centers they contract with in the US, four in the greater Knoxville area.  We visit the Postal Annex service center and we're comfortable with what we see, so we sign up for their 30 pieces of mail/month plan to try it out.  We receive a Knoxville address for us to use and fill out a form to tell the US Post Office that iPostal1/Postal Annex is allowed to receive our mail.  I send four pieces of test mail to our “new address”.   I’m notified by iPostal1 when the mail is received, and each envelope is scanned and uploaded to our portal for us to decide how to handle.  I instruct them to discard three of the letters and to open and scan the contents of the fourth.  We are able to download the scanned contents in pdf format and then instruct them to discard the envelope and contents.  I could have chosen to have them shred for an additional fee.  So far so good!  We will use the service more while we are in the US to further test it out.

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Back in Knoxville

3/13/2023

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We settle back into the Knoxville house.  Amanda and her cleaning crew once again have the house spotless and ready for us after our Airbnb guests vacate the home.  The first few days seem filled with acquiring provisions from our favorite stores.  On Saturday we go over to Market Square and the Farmer’s market to put in a good supply of local eggs, beef and pork.  The temperature is cooler than Cuenca, with a crispness in the air.

​While we are at Market Square we decide to have a late breakfast at Cafe 4.  We have tried at least four times to dine at this restaurant and each time the wait has been too long.  This morning we are seated immediately.  William orders his carnivore breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage and coffee.  I am not that hungry so I just order a bowl of tomato bisque soup and some tea.  The food is decent, but not amazing.  What is amazing is the difference in the cost of the meal from our experience in Cuenca, Ecuador.  In Cuenca we each would have steak and eggs (mine with a biscuit and fresh fruit) and coffee/tea and the bill with tax and an appropriate tip is $16.  Cafe 4 with all included is $39.  I remind myself that I don’t want to become one of those old people who complains about the cost of things “these days”.
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Concluding Days & Return to US

3/12/2023

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We enjoy the concluding days of this Cuenca trip.

On Sunday we relax in the Airbnb with some coffee and tea then take a taxi to Cafe San Sebas on Parque San Sebastián.  During our 10 minute ride it begins pouring rain the drops off to a pleasant shower.  We dash from the taxi to the restaurant and are pleased to find a table for two on the second floor.  The breakfast is very good and during our meal the rain slows to a light sputter.

We leave Cafe San Sebas, setting the Mercado de Artesianes Rotary as our destination.  It’s a 21 minute walk according to Google Maps.  The streets are glistening due to the rain and are quiet due to the timing, a late Sunday morning.  It’s a perfect time for a stroll.
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Mercado de Artesianes Rotary is a local crafts and home goods market, with perhaps 40 outdoor booths and a dozen or so storefronts on the perimeter.  Local women are selling fruits and vegetables on the sidewalk.  The assortment of baskets, kitchen and outdoor tools, and ironwork are seemingly hand-made.  There’s some booths with clothing of various quality and origin.  We spot several grills designed for preparing cuy, a popular festive entree of guinea pig.
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Monday afternoon we think we’ll enjoy Museo Pumapungo.  The sky is threatening rain, but that is very common during our visit in the rainy season.  I check Google for the hours of operation - yes, it’s open.  However, when we arrive at the museum we are told that it is closed on Monday’s.  Bummer.  We talk about options and agree to just return to our Airbnb, a 20-30 minute walk.  Less than three minutes into our return the sky opens up in a downpour.  William has a compact umbrella and I have a hip-length rain jacket.  Needless to say when we arrive at the Airbnb we are mostly soaked.  We change and throw our clothes and running shoes into the dryer.  For dinner we stay nearby, trying out a very local restaurant, La Casona Del Puente Roto.  It has mixed reviews on Google, but it is open on a Monday at 5:30 pm and is less than 3 minutes away.  The owner is delighted that he has customers and we find that the service is great (we are the only people in a restaurant that holds 100) and the food is decent.  A good option for a wet night.
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Tuesday we pack and then have dinner with friends David and JJ at Capitan’s restaurant.  We order a bottle of good white wine as a bit of celebration and each of us has an entree.  The food is generous, beautifully presented, delicious, and the company of our friends is even better.  William laughs out loud when the bill arrives.  It is only $105.  He knows the check would be almost double if we were in the US.  The owner presents JJ and myself with chocolates and flowers in honor of International Women’s Day.

Wednesday and Thursday are travel days.  Javier picks us up on Wednesday at 9 am in his taxi.  We discuss the mudslides that have been occurring on the highway through the Cajas and agree to take the longer route to the north, which makes it a 4.5-5 hour drive to Guayaquil.  We spend the night at the Courtyard hotel and the next morning the hotel transports us to the airport.  We arrive back at our US home at midnight after connecting through Miami.  A long day.

Our bed feels soooo good!
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Good Friends and New Experiences

3/5/2023

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We start the week wishing Lois, our very good friend, a happy birthday on Sunday.  Although she is thousands of miles away her voice and laugh brings us together.

The expat newsletters have been advertising a Newcomers luncheon on Monday at a restaurant in the neighborhood nicknamed “Gringolandia”.  We decide to see what it’s all about and grab a taxi for a 10 minute, $2 ride.  

There are 50-60 people in attendance, with a few familiar faces in the group.  We grab two seats at a table and the wait staff takes our order. We soon learn that this is the first Newcomers gathering in over a year and that prior to Covid the meetings were held quarterly.   Short presentations are made by approximately 25 people selling products/services or representing service organizations ranging from soup kitchens to pet adoption agencies.  Two-thirds of the presenters are English-speaking expats.  The other third are Cuencano’s who either speak English or have someone speaking for them.  As a result of the presentations and the accompanying handouts we learn of a few items of interest.  The whole meeting (including lunch) is concluded in less than two hours.  

Tuesday afternoon is cribbage time!  It is more of a pick-up group, and there are only five of us this afternoon.  We break into groups of two to a game and three to a game.  As we finish games we rotate players.  William and I each win one of our games during the three hours of play (and talking), a 25% individual success rate.

Wednesday our friends David and JJ have invited us to their condo to make Chinese dumplings from scratch.  We are joined by their friends Ron and Sharon.  We know it could be an interesting afternoon when David starts us out with one of his signature mojitos.  JJ has pre-made the pork filling for us as well as mixed up a large batch dough.  In the background she is whipping up a pot of egg drop soup.  
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After cocktails we get to work.  David, Ron and William tackle further kneading the dough and rolling out the wrappers.   JJ teaches Sharon and I how to fill the wrappers and ensure that the seams are fully closed.  It becomes clear we won’t keep up and William comes over to help us.  When we’ve completed enough JJ cooks the dumplings - a couple of batches are fried and then she switches over to boiling.  As the batches are completed we take breaks to enjoy the products of our work - delicious!  Between all the cooking and eating we exchange life stories and personal perspectives - interesting!
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Friday evening there is another concert of the Cuenca Symphony at Teatro Pumapungo.  We meet up with expat friends who are also in the audience.  This evening we have Patricio Jaramillo as guest conductor and a guest pianist, Cosié Aguirre.  The Symphony starts with a piece from Mozart.  Cosié joins for the second piece, Hayden’s Piano Concert No. 11 in D Major.  She plays with confidence and vigor, receiving a standing ovation at the completion of the piece.  The final piece for the evening is Beethoven’s Symphony Number 8 in F Major.  Once again a very enjoyable evening of good music.
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    Hi.  I'm Anne.  I wander around the world with William.


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