It's official, we are now legal for the next 6 months. If you are Canadian and want to make your way down here this is my recommendation. When in Canada make your way to the Ecuadorian Consulate and apply for the 6 month 12-IX. This will make things much faster. All we ended having to do is go to the immigration office on Friday which took about 2 hrs. We needed our approved VISAS from the consulate in Canada, our Passports, full color copies of our passports of both the picture pages and the entry stamps all three of them, and we also had to fill out the Direccion General de Extranjeria. From there we waited and got pictures taken and had to pay a 4$ fee. We then had to return on Tuesday to pick up our Certficado de Empadronamiento which was about another 1.5hr wait. But this time all that was needed was to confirm the info and sign for. Interesting enough here you need ID for everything from getting a rewards card to using your credit card at a store.
Speaking of reward cards we went to the movies on Monday to see Madagascar 3 in Spanish and it was great. the cost was 4.25 each but because of the reward card we paid 2.99, so 12$ for the whole family that's the cost of 1 person back home. Then we got a 6$ combo of 1 Popcorn, 1 soft drink, 1 hot dog and a 3$ phone card which I needed for my phone as my time had run out.
Yesterday we went out again and met a English speaking Ecuadorian who owns a restaurant. He was very pleasant to speak with and even accepted a study. So as much as we have to search for those who speak English when we do they are always kind and want to talk about the bible.
I will say that after yesterday there are 2 things back home I will not complain about anymore. 1) The traffic, it took us 1.5hrs to get from the South end of the city to the North in the morning and that was on a bus. 2) I will not complain about Ottawa bus. The bus here at traffic time make the 95 look like a walk in the park. None the less, it was fun just makes for long days.
And as per my last Blog, we got a TV. The landlord here knocked on our door a few nights ago and said she had a gift for us and gave us a TV to use. We get 4 local channels but they are good to a tune our ears to the language.
Next week we will begin to see the rest of the country side. We have a trip Otavalo and hopefully Cuanca as well.
Asta Luego
Hey..nice to read on your goings on! Wil should be in Cuenca tomorrow...Im sure he will contact you! Service sounds amazing there! Life is cheap there but like everything, it has its good and bad. Im glad your doing well. Keep blogging!! Looking forward to reading more!
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