Manaña

So another day in paradise. Its quite nice being here in the small town of Rio Verde, although it does present some new challenges. The bus being one. We have had to wait upwards of 30 minutes in the rain to catch a bus home, which can be a pain. Since there is no butcher in town we asked our neighbor for a chicken as she provides this service and somewhere lost in communication we got a chicken except she cooked it and provided soup as well. Not a bad thing just a bit of a surprise when it arrived and we had already had supper. And laundry can be interesting. As mentioned Heidi does a hand wash of the basics every morning and once a week we end up busing into town to drop our bedding and larger items for wash. We brought our stuff to the 2 hour wash the other day at 10 in the morning she weighed the items wrote everything down and then told us it would be ready at 8 pm. I guess the 4 had fallen off the board from beside the 2 (24 hr wash). Either way it was okay as we had a meeting at 6:30 that evening and I ran over after the meeting to pick up our stuff.

Service has been quite fulfilling. Our first day out we spoke to quite a few people in our little town. The territory is worked every 3-4 weeks but people are still willing to talk. Someone studies with our neighbor across the street so we had a chance to meet them and know them a little better. Next week we have to hike up the side of the mountain and see 4 houses there. Plus in town here no ties necessary. We went into town on Saturday for service and that was just as productive. We met a gentleman in his sewing shop who had studied with someone twice a week and then I understood he suddenly stopped coming. That evening at the meeting I asked the friend I was with who the person was that was studying with the gentlemen we met as it turns out he died 11 years ago. So I guess I have my first study here.

Meetings are very good and we are really starting to understand a lot of the language. I really hope by the time we go home to be fairly fluent. Next weeks meeting will be even better as the hall we are associated with is split into 2, since the territory is so large there is a meeting in the next town over from us every Sunday. There are only 14 friends that go there. When I told them we were going to be going they were quite happy. In fact I may even have a chance to do the reading on Sundays once in a while. Practice, practice, practice.

Manaña - so here we are, why Manaña. Living in this sleepy town has given a new appreciation for tomorrow. The running river is relaxing, our king size bed is relaxing, the fireplace is soothing, the coffee although it takes 30 minutes to make seems all the more enjoyable, and the beer is calming. I wake up some days and just want to do what I have to do, manaña, as today I want to do nothing. And today may well be one of those days. Its the election so everyone is busy voting and nothing is up and running so I think neither will I.

One Week In

So here we are 1 week later. Its a cozy little place but different living without certain amenities. For example every 2 days Heidi washes the clothes by hand since we don't have a wash machine or dryer. Then we hope the day stays nice and warm so that the clothes dry. Our oven is a square block that has 2 settings very crispy or extra crispy. The banana bread turned out good but the pan is another story all together. I don't think she'll make it. For coffee we have to boil some water, and then we have a 1 cup percolator for the brew. As for food, there are 2 small tiendas or convenience stores in town which provide the basic necessities.  We can get milk, eggs, fruit, veggies, penguino which is ice cream, as well as cerveza. Anything else we need to make our way to town which is about 15 minutes away and a different story altogether. Oh ya and if we want chicken for 10$ we can pick one across the street and our neighbor will kill and pluck it for us. So if that big black one comes back on my property oh baby look out.

Interestingly enough my internet is better here then in the great modern city of Cuenca, go figure. We also have cable and a TV. The kids are so happy for TV again.

The way to town. So the bus goes by and sometimes goes by again and again but, finally one will stop and pick us up. The process can take 20-30 minutes to catch a bus to Banos. Or in some cases you can catch the bicycle taxi as in the picture below. Now the other issue is don't miss you're stop like we did. We were about 5 minutes out of town and realized things didn't look quite right and had to taxi back to make our group for service only to realize that we were the only ones who showed up. Thats okay it gave me a reason to come into town for my favorite, Breakfast.

Back of bicycle taxi

Under the falls

Pilion Del Diable 

Life here is a little too nice and easy going. Kids can go outside and play in the river behind the house, we can go for hikes up and down the mountain side, and yesterday we went to the Pilion Del Diable a beautiful powerful waterfall. Its funny I was complaining about having to pay 1.50$ each to see it, but then we realized if you wanted to see and stand under Niagra Falls it would cost somewhere near 30$ so I guess I can deal with 1.50$ for now.

Home for a month or so

So in the Tessier manner we have moved again. Actually nice to be able to do this on a short term basis. We got a house in Rio Verde which is about 15 minutes outside of Banos de Ambato. Its a quite little town. There is a park, a tienda, and a massive waterfall. Its called devils caldron. We live about a 10 minute walk to the waterfall.

The house is exactly what we wanted. Brick and wood house with 3 bedrooms. A beautiful fire place. And the house is sitting in front of the river, nestled between the mountains. We live down a dirt road that apparently leads to another waterfall. We will have to explore and see. I've included a few shots of the house. Amazing to see the creation all around and enjoy Gods natural beauty.

We're down to the wire, 10 weeks left on the adventure. Do we stay here for the remaining time or head back to Cuenca. Time will tell but for now this is the place to be.