Back in Banana Land November 13, 2008

I returned to the United States to get some sort of visa that allows me to stay here. You would have thought that after years working in US immigration I would have thought that it may have possibly been difficult to enter Ecuador on a tourist visa and switch to some more permanent form of staying here legally. That didn’t happen. I had to go back to get some paperwork. I could drag this out long, with my many stories of immigration crap that I have had to go through over the past couple months, but I won’t. I will leave it at that. 

I had a good time despite the hassle. Being with friends and family is always good. 
 

I was able to enjoy a picnic with my family, including my grandpa Egon, but without Andres as he was in another country. A good time was had by all.

Three generations.

Football-South American Style October 15, 2008

We attended an Ecuador/Chile soccer game last Sunday thanks to Roberto getting us tickets. The game started at 5, but we showed up at 1 to make we got good seats. We got good seats. It began to rain around 3:30 and rained off and on for the entire afternoon and evening. It was a lot of fun though. The rain seemed to let up just as the game started. It was light until half-time and then rained heavily the 15 minutes of half-time. It stopped just at the start of the second half and was light until the end. It was freezing, but worth it. Ecuador won 1-0.

6 years, 3 houses later… September 29, 2008

We are going to move into a house here in Ecuador within the next few days. We are still missing a mattress and chairs, but we pretty much have the other necessities. I am hoping to take a trip to the supermarket tonight to get the small basics. The place is really cool and rustic looking. Reminds me of a cabin up in the mountains back in California. The land around it is so green with lots of birds and a small eucalyptus forest next to it. There isn’t much close by. You can get almost anything you need at the small tiendita down the street, but no coffee shops or gas stations. The closest town has a small village feel to it.  We were looking for tranquil. Hopefully we have found it.

Views from Ecuador September 26, 2008

These are a few of the amazing views I have seen here in Ecuador. Andres and his brother went on a hike this morning and took the bottom two pictures.

It’s ridiculously beautiful here. We are moving to the countryside. I will post pictures of our new house next week.

Side of the Road September 24, 2008

I like the vehicles you find here. 

This was taken on our way to the beach a few weeks ago.

Complete Failure-Coop Update September 18, 2008

Warning-This is a little gruesome.

I was walking home today from my bus stop thinking to myself that finally my day had gone how I wanted it to go. After seven straight bad ones this good one was much appreciated and desperately needed. I entered the front gate and found it strange that the dogs didn’t greet me as they normally do. That is until I remembered that Andres had mentioned in an email that four hens had been dropped off at our house this morning. I had been surprised when I heard this as I didn’t feel like the coop was completed, but didn’t give it much thought. That is until I got inside the gate and no dogs appeared.

I didn’t want to, but I felt like I had to go and see. I walked toward the coop and sure enough, there were all three dogs, on the wrong side of the fence, finishing there feast. Out of the four hens that were living this morning one was completely gone, I mean not even a foot or feather left. The second one was dead and half devoured. The third one was having his still beating heart licked by the boxer and the fourth one hovered in the corner, with a hole in his side. 

I don’t do well with gore and I don’t do well with dogs who are so badly trained. I went bizerk. The dogs wouldn’t get out of the coop and I started to beat them with a stick (ok, not really beat them, but pretty close). It took me a good 10 minutes to get them out. I’m surprised I didn’t have a heart attack in that time. I’m sure the whole neighborhood could hear me screaming. As I screamed, cried and tried not to look at the chicken whose entire insides were sitting on top of his still alive body, I wanted more than anything else to completely disappear. I wanted to never have come to this place and I wanted to never have thought about building a chicken coop.

What failures we are. We started the dumb project over one month ago and all we’ve accomplished is to have caused extreme distress to four poor hens. 

I could have given you a lot worse pictures, but I couldn’t bring myself to take them. Andres took a picture of them this morning when they were beautiful, alive and still had years of egg laying in front of them. I will post one soon. 

Bad week for me…..worse for the once beautiful hens. 

Moral of the story: buy your eggs at the supermarket, or learn how to train your dogs, or finish what you start before launching it. 

Doubt I will have much more to write about the coop. Too bad it has to sit there and remind me of today.

A Fall Wedding on the Equator September 16, 2008

We attended a very nice wedding not too far from Quito in a place called Hacienda Chillo Jijon. It was an absolutely gorgeous place with vast gardens. Full of various rooms all decorated baroquely. It was an awesome venue. It was constructed in 1730. It was once the site of one of the largest textile mills in Ecuador. 

They served excellent food with incredible service. I wish I had gotten pictures of the food, but unfortunately none to share. It was exquisite though. 

The halls were decorated in roses. 

It was a good time. 

Yes, More Taxo September 5, 2008

Sorry about the last two bad quality pictures. Andres took some real pictures of Taxo. 

and just so you don’t think he’s too cute…

The size of a small guinea pig (smaller than the ones they eat here) September 4, 2008

I hope this cat can put on some weight. He is seriously tiny. I think normal kittens are with their mothers at this age, but so far he’s doing ok. He loves tuna and yogurt and and other foods softened. 

He’s a cool cat. 

Three Decades…and Getting Better September 3, 2008

Andres celebrated three decades of life today. The thirties are going to be really good for him. His twenties were awesome, but the next 10 really hold incredible things. It all takes off from here for him. 

Imagine, just 29 years ago…

Amazing how big they get. 

I love him. 

My Taxo August 31, 2008

I got a new cat today and named him Taxo. Taxo is a kind of fruit here in Ecuador that is orange. He is 5 weeks old and very playful. He is so cool. I think he is going to keep me up tonight as it is his first night without his 7 brothers and sisters and his mother. I’m just glad I have him. 

Coop Update August 19, 2008

Progress has been made on the coop. It’s not quite done and we are a couple weeks behind, but soon, I think… hopefully.  Andres is going back to the United States for some business and I am not sure if it will be done by then, but soon. 

It is still missing the wire around it, a solid ramp, the inside bedding and food/water dispenser but what is there is solid. It has 2 good sized beds inside and a good sign warning the chickens’ predator:

A Job?! Already… August 12, 2008

It did not take me long to fill my days. I was offered a job at the local international school very close to my house. I will be teaching 6th and 7th grade social studies and English. I have never taught this level before, but am looking forward to the experience and the challenge. I am thinking about beginning a blog outlining my experiences there. So I guess I will not have too many traveling blog entries for a little while. Hopefully we will still get out of town on the weekends and of course we will enjoy all the days off that I have.

Tenting at the Beach August 12, 2008

We spent a long weekend at the beach in the province of Esmeraldes. We took the scenic route there and stopped by grandma and grandpa Erazo’s house. On our drive to the beach we found my store, if only my life had been a little different:

 We arrived late in the afternoon at the beach and found a great place called Playa Escondito. The site was awesome with electricity, a great fireplace and beach front view. Best of all there were no other people camping. Although it is high season for travelers in Ecuador, camping is not very popular. 

We cooked our own food including excellent langostinos, or big shrimp. We cooked them two ways, one with curry and another grilled with pineapple. They were just excellent. 

The best part of the long weekend was the relaxing. I finished a good book, took some nice walks and swam in the warm ocean water. We cooked great food, went to bed early and slept in late. It was vacation at is finest. I am getting ready to start a job tomorrow that I did not previously expect to be doing. I will begin teaching 6th and 7th grade social studies and English. I am excited about this and grateful that I got a couple really good vacations in before starting back to official work. 

I loved this place.

Coop Cont. August 1, 2008

We are making progress on the coop. Slower than we had hoped, but I can see it getting closer to being a coop. I am finally getting around to posting what we want it to look like. 

Andres created this mock using a program called Sketchup. We have cut the walls and posts and are assembling the sides. I still don’t completely get how the floor will work, but Andres seems to have this figured out. We got the wood yesterday from a small store in Tumbaco, not far from where we are living. Sr. Don Nacho helped us keep our plans for this gallinero moving along. Thanks Don!

 

Pebre August 1, 2008

With every meal here we have a sauce made with hot peppers and a variety of spices. It goes with just about everything. We put it on bread, soups, spaghettis, salads, potatoes, rice and just about every dish with meat you can imagine. I just talked with my dad and he mentioned he has a lot of hot peppers in his garden and isn’t sure what to do with them. This recipe is for him and I hope you will try it too. 

Pebre

• 2 hot peppers – any color, any spiciness (finely chopped)
• 1/4 cup parsley (finely chopped)
• 1/2 onion (finely chopped)
• piece of ginger (finely chopped)
• basil (finely chopped)
• salt and pepper to taste
• Olive oil and white vinegar
• any other fresh herb or spice that you like and can find in your garden or refrigerator

You really want to chop everything finely so that it mixes well in the sauce. The ingredients listed above are just a suggestion. If you don’t like ginger, don’t put it. If you really like cilantro, make sure to add it. The beauty of Pebre is that it is never the same twice. Your creativity is your only limitation. 

Here is the Pebre we had today with lunch and dinner today. We finished the one from yesterday with breakfast.

I wanted to get a more colorful picture of Pebre using red hot peppers, but this is authentic as it is what accompanied almost every dish I ate today.

Thanks to Carly who reminded me I forgot the olive oil and vinegar!

Papallacta to Mindo July 31, 2008

We set out on Saturday morning for Papallacta, where we thought we would be able to camp. After about an hour we stopped at this really cool reserve called Reserve Ecologica Antisana. We hiking in about 45 minutes in mud and extremely wet and cold conditions. Luckily we were dressed appropriate and pretty comfortable. We ended at a small lake that was just beautiful. 

We hiked for about an hour before heading back to the car and traveling further. 

After leaving Antisana we were not successful in finding a dry enough place to camp so we headed to Papallacta where we sat in hot springs and had a good dinner at the hotel there. 

 

The following morning we headed to Mindo, where I traveled to with Erin a couple weeks ago. We found a nice place to camp a 30 minute hike away from the road. The place had a roof, which was helpful considering the rain. We relaxed and cooked a really good dinner of veggies with pork. We went to sleep early as there isn’t much you can do with little light. 

94 and still rolling July 30, 2008

This picture comes a little late, but I couldn’t resist posting it. It was taken in Duluth, Minnesota, the location of our last family reunion. My father rented a car and was given an upgrade to this convertible. My Grandpa, Egon Hofer turns 94 this year. It is amazing the joy he brings to so many people’s lives. I love him and miss him dearly as we are so far from him now. Picture by Brad Hofer.

To Protect a Chicken July 25, 2008

I was working on the design of our coop. I wasn’t sure how rat-proof I needed to make it. The Pacheco family has had chickens in the past, but never with a coop like we are building. It was a bit more casual 12 years ago and they didn’t have problems with predators for some reason. But now I think we might have a problem. I have been thinking about how to make sure it’s safe the last couple of days as I cleaned out the area for the yard. This morning I got up and my concerns about predators was confirmed with this: 

Really nice rats. They eat a portion of the best fruit we have in the yard and then poop on it, as to make sure it’s clear they really don’t care. I’ll take it as a good reminder to make the coop really rat proof. Or maybe I’ll try to figure out how to deal with the rat problem. We also have another kind of predator. I am researching how to train dogs not to eat chickens. Let’s hope I can figure it out. 

 

The pictures below show the area I have cleaned out for the coop and yard.  The raised area is going to be the yard for the chickens and their house will go in the corner. The posts sitting there are not the posts that we are going to use. We are confirming the design by Monday and hoping to finish it quickly. 

 

Below is a close up of the yard where the chickens will hang out.

We obviously have a long way to go.

The Chicken or the Day? July 23, 2008

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Today is the first day of the rest of my time in Quito, and the first day I am figuring out what to do with myself here. After a productive morning of exercising, cooking and cleaning up a little, I have met my afternoon. It’s a gorgeous one, blue sky, puffy white clouds, enough wind to keep it cool. And now I sit down to figure out how to build a chicken coop. With the internet the possibilities are endless. How tall should I make it? Should I put wire on the bottom? How many windows? Did you know there is a website called backyardchickens.com? I’ve sketched out a plan. One that I’m sure will change when I think about it a little more. The afternoon lays in front of me. How many chickens should I fill it with?