Introduction:

A former high school classmate and cherished old friend when reconnecting with Roger through Facebook quoted the old saying: "When God closes a door, he opens a window." The years have seen a number of life changes for us that make that adage ring true. After being blessed with good fortune, a wonderful son and great experiences, we decided to look out that window and prepare for more of what this wonderful life has to offer. We hope through our blog to share our journey from this point forward with family, with friends and with many others. Hopefully we'll make some new friends along the way. We hope you find our tales of some interest, even amusement and perhaps an inspiration for you to treat each and every day as an opportunity and an adventure to share with those who are an important part of your life.

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Ladies Who Lunch!

The Plaza in Chordeleg, Ecuador
Suzanne and some friends have formed an informal group in Cuenca.   They call themselves "Ladies who lunch and shop!"   Boy,  do they know how to do both of those!  It started out as an innocent monthly get together over lunch.  Each month, someone different in the group would pick a venue and send out invitations to the group and those who could attend would respond.  The group of ladies would get together, enjoy a meal at one of Cuenca's better restaurants and share the latest news, gossip and tips on adjusting to ex-patriate life.  What a great escape and a wonderful idea for  adjusting to life in a foreign land!
The artistic fountain in the Chordeleg Plaza


This past week, however, the ladies took it up a notch further.  They commandeered a Mercedes Benz van, private driver and scheduled a special trip for fifteen (the van's capacity...it turned out they could have scheduled two vans based on the number of interested participants) to Chordeleg, the filigree silver jewelry capital of Azuay province (and probably Ecuador,  if not South America).   Chordeleg is  roughly 1.5 to 2 hours down the road from Cuenca. The excursion allowed the ladies a full  three hours of shopping in Chordeleg and then included a slight detour on the route back to Cuenca for lunch at the Hosteria Uzhupud in Paute.  This resort offers a fabulous setting and superb dining..  A great time was had by all!



The folks in the US have the Red Hat Ladies but they don't hold a candle to "The Ex-Patriate Ladies who Lunch and Shop" of Cuenca, Ecuador.
Suzanne (front-left) and "The Ladies Who Lunch and Shop"
enjoying themselves in Paute, Ecuador

Suzanne enjoyed her special excursion with friends (Roger meanwhile took a nap and painted the front courtyard wall).  So went another day in retirement as we continue our journey:  "juntos en el camino de la vida."

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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 8, 2012 at 8:33 PM

    I want to retire. Whine. Whine.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousSeptember 13, 2012 at 10:01 AM

    How do I join the Ladies who Lunch group?
    erika at gerald747@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Suzanne and RogerSeptember 13, 2012 at 1:25 PM

    Erika: There are actually at three of these groups that we know of. They aren't very formal and appear to be trying to keep numbers from overwhelming the group. Some of the gals drift in and out. Attend some of the gringo social events and ask around. If you don't bump into someone who invites you, start inviting others. One of the really nice things about living here is that it is sooo very easy to make new friends and you will find your social calendar can be as full as you want it to be in a short period of time.

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