In Cuenca, Ecuador...time goes by quickly!

Wow, we've only blogged three times since the beginning of November and it has been over eight weeks since our last posting!    When they said this was a busy season in Cuenca, they weren't kidding!

We may have to apologize twice today.... once for our inattentiveness to this blog.  And then we'll do so again for the length of today's posting.  I'll be making an awkward attempt at recapping what's been going on in our lives at Casa Yazell during this very hectic season.  As a result this posting may encompass a little bit of lengthy rambling.  Hopefully, we can catch a lot of our stateside friends up on what has been going on in our life here south of the equator and hopefully, it will be of some interest.

Suzanne in the catacombs beneath
Catedral de la Immaculada Concepcion

Here goes:

Traditional  pastry and beverage
for Day of the Dead celebrations

The rush probably began in late October/ early November.  We observed Day of the Dead by visiting the crypts in the Cathedral as well as the old cathedral museum.  Things really kicked into high gear on Tres de Noviembre (3rd of Novemeber).   That marks the city of Cuenca's Independence Day and a week long celebration that includes a major arts and crafts festival featuring artisans from all over Latin America.  (We bought some artwork, a Peruvian sweater for Suzanne, a Bolivian jacket for me and bunches of other stuff!)  There were, of course, the obligatory Cuenca fireworks, music concerts and more activities than you could shake a stick at.

Lots of different activities take place in Cuenca during the week 

We squeezed in a number of personal social activities, including a great sausage making party with a group of our friends:

Roger's ability at feeding the meat grinder draws a crowd of
admirers during a sausage making party!

Suzanne did her usual great job
 with holiday decorations!

During this time period Orquesta Sinfonica Cuenca, the Cuenca Symphony, was finishing their 2nd season of 2012 and we always enjoy their performances.  However, the one celebrating their 40th anniversary was a most enjoyable event.  We also helped some friends celebrate a birthday, went to at least two open houses and a fund raiser for a local animal shelter.   We started decorating our new home for the holidays (we posted about that in November).

We attended two dinners over the the Thanksgiving holiday period, and then we hosted our own holiday open house...our first big gathering in our new home.  We attended several more parties, open houses and even a fund raiser for a local animal shelter.  It was during this period that Suzanne, her friend Toni and friend Monica organized and began the Cuenca Ladies Dominoes Tourney for Charity.  Their first event raised over $500 for a children's orphanage and their second event will be held this coming week.

Immediately after our open house, workmen showed up to start the repair and remodeling project on our front patio.  They began by creating an awning over the walls between our front patio and our neighbors to the north (the Ordonez-Crespo family) to take care of moisture seepage during heavy rains.  Near the completion, we decided to add planter boxes and have some custom wrought iron furniture made. After that, we decided I could paint the exterior and patio walls to give it a whole new look.  All this extended an eight day project into several weeks that straddled Christmas, New Year's and Carnaval...a typical Ecuadorian timetable!

Our front patio as it looked
when we moved in last year.

Work begins on the wall! 

Let's add some planter boxes!

Even a little rain didn't delay work.

Before we continue on with the saga of the hectic season, here's a look at our front patio today and how it looks after nearly all the work is done:

Ok, back to all the activities of the hectic season! By now we're intermingling all this with some physical checkups (doing well, thanks for asking!), some Christmas gift shopping (I got a tiesto, Suzanne got a Peruvian nativity).  We, of course, enjoyed the plethora of activities and decorations that were all over town for the holidays.

A 15 ft lighted modern art nativity
in one of the plazas. This was just one of
the many decorations for the holidays!

A very, very special highlight was the annual Pase de Viaje Nino on Christmas Eve Day in Cuenca. It is Latin America's largest.  The speculation is that there are more participants in the parade (tens of thousands) than there are spectators.  It went on for about 10 hours!  Suzanne and I watched for two hours, ate a long lunch and came back to watch two hours more!  Here's some scenes:

Part of the parade crowd.

Any parade with animals, especially a large one will
leave its mark on city streets!

Slipping a lot of stuff (visits to friends, poker nights, trips to nurseries for plants, etc) let's go right on into New Year's Eve.  Two parties here:  Our friends Bill and Dean hosted a birthday dinner party for a neighbor that included a fun look at everybody's wedding pictures (she discovered it was also our 42nd anniversary).   There were going to be NO cabs after 10pm and we had planned to burn an effigy in our our street at midnight.  (It's an Ecuadorian custom to burn all the regrets and troubles of the previous year and prepare for a new start by doing this).

As a result we left that party and returned home about 10pm.  Fireworks were already begining and we sat on the front patio with a glass of wine (and our dummy) awaiting our appointment with the bonfire.  Our Ecuadorian neighbors summoned us across the street (they already were planning their own fire along with some of their guests).  We mingled with the mixed crowd of guests (Canadians, Ecuadorians, Columbians and us).  We danced, drank wine and then, at midnight, jointly set the viejos ablaze as fireworks from ALL across the city ringed the horizon as far as we could see.

Suzanne and her effigy!

The viejos (old year effigies) going up in flames.

The crowd cheers as we burn away the bad things from
the previous year (By the way, Suzanne was holding my
glass so I could take this shot).

The next day Suzanne and I took an anniversary trip to the Cajas Mountains and stayed at Dos Chorreras Lodge.  It was cold and rainy most of the time we were there.  But we did manage a hike, some horsebacking riding, some terrific trout dinners as well as quality time in front of our cabana's fireplace.  We had a great time!

The Dos Chorreras Lodge

Suzanne during a tour of an old mountain village

There's always some spectacular scenery in the Cajas!

Roger just before a rainy
horseback ride in the mountains!

The fireplace came in real handy, it was rainy and chilly!

Suzanne made a friend while we were there!

So far, you've gotten the highlights:  We've passed over a lot of events and stuff:  i.e., two friends moved in new digs during this time period, we went to a one man show on Ernest Hemmingway at DiBacco's Restaurant...oh and three more restaurants opened in town....two friends remodeled their terraces...a friend had surgery and recovered.  The symphony has even begun another season...there have been at least six new museum exhibits in town to see. We even got to attend a special preview of what's ahead for the city presented especially for expatriates by the Cuenca Alcaldia (Mayor's office).

We've also been skyping more with friends back home.  We've  celebrated carnaval and have had a national election. (If you haven't heard, President Correa was re-elected).   This week we get to pay our Ecuadorian property taxes (we've now passed our first year mark as residents!) We even learned we have two visitations coming from the states to get ready for.  

I've rambled a lot but we just wanted all our readers and friends in the USA to know that our life is full and rewarding here for us in Ecuador.  We feel blessed as we continue our journey "juntos en el camino de la vida".

We'll blog again soon...I promise...meanwhile, I think I need a good nap.  We are, after all, retired and supposed to be taking life easy!

Fielding questions from people back home:

One of the reasons we chose to write this blog is to provide a journal for family and friends back in the USA so they would know what we were up to in our new adventure.  We have been amazed at how many questions the blog itself as well as our postings on Facebook generated from friends and even for folks we've never met.  Here's a recent example of how many of the questions get generated:

There is a Facebook for alumni of Roger's high school.  There's a lot of postings about what's going on in everybody's life and some days it's almost a chat room of hi's, how are ya's and what's happening over there?   Recently we posted the following photo and status update:

Evenings like this one on our back patio with a glass of wine

....yeah, this is why we retired to Ecuador!!!

Among the comments that were posted in response was the following from a former neighbor and friend:   "how many ex-patriates live in your area? Is it a pretty large group? How does the cost of living compare to the states? Just curious........thanks!

Here is how I responded....we thought it might be of interest to our readers here, as well:

    The Cuenca metro area is about 600,000 population and there are about 6,000 full time expatriates from the US and Canada and maybe 2,000-3,000 more from Europe. We have a lot of seasonal tourists and it seems like there are more ex pats coming here every day. Cost of living is part of the attraction but what is touted in the retirement magazines can be somewhat misleading. Some of my favorite affordable wines and even a box of Tide cost twice here what they would in the U.S. Most of my clothes have to purchased back in the US or custom made here due to size differences. However, we live very, very nicely on my SS and two pensions. When Suzanne's SS kicks in, we will live almost as well in retirement as we did when we were both working full time and will be able to travel two to three months out of the year. Our house is  3+ bedrooms at 2300 sq ft in size and cost us about $150,000. Real estate is advancing rapidly (more so condos) at about 15-20% a year and some blame the "gringo invasion". It, however, is mainly being driven by Ecuadorians returning from the US and Spain (as well as other countries). They've been offered incentives to come back and start businesses and are also attracted by the new scholarship programs here for their kids. Cuenca has been said to have the fastest growing middle class of nearly any city in South America. Most condominium buildings here sell out before they are finished! Affordable health care is a really big plus....my blood pressure medication which had a $35 co-pay in the US costs me just $7 total here and my doctor's visit just increased to a whopping $25 ($30 for a house call...yes they do that here!) and that's the whole bill not the co-pay! I pay $5 for a great haircut (that includes a horrifying 20% tip) and lunch downtown with a glass of wine for both of us comes in under $15. My utilities (telephone, water, electricity, gas, internet, garbage collection, fire protection fee) in total never run over $100 per month and my annual property taxes are about $150. Add to the list the fact that this is the most biologically diverse country on earth and probably one of the most beautiful, and you begin to understand why we are here!

  As long as they continue, we'll keep responding to the questions.   Know that we continue to love and enjoy our journey "juntos en camino de la vida".

Cock-a-doodle, ho-ho-ho...the story of the Christmas Chicken and Happy Holidays wishes from Ecuador!

As we continue our journey, "juntos en el camino de la vida", we are headed toward our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in our new Ecuadorian home.  With all the traveling we've done and with being in temporary apartments in both 2010 and 2011, this will be our first full, "at home", Christmas in two years.

"Bernard"
our holiday polar bear

Someone asked recently if Suzanne enjoys decorating for the holidays. The answer is obvious to anyone who has ever visited our home during the holiday season.  This year her Arizona friend Lenore will surpass her with a total of 14 Christmas trees.  That's probably only because we had to sell a bunch of our Christmas things in order to fit in the 20 foot container we brought to Ecuador.   We also won't have a decorated front yard and a front driveway lined with lighted trees.  Heck, we even decorated our 9 foot Saguaro cactus when we lived in Arizona!

Suzanne's Santa collection
is always out for the holidays!

 Anyway, we still brought a lot of our favorite decorations with us.   Traditionally, the Yazell's decorating efforts for the Christmas holiday begins in earnest on the weekend following Thanksgiving (Black Friday, of course, being reserved for shopping!)  However, here in Ecuador, we have begun earlier than usual.   We are having an open house in our new home and it is taking place the Wednesday after Thanksgiving so Suzanne wanted all the holiday stuff in place.  We also had to do some unpacking and checking as most of the holiday stuff went straight into the storage closet from the container.   Some of that stuff we hadn't seen in almost two years!

OK, so it's been busy in the Yazell household the past several days...here's a pictorial review of just some of what we've been putting together:

Suzanne collected these Anri nativity figures as a child.  It has been
an important part of our holiday decorations each and every Christmas season.

Nearly every nook has something
for the holiday on display!

This is Holly,
 one of  our special Christmas bears

Rusty is one of  our regular bears.
He gets to wear a special headband
just for the holiday occasion!

Christmas tress, of course, are important, but we don't have as many this year.  Here's a look at what we're doing in Ecuador:

Our tabletop bear tree in the upstairs
family sala.

Our back patio is the home
of our Latin America tree.

Our Snoopy tree is in the den.

Roger, of course, had to have a special wine
tree.  The cork ornaments are actual corks
taken from some of his favorite wines

Roger's wine bar also features a "Wine Santa" bringing
gifts of good wine to all good boys and girls!
(provided, of course, that they are of legal drinking age!)

Our musical Snoopy, decked out in his holiday
shirt, stands guard next to the "Peanuts tree".

Back in Arizona, this tree was our
"secondary tree"  The 10 ft tree we had in Arizona
 would not fit here, so this has become
our main living room tree...it just did fit!

Suzanne loves angels and you'll always find some in our house
all year around.  However,  there has to be a special one
just for the holidays and here she is!

There's no longer a tree for our antique ornaments so Suzanne set
some display containers for them at a few points in the house.

We even have a "Christmas Cheerleader"
sure to help get our guests in the holiday spirit.

O.K. It's finally time for the special story of the Yazell family "Christmas Chicken"!   During one of our many trips to Mexico, Suzanne fell in love with a brightly colored, red and green, paper mache rooster with an equally colorful sombrero.  She purchased it, brought it home to Arizona and declared that it would a perfect addition next to our patio tree which featured ornaments from the desert southwest, Mexico and other Latin American countries. Roger immediately dubbed this work of art, "our Christmas Chicken".

Anyway, when the Christmas Chicken comes out, you know the holiday season has officially begun at the Yazell household!

Cock-a-doodle-ho-ho-ho...happy holidays everybody!

Bye, bye for now..."South of Zero"

"South of Zero",  the award winning, internationally acclaimed blog from Mary and Steve Beckman, goes on hiatus as of the end of this week and we Yazells mark this change with mixed emotions.  We are happy because of the reason for this hiatus.   Mary and Steve are entering the final phase of achieving a long sought goal of relocating to Ecuador from California.  In the very near future, they will be joining our Cuenca community of Expadorians (a phrase, by the way, that Steve coined).  We  understand and share the celebration and joy of making this kind of goal a reality.

But, for us,  there is a touch of nostalgic sadness, as well.   Our personal journey began after someone first suggested Ecuador as a retirement location.  We began to explore, research and read as much as we could about this land.  The more we learned, the more we wanted to know.   It wasn't long before we discovered "South of Zero"  Not only was it a well done daily synopsis of the best Ecuadorian blogs, but Mary and Steve also provided reference sites that aided and abetted our search for information.  Soon "South of Zero" was as much a part of our morning routine as our cups of coffee.

Through "South of Zero, we got to read and share the experiences of many who had blazed the trail to Ecuador before us:   Bob N Rox, Chuck and Nancy Watson, the Kimblers,  Bill and Dean Keyes, Rich and Nancy Hedges, Jim Mola, Connie Pombo, Edd Staton, Clark and Brenda, Mick and Kathy, Mike and Patti, Nan, Lilya, Lourdes, Michael, Jason, Donna and many, many more too numerous to name.     Factual information helped us in our quest but there was always something extra special about sharing the personal experiences of those who preceded us, or like us, were in the process of moving.  Since our transition, we've become friends with many of those wonderful people we had first met through "South of Zero".  We are indebted to "South of Zero" for being the catalyst in many wonderful opportunities to develop great relationships.

We are indebted, as well, because of their contribution to our own blogging efforts.  Most of you that have become regular followers of "Juntos en el Camino de la Vida" first did so by way of "South of Zero".  In fact, our readership analytics tell us that somewhat over 60% of our 30+ country readership comes to us from "South of Zero".   Some of these readers have contacted us, some have made the transition to Ecuador and some have become personal acquaintances, as well.

Roger and Suzanne in Cuenca near the Rio Tomebamba

So it is that we (and many of you) will miss our daily dose of "South of Zero'.  However, it is good to know arrangements have been made to keep us all connected to the South of Zero blogroll through "Xpadorian Blogs"  (www.xpadorian.blogspot.com).  "South of Zero" will return in the future but will now reflect Mary's insight to her own transition.  We are absolutely looking forward to reading and sharing that experience.

We are looking forward, as well, to welcoming the Beckmans to Cuenca.  And so we say to Mary and Steve:  Thank you for your past efforts in the blogosphere.....May you enjoy good fortune and safe travels during your transition.  See you soon and godspeed!

A Blind Wine Tasting Party!

Six wines were tasted and a seventh was enjoyed by The Wine Guy's guests 

during the blind tasting of affordable wines available in Cuenca Ecuador.

The Wine Guy finally got to properly inaugurate his new wine bar.  The fetching Mrs. Wine Guy and I hosted a wine tasting party for some friends who had expressed an interest in wine.  Each couple and/or single guest was asked to select a bottle to bring that fit the theme for the tasting.  Our theme was "Affordable and Available Wine".  The wine could be either red or white but no dessert or sparkling wines were permitted.  The theme criteria asked that the wine be available at retail here in Cuenca, Ecuador and be priced under $15.  That's actually no mean feat because of the very high import tariffs on alcohol here in Ecuador....wine is one the things that is generally much more affordable in the USA than it is here!

We ended up with six bottles of wine (two white, four red) for the tasting and each had its label covered to conceal its identity.  The wines were marked with letters "A" through "F".   Scoring sheets were handed out to the tasters to use in scoring the wines.  Each wine got 50 basis points (just for being a wine!)  The host would later enter label and seal points (worth a maximum of 5 points each) and the guests were to give from 0 to 10 points each in four categories:  visual examination of the wine,  aroma of the wine, initial wine taste and finishing taste.   That made for a maximum possible 100 points for each wine. Each scoring sheet had suggestions on the positives and negatives to look for in each category.  A general discussion of scoring occurred before the tasting began, but each guest was left to his own intuition as to how to assign or deduct points.  Here were the six wines subject to scoring in the tasting in order of their presentation to the guests (although they were not identifiable at the time of tasting):

A.  Trapiche Sauvignon Blanc

B.  Santa Julia Fuzion Blanco (Chenin Blanc/Chardonnay blend)

C.  Cremashi Furlotti Barrel Select Carmenere  (this wine slightly exceeded the retail price requirement)

D.  Trapiche Astica Malbec

E.  Carta Vieja Reserva Limited Cabernet Sauvignon

F.  Vina Maria Cabernet Sauvignon

Each tasting consisted of a single one ounce pour and a spit container was provided.  After the scoring was complete, the tasters handed their score sheets to the host for tabulation.  Each scorer was provided later with a print out of their scores and a listing of the wines ranked in order of the group's overall average scores. This was all handled by having excel spreadsheets prepared onto which the host could enter the scores.  Tabulation and ranking then proceed automatically.   While the host was entering the scores, guests enjoyed snacks and discussed their scoring observations.  They also had the opportunity to revisit the uncovered wines if they chose to do so.  They were additionally treated to a seventh wine that fitted the criteria for the tasting theme.  This wine was provided by the host and came from Uruguay.  (The Wine Guy reviewed this wine, Pisano C/S Platino Tannat/Merlot, in an earlier September 12, 2012 posting on Roger's Grapevine).

When the scores were averaged, there was a tie for first and second place in the rankings between a white and a red.  In fact, only 5 points separated the top ranked from the lowest ranked wine.  (Rankings ranged from 72 to 77 points in overall average scores).  Here are the rankings based on average scores:

1. (tie)Santa Julia Fuzion Blanco                                                 77 pts

1. (tie)Carta Vieja Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon                         77 pts

3. Cremashi Furlotti Carmenere                                                  76 pts

4. Vina Maria Cabernet Sauvignon                                             74 pts

5. Trapiche Sauvignon Blanc                                                      73 pts

6. Trapiche Astica Malbec                                                          72 pts

I later did an alternative ranking based on assigning 5 points to each taster's number one rated wine, 4 points to the second ranked wine and so on down to 0 points for the bottom ranked wine and then tabulating the total points from all tasters.  This method yielded a slightly different overall ranking:

1. Cremashi Furlotti Carmenere

2. Santa Julia Fuzion Blanco

3. Carta Vieja Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon

4. Trapiche Sauvignon Blanc

5. Vina Maria Cabernet Sauvignon

6. Trapiche Astica Malbec

An interesting note from this method was the Carta Vieja Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, which received number one rankings from four different tasters. That was the most 1st place ranking of any of the wines.  It also received a last place ranking from four different tasters and that was the most last place finishes of any of the wines. Those in attendance either really liked or didn't like this wine!

The guests may not have noticed

but the tasted was presided over by

Rusty, the host's official Wine Bar Bear!

It was an interesting experience to examine the tasting sheets of couples in attendance.  One couple was in almost total agreement all the way through, only differing on the order of the last two place wines.  It was also noteworthy that the wine they brought finished in the bottom two for both of them.  Another couple who professed a strong prejudice for red wines both scored a white in their top two rankings.  Yet another couple who stated a preference for whites both scored a red (although a different one for each of them) as their number one wine choice.   Results like this are not really all that uncommon in blind wine tastings and it can be a great way to learn and discover that your wine tastes can sometimes take you to new and unexpected places.

All in all it was an enjoyable evening and perhaps some of these wines will make it to your table for a trial.   Our Cuencano friends may especially appreciate having reference to some affordable wines to try.   Enjoy!

(Note:  because the subject content covers both wine and our adventures in Ecuador,  this blog is being entered on two different blog sites:  

1. Roger's Grapevine,   www.rogersgrapevine.blogspot.com 

2. Juntos en el Camino de la Vida,  www.togetherontheroadoflife.blogspot.com)