December 22-26- Christmas in Salinas

On the 22^nd of December Salinas had it’s annual Christmas parade. Last year we had been in Cuenca and had seen that Christmas parade so this time it was our new home town’s turn.

Unlike Cuenca where there were many homemade floats, the Salinas’ parade was all marching bands and  girls twirling batons. Same as Cuenca’s, the parade was miles long and took several hours to complete.

At the church square, a stage had been set up where the officials could watch the parade ending.

                                                First our local Navy &  Airforce  cadets

 

                                                                  

                                                                      Then lots of pretty girls

                                                                                     And more

 

 

That night, Saturday, I was woken up out of a sound sleep at 2:13AM by the sound of loud music, dancing, singing and a DJ. It sounded as though they were at the foot of my bed but instead this was happening 5 blocks away at the grounds of the local church. It seems the festivities started after I fell asleep and now continued until at least 5AM!!! My Ecuadorian friends definitely know how to party.

On Christmas Eve, Paola and I plus approximately 20+ expats went to the local orphanage  near Olon to deliver our donated Christmas gifts and turkeys to the kids. This was an annual event organized by the Salinas’ and Olon expats plus their local friends.

Our husbands, Uwe and Eddie, had decided to accompany us only as far as Montanita where they would wait for Paolo and I at one of the many excellent bars. Obviously the men are not as charitably minded as we women- LOL!

                       The kids put on a show for us first. The littlest ones gave a dance.

                                                     Then the older ones enacted Mary and Joseph.

 

 

 

                                                       Here are the kids anxiously waiting for their presents.

                                                   There were piles of them- at least 3 per child.

                                                                  And then the fun began.

 

 

 

This little guy loved his truck and pushed it all over while the other kids were called up for their gifts.

Once all gifts were handed out and opened we all received many thanks, hugs and kisses from these affectionate children.

Paola and I then met the boys back in Montanita-a very pretty surfer/backpack town for some cervezas and an excellent lunch.

 

I had always wanted to spend Christmas Day on the beach and now this dream was about to come true. In the morning we oovoo’d with all my family and Uwe’s to give them our Christmas wishes and then got ready to go downstairs and hit the beach.

Connie and Murray came over first to drop off their contribution to our potluck Christmas dinner- turkey, dressing, caramelized onions and a huge cake.

               It seems that a lot of people had the same idea as us- the beach was packed!

 

We rented a cabana with enough chairs for all. Paola and Eddie also joined us after dropping off Eddie’s homemade ceviche.

 

We stayed several hours drinking more cervezas, eating peanuts in hot sauce- my favorite- taking lots of swims in the clear waters and writing messages for home in the sand.

 

 

                             Once back at the condo we started munching our way through the feast.

                                                       Here is our whole group.

First we had Eddie’s excellent shrimp ceviche- it was absolutely fabulous. I had never particularly liked ceviche but was now a convert.

Then on to my Caesar salad. Last but not least the excellent turkey, stuffing, onions and Uwe’s yummy quinoa and beans. And finally we finished the meal with the tasty cake.

An absolutely wonderful Christmas day!!! And the next day, boxing Day for Canadians ( where we all put our empty Christmas boxes on the curb for garbage pickup-LOL), I spent most of the day rocking in my hammock looking at our gorgeous scenery from our 16^th floor.
                                      Merry Christmas to all my friends , family and readers!

 

 

 

December 1-9 and 18-21- December in Salinas

The first week in December reverted back to mostly cloudy days- what gives! How can we enjoy our gorgeous beaches without sunshine?

During this time, George, the brother of our Canadian friend Marg from back home, came to Salinas. Last summer, Marg had mentioned that her brother was doing a trip around the world, first Central America, then South America and then on to Europe and finally the Far East.  He sent us an email letting us know when he would be in town and we arranged to meet him at Will’s.

We spent several days in George’s company, going for beers and lunches.

                                            He also visited our condo for yet more beers.

                      And even though the cloudy days persisted, we did spend some beach time.

 

 

He told us of his trip so far. In South America he had been to the Galapagos in Ecuador, plus Colombia and Peru and to a lot of the places that we ourselves want to travel eventually. George had a lot of great pictures of all these locations stirring my wander lust again.

We had a last farewell dinner at our favorite barbecue place and then he was off to Santiago, Chile.

We were sitting on our balcony one morning, when the navy from the local base beside our building, were conducting landing exercises on our local beach. Very interesting from our 16th floor location though not sure what we would have thought if we were sitting on the beach at the time!

As you can see by the following pictures, the sun did finally come out again by mid-month and we enjoyed many days swimming, people watching and drinking cervazas  with our friends, Connie and Murray.

 

 

 

This month I also decided I needed help once every 2 weeks cleaning our condo. I know, I know, we are retired ‘what else do we have to do?’, but our condo is 2100 sq. ft. of all tile floors plus 3 balconies and it takes me hours to sweep and wash them all. So I decided to hire Tito, one of our doormen downstairs, to do it for me. He did an excellent job, all floors & balconies & balcony railings/walls, took him about 4 hours and all for $20.

Most of South Americans are huge soccer fans. When the local Guayaquil team Barcelona, won the title for the first time in 14 years, the celebration in Salinas was huge. An impromptu parade consisting of every truck, car and motorcycle proceeded down the malecon for miles. It was a very awesome sight.

On the 21^st of December, Will’s bar had an ‘End of the World’ party. Most gringos and their Ecuadorian friends joined for a great party. A contest was held for the best aluminum hat and here are some of the excellent entries.

 

 

 

 

We drank and ate the free appetizers and chatted/visited with our many existing friends plus met some new ones including a couple from Peterborough with the same last name as mine ‘Blair’. Don is the new Canadian consul in our province here, Santa Elena, so these were good people to know.

After a few hours, we walked home along the malecon for the 35 minute trip home. It was a beautiful night! Local houses here are also decorated with Christmas lights.

 

We sat on our back balcony for a while sipping our night cap and thinking how very lucky we were, end of world or not- LOL

 

 

December 10 to 17- Family Vacation in Panama

For some time my family had been planning to have a family vacation together somewhere south. Since Uwe and I now spend the majority of our time in Ecuador, my daughter and her husband live in Italy, my son in Barrie, Ontario, my nephew and his wife in Stouffville, Ontario and my niece and her children and my grandson and his family all live in Scarborough, Ontario, it is important that we find time to vacation as a family.

We, finally after much research, picked the Decameron Resort in Panama. It is an all-inclusive beach front golf resort which suited everyone. As well, Panama City is a direct flight from both Toronto and Guayaquil, Ecuador. As time came to book last summer, both my son and daughter had to bow out due to work related problems and my grandson and his wife welcomed a daughter ( my great grandbaby!) which restricted their travel for the immediate future. My girlfriend Heather was invited to join us though, so our group became a total of seven.

On Monday , our friend Eddie dropped us off at the airport in Guayaquil for our 2 hour flight to Panama City, Panama.  We flew Copa, a great airline, and arrived on time, flew through immigration and customs to waiting luggage. Far too smooth!!! Our travel agent had arranged a shuttle for us as we had to buy a land package and flight separate. As we entered the arrival lounge, no shuttle. We searched among dozens waiting with name tags, services, tour companies- not ours! In my broken Spanish I got someone to help us and we went to an information desk. She called the number on our documentation and after several minutes plus call-backs, I was told that the shuttle was there to pick us up 2 hours earlier and had the info that we were coming on a different airline, flight number and from an American city.

We now had to go and buy a shuttle from the Decameron booth- not a big deal- however the shuttle would not be there until 1 ½ hours later and it was a 2 hour drive to the resort. Definitely not a good start.

Once we got there though all went smoothly. This is a great place- very laid-back, super friendly staff, great service, good food, nice beach and lots and lots of pools and bars.

                      Here are some pictures of the pools and beach area.

                     The hotel rooms with great balconies overlooking the ocean and pools

                                                    A Blue footed Booby on the beach

                                                                              My golf mates, nice golf course

                                                

                                                                  

   On Thursday, we rented a car and the five girls/women took a trip up the mountain to El Valle, a beautiful village about an hour’s drive away. We did lots of craft shopping at the market.

Then we went to the local zoo- mostly for my niece’s daughter Taylor. It was a bit hocky but great scenery.

We had lunch in a bar owned by a couple of Canadians from Chatham, Ontario- we are everywhere!!!

And then we went to the Thermal pools and mud baths- quite an experience. First you put mud on your face or wherever you might want better skin.

Then you sit on the side of the little pool and wait for it to dry and then shower it off. It is supposed to make you look ten years younger- LOL. I did buy some mud to take home for further treatments.

After the mud treatment, we spend time just floating around in the thermal pool- very relaxing and warm.

All too soon the great week came to an end. We did decide, though, that we would do a family vacation every two years somewhere warm.