Fun Place for Expats

Many hours of research, and I mean many, many hours, went into the planning of our scouting trip to Ecuador. After lurking on many forums, yes, lurking, I started posting, asking various questions, from car rental to a fun place to hang out, to...well, everything. As a result of those many hours of research, we decided to focus on Salinas up to Montanita. Okay, so if you have read other posts on my blog, you already know this. 


But what you don't know: on several expat forums, people were talking about a fun hangout called Will's Place (the local expats all know it by that name), or Hostal Aqui/Score Sports Bar. We were invited through several of the forums to come by on July 4th for Will's 2nd Annual 4th of July party complete with a pig roast and fireworks on the beach. We thought, why not? Sounds like a blast. Might be nice to meet other Norte Americanos that have made Salinas their home, we can see what our future neighbors are like, not to mention ordering food without embarrassing ourselves with our very childlike Spanish!

Since we were traveling with my 17 yr old son Alec, and he is a sports nut and of course loves a good hamburger, why not pay them a visit? 


We were always greeted in a very friendly manner -

Our first night, after a really long day traveling from Guayaquil, we stopped by Will's Place and enjoyed a great meal, and I had a few margaritas :)

Kid's happy, everyone is happy...

It was full when I got it. Yes, it had jalapenos in it!

Wendy makes these awesome toasted ravioli - It was very filling and I will have this dish again on our return visit:

A few pics from their 4th of July party - 

chatting with Kimberly and Hector

They had a nice crowd, everyone brought a dish to share, and the roasted pig, mercy it was yummy!

Alec posting on Facebook how he is a party animal in Ecuador

Showing his Patriotism 

HUGE fireworks display on the beach. What a blast!

Bi-lingual staff, great food, cold drinks and furry friends to put a smile on your face - 
















Cheers,
Tami

Guayaquil -Coming and Going

We didn't spend much time in Guayaquil. Not that we wanted to avoid the city, it just happened that we got a tad 'lost' on our way back from Salinas. Never knew there were so many Juan Carlos (insert name here) roads in that city!

So we ended up somewhere that didn't look so great, we backtracked and pulled into the Kia dealership in the hopes that someone would know how to get to the airport. Interesting how the guard had a weapon, at the ready. Alrightly then....even my teenage son made a comment about the 'readiness' of this guard. Hmmm, shall we open our windows, as it is close to 100 degrees (or so it seemed)...while we patiently waited for my husband to come back holding perfect directions to the airport? Where we had hoped to turn in our rental vehicle, and hop into a taxi that would take us to this nice Malecon 2000 we kept hearing about?

Fast forward one hour. Hubs, all happy, albeit a tad 'worn' emerged from the dealership, with a google-map to the airport. Because the people there didn't know how to get to the airport. Funny thing is, we are used to the 'directions' thing here, and our "we are in Latin America instinct" kicks in. What does THAT mean? Hehehehe.....

We follow the directions the lovely gentleman gave us (that really was so sweet of him to give us directions, not scribbled, but printed out!) - however, we knew that we might need to make some last minute, um, er, adjustments. Whatever do you mean Tami? Hehehehe.  Sure enough, in the middle of downtown, traffic snarled everywhere, where we were supposed to turn left, it was a one way street. Right only. Ha! I thought ahead and we plowed on through a few streets ahead, left turn allowed....but then....omg, how do we get over to where we were SUPPOSED to be, when there is an overpass, and, and...AUGH! Good news however. We kept on driving while I studied that map (really hard), and we MADE IT TO THE AIRPORT. In one piece. Car still intact. We deserve a medal.

Unfortunately, by the time we checked in the car, stored our bags in several lockers, and visited the, um, facilties, we didn't have much time to check out the Malecon. BUT I WILL NOT BE DETERRED!

We hop into a taxi (approved of course by the airport??) and head straight to the Malecon.

The few pics we got - first, rugrats are having a blast on this track - giggles galore:

Check out the haircut scene, on stage in front of everyone - yikes, that takes some balls!

Pics of the Malecon:

So we hang a left and head several blocks up to the indigenous market that Will told us about. We have to hurry but being in a 'punchy' mood, we take silly pics:

Do you know what this dog is doing? Thought the kid was going to have a laugh attack, me, um, I looked away (hubs took this pic, ewwww):

Um, maybe my kid wants that car?

We crossed this street. And even if there was a traffic light, do you think anyone paid attention?
The correct answer is NO:

We emerge from the indigenous market to see that it is somewhat, um, DARK. Not totally dark, but definitely in the dusk....

So we walk a bit fast, to get to the Malecon. All the warnings about taxis in Guayaquil have me a bit tense, so we look for a restaurant or even a hotel to call us a taxi. No such luck, but then again we are just trying to stay out of the way of the gazillion cars and taxis and lord mercy those damn buses!

We find someone who ends up talking to a transit police guy - and after about 5 minutes of various taxis passing by, the transit guy pulls over a taxi (his ID # matched on windshield, side and even rear window, whoo hoo!) and we get in. Me in the middle.

Now, I am not this fearful jittery kind of gal, but my kid is with me, and momma instinct is in full force. We are a tad quiet in the back seat, the taxi driver isn't speaking, but he has this cool music, and we start bee-bopping, loving the rhythm, the sound gets a bit louder, and....we are moving to the groove all the way back to the airport....watching where we are of course....and all 3 of us are smiling from ear to ear when we pull in to the airport.

Did you know you can drink in the airport terminal? You don't have to hide in a restaurant or bar? I took FULL ADVANTAGE. What a day!

Cheers,
Tami

Liquidating

I have been putting items on craigslist, things I do not need nor want. It is a pain. It is time consuming to create a listing. Good news is I sold my antique buffet last weekend, yay! Another $550 bucks to put towards my kitchen renovation fund.


So today will be spent listing other items on Craigslist - baseball cards, collectibles, home decor, etc etc blah blah. 


Each item sold is one step closer....each item sold is one step closer....(keep repeating)


Cheers,
Tami

Chowing Down in Coastal Ecuador - Part II

Food shopping in Ecuador is interesting. Supermaxi is just like our Publix or Kroger, although the location of some items is just plain strange. Yogurt comes in a bottle not little cups. And milk comes in a box, not a jug. And eggs are on a shelf. Not a refrigerated shelf. Okaaay then. On to the pics:

Even the kiddo had fun shopping

My milk in a box. Water in a bottle. And coffee in a jar :)

 Wash your veggies with this:

HiperMarket is similar to Super Walmart, they have everything there, and my husband and son lived for their fresh baked Pan de Pina (pineapple bread/roll), and other tasty goodies. The gals at the bakery counter recognized Ken after a few days, since he went there almost every morning! 

Gerardo Pinoagrote invited us to go with him to the LaLibertad Mercado - the best days to go according to Gerardo: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. If you are visiting the area or are new, please ask someone to take you to this market. It is well worth the visit! Gerardo took us to the vendors he uses, gave us great tips about buying, told us about preparing various fruits/veggies, who or what to avoid, etc. It was a wonderful morning!!

Chicken is sold with feet attached. I hear Star (from the YES Effect blog) loves chicken feet!

Plenty of grains/rice/beans:

Soda anyone?

Lots of fruits and veggies!

Shrimp purchased, 1 pound for $4.(we were so engrossed in the fresh seafood area we forgot to take pics-trust me, they had everything you could think of!) 

Here are pics of the fresh beef:

And herbs and spices galore:

Tumeric I think?

Our bounty:

The 4 tomatoes, 3 bell peppers, and 3 onions cost $1 total. The cilantro was 25 cents. Cucumber 25 cents. Pretty awesome huh!


So even though processed foods are very expensive, fresh produce and meat can be had for very little money. I am looking forward to my next visit! Who wants to join me?


Tami