Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne after five flights (CUE-UIO-MIA-LAX-SYD-MEL) and two days.  I won't rant about how much the airlines in US really suck, but US domestic flights are an abomination.  I mean, we were treated so much better on the four hour flight from Quito to Miami than we were on the six hour flight from Miami to LA.  We were given food and blankets on the international flight, but on the domestic one we were starved and frozen.  The 15 hour flight from LA to Sydney was a pleasure compared to all the others, even though it was the longest.  It had the best food and service, but probably because it was Quantas rather than American Airlines (even though there was a code share).

Not Every System Here is Broken

While I'm still trying to figure out how to conclude my naturalization process (which now involves my parents' passports, even though people in this country have told me that it is not a sufficient proof of citizenship...I was told that I need a letter or document from the US government to prove that my parents are US citizens...I'm sorry, but considering that you need proof of US citizenship to get a US passport and a US passport can only be issued by the US government, why is it such a document unacceptable?), I have been doing some other paper pushing here in Cuenca.  And it took less than 45 minutes!

Preparing for Oz

I know you've all been waiting for the Australia series, so here it goes...

I should start by mentioning why we ended up in Australia in the first place.  The excuse was my great aunt's 90th birthday (Dad's mom's sister).  When I was home last October, my dad mentioned that he would be going to Australia for a week in December for this birthday party/family reunion.  It tied in perfectly with the week he would spend in Hong Kong for work.  He also mentioned that he was bringing my brother. 

Just When You Thought it was Safe...

So I returned to Quito on Wednesday to finally finish the naturalization process.  I had everything I needed.  All I had to do was go back to the Civil Registry, pay my money, and wait.

The morning went well enough, even though I had to wait two hours for a process that I was told would take half an hour.  But I finally got my papers and all I had to do was walk over to the "rectifications" desk and they would input my data and I would be able to get my ID (NB - apparently I technically am a citizen already, but have no way of proving it until I get my ID, which I need in order to get a passport, which I need to get back into the country if I leave since my work visa expires in three weeks).

Certifiable

Today I went to the Civil Registry in Cuenca.  As I mentioned before, the Civil Registry in Quito would not proceed with my naturalization process until I procured two copies of my marriage certificate, which could only be gotten in Cuenca.

Actually, I need to back up to yesterday.  Yesterday I tried to go to the Civil Registry in Cuenca.  I mean, I went to the office, but they weren't there anymore.  Apparently they are renovating their offices and the temporary location is on the other side of town.  Well, the other side of downtown.  If downtown Cuenca is about 10 by 15 blocks, the temporary offices were about 20 blocks away from the permanent ones.  And I'm not exaggerating, I counted.

Trust but Verify

Or measure twice and cut once.  Actually, in Ecuador you probably should measure three or for times before cutting.

I know I haven't written much lately, but I've been busy.  Besides working, I'm in the process of becoming an Ecuadorian citizen.  I actually think I am a citizen already, and the process involved lots of papers and notaries and copies, but still need to go through the process of getting my ID and passport. 

House Arrest

Tomorrow is the census.  Just like in the US they do it every ten years.  Unlike the US, there is one day that they attempt to count everyone and you must stay in your house all day.  It is against the law for me to leave my house tomorrow from 7AM to 5PM. 

Sigh.  I guess I'll be on skype if anyone wants to call :)

Security

I'm currently in Latacunga now, I was in Cuenca for the last week, after returning back from Chicago.  I brought back with me about 140lbs of luggage, 50lbs in each checked bag and about 40lbs in my carry on (which broke during the flight, but that's another story).  So what usually happens when I return to Ecuador is that Dad drops me off at the terminal with my two checked bags, then he parks while I check in and he meets me in the terminal and brings me my carry on.  We then say goodbye as I go through security.

First Class

This week is full of travel.  But fortunately most of it will be an upgrade from what I'm used to.

First, a summary of this week's travel:

My First Potential Coup

A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador.  The military is now in charge and are backing the president.  The airports and major roads are closed.  This is all due to the fact that the police are on strike apparently due to the reduction of their retirement benefits.

However, in Latacunga nothing is happening.  I'm so safe that I'm practically cloistered.

I've been working 16 hour days this past week since we are issuing drawings tomorrow.  So I basically leave the office for lunch and dinner is ordered in.  And our apartment here is half a block away. 

The internet was shut down nationwide earlier today for a few hours.  Which was good for me because I was able to get more work done :)

If anything interesting happens, I'll try to write about it.  But for now, back to work.

Still on Hiatus

I've been meaning to post more stories, but have been working almost non-stop since I started my job at the end of June.  When you are living in a small town eight hours from your home where you don't really know anyone, it's easy to just eat, sleep, drink, and work.  And wait for the shower (which happens when you have seven people living the in same apartment building who all need to be at work at 8AM).  In Latacunga, 10, 12, even 14 hour days were typical just because there wasn't anything else to do there.  But this week I will be working from Cuenca in a office that is open from 8:30AM to 1PM and 2:30PM to 6PM so I intend to start posting again.

Latacunga

I know that my regular readers may have been wondering why I haven't written.  Ha ha ha.  I know that's not true, I'm just writing again because my mom suggested that I do.

Believe it or not, I've actually been working this past month.  I have a few weeks left in my two month contract as a sanitary engineer, designing the master plan for the sewer network in Latacunga, Ecuador.  I have a weekly eight hour commute each way between Cuenca and Latacunga, and work 10 to 12 hour days, which is why I haven't had much time to blog.

But I have a moment now and will show you Latacunga.  This is the view from my office window.

Well, it's a well zoomed view, the real view looks more like this...

Anyway, the big snow covered mountain is Cotopaxi, the highest point in Ecuador.  And it's also an inactive volcano.  Throughout town there are signs that tell you where to go in the event of an eruption.  Practical, but not very comforting.

Inti Raymi

Here in Ecuador (as well as other parts of the former Incan Empire), the celebration of the summer solstice is a big deal.  Last year we went to a festival in Ingapirca, some Cañari/Incan ruins a few hours north of Cuenca.  This year we went to Chobshi, another town about an hour away from Cuenca that is known for a cave where a prehistoric culture lived and a ruined pre-Incan castle.

Last year we walked around the ruins and watched local groups perform traditional dances.  The weather was beautiful.  This year was a bit different.  We ended up getting our auras cleansed by some hippies in a castle in the rain.

World Cup Commentary

I've spent almost the entire past week watching football.  I mean soccer.  I think I saw (at least most of) 15 of the 23 games so far.  Here are a few things I learned:

The Hora

No, that's not bad Spanglish. It's a Jewish dance.

And I think that we effectively tripled or quadrupled the population of Jews in Cuenca for our wedding.

The dance is easy. You join hands and go around in a circle, doing a grapevine. Sometimes you change directions. Occasionally you expand or contract the circle. That's about it.

I do have a nice video of the dancing, but it just won't seem to upload :(  I hope photos will do.

Cocktail Hour

In Judaism there is a specific part of the wedding that is called the Yichud, i.e., seclusion, after the ceremony in which the bride and groom have some time alone together.  I believe that back in the day it was the time to, um, consummate the marriage.  But now it seems to be used as snack time.

So, after the ceremony Carlos and I had a few minutes to ourselves.  I really mean a few minutes because we were sitting in his parents suite sipping champagne and nibbling on some meats and cheeses when some young nephews barged in through the back door.  I yelled at them to get out.  It wasn't actually a yell, but more like a very strong suggestion to go away and leave us alone.

Unrecognizable

Our apartment has wood floors in the bedrooms.  They are unsealed.  That means you can't just run a mop over them - you need to wax them.  And I don't do floors.

One of my most vivid memories of my vacations to visit family in South Africa when I was growing up, was to see my grandparents' maids on their hands and knees waxing the wood floors in the morning.  Every morning.  And I would wonder why they just didn't vacuum.  Now I know why.

How to Register Your Car - Act III

We spent some time pondering how to register the car until Mami came up with a solution so simple and devious that I was afraid it actually might work.

Since Friday was the last day to register the car, why not go then, when it would be busy, and try again.  But this time, if asked, just say that grandpa was old, not dead. 

How to Register Your Car - Act II

The mechanic was finished with the car at around noon on Friday.  It cost $20.  However the muffler had not been fixed.  Apparently mechanics in Ecuador specialize. 

So on Saturday we took it to a mechanic that just did mufflers.  Ours was beyond repair so we had it replaced.  For $45.

How to Register Your Car - Act I

I've been back in Cuenca for about 10 days now.  I've adjusted to the altitude all right, but not so much the life. 

The past few days we have being trying to figure out how to re-register/inspect Carlos's car.  Because of his plate number or ID number or something like that, he was the entire month of May to complete the process.  And you definitely need the whole month.