A Public Apology

I owe my dear husband of almost 28 years, Pat, a public apology.  My last post (which has since been deleted) did not present my husband in the best light.  And I want to say that I am very sorry for that, especially since I wrote and published my comments so publicly.  I have learned (or possibly re-learned) a couple of things over the last couple of days.  1)  I am extremely hard headed; 2)  I should never write a blog post at 2:30am in the morning.   Good things will not come from that. 

I'm not sure how my husband has tolerated some things about me for so many years.  I have always been extremely outspoken and my mouth has gotten me into trouble many times in my lifetime (going as far back as elementary school when I got sent to the principal's office for saying the wrong thing to a teacher).  Anyway, I won't say anything else about that.  I am married to a wonderful, funny, and tolerate man and I really don't deserve him.  Again, I am very sorry, Pat.  I hope it never happens again (I wish I could say "it will NEVER happen again", but too many times, I speak before thinking, so it is possible that I will stick my foot in my mouth again in the future).  If I do, I am apologizing in advance.   I love you, Sue

A Few of My Favorite Pics

Hola from Cuenca!!

Every now and then, as we are walking around town, I take some pictures of my favorite scenes.  One night we went out to dinner near Chicago Pizza and I took this picture of Santo Domingo church at night:

Isn't it beautiful?

Then one day, Pat and I were walking along one of the streets and I thought this picture was really cute:

Isn't he cute?

He was just sitting there so patiently.   He looked like he was waiting for someone to take his order.  And he didn't even mind me taking his picture.  The dogs in Cuenca are not like most of the dogs that you see in the US.   Most of the time, they don't pay attention to the people walking around them.   They appear to be "on a mission", like they have "places to go" and "people to see".   This dog definitely looks like he is "on a mission".   We didn't stick around to see if he ever got anything from the owners.

Another picture that I thought my friends in the US would get a kick out of was this one:

Isn't this funny?

We were having lunch one day at a restaurant and I ordered a Pepsi to drink.  I thought it was funny that they would bring a Pepsi in a bottle to pour into a Coke cup.  You would NEVER see that in the US!   Does anyone else see the humor in this?

The last few days it has gotten pretty warm during most of the day.  Then late in the afternoon, we have had some wild weather---alot of wind, some thunder, some rain, etc.  Well, today, it started out sunny.  Then it got pretty warm.  Sure enough, in rolled the clouds.  We even had some pea sized hail.  Then a little while later, as I was cooking dinner, I looked out the window and saw this:

The skies are really unbelievable here.  Throughout the day, you never know what you might see.

Here was just a little bit different angle.

We are still really enjoying ourselves alot.  I guess I am so thankful for technology.  Just like last week, in Louisville, KY where we are from, they were having the annual St. X-Trinity football game.  It is a really BIG event in Louisville.  They typically have 35,000 people attend a HIGH SCHOOL football game (years and years of tradition).  Well, I got on line and was watching LIVE, a local newspaper who was at the tailgating party talking to people.  I thought I might see my daughter or my niece on line.  That would have been really cool.  Then, I was able to watch the game live on line.  Sorry, St. X, but Trinity is ranked #2 in the nation in high school football.  Every now and then, I have to remind myself that I am in Ecuador.  Just like right now, Pat is watching Monday Night Football on Directv, just like he would have done back in the States. 

Well, enough for now.  Hasta luego, Sue









New Rental Condo in El Centro

Well, we have finally become owners of foreign real estate.  We didn't do it immediately and we looked around at several properties, but we couldn't turn this down.  It is in an excellent location (just one block from Parque Calderon) and has been totally remodeled.  We are going to being renting it out beginning in January.  In fact, we already have it rented for this January and February.  We will be creating a website soon giving all of the details in the next few weeks. 

For starters, it is a fully furnished 1 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath, with a living room, sitting room, kitchen, laundry room, and covered terrace that looks down onto Calle Luis Cordero at the corner of Gran Columbia.  We are going to be renting it as a short term rental (less than 3 months).  We will include all utilities, Directv, and WiFi Internet.  We are asking $600. a month or $250. a week.

Here are a few pictures of the condo and the surrounding area:

Living Room Area

Bedroom With Queen Sized Bed - We still need to get a nightstand and lamp.

Kitchen

Another View of the Kitchen with Bar Stools

Sitting Area by the Terrace

Covered Terrace with Patio Furniture

View from Terrace

Another View from Terrace (Calle Luis Cordero)

Around the Corner from the Condo

The Cathedral at Parque Calderon

Gazebo at Parque Calderon

Flower Market around the Corner

Please let us know if you hear of anyone who might be interested in staying at our new condo.  We will be setting up a link with our blog in the near future.  We are really excited about our new venture!!  Sue