Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Xmas at the beach with the Zambrano-Benavides
10 awesome days at the beach over Christmas. Parents of a child in my class, generously gave us use of their beach house. So for $6.50 each, we simply jumped on the bus for a 5 hour ride down to the Pacific.
We were joined by Carlos (Maria's brother), his wife Cristina and their daughter Mafe.
Spiny, puffer fish.
Guitar fish.
Prawn.
Many different varieties of crabs.
The beach house on the right. This photo taken from the top of the Arco de Amor...Arch of love....
Ramon's 1st time with a boogie board...no lessons required! Mafe's first time at the ocean.
Charlis y Cris
John and Paul, secondary teachers at the British School, brought 14 shoe box presents that we handed out to some poor families on the beach. Parents put about 300 of these together for various needy communities in Ecuador.
Who's the monkey?? Saw 3 in the trees, just behind this place.
This goat followed me home from a run, along with 2 dogs. I dragged him back along the beach and we butted heads a fews times.
Carlos and Cris' new store??
No electricity in the house....no need for it really....much cozier playing cards, checkers and chatting with candle light.
Carla the beach bum.
Tasaste...name of the 15 house town 1km down the road or beach. This location has it all....private, peaceful, empty beaches, run for 2 hours in each direction, lots of fresh seafood from the fisherman next door and your own rock arch right out front!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
A short trip to Pasto-Caro's graduation-Mafe's 1st communion
Photos below are taken at La Luna
http://www.lalunaecuador.com/
A great little weekend getaway, above Otavalo, 2 hours north of Quito.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Pros/Cons Living in Ecuador vs Canada
We are trying to decide whether to stay in Ecuador long term or return to Canada.
Please have a read and email me ANY thoughts, comments, critiques, ideas etc...
Hopefully you'll have a laugh or two and scratch your heads at the same time :)
Ecuador Positive
-Our children in the same school I teach at
-Walk to work
-Use of school library/pool/playground/internet after hours and a seemingly endless supply of avacados!
-Year round spring like climate
-Ease of growing food
-Can actually afford a decent house with some land
-Semi-rural area, outside of Quito
-Bus to Quito every 15 minutes
-Geo diversity/Amazon and Pacific coast within a 1/2 a days drive
-Volcanos to climb
-No need for vehicle at the moment
-Fantastic vegan lunch at school
-Reasonable work commitments
-Fewer teaching hours than Canada/more time off
-More time for family
-Close to Pasto/grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins
-Better/faster health care 4 kms from house
-Cheap/professional dental care
-Easy access to school nurse
-Less pervasive advertising
-Fresh, inexpensive fruit and veggies, delivered twice a week to our door
-Lower overall cost of living
-Spend less/not so many things to spend $ on
-Rental income on townhouse in Calgary
-Cheap restraunts
-Low cost of utilities/no heating or cooling bill
-Low cost of house construction/low cost of materials/more basic structure
-Dry clothes outside/no need for dryer
-No winter clothes
-Bike/climb all year
-Lots of running races/fun runs in Quito and better prize money for Maria
-Swimming lessons for kids at school
-Free tuition for 2 kids (standard in most international teaching contracts)
-Hot springs in local area, including next door
-Ilalo: 900 vertical metre extinct volcano out the back door/hike/bike/run
-Cheap taxis everywhere
-People live more in the present and don't worry so much about the future
-Maria can work as a teacher assistant in the same school
-Violent crime is rare
Ecuador Negative
-No "real" community neighborhood (takes a village to raise a child)
-Many students and teachers leave the school every couple of years.
-We are guests in the country
-Always a gringo in a foreign country
-A bit too close to 1.5 million people in Quito
-No teaching pension
-No union job benefits/security
-Reliance upon a single, non-profit school for income
-Can't contribute to an RRSP (and don't have any), Canada pension plan, Old Age Security, except for what I have already put into the last two
-Pollution: dead rivers coming out of Quito, garbage/litter all over, dog poo everywhere
-Dangerous sidewalks if there is a sidewalk
-Lack of respect for privacy: Dogs barking, loud music is acceptable
-Very poor police force/reactive rather than proactive
-Need security for house/property: neighborhood/house guard/alarm/elec fence
-Car accident: guilty until proven innocent. Must leave the scene of an accident that you are involved in!
-Don't really know/understand much of the local issues/news
-Difficult to find my size of shoes! and clothes
-No sense of time changing or passing by/no real seasons
-Too hot at work sometimes (28C in the classroom)
-Black flies come and go during the months
-Lack of English for our kids
-Must buy drinking water or boil from tap
-Stomach bloating from altitude
-Live in an expat bubble (rather than real, like-minded community working towards local sustainability), while surrounded by much poverty
-Monster potholes
Canada Positive
-The 4 of us are citizens
-Family in BC and Halifax
-Better higher level secondary/uni education...therefore more opportunities for the kids
-Better civil society organization
-Better social services
-Better infrastructure
-Rocky mountains/endless trails
-Better security/police
-Clean water
-Own a townhouse
-Libraries
-Skating
-Safer streets for kids (even though we don't play in them like we used to)
-English
-UN lists Canada as one of the top countries in the world to live in.
(I'm sure there is much more to add to this list that isn't so obvious to me...that I take for granted)
Canada Negative
-Climate...winter is too long. Leaves are on the trees in Calgary for only 5 short months
-Teenage peer culture/Drugs
-Family spread out and far away...no young relatives for the kids
-Extreme energy use/especially transporation and heating
-Must have a vehicle and the time or money to maintain it
-A cummute to work is very likely
-Junk food culture
-Consumer culture/xmas shopping a "duty/responsibility"
-Teaching: More work hours/less time off/weekend work
-Health care wait time
-Too much advertising
-Probably need another mortgage to live in a decent size house for 4 with garden space
-Fruit and veg expensive and not fresh out of season
-Limited Spanish
-Expensive utilities
Please have a read and email me ANY thoughts, comments, critiques, ideas etc...
Hopefully you'll have a laugh or two and scratch your heads at the same time :)
Ecuador Positive
-Our children in the same school I teach at
-Walk to work
-Use of school library/pool/playground/internet after hours and a seemingly endless supply of avacados!
-Year round spring like climate
-Ease of growing food
-Can actually afford a decent house with some land
-Semi-rural area, outside of Quito
-Bus to Quito every 15 minutes
-Geo diversity/Amazon and Pacific coast within a 1/2 a days drive
-Volcanos to climb
-No need for vehicle at the moment
-Fantastic vegan lunch at school
-Reasonable work commitments
-Fewer teaching hours than Canada/more time off
-More time for family
-Close to Pasto/grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins
-Better/faster health care 4 kms from house
-Cheap/professional dental care
-Easy access to school nurse
-Less pervasive advertising
-Fresh, inexpensive fruit and veggies, delivered twice a week to our door
-Lower overall cost of living
-Spend less/not so many things to spend $ on
-Rental income on townhouse in Calgary
-Cheap restraunts
-Low cost of utilities/no heating or cooling bill
-Low cost of house construction/low cost of materials/more basic structure
-Dry clothes outside/no need for dryer
-No winter clothes
-Bike/climb all year
-Lots of running races/fun runs in Quito and better prize money for Maria
-Swimming lessons for kids at school
-Free tuition for 2 kids (standard in most international teaching contracts)
-Hot springs in local area, including next door
-Ilalo: 900 vertical metre extinct volcano out the back door/hike/bike/run
-Cheap taxis everywhere
-People live more in the present and don't worry so much about the future
-Maria can work as a teacher assistant in the same school
-Violent crime is rare
Ecuador Negative
-No "real" community neighborhood (takes a village to raise a child)
-Many students and teachers leave the school every couple of years.
-We are guests in the country
-Always a gringo in a foreign country
-A bit too close to 1.5 million people in Quito
-No teaching pension
-No union job benefits/security
-Reliance upon a single, non-profit school for income
-Can't contribute to an RRSP (and don't have any), Canada pension plan, Old Age Security, except for what I have already put into the last two
-Pollution: dead rivers coming out of Quito, garbage/litter all over, dog poo everywhere
-Dangerous sidewalks if there is a sidewalk
-Lack of respect for privacy: Dogs barking, loud music is acceptable
-Very poor police force/reactive rather than proactive
-Need security for house/property: neighborhood/house guard/alarm/elec fence
-Car accident: guilty until proven innocent. Must leave the scene of an accident that you are involved in!
-Don't really know/understand much of the local issues/news
-Difficult to find my size of shoes! and clothes
-No sense of time changing or passing by/no real seasons
-Too hot at work sometimes (28C in the classroom)
-Black flies come and go during the months
-Lack of English for our kids
-Must buy drinking water or boil from tap
-Stomach bloating from altitude
-Live in an expat bubble (rather than real, like-minded community working towards local sustainability), while surrounded by much poverty
-Monster potholes
Canada Positive
-The 4 of us are citizens
-Family in BC and Halifax
-Better higher level secondary/uni education...therefore more opportunities for the kids
-Better civil society organization
-Better social services
-Better infrastructure
-Rocky mountains/endless trails
-Better security/police
-Clean water
-Own a townhouse
-Libraries
-Skating
-Safer streets for kids (even though we don't play in them like we used to)
-English
-UN lists Canada as one of the top countries in the world to live in.
(I'm sure there is much more to add to this list that isn't so obvious to me...that I take for granted)
Canada Negative
-Climate...winter is too long. Leaves are on the trees in Calgary for only 5 short months
-Teenage peer culture/Drugs
-Family spread out and far away...no young relatives for the kids
-Extreme energy use/especially transporation and heating
-Must have a vehicle and the time or money to maintain it
-A cummute to work is very likely
-Junk food culture
-Consumer culture/xmas shopping a "duty/responsibility"
-Teaching: More work hours/less time off/weekend work
-Health care wait time
-Too much advertising
-Probably need another mortgage to live in a decent size house for 4 with garden space
-Fruit and veg expensive and not fresh out of season
-Limited Spanish
-Expensive utilities
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