Lunes (Monday) – housing in place – now the car search begins – Carlos (who works in the copy centre of the school) is the man to see about this. We told him we were looking for a 5D Vitara for less than $14,000, with low kms and he went to work combing the internet used car sites. In the meantime, Ole had also been doing some online car hunting, so we visited some used car dealers ourselves. This brought us to new areas of town. Getting around Quito by taxi is easy and cheap. A 15 min ride to downtown costs $2-3.
Martes (Tuesday) – Ole visited more car dealers and I joined the shopping group. First stop – MegaKywi. This is the Home Depot of Quito! Truly! It was a culture shock to walk in those doors. Just like in Peterborough, the plants are to the left, with outdoor furniture and bbq’s just beyond those. The aisles are laid out just like at home with plumbing, electrical, tools, screws, paint, etc. I really did not expect to see this here. From there we went to El Hogar (=Home Outfitters). Some of the teachers got completely unfurnished apartments so they needed supplies from these stores. After that we went to Santa Clara market, where “hole in the wall” shops sell rattan and wooden furniture, all sorts of plastic containers, basins, etc., for very little money. Big difference between the morning and the afternoon shopping venues!
In the late afternoon Ole and I walked the streets of the Mariscal area, checking out the stores/shops selling beautifully hand-crafted alpaca wool sweaters, blankets, woven tapestries, jewellery, etc., the sidewalk cafés and the artwork in the square. This is a tourist area where backpackers stay and young Quiteños party at night.
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| Happy Hour in Plaza Foch (Mariscal) |
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| Plaza Foch - Poster Art Display |
Miércoles (Wednesday) – Processed all the paperwork for an Ecuadorian driver’s licence today, with the assistance of Paola, who is a Spanish teacher at Academia Cotopaxi (my school). First stop – the Ecuadorian Red Cross to get blood type cards, then to get photos, photocopied passports, Ontario Driver’s License and paid $250. Paola’s father has a driving school and he processes the papers as if we have taken his driving course. So we are paying for a driving course that we, in fact, are not taking – hence the expensive price. Paola will deliver all of the paper work to …somewhere official… and in one month, or so, we have to go to that place and do the written test in Spanish. We have to get 15 out of 20 questions right. So, we are in a hurry to learn Spanish.
Jueves (Thursday) – There’s little movement on the car hunting, as Carlos does the research on the car that Ole has found, and determines that the paperwork is not quite in order so that car is not a good one to pursue. Back to the drawing board….
We spend the afternoon in Cumbaya (a suburb 30 minutes east of Quito) at the home of Eddie and Jenny, the High School principal and his wife, together with Tina, the curriculum coordinator, and the whole gang of new teachers, sharing stories of international school experiences before Ecuador. Altogether this group has international school experience from China, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Nepal, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Cayman Island, Cairo, and Kuala Lumpur.
Viernes (Friday) – The car hunt continues with Adrian, Paola’s husband picking us up and driving us to a couple of dealers, before taking us to see a car he has for sale. He is a mechanic who also sells used cars. Ole really likes the Ford Explorer he has for sale, but needs to think about it until Saturday.
We take a long walk through La Carolina (central park) and do some grocery shopping.
Sabado (Saturday) – The school arranged for a bus and tour guide to take “tout le gang” to Old Quito. Quito was inhabited by Incas before the Spanish arrived in 1526. However, the Incas chose to raze the city rather than hand it over to the Spanish so there are no Inca ruins in Old Quito, but it is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, because of its architecture, plazas, and churches that blend Spanish, Moorish and Indigeneous elements. It is a place we will return to often.
Domingo – Started Spanish lessons today. This will be fun! The grammar is much like French and the vocab has a lot of similarities with Portuguese.
About the car-hunting – Ole had called Adrian (through Paola – because her English is excellent) on Saturday to make an offer on the Ford Explorer. Since they had not returned his call he called back today to find that Adrian had taken the car somewhere and there was an accident and he did not bring the car back??!! Umm…we may be a bit sceptical, but this does sound like a weird story. We really think that he probably sold it for a higher price than he had offered it to us for. We may never know the truth. So - back to car hunting tomorrow. We do have another lead – our landlady’s son has a Chevrolet dealership in Guayaquil (250 kms from here). He has a 2012 he is offering us for $17,000. Ole has to call tomorrow to get more details. We really did not think that it would be so difficult to get a car.
In the afternoon we met Graham (from BC) and went to El Ejido park, where artists gather every weekend to display and sell their art. We took a long walk back through town and La Carolina Park to Laura’s apartment for a potluck get-together.
I start work on Monday 8am to 4pm. This week is orientation to the school (mission statement, goals, technology, assessment, curriculum, etc.) for the new teachers. Next week all teachers are back and the following week the students start.
Like every year, when summer draws to a close, it is difficult to go back to work, but at the same time it is exciting to start something new.
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