Friday, September 10, 2010

Adding Little Things, Friends, and An Earthquake

With all the big things out of the way, we're slowly adding the smaller things. The primary agenda for Thursday was to order drapes. We selected three places from the phone book to visit. The quality of curtains at Walmart was far superior to that of our first selection. Place#2 was out of business. Our third shop was a hit, Artex. The selection of fabric was outstanding. The samples that we saw were beautiful. The young woman who assisted us, Gina, is fluent in English. We ordered drapes for the office and master bedroom; they're suppose to be installed next Thursday.
After shopping for drapes, we had lunch at Italdeli. Upstairs of the establishment is the deli that overlooks the meat market. The market was well stocked and extremely clean.
The hotdogs were yummers with mustard, ketchup, mayonaise, onions, and chopped bacon on top.
After lunch, we went to el centro in order to take care of the next item on the agenda which involved a vendor at Plaza Rotary. In the master bathroom, the cabinets are large, without shelves. Considering that Mick'x toolbox is in the crate, he is currently unable to make shelves. We took down the measurements to take to one of the vendors. In addition to the shelves, they're building a toy box for Nikolas.
While you're out and about downtown, you encounter the usual commodities. Chickens and cuys are always hot items.


The local color is always refreshing and there's always vegetables for sale.

We've even encountered Gabriella and her daughter, Leidy.

After a busy day, we had a relaxing dinner with Chuck, Nancy, Brian, and Shelley at Mangiare. Nick and Fredi were there, on there best behavior.
Friday morning began quite early. Some fellow North Carolinians, Bob and Elaine Cerwin arrived at our apartment around 8:30 to take a look at the apartment. We then joined Sherry and Hank Pangborn at Artesa. When Mick and I were packing the crate, Mick made a deal. If I did not bring any of our sets of dishes, we'd get a new service for 12, my choice.

For me to be in Artesa, was like a hungry kid in a candy store. The dishes were incredible, all styles. In addition to the showroom, there was the seconds room, which I had heard much about. Here's everybody in the second's area.
We found a few serving pieces in the seconds. This is the young woman that assisted us in the plant area.
Bob was clowning with her and both got a laught from it.

This is the manufacturing area where the designs are painted.

This is the showroom with the many beautiful ceramics. It is a dish-lovers dream!

Below is the pattern that we selected. The factory even delivered our purchases to the apartment. When purchasing seconds it is necessary to pay cash; however, when purchasing from the showroom, you can use a card.
Friday was a big day for another reason; it was Nick's 2nd birthday. This is the birthday boy still in his jammies before the shopping trip.
In the afternoon, Henry and Mick went for haircuts. Mick got a haircut and manicure for $10. Henry joined us for dinner along with Bob and Elaine at La Terrace.
Saturday began with once again dealing with little things. There is no water supply on the terrace. It seems that there is always a coating of fine dust. It would be much easier to hose it off than to scour it with a bucket of water. Also, we need the water for the plants as we acquire them. Mario came over to tap into the water supply in the kitchen and run a line through the wall to the terrace. This is Mario under the sink. Mick pointed out that he is lacking one of the characteristics normally associated with plumbers.

After Mario had finished and we had cleaned everything, it was for a nap. We were jostled from our nap by the bed shaking. Mick thought it was Nick, I thought Mick was having a chill. No one was moving, yet the bed was. We had experienced our first Ecuadorian earthquake. After the nap I checked the US Geological Survey website and the quake registered 5.1 on the Richter scale and was centered at the Peru-Ecuador border. Their site lists locations and magnitudes of earthquakes on a daily basis. There was no apparent damage. The quake was 75 mi. S-SW of Machala and 31.2 mi. deep in the earth. It occurred at 1:55 Ecuadorian time.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.php
There was also a quake on Thursday in relatively the same region, registering 4.3 at a depth of 50 mi.
Later the Pangborns and the Grimms came over and we all headed down to Tiestos for dinner. As usual it was outstanding. We're looking like a happy group. There's Sherry and Hank Pangborn, Mick, Kathy, Pat and Mike Grimm.
The presentation of the desserts is always incredible. Not only are they beautiful, they're delicious.
It has been another week in Cuenca. There has been four consecutive warm, sunny days and tomorrow is expected to be the same. We' ve taken care of a number of little things, made new friends, and even had an earthquake. Life is never dull in Cuenca.
Until next time,
Mick and Kathy

1 comment:

  1. Hello Mick and Kathy
    Congratulations
    Enjoy de la ciudad de Cuenca.
    Dios los bendiga

    ReplyDelete