Last Thursday, February 8th, we took the bus into Bahia de Caraquez with 3 other couples for dinner at an open air restaurant called “Pepito’s”. Pepito’s has a charcoal grille along one side where they barbecue really tasty (but fatty) ribs for $8.50 per plate.
After dinner we walked a couple of blocks to a small very narrow 4 storey home owned by an American expat couple known to some of our dinner companions. The couple invited us in and showed us their place. They had bought it in poor condition a few years ago and had fixed it all up themselves. Unfortunately, during the earthquake, the 8 or 10 storey condo building about a foot away was damaged so badly that it is still uninhabitable. Our hosts told us that each condo owner must pay $60,000 for repairs to the common areas and structure. Some of them either can’t or won’t pay so the building sits empty. Little pieces of concrete fall off of it every day. One more earthquake and it could very easily fall onto the small home next door. The owners there worry about it constantly but have invested in it and it’s their home. Be careful what you buy into in Ecuador.
On Saturday we went to the little Canoa Suites hotel for a fundraiser party for Los Algarrobos school which was started about 10 years ago by an old American expat here named Jimmy Dean. On the way into the party Anita posed by a Canoa classic car. Manabi province, where we are, is one of the poorest areas of Ecuador. The local public school in Canoa is extremely underfunded and has few resources. The usual class size is 40 students. Old Jimmy started out helping the public school but realized that he could make more of a difference by providing an alternative.
At graduation a couple of weeks ago, there were over 100 local students at Los Algarrobos school in grades 1 to 6. About half pay $44 a month to attend and about half are scholarship students. Class size is limited to 20 students who are taught the Ecuador curriculum plus English. It costs about $120,000 a year to run the school so they always need money.
The crowd was largely expats from the area. We each paid $10 for a chili dinner. There was a cash bar and a $5 entry fee to the beanbag toss or unfortunately named “cornhole” tournament. Although my partner Kevin and I had never played before, we won a few games and eventually lost in the final, which was played in the pitch dark. We heard later that the party raised $1,200 for the school.
This past weekend was 4 days of Carnival. Many Ecuadorians come to the beach. On Sunday afternoon, Anita was on our balcony and saw 2 guys uprooting the badminton net posts that Brent, one of the owners here, had put in. They carried them down the beach to where a big truck was parked with lots of people around it. I went downstairs to find Brent and the 2 of us walked down the beach to retrieve the posts. I uprooted one post that they had put in the ground already and started carrying it back while Brent discussed the situation with one of the guys. Eventually, they came to an agreement that the posts would be returned at dusk after their volleyball game. I walked back and stuck my post back in their hole for them. Their leader kept saying “Tranquilo” to me, which basically means be calm, let’s all get along. So I shook his hand and we left them the posts for the day.
Later, the guy who talked to me showed up outside our fence when Ron, another owner here and Anita and I were in the pool. He tossed 2 cans of beer to us and opened one himself. His name was Luis and he seemed a little sheepish about just taking the posts without asking. He invited us to meet his family so we ran upstairs, grabbed a couple of beers and a bottle of wine, and walked down the beach to meet them. We stayed for 1/2 hour or so. They appreciated the beer and wine and gave us shots of some rum liqueur which was pretty good. While the younger men and kids played volleyball, the older ladies sat in the shade playing cards. We had fun chatting with them in Spanglish and we all parted friends.
Last night we went to the Bambu restaurant in Canoa with 2 other couples for Valentines Day. On the way there, the Malecon looked a little better due to the sunnier weather we’ve been having. It’s summer holidays here now and there are more people on the weekends and even a few more through the week.We sat at the bar for happy hour and we all drank the Bambu special cocktail which is about 3 full shots of rum mixed with passion fruit juice. It’s a very tasty drink at $3 each but we got 2 for one during happy hour. Later Anita and I both had calamar apanado, or breaded calamari with rice, plantain and salad for $8.50 each. Local girls were putting up lots of Valentines Day decorations.
On our way back up the street to catch a taxi, we stopped at the little “Coffee Blues” bar again for a beer and some music. For about 1/2 hour we danced in the small space available to an AC/DC greatest hits medley. Good times.
After dinner we walked a couple of blocks to a small very narrow 4 storey home owned by an American expat couple known to some of our dinner companions. The couple invited us in and showed us their place. They had bought it in poor condition a few years ago and had fixed it all up themselves. Unfortunately, during the earthquake, the 8 or 10 storey condo building about a foot away was damaged so badly that it is still uninhabitable. Our hosts told us that each condo owner must pay $60,000 for repairs to the common areas and structure. Some of them either can’t or won’t pay so the building sits empty. Little pieces of concrete fall off of it every day. One more earthquake and it could very easily fall onto the small home next door. The owners there worry about it constantly but have invested in it and it’s their home. Be careful what you buy into in Ecuador.
On Saturday we went to the little Canoa Suites hotel for a fundraiser party for Los Algarrobos school which was started about 10 years ago by an old American expat here named Jimmy Dean. On the way into the party Anita posed by a Canoa classic car. Manabi province, where we are, is one of the poorest areas of Ecuador. The local public school in Canoa is extremely underfunded and has few resources. The usual class size is 40 students. Old Jimmy started out helping the public school but realized that he could make more of a difference by providing an alternative.
At graduation a couple of weeks ago, there were over 100 local students at Los Algarrobos school in grades 1 to 6. About half pay $44 a month to attend and about half are scholarship students. Class size is limited to 20 students who are taught the Ecuador curriculum plus English. It costs about $120,000 a year to run the school so they always need money.
The crowd was largely expats from the area. We each paid $10 for a chili dinner. There was a cash bar and a $5 entry fee to the beanbag toss or unfortunately named “cornhole” tournament. Although my partner Kevin and I had never played before, we won a few games and eventually lost in the final, which was played in the pitch dark. We heard later that the party raised $1,200 for the school.
This past weekend was 4 days of Carnival. Many Ecuadorians come to the beach. On Sunday afternoon, Anita was on our balcony and saw 2 guys uprooting the badminton net posts that Brent, one of the owners here, had put in. They carried them down the beach to where a big truck was parked with lots of people around it. I went downstairs to find Brent and the 2 of us walked down the beach to retrieve the posts. I uprooted one post that they had put in the ground already and started carrying it back while Brent discussed the situation with one of the guys. Eventually, they came to an agreement that the posts would be returned at dusk after their volleyball game. I walked back and stuck my post back in their hole for them. Their leader kept saying “Tranquilo” to me, which basically means be calm, let’s all get along. So I shook his hand and we left them the posts for the day.
Later, the guy who talked to me showed up outside our fence when Ron, another owner here and Anita and I were in the pool. He tossed 2 cans of beer to us and opened one himself. His name was Luis and he seemed a little sheepish about just taking the posts without asking. He invited us to meet his family so we ran upstairs, grabbed a couple of beers and a bottle of wine, and walked down the beach to meet them. We stayed for 1/2 hour or so. They appreciated the beer and wine and gave us shots of some rum liqueur which was pretty good. While the younger men and kids played volleyball, the older ladies sat in the shade playing cards. We had fun chatting with them in Spanglish and we all parted friends.
Last night we went to the Bambu restaurant in Canoa with 2 other couples for Valentines Day. On the way there, the Malecon looked a little better due to the sunnier weather we’ve been having. It’s summer holidays here now and there are more people on the weekends and even a few more through the week.We sat at the bar for happy hour and we all drank the Bambu special cocktail which is about 3 full shots of rum mixed with passion fruit juice. It’s a very tasty drink at $3 each but we got 2 for one during happy hour. Later Anita and I both had calamar apanado, or breaded calamari with rice, plantain and salad for $8.50 each. Local girls were putting up lots of Valentines Day decorations.
On our way back up the street to catch a taxi, we stopped at the little “Coffee Blues” bar again for a beer and some music. For about 1/2 hour we danced in the small space available to an AC/DC greatest hits medley. Good times.
G
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