Monthly Archives: November 2013

Hello, please help

Moving, Quito

Before I first went to Quito this summer, I spent some time finding a FB group for goths and alternative people in Quite. At their wall, I asked for a guide who spoke a little bit English and was willing to take me and Ola around. I ended up with Majo, which was like winning the lottery. Not only is she in our age, she speaks pretty good English, knows everybody, is funny and intelligent and could answer Ola’s every political question. Unfortunately for us she got a scholarship while we were here and is now in Barcelona since a few months. But since she’s so awesome, she hooked me up with her mom (While she was here. She took me to he grandma’s place where I met not only her mom, but her grandma, her grandma’s sister and her moms friend) and with her sister.

Today for the first time ever, I spoke with her sister on FB, explaining in bad  Spanish that we are looking for a place to rent in Batan. 30 min later she and her dad picked us up. Neither of them speak English but  for the next one and half hour they took us for a cruise in Batan, looking for “to rent” signs. No luck,  but we really like the area.

I also followed my Spanish teacher’s (in Chicago) advice and contacted his friends who recently moved here from D.C. asking if she and her family would be interested to have a coffee with us. I feel slightly like I’m trying to get a date 5 minutes before the bar is closing.  But whatever, any contact is worth a try (Well hello there, beautiful, you don’t look like you sleep on the street, can go home with you? Please???)

Also, with some help from Rebecca, we turned on the washing machine. Soon we’re off to dinner with her and Panchito at a Chinese restaurant. I’ll bring my EPI-pen ad hope I won’t die.

Maybe if there was coffee

Culture Clash, Moving

We both slept very badly and woke up exhausted. Off we went to look at apartments. The one we looked at today is the first one I’ve liked. Unfortunately it’s in Bella Vista, which means lots of expats and that’s something we want to avoid. Got back to our place around 10.30 and crashed. We did set the alarm for 12, put when it went off, we just shut it off and slept for another 2h. When we finally got up, we walked over to MegaMaxi and got a few basics.

Now the big question is what  do we do with the garbage? I’ve looked, no garbage chute, so I’m out of ideas. And I’m still too tired to think. I just want it to be late enough so I can go to bed.

Restart

Moving

Late afternoon on our second day in Quito, Ecuador. Ola and the rest of the TW office are sitting in a room drinking beer and talking about encryption.  I do neither. Slightly bored.

 

So, recap:

Our last days in Chicago were tremendously stressful, full of good byes and small panic attacks. People kept asking how excited I was and the only thing I could say was that I just wanted it to be over. Too much, too much. The very last day, Wednesday , I got up at 4.45am, went to my last driving lesson, at 8am I got in line to do the road test, which  I did around 2 and half hour later (passed with no remarks, woho!) then got back downtown were Ola picked me up with a cab and then off to the airport. 2h flight to Houston, 2 hours wait there and then 8-10(?)h to Quito.  We landed around midnight and got to the hotel around 2am yesterday.

Fun coincident, the hotel’s name was Finlandia and located at the streets Finlandia/Suecia.

And there were balloons! Leslie had fixe so there were balloons and a welcome note!
I felt very welcome and then I fell asleep

 

Got up and out around 9 yesterday, went to the TW office, got hugs and coffee and then sat down and called my family. Good stuff. Both grandma and my brother were at my parents so I got to tell them that I had got my driving license the day before, which was a big surprise since the didn’t know I had been taking lessons.
After that, me and Ola went to register our visas, then back to the office for a bit before we went to check out an apartment in Batan Bajo. I wasn’t sold at all, it was big, but dark, only small, high up window in which you couldn’t look out, the floor was striped in light and dark wood and the ceiling was low.

Back to the office and I started looking at plusvalia.com for apartments. Then one of the girls at the office, Didi, called some real estate people, which we met up with at 5 and looked at 2 other places we didn’t like. At that point, we had had enough, it was food and bed time.

 

Today, I stayed at the hotel when Ola left for the office. He came back at 11 and we checked out and moved our stuff to a corporate apartment. Then we went to the office together. Since then I’ve been in front of my laptop, looking at apartments and FB. Ola fixed our phones, so we are now able to call and be called.

Tonight it’s welcome dinner at 8. I’m hungry now. And sleepy. But whatever, I’ll find myself some coffee and I’ll be fine.

Also, I now have beer.

 

Hello, goodbye, goodbye

Moving

A week ago we had our Halloween goodbye party, in less than 2 weeks I will sit on a plane on my way to a new home. I don’t know where exact that will be yet, we haven’t even booked our tickets yet. We will tomorrow.  Five days ago, a shipping company looked at everything we have here and told us how much it will cost to ship the things we wanted to take with us. Then we made lists; take this, take that, we’ll give away this, we’ll sell that.

My home is falling away from me and it goes too fast.

Oh, I am excited! This week is not only an epilogue, it’s a prologue as well, but it’s really hard you be excited for things to come when you only know what you are leaving behind.  We are both exhausted, stopping every 20 minutes, demanding hugs and support. We don’t sleep well and everything circulates around breaking up and saying goodbye. Tonight we had dinner with Grace at Mana Foodbar and we ate as much as we could, because it will be our last time at Mana. Everything is like that. Last time. Last time. Last time. I can’t even go grocery shopping without thinking it. “This will be the last toilet paper I’ll ever buy in the U.S.”