Living The Life EC

There are many things that are different here, and depending where you are from, some of the differences are frightening. In this image, you are looking at a shower head that provides hot water.
In this area, it is very likely that the house or hostal you are staying in does not have hot water. For a lot of people here in the Salinas area, you will see water tanks: some blue, some black, and some made of concrete. They perform two functions: the first is that a pump has pushed the water up from a holding tank in the ground to provide head pressure for the supply to the house; the second is that due to the tank being exposed to the sun, the water gets heated to whatever the ambient temperature is.

Do not touch when in operation

We have been using them successfully

These provide the only source of hot water in our home. We have not had any issues with them; we just leave them switched on at the wall and turn the water on. The faster the water is turned on, the cooler the water is. Now, they can get very hot, so test it before you get under the water stream.

"Volume Control Hand Held Massage Setting Shower Head"







This week, we had to go to Guayaquil again to get our visas and our passports back. Now, we have corrected the errors of the consulate in San Francisco, CA. We can now start working on the visa for our residency. We may have to apply for an extension because the visa process does take a long time; but we are told that the process has improved, and the time it is taking now has been reduced.
 Before we moved here, I wanted to purchase a pair of Birkenstock shoes because they are very durable. I am so glad I did because I have been wearing them every day since we have been here.

Water tanks above a house

We had to say goodbye to our 40 & 50 foot tall cacti this week. We have had some strong winds this week, and a contractor we know said that we should cut them back because if they break and fall on the house they would damage the roof. So, based on that, we had Anthony cut them back to a height that was not a threat to the house.
As you can see, they were very tall; and I must admit that I did not consider that there could be a danger from the weight and height of the cactus.

As you can see, they were very tall and heavy.

Not long after the plant was cut down, a neighbor came around, asking if they could have the parts that had been cut down. I said, "Take what you need".
After Anthony had cleared away the sections, he came to me and said that a section had hit the roof and went through it. We found that a 3 foot section had gone through the roof; so we had to remove it and repair the roof.

The restaurant we like going  to is  http://www.bigralphhostal.com  about to start opening for Sunday brunch, and one of the offerings is waffles Black & Decker G48TD Grill & Waffle Maker and strawberries. Ralph did mention a few other items but my mind was stuck on waffles, strawberries, and cream.

This is the month when my best friend has a birthday, and I will not be around to celebrate it with him and his partner. Joe and Bill have been very close friends, and if there is one thing I miss from the SF Bay area, it is their friendship.

This picture was taken in a restaurant on our last night in the SF Bay area and we had a wonderful time.
At our age, it is harder to make friends; but here in Salinas, Ecuador, we have met some great people and are making friends. Joe and Bill were very concerned that it would be hard for me to fit in, but I have been doing fine so far.
Just want to say ' have a very happy birthday, Joe, and we will see you in the new year'.

Chili Peppers restaurant

Last week we actually got to Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers Tee. The restaurant was closed the week before on Tuesday. We met the same couple as the week before. Thursday night, we got to the restaurant a little bit early and sat down to wait for Randy and John. While we were waiting, we ordered two margaritas,  one for each of us. We had been told that this place serves a really excellent margarita, so we wanted to try it. Believe me, these margaritas were soooooooo good! The place is very nice; it has an outside area and an inside area, the lighting  is adequate to eat by. The menu was in Spanish; as we had been living in California for the last 20 odd years, we were used to seeing this type of food in Spanish. While we were waiting, we ordered, as I said, margaritas. This gave us a chance to sit down and soak in the atmosphere. The music they were playing was good, not too loud, and they obviously like Abba, the Beatles, and Gloria Gaynor. Randy and John turned up and we moved to a different table, mainly because the table we were at had a slight lean and there did not seem to be a way to correct it. Randy and John confessed that they had come last Saturday to this restaurant. They knew in advance what they were going to order, and as we had had time to go over the menu, we two also knew what we wanted to order. As we sat there, the conversation became very engaging, talking a little about the political scene in America, but quickly moved on to television and in particular HBO. Randy and John are from the New Orleans area and lived through probably one of the worst times in the history of the area, the Katrina disaster. The way we got onto the subject was that we were talking about the HBO series called Treme, and the series True Blood.

The food arrived and the presentation was very nice. Everybody seemed to enjoy the food. Evelyn and I had the fajitas, which were excellent. Randy and John had the enchiladas, which they said were fantastic. For me, though, the tortilla chips were overcooked. But for the whole evening, that was the only thing I can say that didn’t meet my expectations. Yet another superb meal ,a nice restaurant with great company and very stimulating conversation, we highly recommend this place for an evening of delicious food and good music, and with the right company, very enjoyable!