Judith's Travels

Melbourne

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 20:21:00 +0000

We arrived in Melbourne after five flights (CUE-UIO-MIA-LAX-SYD-MEL) and two days. I won't rant about how much the airlines in US really suck, but US domestic flights are an abomination. I mean, we were treated so much better on the four hour flight from Quito to Miami than we were on the six hour flight from Miami to LA. We were given food and blankets on the international flight, but on the domestic one we were starved and frozen. The 15 hour flight from LA to Sydney was a pleasure compared to all the others, even though it was the longest. It had the best food and service, but probably because it was Quantas rather than American Airlines (even though there was a code share).

When we arrived in Melbourne on Monday afternoon (we left Ecuador on Saturday morning) my legs had swollen up so much that it was almost painful to walk (apparently a "side effect" of pregnancy), so we took a taxi to the hotel and tried to stay awake until 6PM (there is a 16 hour time difference). There was a mall across the street to feed us and help us stretch our legs, but we were both on the verge of collapse from not sleeping much on the flights (Quantas had lots of good movies, and I was advised to walk around for a few minutes every hour, which is not conducive to sleeping, though neither is drinking lots of water).

On Tuesday we were picked up at the hotel by my aunt Sharon and cousin Grace. This aunt, my mom's sister, I had not seen since my brother's bar mitzvah (which was in 1998) and my cousin (her daughter), who was about 23, I last saw in South Africa when she was less than a year old and I was probably about 8. Though this is going to sound completely obvious when I write it, Australia is really far away.

We spent the morning with them on a cruise down the Yarra River. At this point, I discovered that my aunt is alot like my mom. Even though in hindsight I'm not entirely surprised, this came as a complete shock to me at the time, just because I expected that my mom and her sister to be about as similar as I am to my sister. And it wasn't just the mannerisms or reverence for how brilliant their father was, what surprised me the most was their taste in clothing (for dinner my aunt wore a chocolate brown linen dress that was hit a bit below the knees and had buttons down the front, what I would refer to as a safari dress, which, of course you need to be on safari or South African to get away with...my mom's is in khaki and reaches her ankles but only because she's about six inches shorter than her sister).

After the boat ride, Carlos and I were dropped off at the Botanical Gardens to explore with an explanation how to get back to our hotel and an appointment to meet for dinner. It was getting to be lunch time, so we decided to eat before we ventured into the gardens. This is when we discovered how expensive Australia is. Lunch cost us A$30 (which is about $30). We each had a sandwich and we split some fries. Just the fries were A$7.50. Seven bucks for fries. But they were really good fries.

The gardens were beautiful, but unfortunately, just moments after we finished lunch, it started to rain. And then to pour. We found the awning of a building to duck under, but we probably spent about 25 minutes waiting out the rain. And though I usually carry an umbrella or wear a raincoat, I had neither. Carlos had an umbrella, but it barely fit us both, so we got a bit damp walking around the gardens. The gardens were lovely, but they were big. We must have spent about three hours walking around and we still felt like we missed a bit, but by that time my feet were aching and we still had a bit of a walk to catch the bus back to our hotel.

Dinner was lovely. Not only were my aunt, uncle, and their two daughters (and one boyfriend) there, but also another cousin, Hayley, (mom's brother's daughter) who migrated from South Africa to Australia five years ago. The last time I had seen here was at my sister's wedding (also about five years ago...yeah, my family is a bit spread out).

We spent the next morning with her at the Immigration Museum before we headed back to the airport for a flight to Sydney.

Not Every System Here is Broken

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:23:00 +0000

While I'm still trying to figure out how to conclude my naturalization process (which now involves my parents' passports, even though people in this country have told me that it is not a sufficient proof of citizenship...I was told that I need a letter or document from the US government to prove that my parents are US citizens...I'm sorry, but considering that you need proof of US citizenship to get a US passport and a US passport can only be issued by the US government, why is it such a document unacceptable?), I have been doing some other paper pushing here in Cuenca. And it took less than 45 minutes!

Some of you may know that back in September, after months of looking at houses and apartments to buy, Carlos and I bought some land instead. It's in a quiet development that is about a 10 minute drive from the center of town, near the one of the rivers. And it's across the street from one sibling and one house away from another.

Anyway, even though we bought the land months ago, we never got around to changing the name of the owner of the property (notice that it says "owner" not "owners" the land can apparently only be registered in one person's name). In order to start designing the house we need a design permit, and to get a design permit we need the property in one of our names. So we gathered up all the documents and went to the office where the property owners are changed.

We only had to wait about 10 minutes to be seen. After showing all of our documents we were told that we needed to have paid the taxes 2011, not just 2010. But we thought we could pay the taxes if the land wasn't in our name. It turns out, that not only you can, but you must. Fortunately, the office to pay was in the same building that we were in. As we entered to pay, we saw that the line was about 30 people long. But the line for parents carrying infants and pregnant women was only three deep. And I'm already showing.

It took only a few minutes to pay the taxes and make copies. I then returned to the office and waited another 10 minutes to be seen again. We had all the forms in order and the process was completed right then and there. How easy was that?

The next step in the process is to get a design permit. We need a few more documents for that, like a plat of the property and an estimate of the total area of the finished house (which seems to be a catch-22, you need to have a design to get the permit for the design). Hopefully that process will go as smoothly as this one did.

Preparing for Oz

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:40:00 +0000

I know you've all been waiting for the Australia series, so here it goes...

I should start by mentioning why we ended up in Australia in the first place. The excuse was my great aunt's 90th birthday (Dad's mom's sister). When I was home last October, my dad mentioned that he would be going to Australia for a week in December for this birthday party/family reunion. It tied in perfectly with the week he would spend in Hong Kong for work. He also mentioned that he was bringing my brother.

At this time Carlos and I were still planning our belated honeymoon and had finally decided on going to Colombia around the same time. My dad then remarked that his brothers would be there too, plus some other cousins would be there as well. I made the comment that it sounded like a bit of a boys bash, when I was given the offer that I couldn't refuse - come to Australia for your honeymoon instead of Colombia. Spend a week with family, then a week on your own.

When I returned to Ecuador Carlos and I discussed the offer and we decided we would go to Australia - but only if he could get a visa in time. My visa would take 30 seconds to process, his would take 30 days. So we started on the paper work. We needed a letter of invitation, proof of employment, proof of funding, proof of insurance, marriage certificates, bank statements, a sworn statement saying that the didn't have TB and hadn't been convicted of a felony, names, addresses and birth dates of family and friends in Australia, etc. (at this point I was surprised they didn't ask us for our first born, however, all of this was still less paperwork than I had needed for my naturalization process). And we needed to send all of it to the closest embassy - Chile.

We were told that it takes around 20 business days to process and when it was sent we had 21 business days prior to our proposed departure date. We knew we would be cutting it close so we didn't book anything except for our fully refundable overseas flights. While I don't mind traveling without plans in a developing country, I was terrified of doing the same in a Australia, especially during high season.

If you want to learn about how US government institutions work, the first thing you need to to is leave the US. When you are abroad you suddenly find out everything. Or maybe you just find out that you need to know everything. Did you know that to send a package from Ecuador to Chile via DHL it goes through the US? And did you know that US Customs confiscates passports that are not being sent to or from an embassy? Did you know that we needed to sign a form provided by DHL saying that they were not responsible if Carlos's passport got confiscated by US Customs (even though it was clearly being sent to and from an embassy)?

So we waited. And waited. And finally, after about five or six business days from when the package was sent (not quite sure because there were two days of holidays here and one, maybe two in Chile at the beginning of November) and one business day after it had arrived (I'm impatient), I urged Carlos to call the embassy to make sure that they got the passport (the package was signed for on a Friday afternoon) and check on how the process was going and if they needed more info. Astonishingly, they told him that the visa was approved and his passport was going to be sent back that day (which still meant another week before the passport was in our hands).

So only about two weeks before our departure we were able to relax about the visa and start planning the rest of our itinerary.

Just When You Thought it was Safe...

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 16:22:00 +0000

So I returned to Quito on Wednesday to finally finish the naturalization process. I had everything I needed. All I had to do was go back to the Civil Registry, pay my money, and wait.

The morning went well enough, even though I had to wait two hours for a process that I was told would take half an hour. But I finally got my papers and all I had to do was walk over to the "rectifications" desk and they would input my data and I would be able to get my ID (NB - apparently I technically am a citizen already, but have no way of proving it until I get my ID, which I need in order to get a passport, which I need to get back into the country if I leave since my work visa expires in three weeks).

My number was called and I gave my papers to the man at the desk. He starts typing. He asks a few questions, confirming that my parents only have one last name each (as opposed to the standard two here). Then he asks about their nationalities. The paper I gave him said that they were South African but in the computer it says that they are American. I tell him that they are both, hoping to just get the process done with. He tells me that they can't be both. I tell him that it is possible, just like how I am now both American and Ecuadorian. He responds that in the computer there can be only one nationality. I tell him just to put American. But, he responds, this official document says South African and the computer says that when your parents came last time they were traveling on American passports (and he knows that how? do they actually have an integrated system that can interact with immigration?). He cannot continue to input the data, something needs to be "officially" changed.

Let me just back up for a minute. Even though the two documents say different things they were actually both factually correct, which is what I had to explain multiple times over the next day an a half. One document was based on my birth certificate, which stated that my parents were both born in South Africa, that leads to the assumption that they were, at the time of my birth, both South African. That is true. However, when they last visited for my wedding, they traveled on American passports and were stated to be American on the marriage certificate. Again, that is true. However, no one seemed to grasp that in the more than 30 intervening years they may have changed their nationality, just like I was doing (or trying to do) at that moment.

So the guy at the "rectifications" desk tells me that I have to return to Cuenca to fix it. Freaking out, I call Carlos and he calls the lawyer to try to sort things out. At this time the battery on my phone is getting low. Fortunately, Carlos's parents were in Quito and I get the opportunity to charge up my phone a bit while lunching with them and one of his brothers.

After lunch I headed back to the Civil Registry with a plan. The lawyer had advised me to talk to someone in the legal department there and tell them that the nationality of my parents had no bearing on the process. And I was given the name and number of a lawyer in Quito who could help me. However, I didn't get in contact with her at that time since her cell phone had been damged and whenever I called the office number I got voicemail which was too soft for me to hear. Plus once again, my phone's batteries were low.

Back at the Civil Registry I talked to someone in the legal department, who sent me to speak with another women, who sent me to speak to a third women, and then finally a fourth women there. Each time I explained my situation and each time I was pushed off on someone else. The forth women finally told me that since the document that needed to be changed was produced by the Ministry of the Exterior, I would need to get them to change it. They had two offices in Quito and I was given the addresses of both, but advised to go to the closest one.

So I arrive at the Ministry and it is a tiny office with a ceiling that leaks. One guy sends me to another, then back to the first, then finally to a guy who is supposed to help me. Once again I start with the story about how both documents are technically true, but do not match. He interrupts and asks to see my passport. I give it to him and he flips through it to find my visa. Upon seeing the visa he tells me that my visa is wrong and it's going to expire soon and I'm doing everything wrong and there is nothing that he can do to help. I try to explain that the visa shouldn't matter if I now am a citizen. No, he says, I've screwed up and he can't help. That's when I start crying.

I mean, I was already pretty frustrated at that point, but this guy was just an asshole. The nicest guy in the office was the security guard who brought me toilet paper to blow my nose. I really felt that no one wanted to even try to help me or, if they did, even knew how. I mean, Kafka must have written The Trial about Ecuador.

Finally, seeing me bawling, the one of the useful guys in the Ministry suggests I go to the other office, the main one, not just this branch. It would have been nice if I had known that I was just at a branch beforehand. So I head to the main office and stated my conundrum. I was sent to the annex across the street. At the annex I was sent back to the main office and finally made my way to the office of a man who could help. I explained my story (again) but this time someone actually did something! He scanned my document and wrote down my concerns in an email to Cuenca to find out if I did indeed have to return there to fix the issue and if so how. However, since it was nearing their 4:30PM closing time, I was informed that I needed to call him tomorrow to check on my case. Unfortunately there was nothing more to do that day.

So I spoke with Carlos again and we decided that I should stay in Quito that night and meet with the lawyer the next day to try to sort things out. Well, Carlos convinced me to stay. I wanted to go home. I had no toothbrush, no change of underwear, and almost no money (totally different story having to do with forgetting my PIN). I had no batteries in my phone and no keys to the apartment (Carlos's parents have an apartment in Quito and his brother works there so he stays in the apartment during the week). I ended up waiting in the apartment's lobby for two hours for Carlos's brother to return from work to let me in. Fortunately, he had a charger that worked with my phone and once I found out that I wouldn't have to pay the lawyer the next day in cash I felt a bit better.

I met with the lawyer on Thursday morning, feeling as decent as I could with my unbrushed hair, dried out contacts, and clothes from the day before that smelled a bit like sweat. We went to the Civil Registry and once again spoke with more people about what was needed to be done. The day before, on my own, I had only gotten suggestions. This time we actually were informed about what we had to do. The conclusion was that even though the nationality of my parents had no bearing on me within this process, it needed to be correct in the system because they were trying to get organized. And since two of my documents said two different things, one needed to be rectified. And that document could only be corrected in Cuenca with supporting documents. In conclusion, I needed to go back to the office in Cuenca with my parents' naturalization certificates. Finally, a diagnosis and treatment that would lead to a cure!

It was 11AM at that point and my flight wasn't supposed to leave until 8PM. But I went straight to the airport to try to get home. I didn't have keys to get back into the apartment and was not looking forward to nine hours of wandering around Quito. At the airport (after a long, confusing, and heated discussion) I was told that I could change my flight back to another day, but I did not need to change it at that moment, for I could change it, for a $5 fee, later in the week (I knew that I would need to return to Quito again for this process, so I was just postponing the ticket, not wasting it). The only good news of the day. So I went to every ticket desk there and asked when the next flight to Cuenca was. One was at 4:45PM, another at 5:30PM, but finally I found one at 1:45PM. The credit card came out and within minutes I was past security and in the lounge waiting for my flight.

I was home by 2:30PM and spent the afternoon recovering from the most recent of the bureaucratic trauma. I'm not fully recovered yet, but at least today I only have to deal with the minor bureaucracies of buying stamps, paying the rent, and picking up the PIN for my ATM card.

Certifiable

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 21:32:00 +0000

Today I went to the Civil Registry in Cuenca. As I mentioned before, the Civil Registry in Quito would not proceed with my naturalization process until I procured two copies of my marriage certificate, which could only be gotten in Cuenca.

Actually, I need to back up to yesterday. Yesterday I tried to go to the Civil Registry in Cuenca. I mean, I went to the office, but they weren't there anymore. Apparently they are renovating their offices and the temporary location is on the other side of town. Well, the other side of downtown. If downtown Cuenca is about 10 by 15 blocks, the temporary offices were about 20 blocks away from the permanent ones. And I'm not exaggerating, I counted.

So being a bit short on time to walk an extra 30 or so blocks (20 blocks to get there, plus another 10 additional blocks to get home that I wouldn't have had to walk if they hadn't moved the building), I decided to go today. When I arrived there was a line in front. I asked what the line was for and was told that it was to pick up documents. I first had to ask for my documents, so I was told by the guards to go inside.

Once inside, I followed the signs that said "marriage certificates" to an office. I entered and asked for what I needed. I was told to go across the hall and ask there. I did, and was told to go and ask downstairs. I did, and was told to ask outside. So once again I was was in the line that I was told before was not the line for me.

But I waited in that line and eventually made it to the front and was told that yes indeed I could ask for the certificates there. I was sent away with a form to fill out. I was told that I needed to copy my Ecuadorian ID onto it. But, I responded, I don't have an Ecuadorian ID. I'm going through the naturalization process so I can get one. I was then told a copy my passport would suffice.

I filled it out and returned to the window again. I was very specific about the certificate that I needed for naturalization and was then told, oh, we don't give those out. WTF? Didn't we just have the conversation that I need this for naturalization. I once again reiterated that I needed the form for naturalization and was told that I would be receiving a different marriage certificate, but it was acceptable for naturalization. I asked a third time just to be sure, quoting was they asked from me in Quito. The women there seemed a bit annoyed with me and just told me to return tomorrow afternoon to pick up the certificates.

Lets hope it works.

Trust but Verify

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:48:00 +0000

Or measure twice and cut once. Actually, in Ecuador you probably should measure three or for times before cutting.

I know I haven't written much lately, but I've been busy. Besides working, I'm in the process of becoming an Ecuadorian citizen. I actually think I am a citizen already, and the process involved lots of papers and notaries and copies, but still need to go through the process of getting my ID and passport.

Which brings me to the subject. When I was given my papers in Cuenca I was told that I needed to go to the Civil Registry in Quito (only in Quito, it isn't possible elsewhere) with a notarized copy of my birth certificate for a process called "inscripcion," which I believe is putting a record of my birth in the books here.

Well, that didn't happen.

I arrived in Quito this morning and went straight to the Civil Registry only to find out that I also needed two notarized copies of my marriage certificate (which they should have already because in the previous process I needed the same and was told that copies were sent to Quito) plus two copies of my husband's national ID.

WTF? Why on earth would no one inform me that I needed those papers before getting on the plane. I mean, I got here and the people at the registry said, sorry, we can't help you without these documents. They suggested I call my husband and have him get the documents and send them here via courier that would arrive this afternoon, but Carlos is in the field right now and not even accessible on his phone. Plus he has tons of other work he needs to finish because he's coming to Quito tonight since we are heading to Australia first thing tomorrow morning.

And don't even get me started on the five (5!!!!!) flights it takes to get from Cuenca to Melbourne.

N.B: Sorry if my spelling sucks, but this computer doesn't have an English spell check.

House Arrest

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 01:11:00 +0000

Tomorrow is the census. Just like in the US they do it every ten years. Unlike the US, there is one day that they attempt to count everyone and you must stay in your house all day. It is against the law for me to leave my house tomorrow from 7AM to 5PM.

Sigh. I guess I'll be on skype if anyone wants to call :)

Security

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 17:34:00 +0000

I'm currently in Latacunga now, I was in Cuenca for the last week, after returning back from Chicago. I brought back with me about 140lbs of luggage, 50lbs in each checked bag and about 40lbs in my carry on (which broke during the flight, but that's another story). So what usually happens when I return to Ecuador is that Dad drops me off at the terminal with my two checked bags, then he parks while I check in and he meets me in the terminal and brings me my carry on. We then say goodbye as I go through security.

This time, after I had checked in and was waiting for Dad, a woman approached me with a question. "Have you," she asked, "ever flown before?" I replied yes. It was her next question that actually sort of startled me, "Do you know where the gates are?" "They are after security," I replied. She had a blank look on her face. "First you need to go through security, that line over there, and the gates are on the other side." "Oh, thank you."

I understand that there are people who haven't ever flown before. And O'Hare is a pretty intimidating airport for a first trip. But was this woman living under a rock for the past decade? Did she really have no idea that (now) you have to be screened before getting on the plane? I hope she made it.

First Class

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:14:00 +0000

This week is full of travel. But fortunately most of it will be an upgrade from what I'm used to.

First, a summary of this week's travel:

Friday 11PM - leave Latacunga
Saturday 7AM - arrive Cuenca
Sunday 8PM - leave Cuenca
Monday 3AM - arrive Latacunga
Wednesday 10AM - leave Latacunga
Wednesday noon - arrive Quito
Wednesday 5PM - leave Quito
Wednesday 6PM -arrive Cuenca
Thursday 6PM - leave Cuenca
Thursday 7PM - arrive Quito
Friday 6:30AM - leave Quito
Friday 11AM - arrive Miami
Saturday 1PM - leave Miami
Saturday 4PM - arrive Chicago

So right now I'm in the VIP lounge of Tame in Quito. I got in since I am traveling with my boss. And his boss. Not the best lounge ever, but there is free tea and wi-fi and comfy couches. Plus, my boss's boss upgraded us to first class.

Since I booked my flight to Chicago with frequent flier miles and due to the last minute booking, I was able to get a business class flight home for less than coach. Maybe this is my reward for 16 hour work days.

My First Potential Coup

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:01:00 +0000

A state of emergency has been declared in Ecuador. The military is now in charge and are backing the president. The airports and major roads are closed. This is all due to the fact that the police are on strike apparently due to the reduction of their retirement benefits.

However, in Latacunga nothing is happening. I'm so safe that I'm practically cloistered.

I've been working 16 hour days this past week since we are issuing drawings tomorrow. So I basically leave the office for lunch and dinner is ordered in. And our apartment here is half a block away.

The internet was shut down nationwide earlier today for a few hours. Which was good for me because I was able to get more work done :)

If anything interesting happens, I'll try to write about it. But for now, back to work.

Still on Hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 02:23:00 +0000

I've been meaning to post more stories, but have been working almost non-stop since I started my job at the end of June. When you are living in a small town eight hours from your home where you don't really know anyone, it's easy to just eat, sleep, drink, and work. And wait for the shower (which happens when you have seven people living the in same apartment building who all need to be at work at 8AM). In Latacunga, 10, 12, even 14 hour days were typical just because there wasn't anything else to do there. But this week I will be working from Cuenca in a office that is open from 8:30AM to 1PM and 2:30PM to 6PM so I intend to start posting again.

Latacunga

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 15:53:00 +0000

I know that my regular readers may have been wondering why I haven't written. Ha ha ha. I know that's not true, I'm just writing again because my mom suggested that I do.

Believe it or not, I've actually been working this past month. I have a few weeks left in my two month contract as a sanitary engineer, designing the master plan for the sewer network in Latacunga, Ecuador. I have a weekly eight hour commute each way between Cuenca and Latacunga, and work 10 to 12 hour days, which is why I haven't had much time to blog.

But I have a moment now and will show you Latacunga. This is the view from my office window.

Well, it's a well zoomed view, the real view looks more like this...

Anyway, the big snow covered mountain is Cotopaxi, the highest point in Ecuador. And it's also an inactive volcano. Throughout town there are signs that tell you where to go in the event of an eruption. Practical, but not very comforting.

Inti Raymi

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:41:00 +0000

Here in Ecuador (as well as other parts of the former Incan Empire), the celebration of the summer solstice is a big deal. Last year we went to a festival in Ingapirca, some Cañari/Incan ruins a few hours north of Cuenca. This year we went to Chobshi, another town about an hour away from Cuenca that is known for a cave where a prehistoric culture lived and a ruined pre-Incan castle.

Last year we walked around the ruins and watched local groups perform traditional dances. The weather was beautiful. This year was a bit different. We ended up getting our auras cleansed by some hippies in a castle in the rain.

Apparently there was supposed to be traditional dances and such at Chobshi, but the intermittent downpours seemed to prevent that. Carlos and I had some lunch at the museum, then made our way down to the castle (15 minute walk on a muddy road) to await the ceremony that was supposed to take place around 4PM.

For disclosures sake, I don't believe in people having good energies or bad energies. I don't believe what the witch doctors tell me. I don't believe that visiting the curanderas will stop babies from crying or get rid of my nightmares. But I go because the people I care about believe in these things. And because I find these events interesting.

So the ceremony starts. We all form a circle. There is some of the harvest (maize, bananas, apples, etc.) in the center and a few guys trying to keep a small portable fire going in the rain. There is some chanting towards the four cardinal directions with each of the four elements (air, water, earth, and fire). Then there is a sign. A rainbow appears. We must be doing something right.

Then some of the leaders come around to everyone in the circle and use each element to bless each person. I am tickled with a feather (air), sprinkled with water (water, duh), given maize to throw in the fire (earth), and finally bathed in smoke (fire). There is some more chanting, some more music. Then the leader throws a bunch of herbs of the ground for everyone to take so that they can be cleansed.

So Carlos grabs a few herbs and we go wait for the smoke men to cleanse us. He told me that my aura was very dirty. I told him that I had nightmares almost every night. Scanning his tools, he made a quick diagnosis. My treatment was as follows (note: I couldn't take photos of myself and Carlos was also being cleansed as well, so the process photos are of others).

First he grabbed to sticks, small thin branches, and proceeded to whip the air around me.

Then I was given a crystal to hold in my hands, while he tapped small stones around my head.

Next were the feathers, which I guess was meant to calm the air.

I was not hit with flowers. This time I just needed to stand on them, but I don't have a photo of that.

I think after that was the alcohol, which was sprayed upon me.

Then the conch shell was blown all around me.

And that was it. I got a hug at the end (sorry, no photos of that).

I am not sure what the full process was for Carlos, since part of it was occurring simultaneously. But I did see that he had the bad spirits pushed out of him, i.e., he got whacked on the back a few times, like you would pat someone who was coughing, only harder.

At the end, Carlos felt better. But I felt the same, just wet.

I wonder what will happen next year?

World Cup Commentary

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 22:43:00 +0000

I've spent almost the entire past week watching football. I mean soccer. I think I saw (at least most of) 15 of the 23 games so far. Here are a few things I learned:

Everyone is a secret North Korean fan. When they finally scored their goal the bar erupted in cheers. Then everyone looked around suspiciously at their comrades.
The ball is possessed.
People (i.e., announcers) are surprised that South Africa, especially Jo'burg, is a bit chilly. It's winter. You're at 1800m. Stop complaining and bring a jacket.
On weekdays, Ecuadorians don't drink beer before noon. Americans do.
The English announcers comments are really quite obvious. Can't you think of something else to say besides, "That will be a talking point after the match"?
The Ecuadorian announcers pronounce "Algeria" as "Orhelia." One more time in case you didn't quite catch that- "Or-heL-e-a". I understand the Spanish "g" as an English "h", but really don't get the transposition of the "r" and "l".

The Hora

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 18:39:00 +0000

No, that's not bad Spanglish. It's a Jewish dance.

And I think that we effectively tripled or quadrupled the population of Jews in Cuenca for our wedding.

The dance is easy. You join hands and go around in a circle, doing a grapevine. Sometimes you change directions. Occasionally you expand or contract the circle. That's about it.

I do have a nice video of the dancing, but it just won't seem to upload :( I hope photos will do.

You've probably noticed that there aren't any Ecuadorians dancing. I think that most were just watching the spectacle. We didn't have much room because it had been drizzling a bit earlier and the wooden dance floor was slick. A few people had already slipped. So we decided to dance outside on the brick porch.

Carlos had been to my cousin's wedding with us and saw the practice of being hoisted up on chairs. He didn't like what he saw. It was one Jewish tradition that he was not very thrilled about participating in at our wedding. I assured him that I had never seen anyone fall, but advised him to always keep one hand on the chair.

So we have me, having fun...

...and Carlos, trying not to seem terrified...

...but not masking his relief when through.

With that, it was time for a drink. And some lunch.

Cocktail Hour

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:47:00 +0000

In Judaism there is a specific part of the wedding that is called the Yichud, i.e., seclusion, after the ceremony in which the bride and groom have some time alone together. I believe that back in the day it was the time to, um, consummate the marriage. But now it seems to be used as snack time.

So, after the ceremony Carlos and I had a few minutes to ourselves. I really mean a few minutes because we were sitting in his parents suite sipping champagne and nibbling on some meats and cheeses when some young nephews barged in through the back door. I yelled at them to get out. It wasn't actually a yell, but more like a very strong suggestion to go away and leave us alone.

After about 10 minutes we left seclusion for a toast. Apparently in Ecuador, no one drinks at weddings until after the toast. I mean, there is no cocktail hour at Ecuadorian weddings, people just sit around and just wait. The complete opposite of what I had expected. And I didn't like the sound of it. So Carlos and I gave quick toast welcoming everyone (so that they could start drinking) and then proceeded for an hour and a half of photos.

As I mentioned before (like a million times, I'll stop soon), I did not like our photographer. He really wasn't professional. He didn't seem to understand that it was his duty to direct people. While we were taking photos he never said to anyone, "Excuse me, I would like to take this photo first then you can talk to the couple." He would just wait. And wait. So then someone else would want to chat. We had told him that we wanted him to take some initiative, but he didn't.

So the photos took a really long time and we didn't really get all the shots that we wanted, though he did take some nice ones.

Fortunately, our friends did an amazing job of filling in the gaps. Especially during the hora.

Unrecognizable

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 18:37:00 +0000

Our apartment has wood floors in the bedrooms. They are unsealed. That means you can't just run a mop over them - you need to wax them. And I don't do floors.

One of my most vivid memories of my vacations to visit family in South Africa when I was growing up, was to see my grandparents' maids on their hands and knees waxing the wood floors in the morning. Every morning. And I would wonder why they just didn't vacuum. Now I know why.

We sweep them weekly and every two or three months we have Maria (we borrow Mami's cleaning lady) come over and clean. I don't actually remember how long it's been since she was last here, but this is the grime from the three bedrooms...

I know, it's a lot. But we sweep every week. I mean, Carlos sweeps every week (I do the dishes).

Anyway, this is what the floors looked like after waxing.

So worth the ten bucks. But when we eventually have our own house I will make sure the floors are sealed.

How to Register Your Car - Act III

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Mon, 31 May 2010 15:48:00 +0000

We spent some time pondering how to register the car until Mami came up with a solution so simple and devious that I was afraid it actually might work.

Since Friday was the last day to register the car, why not go then, when it would be busy, and try again. But this time, if asked, just say that grandpa was old, not dead.

And it worked. No questions were asked. Nothing more had to be paid.

Now all we have to do is register the car in Carlos's name to avoid any problems next year...

How to Register Your Car - Act II

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 26 May 2010 16:41:00 +0000

The mechanic was finished with the car at around noon on Friday. It cost $20. However the muffler had not been fixed. Apparently mechanics in Ecuador specialize.

So on Saturday we took it to a mechanic that just did mufflers. Ours was beyond repair so we had it replaced. For $45.

On Sunday and Monday we went around town looking for a first aid kit. When the car is inspected, a first aid kit, warning triangles, and a fire extinguisher are required. We couldn't find just a first aid kit, only kits that had a combination of all three required items. Even the pharmacies didn't carry first aid kits. So for the inspection we borrowed Mami's.

The concept of requiring these safety items is good, but the culture here has managed to make these items almost irrelevant. The first aid kit is full of band aids, which honestly, won't help too much if you get into an accident. No thermal blanket, no emergency water, no flashlight. As for the triangles, I've never seen anyone use them. Normally when there is a vehicle stopped in the road someone has torn down a tree branch and placed it a few feet behind the car. As for the fire extinguisher - no complaints.

On Tuesday morning Mami and I drove to the vehicle inspection place. It's about 15 minutes from town. It was a bit busy, but apparently not packed. The way the system works is that every license plate has three letters and three numbers. The last number on your plate corresponds with the month that you need to get your car inspected, i.e. 2 is March, 3 is April, 4 is May (I think they use August and December for holidays). You have the entire month to get your car inspected, but most people go during the last week, due to both procrastination and failing previous inspections. If I had known about the inspection before last week and if we had not been in the US, I assume we would have planned to take the car in during a less busy time. But that's not what happened.

When you arrive, a kid near the turnoff sells you an sheet of paper that is compulsory for the inspection that you can't get at the actual inspection location. We doubt him a little, but buy it for a quarter. He gives us the sheet of paper and a piece of carbon paper. Carbon paper? Really? Is this the sort of technology we're going to be dealing with? Apparently the inspection facility is relatively new...

So we get in line. Between the turnoff and the facility is a 100m long potholed dirt road that connects the paved main road and what seems to be a shiny new inspection facility. There is no signage. There is no one around to tell you what's going on except for the people selling first aid kits, warning triangles, and fire extinguishers. But they don't seem to know anything.

After about 45 minutes we are at the head of the line and someone actually gives us instructions on what to do. Park the car, pay $20, and wait until you are called. So that's what we do. We wait for about an hour and a half. Because even though we are at the head of the line, we had to park in a lot of about 30 cars that were ahead of us.

The inspection facility is quite modern. They do visual tests of the muffler and lights, look under the hood, plus suspension and air quality tests. There are about 30 parameters that they test. And we passed them all. And it's all done in a separate space that can be seen through a window so there is not chance of slipping the mechanic a few dollars to make sure your car passes.

But we weren't done yet. From there we had to get into another line so a mechanic could copy the serial number of the chassis and motor. After an hour in that line we reached the front and I figured out why we needed the carbon paper. It was another anti-corruption device. The mechanic rubbed the carbon paper on to the serial number, then took a piece of scotch tape and laid it on top to pick up the impression. The tape was then stuck to the sheet of paper that we bought for a quarter. These numbers were then matched with the official documents in the car. If a letter or number or two was illegible the mechanic wrote it in, but I thought it was an ingenious way of preventing paying off the mechanic for passing a stolen item.

After about three and a half hours we were done with the inspection. But we still had some time before lunch so Mami suggested we go to the police station to hand in all the papers and get our new documents. We have everything, it shouldn't take too long.

Once we got there it was get this form an xerox that. We did that with ease. We finally presented the documents to the window. The man there asked, "Who is Guillermo Cabrera?" Mami replied, "He's my father-in-law." We showed the man his ID and he commented since he was a senior it was fine that we were doing the registration for him and passed our papers to the next window. We were almost done.

At the next window we got asked the same question, "Who is Guillermo Cabrera?" plus another one "Why is his name on some of the documents and Carlos Cabrera on the rest? All the documents need to be in the same name." Mami replied, "The car now belongs to my son, Carlos, because my father-in-law, Guillermo, is dead."

Apparently that was the wrong answer.

The week before I had been asking Carlos why the car wasn't in his name and wouldn't that cause problems for registration. He assured me that it would not. He said that the process to put the car in his name would be difficult. Since there are no records of the car being sold from his grandfather to his father and then his father to him they would need a document signed by all of his grandfather's beneficiaries declaring it could be sold to him. But that took lots of time and needed signatures and notarizations - too much trouble.

Carlos arrived to the police station about 10 seconds after Mami gave the wrong answer (which was the truth and both Carlos and I would have answered the same way). He was on his way home for lunch and the station was on his way. We all stood there wondering what to do. We asked a few more questions and it was clear that we needed to transfer the car to his name. By the end of the week. Or pay a $50 fine.

So Mami spent the afternoon calling Papi's siblings explaining that we needed signatures immediately to avoid paying the fine. They were all happy to help. But after about two hours of phone calls Mami suddenly realized that she's missing one person - Papi. He's in Miami this week and won't be back until Sunday. So no matter how much else we do, we will still need to pay the fine.

So there will be an Act III.

How to Register Your Car - Act I

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 21 May 2010 16:59:00 +0000

I've been back in Cuenca for about 10 days now. I've adjusted to the altitude all right, but not so much the life.

The past few days we have being trying to figure out how to re-register/inspect Carlos's car. Because of his plate number or ID number or something like that, he was the entire month of May to complete the process. And you definitely need the whole month.

First of all, the process has changed. Last year the process was overseen by the state, now it's a county issue. We went online to try find what documents were needed, but couldn't find that anywhere. We couldn't even find a phone number of who to ask. But Carlos knew that we had to pay some fee at the bank. But which bank? Mami has said one bank, but last year he paid at a different bank, but he didn't have the time to go to either of those so he went to a third bank and found out that he could pay there. A miracle (for many things in Ecuador not only do you have to pay at a specific bank, but at a specific branch)!

But we still didn't know what else we needed. Finally, after talking with Mami, she managed to find a tiny slip of paper saying all the documents that were needed. We only needed to pay two more fees at two more locations before we could take the car in to get it inspected. This was on Wednesday night. But Carlos was going to Quito for the whole day Thursday. He couldn't do it. So Mami, Papi, and I did.

On Thursday morning I walked over to his parents house so they could come with me to pay the fees. I didn't know where we were going, but apparently it was close. The first fee was for state insurance. We walked about 10 minutes to one place, no they said, you need to go to another place and sort of gave us directions. Another 10 minute walk and we discovered that we were a bit in the wrong direction and needed to turn around to find the place. But we did eventually find it.

We started the procedure to pay the state insurance. It would be $55. For the year. Including a fine.

The fine part was $25 because the insurance had expired in March and we needed to pay that portion and a fine to reinstate it. This is nothing like car insurance in the US. It has nothing to do with the quality of the driver, it is purely based on the year and model of the car. I don't even know what it insures.

However, I saw that last year Carlos had paid $80. So I asked again about the fine. Would it be the $55 plus the $25 fine. No, the women answered, it was a total of $55 including the fine. She looked at me like I was an idiot. Didn't I understand?

Carlos later explained to me that the state felt that it had over charged people in 2009 so they recalibrated the rates for 2010 and people got a bit of a refund for overpaying last year. But at the time I didn't know this and really felt that after we left we would have to return later for not paying.

The next stop was at the police station to pay a $12 fee. When I got to the head of the line, the woman behind the counter informed me that the computer said we did not pay the year before. This may have been because they were still integrating all the states data from the previous years. So I needed to find a certificate saying that we did or pay $25.80 for the two years, including a fine. I didn't remember Carlos saying anything about the certificate. And the time to go and look for it was worth more to me than an extra $14. So after consulting Mami, I went back to the counter to pay. The woman wouldn't let me! She ordered me to go and look for it!

I left the counter, having no choice of what to do. I tried calling Carlos, but he didn't answer because he was in a meeting. So we went to lunch. I should mention that we did so much walking that morning and the sun was so strong that the back of my neck actually got sunburnt.

After lunch we took the car to the mechanic. Since the car would need to be inspected and if it didn't pass, then reinspected, we decided to take it there for some maintenance (it's a 1975 Mazda pickup). The muffler needed repairing, as well as the speedometer and fuel gage. As far as I know it's still at the mechanics. I don't know what the bill will be, but I'm sure it will be less than $100. Service is cheap here.

On the way back from the mechanics we went back to the police station to pay the $25.80 fees and fine. Carlos had called during lunch and said that no, he did not pay that fee last year so we wouldn't be able to find the paper no matter how hard we tried. When we returned there was a different women at the counter and when she tired to tell us to go find the paper I told her that my husband didn't pay the fee last year and that we were willing to pay for last year, this year, and the fine. The money was finally accepted and we had our second receipt of the day.

Now that we have the fees paid we just need to wait until the car is ready and take it to get inspected. Papi will be doing that for us, since I don't drive here and even if I did I have no idea where the place for inspection is.

And that story will be the next act.

On Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:55:00 +0000

Will return in May.

Domsetic or International?

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:42:00 +0000

I was on the phone with American Airlines and while listening to the endless loop if computerized information, I heard a phrase that sort of confused me.

"...in the domestic United States."

Isn't that redundant? Or are there actually international parts of the US?

That makes me think of when I was at SOM and the receptionists would sometimes announce that someone had an "overseas" call instead of saying "international" or "long distance."

Ceremony - Act II

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:17:00 +0000

The second half of the ceremony was the Jewish part. As you may probably guess, Ecuador doesn't have many Jews. Apparently there is a small community with a rabbi in Quito, but all the Jews that once lived in Cuenca are dead. I know that may sound terrible, but I say that with respect. I mean, I've done my research.

Carlos and I live across the street from the cemetery and there is a small Jewish section there with about 30 graves. Most of the deceased were born in Eastern Europe in the late 19th and early 20th century and the last burial here seemed to be in the 1990's. There is a Panama hat shop here that was owned by a German Jew (K. Dorfzaun), but apparently he died about two years ago and was buried in Quito.

But I digress.

Apparently one does not need a rabbi to have a Jewish wedding. Fortunately, my father is descended from the priestly tribe so he was able to preside over the Jewish part. There are seven blessing that are recited to the couple, which were read by not only my father, but our friends and family in Hebrew, English, and Spanish. Each blessing was done in conjunction with circling (traditionally the bride circles the groom seven times, symbolizing the creation of a family circle, but we each did three circles and the last one together).

After which, we drank some wine (red wine, which I managed not to spill on my dress).

The final blessing was the priestly blessing, which is done with a tallit wrapped around the couple.

And we finished up with the breaking of the glass (it's wrapped in a napkin so shards don't fly everywhere, and so you can't see that it's not actually a glass, usually a light bulb is used because it's easy to break, but in our case we used a Christmas ornament, a great way to intertwine the two religions).

And we were married! We then ran off for a few minutes alone before the party really started.

Ceremony - Act I

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 16:54:00 +0000

As you probably know, Carlos is Catholic and I am Jewish. So when deciding what type of wedding ceremony we wanted, we knew had to incorporate both religions.

The family priest is a bit old. Carlos wanted a younger, more open priest. A few recommendations led us to a young Colombian priest. He was great. He explained the rules to us, which I found to be very complicated. He was able to marry a Catholic and a non-Catholic only because the non-Catholic was a foreigner. If the non-Catholic was Ecuadorian, the church (not the state) would not sanctify the marriage between the non-Catholic and the Catholic. But that wasn't a problem for us.

He was really laid back and modern, his office was furnished with both paintings and statues of saints as well as a laptop and cell phone. He made a copy of the ceremony for us to go through and choose the readings that we wanted. And I don't mean bible verses. There were two or three different prayers for every part of the wedding ceremony, i.e. statement of intent, exchange of vows, etc. Some were stronger than others. We basically chose the versions that didn't mention Jesus and wherever the reading said "the church" we changed it to "the community". Basically, it reflected what we believed.

But for me, the most interesting part of the ceremony was the blessing and exchange of the Arras, or Dowry. Apparently, it's an old Jewish custom based on 13 coins, symbolizing the promise of future care of family property. The Catholic church adopted this practice and uses 13 coins to symbolize the goods that the new couple will share. However, the priest had told use that we don't have to use coins (even though I was thinking of using international coins to reflect where we had traveled together). We could use anything that had value to us. We could even use seeds. Carlos's face lit up. He loved that idea.

That look of concentration on my face is because I was trying not to mess up the Spanish (which I did).

I would like to take this opportunity to give a special thanks to Mijail (whose side you can see in some photos, unfortunately I don't have a good shot of him). We had a slight coordination problem and were not able to have the professional translator that we had planned for the ceremony. Mijail accepted our last minute request to translate the Catholic ceremony for us. We were so grateful for his help and think he did a great job.

But the Catholic ceremony came to an end with a kiss...

...and the crowd was now waiting for the second act.

My New Favorite Food...

noreply@blogger.com (Judith) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:22:00 +0000

...is homemade chocolate mint ice cream.

It doesn't take much hands on time or effort or skill to make. You don't even need an ice cream maker. You just need lots of patience and about 24 hours.

I normally don't have much patience, but for ice cream I do (though I did many, um, "tastings" while the ice cream was still a cream, actually a custard). Anyway, there are four steps, but you need to do lots of waiting and cooling between steps. First, infuse the cream with mint. Second, reheat the cream and make a custard. Third, cool the custard in the fridge (overnight). Fourth, freeze the custard while stirring every hour or so.

So easy. And so good. I should have tried making it sooner, but for a long time I had a fear of custards. I don't know why people consider ice cream so unhealthy. It's 99% milk, chocolate, sugar, cream, and egg yolks. Carlos drinks milk with chocolate and honey (as in chocolate milk with extra sweetener) every morning for breakfast. Almost the same thing. And unless you are the type who cannot start a pint without finishing it (you know who you are), one batch lasts for about five days for two people.

Now, what flavor should I make next week?