Moving In...Or Not

Cotopaxi in the morning


Waking up to the incredible expanse of the Andes in every direction is absolutely amazing. Cotopaxi was clearly visible this morning, as well as Ilinisa and another mountain or volcano that I cannot name. I am so pleased that we will be waking up to the view of the mountains in our new apartment. There are buildings obscuring Cotopaxi and the Panacillo from our new place, but Pichincha is visible, as is the length of the city to the north and to the south.

Now that we have decided on our apartment, we will have to wait for the owners to send us an agreement, our friend Guillermo to look at the contract before we sign it, the concierge to do the necessary repairs, the cleaning staff to scrub it thoroughly, and we will have to stock up on towels and sheets and kitchen materials. Knowing what I know of Ecuador, this will all take much longer than expected. I would like to move in tomorrow, but we will be lucky to be there in a week. Most importantly, we need an address for Maya's school so they can arrange the bus route for pickup and drop off.

Mirror in entrance

Fireplace

Living Area

View from living area

View of sky

Piles of dirt in living area...

Patio needs a little scrubbing and lime-away...

Kitchen

View from kitchen

Apartment Key

Bedroom
Eric and I visited the apartment today and walked through with the concierge to review what would have to happen before we move in. Pedro on each prior visit has been very encouraging and positive about our moving into the place, but today appeared hesitant and uncertain. When I put my hand out to shake his, he brushed me away. I am not sure what that meant. He appeared distracted as we did the walkthrough, and disappeared quickly when we were done. I am trying not to read anything into his behaviour, he may have been busy or overwhelmed by our requests, or had not heard from the owners that we would be moving forward.

We piled up all the unwanted furniture in the middle of the very large living room; I had in the end decided to keep as much as possible so that we would not have to purchase so much before moving in. That means using powerful chemicals to clean the stained sofas and chairs. Eric is very excited to have to go to KYWI, the local ferreteria extraordinaire, to buy the necessary cleaning products and shopvac equivalent. Despite the choice to keep as much as was tolerable the pile of rejected furniture is substantial and occupies a large space. Eric plans to have a birthday party next Monday and has started asking people to come and celebrate in our new apartment, piles of furniture in our midst or not!

Meanwhile, I am conducting a systematic search of the Mariscal, or in fact my search will include all of Quito and extend to the rest of Ecuador if necessary and of course the search is for a good cup of coffee. I am rather stunned that despite growing coffee for export and otherwise, there is no true coffee tradition here. Ecuadorians like to drink juice, and wonderful combinations of juices, but coffee is not a priority. I order cappuccino each time, and when the coffee arrives, it looks like cappuccino, but always tastes the same as drip Ecuadorian coffee. I am not sure what the problem is, but perhaps this it the way Ecuadorians like their coffee, so I will keep drinking it and continue to try different coffee shops for the best coffee in Quito and in Ecuador.

Cotopaxi in the Evening