Out and About

David Zambrano and his family are our neighbors living only two doors away from us.  David has been our Go To person for any issues we have on the house.  He is an excellent electrician and plumber. Several weeks back he had an accident and has been flat on his back since.

Yesterday he was out and about in his wheelchair.

Always smiling!  God bless him.

If you live here and can come by and visit I know he would appreciate it. Laying in bed all day can be very boring.

At his last doctors appointment he was told he could stand with the help of a walker and take three steps, three times a day. Progress. Keep him and his family in your prayers.

Sad Day Watching Your House Being Torn Down

Over the past two weeks, Sergio and Nellie and their family have removed everything from the one house on their property.  Doors, security bars, roofing, timber beams, everything that they could remove they have removed. With the earthquake the house could not be repaired and needed to be torn down.

Early this morning the backhoe and dump truck showed up on our street.

It was hard watching this lovely family as the heavy equipment rolled down our street and within 30 minutes their house was gone and the lot nearly empty of all memory of the house.

 

 

Within a few hours a tent was carried down the street and set up on their now empty lot.

Hopefully they will be able to rebuild one day soon.

 

 

Here is the Tent at the End of our Street

This is what all the guys were doing yesterday.

“Follow Me, and I Will Make You Fishers of Men.”

The Catholic church at the entrance to San Clemente recently received a new coat of paint. Today I noticed the beautiful painting on the entrance wall. This is a wonderful tribute to a fishing village.

If anyone knows the artist please let me know so I can give him/her credit.

Decorations for the Festival or, Mary Poppins comes To San Clemente

It was a wonderful surprise to see the decorations downtown in San Clemente this morning. Over the past several weeks a great deal of cleaning, painting of curbs and decorations for the Virgin statue have caught my eye. But this mornings addition just made me stop and smile.

Last night was a cultural evening with entertainment. Today there is a surf championship down at the point with cash prizes and over the weekend there will be fireworks, live music and food and drink available from many vendors around the downtown area.

San Clemente English Speaking Worship Service

This morning Mary and John MacDonald along with the help of Mary and Larry Lloyd started a Sunday morning non-denominational worship service at Macedonia Hotel in San Clemente. It was a very joy-filled service with singing and an inspirational recorded message from the assistant pastor at the Lloyds’ church Christ Church in Oronogo, MO.

Both couples decided this past week to take the leap of faith needed to start this weekly gathering. All are welcome so please come and join the services next Sunday at 11am.

High Tides

The paper called it an aguaje with higher than normal tides. The waves were crazy wild and even kept me from walking the beach most days last week.

The fishermen who keep their boat at the end of some of the beaches moved them onto the streets behind to keep them safe. We take our coffee to a spot about a block from our house and sit most mornings enjoying the ocean and fresh air. One day I noticed that the picket fence surrounding the fishermen’s cottage was a bit eroded the next day the fence was gone.

Always worth watching what the locals are doing, that will tell you what is happening in your community.

Festival Season Begins in the San Clemente Area

There was a seafood festival this weekend in San Alejo, the next town. During the day many different seafood specialties were available and in the evening there was a fiesta with dancing. We were awakened this morning around 4am to the sounds of music and singing flowing into our home. This continues as I write this with several men hanging around a running pickup truck out in the street right at the corner of our home. It is now after 7am, the sun is up and the party continues.

Don’t get me wrong, Joe and I love Vicente Fernandez – his music is wonderful, We love all the festivals that will be happening in this area over the next few months.  But I am just not sure we will ever get used to having music playing outside our bedroom windows for a good part of the night. This is our adopted home and we are adapting to the cultural differences, Honestly I had several hours of sleep prior to their arrival and considered joining in the fun, OH SORRY this looked to be an all male activity, Oh well.

The truck drove away at 8am leaving just the chickens announcing the beginning of the day. And it is a good day.

Call for Help

A short while ago while Joe and I were sitting down for lunch, Sonia started to yell up the street from the tienda. Within seconds every man working at her house and everyone else living on our street were running down the street. Cars and trucks were started and off they went to centro.  A fire at Sonia’s niece’s home in downtown Clemente was the reason.

No one had to think about it, no one stopped to do anything, they just all left to take care of this problem. What we see here in Ecuador is neighbor helping neighbor. We see very little police or government involvement in daily living. If there is a problem folks here find a way to solve it. If you need help all you have to do is ask and they are there for you.

We need to understand that we are part of a community of people who take charge when there is a situation that needs to be addressed. I am proud to be part of this community and hope to be able to take part to the best of my ability and fit in with these wonderful people.

I understand from one of the other neighbors that the damage to the home was extensive. I had called David Hitchcock so he will probably have some information on his blog. Figuring it Out in Ecuador at http://figuringitoutinecuador.wordpress.com/