Shoe Styles Here In Uruguay

The first thing I must tell you is that fashion has taken a back seat for the past 7 years while living in Ecuador.  First we lived the entire time on the coast so flip-flops, shorts, tank tops and super casual was the order of the day. Actually it was very hard to find any type of covered shoe, only open toe or like I said flip-flops. And most shoes for women only went up to size 8 1/2. For a sneaker I need room so I want a 9 1/2 or better yet a 10 for them to be a comfortable walking shoe. With that being said it was kind of culture shock when we arrived in Montevideo.  The women were wearing these long dresses or long skirts everywhere plus these huge platform shoes and sandals with 4 or 5 inch platforms that looked like truck tires.

Also, it is a throwback to the 80’s. Most music that you hear in restaurants and the malls is 80’s USA music.  The Uruguayans seem to love everything 80’s.  I am not sure when this style of shoe was introduced back in the US, but I know I have not seen anything like it in years.

Here are a few pictures of what they are showing here for the fall.  Yes, we are in fall now going into our first winter. Every day an adventure! For me personally, I do not like this style.  But I am sure for the younger gals it would be wonderful.

Shopping Cart or Like I Call It The Old Lady Cart

Some days our shopping consists of just a few bags, but those bags can be heavy. Getting a taxi is easy but the supermarket is only 2 blocks from the apartment. So if we can walk it we do. In our walking around town we noticed so many people young and old alike pulling one of these carts behind them while they were walking home.  For $15 we bought this beauty and have used it several times both from the Supermarket and the Sunday Market.

It holds a good amount of packages, is pretty easy to either push or pull and stores well right next to the front door so we will remember to take it when we shop.

Yes, I hear ya, we are officially old.  Bring it on!!!

Punta Carretas Shopping for Valentine’s Day

Joe planned a full day of fun for Valentine’s day. First we went to the Puntas Carretas Shopping mall. The building was once a prison but now it is a three story mall filled with high end shops and restaurants.

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Laughter is Great Medicine

Our friends Leigh and Rick took me into Manta with them yesterday.  We told stories, laughed having a great time. We had breakfast at a local restaurant with Angie and Raphael, the restaurant served Llapingachos – but not with potato – with yuca, they have a different name which I failed to catch. They also serve the traditional Ecuadorian breakfast meals from Chicken and Rice to Encebollado which is a soup of Albacore Tuna with onions as well as over-easy eggs.  My kind of place. I love encebollado but had to have the over-easy eggs with the llapingachos and a café con leche.

Of course we had to take a few of the llapingachos to go. They are now in the freezer waiting for the perfect day to bring them out for another feast.

We then went to the mall and SuperMaxi for some shopping while Rick took his truck in to get detailed -you cannot call it washed as it looked like a new truck when he came to pick us up.

We then went out to lunch, fish ceviche, excellent.

It was a laughter filled busy day, thanks Leigh and Rick for such a fun day.

Vendor Part 8: Donicio AKA the Whistler

Donicio comes by on his motorbike every day. He has this high-pitched whistle so you know exactly who is driving by, plus his motorbike is pretty loud. Obviously his whistle is why I call him the Whistler. Today he had fresh cilantro, choclo, lemons, long beans, green peppers, tomatoes and an assortment of fresh beans.  I assume he has a farm as the items change daily, are of limited quantity and all are fresh fresh fresh.

He was fascinated when he saw the picture I had taken of him. Sometime this week I will print a picture out for him and when I stop him again I will give him his photo.

 

On Vacation in Manta

We are both enjoying a vacation in Manta. It has been wonderful living in a condo within walking distance of restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores and much more.

Our only negative was the time it took to have internet installed here.  Our phone line was installed in two days but it took over two weeks to get the internet back on-line.  The weather has been beautiful a few nights there was a light rain leaving our patio with a sheen of water and a full day of cloudy skies but nothing to stop us from enjoying walks on the beach and adventures around the town.

Soundproofing

When a great many people come to town for the holidays or vacation, the noise level is a bit of a problem. Our home is right on the street and our windows stay open all the time.  Mind you it is not a busy street normally but during this time of year many folks are in vacationing and the number of cars, trucks, and people walking by increases a great deal.  Joe found these little beauties at Fybeca Pharmacy in the SuperMaxi shopping center in Portoviejo.

If you are a light sleeper or have street dogs that just hate new cars on their street you may want to find these silicone ear plugs.  These are the children’s size because they did not have adult size. But they do the job and we get a good nights sleep using them. They did not block out all the fireworks but muffled it enough so that we were not awakened each time they were set off.

A good nights sleep is important to us old fogeys…

Lalo’s in Portoviejo Centro

When we go into centro Portoviejo we always try to stop and get a hot dog or hamburger at Lalo’s. This is a very small kiosk at one corner of the Super Exito shopping building. It is small, it is a tight fit on the tiny stools, not much counter space, it is always crowded with locals catching a quick bite on the run. BUT IT IS GREAT!  Again yesterday we stopped, what a treat.

I normally have the hamburger but have never been able to finish it so yesterday I ordered the hot dog. That is what the gentlemen is making in the above picture. It is a Juris foot long hot dog, that has been simmered in a most excellent sauce made with white onions, ketchup, mustard and of all things Tampico orange drink. This is piled high in an egg hot dog roll and topped with a mayonnaise sauce and grated fresh cheese.

Okay, I ate most of it before I took the picture, but this shows just what is in each bun.

Lalo’s is a favorite when we are running around Portoviejo. If you get a chance to stop in do try the hot dogs Joe and I both highly recommend them. And the young man who runs the place is fast and seems to enjoy his work. Oh yes, a lot of joy for $1.50.

Supermarket Prices

One of the expats on Facebook posted this link a few days ago for Tia Supermarkets list of products with prices. Thought that some of you out there would like to take a look at the current grocery prices in Ecuador.

http://www.tia.com.ec/carrito_productos.asp?id_div=mnu_Alimentos&productos=025&seccion=ALIMENTOS&cod_carga

The website is in Spanish but in taking a quick look they have the photo of the product right next to it and if you click on the photo it enlarges so you can take a better look.

Enjoy, Nancy

Multi Plaza – Portoviejo

Yesterday morning Joe and I took a trip to Portoviejo. We were on a mission: purchasing two more ceiling fans, a light fixture for our bathroom and a few other odds and ends for the house. We decided that each day we want to try our hardest to walk on the beach so instead of getting a moto-taxi to drive us into town we walk to the end of our street and start our slow trek to town. It takes us approximately 15-20 minutes, we come off the beach at the end of main street and either wait for the bus by the statue of the Virgin or walk a few more blocks out to the main road.  This morning it was beautiful so we continued walking out to the main road. Within 5 minutes a bus pulled up heading to Portoviejo $1 for a one hour ride.. We sat back and enjoyed the scenery, the bus stops whenever there is a passenger hailing them and has several actual bus stops (parada) the first in Charapotó, which has a very lively farmers market  on Saturday and Sundays.

The next stop is in Rocafuerte which is about the half-way point and then their is a stop at the Monumento de Maiz where we get off if we are going into centro.

For a $2.50 taxi ride we were dropped off right in front of Multi Plaza.

The small mall has first floor parking with escalators going to the shopping level. There is a KFC, Fybeca pharmacy, ToDoHogar, Kywi, Supermaxi, LosAndes Optica and Pordubanco.

We first went into Fybeca for a few items, then we had to look through ToDoHogar, which is going to be one of my favorite places, they had wonderful comforters, great looking sheets, towels in a rainbow of colors, some wonderful kitchen items including several cast iron griddles, small fry pans and something that looked like a crepe pan. They every had a handful of canning jars, more for decoration than for canning. Joe found several neat looking computers, flat screen TV’s and even some exercise equipment .

Next we went into Kywi with my list. Kywi is similar to a Home Depot in the US. We found a nice looking light fixture for the masterbath, two more ceiling fans and some bug lights for the porch. We wandered the entire store and got a good feel for what they sell. With two ceiling fans to cart onto the bus we decided that we would only take a quick peek in Super Maxi before getting a taxi back to Monumento al Maíz and our return bus to San Clemente. Our taxi driver spotted the Turistico Manabi Bus and pulled right in front of it to be sure we were able to catch that bus. It was a great bus ride back to San Clemente, we decided to stop for lunch at El Eden and our new friends Keith and Becky were enjoying their almurzo. Keith was on his way to drop Becky off at the dentist (who happens to be right in their building) and he came back to pick us up to drive us back to our place.

Patricia came by the house and we took a look, it was amazing, all the rooms were cleaned and it looks like we can move in today.