Day Trip to Guayaquil

Because my passport isn't due to expire until 2019, I wanted to get extra pages added. For those who don't know, after December of this year, that option will no longer be available.

So I made an appointment with the U.S. Consulate in Guayaquil to come in to get that done. I printed out the document needed, read all the FAQs and waited for my appointment day.

Our driver and friend, Emilio Morocho, picked us up at at 7:15, allowing plenty of time to make my 11:45am appointment. We actually arrived at 10:30! I checked in with the first security desk, after being directed there by a very nice female security guard.

I had read to bring in as little as possible, not even a cell phone. So my purse had my wallet, some bathroom necessities (hey, it is Ecuador), my passport and other IDs and my paperwork. The only thing that caused a question was my little single use Wet Ones.

But the lady guard told me that she would hold it for me - not that I was worried. LOL! From there I was pointed to another desk with my purse in a plastic bin. The bin was passed through an I walked through a scanner, then was wanded. The bin was now moved to another counter inside where I was able to claim it and was directed to the next stopping point. There the Ecuadorians were in a line but I was sent inside the next building. Here my purse was once again inspected and although I walked through some type of scanner, the beep wasn't an alert. I was directed to a window to get helped.

Yes, here I am an hour early, everyone has been very pleasant and helpful, laughing at my Spanish. No hassles, nothing like I had heard from others. The clerk motioned me up when he was free. He spoke excellent English, he took my papers and passport and handed me a paper to take two windows over to pay my $82. There a nice lady took my money and gave me two receipts (I did have correct change but could have used a credit card).

Back to the first window where I turn in the receipts and am told that my passport will be ready in 25-30 minutes. And it was! I took my newly fatten passport, my task completed an hour early. I had forgotten about my single use Wet Ones but the guard hadn't. She saw me exiting the building and handed it back to me. Talk about service!! Thank you to all the staff there!

From there we headed into downtown Guayaquil for lunch and a little sightseeing. We stopped at Chifa Dinastia for a lunch of Chinese food. Stu had shrimp and broccoli, I had chicken and broccoli and here is what Emilio ordered!



Stuffed, with a container of leftovers, we strolled back towards the parking garage. We made a stop at the Guayaquil Iguana Park - what a treat! They're on the ground, in the trees and plants. Here are a few photos:

Here are some photos of the park as well as our walk along the malecon before we left.

If you would like to see more photos or larger versions of the above, please visit our SmugMug Album.

Ciao for now!

Thanksgiving gone, Christmas coming!

We just finished our first week off after two weeks of Spanish classes and we have mostly vegged out. Stu did meet with the US Consulate from Guayaquil last Monday when they came to Cuenca. He needed to renew his passport so we won't get caught trying to come/go with less than 6 months on it. They said it would take about two weeks, maybe a little longer due to the Thanksgiving holiday in the US. How's THAT for service. He will need to travel to Guayaquil to pick it up and get the old one punched. Then he will need to get his Visa stamps moved into the new one.

We had a delightful Thanksgiving day with friends, eating out at a local eatery and having a traditional Thanksgiving day dinner. We didn't take any photos but our friend Al did and you can see them on his blog. He is a professional photographer so I will honor that and not post them here.

We have gone out shopping a couple of times and the local stores are getting all dolled up for Christmas. Here are a few shots I snapped with my old iPhone.

Here is our current contribution to the holidays....Hedgie sits outside our front door on one of the benches Stu painted. Stu also made his little sign. Isn't he adorable?

While at the big mall, Mall del Rio, we also stopped to peek at the puppies at the pet shop in the mall and saw this adorable little guy. Can you saw Awww....

The kiosk vendors change often at the malls but we were really suprised to see this one peddling ice cream products and desserts. Hmmm....

Now, it you are at all squeamish - STOP READING NOW!

That said, we still aren't feeling 100% since arriving back and diving into Spanish classes. Nothing specific, just low energy and motivation for the most part. We blamed it on the altitude, then I got a real 24 hr tummy bug and we started to talk about the possibility of having parasites.

One of the downsides of living here is just that - parasites and amoebas. We have been careful, not eating from the street food vendors, not eating in restaurants recommended by others and avoiding salads (lettuce) completely. We also soak/wash all fruits and vegetables in a water/vinegar mix before eating.

We know that most locals and many expats take medication twice a year, whether they have been tested for parasites or not. Well, we decided it was time for us to do the same. We followed the advice in this post from Bryan Haines, GringosAbroad host. Since I was already dealing with issues, I postponed taking mine for a day, but Stu started yesterday. He's had no side effects other than some additional fatigue. I take my second dose tomorrow. We hope that by week's end we'll be feeling more like ourselves.

Are all passports equal?

A passport from the United States allows its citizens free access to 172 other countries.

But not all travelers have such an overwhelming spread of choices: Residents of Iraq, for example, can access only 31 countries with their passport. Venturing away from Afghanistan? Your options dwindle to 28 countries.

Ecuador gives you 74 countries, Iceland 175.

See the full infographic and more information here: Not All Passports Are Created Equal.

A side note, after three years in Ecuador on a valid immigrant Visa we would qualify for Ecuadorian citizenship. That would give us dual citizenship with the US and grant us permanent status here. At this point we don't see any reason to do so, the only benefit being no restrictions on being out of country.  Currently, after two years we can be out of country for up to 18 months at a time on our current Visa. In addition, the requirements are becoming more stringent for becoming a citizen. We don't disagree with it but spending $3-5k EACH and needing to be fluent in both reading and writing Spanish pretty much rule us out.