Being an ExPat - What it is Like to Live in Ecuador: April 2016

Saturday, April 30, 2016

Cooking in Ecuador - What Can Not be Found?

©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

Living in Ecuador is a dream come true. If you have read our earlier posts you will know we did extensive research prior to moving here. One of our focuses was food. We love good food. We love to cook. Neither of us could wait to try our first real ceviche. We were excited about the fresh fish and vegetable markets and we have not been disappointed in any way. We also paid very close attention to the things we would not be able to get here. We thought we had a handle on it but there have been a few surprises. In some cases it is just the little differences.

I choose Jif.

Peanut butter AKA mani, was a big one. I eat it like there is no tomorrow. It was something I thought I'd have to do without. As it turns out you can get it here but-. Yes, one big but. It is not the same as Jif or Peter Pan. It is not nearly as sweet.

Don't get me wrong, it is very good but a lifetime of the sweet stuff every kid in the U.S.A. eats has jaded me. It is good, just not as good. It is very expensive.

The same is true of ketchup.

No Heinz or Hunts here. Salsa de Tomate. Also not as sweet. As a matter of fact I think it is better. It can be used with french fries sure but it can also be used to make red sauce. It can be used with a lot of things. Of course, when I make fries for my wife (she has to have fries!) I also "Americanize" the ketchup with a little vinegar and a hint of sugar. Unlike peanut butter, ketchup is very affordable.

Excellent for many things.

Buffalo sauce (yes for chicken wings) can't be found. I make my own anyway so did not worry about it at all. The reason I mention it is because native Ecuadorians mention it. A lot. Those who have been to the United States almost always bring it up and when they do you can see that first taste on their faces. If I were to open a chicken wing restaurant it would be a guaranteed success.

Tacos. Another thing you can't buy here. I have not found a restaurant that sells tacos like I have had in the States or Mexico. There are no hard shells either. No corn chips outside of Doritos. The tacos here consist of a soft cornmeal cake with beans, tomato, rice, lettuce, and onion on top. This is topped with lime mayonnaise and salsa de tomate. They are very delicious but sometimes you just have to have that crunch man. You will not find tomato salsa or sour cream here either. Soft flour tortillas can be found though.

Living in Crucita means fresh seafood on a regular basis. Horrible, I know. I remember the first time I ordered fried seafood here. It was a mixta which means what it sounds like. A mix of seafood (you pick it) for the platter. Mahi and shrimp dusted in cornmeal. Simply delicious. The cocktail sauce wait, what? No cocktail sauce? No lemon? No malt vinegar? No, none. Instead there is ketchup, mayonnaise, and a spicy pepper relish. The relish will have to do and it does. It is amazing but it is not cocktail sauce. No worries. I can make my own.

Ahhh. Horseradish.

It is very easy to make if you have horseradish. There is no horseradish anywhere. No one knows what it is. I can't even find the raw root to prepare it myself. Our friends Bonnie and Luc gave us some before they left for Costa Rica. Our friend Rob brought more. If you come for an extended period it is a must bring item. We were surprised with the no lemon , no horseradish thing. We live in a fruit and vegetable mecca but you can't find either of these things. We can do without lemons since we have limes but horseradish? Say it ain't so!

There are a lot of things you can't buy ready made here. So what can you do? You can make them yourself of course. It is either that or go without. If you are a mess in the kitchen now is the time to learn! Remember, as long as you are learning you will make mistakes. Those who love to cook or aspire to learn will quickly find there may be no better place to practice the art. For all the things we can't get here there are many new things we've never seen, heard of, or tasted that we can get.

The best chips ever except for mine!

Below is a list of some food items that either can't be found (at least in our area of Ecuador), are very hard to find, or are very expensive. This list will grow I'm sure.

Click on the links to see great recipes for some of these items. They are not my personal recipes but they are close. I don't measure anything unless I am baking. As such I have no recipes to write down. I may have to change that for future posts.

If you would like to share your cooking tips and recipes please do. If you have something to add you can either comment directly or e-mail us. We would love to hear from you.

If you come to visit us then pretty please with sugar on top, bring a treat!

Chao!

Cocktail Sauce (Substitute lime juice for lemon juice. Have someone bring you horseradish!)
Corn Chips (Doritos can be found but not regular chips)
Sour Cream (Prepare fresh sour cream 24 hours in advance)
Blue Cheese Dressing

Pita Bread/Chips
Bagels

Buffalo Wing Sauce (Not my recipe but close. Sorry, mine is a secret!)

Horseradish
Malt Vinegar
Peanut Butter (U.S.A. Style)
Salted Peanuts (They grow here but we can't find them!)
Worcestershire Sauce (Hard to find)
Hard Taco Shells (Use corn chip recipe but brush on oil and bake!)
Philadelphia Cream Cheese (there is cream cheese here but-)
Cheddar Cheese (Pricey. Slices are easier to find but the flavor is not the same!)
Premium Liquors (Can be had for a price. No Seagrams products though)
Half and Half (Buy cream and milk to make your own!)
Candy Bars (Nestle and Mars are here for a price. I wants me Snickers!)
Grits
Orange and Black Pekoe Lipton Tea
Baking Soda (Can be found in small quantities in local tiendas. You might have to ask.)
Lemons

©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

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Friday, April 29, 2016

Tamera's Take: Terremoto, Did you know this could happen? And...The Truth.

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

Tamera's Take is about being here.
Are you ready? I am.

I am?

This is a question that I have been asked, and I have asked myself, many times since our arrival in Crucita Ecuador.

Along with;

Is it everything you thought it would be?

And most recently;

Did you know this could happen?

To these questions I always answer the truth, regardless of who is asking.

For the past 12 days I struggled with the truth. What is the struggle? The struggle is that I am caught between the need to tell the truth; the need to not terrify our family and friends any more than they have already been terrified; the need to be respectful of the people who are probably in the worst situation of their life; and my own belief of what is the truth.

So here are some truths:

If you have not read any of my previous entries, this would normally be the place where I talk about something that happened to me in my childhood. I try to tie it into whatever my point is for that blog, and then add a few pictures to keep it interesting. Props. That is what I do. I use props. It seems necessary because I am not a writer. My husband is the writer.

There will be no correlation between my youth and present day events. There will be no cute pictures of cats. Strangely, I struggle with that too.

I am writing as much for me, as I am for you.

Hopefully this will not take me days to finish, but it could. (It did. I started two days ago.) There are moments when the past 12 days are so clear, that I can still feel the tremors. There are moments when my mind is viewing the past 12 days through a mud splattered pane of glass.

Since the earthquake (terremoto) occurred, I felt every emotion humanly possible.

Each time that we were faced with something that we were not sure how to handle, I had to force myself to remain calm.

The phrase, "remember to be thankful for what you have, because someone else may have it worse than you", could not have been more true. Except that I did not feel thankful.

It is important to not just remember, but know that 600+ people lost their lives; 12,000+ people were injured; 26,000+ people are homeless and slept in the streets until shelters could be erected.

What I felt was guilty. Guilty that I reside in town that was left standing, while to north, east and south of me lies complete destruction and tragedy. Guilty that the only person from Crucita who died as a result of the earthquake, lived about 200 yards from me, and I never met her. Guilty that we are okay due to the help of a lot of Ecuadorians, yet we are unable to do anything to help others in need.

That kind of emotion is not any good to me or others. I know it.

I have to live with the fact that as much as I want to, I cannot help anyone. We do not have a vehicle to pick up or deliver donations. We do not speak or understand enough Spanish to communicate with people. A lot of aid has come into the country and the people of Ecuador are moving forward. Help is needed. Just not MY help. A tough reality to face.

Tomorrow will mark two weeks since the earthquake hit. Maybe two weeks is the magic number to start feeling normal.

I cannot say for others but it seems to be for me. Not that things are normal. They are not. But life is starting to feel normal again.

There is a tiny vacant lot in between our house and the tienda (Frema's) where we shop. We walked through the lot this morning and for the first time in two weeks I actually felt like taking pictures. I included a few in this post.

Yes. I am feeling normal again.

Did I know this could happen? Yes.

Did I think it would happen? Of course not.

That is the truth.

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

New Beginnings - Life Goes On

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We are awakened sometime in the night by another tremor. Maybe it is a dream.

I slept fourteen straight hours. My wife only managed four. Not a dream.

The next day a number of good things will come to be. We hear from Tamy and Jared. They and their family are all fine. This communication is possible because the cell phone companies have all opened their lines for free. No international calls unfortunately. Other friends have reached out to our family and friends in the U.S on Facebook VIA their landline/modems. Yes, landlines are up and running. My friend David is actually able to leave my Father a phone message.

Our local tiki lounge/restaurant Rimini, has a generator and have a charging station set up. We can charge our phone. Our main tienda has opened it's doors and we buy supplies. There has been no price gouging. As a matter of fact, shop owners seem to be giving discounts for those in need. Local restaurants like Motumbo are cooking food before it spoils and serving free lunches. We buy food. The weather is almost perfect. We are in the beginnings of Ecuadorian winter. It is cool and clear.

Though the Manta airport lost its tower there are helicopters and planes flying in and out constantly. No commercial flights. These are all aid flights from Quito, Guayaquil, and other countries.

Ecuador President Rafael Correa, declares a period of mourning. It will last 8 days.

Our village is still facing issues. Water is not available. What we have in our cisterns is all we have. We learn that many people get their water delivered on Sundays. That did not happen for obvious reasons. Our section of the village got theirs on Saturday. We were lucky. Bottled water is nowhere to be found.

Trash pick up has been skipped twice now. It is piling up. Not a sanitary state. Some are burning their refuse in vacant lots. We may have to as well.

Yes, there are more quakes but none even close to the initial one. These are off the coast though and we have to stay vigilant. Tsunamis are a real possibility.

We are now seeing pictures of other cities including Portoviejo. It is worse than we ever imagined.

The following day there are more tremors. The electricity service is restored! It is only day three and we are ecstatic. Tamy and Jared stop by. We are told we are not to go to Portoviejo. It is very bad there. We ask how their house fared. They avoid answering. We have seen pictures of the road near their home. There is a huge crack in the road and a car has driven in. We realize their house must have been damaged at the least. They like us, are in shock and don't want to answer so we let it go.

We still have no phone minutes to make international calls or cash, but Tamy is going to get us cash. There are a few working ATM's in Portoviejo. We give her our ATM card. She will get us cash. We are told not to go to Manta either.

Helicopters have landed less than 2 blocks from here with emergency supplies. Garbage is being picked up.

The next day WiFi is restored. We spend hours contacting family, posting to Facebook, letting everyone now we are OK. In truth we needed this to move forward, get over the quake. The inevitable question is asked. "When are you coming home?". We are home. If we have to go, we will decide where that might be then. We never ran from hurricanes, we won't run from this.

The next day and we have cash. We will not starve. We donate a small sum for relief efforts immediately Right now it is all we can do. Tamy tells us her house cracked in half. It sunk 30 centimeters and the water pipes burst. "It is life." she says. "It is not important." The people of Portoviejo need their help and they come first. My wife and I cannot help right now. It is too dangerous. Tamy and Jared only go into the city because they have to. Their family lives there.

The next day our landlords arrive. Their family is OK as is their home. They fix the front gate and make other minor repairs. The house is fuego (strong) and we will not have to move.

Water is flowing into our cistern which never leaked. All our friends are OK and all our services are back. It is unbelievable.

Life is slowly returning to normal in the village of Crucita. The mourning period had passed. The music that infuses our life is returning. More and more shops are opening, More and more street vendors are around. Yesterday, we saw bottled water being delivered. Yes, life is returning to normal here but just a few miles away it is a very different story. We have only been here a short while but things will never be the same. Sometimes change is tough. Most times it is tough. The Government of Ecuador has done very well managing this event. The people of Ecuador are nothing short of amazing. We are in awe of them. Chao!

Questions? E-mail us!

Monday, April 25, 2016

Bem-vindo Portugal ! Nós certamente esperamos que você aproveite .

Welcome Portugal! We certainly hope you enjoy.

Bem-vindo Portugal ! Nós certamente esperamos que você aproveite .

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Välkommen Sverige ! Vi hop verkligen du njuta av !

Welcome Sweden! We Certainly hope you enjoy.

Välkommen Sverige ! Vi hop verkligen du njuta av !

ברוכים הבאים לישראל ! אנו בהחלט מקווים שאתה נהנה.

Welcome Israel! We certainly hope you enjoy!

ברוכים הבאים לישראל ! אנו בהחלט מקווים שאתה נהנה.

The Day After - Of Rationing, Worry, and Hope

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

*We have no pictures to post as there was no electricity and we were conserving our phones for calls if service came available.

Dawn. Cool and calm. There are no birds chirping. No geckos croaking. There is only silence. This is not at all normal.

No way to get information. We can't know what is ahead. We can only imagine and that is a walk through my head I do not want to take. Want no longer matters here. Need is the only thing that matters here.

My wife and I have foregone sleep. It will not come until our bodies must have it. We know that now. Our minds are racing. There are too many things to consider. Too many DO IT NOW items that are essential for us to survive. Step back and organize. Pick one task and focus on that task. We are putting together our essentials grab bag in earnest.

Cash, passports, bank cards, vital paperwork, change of clothes, keys, drinking water, matches, flashlights, etc. There is still no power. Probably for some time. We still have no way to contact anyone. We might have gotten word out to our families if we had minutes on our phone. I procrastinated. No minutes. No word.

Now we turn our attention to water. We have 2 gallons of drinking water in the dispenser. Another gallon in our freezer. Not enough for 3 days let alone the weeks it could be before we can get more. The cistern. The lid blew of it last night. Is the cistern itself damaged? How much water was in it? How much is in it now? We check. It is almost completely full. Properly rationed we have water for at least a month, probably two. The water must be boiled before drinking though it is treated. Regardless, we must be very careful with it. Sickness will not do. The only way to get the water is to lie down on the ground and lean into the cistern. I am not comfortable with that. Aftershocks are still occurring. It must be done. I do it. All is not as it should be.

Luckily, we have just refilled our propane tank. it should last six months with normal use. I estimate 5 months when factoring in the amounts of water we must boil. We will not have an issue there.

Food is next. Generally, we live sparingly. We are only two. Tiendas and fish markets abound here. We were lucky though. A good friend has visited, leaving just days ago. We stocked up on rice, beans, lentils, oatmeal, and other dry goods. He brought me a huge jar of peanut butter too. The meat will not last with no refrigeration and must be cooked and/or eaten. There isn't much. Shrimp, chicken, ham, and bologna. There are no canned or frozen vegetables. Why would there be? We buy them fresh off of street vendors or from our tiendas every few days. We have 8 limes, 4 green peppers, four red onions, garlic, 2 tomatoes, 1 and 1/2 loaves of bread, butter, 6 eggs, plenty of spices, salt. and 2 apples. We have enough food altogether to last for 14 days.

Cash. Here is a problem and a very large problem at that. We did not go to the ATM yesterday. No ATM's working now. Not here anyway. We have $24 dollars to our name. In the bank? Enough. On the credit card? More. Can we use them? No. When will we be able to? Where will we be able to? We have no idea. When will we know? We must spend this $24 wisely. Will there be price gouging? I don't know but I think there will. Maybe not for locals but for gringos? I think so. I do. This is the scariest thing in my mind. How will we eat? If prices stay as they were $24 could easily buy another month of food including feeding the cats, if we spend and ration properly. If they don't we might be in real trouble here. What if we can't leave the house? What if there is looting and rioting? We will wait and see. There is no alternative.

Now we know we are in decent shape. It is not great shape but I fear it will be better than many other's. Will people try and take what we have? We are gringos in a poor country not our own. Everyone here is so nice but if my kids were starving I would do anything. So would anyone else. I do not want my wife scared but we are a team. She has to know. I say it out loud. She already does. She is smarter than I am. I am smart enough to know it. This is nowhere close to perfect.

The church bells are ringing. Why? We can see the steeple from here. The cross from the steeple is not there. Oh, yes. It is Sunday. Church is in session. The first normal thing today. It is most welcome.

There is nothing for it. We are going to have to leave the implied safety of our eight foot concrete walls. We must go out. We need minutes for our phone. We need to see whether anything is open. We must determine the disposition of other people and whether we will be able to buy food and drinking water. Reconnaissance mission. Best to do it now, early. We have to buy what we can just in case there is none a week from now.

We're off. Multiple tiendas are open against all odds; generators thrumming. This could be good news for reaching our families. We usually obtain phone minutes from these tiendas as you can't buy them online unless you have a credit card through an Ecuadorian bank. There are two ways to get them. The shopkeepers can add them themselves using a terminal or we can by a tarjeta (card). The cards are like scratch off lottery tickets. You buy them and get almost the amount of minutes you pay for but, you could double or triple that amount with luck. They cost $1 extra. You dial them in from your phone. These are our best bet as the terminals can't possibly be working. Three open tiendas. No tarjetas.

They do have supplies however. Good to know. They are getting local deliveries from farmers too. Very good to know. We will not starve. We have time to talk about how best to spend our limited cash. They are all out of water. Not good to know. Thank God for our cistern. I hope it is not leaking.

Our short term survival is ensured.

Long term survival is at the plate.

We decide to sit down at one of the many covered benches that dot the Malecon. The sky is clear, and the ocean is most beautiful. Another piece or normality in an increasingly surreal day. We discuss some things. No one is on the beach with one exception. A father and his toddler are splashing in the shallows. They are here on vacation maybe. Why doesn't matter. The toddler needs normal.

No buses are running. They are our primary form of transportation. We wonder how Portoviejo, our personal major supply port has fared. If it is bad will Manta be any better? When will electricity be restored? Are our friends OK? We have only seen our neighbors. Just then we spot our friend Fernando at Robert's Tienda. He sees us too.

He is fine. His wife Jessica, was away at the time. She is OK. Fernando was at church when "it" happened. It was not good. The roof came down on them. Amazingly, no one was seriously injured. He has water and food. He hopes his wife can get home. We tell him if he needs anything to let us know. He asks if our family knows. When we say no he says he will post something to Facebook when phone service comes back. He has a few minutes on his phone. It isn't enough for an international call. He needs what he has so he can stay in contact with his wife. We would not dream of using his minutes.

We ask him what if any, news he's heard. Portoviejo is bad. He is going there if he can get there. He tells us the main road has huge cracks in it. There are no buses today. The road is severely damaged just before it reaches the bridge over the Portoviejo river. This damage is no more than 30 meters away from our good friends Tamy and Jared's house. We are very worried now. Manta will be our only hope it seems. He knows Manta suffered damage. The Manta Airport tower. It is a tower no more. It is flattened. Hopes for a working ATM are hovering just above zero. We are off the edge of the map.

As we say goodbye Fernando tells us to be careful and vigilant. He has the same fears we do. We share the sentiment and are off. Home. We need to boil water. I need to measure the water level in the cistern. This will be a daily occurrence. A leak could be devastating.

Home now. It is past noon and is the hottest part of the day. We are thankful winter is beginning. Just two weeks ago the hottest days of our time here accosted us. March is the hottest month. Now it is not only bearable, it is actually pleasant. I cook our first ration of beans and rice. There has been no sleep. Maybe tonight.

BOOM! Another aftershock! Now another! No damage, no problem. For now.

We eat and head to the roof to view the sunset. It seems important somehow. The sun is a golden orb, magnified by the atmosphere. It is the most beautiful sunset we've seen here yet. We turn to look over the mountains. There is a magnificent rainbow in the clouds. It is a huge half circle of wondrous color and light almost directly over us. Breathtaking. We hope it holds promise. We hope it means life. We hope.

Questions? E-mail us!

©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

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Perception is Reality? - Quick Earthquake Information and Links

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

A friend from my high school days now resides in Los Angeles, California. She is one of the only people we know personally that experienced the Northridge, California earthquake in 1994. She and my wife were corresponding on Facebook earlier and while we all agree earthquakes "suck" it got me thinking. What are the differences between what Ecuador suffered and Northridge? What about other countries? What magnitude was the biggest earthquake to date and where was it?

Now we are not people who believe perception is reality. 24 years in the corporate world could not drill that misinformation into our heads. Don't get me wrong. Perception is important and we must all use it but, it doesn't always tell the truth while reality deals exclusively in truth. If you do believe perception is reality then I challenge you to try a very simple experiment an engineer friend of mine clued me in on.

I am not responsible for any injury you may incur as a result of this experiment.

Get a strobe light and a floor fan. Plug the fan in and remove the blade guard. Turn it on high. Do the same with the strobe light though set the strobe at medium effect. Turn the lights off and observe the fan. Perception tells you it is not moving. Put your hand in the "space" between the blades.

I hope you still retain all your fingers and that you weren't injured.

Perception is an illusion; filtered. Reality is well, real. What people in Ecuador and Northridge are facing/faced is reality. Perception doesn't tell the whole story. That being said, here are some facts; some reality to help us both form some perspective:

Earthquaketrack.com is an excellent resource for tracking current earthquakes as well as reviewing related historical information.

Wikipedia provides sort-able lists of earthquakes by country or magnitude.

Excellent earthquake information is available from the USGS (United States Geological Survey).

Magnitude is not everything. Intensity and depth play a huge roll in determining an earthquake's effect.

There are different types of earthquakes/faults.

Earthquakes registering lower than 3.0 magnitude are generally not felt by humans.

Chile suffered the largest earthquake ever recorded at a magnitude of 9.5.

The 2016 Esmeraldas, Ecuador earthquake registered 7.8 in magnitude. The quake lasted about 1 minute. At the time of this post over 500 people have been confirmed dead and over 3000 injured. Though it is too early for a formal property damage estimate, it is expected to reach billions of dollars. The quake was felt throughout the entire country.

Ecuador suffered a quake almost as large as the 2016 quake in 1987. That quake registered 6.9. In 1942 a 7.8 was recorded in Esmeraldas, Ecuador. In 1906 Ecuador suffered its largest recorded earthquake which registered 8.8 in magnitude.

In 1994 California suffered the Northridge earthquake. It registered 6.7 in magnitude and lasted 10 to 20 seconds. It was felt as far away as Nevada.

The death toll from the Northridge, California quake was 57 with 8,700 injured. Property damage estimates ranged from $13 to $40 billion. The images of the Northridge, California quake look eerily similar to the images of the 2016 quake suffered in Ecuador.

Alaska, California, Montana, Wyoming, Hawaii, Idaho, South Carolina and Missouri have all suffered earthquakes ranging from magnitude 7.0 to 7.9 in recorded history.

At the time I began writing this post today there had been 47 earthquakes in the U.S.A in the past 24 hours. The U.S.A. has suffered 347 quakes in the past 7 days, and 23,340 in the past 12 months.

Chile, the U.S.A, Indonesia, Japan, and Russia (in order of magnitude from largest to smallest) have all suffered earthquakes registering 9.5 to 9.0 in magnitude in the past 100 years.

My wife and I have suffered more than our share of hurricanes and tornadoes in our lifetimes. Our career paths left us uniquely qualified to manage and live through disasters and we are very thankful for this. This was our first earthquake. We sincerely hope it is our last. For those who have asked; we have discussed it and we are not leaving to come home. Ecuador is our home now.

I promise we will continue our story within the next 24 hours. Chao!

Questions? E-mail us!

©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

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Friday, April 22, 2016

The Quake - A Normal Day, Until-

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

"What is that? What's happening? "It's an earthquake! We have to get out of here!"

Rewind.

It is a beautiful, sunny day in Crucita. The ocean is Caribbean blue and glassy. Almost no waves or currents are discernible in the beautiful sea. The breeze is cool and the sun is hot. The day is perfect.

We have very little to do today. Some laundry perhaps. A trip into Portoviejo for cat food. Why not, though there is enough food for another two days. The bus ride is always enjoyable as is the city proper. The mall is very busy. The teen aged girls are dressed to the nines. The boys, are in pursuit. The city as always; is bustling with life. Street vendors peddle their wares. All is good.

We buy our cat food and linger in the air conditioning for a bit. We are happy.

The bus ride back is uneventful. I stand as my wife sits in the last available seat. Many from the city are heading to Crucita for an afternoon and evening on the beach. The bus is always crowded on Saturday. All is normal.

We arrive at our stop. As we make our way down our street my neighbor, fellow musician and friend, Fernando approaches. He is on his way to church. He is doing well. We are doing well. Chao!

Back home now. My wife is enjoying the cool breeze while working on her latest blog post.
I am taking sun in the courtyard. The is a resounding BOOM and the ground seems to quiver. It sounds as though there might be construction nearby. It feels as though they have dropped large boulders out of a dump truck. Five minutes later comes another BOOM. It feels the same.

"Did you feel that?" I ask my wife. "Yes." she says. "It felt like someone dropped something heavy close by."

"I think it might have been an earthquake." I say. I am half joking. No one else seems alarmed. The moment passes and we forget it. For now.

Our friends Tamy and Jared call. Jared wants me to go deep sea fishing with him, his brother, and cousins tomorrow. I am excited to go. I haven't been fishing in a long time.

"We are out of minutes on our phone. We need to recarga (recharge)." says my wife. "We can do it in the morning." I say. I want to make dinner and watch a movie. We eat. We watch the sunset over the Pacific from the terrace as we do every night. Music comes from everywhere as it does on the weekends. The Malecon is beginning to heat up. We decide on a movie and settle in to watch it. It has been a good day. It is peaceful. All is right.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOOOOM! It now sounds as if a giant bowling ball has been hurled at us, rolling towards us as great speed. Is the earth moving?

My wife yells "What is that? What's happening? "It's an earthquake!" I yell. We must yell to be heard. "We have to get out of here!" We get up to run. We are on the second floor of a concrete house. We have to get down the stairs and out of our courtyard or be crushed. It is the only thought in my mind. My wife is thrown off her feet by the quake. I turn and she is flat on the ground looking up at me. Her eyes are huge. The electricity goes and we are plunged into night. She screams again. "What is happening?" I scream "Earthquake! We have to get out of here now!" I grab her and pull her to her feet. She is frozen with fear. I am on the verge. We have no time for fear. The quake seems worse in the dark. Maybe it IS worse.

I pull her to the stairs and she is frozen no more. We hurl ourselves down the stairs and are lucky to make the ground floor. We must avoid falling plaster and chunks of concrete. We make the gate. No keys. I run into the dining room and grab a set. The key doesn't work. The steel tongue of the lock is bent. We cannot get out! We are surrounded on three sides by concrete and plaster. There is a disconcerting sound above the rumble of the earth. The sound of huge rocks being chewed by a living thing. It is the sound of concrete and brick moving against each other. The houses are moving against each other. Slamming together. Brick against concrete. The sound is as loud as the quake. Deafening.

Then there is another sound. Sloshing. I become painfully aware we are standing over our cistern which is full of water. If the concrete slab gives way we might fall in and drown. A single brick comes loose from the wall above us and misses us by a foot. It leaves a red blotch on the cement. The cistern's cement cover is blown into the air 2 feet away and breaks as it lands on the ground. The force of the moving water is greater than its weight. Great gouts of water are being thrown out of the opening. We cannot stay here. Our neighbor Maria is pounding on our gate screaming for us to get out. "Esta Bien!" I yell so Maria knows we are OK. "Otro puerta (other door)!" My wife yells to Maria.

"The back gate!" my wife cries to me. The way leads under our house though a breezeway. We have no choice. She is right. We make the gate. It unlocks easily and we flee down the alleyway. Brick walls come crashing down around us. We make it to the beach. It feels as though we have been on a small boat all day and just stepped onto the dock. The ground lurches and rocks slowly as the quake ends. We feel dizzy and disoriented. No time for that either.

It has been less than a minute though it seems like forever has passed. How we are uninjured I don't know. Our eyes lock. We have the same thought. The beach may not be safe. We run up another alley. Back towards our home and neighbors. Uphill. Higher ground. Our neighbors are here in the courtyard, as wild eyed as we. We speak in broken Spanish. "Tsunami", they say. Slow down. "There might be a tsunami." That is what they are saying. We run to the house to grab our passports, documents, and shoes. We are going to have to run for the mountain behind us. Another neighbor appears on his motorcycle and says "No tsunami, no tsunami!" Leo asks him what he knows. The epicenter has been determined. Esmeraldas, to our north. There will be no tsunami. There will be no more information tonight. This will have to be enough.

We may still have to flee. This may not be the end. Our neighbors return to their home as do we. Blankets, pillows, chairs, and water. Quickly! We meet again in the courtyard. We wait safely away from falling debris. Leo offers me a cigarette. I accept gladly though I have quit again. This is no time for quitters I tell myself, trying to grasp any shred of our situation.

Cars are streaming out of Crucita now. To where I don't know. I search my mind for knowledge of quakes. We have never experienced one before. Was this a big one? We don't know. Our neighbors are saying there have been none like this in their lifetime. They don't know either. Aftershocks are certain. They could be almost as bad. What if the worst is yet to come? We wait in the darkness. Hours pass. We chance our homes again after careful inspection. Yet another quake! Not as strong as the first but it is enough to send us all to the beach. Many are here now. We find out one of our neighbors has been killed by falling debris. I realize we are all in shock. As we sit there there are two more quakes; each less intense than the last.

At four in the morning we make a decision. Back home. We must sleep and the worst seems to be over. It this a good decision? I don't know but we have little choice. We have no information, no way to get news, no way to call anyone. We must sleep because we may be walking or running soon. We insure everything we must have is by the gate. The keys are in the lock. If we have to bug out we are ready.

We have time to think now, laying in the silence and darkness. Are our friends in Portoviejo OK? No electric probably means no water. It means no access to cash. We have no way to contact our family and that thought makes things much worse. We realize this could get ugly very fast. Survival mode. If it is as bad as we fear we must assume the worst and prepare accordingly. We try to sleep doing just that. Sleep will not come. Not until the next afternoon.

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©2016 TJ & Tamera Overman, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ReUse by permission only.

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Constant Readers - We are OK!

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We have been very fortunate here in Crucita, Ecuador. We were hit very hard but there has been very little damage in our village. This is not the case in most areas. I think most of you have seen the destruction and loss of life on the news and internet. The devastation is unbelievable.

Within 72 hours of the event we had electricity. Our friends helped us to find a working ATM. We have plenty of food and clean water. Public water service was restored just a few hours ago. Internet access was restored late yesterday evening. The buses are running again and even trash pick up is back to normal. Aid is coming in from so many countries. Everyone we come in contact with is very thankful for this as are we.

Columbia, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Mexico, United States, the Red Cross, the United Nations, Oxfam, and Save the Children are just a few of the many we know of who are involved in rescue and relief efforts.

As I said, we are fortunate. Many Ecuadorians are homeless, injured, without food, and have no clean water. We are working to find a way to help though our friends are telling us to stay home as much as possible and not to travel into the cities right now. We are inclined to listen especially as we are still experiencing tremors intermittently.

The people of Ecuador are amazing. Their resolve and courage in the face of this disaster is inspiring and unwavering. Our friends Leo, Maria, Tamy, Jared, Fernando, and David all came to our aid as if we were family and we are very appreciative of their help. Gracias amigos!

We will write about our experience soon. Thanks to all for your concern and prayers. Chao.

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Saturday, April 16, 2016

Tamera's Take: A Day In The Life, Cats & Learn Spanish Please

Tamera's Take is about being here.
Are you ready? I am.

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¿Yo hablo español? (Do I speak Spanish?)

¿Hablas español? (Do you speak Spanish?)

"Woke up, fell out of bed
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup
And looking up I noticed I was late
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke
And somebody spoke and I went into a dream"

This is how my life feels at present. Sort of stuck riding on a ferris wheel going forward and backward, but always in a circle.

A view of two worlds from the top and a dizzy blur at the bottom.

"A Day In The Life"

The final track on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album comprises of two unfinished songs (one by John Lennon, one by Paul McCartney) bridged together by an orchestral arrangement.

I could use some of those orchestral arrangements about now. Where are The Beatles when you need them?!

Look Closely. Crucita!!

There has not been a time in my life that I did not dream about traveling the world.

Even in Kindergarten. Seriously.

My mother began teaching me to read when I was three. She loved to read. Books have always been an important part of my life.

We would go to the library every two weeks to check out books. Well, my mother would check out the books. Some for herself, some for me.

By the time I was in second grade the librarian gave me my own library card. Reading a book was like going to some exotic place. Exotic places where I really could not go. I was just a kid.

But one day I would go. Maybe. Hopefully.

A small village in the Andes mountains, Ecuador; and a page from my favorite childhood book.

Rock Music in Ecuador! Bridging my worlds together.

The first time I truly realized that not everyone spoke only English was the announcement of a school trip to Paris France. I think I was twelve years old.

The students who could afford to go would spend the first seven months of the school year attending a special class to learn French. Of course I did not get to go. My family could not afford it. My parents thought I was too young for such a trip anyway.

One of my good friends went. I begged her to teach me the French she was learning. She taught me a few phrases. I still remember how to say them perfectly. However, I cannot write or spell them to save my life.

What is my point? I am coming around to it. I promise.

There were no other opportunities for me to learn other languages until I started high school. At fourteen years old, the trip to France (that I did not take) now a distant memory, I signed up to take Beginning Spanish.

A little surreal wall art in Canoa, Ecuador.

Let me rush along this mini-biography by telling you that I took three years of Spanish. As I started my second year of Spanish, I also started taking my first year of German. As I started my third and final year of Spanish, I also started my second year of German. A third year of German was not offered unfortunately.

Now, I bet you are thinking, "Wow, she knows three languages."

You would be wrong.

I know English.

I studied grammatical Spanish and German.

This is not the same as speaking Spanish and German. I can conjugate the heck out of those foreign verbs. I can tell you which nouns are masculine or feminine. I know the names of those special characters and how to pronounce the words that contain them. I can read both languages well enough to decipher most print material.

A view from the top of the ferris wheel!

None of that will help you when you are at the checkout in a grocery store and the clerk is asking you a question in what seems like lightning speed. It sounds nothing like what you heard in that classroom for three years. You have no idea how to begin to respond. But you have to. So you say something in your best "Americanized Spanish". The clerk stares at you blankly, having no idea what you just said.

The blur at the bottom of the ferris wheel!

I would not walk into any of these stores without knowing some Spanish.

One of the reasons we are writing this blog is to help others who are planning or may be planning to come to Ecuador.

Here is my advice.

If you are planning on living in Ecuador for an extended period of time, take the time to learn some conversational Spanish.

I cannot stress this enough.

Thank goodness for Penguino! This is the town of Puerto Cayo.

The reason I say this is not because the number of Ecuadorians who speak English is low. I say this because the official language is Spanish. Ecuador is in South America, not Europe. I am overstating the obvious but it needs to be said. Most Europeans can speak multiple languages.

Central and South America is predominantly Spanish speaking. North America is predominantly English speaking. It took a while to achieve this - the homogenization and decimation of the many diverse languages that used to exist on these continents, down to two basic languages.

But what was done cannot be reversed. With such large populations speaking the same language, I suppose the need to learn another language does not seem necessary in the grand scheme of daily life.

Unless you want to go somewhere and interact with people who do not speak your language.

Crucita. West to the Pacific Ocean. East to the Andes Mountains.

Make no mistake. We have learned to speak a lot of Spanish since we arrived in Crucita. We got right out there and spoke with our neighbors, shops owners, etc. We did our Rosetta Stone lessons. I put little green Post It Notes all over the kitchen with words and phrases to help us remember. I work hard at it. Jason and I both do.

There are days when it is exhausting and I simply do not have the energy to try to speak another language. There are days when it is exhilarating because I am able to carry on a conversation with someone in Spanish.

So what is my point?

LEARN SPANISH!

My point is that after all these years, I have finally traveled to another part of the world.

Because I arrived barely able to speak the language, there are many days when I am not getting all that I should be out of this experience.

This is a very recent realization. A very frustrating realization.

Knowing conversational Spanish would be one of those orchestral arrangements that will make the difference between a spectator and being a participant.

You guys need to learn Spanish.

I will keep working on it. A few nights ago, I actually had a dream in Spanish! I guess it is time to get off the ferris wheel.

In case you were wondering.

Catspeak is the same in any country.

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Friday, April 8, 2016

La Ruta del Sol - Route of the Sun - A Road Beach and Mountain Paradise.

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The Route of the Sun

I am a little bit sorry we have not written for a while. Only a little. We have our first ever guest staying with us for a time.
Our friend Rob also rented a car so we have been exploring quite a bit. There are things you miss when riding the bus as we do regularly. You can not just stop and take a picture when riding a bus. You can only look out the side window. You can not stop and eat tacos at a roadside restaurant high in the Andes. Not without paying for the next bus which can get expensive. The upside is we have taken a lot and I mean A LOT of pictures.

We have not had time to write but we have collected plenty to write about. We are still collecting.

We have been exploring Ecuador's southern coast. Jipijapa, Manta, San Lorenzo, San Mateo, Puerto Cayo, Puerto Lopez, Olon, Montanita (yes, again), and Manglaralto. No we have not made it to Salinas yet. We met some new friends last night that say we MUST go. We will.

To explore this magnificent coastal region there is only one route. Sur (south) or Norte (north) highway 15 on La Ruta Del Sol. A two lane road that follows the coast through major cities and many, many small and medium sized fishing villages. There are mountains, scenic beach views for the tops of those mountains, bamboo forests, and huge cacti all along the way. The view is always fantastic and there are so many stretches of wonderful secluded and unspoiled beaches it is amazing.

Polaca Canister

Stop at them. If you are hungry and there always is a nice roadside restaurant, tienda, or food stand. You will find some really nice surprises as our friend did. The treat our friend found in Montanita is Polaca.

Polaca is made by a small family company called Avena Poland. They moved from Columbia around 2001 and started a Polish dairy. Polaca is now found all along the coast and it is delicious. Made from whole milk, sugar, vanilla, and oats, it is a creamy breakfast treat.

Drink it stand alone or put it in your smoothies, coffee, and cereal, I am positive a White Russian or Pina Coloda would be totally amazing with this as an ingredient.

We have not found it in a grocery store. It is bought off a truck out of a milk canister and sold by the cup or bottle. It will now be a staple in our house.

So, not much writing but a nice new treat and a lot of pictures. Enjoy all of them posted below. Chao!

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