Brian and Sarah in Ecuador

 I am slowly settling back in to life in Ecuador.  I did miss it a ton, and felt a definite sense of peace driving around those first few days, seeing the familar building, neighborhoods, landmarks, etc.  It is not just the beach I have grown attached to.  I am also slowly seeing friends and re-acclimating back into the people and places that made up my fond routine in February.  It is slightly harder than I thought it would be.   Selling the house, setting up the apartment , moving out of the apartment, immigrating, the long 10 day journey to drive Maya to Miami, fly her to Quito, and have her driven to Manta, and showing up to a foreign country in a home with no furniture or household items, all took energy.  Then flying back and re-establishing myself at a new job, being gone for long hours took emotional energy, even given it was an usuasally pleasant travel assignment.  Then I had to say goodbye again.  So I arrived back at the cond...

 From talks of Ecuador, let's go back and visit the US again, for a moment.  I have been here for 4 1/2 months, and just clocked out and approved my timecard for the last time, and handed in my badge at Providence Portland Medical Center. +++Warning - this addresses the strike.  Because I start out defending the need for the way Providence handled the staffing needs during the strike, it may leave a bad taste that I am defending Providence in general.  For the most part, I am not - please read all before coming to a conclusion.  I think Providence is allowing the accusations of impropriety with their strike labor practice to deflect from the real issues. For the most part it was a very pleasant assignment.   I was warmly welcomed into the unit, and after a few weeks of covering vacations, random ill calls, and assisting with a new employee (called "caregiver" at Providence) orientation, I was assigned to a pleasant, fast paced observation unit, with ve...

 While I remain stateside working at an inner city Portland hospital, things are still smooth sailing for Brian, back in Ecuador.  I am grateful for this extra bit of time with Gabrielle and Damon, living with them in their tranquil, loving home.  I do miss the weather, sunsets, and going to bed with my spouse, and all that Manta has to offer.  However, as I mean for this blog to be realistic, life is not that great for all ex-pats. I cannot deny crime has increased since we began our journey, and there are some unsettled moments in other parts of the country.  For reasons I have already outlined, our specific area remains relatively safe, certainly safer than downtown Portland.  But I cannot argue that it is weird to live in a country, and travel to cities where I actually am concerned about getting kidnapped.  If I leave our area, which to be honest there is not much reason to do on a day to day basis, I am a target. It is hard to relay stories of cr...

 On my flight from Quito to Atlanta, I found myself in Comfort plus, courtesy of my husband and his tireless fanagling of airline points, miles, status, etc.  I never am one to spring for more expensive seat, but Brian is 6'3, and does not easily fit into the "knee gobbling" general seats in Coach.  For much of the time, I was not terribly sympathetic, because I'm generally cool being uncomfortable of a few hours to save money, but one one overnight first class flight he had so kindly set up for me, I found out what it was like to fly for hours in a seat designed for someone of a very different height.  I did not have the correct knee to hip length to be able to comfortably seat, and spent the flight having to hold me legs out in front of me.  It was torture.  So now I get it. My traveling companion ended up being a tall plastic surgeon from Connecticut, who, while fit, was too big for the coach seats on an overnight flight, and was separated from his team,...

 It is hard to know exactly how to catagorize this post.  I guess it might be helpful to explain first why I am writing it.  Brian and I are classified as migrants, and if anyone is interested (which I doubt) I could explain the legal process that goes into getting temporary visas to live here, and generally what you might need to get a permanent one - although the criteria for these changes frequently.  But I'm not going to do that, unless anyone is truly interested.  The short answer is that it takes a while, but if you have funds and a clean background check, the Ecuadorian government seems happy to have you.  Let's call it green privilege. More interesting, and less straightforward are those entering without this privilege, most notably from Venezuela.  I watch to see how this is handled in South America, in contrast to the Charlie Foxtrot that is our US Southern border.  First of all, I have nothing but empathy for those who flee countries wh...

 The average life span of a Bermese Mountain Dog is just 6-8 years.  The average life span of a Newfoundland is 10 years.  These are the 2 dominent breeds that make up Maya.  So it was not a huge surprise last spring when we noticed Maya slowing down more and losing weight, shortly before her 11th birthday. I agreed to a basic work up, just some lab tests.  Maya's liver and kidneys were slowing down.  Her weight went up a bit, then back down to the underweight catagory, and I was told to increase the protien in her diet, as she was not absorbing nutrients as well.  I had already been increasing the amount with little effect.  Increasing the protient did the trick for a bit, and she rapidly regained.  Knowing her time on this Earth is limited, we nonetheless made plans to bring her to Ecuador.  There was no way in hell I was abandoning my senior dog, who had helped me raise Thomas, the last months or year of her life.  It took 2 mont...