Brian and Sarah in Ecuador

 Spoiler alert - I am a lot more disturbed by Portland. At one point I looked up the percentage of people in Ecuador who live below the povery line.  It was more than the US, but the numbers were going in the right direction.    What was shocking was that the wealth gap was actually BETTER than in the US. I am going to write about Manta specifically, because that is where we live, and what I can directly observe.  I was describing Portland, with all its homeless empampments and crime to one of the drivers, and he was very perplexed.  He then described in detail what one needed to do to survive on the Ecuadorian minimum wage of about $425-450 (some where around there) a month.  For starters, very basic shelter can be had for $80 a month.  It is not fancy, but it is a roof over one's head, in a gentle climate without extreme weather. Also, food grows everywhere, all year round.  The freshest, most delicious produce I have ever tasted.  We ...

 We are aware of the negative cons of living in Ecuador, but have not really experienced these yet.   There are some silly inconviences - so far not as many as our prior life in the US, but very different, petty things.  Mostly, it is a matter of changing habits.  Let's start with toilet paper. Ecuador does provide standard toilets in many public places.  The ones I have seen are generally well kept and clean.  However, you cannot flush the toilet paper, and so there is a little trash can next to the toilet for it - their septic system cannot handle TP.  This obviously seems kind of gross.  We had to set up our own bathroom like this at home as well.  We have used the opportunity to provide what is basically equivilent to adult baby wipes, which provide good cleanliness, and cut down on smells. The other thing about public restrooms is that there generally is not TP IN the stalls.  There is a provision at the entrance point to the r...

 We have arrived.  After an 8 day journey from Portland to Miami, turning Maya over to the Ecuadorian vet who had flown over to meet her from Quito to personally put her on her doggie flight, a nearly 4 hour flight myself, a wait at the Department of Agriculture, where the vet's wife met Maya and negociated for her release (she had to go after all the chickens that had also arrived, we were told.   This is like our experience in L and D - you never want to be the one that gets to go "first".   Those with priority are those with the higher mortality rate.  Anyway, the vet and his wife assisted us to get Maya and her humongous crate to the doggie friendly hotel, and I was taken from the airport to the hotel by shuttle.  After several nights of mediocre hotels with limited service, it was a treat to be met by the porters, who did not allow me to lift a finger, and took all my heavy luggage up themselves, as well as Maya's big crate when it arrived....