Closing out a long week for sure, but glad to be alive and living in this wonderful country!
We had to go to Machala (on the coast) on Wednesday afternoon for Lisa’s Visa appointment which was Thursday at 9:30 a.m. Was an uneventful 5 hour trip over, we had our good friend/taxi driver/interpreter Jose Abad drive our car for us. We didn’t want any unexpected tours through the country side like our trip to Cuenca. Stopped for a good lunch in a small Ecuadorian town and got some great coffee to take home from a roadside stand. Also snagged a huge bag of 100 oranges which are muy delicioso! Got into Machala about 6:00, took a siesta and had a nice dinner. Up most of the night with noisy neighbors upstairs from our room. Sounded like they were having lots of fun for sure.
Next morning, we had a nice Ecuadorian breakfast and then off to the Visa office by 9:15. The Lawyer showed up and they finally called Lisa so she went to the desk and sat down. It all started to go downhill from there. They did not want to use the copy of our marriage certificate and refused to use the original that was already in my file which was stored in the next room. We finally asked if we could get a certified copy from their file and use that. They said it would take 72 hours to deliver that to us. Hours of phone calls back and forth to the main attorney and some higher ups in the Visa office netted us an opportunity to have the Regional Director look at our documents. We waited in his office for almost 45 minutes until his secretary came out with his signature approving us to use the certificate on file. Then we had to go back and wait in the big room for Lisa’s name to be called again. The attorney helping us had to go to court, so he left. Thank God Jose was there helping us and translating, or we would have been sunk.
They called Lisa’s name and the same woman we had before started rifling through her paperwork. She decided that she did not like the copy of Lisa’s migratory movement document and told us we had to go get an original. The was at 2:30 and their offices close at 5:00. Lisa and Jose took off for the Migration office and I went to the bank to hold a place in line. The plan was, they would bring the little piece of paper to me and I would pay the fee at the bank and then run back to the migration office to have it filed. Lisa called me while at the bank and they don’t allow calls in the bank line, so they asked me to leave. I went outside, talked to Lisa and then went back in the bank and got in line. After a moment, the security guard came over and told me I had to leave. I explained in my best Spanish that I was trying to pay for a Migratory movement application, he asked me to leave again. Finally, Jose showed up with it, the security guard moved me to the front of the line, I paid, and we left. All for a lousy $5. I am willing to bet that few of you have been thrown out of a bank twice in one day!
Then on to the Migration office where 2 ladies who had overstayed their temporary visa were arguing because they didn’t want to pay the $700 fine. All 5 employees stopped working for 40 minutes and listened to these ladies plead their case. Finally, they took Lisa’s receipt for the lousy $5 and printed out the document. Then we hopped back in a cab and went back to the Visa office where we waited to be called again. She finally took Lisa again and then said she had to pay at the bank window for the application fee. We promptly paid that and then waited to be called again. Jose and I went to eat lunch and Lisa finally got all her paperwork submitted and met us at the car at 4:30 p.m. We were so elated that we got to file her paperwork, that we laughed and joked for the first 10 miles home. It had been a very tense day, as they kept telling us no way were they going to accept her application until almost 2:00 p.m. when they finally agreed to take it.
Uneventful trip home and almost no fog, which is notoriously bad for that area and especially at night. We finally got Jose home to Vilcabamba at about 10:00 p.m. where his wife met us and kissed us and told us how glad she was that we were home alive! The highway between here and there really is that dangerous at night. Francisco, Marley and Rosa met us at the entrance gate of the property to let us in at 10:30. They were relieved to see us, and we were so glad to see them. Trudy was so happy to see us, she whined for an hour. She enjoyed playing with her pal Marley while we were gone, but she must have thought we left her for good. We finally went to sleep around midnight. Still worn out today.
I tell the entire story, because this is how the Visa process goes. Some people have stories that sound worse than ours, and some people say their experience was a breeze. I am sure this is not uncommon for the process in any country. You really have to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s and even then, something new comes up. For instance, there is a new rule as of May 31st that we must have an Ecuadorian police report for Lisa. However, their website for downloading this does not work yet. I know this, because we tried. The attorney could not find a solution to this problem and could not tell us where to get one. So, we went without one. Turns out, they never even asked for it. They may ask later, but at least they took her application now.
The Casita is starting to shape up. Every week, they tell me 2 more weeks. I am not rushing anyone mind you, but this is how construction goes. We poured concrete and set the corner posts for the new greenhouse today. It should come together very fast. I have a great welder doing all the work and Francisco and I will put the finishing touches on it when he is done. Beautiful day here, but a little windy. We were fortunate that Machala was a little overcast so not as blistering hot as last time. It was a little on the humid side. Here at Lambanuma, we have the best weather almost every day.
We are starting to think of a good name for our Casita for marketing purposes. If you have an idea, please send it our way. The previous owners called it Vista Bella, but there is a Vista Bella subdivision over in Malacatos. I am worried people might get confused. I thought of Vista Bella at Lambanuma, or Casa bonito, or Casa de Lambanuma. I am not that creative. Time for some of you who know Española to give us a hand!
That’s about it, we are in good health and in good spirits. We hope all of you are as well. Please pray for continued revelation from God.
Until next time,
Dios te Bendiga!
June 2018
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