Well. Activity at the Neptuno is fervent: hauling away demolition debris, hauling up blocks, sand, and cement mix;

removing old glass windows and doors and sending it over the balcony and down eight floors; 

rewiring new electrical breaker box;

sanding wood on door jambs;

scraping texture off walls and prepping them for the new layer of empaste;

and the three of us making final decisions on where plumbing needs to be located, where the new kitchen walls and island will go, where the new entry wall and door will go.

The view without windows:

The Air Force had a C130 plane flying and dropping paratroopers on the opposite side of the peninsula. From our back balcony we saw at least six drops with 9, 10, 11 jumpers each time. Interesting.

Last night we met Ron and Donna at a fairly new restaurant called Mario’s. He is originally from Italy and has an extensive menu of pastas and pizza, but also pork chops, beef, and seafood. We split a pork chop and it was tender and seasoned exceptionally well and plenty for two. Total cost with two ensaladas, new potatoes and two water bottles = $11.50.

Banco Bolivariano called first thing this morning and asked if this was our phone and some other questions to verify the information we gave them. Like we lied to them yesterday in person, but would tell them the truth over the phone today?

We met a really nice couple, Ron & Donna, from the U.S. and they picked us up this morning and we showed them the Neptuno. (No elevator yet.) The window maker had a crew there removing all of the old windows, the painter is still working on removing texturing from the walls, more of the “stuff” was hauled away, and workers were carrying materials up to start building walls.

Ron & Donna also showed us some local spots, including a nice hotel/restaurant called Hotel Punta Carnera. What a view! We shared beer, chips (plaintain) and good conversation. We hadn’t experienced any local markets yet, so they stopped there and we walked around. It was later in the day so much of the selection was already gone, but we are looking forward to doing some shopping there soon.

Mike called us this morning with some ideas for tile accents and then later came to the Alamar and went over the progress of the work on the Neptuno. He gave us a letter he had written regarding our plans that we will give to the building administrator. We also discussed what the plans are for the next week and what the schedule will be for paying the laborers, and how to use the bank to make internal transfers and external transfers to pay stores and businesses for materials we will need to buy. We are still really impressed with Mike, his professionalism, his expertise, his friendliness, his advice, and low costs of labor plus the discounts we get at the stores he uses regularly. Three days into our project and no regrets or remorse!

Banco Bolivariano is now our bank in Ecuador. Even though Luis had filled out the applications, made copies of our Escritura (deed), passports, and an electric bill, and took it all to the bank yesterday; despite receiving a call telling us everything was ready for our signatures; when we arrived at the bank this morning, it was an hour and a half waiting in line. Then the agent told us that we had to wait for it to be approved (this couldn’t be done until we were physically present). And another hour later, we finally got back to the agent, who then spent 50 minutes filling out forms and running everything upstairs and back before she got the papers out that we needed to sign. At least twelve signatures for the primary account holder and four more for the secondary. Then, we got to go upstairs and make the deposit. WHEW!

There were four Ferreterias also in La Libertad that we visited after our banking was finished. Since we had already visited one last week, and several last fall, we had a fairly easy time picking out a floor tile. Wall tiles weren’t as painless but we finally found the perfect tile and accents to go with the floor. And the good news: we are under budget!

Mike took us to a nice restaurant with a two-course lunch for $3. We had a beef soup, fish with coconut sauce, rice and fresh-squeezed orange juice. The food was very tasty and the presentation was wonderful.

After returning to Salinas, we went to the Neptuno where Javiar and Jorge had crews still working. The wall in the bathroom was still not all the way down, but the debris had been shoveled into sacks and hauled down 8 flights of stairs. 

 The texturing on the walls has almost been removed and they are looking better.

The carpenter had also been there and removed the doors so that he can restore them. This will cost about 1/3 of buying new doors. Everyone also says it is good wood: palo de vaca. It is extremely hard so termites avoid it (termites are bad along the coast) and it has pretty grain. We haven’t picked a color for stain but that won’t make a difference yet. 

¡ADVENTURE!

Mike, Javier, Manuel, Jorge and more assistants met us at the Neptuno 9 a.m. today. (The elevators still aren’t working.) After walking up 8 flights of stairs, they were quite ready to do some demolición.

The kitchen will be totally gutted including the drop ceiling. We will replace all of the cabinets for a budgeted $280 per linear meter ($90 linear foot) which includes doors, shelves, and any specialties like wine racks, spice racks, etc. 

Maid’s quarters were common when this building was constructed, but we feel that space will be better used as a guest bedroom. Two walls, a bathroom, and an outdoor sink were removed; tomorrow part of the outside wall will be removed so that slider windows can be installed nearly the entire wall that faces the Bravo Mar. It will make another beautiful view.

There was a half bath added to the main bath after initial construction, which created a zigzag wall and a “throne” for a toilet. Our plan is to remove that zigzag and create a nice large bath with double vanity/sinks.

The electricity needs to be updated including a new breaker box.

We also got the bank to do the paperwork required to open a bank account so that tomorrow morning we will be able to go and sign everything. This was accomplished thanks to Mike and his office manager, Luis, making copies and writing letters of recommendation, and taking everything to their bank funcionarios.

The building administrator, Julio, needs to approve any changes that we want to make that would change the way the outside of the building looks. That meeting happened today and Julio was very accommodating about all of our plans. Mike is going to write a letter outlining our plans that we will then give to Julio for his records.

Today is the day that we decided what contractors to use. We got two bids on every part of the remodel. The first subcontractors were introduced to us by Luis and he interpreted for us, this took about two weeks. The second subcontractors were introduced by Mike, and their estimates took about two days to arrive. Mike also put together a complete budget for us, listing out all the materials we will need to buy and the costs. (This is usually how construction is done here: you buy the materials and have them at the worksite when the laborers need them, and then you pay the laborers for their time.) Mike also gave us options of overseeing the work ourselves, or paying him 10% to do the supervision.

We decided to go with Mike’s subcontractors because their estimates were less, and also to have him do the supervision. Mike has been quick with getting things done, has knowledge of things we can’t even begin to think of that need doing in Ecuador, has done several favors for us already, and we are hoping he’ll let us watch the progress as he builds his own boat.

They start on Tuesday and should be done in 2 months, unless they run into problems with the old plumbing or electrical.

The Neptuno building was constructed in the 1970’s. The elevators had been replaced so they are nicer (and bigger) than what are in other buildings the same age. But the building is not grounded, so the story is that electrical surges come from the municipality and burn out the motors. The administrator has been telling us since May 9 that the motors were ordered, shipped, being installed, being tested, etc. But they still are not working. That will be a problem with our remodeling project.

We chose this condo mostly because of the views from the balconies:

Our project is bigger than most remodels. There are over 204 square meters (2200 square feet) total and we will be removing over 15 linear meters of walls. Currently, there are two doors and a maid’s room. 

Popcorn texture was sprayed on ALL of the walls and there are many places where it has been banged and fallen off. There must have been leaks in the half bath that was added because those walls look like they were “patched” but never textured. 

Well, nothing is more frustrating than a computer not working. My Dell laptop suddenly refused to boot. This limited our internet capabilities and MagicJack phone calls. Luckily Linda’s Apple laptop still worked and kept us going. She was able to install MagicJack and once again we could make calls to the US. I have heard some people say negative things about MagicJack but from our view, the $49.00 for MagicJack Plus has paid for itself many times over in just a couple of weeks in Ecuador. The calls are clear with no delay and all we have to do is plug a cheap Emerson brand phone we bought at WalMart into the MagicJack port.

I spent an hour on the phone with Dell customer support just trying to get to the right support tech. This, in spite of the fact that I have hardware and software support agreements with Dell that do not expire until March 2014. However, my problem, according to Dell, is not covered under either agreement. But, for a one-time fee of $129.00 plus tax, they would attempt to fix the problem over the phone. After much insistence on my part that I would not pay unless they guaranteed to fix the problem over the phone, I gave them our credit card number and they had me try a few things. With no success, they announced that they could not fix the problem and would need to send me discs. Not a workable alternative given that I am in Ecuador.

So we started asking around to see if anyone could recommend a computer repair shop. There is one located on the road to SuperMaxi called CompuHelp. Thought we would have to take it there. But Mike, who is helping us with condo rehab bids, mentioned that his son is studying computers at the finest university in Ecuador. Luckily he was going to be in Salinas last night so Mike took the Dell home with him.  This morning Mike called to let us know that the laptop was fixed. He even brought it over to us at the Alamar. He refused to take any payment for the repair. After much persistence on our part he finally agreed to accept $20 for his son.   Mike is really a different and refreshing gringo in Salinas. He is fluent in Spanish, a maestro at construction, and will always give you an honest answer. Believe us when we say it is very difficult to find working gringos in Salinas like Mike.  

Some good advice is to always ask around the expats for recommendations when you need a service performed!

The ants go marching two by two, Hurrah Hurrah!

Well, maybe not “Hurrah!” when they’re marching around your kitchen. Cara first noticed them on the floor during the week she was here. After moving the trash can and cleaning the floor with a bleach cleaner, we didn’t see them again. Until last night. As we were getting ready for bed, we saw the little buggers crawling in the cabinets above the sink. Where the food is stored. We took the food out of the cabinets and cleaned the shelves with a bleach spray. This morning the disgusting little creatures were marching around on the counter. All food is now in zip-lock plastic bags, and everything is sprayed again with bleach.

We’ve had three meetings with Mike. Last night he said he just wanted to get the feel for what we wanted. At 10:30 this morning we met him there with his gray construction specialist (concrete) and a window maker. They took measurements and by noon, there was a window estimate ready and a list of some of the materials we would need. Mike took us to lunch and then to a large Ferreteria to look at tile samples. They will give him about 15% discount and there were several patterns that we like. At 5:00 Mike picked us up and we went to the Neptuno with an electrician and the painter who will also finish the walls. We are very impressed with Mike and his workers, and with the advice and suggestions that he is giving us. He thinks he will have final estimates for a budget tomorrow. At that point we will have the opportunity to change plans according to where we want to spend money (or not).

The Neptuno’s elevator is still not working. All week they told us it would be today because this weekend is a big holiday (and all the other owners in the building are Ecuadorian

The sun rises about 6:30 so we take nice long walks along the beach every morning. One day on the sidewalk we came upon a dog that was standing ahead of us watching us. We recognized the dog as one we had seen the night before when he was searching on the beach for something to eat. He could be a nice looking dog but is thin with a tangled coat. We walked past him and he followed us. We walked a block and he was still behind us, then we noticed that he had stopped to sniff something on the sidewalk and we left him behind. A minute later, he had caught up with us. This pattern was repeated and repeated as we walked up the Malecon. Even after we started meeting more people, he still kept up with us. As we crossed the street towards the Alamar, he was standing right where we left the sidewalk and he watched us climb the stairs. The next morning, we were walking on the beach and saw him standing above on the sidewalk watching us. No steps for him to walk down and too high for him to jump so he just stood there again as we walked away. (I might sneak him a treat the next time.)

Sunrise:

Our breakfasts consist of star fruit (which we learned should not be eaten by anyone who has kidney problems because it contains a toxin that will not be removed and then it can even be fatal), grapes, bananas, melon, sometimes eggs, sometimes yogurt with dried fruit and a roll that had course sugar sprinkled on top. ¡Very tasty!

Luis called and asked us to meet him at the Neptuno with two more subcontractors: windows and granite countertops. Our 5:00 meeting actually started about 5:30 – we’ve been told that’s typical Ecuadorian schedules. The estimates of the plumbing, electricity and general construction came in today and they seem pretty reasonable, but we would like to have at least one other estimate for comparison. We have received a referral to a North American, Mike, and we will meet with him tonight.

The Hipermart in El Paseo Shopping Mall stocks a wide variety of items besides groceries so we did some price and information gathering. There are some things that we should be able to buy there, but selection is very limited especially for things like tiles, counters, kitchen sinks. We will have to go to Guayaquil for things like that. We like going to the SuperMaxi for groceries, the baked goods and produce seem fresher.

The sun also sets at 6:30 so the night life lasts a long time here. Besides eating at Hostal Aqui and Big Ralphs’ we have also tried some local places like Sorgio on the main street who has lunch specials for $2.50, and The Luv n Oven on El Malecón http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g297539-d2649216-Reviews-Luv_N_Oven-Salinas_Santa_Elena_Province.html . They are well known for their good food and good prices. We ordered a Fettucine Camarón and Camarónes Apanado. There was way too much food but we ate it all because it tasted so good.

Sin http://sinsalinasecuador.com is another North American hangout and on Saturday night there was a couple that cooked Cajun food. There were some people we had already met, but some new people too. The owners are nice and friendly. On our walk back to the Alamar, we saw fireworks over the Yacht Club. They were nice to watch even though we didn’t know what the event was.

Sunday is more of a day off than in the U.S. so it seems like a good day to relax. We spend some time in the pool that is heated overnight, then the jacuzi, and then just sit at a table in the sun. Reading the Kindle isn’t impossible but not exactly easy and the internet doesn’t work outside. We’ve found that the internet became hard to use about Thursday night and didn’t work better until Monday morning, but everyone said their internet had some problems. The weekends are the busiest times at the beach so we don’t go far before there are too many people to walk around and we return to the sidewalk for our walk.

Groceries are different here. A block of cheese “Queso” isn’t really a block because all the cheese here is pretty soft. We also found that yogurt is more liquid than ours at home, but we did find one brand that was similar in strawberry or peach. Milk comes in boxes and is sold on the shelf, juice also comes in boxes unless you want to spend more for what is bottled. Tuesday is dairy day at the SuperMaxi so we bought some Helado (ice cream) in chocolate and fresa. Soft and tasty!

We take our laundry to the Lavandaria and they wash, dry and fold for 50¢ per pound. Laundry has been averaging 10-12 pounds per week for the two of us.

The Alamar cleaned the water tank one day so water was reduced until there was just a trickle coming from the kitchen faucet when we turned it on. About 2:30 the water started running into the toilet tank again and that alerted us that the water tank must be clean and soon the hot water was back too. There was no warning prior to the cleaning and it stayed off longer than we were told. This made us wonder if they ever clean the water tank at the Neptuno.

There are also two phones in our unit at the Alamar that we found were used for the Administration to contact us. Our condo in the Neptuno also has a phone on a wall, but nothing happened when we picked it up to check it. Staying at the Alamar has been a good learning lesson for us.

May 17

A beautiful day has arrived and we decided to give the beach another chance. This time we took along our can of Coppertone SPF 50 spray. We also bought our own umbrella so we don’t have to rent something at the beach which is $8. Cara observed that one more day and we had paid for the umbrella. It is very windy so it seems like a good opportunity to try out our kite.

After a couple hours reading, napping, walking along the water, we need to pack up because Cara has to return to Boston today. We leave our umbrella in our Bodega (storage closet) so we can use it again at Chipipe. The elevator looks put back together but we are told it is not working. So we call Luis and find out that two more sub-contractors for windows and woodworking are not coming until Monday. We ask Luis to talk to the guard about the elevator so he can interpret for us. The final word is that they had to do testing before we can use the elevator.

6:30

Juan has returned to pick up Cara and we ask to ride along to the airport. The ride is long and bumpy and we are sad to see Cara go. When we return to the Alamar, we get on the internet and find out that Cara’s flight has been cancelled and an e-mail from her tells us that she has gone through Immigration and Security and is at the Gate. So we panic and worry that she doesn’t know about the cancellation and there is not an agent at the gate to help her. Finally, we use our Magic Jack to call American Airlines and find out that actually they only changed the flight number and the plane is already in the air. ¡Whew!

May 15

With our sunburns glowing, the decision was made to do some sightseeing. There is a Budget Car Rental office just a street off the Malecon. An economy-size car was $53 per day, unlimited miles, taxes included, plus $28 all-inclusive insurance which seemed absolutely necessary after watching the way everyone drives here. Budget asked for $300 cash deposit or a credit card which they put a $600 hold on until the car was returned. We picked up a Tourist Map (in Spanish) but were told there is not a map of Salinas.

Punta Canerra is on the opposite side of the peninsula so we started there. The ocean is much wilder here and they say there is a very strong undertow so it is not a good place to swim. Very pretty though.

Next we headed to Ballenita and easily found the Farrolon Dillon Hostal. $2 gets one into the museum/gift shop which has artifacts from a sunken Spanish galleon. The $2 includes a drink in the restaurant at the end of the tour. It is a very pretty location on a cliff and a good place to go whale watching.

Our plan was to drive up the Ruta Del Sol (E15) north along the coast, but we had a very difficult time finding the right road. After touring Ballenita, Santa Elena, La Libertad, and even a jaunt east on E40 towards Guayaquil, we finally returned to the Farrolon Dillon and asked for directions. “Is very easy” we were told: turn left and turn left again at the Hotel Ballenita. Since this was a road under construction with caution tape and cones across it, we didn’t feel as foolish for having missed it so many times before.

Our next stop was Ayangue. This is a very picturesque bay with a fishing village. Cliffs on either side are being developed into gated communities. The bay is world known for it’s very good scuba diving. The village has typical open-air cafes and bars.

The coast is very close to the road as we drive and there are fishing boats pulling their catches out of the sea. Several kinds of birds have found that this is a good opportunity for them to feed. We knew where every boat was by watching the birds circle around it.

Mantañita is also world known for it’s surfing. The fishing village has grown into more of a hippy village with lots of little hostels and parking lots, which we’ve been told are used for sleeping on during the season. There is a surfer statue on the north side of town and there are international flags around the base of it. Great opportunity for tourist photos!

Just around the next bend is Olon. Another fishing village, but the beach stretches out and out and out. The surf is gentle and the sand is white. On a cliff between Olon and Mantañita, is a convent built into the side of the cliff. ¡Another tourist photo op!

5:00

After dropping Cara off at the Alamar, we drove to our condo in the Neptuno to meet Luis. He had brought along subcontractors: Antonio for concrete work and Miguel for plumbing and electricity. They both seemed knowledgeable and we will get estimates from them in a few days. The elevator is still not operating.

May 14

Today is a good day to take Cara to the Super Maxi (where she stocked up on local snacks and cookies), and to the El Paseo Shopping Mall. With 4 years of high school Spanish in her past, she did a much better job of translating signs and we found out that the Cinema shows some movies in English at certain times. It seemed easier to buy a DVD and bring it back to watch in the evening. $11.50 for The Hobbit at the Hipermart.

Happy Mother’s Day! We moved to an efficiency apartment in the Alamar on El Malecon today. Kimberly with Island Estates www.ieiecuador.com was holding our deed which we had to pick up, and we asked about something small to rent until our remodel is far enough along that we can live there. The Alamar is a premiere condominium building in Salinas. We have already met a couple from Canada at the pool, and we have a great view, but it is especially good to unpack!

Super Maxi is a giant grocery store we went to today. We needed groceries and a few items to make this condo feel more like home. We bought all of these items for only $127.

The best part about Mother’s Day is that our daughter, Cara, flew into Guayaquil to spend a few days between Spring Semester and Summer term with us here. Cara is attending a college in Boston and was close to the bombing there on Patriot’s Day, so it is good for her to get away for a while.

May 13 (missed yesterday because there isn't internet in our new condo)

We met Luis at our condo this morning. A couple that we met at Hostal Aqui, Will and Peggy, are thrilled with Luis and his work and his talents, and showed us pictures of the house here that they remodeled with his help. They were flying back to the states for 5 weeks, and since Luis was their employee, the timing worked out for him to help us. We were impressed with the remodel and also with Luis when we met him today. He made notes of the changes we want to make, made some recommendations, and said he would contact individuals he knows who can do the work for us. Now we just need to wait for the elevators in the building to work. No one can carry materials up 8 flights of stairs.

Chipipe Beach is a nice, white, big beach and was quiet on a Monday. We spent some time there and got some sun (maybe too much?). Cara got her first taste of Coco Helado.

After that, we had a meeting with Amy about the burst pipe and she gave us the advice of just ignoring the bill and see what happens.

We are off to Monday’s Prime Rib special at Hostal Aqui! It has a reputation El Malecon wide.