The New Cedula's Are Here !!!!!!!!!!

Remember the move "The Jerk" with Steve Martin?

Well, watch this clip an you will know exactly how we felt when we got our Cedula's this week, well except for the last ten seconds anyway. (You need to double click and a little blue bar will show up on the screen, click where it says to go to youtube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOTDn2A7hcY&feature=youtube_gdata_


Our trip to Quito was GREAT!!! The contact that our attorney gave was wonderful. Our appointment was at 8:00 am on Tuesday, so we left Monday night, Joseph, our contact, met us at our hotel at 7:30 and took us to the building we had to go to, the place was already packed with people by 7:45.  Joseph, took charge of everything, he went and got us a number, and somehow, we were sitting at the desk within ten minutes, we were taken before aoo these other people that were there before us.  The"Government guy" could not find Michael's paperwork, I am here on his retirement Visa so it was essential for both of us that Michael's paperwork be located.   Joseph just kept talking and laughing with "the guy" and lo an behold he finally it.   He processed our paperwork, then Joseph went and paid the $4.00 for our two Cedulas, another line,  and he got us another number for another line to get our photos and fingerprints. When we got to the next area, again there were a TON of people waiting, and somehow, we only had three people in front of us!!!!  Joseph explained that he "knew" the woman at the desk where you pay for the Cedulas, and that was the reason we got such a great number. We were in and out within less than an hour!!!   Unbelievable, we had heard such horror stories, and our experience was simple. The Cedulas were supposed to be ready late afternoon on Wednesday, so we stayed until Thursday to pick them up.   

Since we were finished so early in the morning on Tuesday, we did a few tourist things in Quito, we went to Mercado Artesanal La Mariscal, an indigenous market for everything from ashtrays that say "Ecuador" to really nice textiles and jewelry.

Nice Smile

If you talk with these ladies and smile they will usually let you take their picture

The little paintings are very intricate

Some scarves in the market

Wild flower growing in the market

After strolling around  the market we decided to go to Plaza De La Independencia in "Old Town", it is a plaza in front of the Palacio Presidential.  It is a great place to sit and people watch, you are constantly pestered by shoe shine boys which cracks us up, you can be wearing sandals and they want to shine them, they give you the big sad eyes when you say No Gracias. 

The first time we came to Ecuador in 2007 we had read all the saftey precautions and we used our common sense learned by growing up on the South Side of Chicago, we were aware of our surroundings and kept our valuables in zipped pockets.  We were approached by an older gentleman that wanted us to go back to his shop with him and buy Panama hats.  He was quite insistent that he would give us a "good deal" on ponchos, blankets, whatever we wanted.  We thought to ourselves "Yeah, right, you are going to walk us into an alley where you have a few guys waiting to donk us on the head".  We kept politely saying we were not interested.  He would laugh and keep requesting we come with him, he eventually gave up, smiled, waved and walked away.

When we visited Ecuador with my mom in 2009, we spent some time in the plaza, and our buddy was there again.  He went through his sales pitch, we laughed and asked if he remembered us and he simply said no, he stated that "All you Gringos look alike to me".  Too, too funny.  When he realized we weren't going to buy anything, the four of us stood around and just talked about politics, life, whatever, we exchanged names, his was John Henry.  It was a nice conversation.

The next time we met John Henry was in May of 2011, in the same plaza, this time he claimed to remember us.  Here we go again, "No John Henry, we don't need a Panama Hat".  He explained how bad tourism was, all the hotels were empty, and his business was doing really poorly.  We thought to ourselves, no wonder you don't have any customers, you are NEVER in your shop, you are always strolling around in the park! 

As we got in the taxi Tuesday afternoon, to go to the plaza, Michael laughed and wondered if we would run into John Henry.  I kid you not, we stepped out of the cab, walked two feet and there was John Henry with his hand out to shake ours.  LOL!!  We talked about the worldwide economy, President Obama, and lastly he started his sales pitch about the great deals he would give us.  This time he gave us his phone number to call when we or anyone we know is in Quito.  Small, small world.

Just a few pics of Quito:

Church on one side of the Main Plaza

Some architecual detail

The gargoyles on this church are Animals that are only found in Ecuador, these are the Galapagos Tortoises.

Church interior, beautiful natural lighting.

On Wednesday we hired a private driver and went to Otavalo, it is an "important" market town, the best day to go is on Saturdays when people come from  surrounding villages to sell their wares.  We have been there twice before, this day, a Wednesday, it was smaller, quieter and lots less tourists.  We had a nice day.

A few pics on the road to Otavalo:



A few pics in the Otavalo Market

Traditional white pants and shoes worn by the Men of this region.

On Thursday Joseph met us at 10:00 am, the place was insane with people and he just walked right up to a window, it was kind of embarrassing, he muscled his way up there and we had our Cedulas in hand within 3-4 minutes, that was it!!!

We know a woman and another couple that were in Quito at the same time frame as us, the single woman had problems over paperwork for her husband, who passed away 13 years ago, and the couple we know were able to get the wife's Cedula, but had problems with the husbands. The have to go back in two weeks which means another airfare, I feel so bad for them.

There was a charity Poker event starting at 7:00 pm the night we got back from Quito, we landed around 6:30 and had our luggage by about 6:40. Michael wanted to go to the event , so we stood at the curb and dug around in our bags exchanging cell phones (Michaels was dead) and money and paperwork, etc. I hopped in a cab to go home, and Michael hopped in a cab for the tournament. As the driver was approaching our house, I started digging around for the $1.50 fare from the aiport, I realized I didn't have the passports or Cedulas, Michael had given them to me to bring home rather than take them to the Poker Game. OMG, panic, rapid breathing, verge of tears, the WHOLE BIT!!!! 

THANKFULLY, the cab driver spoke English, and understood the gravity of the situation, (he had congratulated me on the way home for getting through this complicated process), he whipped me back to the airport and helped search on the sidewalk, unbelievably, the passports were still laying on the curb. 

I guess someone was looking out for us.

I will update the blog with info from our trip to Botanic Garden back on the 20th, and pics from the Halloween party we went to on the 28th.  We were just thrilled to have our Cedulas and thought we would share that story today.