A few photos of our trip

Well we have settled down a bit - it has been a crazy few days here, buying furniture and other stuff needed for the house but the biggest thing we did is front up to the visa office on Monday morning (we got in line at 7am). Its a funny system here - not sure how they work it out - we finally got inside the building after they had taken our passports and then after some time they announced that we could come back at 10am. This was good cause we needed to get passport photos taken and breakfast. When we got back the guy at the counter checked every paper and probably every word on our application and eventually we were called back up and he pointed out a few errors. One big error was that Aaron had a mistake on his official document saying he had left the country twice and the bloke thought that he would have to go to Quito to get that fixed up - what a pain that would have been - but after Aaron getting a little cross with the guy, he went and asked someone else who said no it was alright. Anyway, we still had to go and get the translation of Amandas birth certificate done again, get it noterized and come back to the office but shock horror -everything was right and our application has been accepted. In about a months time we will have a verdict. Exciting stuff especially for Aaron and Amanda because they have been to that office so many times over the last months sorting stuff out.

We also helped on Monday night in the construction kitchen (our congo has a remodellation of their KH going on) and on the menu was classic kiwi food - bacon and egg pie and custard squares - I think it went down ok but one funny thing is - along with the pie, mashed potatoes and salad - we had to serve up rice. If Ecuadorians don't get rice at every meal they think their world has ended.

The best part of the last view days (apart from the relief of getting our papers in) was that we caught up with our other kids, Chad and Michele. It was awesome to see them but seemed strange when it was time for them to leave and go to their own home - they should be with us still :(

Hi there - just letting you know that we have finally arrived in Cuenca and will be back up an running with the blog soon. We are both fairly exhausted from 3 weeks of travelling (over 13000km), by bus and by air so will need a few days to settle down and get sorted - especially the laundry!

Hasta Pronto!

Farewell NZ - hello South America

Well the day has arrived - well it will tomorrow - and we will be on that big jet airliner once again. It's been an extremely stressful few days - I've had a flu on top of it all so when we finally do get on that plane I will be breathing a BIG sigh of relief.

Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures along the way of our trip through Argentina - Bolivia - Peru before finally reaching Cuenca on the 15th August.

Hasta luego!

Ok you got it!

Thank you for your comments folks - happy to carry on  - it will probably be only a monthly report of our doings so I should be able to come up with something interesting to read (there's never really a dull moment in Ecuador).

We leave NZ on the 26th of July - scarily close now - and are off on a little tour of South America for 3 weeks before we settle down again in Cuenca. I am so looking forward to being in a house again and being settled, this last year has been quite topsy turvy for us so bring on the Ecuadorian tranquility!

Hopefully I will have some interesting photos of our trip to post but until then - hasta pronto mis amigos!

Ecuador here we come -again!

I have been asked a number of times over the last few weeks about whether or not I will be continuing with this blog now that we are going back to Ecuador....if you hadn't heard that then yes it is true - in exactly one months time we will be on a plane bound for South America again - it will take us about 3 weeks to get back to Cuenca as we are taking a little tour through a few countries on the way. I had decided that, no I wouldn't be blogging again as nothing will be new and exciting this time - so my feeble brain might not be able to come up with anything interesting however some have told me it is the only way they ever get to hear about whatever happened to the James so maybe?

Hence the poll question...what do you reckon?

Copied this from GringoTree Cuenca - thought some of you may appreciate it

GringoTree Survey: Cost of Living

January 18, 2013

We received 282 responses and hundreds of specific and general comments. Thanks, as always, to everyone who took the time.

Not all respondents answered all questions, which skews the percentages a little.

Of the 282, 240 respondents are from Cuenca. Vilcabamba and the coast logged 6 each, Quito 5, Salinas 4, Loja 3, Cotacachi 2, and the rest miscellaneous.

279 people answered the rent/own question, with 203 renters (73%) and 76 (27%) owners.

Exactly 100 (just under 50%) renters pay $300-$499 per month. Another 32 (15%) pay $500-$599, while 16 (8%) pay $600-$699, 13 (6%) pay $700-$799, 12 (7%) pay $800-$999; and 6 (3%) pay $1,000 and up. At the other extreme, 27 renters (12%) pay $100-$299.

Of properties owners, 29 (35%) pay no building or neighborhood fees, while another 20 (24%) pay up to $75 per month. Ten (12%) pay $76-$99, 15 (the largest percentage at 18%) pay $100-$149, and 9 (10%) pay $150 or more.

For utilities (electricity, gas, water, and landline) the vast majority, 173 (76%) pay $50-$74. Another 45 (20%) pay $75-$149. And the rest pay $150 and up.

For Internet, 14 respondents (6%) get away for less than $20, while 137 (60%) pay between $20 and $49, and 57 (25%) pay $50-$74. The rest pay $75 and up.

Not quite half of the respondents (61/41%) pay more than $50 per month for cable/satellite TV. The rest are as follows: 29 (19%) pay $40-$49; 21 (14%) pay $30-$39; 17 (12%) pay $20-$29; and 20 (14%) pay $10-$19.

For cell phones, fully 67% of respondents, 174 people, pay between $10 and $29 per month. Another 38 (15%) pay $30-$49 and 16 (6%) pay $50-$74. 7 people, just under 3%, pay $75 or more per month. 24 people (9%) don’t own cell phones.

As for food and groceries, not surprisingly, 103 shoppers always shop at SuperMaxi, with another 136 shopping there sometimes and 17 rarely. Only 34 people always shop at Coral, though 111 shop there sometimes and 36 rarely. 3 people always shop at GranAki, 23 sometimes, and 62 rarely. 50 shop at mercados always, while 134, the largest block of responders to this question, shop at them sometimes, and 27 rarely. Finally, it’s 23 people always, 86 sometimes, and 50 rarely at the tiendas.

The shopping question had an “Other” box, which received 59 responses. Also not surprisingly, 34 people (58%) cited the Coopera. Other “Others” included: Comisariato (3), SuperStock (2), and Tia, Feria Libre, MegaTienda, and street vendors. One goes all the way to shop at the “local stores in Lansing, Michigan.”

For food and groceries, 134 respondents (just under 50%) spend between $50 and $99 per week. 78 shoppers (just under 25%) spend more, while 37 (not quite 14%) shell out $20-$39 and 8 (3%) pay $10-$19.

The following question, on dining out, also surveyed expenses per week: 76 people (28%) spend $19 or less; 120 (45%) spend $20-$49; and 71 (almost 27%) spend more than $50 per week at restaurants and bars.

Transportation expenses are generally low. Per month, 187 people (nearly 72%) spend less than $50; 43 people spend $50-$99; and the other 31 pay $100 and up.

57 people (roughly 20% of total respondents) own their own cars. 27 of them, just under 50%, pay between $50 and $99 per month on gas, repairs, insurance. 12 (21%) pay less than $50, while 13 pay $100-$199, and 5 pay more than $200.

For helpers (housekeepers, gardeners, and cooks), just under half of respondents (117) pay nothing. The other half are pretty equally divided between $1-$49 and $50-plus.

The question, “What else do you spend money on and how much per month?” received 156 comments, which included, but weren’t limited to (in a rough expense order):

• high school and college students close to $4,000 per semester
• mortgages $1,500
• visa application $750
• school 2 children $600
• travel $100/$5,000
• medication $75-$100/$120/$300-$400/$160/$60
• health insurance $100/$71/$58/$330/$210/$110
• medical $100/$75/$40/$200/$110/$80
• farm caretaker $450; worker Social Security $59
• acupuncture $300
• alcohol $200/$150/$75/$60/$250
• church $150
• homeowners insurance $120
• salon $120
• clothing, shoes $100
• entertaining $100
• music classes $90
• Spanish lessons $75/$32/$28/$85
• elementary school $70
• sponsor school children $70/$45/$25
• e-books and New York Times (Internet) $80
• veterinarian/grooming $60/$20/$50
• pet food $20/$30/$100/$40
• art lessons $75
• horseback riding $60
• entertainment $50/$25
• gym $50/$20
• dance lessons $45
• art $25/$50/$75
• Club Correos $40
• cooking classes $40
• yoga $30
• movies $20
• laundry/dry cleaning $15/$20/$10/$30
• DVDs $10/$20
• alarm system $15
• cigarettes $3.20 per pack
• flowers $4/$18/$50-$60

Finally, one wag wrote: “acholic” $30.

To summarize:

• almost 90% of renters pay between $100 and $699 per month.
• 72% of property owners who shell out fees pay no up to $99 a month.
• 76% of respondents pay $50-$74 per month for utilities.
• 91% pay no more than $74 for Internet, with most paying between $20 and $49.
• 59% pay $49 or less for cable/satellite TV, though fully 41% pay more.
• Of 235 cell-phone owners, exactly 3 out of 4 pay $10-$29 per month.
• 67% pay up to $99 a week in groceries, while 73% spend up to $49 per week dining out.
• 72% spend less than $50 per month on transportation.
• Of car owners, 70% pay less than $100 a month.

Taking a rough pass over all the numbers, it looks to us like an average couple that rents ($500 + $60 utilities), has fast Internet ($50), cable ($50), and cell phones ($30), shops at SuperMaxi and the mercados including the Coopera ($350), and doesn’t own a car, spends in the neighborhood of $1,100 per month for these basics.

Which brings us to the question, “How much do you spend every month?” which received 208 responses.

Some people provided a range ($1,200-$1,500, for example), which we averaged. There were also a few extreme highs ($7,000 including tuition for several high school and college attendees; two $5,000, one $4,500) and lows ($200, $300, $350), but we figure they washed.

Sixteen didn’t provide a number, writing things like, “I try not to look,” “I never add it up,” and “Still too much.” So that lowered the total to 192. 

Adding it all up and dividing by 192 (with a slight margin for cross-eyed errors), the average -- drum roll, please -- comes to $1,198. Pretty close to our $1,100, plus $100 in miscellaneous expenses as cited above.

The last general-comments question attracted 74 responses.

A number of you took us to task for fatal flaws in the survey methodology (no accommodation for size of household; week-month differentials; some people own and don’t include rent in the calculations, etc.). We plead guilty as charged. We don’t pretend our surveys are scientific, though they’re certainly instructive (and amusing, at least to us).

A couple people copped to spending way too much on alcohol.

A few planned to move from the (expensive) city to the cheaper (campo).

More than a few railed against the consistently low cost of living promoted by the Internet hypesters.

Here are just a few representative responses.

“Don’t move here to save money. Move to Mexico if money is your concern.”

“Cuenca is beautiful. But it’s not so cheap.”

“Our costs for obtaining visa and cédula are much higher than we expected. To date, we have spent $4,500 and we don't have the cédula yet.”

“All the reports of Cuenca's costs are consistently too low, resulting in many expats coming here briefly, then leaving after a few months. Thanks for trying to stop this heart-breaking misinformation!

You’re welcome. We hope these numbers, from more than 250 local households, infuse some measure of reality into outside perceptions of the cost of living in Cuenca.

NZ District Convention 2013

Hi folks, me again - just thought I would share this beautiful ending to the Special District Convention we have just had. Thankfully someone else videoed as I had forgotton my camera - imagine that, how could I do such a thing. Anyway I am sure the brother or sister that posted this to Youtube won't mind me sharing it with you. The convention was just awesome, very faith strenghtening, and this was the perfect finish to it.

BTW there were 4 convention sites with a total of 20,000 attendance and 138 baptised

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4haOMgTZnjo -if you want to watch it again - video from the actual venue)