Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Friday March 28, 2014 Dancers

Please note that you can SUBSCRIBE below to this Blog if you enjoy the photos and the accompanying stories.

I certainly hope you enjoy my work which is displayed here, perfect or not. Comments are graciously accepted at aljbourassa@gmail.com.

NOTE that you may click on any photo for an ENLARGED VIEW.

Also please see my artworks for sale at http://saccc05.tripod.com/

All work is COPYRIGHT protected and may not be used in any way without purchase, or without my permission.

Friday March 28, 2014

I had 3 things on the agenda today. Firstly Claro was giving 2 for 1 minutes on recharging the cel phone today so $10 is going to last me a couple of months...

Then there was some celebration at Parque De La Madre with advertising and displays and dance troupes from various provinces of the country. It had been advertised in GringoTree but there was a very disappointing Expat turnout. I am certain that the performers and organizers outnumbered the crowd easily. However the entertainment was fun, under the blazing hot equatorial sun, and we got a few shots for you. I met a few new people including a couple from Vancouver who were checking out our fair city.

I had to interrupt my enjoyment of the festivities to climb the hill to see an insurance broker and discuss house insurance. My previous policy lapsed at the end of February because I refused to stay with that prior Broker. As I was looking over my old policy to do comparisons I realized that they had neglected to put any Liability coverage on that policy. Such are the perils of dealing with people who don't know insurance.

Insurance policies in Ecuador are very strange, most only offering Named Perils coverage, but with Earthquake and Flood coverage and whopping Liability limits of between $1,000 and $2,000! The homes are brick and concrete so a person would expect a break on fire rates, and people rarely sue here, so Liability limits should be a tad higher. Yet, they are asking about the same premiums here as I had in Canada for 5 times the coverage, and on an All-Risk basis. I like this new Broker. We had a good chat and I gave him a ballpark of coverage and premium that would be acceptable.

Upon my return to see the festivities, I popped in to the local McDonald's outlet for the first time since they had a Big Mac with cheese for $1.99. I was hoping things would be the same but they just aren't, unfortunately.. The cheese is the tasteless Ecuadorian variety and the fries I had been craving barely had any salt on them. Oh well, all the more incentive to keep eating healthy...

Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al