Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Tuesday October 24, 2017 Frustrating Ecuador

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Tuesday October 24, 2017

This was another one of those up and down days in Ecuador and another nail in the coffin. It is getting so bad that I may not wait for the house to sell before leaving...

Cristian, Cristina's son left Colombia last night and arrived at the border this morning. He is at the border immigration post between Colombia and Ecuador and this woman officer will not let him cross into Ecuador without showing that he has at least $30 per day cash in his pocket for visiting.

After we went through all the troubles and complications to send him the money, he went back through a different immigration officer and was passed on without any mention of the money requirement... This was just a SCAM to get a BRIBE by the first woman. It is sickening that these sort of people are allowed to work in public positions.

This now puts him more at risk of being robbed (a woman on his prior bus had already been robbed while she slept).

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

So I am back at Physio this morning and I actually feel pretty good. The Gabapent really helps me sleep and good rest seems to be the rejuvenator I need. They also had a new blind masseur working on me today, but not for very long.

I had a visit from my facilitator Victor this morning giving me a form I need to go get my Matricula at Parque De La Madre. So off I went to get this chore off my plate, by myself... I ask where to go and they send me into the parking garage. I see a TV showing the number of the person they were attending to but I could not see where to get the numbers... It turns out they were in a glass on the counter hidden by the security officer who was gabbing with a customer. I was third in line so I get up there with all my documents and this guy says that I have to pay yet another $25 for whatever BS, and I have to back above to some ugly trailer in a huge, s l o w lineup and I call Victor who has never heard of such a thing... I take a photo of the request and send it to him. Once I fill out a form, make the payment, then I go back down in the parkade, get back in line and finally get the last paperwork. So now, all told, I have spent almost $200 (with facilitator cost) to get a simple annual scooter registration renewed. My blood is still boiling.

Then I decided to try to make the English Camera Club meeting at the Cuchara Magica restaurant downtown. I ordered the chicken quesedia and a Nanaimo Bar and it was worth every penny.... The club seems to be starting to go in a good direction with more outings (although they conflict my darn Physio and they are not all that cheap). We were supposed to have a talk and presentation by Jack Kaulitz about "seeing" in photography buy the person who was supposed to supply the projector and screen did not show... One fellow also mentioned that we might be able to get space, maybe even free, across the street at the Cuenca City Museum. He said that the Ecuadorian Photo group meets there and maybe we could have a joint meeting with them.. (Not a good thing in my book at all). However getting a nice space with sound and video capabilities will be infinitely better than in a noisy restaurant.

A few doors east from the restaurant is the "Artesanias en Cuero y Gamuza" (Handcrafts in Leather and Suede) store and I have bought a few things there very reasonably. I started to look for riding boots for safety on Buzzer. I was looking for easy pull-on shorty boots but they had nothing in my size (42 here). They showed me some more like cowboy boots, found some 42's, and they fit like a glove. Regular price $85, but $65 great-grandpa discount (it never hurts to ask for it). It wasn't until I was paying for them that I realized that they even had the (probably illegal) Harley-Davidson logo embossed on them! And then I get back my 12% tax and that makes them quite a steal! I was even able to pay by credit card for no fee. It is nice to get one bright spot in the day.

I get home, shoo all the dogs except Buddy into the kitchen so I can bring in Buzzer. Buddy usually just stays in his bed but today he decided to make a mini break for it. I grab a leash and watch him make 3 tree stops before I catch up to him making a dump.. Now I can't be mad at him for doing it outside. I then go back and get the other 4 dogs and take them all for their walk.

To make a long story short, Ecuador has a love-hate relationship with me. Some things are so darn nice, the weather, the people on the street, the medical care for the most part, but then you always have to deal with those darn crooks and thieves in Government and that just ruins everything. Every day brings us one step closer to moving to Colombia. I am starting a process with another realtor too. I have to get out of here before I punch a Government functionary or stupid driver.

I hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day’s excitement.

Cheers, Al

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