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Thursday January 2, 2025
So, where to begin....??????
The bathroom scale confirmed what I thought.... one meal a day of a hamburger and fries in Ecuador has dropped me to 190.6 lbs, ever closer to my next goal of 180........
And now being 75 years old,..... well, my mind is thinking I am still only 25, but the body is definitely correcting me immediately....... the body is certainly feeling every year of the 75....
So we left off our last Blog on New Year's Eve early, so we could pack up everything, including the electronics. My plan (which worked) was to pack all my liquids and bothersome (to security) items in the big suitcase lent to me by Teresa. This included all toiletries and my laptop, so I did not have to dig these out in the security line-ups.
In the afternoon, we had a long parade going right past the house, which was actually better than the disappointing Pase del Nino of Dec 24! I really regret not running back for the big Nikon camera sooner, although I am really pleased with the 20 or so extra shots I did get. I am showing the last 2 shots below, saving the processing for whenI return to Edmonton and can use my PC...
Graciela kindly came over to provide me company and to finish the packing and the wrapping of the big suitcase with plastic wrap. They allow this to be done at airports, and in fact, Guayaquil airport has at least 2 machines to wrap luggage, but they want at least $35 USD for the service... way too much for a poor retiree!!!
I had been up since 6am and, even though very tired, I could not sleep, partly because the New Year's Eve fireworks started at 9pm and did not quit until midnight. (A new law allows them 6am to midnight only) There was no break in the noise for those 3 hours at all, as Cuencanos take their celebrations to the extreme all across the city. And there were several people breaking the law from midnight to 3am when I got up.....
At 3:15am, Gustavo and MaryAnn picked me and my luggage, in the pouring rain, and we went and sat in front of Alianza Buseta and waited, and waited... MaryAnn had brought me a sweet and blond coffee, along with a lovely sandwich bag containing a medium sized banana bread cake, 3 mandarin oranges, and a large bag of nuts!! That kind gesture sustained me throughout the day! Thank you MaryAnn and Gustavo for all your friendship and thoughtfulness.
The place was locked up and no buses were in sight, so I was a little worried.... However, at 3:50am, a buseta pulls up behind us and I board, in the still pouring rain, with only 3 other passengers....
Oh, and I promised to take the rain with me, because Cuenca has now had a full month of rain since I arrived and they were getting tired of it now... And they are happy that the rotating blackouts have ceased.
For me, being a senior, the cost is $8 for the 4-hour trip to Guayaquil! That is another perk of being in Ecuador,... they treat their seniors better than anywhere...
The bus ride was quick, and the driver excellent, not drunk or kamikaze. And the traffic was exceptionally light as we went through rain, sleet, and heavy fog crossing the Continental Divide.
Remember, when I entered Ecuador that Immigration was giving me funny looks and delayed my entry... Well, it was even worse trying to leave the country...!!! I suspect that their computer system did not process my exit properly in 2018.... The dummies now wanted me to show my old Visa which, of course, is in my old Passport, which I did not have with me.... My phone is rarely used for carrying old documents, and I would never have thought that old, expired Visa to be important.... And, if I did have such info, it might have been on the laptop, which was now being carried on some conveyor belt, wrapped in plastic film..... I hunted and hunted on my phone through emails, etc but came up empty. I siggested that they have to search their own records of my departure June 22/18 and they might find what they wanted. After about 20 minutes, they finally had a Eureka moment, and I was allowed to go for my flight.... Grrrrr
From Guayaquil, we had a quick 1:50 hour flight to Bogota, where we again had to re-do the security line-up, but my luggage plan made that easy....
I had been munching on MaryAnn's bag of goodies during the bus trip and flight, so even though I wasn't really hungry, but I had bought a ham'n'cheese pannini with Lulo juice. That turned out to my second wisest decision of the day..
We began boarding very early but the Avianca dummies were not ready at the door of the plane, so we were lined up in that collapsible tunnel for 1/2 hour... It is a good thing that we weren't a convention of Overeaters Anonymous!
So the 11am flight actually managed to leave on time, but the 6-hour flight to Toronto-Mississauga was anything but comfortable, or fun.... I had a window seat, 6K, in the "Plus" section, for which I had paid extra.... Whatever someone's idea is of "Plus" is, they are badly mistaken as it was tight and cramped and uncomfortable as "H". Thank God for my travel pillow...... But, from now on, I will be booking aisle seats, so I can get up and stretch at will, and stretch my legs into the aisle to trip the stewards, lol.
And, new, supposedly cheap, airline ideas include no meals, not even water, unless paid for separately, even on a 6+ hour flight!!!!! I thought that was illegal!
And, zero entertainment,.... unless you can connect your own phone to their wifi and website, AND listen on your own headphones... My Samsung does not accept headphones and I never thought to carry a charging cable.. I could not afford to have a dead battery on arrival.... And, they said that the movie on their site would be "Con Air", which I had already watched again on their flight in February I took, about a buch of convicts crashing a plane in Las Vegas.... Great choice!
I honestly do not know how I survived the 6 hours, still unable to sleep, and was so very happy to see us land at Pearson International.... landing 1/2 hour early.
So, it is obviously an unbreakable airline rule to park the incoming planes at the farthest possible point from Immigration and the luggage carousel in every airport, and Pearson is no exception, helping all passengers to get much needed exercise and aggravation...
THEN, more fun,....... Again, in the need for more passenger exercise, our bags are to come out at Carousel 13........ naturally, the absolute farthest one in the terminal!!!!!
Then, because a larger 400-passenger plane from Taipei had arrived before us by 20 minutes, their luggage came through first... The luggage coodinator lady said that we now had to wait until they were all unloaded before the luggage carts from our plane could actually be brought over and unloaded........ So.... 1 hour and 25 minutes later, my plastic-wrapped bag finally showed up.... Grrrrrr
THEN, more fun again, as happened once before, my coordination with my pickup people was complicated by the 3 levels of arrival locations at the airport... This time, they were waiting on the level below, and we finally connected. I was so very relieved to see my wonderful sister and brother-in-law, Yvette and Lou.....
It was 2C but felt a lot colder with the wind coming off of Lake Ontario. And it got cooler as we drove towards their lovely home in Vineland where I am always made to feel so at-home...
But, my promise to drag the rain from Ecuador was effective, ... and, we drove through an hour of sleet to get to the warm house. I could not stop yawning for the whole trip but stayed awake enough to eat some delicious tourtiere meat pie on arrival....
Then, honestly, at 1am, I don't even remember hitting the pillow with my weary head as my exhaustion was final. So after around 43 hours, I finally got a great 8 hours of sleep.......
Today, will be strictly a catch-up day, and a nap will be needed soon...
HAPPY NEW YEAR again to everyone........
I hope you enjoy the pictures. That was the day’s excitement.
Al
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My best photo of the day
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Better parade than the Pase del Nino
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Guayaquil, Ecuador airport
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Leaving Bogota, Colombia
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Arriving Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario
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