I have received some interesting emails as a result of the videos. Today I am going to meet at noon a Colombiana at the Cathedral by the candle seller. She messaged me she has been in Cuenca 20 days and would like to meet, as she is basically in a strange city alone. Now she speaks no English and my Spanish is horrible, but I agreed. I also received 3 emails from 3 different girls from Venezuela. It is terrible what is happening there. The emails were all related to “I’ll love you forever if you bring me to Ecuador”. It would be humorous if it wasn’t so tragic. I have a few friends here that came from this horrible mess. While they are enjoying life again, they are obviously wracked with guilt with friends and relatives still there.

A big event happened to me yesterday. I will be making a vlog (video) about it over the weekend. Be sure to check that one out. I also took a lot of film clips yesterday, as well as did an interview with Maria, the person that helped me so much last year. She helped me sort out my paperwork, with my required trip to Peru, find and negotiate my house, get my cable and internet, as well as a zillion other things. Then the video will explain what a facilitator is and why they can help or hurt.

So several videos are ready to be made, and my “adventure” of meeting this mysterious stranger will happen today. Let’s see if we can make sense of it all by tomorrow!

I have an appointment today. Around noon I will be in Cuenca meeting with Maria.

I have had quite a few requests to explain what a “Facilitator” is, and why anyone would want or need one. It has taken 2 weeks for our schedules to work out, but today is the day. Maria will be assisting me in some shots, and then do an interview.

Maria helped me over the course of a year and during that time we have become friends. She helped me in some visa difficulties. She was there when I had to cross the border to Peru and stay over in a smelly nasty little town, waiting to have documents officialized. She has handed money for me. She taught me how to use banks, showed me where things were, and advised the best places to do this and that. She even arraigned for a repairman to come and fix my refrigerator. She has argued with various vendors to make sure I got the best deals. In short, she has been my lifesaver. Far more than someone to help with paperwork.

So today we will meet up, have some lunch and visit various locations so I can film her. My idea is to present her at various businesses and office location so viewers can appreciate the scope of possibilities.

So that’s my plan for the day. Tomorrow is a whole new plan with a meeting from a newcomer to Cuenca… from Colombia.

See you then!

I just had my cup of coffee. Its a blend of beans from Loja that I grind fresh, use mostly skim milk, a spoonful of Nestles Quick ad 2 espresso shots. Delicious.

A local friend’s mother lost her job a few months ago. She is deaf, and there are not many jobs available for her. For all the talk of the “Socialist Revolution” that helps people, there is far less here than in the USA. It has been a real struggle for them. She actually never told me, but it came out in a conversation as to why her mother was home all the time. I had lost my “house cleaner” so she offered to send her mother. I had actually given up on the idea and was doing fine cleaning myself (but a 5 bedroom home IS pretty big) but I told her OK. SO she comes out every Tuesday now. It does an amazing job and the side bonus is I get to see my friend every week as she comes with her. As a result, we have had lengthy conversations about the Presidential Election.

Half of the country here is blind to things. The other half is scared to death of the future. The issues in Venezuela loom large here. The largest immigrant population comes from there. People by the thousands fleeing starvation. People there never thought it could happen, just as many here think the same. Hell, it’s even been happening in the USA. Socialism has a very long history of destroying and enslaving people. Hitler was a socialist. He got all his loyalty from the people by his own giveaway programs. What? Do you say he couldn’t have been? Because he hated Communists? Think again. He was a NATIONAL Socialist, whereas Communism wanted to rule the world. But he was a complete socialist. What do you think NAZI stands for? National Socialist. And in his early years, he provided free education, including the Universities. For 4 years he used that to indoctrinate the kids. What came out of the education system was a generation of good little Nazis (Just as the USA is producing mindless little socialists now).

Here in Ecuador, much of the population has seen the same trend. AT first, many things were done for the people. After a few years, Correa (El Presidente) garnered blind loyalty from many of the people. He stood up for indigenous land rights, built highways, hospitals, and instituted a free education system. It was easy when the oil here was earning $100 a barrel. But when that oil market crashed, he was left high and dry. One of his moves was to actually DOUBLE the pay of workers in the Government. This also got loyalty and a lot of people switched parties to his. DOUBLE! Well when the income started to dry up, that left a huge shortfall. But it was too late. Ecuador, under the Socialist leadership, had been on a drunken spending spree. They couldn’t stop spending or it would have been exposed for what it was, so he started borrowing. From who? The Chinese. They got sweetheart deals to build new dams, using entirely Chinese laborers. Those so-called work projects only gave jobs to Chinese. Then he began giving rights to mining to them. Something he SWORE he would never do. To make matters worse, he gave rights in protected areas including the cleanest water in the world, in the Cajas around Cuenca. He not only gave permission to drill for oil in the Amazon (another promise broken) but sent the military to enforce it. Tanks and helicopters against half-naked Amazonian’s.  As an end result, Ecuador has found itself in massive debt after several years of loans.

Poor people were given the equivalent of a week’s wages to vote for the Socialist Party. While it didn’t sway many, there were plenty that took the bait. The majority of Ecuador is awake and sees what has happened now, but somehow the majority didn’t win the election. The little town I live in was 100% for the other party. There are a LOT of upset people and there is marching in the streets.

So will Ecuador become Venezuela? It is very possible. It will take 3-6 years to know most likely. If it looks like it is going that way, I will likely relocate to Colombia. A stable, booming Republic that still believes in Capitalism. Let’s hope I do not have to move.

I am astounded that there are so many North Americans here that do not have a clue about what Socialism is, its history, how it works. They defend Cuba, and Venezuela by claiming they only failed as a result of the USA embargo. You could make a tenuous claim for Cuba, but it sure wouldn’t explain Venezuela or all the other failed attempts around the world. Those people get extremely heated and want to shut up anyone that doesn’t drink the kool-aid. It makes it very clear what has been happening in the USA since that election. This is a danger to any country. Hopefully, the tide can be reversed. But until the Universities start teaching the truth, I don’t see it happening.

So that is the topic of conversation here today with my friend. She has her degree in Business Administration, and understands the dangers, and is worried. At least in the USA, there is a 240-year buffer. Here, the changes go by decades.

Stay tuned!

It has been quite some time since I wrote anything here. I have been concentrating on the videos. As of today, I am up to 102 of them. Life here in Cuenca has settled down to a routine. I wake up around 7 AM each day. I putter around the house, do a few chores and feed the dog.

I lost Beta a few weeks back. It was quite sad. It turns out that she was an older dog (I took her as a rescue) and she had a hip disease with no cure. She came apart quite rapidly, first having her rear legs paralyzed. I was told to have her put down. I delayed, thinking she might get better. Wishful thinking. It got worse. I would help her eat every day, and wash her. She got to the point she could barely raise her head. Flies were moving in like vultures. She couldn’t lift her tail. Eventually, I gave in to let her pass. Delta, my other dog didn’t seem to care much at the time, but a week later she has started roaming the property crying. I think I need to find her a new playmate. Beta was a very good dog and is missed.

I sometimes make a breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and coffee. In lieu of that, it may be lunch. I work on videos and emails throughout the day. Every few days I leave the house to walk around town or take the bus into Cuenca for some shopping etc.

In the evening I continue on videos and watch movies or a few series on TV. I usually am in bed by 2 AM.

This has become my life here. It has rained for over 3 months and that has had a big effect on my explorations and just being outside. I am planning a short trip to Colombia later this year. I also expect as the weather gets nicer, I will be out walking around a lot more. Cabin fever, you know?

The rain has been crazy. It has broken all records. Peru has been hit hard and a lot of people died. Being in the mountains we have fewer flooding issues. But I swear my fingers and toes are wrinkled!

I haven’t put much into this blog in some time. I am going to attempt to integrate it into my daily routine. The biggest reason I let it drop away was that I started to feel it served no purpose. I originally began it so people I knew could go see why I made this decision so I wouldn’t have to tell the story over and over. So the time has come to either deleted it or make it something else. I am open to ideas and will consider it the next week or so. While I get instant feedback on the value of the videos, this blog is more silent. It makes it harder to keep as a result. We shall see!

The “Parade of the Child” goes on for 6 hours. There were perhaps 250,000 people involved. Not to be missed.

Video of my last shopping trip to Supermaxi. Prices of some common items are shown. You may note a few differences from the video vs the prices on the shelf… This is sometimes due to a sale price, but also the check out price with Supermaxi card deducts a few pennies here and there. Prices I gave are right from my receipt. Accurate as of December 10th, 2016