Finding home

Many accomplishments in the last couple of days!

Work visa: check

Ecuadorian bank account: in progress

Ecuadorian cell phone: in progress

school campus tour: check

Health and safety presentation about all the different ways and circumstances in which I could become injured, ill, a crime victim, or dead while in Ecuador: check (a tad alarming, but also full of  practical and sensible advice)

And, most of all, signing for new apartment: check!

I have endless appreciation and gratitude for the welcome wagon provided by Colegio Americano. Clearly, they have done this all before, and know the right way to get things done. They’ve made it very easy for us.

A television reality show should definitely be created about our “buddies,” who are the colleagues and Quitenos helping us find apartments.  I can see the show’s tag line… “3 buddies. 9 gringos. 4 days to find affordable, safe, convenient apartments suitable for all of them!” After lunch yesterday our restaurant table became a command center, with all three of them on the phone, taking calls, making appointments, strategizing… I have a 4 o’clock appointment for a 2 bedroom in Batan Alto!…  Who wants to see the one bedroom suite in Guapulo?…  This one has a terrace but it doesn’t take pets… Make it 2:30 so we can pass by the one that belongs to my cousin’s nephew on Gonzalez Suarez first… Do you want to see that one if I get him to lower the price?… I already have a call in to him, he was my neighbor for 17 years…

All three of them have been so accommodating and patient and persistent, driving us to and fro all across the city in their own cars, translating, orienting us to the different neighborhoods, showing us where the best places are to go for groceries and home goods and school supplies. And I’m pretty sure they are volunteering.

Thanks to Nicole’s advance footwork, I got a head start looking at apartments. (She asked for “the list” ahead of time, in which the school compiles all of their contacts who currently have apartments for rent, and identified the ones within walking distance of her house) And, just sayin’, I’m pretty sure I got the best one.

My favorite part of my apartment is my landlady! Her name is Berthita. She retired from teaching at Colegio Americano after something like 42 years, and my apartment is right next door to hers. I’m told that she is sometimes referred to as la abuelita del colegio, or the grandma of the school.  She also happened to be Nicole’s husband’s kindergarten teacher, and co-taught with my apartment-search buddy. 

Berthita is so kind and lovely and lively… both of the apartments she rents are full of original artwork made by her, and today after my colleague-to-be Sara signed for the other apartment, we dropped Berthita off at her senior citizens’ tropical dance class! Other people have offered her more money to rent her apartments, but she reserved them for people from the school, with referencias, whom she knew would be coming. That's the kind of person she is... she's not looking for income, she's looking for neighbors.  Also, her Spanish is very clean and precise and comprehensible, so I felt victorious when she taught me about all the different keys and appliances and bills in Spanish and I understood everything!

My other favorite part of my apartment is everything!  It’s half a block from Carolina park, which is Quito’s central park, and it's right next to the road they close off on Sundays for walking and biking. It’s four blocks from the shopping center. And, it is so much nicer and larger and newer than any apartment I’ve ever had in New York, for half the price. It’s on the 10th floor of a brand new building, with a view of Pichincha mountain. There’s a washer and dryer in the apartment, and it has a rooftop terrace. And, for any Yertle the Safety Turtles that might be reading this, it has a guard outside, two main entrance doors that need an electronic key card to enter, and a reinforced safety door to the apartment. 

Here are some photos so you can see for yourself!