Where am I ???

Home is knowing. Knowing your mind. Knowing your heart. Knowing your courage…If we know ourselves, we’re always home…anywhere. ~ Glinda. The Wizard of Oz.

Oh – I remember where I am!

I’m in Cuenca Ecuador. A charming city located in the highlands of the Andes Mountains. And just to give you a better bearing on location, Ecuador is a small country, nestled to the north by Colombia, Peru to the east and south and the pacific ocean on the west.

Since we are not beach bunnies – when you have grown up in Hawaii, lived your entire adult life in Southern California, blocks from the ocean, you’re ready for a change and 8399 feet above sea level will help with making the change, not to mention the view!

Exploring the past can take you to your future!

When I moved to California in the late 1960s I adored the 1930s/1940s Spanish architecture. There was an abundance of quaint courtyard apartments loaded with charm and flowering gardens. My only problem was – so did the bulldozer and the developers. I always felt like I was two steps in front of the ‘progress’ that would eventually change the entire landscape of Los Angeles. So, when we began our exploration, for our next phase, I wanted a visible Spanish influence, and boy did we find it in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Cuenca is a Unesco World Heritage Site and I am surrounded by sensational architecture, beautiful indigenous peoples dressed in traditional clothing, going about their day to day lives. And scattered throughout the city are a few remaining cobblestone streets to enhance the colonial atmosphere. And not to be missed – the four rushing rivers flowing through and around the city, all with beautifully maintained flowering green belts and bicycle paths running along the river banks.

The year we made the ‘leap of faith,’ to move began like any other year. Except, I would wrap up my career by April. And begin my new job as Major Domo in charge of downsizing and packing up our home. This was a pretty big job on its own, but the equally daunting job was acquiring all the US government paperwork Ecuador requires for permanent residency. It not only brought new meaning to the word bureaucracy but a whole glossary of formally unused words; like apostille, FBI background check, CA DOJ clearance, it was a long list. And let’s not forget the doggies, their list of required paperwork and shots was almost as daunting as ours.

I so admire the people who move to another country with only suitcases. Of course, they might come with four suitcases each, but that is still an accomplishment! We, on the other hand, came with a 40′ container. My husband and I never thought about hiring a company to pack up our house and load our container. We can do that, we both agreed. And I have to say we did a good job. We had roughly 270 packed boxes from medium size to very large, plus all of our furniture and artwork. Yes, we filled that 40′ container without an inch to spare.

I think what helped us both stay in love during the entire transition was; from the beginning, I was in charge of the inside of the house and the huz was in charge of everything else that goes into making the house ready for leasing and a new family.

A sweet goodbye and a joyful hola!

The beginning of our new beginning came in early October 2017. Everything we owned was either in a box, wrapped like a mummy in stretch wrap, or packed in a suitcase. The container had pulled away and the house was empty. Friends wanted to come over for a final toast to the house. We told them absolutely, just bring a lawn chair if you want to sit! They brought food, wine, and music. Twelve of us ended up in the empty living room in a circle of lawn chairs reminiscing about the many parties and moments in our happy home of 25+ years. It was a fond farewell to our house and friends.

We landed in Cuenca a few days later and within two days we were apartment hunting.

To be continued – Part 3 | Settling in…