And then there was the anniversary ....

Another big event of the summer was our 30th wedding anniversary in July.  We managed to be in Vancouver that weekend with our two children and our daughter-in-law.  It was a lovely time with some old traditions, some new traditions, and some wonderful laughs.

There was the traditional bike ride.

We rode around the outside of Vancouver's glorious Stanley Park.

And yes, those fruit shirts are from Vietnam where tourists seem to buy them in order to remember their experience.  I just liked their brightness and wanted a family photo taken with them.  We received numerous compliments and looks of envy (or so I like to think) from similarly aged people.  There was another family out riding bikes with their "family t-shirts" as well.  Ours were definitely more eye-catching!

S2 and I headed back to Vietnam with one-day to grocery shop and recover from jet lag prior to reporting to work on 31 July.  And we're well into the new school year.  In fact, this week is the end of the first quarter.  Next week will find us on October break in Cambodia. 

A look at Cuenca and the surrounding area

Cuenca - population figures provided ranged from 400,000 to 600,000

 

Some reports indicate there as many as 12,000 retired expats living in Cuenca.  Indeed there is an amazing network of non-Ecuadorians calling this lovely city (altitude 8,370 feet above sea leve and 2 degrees south of the equator) home.  I believe there is good reason to consider retiring here.

First, the climate is lovely.  I was able to wear socks (!) and jeans the whole time.  You may laugh, but when it is something that is remarkably uncomfortable where I live in Vietnam, getting to do such things take on a new meaning in such a climate.  The apartment we stayed in had neither heating or air conditioning, because it doesn't need it - ever - at all.  It certainly helped me feel better about my carbon footprint!

Next, the flora and fauna was delightful.  Who wouldn't love fuchsia year round?

 

Or gigantic hummingbirds?

And what about fresh squeezed orange juice, right from the vending machine?

 

 There some really great deals on food as well.

Sure it was $1 for a SLICE of pizza - but still!  And yes, the official currency of Ecuador is the U.S. dollar.  Do you ever wonder why there are so few Sacajawea or Susan B. Anthony dollar coins in circulation in the U.S.?  Because they are all in Ecuador.  THEY have grasped the ease and significance of getting rid of the one dollar bill and using a coin for that value (like the Canadians).  

So here is $20 worth of food that we bought at a traditional market.

Just to clarify ... yes that is $1 worth of avocados, $1 worth of bananas and the $1 worth of peas were already shelled.

As is usual, the markets were so colorful and interesting.

 

A little chocolate perhaps?

Museums were free.  We went to a free symphony concert every week we were there.  The jazz cafe had a cover charge, but the music was great.  Culturally, there was plenty to do.

We went to the opening of an interactive fireworks display museum.

 

The "Panama Hat" industry has some great museums/displays.

Other fun markets:

But one of my favorites ... a restaurant that ONLY SERVES nachos.  

All in all, a great fact-finding mission.  And yes, we are seriously considering it as a retirement destination.  Health care is affordable as well as lives up to the standards of the developed world. Health insurance is $120 per month for a couple AND covers pre-existing conditions with no deductible.  Retirees (and their money) are welcome, no matter what country one comes from.  There are a number of incentives for  senior citizens (discounts on utilities, bus and plane tickets, as well as taxes).  And ... it is only a two-hour time difference from the kids, one-hour time difference from my parents, which would make jet lag nothing more than a blurry memory.  Stay tuned for further developments.

Long Overdue

An introduction to my summer vacation ....

We left HCMC on 13 June for Vancouver (also affectionately known as YVR to many Canadians - the official airport code for the Vancouver airport).  This was our first flight BACK across the dateline since our arrival.  It was with Cathay Pacific, thus it was via Hong Kong.  As we boarded the delayed 1:30 AM flight in Hong Kong I was texting with our daughter, letting her know we were boarding.  Once we got on board and I heard the purser say it was a 12 hour flight to YVR and I did the Math, I realized I had given our daughter THE WRONG DAY for the arrival of our flight.  I calmly sat in my aisle seat, working hard to send her telepathic messages.  It worked, more or less, because on the other side of "the lake" (if the Atlantic is a pond, surely the Pacific is a lake) she was doing the math and calculated that our flight would be 28 hours long if we were then boarding ... which she knew was impossible.  She did some quick checking, realized our arrival time of 10 PM was now going to be after midnight (given the delay leaving Hong Kong) and she had to get up at 4 in the morning to go to work at 5.  AND it was impossible to communicate with me for 12 hours.  Thus, when I arrived at YVR at 1 AM, turned on my phone and connected to wifi, there was the message from her saying that she had set her alarm for 1 AM to check our flight status, send her a message when we got in, take a taxi to her place, and she would let us in and then go back to sleep before she had to get up.

We all managed a few hours of sleep before she and her roommate were up for their 5 AM jobs.  We walked with her to the coffee shop where she works, and wandered around the 3 block retail area in her neighborhood (all 6 coffee shops were clearly busy inside, but none were open).  We marveled at the owner/manager helping her set up the outside tables at 6 AM and went inside to order our tea.  The guy helping her was one of the regulars who insisted she help us first, but agreed to go first when she said ,"those are my parents."  I enjoyed watching her as she greeted customers, made drinks, scurried to put out the new muffins, and worked to remember all the little opening touches (the Spotify Music setting, the background lights, etc.)  We read the newspapers (which may have thrown off the routines of some of the regulars) and waited for her to go on break before we ordered breakfast.  Such a joy - watching one's adult children.  Especially when they forgive their mother for flight arrival miscalculations.

It was a short 2-day stay before we headed to Denver and a whirlwind trip of Colorado and Wyoming.

Then, the real purpose of summer vacation began.  We headed to Ecuador to conduct our research on considering it as a retirement destination.

We spent a month in Cuenca.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site  in four categories ....

for the colonial architecture...

For being part of the Inca Trail

For the unique biosphere at Cajas National Park (a wet, tropical alpine biosphere)

(yes, wild llamas)

and the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Panama Hat (really from Ecuador, not Panama).

More about Cuenca and the rest of the summer in another post.  One of my brothers says I should start writing less more often.