Fun Facts about Quito/Ecuador and First Impressions!

Here are five fast fun facts about Quito and Ecuador along with some first impressions after being here almost two weeks:

1) Quito is the world's highest constitutional capital, sitting at over 9,000 feet - which makes it too high for malarial transmission to occur.

2) Quito is called "the Florence of the Americas" due to the well-preserved colonial architecture and abundance of art - along with a historical center that is recognized as the best preserved and least altered in Latin America (due in part to Quito being the first city ever delcared a UNESCO World Heritage Site [1978] alongside the Galapagos Islands).

3) Sitting on the Equator (hence the country's name), Quito experiences 12 hours of daylight year round, with the sun rising and setting around 6 - 6:30 every single day.

4) Quito is near Chimborazo, which is the farthest point from the Earth's center, making Ecuador the closest country in the world to the sun.

5) Ecuador is the world's largest exporter of bananas and also the birthplace of the world famous Panama hat - first made in Cuenca, Ecuador, not Panama.

BONUS: the flora & fauna are off the hook as Ecuador is the humminbird capital of the world, has an amazing and huge rose plantation, and is home to the Mindo Cloud Forest. 

To be honest, I was a little disappointed initially. Partly coz the airport is a good hour away from the town center, and I hate a slog like that after flying.  Additionally, due purely to bad luck/timing, the internet was out in the airbnb we're staying in for the first few days. But our super nice landlord went above and beyond to ensure we were connected while getting the provider out to fix the problem.  No issues since!

The historic center is, indeed, amazing - pics to come. There is TONS to do, they have an awesome new metro/subway, and there are parts of the city that are very glitzy/modern - to contrast with the historic center.  

Our apartment is a LITTLE chilly for my tastes - esp. in the morning, but it helps both of us with sleeping. There is no HVAC at all, nor fans, and they're not needed as it has been in the mid-upper 60s every single day and the low 50s at night.

Stay tuned for more!  And come visit for Christmas!  😁

Ranking the Six Countries I've Lived in as Retirement Options

After my recent stint in Mexico, I have now lived in six countries: The U.S., Kazakhstan, China, Lesotho, Montenegro, and Mexico. Here's how I would rank them in terms of which would be best to live/retire in - all other things being equal:

1) The United States - with a qualifier.  Of the six I've lived in to date, the U.S. remains the "best" overall assuming I could afford to live in San Francisco. I could also live in Seattle or Portland, probably, as well, but there's the pesky cost factor. I could live in NYC if not for the weather (and cost), Honolulu if it wasn't so isloated (and expensive), and L.A. if not for the car culture.  There's something to be said for familiarity, choice, etc. But, again, COST.

2) Montenegro. This is a very close second and for similar reasons: I would only want to live in a few select cities (i.e., Kotor, Budva, and/or possibly Bar), but those coastal cities are already getting pricey (relatively speaking) and will probably continue to do so by the time I'm ready to settle/retire.

TIE FOR THIRD

3) China. The food! The cost! Again, I could only live in a few cities - most notably Hong Kong, but would also consider Shanghai or Guangzhou. Maybe Shenzhen  BUT there's the weather aspect and the language difficulty.  Plus, many MAINLAND Chinese are, um, "difficult" to live with.  

3) Mexico. The food! The proximity to the U.S. for visiting family. The same tine zones. But it's just too loud and too hot.  I've been to a dozen cities in Mexico, most of them 2-3 times and of course lived for 3 months each in Chapala and Oaxaca. The people are friendly. It's very chill.  But also very dusty. And I need more of a "lively" vibe. Don't get me wrong, they celebrate hard in Mexico, but the day to day uber-relaxed vibe isn't my bag.

TIE FOR FIFTH

5) Kazakhstan. I haven't been in 25 years, so it's likely much has changed.  I DID like Almaty and would be curious to see what it's like now that it's no longer the capital. But again, weather is a factor, and it's a bit hard to travel inexpensively to other nearby places.

5) Lesotho. Yes, cheap, but also still limited in a lot of stuff, and you ALWAYS have to fly to RSA before going anywhere else.  I visited a handful of cities and lived in Maseru for more than two years, but no place struck me as a cool place for ME.

Stay tuned as I incorporate Ecuador into this list after my 3-month stint here - and then next year will be able to add in/compare European coutnries. Can anyone topple the mighty United States? I'm guessing yes!  lol

Notes on our Quick Hit Visit to Bogota, Colombia

Firstly, when we landed and were in a taxi on the way to our hotel, both DJ and I noticed - pretty much simultaneously - the air. It felt/smelled/looked super clean. Of course it was also very green and one of THE most "forested" big cities I've been in.  The weather was near perfect with temps in the mid 60s the 2 days we were there. 

That happiness was tempered somewhat by the exchange rate: it was just over 3,800 pesos to the dollar, making "in my head conversion" a challenge and gave DJ a lot of opportunities to say stuff like, "Oh my god, a pizza here costs 30,000 dollars!" lol

Traffic was a bear - esp. once you started getting in to the historic center (we were staying a little north where traffic wasn't quite so bad, but still heavy).

Tons of museums! We went to the Gold Museum (lots and lots of gold, most over 600 years old), and also the Botero Museum. This dude is a trip and one of my new favorite artists, If you missed my pics on facebook, find them. There's "Rubenesque" - and then there's "Boteroesque" which leaves Ruben in the dust. Click HERE to learn more about this dude. He inistsed his museum be free - more reason to like him - and while it's mostly his work, they also had a small collection of masters like Picasso, Renoir, Monet, etc.

Food everywhere! Whila Oaxaca is known as a "gastronomical paradise," I would say Bogota had even more restaurants per square block. It was insane. Unfortunately, ATMs were few and far between - or hidden - so we had to stick with places that take cards. But we ate at a couple of their local chains: Frisby's for amazing fried chicken, and Crepes & Waffles for awesome crepes ( had a yummy chicken, chipotle and cheese while little Mr. Picky Pants stuck with a butter & sugar crepe). 

Then there was Calle 53 - AKA Christmas shopping paradise. We roamed about 8 blocks up and down this street and saw - literally - DOZENS of shops crammed FULL of Christmas stuff.  Considering what a big Christmas Whore I am, it was EXTREMELY difficult passing all these places by. I didn't even want to be tempted by going in as we couldn't fit anything in our luggage even if he wanted. but I still enjoyed pawing on and oohing and aahing over what we could see in the winodws, sutff out on the sidewaks, etc. Sigh.

The weirdest thing to me was the water issue. Apparently, Bogota has been experiencing a near water crisis - again blowing my mind re: my perception of Colombia as wet and humid all the time.  Apparently, climate change has impacted there, as well, as they had a significant drought. Just a reminder to keep water security in mind as I scout retirement options.

I had pretty much discounted Colombia as a retirement option, even though Medellin comes up a LOT on lists, because I assumed it'd be too hot and humid in the summer - my only other time in Colmbia was in Cartagena where it was, indeed, quite hot and humid.  But after checking out Medellin's climate I may reconsider.  Yes, there's a fair amount of rain, but based on this quick visit, I feel Colombia is worth another look.

Our Dia de Muertos Experience in Oaxaca

Okay, first of all, I discovered that it's actually called Dia de Muertos and NOT Dia de los Muertos. The latter is technically correct, but the official name in Mexico is sans los.  A cool thing about traveling/living in other places is learning how to "un-Americanize" names and pronunciations (like Hawai'i).

It's also NOT the "Mexican Halloween," nor is it supposed to be a sad or scary time. It's actually a "celebration of life" where families gather to share stories, sing, dance, and enjoy the favorite foods of the deceased - so me & the little monster had a Mexican coke to honor my dad/papa, and I feel it was more authentic as Mexican Coke tastes like American Coke USED to taste when my dad started drinking it!  😁

On the eve of the festivities, DJ and I joined a mix of locals and expats to celebrate.  A Haitian-American woman who moved here 5 years ago to open a restaurant and boutique hotel hosted with the Mexican husband she met and married here, along with her 12-year-old son. A couple who recently moved here from New Mexico(!) also joined, with their two kids (a 12-year-old girl and a 9-year old boy), and a couple of other locals.

Interesting bit about the expat couple: they fled the states after the orange turd wouldn't flush, and they planned to travel throughout Mexico and Latin America to identify a place to relocate. Oaxaca was their first stop, but they like it so much they've decided to stay here! This is like the gay expat couple I met in Chapala, who had a similar plan, but were so enamored of their first stop (i.e., Chapala), they decided to just stay there.  A single mother of two we met in Chapala - same thing.  All fled Trump, all planned to scope out mulitple places in Mexico, and all of them stayed in the first place they landed! 

ANYWAY, after enjoying a meal and fellowship/story sharing, we went en masse to a few local shops to gather materials, flowers, food, etc. for a community altar. Everyone brought pictures of loved ones for the altar, and if you haven't yet, you can see pics of the one DJ and I did for my dad.  Fun fact: there's some debate as to whether the Cempasuchil is actually a marigold - as most folks assume Dia de Muertos flowers are.  Well, technically it is, but this one is native to Mexico - thus its importance for the holiday here.

After food and altar-building, we went on a field trip to a couple of large cemeteries, strolled around a local festival just getting started in a mural-heavy area (again, check my Facebook pics), a flower field just outside of town so we could gather more cempasuchil, and then an awesome experience at a local palenque where we put some of our just gathered flowers on their communal altar, got a demonstration of how mezcal is made (quite elaborate and time consuming), and then enjoyed a traditional Oaxacan chocolate drink and traditional Oaxacan tamale - chicken and mole! While I liked the Oaxacan tamale, I still prefer the more well known "standard" tamale - and still miss the ones from "Luis" in Chapala!

So did this experience make me fall in love with Oaxaca and put Mexico at the top of my retirement list? Tune in to my next blog post wherein I'll give the final verdict on Mexico after 6 months here.  Tomorrow we're off to Ecuador after a pit stop in Colombia on the way down.