I was just looking over the stats for the blog and noticed that my post on low income budgets was the most-read one in quite some time. If you want to let me know what other things you might like to know about the cost of living here, I'd be more than happy to fill you in where I can.
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Want to see a photo of one of the adorable street dogs here? This is Oliver and he has a loving foster mom until he finds a permanent home. He's in great shape, just skinny and starved for love. I'm not suggesting you adopt him, just sharing how adorable he is.
Is he adorable or what? This is him after a week of being fed regularly. He has a long way to go but he's a healthy little guy.
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You know how it is when you're sick and you go to the drug store and you come home with a few boxes or bottles of stuff you'll take for a couple of days and then the rest of the pills will sit in the medicine cabinet growing moss on them? Not here.
Here you go to the farmacia and ask the person behind the counter what to take for whatever ails you and he or she goes to get stuff from the shelves, comes back and cuts off the proper number of pills from the blister pack and gives instructions on how they should be taken. I wasn't feeling well a little while back and a friend of mine went to the farmacia for me. She was told I should take one of each pill in the morning and at night for two days. That's all it took. I was better by the time the pills were gone and I didn't need to buy a whole bunch that I didn't need.
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A little while back I went with one of the tour groups I love so much (I'll do something about them one of these days) and on our way back to the bus at one of our stops we ran across this little girl. She was a true sweetie. She was just standing there at the edge of the road supervising her youngster.
Yes, the youngster had found someone to scratch the top of his head, just the way he liked it and I swear, he was ready to go home with us. How cute are they?
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One of the typical sights around town is the coconut vendor. This woman is just one who comes into town periodically to sell their wares. If you think that machete she's holding looks lethal, that's because it is. She can hack the shell off a coconut in no time flat. I definitely wouldn't want to make her mad!
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Further to cost of living in Cotacachi... last week I priced out the basic necessities to furnish an apartment or small house. The appliances and furniture (basic quality) came to somewhere between $ 8000 and $ 10,000... excluding small kitchen appliances, dishes, cutlery, bedding, towels, etc.
ReplyDeleteYikes! That's a LOT of money. I guess that's one more good reason to rent furnished. Perhaps someday I'll think more about renting unfurnished but for now I'm very happy with the furnishings I have. Thanks for the update.
DeleteCynthia, are there furnished rentals readily available? We'd rather live among the locals, if possible. Our plan is to rent for the first year at least. We're keeping our home in Texas at least for the foreseeable future. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRentals are generally fairly available. It depends on how many expats are moving here in the next month or so. Do you have Jack's email list address? It's intheandes@gmail.com. He has a list of about 300 people who receive forwarded emails from folks looking for or offering apartments and/or houses, selling things, wanting to buy things, announcing the art gallery opening, just about anything you can imagine. Just email him and ask to be added to the list--just a few words work great. He'll reply with something equally lengthy like, "Done" and you'll start getting emails generally every day.
DeleteI feel very connected to life in Cotacachi being on Jack's list. In fact, it's where I found both my apartment and my new casita (more about that in an upcoming post).
BTW...I have now read every posting on your blog. It took me a couple of days but I'm all caught up now. Thanks for this terrific look at real life in Cotacachi!
ReplyDeleteWow! All of them?!!? You're definitely dedicated. There are a few others who have done the same and I continue to be amazed. I'm so glad you enjoy reading them, apparently as much as I enjoy writing them.
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