My Husband is a Genius

[Brag post alert.]

In September, I came home from a trip, and my husband told me, “I’m building a crib for your sister for Christmas.” I thought it was a crazy idea, mostly because they live in Ecuador and I would have to haul it down there.

But the dude convinced me through detailed drawings and pieces of wood. He not only designed a crib that will work as an infant crib (with two levels for higher or lower), a toddler bed, and eventually it will become the headboard for a twin bed. Take that, Ikea. He used red oak, and I think we went to Lowe’s about four times to purchase dowels for the rails. I counted, and there are 58. That’s at least 116 holes drilled, not counting practice holes or mistakes.

After building it, putting it all together and frantically staining and sealing it the weekend before we left (to give it time to dry), he got a carpet store in town to give him the cardboard tubes the carpet comes on and he packed the frame in three cardboard tubes. Taped together, those became our fourth piece of luggage, and the dowels went in a suitcase, along with some wood filler for finishing.

The day we arrived, he went straight to work.

{These photos courtesy of my dad.}

Two cute assistants kept careful watch, and Nate helped.

One dowel at a time.

Three sides up, and one left to go. This will be the eventual headboard.

Fitting in the final dowels…

And done! Now all they needed was a mattress, sheets and… a baby. Nate went to the mattress store, and within 48 hours they custom cut and bound a mattress for them. And the price? $30. You can’t beat that.

Here’s the final, all set up in Canaan’s room.

{final photos courtesy of Kelley; I never did get a chance to take one while it was light and Canaan wasn’t napping and I wasn’t busy.}

I’m really glad we could make a crib for them. (I’m saying “we,” because I stained the dowels. That was my contribution to the genius.) But I don’t think this will ever become a side business. There were too many cold weekends in the garage.

House Hunters International: Quito

Are you a fan of HGTV’s House Hunters International like I am? We watch them on Hulu when we get a chance. They’re more interesting than the regular House Hunters, because it’s a little like traveling vicariously. I like to make fun of American buyers who, almost without fail, laugh at the bidet when there is one. But mostly I like to see how other cultures organize and use their living spaces. So the episodes where Americans buy vacation homes in Mexico or Central America that are specifically built for expats are pretty boring. I much prefer the ones where buyers look at real homes.

For those of you who like to see how other cultures live, let’s take a quick tour of my sister’s new home in Quito, Ecuador. Her home is in nicer neighborhood in the north part of the city.

This is three unit home that share a common parking area and back yard. Her landlords live across the hall.

It’s nicer, yes, but it’s also still Quito, where robbery is common. So their home is surrounded by thick walls and electric fencing.

Inside the garage, the cars are packed in tight and parked on tile. There’s also a night-time guard who hangs out in this area.

Let me just say I wouldn’t want to have to park in there, but Kelley says she’s used to it.

From there you can take the elevator up one floor (say, when carrying groceries or a baby in a stroller) or hit the stairs. From the doorway, you’ll see this:

To the right is a small powder room, or as the Ecuadorians say, the “social bathroom.” That term makes a lot more sense. I don’t know that I’ve ever powdered my nose in a powder room.

From the corner of the living room, you can get an idea of how this home is split into various levels:

And through the living room you can access the terrace.

The terrace is a super nice feature, especially when you have little ones who need to be corralled but might want to be outside. It’s much larger than what we would think of as a balcony; it’s more like a deck. And it’s also great because you get views of this:

Returning from the terrace and through the living room, you can see again the split-level nature of the home through the stairs up to the kitchen/dining room area.

At the top of the stairs, there’s a little area that Kelley is using for Canaan’s play area.

The baskets have toys and other storage options. Those baskets are made locally. I don’t know what others might use this area for, but it’s great for Canaan, because it close to the kitchen, where Kel spends a fair amount of time, crafting delicious food at altitude.

That little area is blocked of by custom-made baby gates that Nate and Kelley had made to keep Canaan corralled. Regular gates wouldn’t work because the stair rails are made of metal.

Here’s the dining room:

And here’s another shot of the dining room from the half-level that overlooks the living room.

And then, always of great interest to me on HHI, the kitchen.

Plenty of counter space, but definitely no dishwasher. Skylights keep it nice and bright during the day, though. Here’s another angle from the other side.

Kel would probably want everyone to know the coffee maker is only out because we were visiting.

Behind the kitchen, we have something characteristic to all Ecuadorian homes, the pila area. This, my friends, is a pila.

Basically it’s a cement washboard and tub. Even the Ecuadorian family who moved into Western housing with us when we lived in the jungle set up a pila outside. Theirs was a slanted board on a 4×4 with a hose, but still. Pilas are a necessity for Ecuadorians. Kelley’s pila currently houses her potted herb garden. Also in this area is a clothes line, and storage for drinking water and propane. No gas lines here! Another interesting fact I learned that I hadn’t known before, was that Quito has won awards for their water treatment, so it should be safe to drink. The problem is what your pipes are made of.

Behind the pila area is an actual washer and dryer, and the maid’s quarters. Most upper-class families would have house-keeping staff. If the staff lives there, this is what would their personal area. Usually they are a small bedroom and a bathroom. Most people I know use them as storage. This was my son’s bedroom while we were there. The maid’s quarters is so tight, that the pack n play filled it quite well. A twin bed would be a squeeze, with not much room for anything else.

Off the maid’s quarters is the backyard, which the landlords have graciously granted them access to.

It’s a good green space with a barbecue area and apartment buildings looming above. But it’s completely enclosed, so it’s another ideal place for kids to play.

What’s that? You want to see bedrooms you say? Well, let’s head back through the pila and the kitchen, past the play area, around the baby gates and up the stairs to the master bedroom.

How would you like to wake up to this view every morning?

Gorgeous, right? Or how about this shot, where it looks like they sleep in heaven:

And with my back to the windows, you can see only half the closet space in the room.

All three bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, which is super helpful but not fun to clean. And because I’m a bad blogger, I failed to capture photos of either of the other two bedrooms. But I did snag a photo of their office area, which they placed at the top of one of the landings:

Darn sunshine.

Thank you for joining me on this hijacked episode of HHI. And unlike HHI, here we can answer questions! What did you think? Shall we ask Kelley for more photos for further clarification?

New Year’s Eve, Quito Style

{photos courtesy of my dad}

First,

Pick your “old man”.

These are sold on the street corner by the dozen. They go for about $6, plus a mask. These dummies are called “viejos”, which means old men. They represent the year past. We have a similar symbol in Western literature:

Apparently they have something similar in Goa, India, as well:

Next, choose a mask  for your dummy and set him up outside your house. Some neighborhoods will create a little scene with their dummies with a palm frond shelter, other homes just prop their guy up by the front wall. We saw one posed outside a downtown business with a simple sign pinned to his front: “The Boss.”

Then, head for the street party on Amazonas Avenue, in the business district. It’s like Marti Gras, Halloween and summertime fairs in one.

Buy a mask, or some other plastic piece of anatomy. Vendors will charge you just a dollar, or 50 cents as the night wears on.

In years past, this street festival was punctuated by live music and float-like displays. The crowds in front of the music stages would often be so thick with bodies that to pass through you had to press your way through, inch by inch. The displays of dummies would make political statements or critique some event from the past year. They were a lot like larger than life-size political cartoons. This year, we hit the street around 9, and it seemed that things had already wound down. We saw about three of these:

Later some friends speculated that so many are afraid of the government that they aren’t willing to make a public statement about politics. Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa has fined and imprisoned the top three newspaper editors for speaking out against him.

Finally, at midnight, you dump your “old man” into the street and set him on fire. Stuffed fireworks optional.

Flag down a taxi, if you can, to get home. Most cabbies take the night off. Agree on a price before you get in because it’s after hours and a holiday and the meters aren’t on. When you get home, though, the driver will still try to charge you more. Fling your money in the cab and run to an apartment building with an armed guard, in case the driver comes after you. Some of them carry guns. Wait until he gives up and leaves, then head to your house.

The old year is done.

Daddys and Daughters

IMG_5003, originally uploaded by kvv.

Meanwhile on the Homefront…

Last year, my employer moved to a new building. After we were all moved and settled, they cleaned out the old building and held an auction for items they would no longer using.

Now the back story is that I had my eye on some chairs that used to sit around a table near the kitchen. Before the auction was announced, I asked the head of facilities if I could buy them. He told me to talk to the COO. So I asked him. He told me, “Everyone’s been asking about those chairs!” Nothing happened for months. I kept bugging him about it, and mentioning it around the office so people would know they were MINE.

Finally, word was sent out that a silent auction would take place from 5:30 to 6:30 on a Tuesday evening after word. Now I’ve been around and eBay auction or seventeen, so I’ve learned the best strategy is to wait until the end of an auction, before swooping in a placing a bid just as the auction ends. That keeps the price lower. But this was no virtual contest where I could sit and hit refresh as the clock ticked down. It was real life, and I was about to get down and dirty with my coworkers.

So while everyone else rushed over to the old building after work, I took my sweet time, picking up a friend, the husband and the kid. We sauntered in just after 6, as everyone else stood nervously sweating near the object of their desire. The AC had been off for weeks, since the building was unoccupied. I was worried that someone had spotted my diamond(s) in the rough and would give me a contest.

“Where are my chairs?” I announced. The older crowd tittered and gave uncertain glances toward one corner. THERE THEY WERE! Instead of the six chairs I had been expecting, there was now a set of twelve olive green and aluminum sweeties. My heart fluttered. Who was I going to have to outbid? I grabbed the bid sheet. Not one bid had been entered!

My strategy appeared to have worked. Either that, or none of my sweet Oklahoma-bred coworkers had yet realized the hipster potential of behind the seemingly benign vinyl. I took a turn around the rest of the room, checking out the rest of the loot. Some friends from North Dakota had spotted a mid-centuryesque chair. Another friend laid claim to a velvet club couch in gold.

As the clock neared 6:25, I cracked. I jotted down my name on the still empty sheet and put in a bid: $5. (Hey, I’m cheap!) Now I was sweating and nervous, casting glances at the clock. Would I have to up the ante to take home my future children? But at 6:30, without fanfare the auction was called. They were mine!

That was a long story about how I got these awesome chairs on the cheap. After we brought them home, we realized they were from 1949. At least the label is, anyway.

And then, my friends, my superhero husband helped me figure out how to recover them. Now they look like this:

And they will soon surround the awesome dining room table that we’ll build someday.

From vinyl to fabulous.

Don’t you wish you were married to a superhero? Ok, maybe you are, just not MY superhero.

Basilica

I lived in Ecuador for 18 years, about nine of them in Quito. I’ve been back to visit a handful of times since then. But I’ve never visited the Basilica cathedral.

It’s a landmark whose spires can been seen jutting toward the sky from nearly every point in the city.

I learned it was commissioned by the Ecuadorian president Gabriel Garcia Moreno in the 1800s. Garcia Moreno never got to see construction on the cathedral begun, however, because he was assassinated.

What’s interesting about the cathedral is that all the gargoyles are animals native to Ecuador, like the anteater and Galapagos turtle.

It reminds me of one of those drip castles that I used to make a the beach.

Two years ago when I visited, all the churches downtown were free to walk in to. This year, tourists have to pay to view the intricate interiors. I was too cheap to pay the $1-$2 for every church, but you have to admit the prices aren’t too dear. It helps pay for the upkeep and restoration of the churches, so it makes sense. All of them are fully functional churches, too, so often when mass is going on, the interiors are closed to the public.

With the new restrictions, I was surprised to learn (via my brother in law’s awesome walking tour) that we could climb the Basilica tower. It set us back $2 each, and fortunately there’s an elevator. The elevator reaches the third floor, which is the top.

From there, you have commanding views of the city, including the Panecillo, where La Virgen keeps watch over Quito.

Around the corner, we encountered this:

That’s right, a super scary, rickety walkway to the even more daunting ladder up the spire.

My dad’s knee was bothering him, so he didn’t go up. But the husband and I did. We were climbing this:

To see this:

The two clock towers of Basilica, framing el Panecillo.

Coincidentally, I had this image turned into a fun digital print by birdave for my brother in law this Christmas. He’s an architecture buff, and he loved it. I highly recommend that vendor, too, by the way. My brother in law got two other city prints, as did my dad and husband. They’re good gifts for travelers, or just someone who loves their city.

If you go, know that there are bathrooms and a cafe at the top, along with a gift shop. I didn’t use the bathroom or eat, so I can’t recommend them, but they’re there.

After we explored, we headed for the bottom.

We didn’t enter the sanctuary, but enjoyed the light in the foyer.

If you’re ever in Quito, don’t be like me and wait 20+ years to visit Basilica.

The Excitement is Building

This won’t make much sense to anyone but my Ecuador friends, but I’m posting a list my dad, sister and I have been developing in anticipation of our visit there. To catch you up, my sister, brother-in-law and nephew moved back to Quito in January 2011. It’s been a year since we’ve all been together. They now work at the international school that my sister and I attended when we lived in Quito. Actually my brother-in-law went there, too, because he and my sister met in the 4th grade. In addition, my dad also attended the same school – in the 60s and 70s, when his parents lived in Quito. So there’s a lot of history.

My husband and I were able to visit about three years ago, so he’s had a chance to see some of the highlights. But it will be different for my husband to be there with my dad, because he knows all the good spots. I’m not such a good tour guide. My mom knows a lot of the history of the downtown area, too.

I’m totally biased, but I think Ecuador and specifically Quito is an idea tourist location. Quito is a UNESCO World Heritage site, because of all the colonial architecture. It’s really beautiful, and since I lived there, they’ve done a ton of renovation. In Ecuador you can enjoy the Amazon jungle, adventure tourism, beaches, and of course, the Galapagos islands. They also switched their currency to the U.S. dollar in 2000, so it’s easy to compare prices and know what you are getting. Plus you don’t have to exchange money. Plus, the people are just so nice. I was reminded of that after traveling the world for several years and then going back to Ecuador. Yeah, they might be just telling you what you want to hear, but they are nice and friendly.

I’m looking forward to all that next week. For our Christmas vacation, besides the six adults, we’ll have two one-year-olds and a newborn, so we tried to keep the activities to a minimum. Mainly we just want to be together as a family.

But here’s our list of “hope to dos”.

1. Otavalo/San Antonio/Cotacachi [Large Indian handicrafts/art/vegetable/livestock market. It's basically a must-do for tourists. The other two towns produce wood items and leather goods.]

2. Elegido Park/Tourist market [Otavalo on a smaller scale, with more avant guard art.] Let’s take the trolley!

3. Amazonas street on New Year’s Eve. [Picture Marti Gras without nakedness, combined with the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, street performers, live music and fair food. Oh, and all the floats/dummies get torched at midnight in the street. And fireworks are going off all around town. Our plan is to leave the babies with Grandma Lynn... or someone, and join the fray for a couple of hours. I'm secretly hoping the husband will realize the superiority of this celebration style to his Dutch one. We were there for that last year, and it was a big deal to him.]

4. Cable car to the top of Pichincha. [This wasn't there when I lived in Quito, but I'm sure the views are amazing. The babies can't go on this, because the altitude will make them crazy. I'm not sure how high it is (15,000 ft.?).]

5. Eating grilled meat (tablas) in El Bosque and watching the planes land. [My dad's request, obviously. This wasn't around when I was in high school either.]

6. Ipiales [The knock-off market in the sketchy part of town. It's modeled after a market on the border with Colombia where a lot of illegitimate business takes place. This is where you leave jewelry and anything worth anything at home, and just take cab money. And hide it. This might just be the boys who do this.]

7. Iñaquito market [Typical developing world market with meat, produce and flowers, somewhat similar to Pike's Place market in Seattle, only less clean. My mom did some of her weekly shopping here. The outer stalls have gorgeous fresh flowers for super cheap. Flowers are one of Ecuador's main cash crops and exports.]

8. Possibly Mitad del Mundo. [A semi-ridiculous monument marking the supposed center of the globe on the equator (get it? Ecuador? get it?). The husband might want to do this, just so he can say he did it.

9. My parents will head to Shell and the jungle after we leave. We’ve both been there, so we won’t be sad to miss it. Though Baños is much awesomer now.

So, Ecuador friends: anything else you’d do? I’d love to hit Atacames, but that’s not going to happen with the little ones around.

I’m so ready! Six days ’til take off.

Boating and Gloating

If you thought that just because it’s Dec. 15 I’d be done posting about our trip to Florida, you’d be sadly mistaken. I shall force you to look at the pictures I just noticed on my phone until I ply you with thoughts of our Christmas trip to Ecuador. Which begins… NEXT WEEK!

But back to Florida. First of all, check out my 86-year-old grandfather:

He takes this rig out all the time, to fish. (See yesterday’s post on how I benefited from his hobby.) The dude does all the heavy work by himself, all the time. He’s amazing. I could hope to be in as good health as he is in 50 years, but I don’t think there’s much hope. I like chocolate peanut butter balls too much.

Do you see him gripping the boat with his toes, head-first while he unhooks the boat?

This man is amazing. And as far as I know, we don’t have any Native American or other blood in us. He’s just that tan, from a lifetime in the Florida sun. The highlight of our trip was hearing his stories of his time in the Foreign Service in the 40s. He was stationed in Israel when it became a new nation, and later in Jordan. Then he went on to Greece, where he met my grandmother. She was the U.S. ambassador’s secretary. My grandpa said, “She was a fine-looking woman.” But you have to hear that in a gruff, grandpa voice. I came home with a treasure trove of old photos of their exotic, young lives.

We spent a glorious morning out on the intercostal waterway in Grandpa’s boat. After a quick jaunt into the ocean, of course. I don’t have photos of that, because I didn’t want to drop my phone, and I was holding on for dear life. The waves in the channel were pretty intense.

This little dude was pretty thrilled, though he didn’t understand why we wouldn’t let him roam freely in the boat. Though I’m an official “seaman” with a safety certificate and everything, I really didn’t want to have to practice my Man Overboard skills for real.

We stopped off on a sweet little island for a wiggle break.

After wiggles were had, we cruised by the old fort, the casino boat and under the bridge. Then we headed for one of grandpa’s favorite fishing spots, a sandbar near one of the small channels. (Look at me, pretending I know water terms.)

Before we knew it, it was time to head home for nap time.

What’s Cooking in My Grandpa’s Kitchen: Local Shrimp

Look at the delicate speckles on those beauties!

While we were in St. Augustine for Thanksgiving week, we had shrimp twice. Apparently the shrimp were really biting, so everyone had pounds of it. We had these both as an appetizer and then in a pasta dish later that evening. A few days later, we had boil and peel shrimp on the back porch while we waited for dinner. The baby boy even got in on that action, chomping down shrimp after shrimp.

Honestly, I didn’t even realize the Florida coast had shrimp. But whatever. I’m glad they do. And I’m glad they decided to bite in November… so I could bite them.

Let Me Help You with Those Directions…

Let’s see… It says right here…

Do you have a socket wrench? I think we need one.

HA! I have no idea what I’m talking about.