Exercise, a tasty treat, and the life of Riley

Dec 30

We slept later than we wanted but jumped out of bed and headed to the park. We made six loops around the park and headed home. Linn is gone on a religious retreat and one of her daughters is here to take care of her sister’s toddler who lives with Linn. Lelk and Au live in Bangkok and are a delightful couple. Linn told Au to sweep our steps and walkways while she was away. Yesterday Au dutifully complied although we asked her not to do it. Today, as soon as we got home from our walk, we did the sweeping so Au wouldn’t have to. She has her hands full with a two-year-old. Hope is off school until Thursday. Apparently, New Year’s is a big holiday here since Lelk and Au are off work until Thursday also.

After breakfast, we puttered then headed back to Rurin for espresso and muffins. Ron opted for a macadamia tart and I got a mixed berry muffin. Rurin only knows how to make delicious food. The muffin was tasty and moist. Ron’s tart was like a pecan pie but not too sweet. I am getting that next time. Rurin sent us home with her other muffin made from a tropical fruit we are not familiar with. We will try it out later today.

We had lunch at home, asparagus, cheese, and corn quesadilla. Lelk had sent Hope down to us with a green mango salad he had made. Ron, aka Dragon Mouth, loved it. I ate a couple of bites and liked it ... but my mouth was on fire!

I read up on visas in Ecuador and it seems straight forward, although nothing is easy when it comes to bureaucracy in a foreign language. Afterward, I read a thesis of a Claremont College student on ex-pats in Cuenca. She interviewed 12 ex-pats and nine locals to learn about their experiences. It was helpful. All 12 ex-pats had moved to Cuenca for the lower cost of living as their number one reason, followed by the weather which is spring-like due to the altitude and other factors like excellent and affordable healthcare, politics, etc. Most of them had not learned Spanish and the locals had something to say about that. That inspired me to pull out our Spanish lessons we had brought here and after lunch, we retired to the AC and did a lesson online. I don’t want to be considered arrogant American thinking it is okay to retire in another country and not bother to learn the language and expect the locals to speak my language. I am grateful to be able to relocate outside the USA, so I want to be respectful of the country and people where we choose to live.

We ate the other muffin Rurin had given us. It also was delicious,t I preferred the mixed berry. Ron took a nap after we made a black bean salad for dinner. While he slept, I decided to also make a pomelo salad. I was missing four ingredients but heck, this is camping. I got Ron up at 6:00 and he made our ‘cocktail’ which is a sweetened lime juice that we got hooked on in SL when we lived there. It is a refreshing drink at the end of a hot day. Our dinner was a hit. Both salads were quite tasty and we had some seedy rolls to go with the salads, making for a filling yet light dinner. After cleaning up the kitchen we worked two NY Times crossword puzzles. We decided before we left home to subscribe to the puzzles since we like working them daily. Another great day in Phetchaburi.