Tags
Changing dollars in Ecuador, Ecuador Snakes, hand-painted floors, Postcards from Zeebra Flying Carpet, Restaurants in Ecuador, Vacation at the beach, Vacation in Ecuador, What is Playamart?
Nelly, at nearby La Division, asks if we remembered to bring small change to pay for lunch!
When the bipolar internet connection allows, I will be sending random updates while my friend Barbara is here for a two-week visit. Barbara and I have been friends since the year 2000, when I moved from Mississippi to Costa Rica, where she was a neighbor. She now lives in the Republic of Panama and is using a few of her air miles for a two-week pass on the Zeebra’s Flying Carpet Express!
Like a good student, Barb arrived in Ecuador with plenty of one-dollar bills. Many people do not heed the warning to bring lots of ones. A large hotel or restaurant can easily make change for a twenty, but a small “Mom and Pop” restaurant usually struggles when you pay for a six-dollar lunch (for two) with a twenty-dollar bill.
Remember to bring lots of one-dollar bills!!!
Thankfully Barb is a seasoned traveler and understands the woes of poor internet connections. My neighbor Jody (four miles away!) confirms that her internet service is horrible as well, and she also awakens early so that she can upload images. She, like me, realizes that our service could be worse:
“… But then I remember Honduras where there were 3 important factors which had to come together to get an email out. 1) electricity, 2) a working phone line, and 3) a server who chose to serve. The last was always a crap shoot! When all three were there together at the same time it was a cause for joyous celebration!!!”
Jody added, “While in Honduras one of our friends had a baby in the States and sent us a picture which while it took forever to down load, and it clogged up our entire Internet connection for days as pieces of the gargantuan baby appeared….an eye one day, an ear the next!! Needless to say we contacted the proud parents when the Internet was open again and asked them please not to send us anymore photographs, no matter how cute their new baby was!!”
Yes, it’s often difficult to wait long slices of time for an email to open – only to discover that it’s a forward or a huge image file that drags the system down to an earthworm’s speed. Many people are not aware of what it’s like to be on the receiving end of an email that not only takes time to load but often is costing a small fortune at a cybercafe as well!
Barbara’s visit is going great, and I am slowly uploading ‘breaking-news’ images to share with you! Here are a few to illustrate a summary she penned this morning. Enjoy!
Barb leaving Malecon 2000 (Guayaquil)
“…I am having a fun time here with Lisa….We are painting her floor in what is going to be her “Artist Studio/Gallery where she will paint and have her Paintings on sale. My body is a little sore from all of it but the work is worth it…
Concrete floor in studio gets a facelift; while the paint dries, Barb and Lisa explore the area!
…We walked to town late yesterday…..about 3 miles .. but hopped one of the little taxi’s (kind of like the ones in Thailand) to get home. The day before we walked to the beach (2 miles away) and collected driftwood for her to make tables and chairs (yep…I did write that right) tables and chairs!!
Yes, Barbara finally visits the closest branch of Playa Mart, where the shelves are restocked daily. The only problem is that it’s hard to find a checker to help you!
…Anyway it was so hot and yes I did get sunburned….so we conned a dump truck driver that was headed back past Lisa’s place to drop us off…that was fun!! Mmmmm and I am wondering WHY I am so sore?????” (Barb Seibel)
How many people have the honor of riding in a dump with an FBI chofer?
How’s this for a first-class co-pilot seat?
Because the bodega floor carried scars from life on the shrimp farm, it was first scrubbed numerous times with a special cleaner and then received two coats of ‘Agua Stop’ as a barrier between the concrete and the custom designs.
A first-class upgrade with Hibiscus-Ginger-Mint tea enhanced this particular segment of the Flying Carpet Ride!
Using the back side of a strip of vinyl, we are testing several experiments on this studio floor.
I will close with Barbara’s narration: ” Yesterday after a quick break from painting…(popcorn … yummy but is this lunch??) Lisa walks down a couple of steps into her “Studio” and screams…..”A SNAKE!!” – Am not sure who scared who the most … Lisa scaring the snake, OR the snake scaring Lisa ….. OR ME from her scream!! So what does Lisa do? She recovers, grabs her camera and WALLA ( voilà!) does a photo shoot!! I on the other hand am still recovering from “heart failure” from her scream!! But alas…all was good as the snake wanted away from Lisa as quick as possible and slithered out the door. WE continued on with our painting as if nothing had happened.“
A surprise visitor sneaked into the studio to get a sneak peek at the artwork!
Barb has many years’ experience as copilot in the floor-painting tasks!
Did you enjoy the postcard?
Barb with an incubating sunburn…
More soon,
Z (and Barb!)
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
What great fun! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, bright happy Cindy! Z
PS – And then I posted a huge post without remembering to clip it to a preview window. Please forgive me, those of you who have slow internet!!!
Z
i loved it!! pleaseeeee keep them coming!! my love to you and Barb!! our special Bubblicious!!!!
Hey Amiga! How great it is to hear from you; your comment just made Barbara burst out laughing!
Wish you were here to enjoy pan de yucca and encebollado and viche and – and – and all of those wonderful Ecuadorian culinary specialties as well as watching Bubblicious enjoy her visit!
I loved it! Such beautiful places and friends…:) keep having fun!
hey guapa! thanks, yes, it’s been a fun ‘half week’ with many more great memories waiting to be experienced!
i loved your encebollado posts this week, so appropriate for semana santa.
z
Love the paintings..wow, that was a looong snake ! Looks like you guys are having a blast…Barb will need to do a write up with pics of her driftwood table and chairs 🙂
yes, barb and i need to establish a tag team with these posts. her off-the-cuff comments are too funny!
the rain is steady now.. at least the leaves are drinking in their baptism of water!
z
The “like” button is not behaving…. “LIKE! “
Wonderful! Have a ton of fun and keep sending me pictures of your amazingly colorful paintings!! I love them!
one of these years you’ll have to volunteer in jama, then you can squeeze in your own painting sessions! thanks so much amiga! lisa/z
Oh I am so coming! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to take one of your painting classes! It is my dream! 🙂 Nicole
we’re going to have to make that happen! happy easter, beautiful friend! z
I am just laughing and laughing. It’s a good thing your friend and copilot, Barb, is a seasoned traveler. Sometimes when I describe life in Nicaragua, my friends say, “Thanks, but no thanks to a visit.” Wishing you fast internet, beautiful paintings, and a snakeless floor. Oh, and I can’t wait to see your driftwood furniture.
your comment is infectious! i’m glad you’re laughing and am glad that you’ve experienced many of the same challenges that i do!
more soon i hope!
z
Wall-to-wall CHEER!
thank you so much! it’s going to be an eye-opening floor for sure!
Artwork and stories, very great. But the snake, no, not so great… 😉
i agree about the snake, but am glad that it seemed eager to find its way back outside, where it will hopefully guard the house!
thanks so much for your comment!
z
What a fun post! Enjoy your visitor!
we are certainly enjoying our visit. thanks so much! lisa/z
Lisa, this was outstanding! I have been away for many days, but today’s visit was so fun… even the snake! 😀
i’m so glad that the post gave you pleasure! you’re probably very seasoned when it comes to seeing snakes, especially if they are non-poisonous ones! hopefully it will stay outside now that it’s critiqued the floor!
I just loved this. What girl fun. Aside from the snake, I can hear the giggles and laughter now. Love the flying carpet friendship and that hibiscus-ginger-mint tea looks refreshing.
we’ll brew a batch of tea tomorrow and try to send its essence in your direction! the hibiscus plants are in strong bloom right now, so there’s an abundance of blooms for bright red tea!
Thank you for sharing your fun time with Barb. Love your beautiful art work!
thank you for taking the time to read the post and to comment! i’m glad you like the art; we hope to have very long painting session tomorrow/thursday.
lisa/z
Beautiful art on show while having fun! I enjoy it immensely!
thank you amiga! yes, we’re having fun while painting and dodging snakes!
Sounds like you’re having a blast. Love the floor.
yes, we are having lots of fun! thanks for the thumbs up on the floor!
🙂
What a fun postcard. So glad you persevered with the internet connection. I would love to be drinking that hibiscus tea and painting your floor. But I can do without the snake. It probably thought it had discovered a lovely new home.
thank you! i agree with your feedback about the snake and hope that it remembers to stay in its bounds.. it has an entire planet to roam, and surely it can do without the cool clean bodega floor as part of its turf!
I did enjoy the postcard, and the floor lift looks like it’s gonna be fantastic. Have fun you and Barbara! At least you two don’t need to communicate via poor internet connections the next couple of days.
hey thanks! that’s so true about communications. we just returned from am amazing ‘detour’ from our morning plans.. stay tuned for more postcards!!!!
z
You say it’s ginger-mint-tea, but it looks suspiciously like wine to me!
ha! there’s a total mind game with that concept, which is that it’s not necessarily the drinking of wine that’s important, but the lovely glass and conversation that goes with it!
more about that soon!
z
Your floor is looking fabulous! Have a great visit with your friend Barbara.
thanks! more soon!
z
Z, I love your stories and pictures. I was scrolling up and down the pages to get my thoughts and it hit me; you ought ask people to create a story from your pictures. I see a woman holding a wad of bills, a snake, and some psychedelic paintings. It seems like an acid trip of some sort. It is indeed a Flying Carpet ride. If we just put on the Steppenwolf song, it will all make sense. Thanks for your little windows into your excursions. They are much appreciated. BTG
hey
your comment made me smile for many reasons! there’s a ‘journey’ that one takes via a special brew made by a shaman, and it’s called, ‘ayahuasca.’ when my paintings were in the three-museum show, many people said that they made them feel as if they were on ayahuasca.. or they asked me if i’d ever had ayahuasca! they said that the room seemed to move.
and now you have a similar comment about the post! how ironic!
and yes, steppenwolf’s music would be perfect – i’ve always loved that song. i’ll try to pull together a post soon, though barb and i are squeezing the most from each day. she’s crashed for the day, and i’m pondering catching up on wordpress or working on photos from today or maybe publishing a short update!
life is so great! thanks so much for adding to that ‘cup overfloweth’ feeling!
z
Great postcard Lisa. Oh my gosh that floor is going to be beautiful!
good morning, amiga!
thanks so much! barb and i are both catching up on internet and are about to embark on another painting session!
more soon!
lisa/z
Love the postcard! – B
thank you so much! the postcard series is fun, though barb was busy painting this morning to write any from the copilot seat!
z
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