Stranger in a stranger land

It’s been about 10 years since I used OD. I have fond memories of the people I met back when, so here I am again.

I am living in Ecuador now, and dealing with the rubbish going on in two other countries, as well as the foreigner “special” treatment. Fortunately I met a local business owner/ family and they are now doing what they can to help me through some of the hurdles.

I bought a house out of desperation to get out of the place I spent the first 3 months. Outcome: plus and minus, but it was a necessary move.

My first power bill was about $70. WHAT!? Power is supposedly cheap. The “friend” who helped me basically just told me it was because … rubbish.

The next bill was ridiculous and this last one … I mentioned this to my friends, people who don’t play games and admit some of the things that go on. K immediately said that they would contact someone in the power company as that was ludicrous. Finally, grown-ups who face reality and try to get things done.
No word yet, but yesterday was the soonest they could contact their friend who is in a higher position in the power company. Apparently this kind of thing is NOT unusual. That the bill is emailed within the company does not mean it is legitimate. Hopefully I can get the money back that I paid, but just not have power bills higher than I paid in the last country I lived in … They are greedy these thieves. They listen to Americans (British, French … ) talk about how much their bills were and … The amount of my bills before taking in the exchange rate to USD was higher than I paid overseas.
Why is it that greed and stupidity seem to go hand-in-hand? Rhetorical question.

The house is a new build, but nothing special. It’s just good to have some degree of privacy. I have my crazy cat family and now I have two others. My cat family make me laugh and they talk to one another a lot, which is very cute. The foster cat and the pregnant, now mother, cat who came to my door …
They whine and scream, it’s the pitch of their voices, and literally give me terrible headaches. It’s not the voice, as much as they can go on for 3 or 4 hours without a break. Not the way I want my mornings to pan out.
The kittens are 4 weeks and 2 days and beautiful of course. K fell in love with the little black one instantly so he will have a wonderful home. K’s daughter D is going to help me find homes for the other 3. They are all gorgeous, healthy, funny little beings.

Trouble with the tax man back home. It seems they “projected” income I did not have because I didn’t know I had to submit a “zero income” tax return. I had no idea what they were talking about ten years later. I didn’t do the tax returns before and …
Now I have to try to “mail or fax only” a written, they can use email but mere mortals cannot, an explanation. It’s rather more complicated, but that’s the gist and that Ecuador does not have a civic mail service and once things went digital it seems all(?) businesses tossed their fax machines ….
I was speaking with a woman who lived in Miami, FL and her daughter sent her a single paged document by Fedex, express. It cost over $100 and it arrived a month later. I have no intention of trying to originate something from this end.
I asked a friend at home to print a copy of an email and then send it from her end. She is away for two weeks, but will do that when she returns. That’s still much faster than I could get it to them.

I can’t see myself living in this house for more than a year, but … Almost anything is possible.
I am already thinking that moving to N America and buying a small piece of property … somewhere … and living in an RV 4, 6, 8 months per year and traveling the other months might be a GREAT alternative.
I will see how things pan out. I am almost one year into my two year “temporary resident” status. This time next year I can apply for “permanent” status. Once I am here for 3 years total I can apply for citizenship. The beauty of that is I could leave indefinitely and come back any time, not to mention another passport, which can be very handy.
Permanent resident status has an obligation to return for at least one day every x-number of years to continue having that status. Citizenship doesn’t have that requirement. There are a couple-few other things, like ability to vote and serve in the military and in some countries you cannot have a public service job without being a citizen and … None of that matters to me, but the freedom to come and go, or go … and maybe come back … Priceless.

I wasn’t sure that OD was going to work for me this time, but I have unloaded a lot of stuff that I needed to get out of my head. Good!!!