Life here, as everywhere, is made up of small victories and large vicissitudes interspersed with moments of calm.  I want to record one of my victories.  We have been here over a year now, and I have been working on my Spanish.  The first indication I had that I was winning was when I phoned the Electricity Board to ask when power would be restored. Not only was my request understood, without repeats, but the answer came straight back - two hours

A coupe of months ago, we were invited to the birthday party of our neighbour's wife..  We  were the only Gringos in evidence and I therefore found myself conversing in Spanish - for 5 hours.  We discussed art ( he is an artist and professor) literature, politics etc.  I got home from that and went straight to bed utterly spent from the effort.

However, small things like that gave me confidence and last week I read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, in Spanish and it only took a week.  The first 50 pages you are looking up every 5th word, but by 75%, you have absorbed all the new vocabulary and it goes as fast as English.  Of course, I have a new, totally useless vocabulary of witches, wands and broomsticks, but it is all very encouraging.

Best of all, among the local population I am known as the Gringa who can speak the language, albeit with a funny, Castilian accent.

And the rains came!  Last year, apparently ther were only six days of rain in total - we saw two of them after our arrival in March.  This year it has already been raining on and off for three weeks, with more promised.  This is great for the garden and the general environment, but has resulted in a lake outside the gate so that the street is closed to pedestrian traffic.   It is a dirt road of course and I have no idea how long the lake will last after the rains actually stop,  - meanwhile we are safe at least from Jehovah's Witnesses and assorted salesmen.  I am glad we invested in a 4x4.,

Christmas is no big deal round here, though if you are tired of Jingle Bells, try relentless Jose Feliciano singing Feliz Navidad.  But New Year is something else - three days of uninterrupted partying, fireworks and general mayhem when no-one seems to sleep at all.   This is also the season of the Manigotes, - paper-mache effigies which are burnt to dispose of all last year,s sins.   Some people still make their own, but most buy and a lifesize one can cost $100.  Talk about burnng money.
I can undertand an image of Bart Simpson representing my sins, but Snow White, or Tinkerbell?
I actually saw a lifesize Incredible Hulk riding a motorbike down the street.  Of course, he was strapped to the rider, but it looked funny, especially from the rear.  Some people believe that sea-bathing does the same job, so there is a sudden increase in old ladies taking to the water.  Of course, there are always the belt and braces types who do both.

When that is all over, the real work of the new year begins.  It is time to pay property taxes.  If you pay in the first half of January, you get 10% discount, diminishing every 2 weeks thereafter.  Of course all the gringos all line up to take advantage of the discount, but the Ecuadoreans have just spent everything on feasting and fireworks, so they dont.  As we are filing our first time, we initially have to get a letter from the Mayor's office to indicate that we are elderly and thus entitled to 50% reduction.  This took a couple of days, not least because Calvin and I had to apply separately as we jointly own the property.  However, after several queues and countersignatures, the property tax came to $20 for the year!  Is it worth collecting at this rate?

That done, we are coming up for elections next week.  Unlike the American three ring circus, candidates are only allowed to campaign for one calendar month and no alcohol is served for four 4 days around the election date.  But the system is weird, nonetheless.  EG there are 9 candidates for President, and after polling, if there is less than 10% margin between the first two places then there is another election to find a winner (it can take two or three extra elections to get an eventual winner)