ARCO Language Institute

ARCO Language Institute

Life is full of surprises.   Our latest resulted when we received an email that English teachers were being sought.  VERBO was beginning a language institute teaching English, but with a phonics methodology originated in the United States.

Gina Ugalde, the Director of the Institute, invited us to come to her office to learn more about it.  After one conversation with her, we were hooked.

Next was a two day seminar with Gina’s cousin-in-law, Steve Nine, an American.  He married an Ecuadorian and has lived in on the coast for the past 8 years.  His mother has taught in the US school system for over 25 years.  She developed this methodology years ago and it is widely used in the States.

ARCO hosted an inauguration at Verbo church.  250 interested persons appeared to hear more about ARCO and learning English.

Approximately 100 students signed up and ARCO was launched on February 7, 2012.  Gary and I teach on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 4 to6 p.m.  Gary has a class of 5 and Sue has a class of 6.   Then we team teach a class from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. with 14 students.

Maria Elisa, daughter of Margarita Toral (an editor of El Tiempo) spent some time in the United States.  Although an Ecuadorian, she speaks excellent English.  She is a part of the staff, working with many children who have elected to take English.

The English classes are very well organized – every teacher follows the detailed class plan.  The structure includes 70 phonograms, dialogs, poetry, songs. Teachers are allowed to be creative and bonding with the students is a top priority.

Phonograms are an essential element of the system.  If you have had Spanish lessons, you understand that all the vowels are pronounced the same way ALL the time.  An “a” always has an “ah” sound, etc.  Yet in English, an “a” can have three sounds, making it difficult for Ecuadorians to speak in a way where their words are understood.  They are learning ALL the sounds of the English language, pronouncing them and learning to recognize them in words.  There are 44 sounds in English and only 24 in Spanish.  And 70 ways to spell our 44 sounds!

One way we all decided to “bond” together was to write a song, combining Gary’s, Elisa’s, and Sue’s class to learn and sing it.  The song consisted of words we were learning and a flare of fun!  Now “hams” exist just as much in Ecuador as they do in the United States. 

Next week we embark on our 15^th lesson.   ARCO is a road we are glad we went down.

Radioman

You just never know who you are going to meet in a day.  We experienced just such a day when this morning, we attended Calvary Chapel's morning English service.  A divine introduction!  Sitting behind us with a gentleman named Mark Donham, from Portland, Oregon.

So what's so special about Mark?  Everything!  He shared with us his pilgrimage during his wife's last four years with Alzheimer's.  The disease was a genetic disorder in her family known as "Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease."  Chris' mother died at the age of 53, and her only sister passed away at age 49.  Chris passed away last January, 2011 at the age of 54.

Mark left a successful career to be full-time caregiver of Chris during the last four years in the progression of the disease.  He had always had a great interest in riding motorcycles.  Upon Chris' death, he made the decision to rent his home in Portland, and embark on a world ride with his motorcycle.

The story of his wife as well as the incredible motorcyle ride he's been on is all found on his blogsite: 
http://radiomanridestheworld.com/

Here you will find some great pictures and even learn the origin of "Radioman!"  Also, you will find some moving videos he made in his final times with his wife, Chris.  Mark is also an active voice in The Alzheimer's Association.

Mark has had over 500,000 hits during his eight month adventure.  A fellow rider reported being asked, while crossing several borders, if he was Radioman. 

Enjoy the photos of his last eight months touring the US, Canada, and South America.  We hope to see him again in July. 

Valentine's Dinner at Akelarre Cafe

Our good friend and proprietor of Hotel Inca Real, Tania Sarmiento, is inviting everyone to enjoy their romantic, sweetheart evening at the hotel's Akelarre Cafe.  Below is the menu planned for the evening
.
The main entre is Salmon but the prelude to the main course is upscale ending with Valentine's traditional theme of CHOCOLATE!

Tania's husband, Inigo manages the cafe and the food is always delicious.  They both speak excellent English.  Restaurant expertise seems to run in the family as Tania's two sisters with their husbands, also own and operate restaurants.

Hotel Inca Real was the first mansion in Cuenca to be converted to a hotel.  Recently updated, a Valentine evening at Akelarre could be just the perfect place for sweethearts!

Financial Musings

  Financial Musings

 Sunday mornings provide a quiet time for prayer, study, musings, reading “web revolution”- independent media news and outside-the-box thinking. So my mind wanders…bouncing back and forth between my preconceptions and new perspectives.

My musings are anchored by forty years of business and financial thinking, and by a passion for economics and politics. Hopefully, these thoughts will be considered by the contrarian-expats and various escape oriented readers.

During my financial practice, I frequently encouraged clients and friends to insure their portfolio with 5-10% allocated to gold and silver. I even shared how to buy free of commissions. These weather-proof metals insured against inflation and deflation. Sadly, I can count on one hand those who took this advice.  Gold has increased 500%.  Real estate, our favorite investment, is down.

Now it looks like time to also diversify away from the US dollar, as our government constantly devalues it. All investing seniors are being robbed daily by the inflationary “printing press” and by price fixing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Jefferson and Hamilton argued vigorously about central banking. Frontier President Andrew Jackson abolished it.

Finally, we must recognize that the traditional media, Hollywood and the US two party political system all exist to promote themselves at our expense. The internet is an unedited collection of thoughts, but has remained mostly free of Orwellian control. Be careful what you eat, what your read and who leads your thinking!

How does that relate to relocating or living in Ecuador?   We must remain proactive for our financial health.

1.       Prepare for inflation in the coming years. Even hyperinflation is possible.
2.       Diversify away from traditional buy-and-hold investments.
3.       Diversify among countries for investment.
4.       Invest in natural resources to withstand inflation, especially gold, silver, timber,
petroleum, etc.
5.       Find unbiased internet sources for economic, financial, and political information.
6.       Banks have had sudden “holidays” in Ecuador (2000), USA (1933), Argentina, etc. Keep several months of living expense outside of banking channels.

              Don’t worry; be happy in planning wisely.

Thriving in Ecuador - Now Published!

On Friday, we posted the opportunity to purchase our e-book:  Thriving in Ecuador:  Visiting and Living in Cuenca (©2012).   We had hoped to have it out on Kindle with Amazon, BUT ran into problems with formatting. 

So…in order to make it available, we have published it now as PDF format.  This means one can purchase it through PayPal and it will be downloaded by email as a PDF version onto a laptop or PC.

We are still working on this “Kindle thing” and hope to have our glitch resolved soon.  If you would like to purchase the e-book now, as a PDF copy through PayPal, BUT would rather have the Kindle version later, we would be happy to refund the cost of purchasing it in the Kindle version when that time comes.  We can refund it through PayPal.

The advantage of the PDF version is that it offers the colors we have used when writing our book.  And by the way, if anyone out there would like to help us with the formatting for Kindle, we would genuinely welcome and appreciate your help.

We believe a $3.00 investment in Thriving in Ecuador will reward you many times over.  We would truly appreciate your feedback.  Revisions can be made prior to publishing on Kindle.

We received our first comment on the book from an expat now living in Ecuador:

“Your e-book is wonderful and I think very useful to incoming expats.  I especially liked your sections on visas, immigration, legal systems, etc.  I think if it was more information it would have tended towards the boring so you were able to capture a difficult subject and give people adequate 'warning' without beating a dead horse. 

I think it will be a popular read for those considering Cuenca or Ecuador in general, as a retirement solution.  Congratulations on a great piece.”

Gary & Sue

US Consulate

U S Passport Renewal

Last week we made our obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca. If you enjoy expatriate living, it is coming to a life near you.  Sing along now: Down the Andes and through the clouds, to the Big Brother's house we went. Unlike "Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house" in the children's song, we were greeted by the hired guns of the entirely friendly Ecuadoran guards.

My heart felt a twang of grief as I gazed up at the Stars and Stripes, no longer conveying patriotic  sentiment, but concern for the America of my youth. Secure behind a small moat and floral-topped concrete wall, stood the house of Authority.

Before entering, we emptied our packs, placing everything on a table for inspection. Not as stiff as TSA security and with surprising respect, the rented guards gently glanced at us and allowed entry. Five feet inside, we repeated the procedure. The order, if not the time, of our internet appointment was respected. Our internet-provided forms expedited the process.  So $110 dollars later, we left with perforated old passports and the promise of new ones in a couple of weeks.

Oh, by the way, the staff has been negotiating with the courier service since August with no end in sight. Since they do not trust Ecuadoran mail, we must return to Guayaquil with our old passports to obtain a fresh decade of travel permission. Or send a friend!

Thriving in Ecuador - Our Unique Perspective

Thriving in Ecuador, coming out next week has a "Table of Thoughts" to locate what information you need or desire to read.  It includes 1) the financial and business perspectives of a former CPA, and the insights as a former Bed & Breakfast Innkeeper; 2) our personal experiences over a year; 3) and, includes specific advice on real estate, cargo, medical care, insurance, legal issues and taxes.

Our e-book was inspired by our 2008 and 2009 trips to Uruguay and meetings with the author of Living in Uruguay.  David shared with us that many of his readers encouraged him to turn his blogs into a book.  We referred to the book he gave us, when organizing our thoughts.  Traveling to Uruguay?  Google his book.

Books from different perspectives and experiences add insights and motivation to travelers.  And yes, we feel there will soon be additional books which may be useful also!

Gary & Sue Gaither