Thursday July 17

When Jayne was doing the washing and I was doing the gardening, Richard called. He asked if it was ok to stop over and we said yes.

Richard came about 12pm. He brought his hard drive to put some programs on my computer that I didn’t have. Some of the programs he put on were:

Power Point – now I can make a nice slide show for our wedding pictures.Adobe Flash Player – the program needed to download video on my computer.Microsoft Publisher – this is what I wanted to use to make invitation to the wedding but couldn’t.Camtasia – to make a video of what you are doing on your desk top. This is a good way to show people how to do different things in whatever program you want to show.Adobe – all the different programs that come from this company.Fast Stone – to save pictures and web pages off the internet that normally you can’t copy.

These programs if purchased would have cost over $1,000.

Richard had said at the day of the wedding that he bought a gift for us but didn’t bring it as it was too big to carry with him. He didn’t bring over the gift, as I’m sure he forgot. I didn’t want to mention this to him with all the other things he done on my computer. This alone would have been a great gift, especially allowing me to make a good CD to mail to friends and family of the wedding. But he’ll probably remember another time and bring the gift over. However, what he’s done is more than a gift.

Richard also said that his friend from the U.S. brought over three external hard drives of 500GB. One was for Richard, and two for him. Then he said he didn’t need another one so he asked Richard if he knows someone who would like to buy it. He asked me and I said I would like to buy it. I do need another hard drive. Richard said to buy something like this in Ecuador would cost twice as much – about $250, but would sell this to me at his friend’s cost, which is $137.50. So, I gladly gave him the money so he can bring it over the next time.

When the programs were downloading on my computer we went to the mall where I treated him to lunch. Jayne was looking at small laptops, as she would like to have her own computer.

Richard said that his friend who brought over the hard drives has a small laptop that he would like to sell. I told him to ask him how much he would like for it so I can buy this for Jayne.

It seems like everything is coming into place.

On the way to the restaurant in the mall we passed a hamburger place that is owned by an American. Richard said this is the only place that sells root beer in Ecuador. Jayne said that she never had it.

After lunch we stopped off at a hamburger place where Richard treated her to a root beer. Jayne liked it. She said that it tastes similar to sasparella.

We talked for awhile when we got back home. It was getting late so I asked Richard if he wanted to stay for dinner, which he did.

When Jayne was in the yard she noticed that the neighbor threw over to small bags filled with poop! She threw it back. Later a woman looked over the wall to say why this was done. She said that she didn’t throw it but it was their neighbor. From our yard it looks like one property but there must be a wall there.

However, the neighbor that did throw this must be from a family that are real animals. She should have got the message when the other week we threw over the baby diapers (nappies), but she must be a true pig.

This is what you have to put up with in Ecuador.

Jayne’s Visa

Jayne talked about her visa situation with Richard. Jayne has only until August 14 before he uses up all the days she’s allowed here. My attorney said that a special extension would be required in order for Jayne to stay here while the paperwork is being done. This of course, would cost more money. however, on web site it said that no other extensions are possible if a person stays more than 180 days from one year since they came in.

Richard on the other hand said that once the paperwork is started another extension is not required. However, he said that with the government keeping your passport while this is being done, she would not be able to fly out of the country. When asked about flying to another city in Ecuador, he said that Jayne would still need to show some kind of identification. Showing a copy of a passport would not do and she doesn’t have an Ecuadorian ID. He thinks that she won’t even be able to fly within Ecuador.

When Richard said he was getting his ID, they kept his passport for a couple of months. He said that the delay was because the government was hoping for a bribe, but he just waited them out. I don’t want Jayne to wait that long so I’ll ask how much it will cost to get it quicker. If it’s too much, I think we’ll go to the British Embassy and once they are told, hopefully, they’ll tell immigration and she’ll get her passport back quick without paying a bribe. This is one thing that that the government employees here fear – getting word back from a foreign embassy.
Richard left about 9.20pm.