A Busy Week

Monday August 4

We went Quito early (8am), as this is when Judith suggested we be there. She has to work in the bank in morning so we made sure that we were there. Jayne got her local police check, as was suggested by our lawyer that we get. Then we got something to eat.

We had to wait until the afternoon to see our lawyer. Maria called the travel agent that she dealt with to see about booking a flight for us to Columbia.

We got the info when to leave. So, we’ll be going to Bogota – the capital of Columbia.

Then off to the travel agency to pay for our tickets. We have to go back as the agency tomorrow, as she didn’t get a confirmation from the hotel. She did get a quote from them and the price was good. We were told that it’s a new hotel so the price is cheaper than others in order to attract customers.

I have to go to my bank tomorrow to pay Jayne and also to pay for the hotel. Jayne had her debt card to pay the travel agency as I didn’t have the money on me.

Then we got something to eat at the mall.

It had been a long day in the city and we’ll be glad when we don’t have to go there every day.


Tuesday August 5

We had to go to Quito to see if the paperwork was ready and if there was a confirmation from the hotel that our travel agent told us about. When we got to the lawyer’s office she said that the notary was not in, so nothing was ready. Then we got something to eat, after which, we went to the travel agent. She said that no word came from the hotel.

This was a wasted trip into town!


Wednesday August 6

We stayed home today, as there was no word from either our lawyer or the travel agent.


Thursday August 7

First we went to the travel agency to pay for the hotel room. This cost $648 for both of us for 4nights/5days. We were told to come back in two hours to get the vouchers for the hotel (another trip back!).

Then we went to pick up all the paperwork from my lawyer’s office that needs to be taken to the Ecuadorian Consult in Columbia. This is paperwork that had to have a notary seal on it to authenticate it.

From there, we went to get something to eat as we hadn’t eaten yet. To pass the time before we could go back to the travel agency we went to an internet café.

Finally, all the paperwork is done! But that is for now, as this is for an extension for Jayne to stay here. When we get back there will be the start of the paperwork for Jayne to get a resident visa here (as a spouse of one who can live here).

Friday August 8

I had noticed on the papers we got back from the lawyer that the color copy of Jayne’s passport and entry pages was not notarized. What the lawyer did was, she printed out the scanned copy of what I sent her, which was in color, but she didn’t print it out in color but in black and white. It was this that she got notarized. However, on what she wrote down for us was all the things we needed to bring in. also, to send some copies to her, via email, that she would print out. Like I said she printed out something that she said on paper needed to be in color.

What do we do?

I thought that we bring the color copies, that Jayne had printed out in color before we went to the lawyer’s office and take that to a local notary here.

When we went out I got my haircut first. Then we walked around town to see if we can find a notary. I figured it’s better to be safe than sorry and have a color notarized copy with us when we go to Columbia.

On the way looking for an office that does notary work, a lady stopped Jayne to ask her about a letter that she got in the mail and if we can help her. The letter was from the U.S. tax office (IRS) saying that a $300 refund is due.

Since Jayne and I speak very little Spanish, we could tell her what it was. However, we did go to the public phone booth to make a call to the IRS but Jayne said that she was put on hold and couldn’t get any info for her.

Then Jayne suggested we go to the internet café, as there was a web address to go to. She was able to find the page where you get your refund. However, Jayne said to the lady that she needs a Social Security number (tax number). She went home to get it. This was not hers’ but from the person who paid the taxes in the States. Jayne entered the number and had the paper printed out at the café. Also, the IRS has pages in Spanish, so one was printed out so the lady could understand it.


The woman in need was thankful and she asked for our phone number, which I gave to her.

After doing out good deed for the day we went to search for a notary office. We didn’t think to ask her if she knew of a place. Anyhow, we couldn’t find any and walked home.

It looks we’ll just have to go to Columbia and hope that a black and white copy notarized is good enough.