Richard's Apartment

Tuesday February 3

I called Mathieu to tell him that Richard invited him for lunch today. I told him that Jayne and I will be there. He said he’s on a bus to Columbia. I asked what he was doing going to Columbia and he said he’s taking a tour group there.

I told Gonzalo that we will not be here and gave him money to buy lunch and eat here (as we will not be here to unlock the door).

I got a call from Maria to say that Jayne can come in with her passport as she can start the next step of the visa process. She also told me to bring in $350 for the visa tax. I told her that we will be meeting Richard but we’ll be tomorrow.

About noon we took a taxi to Richard’s home. He lives in a nice part of Quito in a high-rise apartment. When we got there we walked into a beautiful apartment with a view of the valley. He lives on the 9th floor with a view of the mountain and the valley below.

Richard’s two Cuban friends were there. He said they’ll be leaving shortly for the airport as they are going back to Cuba for business for two weeks. One guy I met already, but the other guy, Gabriel, I didn’t. He is the artist from Cuba who does beautiful paintings and also works in sculpture and glassware.

This guy is really a master artist. He took art school in Cuba. When I saw him he looked like he was in his 20s but he told me that he’s 41!

We were shown around his flat, which was made from a two bedroom flat to one bedroom. Richard show the paintings and two sculptures that Gabriel did. Richard’s whole flat was done very tastefully and his kitchen is a chef’s delight with all manner of appliances along with a island counter to prepare food.

After the Cubans left we had lunch which was Louisiana gumbo which was made with chicken and sausage. Since I don’t eat meant, Richard had a salad for me along with an egg sandwich.

Then there was Richard’s cat, which I forgot her name. Richard is really attached to his cat.

We had a nice talk. Of course, Richard talked about his problems and how to resolve them. Later he put on my memory stick the Donald Trump books that he found online, one of which is an audio book. I look forward to reading and listening to them.

I took some pictures there. I took pictures of all the art work that his friend did. I also took pictures of the wood carving done in rectangular and round shapes that he has hanging on his walls. He told me that he got an appraisal from a friend that the woodwork would sell about 10 times the price in cities like New York and Chicago!

The wood carvings that Richard has was made in the town of San Antonio, Ecuador. I had been there years ago with Mathieu, as this is where he gets his religious carving. Well, this would be a good business to sell in the U.S. (and Europe). They can be sold via e-Bay or imported and sold in a store and also through the Internet.

After talking awhile we had a banana pie, which was good.

We left about 4.15pm. While we are on the street right near Richard’s apartment we were approached by some guy who speaks English telling us that he would some money to buy a ticket back to Cuienta. He gave us – what sounded like – his whole life story. Well, it was full of holes. I asked him why he was giving us his whole life story to get some money for a bus ticket! This guy claims that he lived most of his life in the U.S. he used the name of God and Jesus.

He said that “I swear that it will not be for something to drink.”

I gave the guy $2. Of course, what he said could be the truth (which probably not) but I thought, anyone of us could be in a situation where we were robbed and needs money to get home.

Jayne thinks that he just wants money to get something to drink.

I never thought I’d be approached by someone begging in a nice neighborhood where Richard lives.