Cities and their specialties

Hi all
Here in Ecuador, it is very interesting. Everyone is clear in their destiny.
We are just about to buy our house, and the old owner is helping us a great deal. In fact, it would be very difficult to do it with out her and her husband. Here, you can often buy the house fully furnished, but unfortunately in our case some of our tastes differ. We are interested in modern or art nouveau, and most people here are into darker, more elaborately carved woods, similar to the french renaisance. They get so much light here, they tend to like the darker woods and stains and since we have always been around darker light of Canada, we tend to like the lighter woods and stains. Anyway, I digress again. There is a little town close to us that makes and carves muebles (furnature), Huanbelo is the name. They make fabulous furnature and even the more modern designes. Susanna of Timara hostel, one of the owners of the house we want, took Rob and myself on a day trip. She took us to this city and then to Ambato. In Ambato, we went to hardware stores and fabulous furnature stores. This is when it is important to know people here. Often we would say we would like something and she would tell us where we could buy it from the factory for less cost. She said for example the wonderful ceramic tiles that you can buy for $7- 30 per square meter (roughly 9 tiles) is best bought near Quito. We went to another Muestro (Master of Woodcrafts and Furnature), here in Baños and you can buy an incredible headboard, footboard, side tables and mirror drawer thingy for guess.... $1000.00 solid hard exotic wood hand carved, designed with your choice of fabric, to your satisfaction. Needless to say, we will be having Muestro SanFransico of Baños create our furnature. The wood they use here is very hard and durable. They use this material because of termite problems. They often give a 10 year guarantee just for the termites, hence the houses here are made of concrete and not wood.
We bought pots and pans, juicers (a definite must, the mercado puts too much sugar in), Susanna told us that when you make large purchases, it is expected that the company give you a gift for shopping there. She is one heck or a tough barganer. So for no extra cost, Susanna made sure they threw in 12 wine glasses and a measuring set. Again, this is when it is good to go with someone who knows the ropes. There was one furnature company who would also include a fold out bed for purchasing a living room set or a glass and wood coffee table. This set is fab, it has very clean modern lines made of this very hard wood, covered with a suede like material or elephant suede in many choices of colors. Just gorgeous. We will go back when we get the money thing organized. Oh yeah, this cost also includes delivery.
She has also arranged for private spanish lessons ($3.50 an hour and he is also a school teacher). A part of his plan is to have all of us go to the school and volunteer to help the children learn english. Great fun for us and good for the kids too. He also wants them to learn spanish with the kids in the playground and lunch time for even more exposure. They would be able to make friends with other children and perhaps be able to have a more active summer. It is amazing how much I am learning and so quickly. He has explained somethings that I never understood in spanish and did it all in Spanish, no english spoken.
We have found something a bit of a drag though..... Our bank in Canada informed us that Ecuador and other latin american countries are somewhat black listed in transferring moneys electronicly. They have suggested that it might be better to have a bank draft couriered to Quito and we pick it up. But they also said it could still be robbed there too. We have sent out feelers to various people we know of who have bought and are also land investers here to help us out and give us suggestions. I will keep you all posted.
Susanna (she is Ecuadorian) is not the only one helping us by any means either, her husband Paulo (he is british) has given us tips on purchasing foods and answering our endless questions, translating and generally putting up with us and our dog. I have to say though finally his dog and our dog are becoming friends....sort of. He gets snaps for patience and endurance.
What is amazing about this couple is that they are experts in the jungle. Paul is renowned in spider/turantulas and has discovered several species of spiders, and Susanna is a renowned expert in butterflies and beetles and has also dicovered species. They have said they would like to take us to the Oriente (jungle). It would be alot of fun, and I could get some great pictures for painting. I noticed that there are not really great art or wildlife cards,or prints and that maybe I could fill this niche. The trip would be rather hot and buggy, but I think it would be well worth it. Susanna used to run guided tours through the Oriente and she and Paul really know their stuff. I would like the opportunity to help educate some of the locals (a very difficult path) about conservation and appreciation of their ecosystem. I have found that if you use humor and art you can do amazing things and have realizations.
Talk with you all soon.
Robin