the official address

Hi all
we now have our official address for Baños. Please forgive me as I don´t have my glasses on and writing this letter is very uncomfortable. So I will keep it short and sweet. The address is:

Robin Moulyn, or Rob Tiessen, or Rachelle Tiessen, or Dane Tiessen or Isis Tiessen (She likes to be included too)
Baños-Tungurahua
Ecuador
19-31

Please if you mail, remember Ecuador is not spelled with a ¨Q¨. The last part with the numbers is much like a postal code and must be included. Apparently, mail get here relatively quickly and if you are going to send ¨Stuff¨, like jelly beans. curry paste or red licorice, you take the package to the post office and have a customs stamp put on it and have the package stated as haveing a relative low value, and there should be no problem with the package arriving intact to us. I have also been told to try and keep the packages under 5 lbs. But I don´t know. We have friends who have had motor cycle parts or tools sent and there were absolutlely not problems. So rest assured.

Rachelle had to get some work done on her teeth, very large cavity, when it is all said and done it will cost under $30.00. The office is very clean and nice, and they were using modern technology. The staff and dentist were very nice and made the experience and good as possible. Rachelle has a temporary filling and it cost $2.00. So when all is said and done. It was just great. Unfortunately, little miss messy mouth who doesn´t always brush her teeth, has more cavities to fill and our new dentist will be doing them fairly quickly, to make sure there are no future problem. I think that we all will have a check up and cleaning. Rob is thinking about having the silver fillings replaced here, we will see. We will get a price quote first. I think his fillings need to be replaced with gold. The canadian denstist said it was because he has a hard bite. I guess Rob´s bite is worse than his bark, look out Rachelle boyfriends.
Talk with you all later
Robin

Driver Test

Hi All
Well, just to keep life interesting, a couple of people suggested that it would be wise to do our drivers test here. It apparently makes life alot easier with the police, for easier passage and since international driver´s licences do not apply here, we felt it could make life run a little more smoothly when we buy a vehicle. Hense we are in the process of going for it. Sooooo, we have to do it all in spanish..... hmmmm, we have limited spanish abilities......hmmmm. What the heck are we thinking. A written test in spanish.....
Anyway, here´s what happens. You need to learn how to drive by having a drivers teacher, our´s is Telmo and he is great. He drove for a long time in the states and he knows we know how to drive. So mostly, he drives and tours us around showing us all the great sites of Baños. Next, we have to take a class in the Transit Laws. I would love to print off a copy but you all would really not believe that they have the laws that they do have, and then never ever enforce them. Fortunately in this class, we met another ¨Gringoe¨couple, and Manola speaks fluent spanish and Hurly is great too. They both have a wonderful sence of humor and have made those classes so much more easy to swallow. Next, we had to take mechanics , where our guys were falling asleep. We heard that one of our friends actually did fall asleep and fell out of his chair, talk about embarassing and quite hilarious. I wish Rob would have done this ,I would have laughed myself silly and enjoyed the class a great deal more. Next Rob and I had to go to first aid, where by accident we showed up 1 hour late to a 2 hour class. I had to do a written test and interpret it for Rob and I couldn´t understand it, because it was totally in spanish. Fortunately, I called over the teacher, where we talked it over in Spanish and it was smoothed over, but Yikes. I rarely have had the experience of looking at a test, that is a topic of something I know very well, and for the life of me couldn´t figure out a thing. It was very disconcerting let me tell you. Fortunately, I have a bit of experience with first aid, we blew through that one verbally.
The LAST Class. Ok,,,, I can understand all the other classes, and how they apply to driving but listen to this one. Psychology of driving. Here, the first 20 min of a 1 hour class was spent watching short slides of bloopers of people in embarassing situations, where I saw more male appendages hanging out than I get to see with Rob on a hot night. The final slide was 5 people naked skydiving and all along Rob and I are asking ourselves,¨what the hell has this got to do with driving?????¨ Then we saw useless Japanese inventions; the only one I liked, was butter that could be applied like a glue stick to toast seems like a pretty good one to me really, but again what the hell has this got to do with driving????? OK, next bit, and my patience is starting to wear a little thin here. I am sure you can understand why. The teacher/psychologist tells us , we are important and we are children from god and he loves us and we are wonderful, and who are we anyway, and aren´t we perfect. I kind of wish I would have said thank you and left and figured the class was finished but I just didn´t clue in. This guy is the spanish equivalent of Anthony Robbins. I think that it is the morbid curiosity that kept me sitting in my chair, trying to figure out the meaning for all this. You know, you all have been there. Like a dumb joke and you know it is going to be bad but you just have to hear the punch line. And again, what the heck has this got to do with driving?. Ok.... The next and OH so important question, what do you believe in? Do you beleive you come from God, (the correct answer), from creationism, or from outerspace? This is true, he asked us if we thought we could be from outerspace. I think that might have been a trick question, and thank god I had the forsight not to say there are some great websites and research supporting this idea or I might be taken care of in a nice quiet room with lots of padding. But honestly, this is a very important and personal question and one that could help one to get a clearer philosophical view of life and a question I myself have taken classes for, to grow as a person and try and deal with my issues in a intelligent and mature manner, but what the in the doodle does this have to do with driving? Rob, seeing that it would be much better to be a sheep in a catholic society said god, and I , trying to be honest and of course somewhat philosophical (thinking I might be rejected for ¨different extraterrestrial view¨), said possibly god and creationism, there was a pregnant pause of silence and an awkward ahem,,,,, and cough from the crowd, also alot of blank stares...... and a sudden discret change of subject. Then he asked what do you really want and deserve out of life? Rob being the honest and capitalistic Gringo said mucho dinero, they all laughed and I said I just wanted my drivers licence, again laughter. BUT WHAT HAS THAT GO TO DO WITH DRIVING? And then oddly, suddenly everyone smiled and got up and left,.....and it was over. Really.... just like that. The end¨. Stunned Rob and I left and were relieved that the driver company didn´t insist on an interpreter, and we missed alot thankfully, it could have been even more painful. Rob and I had to catch the bus back from Pelileo to Baños and all the way back we constantly asked ourselves,¨ What the heck was that all about and what does it have to do with driving?¨ Rob said it helped him get intouch with his sensitive side and that he is a better person for it and when he drives with our friend Paul, he will give breach Pauls personal space bubble, and give him a great big bear hug (Paul was the one of the people saying we really needed to do this). Rob also said he won´t be afraid to cry anymore and he can have more confidence in being more sensitive from now on,( you have to know Rob to what a load of s---t that is.)
Saddly, after several days, I still find myself pondering on those naked skydivers and wondering if they all caught colds or when and if those parts get too cold, does it affect your personal, intimate life, and what the noodle does that all have to do with driving? Did I miss something, because I think that normally quite perceptive and can see may points of view? I have to be honest and tell you, that it has been keeping me up at night,.... thinking about it. If any of you could find some insight to this quandery please find the time to enlighten me, it would be much appreciated, as I feel uncomfortably dimwitted because I have not gotten ÏT¨. I feel like I am looking at the Rubiks cube of life and only getting one side of the cube blue.
Talk with you all Later and try not to think of those skydivers, its not like counting sheep.
Robin

Scorpions

Hi all
Here in Baños, apparently we have the occassonal, rogue scorpion making appearances in our lives. These odd little fellows, like their privacy and protest quite adamantly about any interference with its life, daily activities and rituals. Unfortunately, this morning my dearest love, who often interupts my privacy, got stung when he just couldn´t leave it alone, never mind that it was in the way of major construction with our building. Anyway, Rob thought it was a spider at first but quickly found out the creature came with stinger already asembled and ready for use. Rob picked it up and went to throw it away (much to our builders shock, Rob is such a H-man) and the scorpion not interested in flying lessons, and stung my love right in his paw. Fortunately, I was still in bed, recovering from a long night with a stupid dog who knows better than to eat bones but can´t resist , mas intelegente, my ass. Anyway, not knowing about 1st aid, prince charming comes to me, somehow knowing I would automaticly have a brainwave about foreign to Canada bugs. I guess the puzzled and fuzzy look in my eyes, inspired him to phone our Ecuadorian friend. He knows that I can´t think properly before a hearty cuppa java. Rob had caught the little offender in a tupperware tubbie and showed to show her. She came over and told us of the famous method of dealing with Scopions stings, dip the affected area in hot water and put up with the pain that will go up your arm for several days. The end. Apparently, the scorpions in our area are much like wasps but more painful. Susanna,(our ecuadorian who I make reference to) felt that part of the cure , after seeing the wee criminal,was to not do the buddist thing and set it free in our neighbors yard (a especially good tactic when you don´t get along with your neighbors, but unfortunately we do, unfortunate because it could add to the flavor and interest of this story) but to squish its little head in. Apparently, doing this doesn´t cure the bite but it does make you feel better. And this comes from a specialist in butterflies, whose husband is a spider and scorpion specialist. Who´da thunk.
Laugh with you all later.

The Wonderful World of Dogs

I guess you are all wondering why I would title a blog like this............well here goes. In our new little town of Baños. A friend of ours let us know that there was a dog show in town. She suggested to us to enter, because she had seen Isis play dead, sit, stay etc. All those doggie lessons paid off. So, came the big day, Saturday. At home, (our new home and we are even in it) Dane showed signs of being scared and not wanting to go. I talked him into it, like a good mother does. Using only the latest tools in parental motivation, good old fashioned guilt. We arrived at the allotted time 9:00, and of course they were just about 3 hours late to start. We amused ourselves with talking with kids and showing them some of Isis´s tricks. Rachelle, like a good 16 year old, abandoned us for a guy with a huge Napolitan Mastiff. I wonder how she started that conversation.? ¨My, what a big dog you have.... Anyway I digress from the more important topic. We, the pet owners all gathered at the colluseum (sp?), where the sponcers played the music at decibles that could cause permanent auditory damage and require fluency in sign language. The guy on the microphone, was talking like it was his big debute and we all kept hoping he would relax into his hari krishna chants. (this is another story only to be told another time.) I was wondering how on earth Dane was going to be able to even talk with Isis for commands. Finally, at about 12:00, it was Dane and Isis´s group, Inteligente. (spanish) They all lined up, I had to help a bit with Dane´s spanish and understanding. And believe it or not, Isis did as she was told, with only a bit of hesitation. When she played dead she got a round of applause and an awwwwwwwwwwwww from the crowd. We knew then she was a ringer. The other dogs performed amazing feats of ignoring, and eating treats, and showing how well they had trained their people into falsely believing they would perform tricks. I think they just didn´t want the other dogs to think that they were pussies. Pardon the pun, but I just couldn´t resist. Needless to say, after the line up for the crowd voting, by applause, Isis was undefeated in her win. We were very proud, and Dane and Isis won a medal, big bag of food (that was probably why Isis even listened) , doggie bowl and a certificate, with MAS Inteligente on it. If they only knew the real story. Dane received lots of attention from the other kids and in fact was asked to help teach other people how to train their dogs. I think that Floyd our former dog trainer would cough up his lunch. Anyway, Dane had a great time and Rachelle made time too. Over all it was a great experience. But as Rob said, It is easy to look like a bright bulb when you are in a dark room. Unfortunately, the story does continue on, in that since Isis felt she was a star, and did so well, and in her arrogance felt she deserved a special treat. I left on the counter in the kitchen of the new house, a lovely broiled chicken that you can buy here ready to take home. Yes,,,, you guessed it, our little champion ate the whole thing when no one was looking. End of greatness and right onto the s---t list. Proving once again , Mas inteligente.
We have moved into our house, and almost immediately Rob went out bought a sledge hammer and crashed out with all his might the horrible designers nightmare of a water feature. He struck with revenge for all home designers everywhere who have to repair the damage fauz pas´s when people decorate their own homes with the taste of velvet Elvis´s. Here is how a water feature is created here in Ecuador. First, you take cement, and throw into the mix, river rock and lava rock, then chizel out a couple of holes in the wall, pipe in water from the laundry room for the top of your waterfall, and let the water drain right out of the bottom hole of you waterfall, enjoying the further waterfall as it cascades across the cement patio, watching as it amble gracefully into the garden, abuntantly flowing under the cement block fence and down to the neighbors property 15 ft down to create that white rushing that waterfalls get over elevation. They do not use a water pump to circulate the water and keep it isolated but they would much rather let the water run till the neighbors had possibly flooded out. For a water bill of $2.00 a month I guess they felt it was worth the cost.
The house sounds like an empty hall because there is no furnature and no curtains, we are waiting for sofas to be delivered and other stuff too. In the mean time, we are not having idle hands, we have after some ado, especially with the language barrier (funny really) have organized a husband and wife team, to dig out a trench at the upper neighbors place and put in drainage for the large amount of water that would like to actually come through the cement walls and entertain us with Elvis impressions or Christ, or mother mary impressions of mold and water stains. Fortunately, the Inquirer doesn´t know or we would be hounded with reporters and believers. Hey, maybe we will let them in and make some money on the deal. But I really would hate to exploit Elvis like all those other peasants have.
I finally have started a new painting and when it is done I will start the process for you all to see it.
Well, I am almost done here, except to say they here we do not have a last name, but we are being referred to as the CANADIAN family. Believe me, like all small towns news travels fast and we are hot news. Especially, since Isis is hot personality. Gotta go and organize an ink pad so that Isis can sign autographs with her paw.
Talk with you all later and keep laughing