Hogar, dulce hogar

We’re back for another season of research in Agua Blanca, the little coastal Ecuadorian forest community where Jessie has conducted research for two seasons now. Getting ourselves settled in is always a little of a runaround as we need to talk to many people but they are hard to track down. We liked the house we lived in last year, but were also open to other options because it is good to spread the wealth around. We asked a couple of people to inquire within the community if anyone has a house they are willing to rent, and we got a couple of hits. One was just a little too far away from the research sites, so we ruled it out, and the second was a good choice. Here is the front yard, with our moto.Here is the backyard. The owners are Paul and Sharon (pronounced with a wonderful Spanish accent) and they have two very well mannered boys, Jackson and Danny, aged 6 and 8, respectively. The house is made of bamboo which makes it much cooler in the midday sun and allows a lot more light in, two advantages over last years house. It is also in a convenient location to get to the sites and to town. Here are photos of the front yard and backyard. Paul and Sharon are very hard workers, raise their boys right and are pleasant to be around. Everything seemed to say this was the right house to rent, so we accepted their offer. Danny is sitting the chair holding the Reptiles book in Spanish (gift of Mrs. Knowlton to the community) and Jackson is lifting his brothers head. I am not sure who the other two are, but the boy with the white shirt reads very well and was reading to the other kids. This is nice to see.
The house is made of two rooms, the kitchen and bedroom, which are both quite capacious. Here is the kitche, looking to the right as you walk in the front door.Here is the kitchen, looking left as you walk in the front door.Here are a couple of different angles of the bedroom. It didn’t have a shower when we moved in but a few days after Paul and a couple of friends whipped out a two story tower, put a 1300 liter tank on top and built an outdoors shower in about three hours, just like that. They did it with only a hack saw, machete and a hammer; I am very impressed.
To find the house you turn east into the Agua Blanca road from Main Street, about 8 kilometers north of Puerto Lopez, and cruise along for about 5 more kilometers. We are the first house on the left, right before the cemetery. If you reach the cemetery just turn around. Our friends made some joke about it being very quiet because the neighbors were very tranquilo…morbid humor, but appreciated, none the less.
We have quite a few house mates, and they were here before us, so it isn’t right to ask them to break their lease and move out. I am sure we can all get along well.
Here is a mud wasp house in the corner.
A gecko helps keep the bug population down. We’re definitely keeping him around.
Here are a couple of nice long horned beetles.
We also have a few regular visitors, such as Scrubby the Scrub Blackbird. He and his partner (I am not sure which is which) like to come in a few times a day looking for insects, eating a banana or even pecking a hole in out bread bag and eating some of our yummy whole wheat bread. Smart bird.
Every night a rather large moth is attracted to the lights of the house.
We have a couple of vultures that like to perch in a tree out back, too! One has an injured leg, I think we’ll try to adopt him and name it George. I hope he warms up to us.
The house even had a rainbow over it! Now it that isn’t a good omen, I don’t know what else could be.Included with the house was not one, not two, but three shotguns, just like America. We feel at home.