What a special day!!

Our granddaughter Jordan has come for a visit. We have enjoyed a wonderful time with her and have been exploring the nearby areas. One day ,Felix, who is our landlord,guide and friend took us all to a factory making the "Panama Hat" run by his uncle. Mr Avila was a wonderful host and very willingly,gave us the grand tour.  He started by showing us a video depicting the raw material, a special palm like plant,grown and harvested in an area called Montechristi . There the stalks are cut,made into thin strips, dried and woven into the basic hat.This raw hat is then shipped to Mr Avila
to create the famous Panama Hat. There are many factories, however Mr Avila is known worldwide for his quality and ships all over the world.

                                     

                                       

                                           

                                       

The hats arrive the Avila Hat Factory  like this

The hats are placed in a warm chlorine bath for three days to bleach as well as kill any resident insects

Then dried

Now he forms the hats into the various shapes and sizes. The are many molds to accomplish this

                                                 

The hat is shaped around the selected mold

Pressed in a hot press for 10-15 seconds

                                                                       Comes out like this

 Producing 400 to 450 hats per day.

                                                           Next comes the labeling

                                                                  and the black band

Here the labels and band are attached.Each country  has its own " Made in ?? " label

His hats are shipped all over the world.

 Right now there is a controversial program instituted by the Ecuadorian President to change the name to "Ecuadorian Hat" and use the" Made in Ecuador" label only. 

We all tried on a selection of his hats

The hat on the right becomes the hat on the left after pressing and trimming

We then discovered that this famous " Mexican Hat" is actually made in Ecuador

At the end of the tour Mr Avila showed us that some of his hats are so finely woven that they can be rolled up, placed in a hand made wooden box, shipped anywhere and when unrolled will resume its original shape.

We all enjoyed the tour. It was fascinating. Mr Avila wanted his picture taken with Jordan


             AND then the best surprise of all,  he presented us ALL with a free hat of our choice

                          So now you know the true story. All Panama hats are made in Ecuador.
                They are hand made from start to finish.The finest quality will sell for over $3000

Road Work

 THIS IS THE WAY WE REPAIR OUR ROADS

REPAIR OUR ROADS--REPAIR OUR ROADS

THIS IS THE WAY WE REPAIR OUR ROADS

DOWN IN ECUADOR

First you need a stack of wood

Then you need to build a fire

to thin the tar

Then you need someone to tend the fire

Of course you need all the proper tools

---and a pile of sand to thicken the tar

then you should have a bunch of guys

standing around--

--watching two guys work

one fills the crack and the other plays 

steam roller with a flat tool

--then you need a boiler to keep the tar soft

(there is a fire in that wheelbarrow)

I wish they would fix our sidewalk

it is very hard for an old man to walk on all the way to my panadaria

A Step in the Right Direction

Today was a big day. Ecuador granted us a visa good for another ninety days. So what is the big deal you ask.Well let me tell you.

Our first ninety day visa was up on Jan 21 2015. On Jan 4, we applied for an extension so we could stay until our resident visa was approved. We had applied for that visa way back in Dec and it had been rejected for several reasons. I had sincerely hoped that our resident visa's would have been approved prior to our arriving. It was not, so a new set of problems began to loom as we began to run out of time.
Problem #1  In January when we applied, we were told that we needed a copy of our bank account showing sufficient income to live here OK we can do that.I printed a copy of several monthly statements and returned the very next day.
Problem #2 Since our statements only had Sharyl's name listed on the account, although I was a cosigner, we now needed a certified and apostatized copy of our marriage license to prove each of us had access to the account. This required help from our daughter in Tucson to secure the certificate get it notarized and apostatized and sent via DHL to us. This took several days while the clock continues to tick toward Jan 21.
Problem #3 We were able to return to the immigration office 9 days later. Now we are told that the bank statement is not good enough. We must have a total of at least $3000 in the bank proving that we will be able to live her for the full 90 days of the extended visa. We did not have that amount in that account.Now I am really scared. That means only 3 working days before we will be required to leave unless we are able to "show them the money" I am thinking it will take 10 to 14 days to transfer the money for our IRA. OMG. As I tried to explain the problem, the answer I received was " Those are the rules" I was devastated as we left the office. We are going to have to leave the country for 90 days. What about our cats. Where will we go.How can I make this happen.
However, as my mind calmed down and I was able to think more clearly about the  problem, I realized I could solve the problem simply by asking Sabrina to deposit $3000 in our account from Desert Villa until I could download a copy of our statement " Showing the money" Once downloaded, she could then withdraw the funds back to Desert Villa. Thank goodness for Sabrina. She did it-we did it- I showed them the statement. the next day -- Everything was approved . We were told to return Feb 3 to pay for and receive our visa.

Today we had the visa's placed in our passports

Oh what a relief it is.