Today is Tuesday and Kelly, our cleaning lady, comes this morning, Ed and I usually make plans to get out of the condo. Today we have an afternoon appointment to pick-up our Cedulas. They are like a Green Card for the United States, shows that we are legal residents of Ecuador. This whole process has taken about 11 weeks to file since our arrival in Cuenca. It took months to gather all the legal documents while we were in the U.S.
It isn't a difficult process just time consuming and making sure to dot all i's and cross all t's. Ecuador does have a system that can change without any notice. I encountered that when I was originally told that since my birth certificate states that my mother was born in New Hampshire and my father in Texas, I would not need a sworn statement of their citizenship (America). Well, that changed and I didn't find out until I went to apply for my Cedula and was told that I would have to go to a local notary and swear the citizenship of my parents.
Ed and I decided that we never can tell what will happen in this country, so we went to our celebration lunch before we went to pick-up our Cedulas (just in case). Ed had seen a review about an Italian restaurant only about half way from our condo to town. We tried Sabor E Arte Italian Restaurant and Sandwich Shop located at 20-87 Gran Colombia. The restaurant is located on the second floor while the sub shop in on the first. You can just walk in and select a sub to go, much like a Subway. A couple of the ones on their board was "Vegetarian" $4.10 and the "Italian Classic" Sub $4.20. The most expensive sub on their menu was $5.95 with beef and lots of other meats.
The upstairs restaurant we tried
The Restaurant is cooking three different options for a catered dinner for Christmas or New Years. The 3 main dishes are Turkey or Pork Medallions or Roasted Pork and each comes with side dishes, dessert and a glass of wine. The complete dinner is $22. per person and they will deliver - orders must be made 6 days in advance..... How easy is that ! They speak excellent English and their phone is 2822284
Yes, we were very early and the only people in there
This is their daily lunch specials for only $4.75 plus tax
They started us off with fresh bread and a dipping sauce of olive oil, balsamic vinegar with herbs
Ed tried a salad that had fresh orange and apple slices, walnuts, and raisins & topped off with a lovely Caesar dressing. The portion was large enough for us to share
Ed selected their Chicken Marsala - large portion and excellent
He tried a glass of the Merlot to go with his meal and really liked the wine. We'll look for it in the grocery store
I selected their Chicken Picata with perfectly cooked fresh veggies - some of the best I've had
Now, you never know what you will see in Cuenca. While we were eating our lunch, I noticed two different vendors walking across the street.
It was very warm outside and this lady was walking down the sidewalk selling purses.
This guy was selling mops and brooms
So, after our celebration lunch, it was time to go to the Civilian Registar to pick up our Cedulas, at least that was our goal. We had a wild taxi driver and wasn't sure where to drop us off and it was further from the building and I ended up walking about a 1/2 of block.
We were told what window to go to for picking up our Cedulas. We present our passports to the lady behind the glass booth. She then handed them to a guy and he disappeared out of the booth. A few minutes later he returned. The lady then returned Ed's passport and told him to look over his Cedula to make sure all the information was correct. Everything was in perfect order. The lady handed me my passport and told me to return to Desk #2 and the guy who filled out my application. He had typed my last name incorrectly and everything had to be redone.
The guy had to retype my application, finger print me again and also take another picture. They required me to remove my earrings, and glasses and then push all my hair away from my face and tuck the sides behind my ears....it was the worst picture and I look like a felon and this is my "Wanted" Picture. After, all the was completed, I was told to go wait my the Cedula Booth again.
It was only about 15 minutes and the lady called my name. She gave me my Cedula card and took me to read over all the information and make sure it was all correct. Everything was perfect and now we are both legal residents of Ecuador.
Well, I think both of our pictures are prison like and I will hate to show this to anyone.
So, we truly had something to celebrate are thankful that we have jumped through all the rings presented by becoming a resident. It was worth it now that's done....
Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas & a Joyous New Year,
Peggy
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