Ecuador Blog

Hey everyone! For anyone who is behind, I´m Momo. ha. Well, a couple of weeks ago my ´landlord´came from the States to fix up the houses that he owns. He´s from Ecuador, but he lives in New York. He even seems American. Anyway, that doesn´t matter, just that he can speak fluent English. He kept asking me what I wanted to do to the house that I´m living in, but I didn´t want to mention anything. I´m just so grateful to be in the house in the first place. I did finally mention 2 small problems, and he immediately made plans to have them fixed. He had more ideas, though. He actually wanted to fix it up. Instead of fixing the leak under the kitchen sink, he wanted to replace the whole thing and even put in a new faucet. I´m not going to say that I hadn´t thought of that, but I sure wasn´t going to say anything about it! The other problem was that the wall was growing a little mold. The solution: kill the mold and tile over it. On the wall! Anyway, he had me choose how to put the tiles on the wall. So I just drew a little something and explained my thought. He loved it so much, from then on, he made me do any and all designing. Of what? (You might ask.) Turns out, he had more ideas for the house. So…as of now, I´ve designed a change in the kitchen (cabinets, etc.), the tiles (on wall), the new outside stairs and balcony thing (that should be started on tomorrow) including window boxes, and further painting of the house (window framing, outside color, etc.). It´s so much fun! He keeps telling the worker guy that if he has any questions that he should ask me. He´s making me be in charge of everthing! It´s nuts! I love it. Right now, besides these things, I´m planning on a mural painted on the outside brick wall that is beside my house. I can´t wait until all of it is finally done so I can take lots of pics. I´ll try to get some of the ´in the middle´shots, too. Also, he had been constructing this tall apartment building with like 6 floors. It´s well known in town, because for here that is huge and it´s not complete. Well, he has plans of completing the first 3 floors. He´s not sure about the rest, but those he definitely wants done. The first floor is going to be this coffee shop with pizza and stuff. (More like in the States. Think Starbuck/San Fransisco Bread Company.) The second floor is a continuation of the first. This will be a relaxing area to read and drink your coffee, maybe even play some games. How nice will that be?! We´ll have a warm, comfy reading lounge. (Complete with spiral staircase down to the coffee shop.) The third will be his personal apartment. He just went back to the States to finish getting some things in order. He´s moving back to Ecuador in about 6 to 8 months. While he´s gone, the second and third floors are supposed to be worked on. He´s going to need a place to live! Well, guess who he´s hiring to design and decorate these floors? Oh yes, it´s me! How completely ridiculous and wonderful is that?! I don´t know him that well and he is leaving it to me to design his apartment. I showed him some sketches before he left, and what I had he loved. He said that I don´t even need to ask him questions about it, I should just do it like if I were going to live there. He says that he completely trusts my taste and loves my ideas. That´s so insane! Don´t get me wrong, I´ve always wanted to do something like this. I just never thought it would happen. I´ll take pics of everything. The plans aren´t even that elaborate or anything. But being here in Pillaro, it´s going to be alot nicer than some other apartments. I know I have just completely rambled on about this, but I´m really excited. It´s not everyday that this happens. Well, not to me. Although, I kindof wish it would. ha. It is a little bit nerve racking. Just have to get over that. ha. I just thought I´d catch you up with what´s going on in my area. My brain is so full of room layouts and color swatches. I´m dreaming of what to do. ha. I think it will be that way for a while. Even after he comes back. There will be the actually coffee shop to do. Also, he wants to redo the plumbing in my house. Actually, he wants to completely redesign the upstairs bathroom. He´s already told me to start thinking about how to do it. Oh my. (Of course, all of this is with the knowledge that we´re in Ecuador, meaning it won´t take too much to make it nice, and that you don´t have to spend a fortune to make something ´pretty´. ha.) I´ll try to keep you guys up to date in the progress. (If you are actually interested.) It will be at least a month before I get the few cabinets put into my house, so you´ll have to wait to see those pics. I´m going to Jen´s tonight, so maybe they can help me upload all the pics that I need to put on here. When I did it, they were gigantic! That just won´t do. Thanks for reading the blog and keeping involved in our lives. I love you guys! Don´t forget, you all can totally write me at 6momo83@gmail.com to fill me in on your lives. There is, of course, good old fashioned snail-mail. My addy here is on the blog. Just look for the entry. I hope to hear from you…