Visa Woes

I am sorry for not communicating this week. We have been in Guayaquil for two days, trying to extend our visas for one more month, in case we have any glitches in the installation of the strut, which should arrive here next week.  We supposedly also need an Ecuadorian visa for the Galapagos if we want to stay more than a week. Yesterday we were told the office was closed and to come back at 8:30 in the morning today. So we gathered all the paperwork we knew was needed, got some documents notarized, had passport photos taken, and looked for a new little computer to replace the broken one. We made our way to the famous Malecon, had a beer to refresh our weary bodies, walked to the river`s edge, found a reasonable place to stay, watched a movie in the comforts of our air-conditioned room, went out for a bite to eat, and caught up on some needed rest.

We arrived early to go through the visa renewal process and were told that we needed a ticket to even begin the process. By 6:30 this morning they had already given the maximum tickets out for today! We did manage to find our way upstairs to have our questions answered, but we have to come back tomorrow morning for a ticket in order to ask the appropriate individual for permission to stay 30 more days. YIKES! After much effort, I still do not ask the right questions to find the necessary information I need and people do not offer that detailed information. Why didn´t they tell us we needed to be at the building by 5:00 AM ?! There is a possibility we cannot get special permission for the extension, but we figure that we might as well stay one more night and try.

In February, the government changed all the rules and decided they will only give new visas which are expensive and are for 6-12 months, instead of giving renewals for 60 or 90 days. The woman who helped us this morning said there was a possibility only that we might be given special permission for our situation if we come back tomorrow morning. A while ago I went into meltdown mode and was consoled by my special friend, David, bless his lovin' soul. I have one set of clothes, no hormones, no vitamins, and one set of shoes and the comfort zone of contentment has disappeared. It looks like the rest of our time in Ecuador may be work time, without trips to Mantanita and Cuenca, and here we are. Oh well. We are safe, alive, I just had a fresh orange-papaya juice and am back in the sort of cool Malecon district and we will continue to look for a computer. Wish us luck. I will try to pull myself back together and have some fun, no matter what we are doing! There are many nice Ecuadorians here who have been really friendly and have tried to help us. Enough of this complaining!  Phase II of the boat work is done and David and I will begin Phase III, rolling on the anti-foul coats, next week. I hope that Josie and Steve wait until Sunday to leave because I would love to be able to say good-bye to them, along with our friends on Spirit. They might be leaving Puerto Lucia tomorrow.  We will miss them. Onward to the next adventure of today!  Love to you, S.