BootsnAll Travel Network



Still around :)

I see it’s time to renew my visa next week which means I’ve been home nearly 90 days without updating my blog. A couple reasons for that, nothing much worth saying, plus a lack of ambition.

Found that my manager had kept everything under control while I was away & all was satisfactory.

She had found an abandoned kitten a few days before so the ranch now had a resident cat named Rayito.Canela y Rayito 003 As, while I was away, there had been a situation where a barking dog would have come in handy, we made a visit to the Urban Dog Sanctuary north of the city where we found the perfect dog for a place that was going to have guests. Canela’s looks would make people uneasy but her good personality ensured she would not bother guests.Canela y Rayito 012 So with a dog & cat all that I need is a novia!

A friend was looking after renewing the license on my car, which with El Salvador adopting silly North American practices like safety/emission checks to get the pretty new plates, is not such a simple matter. The result being that as I came home early, of course, everything wasn’t completed, so had to chicken bus it the first couple weeks.

End of October, first part of November the rainy season lived up to it’s name with rain everyday for a couple weeks resulting in flooded houses, landslides closing roads, a few bridges washed-out & schools closed for a couple weeks. Unfortunately a few lives & houses were lost, fortunately nowhere as bad as Thailand. Rainy season

Have managed to get my Bed & Breakfast ‘Rancho las Brisas’ http://wwwlasbrisasplayasandiego.blogspot.com  listed on http://www.hostelbookers.com  &  http://www.airbnb.com  which also results in a listing on Craigs list.

Stopped in at the local tourist center in La Libertad & they will display brochures for me so it’s off to the printers this morning to get some made up.

Took inventory of the different plant/tree species on the property, came to 37, pretty cool. Along with the birds that drop in for a bath, the butterflies doing their thing & of course the bees have sort of a mini botanical gardens.

Been checking out the Bamboo Bar, where the X-pats congregate on Sat evenings, on La Libertad’s malecon the past couple weeks to see what the local chica situation is + have put the word out I’ve decided to stick around & looking for a novia Latino. No Canadian/American women for this cowboy!

Had the roof on the rental side repaired 3 times & still had a bit of a leak in hard rains so am in the process of replacing it. Hadn’t put a sink in the bathroom (figured it unnecessary but others didn’t). The shower pressure sucked, tried a couple things that didn’t work out as wanted, so putting up a small water tank solely for that side, with the side benefit of increasing the water temperature from the tropical sun beating down on a black tank.

Getting the mural completed on my wall, be about a 60×10 ft mural depicting the rivers/mountains, fields, plants, animals, birds of the area with a painting of Rayito & Canela worked in. Hoping it’s done by Xmas, pero es El Salvador!

Have to get my butt in gear & make a curriculum for teaching English to the local people. Start with Betty that way I can brush up on my Spanish also & revise as needed to do a bit of private English teaching.

Latest project is getting my Salvadorian Residency Visa, doing 72 hr border runs every 90 days just doesn’t cut it, especially when one has to go to either Mexico or Costa Rica. The easy part is on this end, the hard part is getting what I need from Canada, especially the bank (a rant for another day).

Off to the lawyers next week with what I have, then to Immigration for the one 90 day extension allowed in country. Hope the temporary permit will come through before I have to do a border run.

That’s it for now, have to go to town.



Tags:

2 responses to “Still around :)”

  1. OntarioTraveller says:

    Dave, I hope that life is good for you. You seem a little bitter about Canada. Like you I sure appreciate CPP and in a year I will be getting OAS, along with my wife’s share. I have figured out that I can almost live on those cheques without a pension. Not bad.

    I enjoy listening to an American program called ‘Coast to Coast’ and it’s overly negative about what is going to happen in the near and far future. I don’t let myself get swept away with the ideas that global warming or that some sort of space debit is going to take us out. All I can say is that if things get bad I’m glad that I live in Canada. All the best.

  2. Dave says:

    I am glad you can get by on OAS, I couldn’t on mine, never made enough CPP contributions.

    Yes I am bitter by the shafting by corrupt, petty civil servants when winding down my business & even now the BS in trying to get a criminal records check is ridiculous.

    Add t that the way mother was treated by the system, throw in the lousy climate, there is no way I will subject myself to a life like that.

    In the end it all boils down to what makes one happy, I’m happy here, you’re happy in Canada, thanks for the note & all the best to you. Dave