Our Zamora Apartment

The elders found a wonderful little apartment for us in Zamora. They bought us a queen sized bed, a nice new microwave (when the previous one was broken during shipping) and a great stove that is better than the one we have in Idaho. They made sure that we would be very comfortable and feel welcome in Zamora. Now I trust the sisters are enjoying that cute apartment. We bought twin beds for them and a cooking top. We brought the queen bed and the stove with the oven with us to Loja. We have not yet had a chance to meet the sisters who are now in Zamora. We look forward to meeting them the next time they come here or we visit there. Hopefully it will be next week.

This is the nice stove that we enjoy. It is gas and and the front right burner has double rings of fire so it gets hot quickly. Perfect for Lewis who likes to do things quickly. The oven and broiler work well. The elders enjoyed the oatmeal raisin cookies we made and the homemade bread. It was very hard to find baking pans because most people do not have ovens. We did a lot of hunting to find things that would work. The "cookie sheets" we are using I saw in a restaurant being used as a serving tray. 

I had to jump up to close this cabinet but I liked the dish storage. There is a rack on the bottom shelf with a tray beneath so you can dry dishes there as well.

 Recently baked cookies.

The whole kitchen with a pillar in the way to make things interesting. 

We had a two bowl sink but only one faucet. Only cold water of course. The faucet didn't reach to the second bowl of the sink?! Often there was no water. The city was installing new water pipes under the street in one area between us and the church. Hopefully the service is normally better than what we experienced. Water was unavailable several times a week for a half a day or more. Definitely makes it hard to shower or prepare food when no water is available. The electricity only went out a couple of times a month. (That was better than in the Dominican Republic. But in the DR we had car batteries in the kitchen for backup.)

We bought the last bottle of dish soap that we could find in Zamora. Everyone uses this little tub of soap that is a soft solid. They rub a wet sponge over the soap and wash the dishes individually, rinse and let drain to dry, or dry with a towel. Lewis loves that method too. I prefer to put the dishes into warm water (sometimes I heat the water on the stove or fill a big plastic bowl with hot water from the shower). My mother taught me to do dishes that way and I still prefer it. We did have hot water in the shower. That is much appreciated! The first time we went to take a shower there was no hot water. Lewis checked the hot water heater and the gas tank and everything seemed to be in order. We got the landlord involved and he couldn't figure out the problem either. It took the plumber a long time to discover that when they remodeled this space they hooked up the cold water to the hot water faucet and they had to redo that part of the plumbing. It took a while but the problem was resolved. Hot water wasn't available in the bathroom sink but the water was not ice cold and the air temperature was warm so it wasn't a big deal for washing your hands. Please realize that you should feel grateful that you can get cold water and hot water out of every tap inside your home. That is not the case in most of the world.

We never found any canned tomato products in Zamora. I roasted tomatoes in the oven and then peeled them and put them in the blender and then simmered them to make tomato sauce for spaghetti sauce or chili or soup.

We had to buy whole wheat flour in Loja and bring it back to Zamora to make bread. I really like Grandpa's bread - except the time he forgot the salt.

We enjoyed having a nice new refrigerator. I never could get all of the mold scrubbed off of the refrigerator we had in Galapagos. Nothing more would come off but it was still speckled black. Humidity can be a big problem for houses but the plants here seem to love it.

We had a very cool washing machine the mission bought. Hope the sister's enjoy it. It has "fuzzy logic", whatever that is. There is no agitator in the center of the tub but it washed our clothes very well and was quiet too.

 

 

We hung our clothes on a drying rack in the little room between the living room and our bedroom. It took two days to dry many things even with a fan blowing. The bath towels do not dry in the bathroom. Lots of humidity in Zamora - especially when it is raining. It rained almost every day but it is winter. That is why the temperatures have been comfortable. We never needed a jacket, just an umbrella.

 

The living room and the kitchen shared the same space but it worked just fine. I usually had Primary stuff on the couch. We would pull the tables away from the wall and feed the Elders when they came over. It was very comfortable.

This was the strangest couch set. It is very, very hard. Not at all comfy but it looked new and worked just fine for our needs. 

There was a window into our "drying rack room". It would have been more attractive set up as a cute study but it worked well for us to store all of our suitcases and ironing board in there.

In many other countries you can't drink the water that comes out of the tap. You must buy water to drink and think about what is safe to eat and what needs special care. Dishes must be dry to be safe after they have been washed in tap water. Washing produce in tap water is not sufficient if you are not going to cook it. We are spoiled in the USA and need to be grateful for the conveniences we enjoy every day. Grandpa's bread dough is rising below in front of our drinking water.

 

We almost always play dominoes while eating - unless we have company. That is how we determine who has to do the dishes. We have fun with it. 

Our computers were on the desk in our bedroom. I could see down the hall past the front door and out the kitchen window above the stove. There was a high window on the wall behind Lewis that had a lovely view of the mountains behind our house. Below is the bed and the built in closet.

 

We have been doing well on our self prescribed diet of two meals a day. But I don't think we are losing weight because we also have snacks of almonds and/or chocolate at least once a day.  Those are good for you, right?

This is the sign I can see from my computer. It says House for Rent. Not much curb appeal with this house.

Below is the view from our kitchen window looking to the right. The people who own the house live on our same level to the right. They have been very kind and helpful.

Below is the view to the left. The roof covers a tiny store that is very handy for buying eggs and ice cream bars and whatever we run out of.

This is directly across the street next to the empty house for rent. There are some chickens that live nearby. The dark green in the back is a small orchard of banana trees. The river is just beyond the banana trees. 

These two photos were taken from the bedroom window at the back of our house.

 

We have lots of great memories from our stay here. Now you have a small idea of what it is like in Zamora, Ecuador. The next post will show you some of the amazing waterfalls that surround Zamora.