I did really well on the sale of my
belongings in Belize and even sold things that I thought would never sell. I should have remembered back to the yard
sales I’d had in my previous life and remembered that if you put it out someone
was going to buy it. “One man’s junk is
another man’s treasure…” Luckily a lot
of people paid with good old American cash so my conundrum over where was I
ever going to be able to change Belize dollars into American was made easier.
Trish was practically begging guests, the beer and soda delivery trucks, and
anyone else she ran across to help ease my pain and she did REALLY well. That and a few business owner friends helped
drop my Belize cash to a level that I could easily handle. I knew that I was
going to travel to Cancun by bus for my flight so that would use up some of it
as would my last few days of living in Belize. I did however make it to Orlando
with $100 Belize which I sent to friends who will use it next time they visit
there. Anyway, after all the running around I’d done on my
last days in Hopkins I was pretty beat.
So I planned to leave 11 days prior to my flight and take that time for
a holiday in Playa Del Carmen. I wasn’t
up to that long 14 hour 3 bus ride to Cancun, and because I’d made a fair chunk
of money on my garage sale I decided to fly to there. So I booked my flight from Dangriga to Belize
City International and then to Cancun on Tropic air. I left Hopkins on the 7am bus and was in
Cancun by 1:30pm and in my hotel in Playa by 3.
What a difference traveling that way was! Five hours versus 14 hours! And I wasn’t anywhere as worn out as I
usually was after those long bus rides. And
hey, I deserved it!
So 11 days of sitting around
Playa doing absolutely nothing really did me a world of good. I knew that my
trip to Orlando was going to be both mentally and physically challenging so I
needed the rest to prepare myself for it.
I did venture out of the tourist areas a few days and took collectivo
buses all over the place. Saw the huge
apartment complexes that the locals live in, stores they shop, and restaurants
they eat in. That last sentence fragment
about the restaurants was the best surprise of all. I found 4 restaurants that blew away any of
the places I’d ever eaten on all of my trips to Playa including the blue cheese
bacon burger at the Tequila Barrel Sports Bar.
My favorite stop was a seafood café that made THE BEST seafood
soup. It was made thicker than a normal
soup by the addition of white Mexican cheese.
And I added a small plate of rice to it so it was a meal fit for a
Fatboy. My second favorite made an
outstanding Mole (pronounced molay for those that don’t know) Chicken, which is
a chocolate based sauce. Now you all
know that I am a chocoholic so this dish was right up my alley. And the cost of my meals in these 4 cafes was
$4 or less including a fruit drink. You
can’t beat that! I also met an American doctor lady in a clinic that invited me out to dinner and we ended up sharing a couple of dinners and a movie before she left. That was a nice unexpected interlude.
So anyway the day of my flight
came and flying JetBlue (I love that airline!) I was in Orlando in 2-1/4 hours
and through immigration and customs and on the road with my rental car in another
an hour. Things were coming too easy I
was thinking and somewhere Mr. Murphy would rear his ugly head and things would
come to a crashing halt. Well it only
got better from there! Well, that is
until I hit the VA clinic 10 days or so before I left. That’s for later though. Back to my original train of thought. I
retrieved a packet of mail from a friend of my son Rich, who moved a few weeks
before to the Philadelphia area. In it I
found a copy of my birth certificate that he’d forwarded on to the IL Secretary
of State office for me and I’d forgotten about.
I had my 1st Apostille in my hand!
To digress a bit for those who
didn’t read my last posting. My trip to
Orlando was strictly for paper work that I needed to obtain my Ecuador Retiree
Visa. I needed a copy of my birth
certificate, a 5 year police background check from the county that I lived in
for the past 5 years (did you pick up on that?), and a letter guaranteeing that
I had an income of at least $800 per month.
They all require what I consider to be a super-notarization. It has
something to do with some international agreement that a bunch of countries
signed including the U.S. and Ecuador. I
also had to have the financial letter approved by an Ecuadorian Embassy. So, since I’ve been living in Florida for the
past 5 years (get it yet?) and the address on my FL driver’s license said that
I lived in Orlando I had to visit the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for my
background check. All Ecuador wants to
know is that a person hasn’t been arrested and convicted of a crime. I’m not sure how minor an offence it would
take to deem a person unworthy of living in Ecuador but that wouldn’t pose a
problem for me. I’d been a good boy in
Florida those past 5 years. I was expecting
that document to take a couple of days but within 15 minutes I had it in my
hand. Next was trip to the Social Security office for my financial guarantee
letter. Again I’m still waiting for Mr. Murphy to bang me on the head. My problem here was that it had my Hopkins
address on it. Why, if I was living in
Orlando, would my letter ever have a Belize address? I was thinking that this would put a wrinkle
in my Ecuador plans. When I was called
to the window to get my letter I asked the agent what I needed to do to change
the address on the letter. He told me
that I needed to do it on their website and when I asked how long it would take
to go into effect he said 24-48 hours.
So I said that I would cancel the letter request and go home and change
the address and come back when it was done.
He asked why and I told him what I was doing. He picked up my driver’s license that I’d
given him as id and asked if the address on it was my current address. Yep says I and he commences to typing in my
Orlando address. (I’ve always used my
son Rich’s address as my U.S. address while living in Belize.) He didn’t have to do that but he was a nice
guy and did it anyway. Done, printed,
and on my way! Things are getting
accomplished too easily I’m thinking but I’m loving it none the less. Now I venture off to the courthouse in Winter
Park FL to apply for a new passport.
Since I had to obtain a monthly visa renewal stamp in Belize, and since
I might have been there for at least a day every month, I had plenty of them. Plus I travelled quite a bit and had stamps
from every Central American country and MX so 40 of the 57 stamp pages were
full. I figured I might as well get a
new clean one so there was no question about where I lived these past 5 years
as well as giving me plenty of space for new stamps from South America. Almost $200 and an hour later (I expedited it
because I wanted it as soon as possible) I was walking out the door. Next is a trip to Tallahassee FL to visit the
FL Secretary of State office for the Apostilles on my police report and finance
letter. I didn’t want to chance anything
getting lost in the mail. My brother
Dave lives a couple hours west of Tally in Gulf Breeze, right near Pensacola FL
so I planned a trip to visit him for a couple of days. I wasn’t sure how long it would take the
state bureaucracy to do their job so I thought I could drop it off there, have
a visit, and pick them up on my way back home.
I found out that my brother Tom, who lives outside of Chicago was coming
down to Dave’s for a visit too so that made it all the more pleasant a trip. Well I showed up at the Secretary of State’s
office and was told that the notary in my credit union didn’t notarize my
police report and SS letter properly and that I needed to go have it renotarized. Well here comes Murphy I’m thinking. So I asked where in town I could have it done
and she says hold on and goes and gets her notary stamp and does it for me and
for free! My government providing a
service that they didn’t need to do and doing it for free??? And for the 2nd time in 2
different offices?! I was getting light
headed! I was in and out of Tallahassee
with my last 2 documents Apostilled in less than an hour. All I needed now was to visit (again I’m not
mailing anything) the Ecuador Embassy in Miami to get them to approve my
financial document. My visit with Dave
and family was enjoyable. Lots of
laughing and eating and more laughing and eating for 3 days. I spent the weekend in Orlando and then
headed for Miami on Memorial Day so I could be 1st in line at the
Embassy when it opened Tuesday morning. I’d
booked 3 days hotel just to be on the safe side. Nice hotel in Miami Beach and great Cuban
food nearby. Tuesday morning 9am I’m in
the Embassy and I present my document to the man at the counter. He takes a look at both pages and asks where
the Spanish translation pages are.
Huh??? It didn’t say anything
about that on their website. I think I’m
hearing Murphy laughing somewhere behind me.
Where the heck am I going to find a place to do that? At the bank at the opposite side of the
building says he. So I walk to the bank
and ask the lady at the desk about translation services. Yep says she but it takes 24 hours and costs
$25. Not a problem says me! So back to the beach and a day of reading,
smoking cigars, and Cuban food. Back to
the bank at 10am the next morning (I slept in) and low and behold my
translation is complete and she notarizes my signature on that one. Two minutes later I’m back visiting the man
at the counter in the Embassy. He takes
my paperwork and sends me to a seat. Two
hours later a woman comes out a door and calls my name and hands me my
paperwork. “Welcome to Ecuador” she
says! Dang this is too easy! I actually had everything done is less than 2
weeks.
I had a great time visiting
family and friends in Orlando. LOTS of
my favorite alcoholic beverage Draft Guinness Stout and my usual “must eat”
list to work through. This trip I ate
more Cajun and Cuban food than I normally do and loved every bite of it. Maggiano’s Little Italy,
Hollerback’s Willow Tree (German),
4 Rivers Smokehouse (mine and my
daughter Carrie’s favorite BBQ joint), West
End Trading Company (a bar with 2-4-1 drinks from noon-9pm so $2.50
Guinness and $2.50 Irish Whiskey shots), Red
Robin (new to Orlando and some of the best burgers in town plus unlimited
steak fries) just to name a few. This is
the only trip in 6 back to Orlando where I didn’t hit Denny’s or IHOP but no
great lose because there’s the Breakfast
Club in Casselberry that serves great breakfast and lunch at ridiculously
low prices. I also had my Chicago Dogs
at Chubby’s
Hot Dog in Maitland and Sonic, subs and pizza from a number of places. Found a REALLY good Chinese buffet that had
raw oysters at dinner time and great food all day. And…plenty of 6 shot
espresso and Cuban coffee! So I was able
to accomplish all of my list this trip. I also spent a night sleeping on Cocoa
Beach with my friend Elizabeth after watching an evening rocket launch from
Cape Canaveral. That was really great!
The things that I truly missed though were fishing and lying in my hammock for
an afternoon read and nap. I plan to
make up for lost time now that I’m in EC.
Now comes the fun part. I’d been thinking about applying for VA
medical benefits for a while now to have several new and old infirmities
checked on. For the past 5 years I’ve
had to rely on the Hopkins Village clinic, except for my couple day hospital
visit Christmas time 2012 for…high blood pressure. So I wanted to get myself checked out to see
how I was fairing living in a 3rd world country for those
years. I knew I needed a copy of my
DD-214 (military release papers that document your service and any medals
you’ve earned) and had on in hand. I
wondered how long it would take to get approval and get an appointment with a
doctor? There is a VA clinic right near
where I was staying. It was originally
the old Orlando Naval Training Center base hospital and after the base closed
it remained as a VA hospital and they opened a clinic as well. So why
not collect some of the benefits I’m entitled to for the 4 years and 10 months
that I served in the Navy? Meanwhile the
news was covering the plight of veterans in AZ dying while on a waiting list
for treatment at VA facilities there. Based
on the news it didn’t sound like I was going to get any help while I was in the
states on this trip. But I could try. So
I show up at the clinic on a Friday morning and found my way to enrollment and
sit until my number is called. I
presented my DD-214 to the lady sitting behind the desk as she’s looking it
over I ask how hard it is to get approved for medical benefits. She looked at me and said, “Vietnam service
and your awards automatically qualify you.”
She told me that I would be in the system Monday morning and I’d be
called on Tuesday to schedule my 1st appointment. Huh again? What? My government working at what to would make a
snail laugh? Something’s wrong here. Tuesday rolls around and I get my scheduling
call. I had to wait a whole 2 days for
my 1st set of appointments. I
was scheduled for an 8am introduction to the VA Healthcare system at 8am, a 9am
lab visit where they took what seemed to be an awful lot of blood (12 vials),
1pm with a nurse for health history and vitals, and a 2pm initial doctor visit. My day comes and I arrive in time and meetings
and appointments are right no time, sort of.
That was until I get to the nurse for vitals. She took my blood pressure and starting
saying, “On my!” (a pause to take it
again) and “Oh my!” and then looks at me and gets quiet. “What’s up?” I asked and she asked if I felt
alright. “Yep, why?” “I’m waiting to see if you’re going to stroke
out or have a heart attack. Your blood
pressure was 220/125 and the top number was 10 points higher the 2nd
time. Not good!” So she calls the doctor and he rushes me in
for an EKG. I didn’t think that was the
right test but the result made her feel better.
I get back into the exam room and along comes the doctor and he begins
giving me my test results. High BP, type
2 diabetes, no change in my PSA numbers for my prostate cancer, and slightly
high bad cholesterol. I counter the high
BP with reading that I get in Belize versus the readings I get when I’m in the
states and that I’m sure I’ll have once I get to Ecuador… “What? You’re leaving the country? When?”
“A week from Saturday.” “No you
aren’t. “ “Yes I am.” “We’ll see” So off to the pharmacy for a BP monitor, a
new knee brace; and BP, diabetes and cholesterol meds. I opened the package when I got to the car
too see what treasures I’d received and then threw them in the back seat. When I got home I tossed the med bag on the
bathroom counter figuring I’d start everything in the morning. Morning comes and I’m light the cholesterol
meds. Back to the clinic for a walk-in
appointment with the nurse (which I heard in the welcome meeting that it could
always be a lengthy wait) after checking with the pharmacy and lost and found
to see if anyone had turned them in.
It’s a different nurse this time and I asked for a BP check while she’s
waiting for the doctor to call her back that he’s reordered my med. On goes the cuff, my arm explodes into
numbness from her blowing it up and roll go her eyes. I laughed and said, “Not you too?!” She asked what I was talking about and I told
her about the reaction of the nurse the day before and asked if she was waiting
for me to stroke out too. So she calls
the doctor again and they speak and I get not only the reissue of the
cholesterol med but a doubling of the original BP med. Home for the weekend and time with my kids
and friends, crossing off more of my “must eat list:” and getting my fill of
Guinness because Ecuador, like Belize doesn’t have draft Guinness. They do
however have a pretty good craft dark beer on tap at Meyer’s in town. Meanwhile
I’m taking my BP twice a day and entering it on a form the 2nd nurse
gave me and go back on Monday like I was told to do. My BP reading is still over 220 on the top so
I get another, stronger, BP med and a water pill. See what they are worried about is not so
much that my BP is so high but that it’s so spikey. The top number ranged anywhere from 201-260
and the bottom number from 100-140. Both
the nurse and the doctor said that the spikey readings were more dangerous than
if my BP was at a constant high level.
And they’re still fighting me over my plan to leave the country. Again I promised them that my BP would go
back to normal once I left the country and got back to the beach. It started
dropping to under 200 over the next couple of days. Well my friends I’m in San Clemente and my BP
is already dropping! My numbers have
dropped to 140+-/95+- and it was a few points lower when woke up this morning. Hmmm go figure…
I was carried about 170 pounds of
stuff between my big suitcase, a big duffle, my backpack and my laptop bag from
Belize and all of it was going to EC.
None of my luggage exceeded the 50 pound weight limit (I bought a scale
at Walmart and weighed my luggage the night before my flight and returned the
scale for a refund on the way to the airport).
I had to take some clothing out of my suitcases in order to add more
important spices that I need for cooking but it didn’t matter because the
counter person at COPA Airlines never even looked at the scale when he was
taking my bags. He did ask me if I had a
return ticket to the U.S. or a residency card for Ecuador though which
supposedly is a requirement when you are leaving the U.S. I told him no but that I had an approved
financial letter and showed it to him and he accepted that as proof of
residency. I was also pleasantly
surprise not to have to pay $70 for my 2nd checked bag like the
airline website said I would. All in all
what I thought would be a paperwork nightmare turned into almost a pleasant
experience and the only visit that Murphy’s Law exposed me to was having to
replace my rental car in Pensacola because of a cut in a tire that couldn’t be
repaired. That set me back about 4 hours
but hey, if that’s the worst of it (and it was) I can deal with it. Maybe Murph was on vacation or figured that
I’d suffered enough of his fun. Who
knows? I did thank him for not interfering.
My flight to Ecuador took me
through Panama and we had an interesting landing there. Everything was fine until the final
decent. Somewhere around 500 feet from
landing the plane suffered several sharp left and right pushes and a few pretty
quick short drops. And when the wheels
hit the runway I swear we did a couple of S turns too. Nice bit of flying by the crew! When I got close to the flight deck I was
going to compliment them on the nice landing but the cockpit door was still
closed. I jokingly said to the steward
that they must be in there changing their shorts after that landing and he
started laughing and shaking his head yes.
Too funny! I took full advantage
of the usual 4 hour wait time for my next flight and headed to Duty Free for a
liter of Irish Cream (Carmel and coffee flavored) and 2 liters of Bailey's to
go along with the 50 cigars I was carrying.
Got to have my creature comforts!
I also sat with a 6 shot espresso and an almond biscotti watching some
TV that I'd downloaded. All in all a
very restful delay.
The flight landed a few minutes
early and I was out of Ecuador immigration and customs in 15 minutes and waited
5 more for my ride to San Clemente. With
all of that heavy luggage I didn’t want to have to take the bus as I did on my
previous visits. It also saved me a
night in a hotel, which I usually did because my flights all got in at
5:30pm. Too late for a 5 hour bus
ride. My private ride took all of 3
hours and I was sitting with Libby at Casa Punta
Bikini where I spent the night. (Looks who’s in the picture at Punta
Bikini. It’s the Fatboy on a previous
stay!) I love that hostel and Libby is such a great
host. I had a great sleep and in the
morning I shared my magic coffee elixir with her…a shot of Bushmill’s Irish Whiskey
and a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream in our coffee and she made us a tasty
breakfast. What a way to start my new
adventure! AND the right way too! My friend John (of John & Mary Mac)
arranged for a cycle taxi to take me and my gear to Heinz’ house (I rented his
apartment when I was here for my 45 day “live in EC” visit earlier in the year
but it’s rented already) as he is letting me stay in his spare bedroom while I
look for a home. Mary had invited me to
dinner on Sunday just before I arrived in country and John did his magic with
his smoker and we enjoyed beef shish kabobs and all the
fixins. It was a great way to end my 1st
full day in Ecuador.
It was very hard leaving my friends in Belize but I was and am very excited about starting a new life and a new adventure and making new friends in Ecuador. Now it’s time to start the Visa process, and find a permanent place to live, and settle in. David, Libby’s son who also moved here, is helping me resolve both. He’s been a font of great information on the Visa process. As I received documentation and Apostilles I would scan them in and email them to him to have them translated into Spanish and have them per-reviewed to get a possible read on whether or not they were acceptable. The only thing that he came back with was that I might need a broader police report because the one I had from the Sheriff’s Office stated that I hadn’t been arrested in Orland County and not the state or the country. He suggested that I might get one from FL or and FBI report. Trouble with those is that the Sheriff’s report takes 14 calendar days and the FBI 28 calendar days plus the delay for Apostille. So I was looking at possibly spending another month or so in the states. I was ready to leave for my new home after 2 weeks and I REALLY didn’t want to wait that long. So he and I decided to work with what we had and let the chips fall where they may. The good thing is that when you start the Visa process the clock stops on your current Visa. You get 90 days to use with the next calendar year. I’d already been here for 2-1/2 months on 2 visits so I should be ok. But, and I’m not sure because I haven’t checked, the Immigration officer might have given me a new 90 day Visa so I shouldn’t have a time constraint problem if I need to send for an FBI report and Apostille. Maybe Murphy won’t be back from vacation yet to have some fun with my Visa application. I hope that’s the case…
This is the Fatboy In Belize
signing out and the Fatboy in Ecuador signing in!!!
On the beach with a cigar. Life can't get much better!
A great write-up Rich, it was fun hearing about your adventures in the US
ReplyDeleteHey Rich! Please send me your e-mail address to lamontjr381@gmail.com . Thanks!
ReplyDelete