First of all, the Vilcabamba house. I was (nearly) ready to send my life savings down to the Canadian sellers, never having set foot in the country, let alone the house. Wisely, my real estate agent in Ecuador, Noelia*, had me request all the documentation on the property. As soon as she saw it, several red flags went up. She is convinced the property does not belong to the Canadians - that the gringos have been swindled by the locals. Es posible. Meanwhile, the Canadians are talking to their legal team to confirm their rightful ownership. For now, I have put my housing search on hold.
My original plan was to spend December down there with Noelia, shopping for my new home. When this stunning Vilcabamba home came up, a slight urgency came over me to snap it up before anyone else did. But, when I reminded myself that when my home presents itself, no one else will be able to snap it up, as it is my home. Just like the Cat Shack, my Hollywood home.
So, I am sticking with my December plan. Which brings me to, Goddess of the Week...*Noelia. Noelia reached out to me a few months ago, when I mentioned I was considering moving to Ecuador, on my friend & environmental truth-sayer/bell-ringer, Guy McPherson's blog, Nature Bats Last. Since then, we have shared countless emails, videos and long, deep phone conversations about Ecuador, the current environmental crisis, impending economic collapse, and - most importantly - spirituality. She is my New Best Friend in Ecuador.
Noelia has generously offered to take a few weeks off with me, over the holidays, to familiarize me with my soon-to-be new home! It's a relatively new home for her as well, as she is from Argentina, but has lived in Brazil, South Africa & The States. (Anywhere I missed, Noelia?) The universe continues to work in beautifully mysterious ways for me.
I have to admit, when I found out the Vilcabamba property may not be available to me, I was mostly relieved. Relieved to not have to make a quick decision, but also relieved to not have to live in Vilcabamba. One thing I know about Vilcabamba is a lot of older gringos have been retiring there - many of whom are there for inexpensive retirement and nice weather, as opposed to for the people, the experience, and the culture of Ecuador. These are the kinds of folks who wouldn't be troubling themselves to learn the language, and are primarily seeking out, "their own kind." Bah-humbug.
Another thing it doesn't have is...Noelia! She is an 8-hour drive from there, so we'd hardly ever see each other. So, I have a new list of ideal traits for my new home:
Within 2-hours drive of Noelia's town, La Libertad (I don't want to live on the ocean, or else I would just move there);
On/near a lake. I come from the land of 10,000 lakes (11,842 actually), and - more than rivers & oceans - I looove the feeling around still bodies of water.
Speaking of flowing water, a waterfall would be a bonus.
I want to be in a town, or near a small city (smaller than 80k, which I based on Duluth, MN - one of my favorite small cities). I decidedly don't want to be in/near a large city. I've done it most of my life and, as wonderful as that has been, I am over it.
My spirit animal is the hummingbird (tell me if you see the resemblance). I am surrounded by them, and constantly encounter them - both in person & online. They even buzz around me while I meditate each morning, on my back porch.
This week, I decided to google "Ecuador hummingbirds."
"Ecuador, which is approximately the size of the US state of Colorado, has within its boundaries over 130 of the world's hummingbird species. In other words, a country with about 0.2% of the earth's landmass has about 40% of all the hummingbird species. Since these little birds have been known to migrate over 4000 miles over the course of the year, it is in my opinion obvious, that they have chosen to live in Ecuador because they really like it there." As Rachel says, "You're going home!"
Finally, Ecuador is planning a Commons-based Economy.
"The concept of Good Living necessarily resorts to the idea of ‘us.’ The community shelters, protects, demands; it is the basis for the reproduction of that collective subject that each and every one of us is. That is why humans are conceived as one part of a whole that cannot be understood only as a sum of its parts. The whole is present in each being and each being in the whole. ‘The universe is permanent; it has always existed and will always be here; it is born and dies in itself and only time can change it’ (Kichwa saying). This is why harm to nature is to harm ourselves. Sumak kawsay, or life to the fullest, transmits this cosmosvision…..”
