Ecuador 1/11/2019 - 2/2/2019

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 - Mukul's arrival

After suffering from a fever last night, Shina was feeling better this morning. She went off to school as usual with Sisa and Yupanqui, and they were gone before we emerged from our casita.

Antonio's uncle Juan Pedro was visiting the house. He is unable to speak, and Rosa often feeds him and washes his clothes. In return, he helps around the house, doing various manual jobs.

Rosa came down from upstairs with three fresh eggs from the cardboard box where the one of their hens roosts. Those are some farm-to-table eggs! She cooked scrambled eggs with onions, peppers, and tomatoes. We also had bread, coffee, and juice.

Cachupin the dog was obviously looking for a granola bar, following us around. He has learned to associate the crumpling of a wrapper with this treat. He remembered this from September and previous visits. Yesterday he heard Craig crumpling a wrapper from a water bottle and got all excited. This morning I went into our casita to get him a granola bar. When I crinkled the wrapper and showed him the package, he was literally trembling with joy. I tossed him small bites and he caught them in the air.

I went upstairs to log in to work for the day. Aida was in the main room on the second floor, cutting fabric for the pajama-making business.

When I took my lunch break, Abuelita was cooking in her outdoor kitchen. She had also spread some potatoes out in the sun to dry. With the pervasive dampness of the climate, it is easy for things to spoil.

When the kids got home from school, we noticed that both Sisa and Shina were wearing the necklaces that had belonged to my Mom. I made sure to get a photo to show my Dad.

We have brought black peppercorns and Chinese pepper sauce from home, and they have become a staple at mealtimes.

The kids love the black peppercorns, although we actually think that they like the pepper grinder more than the pepper itself.

Rosa sometimes makes her own aji (picante pepper sauce) from fresh peppers from the garden, but it isn't something she is able to do all the time. So the Chinese pepper sauce is a nice substitute for the adults.

As we added the condiments to our soup, Sisa dubbed the black peppercorns "picante para niños" (pepper for kids) and the Chinese pepper sauce "picante para adultos" (pepper for adults). Everyone got a big kick out of that assessment, and it would be an in-joke for the rest of the trip.

Yupanqui likes to show bravado and pretend that he wants some pepper sauce, but if you try to actually put some onto his plate he panics. It is quite amusing.

After the soup, we enjoyed chicken, rice, peas, and beets.

Rosa was sewing the pajama fabric that Aida had earlier cut. We knew that Mukul would be arriving from Mindo sometime this afternoon. We were very excited to see him and introduce him to the family. We weren't sure what time he would be arriving. We had given directions to the house to the tour company, but there aren't "street addresses" here per se, so we didn't know if they would have trouble locating the house.

I was hoping that he would arrive while I was still on lunch break, and Craig and I hung around in the driveway watching for approaching cars. I took some photos of the various flowers in the garden.

I had a meeting, so I went back upstairs to work. Shortly before 4 p.m., Yupanqui came upstairs to tell me that Mukul had arrived. I ran downstairs to greet him as Craig helped him to get settled in the guest house. He was staying in the left-hand unit, the one where we had stayed in during our first visit in 2010.

I went back upstairs to finish my work day. By the time I was done, Mukul and Craig were sitting in the kitchen enjoying a cup of tea and catching up. He had had a wonderful time in Quito and Mindo and showed us photos of his adventures.

Mukul gifted the kids some clothes that his wife Sunita had picked out based on their ages. We called the kids in. He gave the girls their sweatshirts first. Yupanqui waited patiently, and you could see his eyes light up as he realized, by process of elimination, that the remaining items were for him. One was a lovely yellow and blue parka, and the other was a warm sweater. Sunita's judgment had been perfect; everything fit the kids like a glove. They were quite appreciative and gave Mukul hugs and thanked him.

Mukul had brought some Indian sweets (made from cashews and with silver leaf accents). The kids tasted them and really liked them.

Mukul, ever the Renaissance man, drew a frog on the kids' whiteboard. They loved it and asked him to draw another. He promised them that he would draw a new animal each day and they were quite satisfied with that deal. This reminded us of the time that Mukul entertained schoolchildren with his art in Moncompu Village in Kerala.

Mukul is a vegetarian, and the family was quite accommodating with meals, just as they had been when Sonam Tshering visited last year.

The kids were quite punchy at dinner, laughing and joking the whole time. We had soup, papaya juice, lentils, rice, broccoli, cauliflower, and plantains. Rosa had a headache, which I'm sure wasn't helped by the fact that the kids were being so loud and off the wall.

I did the dishes so that Rosa could rest. Hand-washing in cold water in a shallow sink is not something that I do particularly efficiently. When time is of the essence, I am not the go-to dishwasher. But tonight there was no rush, so I took my time and cleaned all of the dishes.

We said goodnight to the family and to Mukul, and we all retreated to our rooms for some rest.
Abuelita

Abuelita

Shina and Sisa wearing my Mom's necklace

Shina and Sisa wearing my Mom's necklace

Mukul and Craig

Mukul and Craig

Family dinner

Family dinner

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