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Today was my last day working from Ecuador. We would be flying home tomorrow. For breakfast this morning, we had fried eggs, ham, French fries. bread, coffee, and juice. Antonio called Virginia at breakfast for an update on Tayanta. He was told that she was in the blood lab. We were praying that this was a good sign.
Antonio left to guide tourists on a hike around Lago Cuicocha. There are only 3 baby chicks today. Rosa thinks that they may be dying off because they weren't vaccinated. They are so cute, and it is sad that we have lost half of them. Lunch was pasta with hamburg and vegetables. After eating, I did some last minute laundry by hand. The weather was hot and sunny today. Then Craig and I took a walk down the street to observe the construction of the sewer line. The backhoe was working about a quarter mile from the house, in between the house and the family's other plot of farmland. The concrete pipes were laying on the side of the road, ready to be installed. I went back to the kitchen to work, and as the afternoon went on, it started to rain. Rosa brought our clothes in and Craig constructed a makeshift clothesline in the casita. When I was done working, we wanted to spend some quality time with the kids, since we would be leaving tomorrow. So we sat at the dining room table together. The kids were drawing and coloring pictures. They asked me to draw their toy cars, and then they colored them. Sisa and Yupanqui were very well-behaved and played nicely together. We wished that Tayanta could be there, but we were hoping that she was getting her operation. We gave the kids a final present: a velvet picture to color with markers. we put one aside for Tayanta for when she gets home from the hospital, even though we'll be gone by then. The kids got sad about us leaving again, but I defused them by getting them singing the Mayo song again. Antonio tried calling Aida to get an update on Tayanta, but couldn't get ahold of her. He left to go to a meeting at the community center. We were dying to know if she got the surgery or not. For dinner, we had soup, beef and lentils in manseca sauce, beans, corn, rice, and plantains. The kids told us to close our eyes because they had presents for us. We closed our eyes and they ran around giggling, gathering things. When they finally told us to open our eyes, they had piled a stack of books and toys in front of each of us. It was so cute and sweet. It was obvious that they had appreciated the little gifts that we had given them over the course of the visit, and they wanted to reciprocate. Rosa's eye has been bothering her, and she needed to go to bed. We said goodnight and told Rosa to please send Antonio over when he gets home to give us an update on Tayanta. We went back to the room and finished getting packed. Antonio knocked on our door at 10 o'clock. Tayanta had the surgery, and it was a success! Her strabismus is totally corrected, she is recovering well, and eating bread! Thank you so much Anna Taft and Virginia for facilitating this. It's hard to believe that this entire miracle happened within just 48 hours. She will have a follow-up appointment tomorrow morning, and then she is expected to be released from the hospital in Quito and she can come home! We are so happy! It is bittersweet as it is our last day here before heading home, and we will not get a chance to say goodbye to Tayanta and Aida in person. But they are in our hearts and we are so overjoyed that Tayanta had this opportunity! She is a lovely, sweet, happy child, and she deserves the best in life. We've gotten a bit of rain in the evenings, which has been great for the crops. The corn and beans that we planted when we first arrived are growing nicely. We will head to the airport at 10 a.m. tomorrow. It has been a fabulous visit with our compadres, and this experiment of me working remotely has been quite the success. Technology has allowed me to work as effectively as I can from my desk at work. We were able to stay in touch with friends and family. And one other thing: We normally only drink bottled water here. But it is hard to buy in the village. So we buy large bottles in Quiroga and transport them to the house. On this trip, we bought two large bottles and knew that they wouldn't last for the whole trip. So as they got low, we experimented. We had brought an electric kettle. The family has a filtration system for their tap water. We boiled the filtered tap water, and that worked out quite nicely for the duration of the trip. It makes it a lot more convenient than purchasing all of our water while there, and has proved safe for us. The kids are sad that we are leaving, and we are sad too. But we will be back soon! Thanks to Antonio, Rosa, Aida, Sisa, Yupanqui, and Tayanta for being such wonderful hosts and accepting us into their loving family! |
 Doing one last load of laundry by hand  The backhoe digging the sewer line  Rosa, Abuelita, Juan Pedro, Max the dog, and Chipi the cat enjoying the warmth of the fire  Sisa and Yupanqui show off their coloring skills 
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