Ecuador 4/23/2016 - 5/15/2016

Saturday, 4/30/2016 - Furniture Shopping

Since I didn't have to work today, we were able to sleep in, not waking up until 9 o'clock. We ate breakfast with the entire family. We had omelets, coffee, juice, bread, bologna, and fresh homemade plantain chips. They always take such good care of us!

I like to do activities with the kids whenever possible, and I had brought supplies for an art project. The early childhood educator in me made an appearance as we made owls out of paper plates, foam pieces, and googly eyes. The kids were very engaged and made two owls each.

I also had time today to help Rosa with some chores, so I swept the kitchen.

Then one of Antonio's bands came over to practice. This was more merengue-esque dance music, as opposed to the traditional Andean music of Chasqui Ñan. This band was primarily made up of young men whom Antonio is mentoring. Antonio has had problems with his back lately, so he has had to let up on physical labor and has thus been able to focus more on his music. Aida even sang with the band. It was great to have a private concert.

For lunch we had soup, cheese, mote, and salad.

After lunch, we took a bus to Quiroga and then changed buses to go to Otavalo to buy some furniture ("muebles" in Spanish) for the casita. We have been living out of duffel bags and Rubbermaid containers, and decided that it was time to buy a wardrobe/chest of drawers so that we can actually spread out and unpack. Antonio, Rosa, Sisa, and Yupanqui went with us.

Across from the Otavalo bus station, there was a billboard for an Alpha Blondy concert back in February. I backtracked on foot to get a photo for my European Facebook friend Alice Fenenga, who is a big fan and curates an online digital collection of photos of this reggae artist.

There are many furniture shops on the same street in Otavalo. We browsed in a few to find a wardrobe that will fit well in the casita. We decided on one with two doors, two drawers, and a mirror, made of pine stained brown with brushed nickel hardware. We decided to buy a matching 3 drawer nighstand as well. Both pieces came to a total of $190.

We did some more shopping while we were in town (coat hangers, a small trash barrel, food, etc.), and sat enjoying Parque Bolivar for a while. The pirate Jack Sparrow even made an apearance, in a very impressive costume!

We passed the offices of Vista para Todos, the wonderful organization that provided Shina Tayanta's strabismus surgery.

As we were walking, we had to stop as we approached a man selling huevos chilenos, little fried dough balls with sugar on top. We could smell the scent of the fried dough, and at 50 cents per bag, we couldn't resist buying some. They were just as delicious as we had hoped.

Then we went back to the furniture store to pick up our purchases. Antonio hired a pick up truck to bring them home. Both pieces, plus Antonio, Rosa, Sisa, and Yupanqui rode in the back. Craig and I rode in the cab with the driver. It was a very tight squeeze, and he was unable to go beyong 3rd gear because my leg was blocking the stick shift, LOL!

We arrived home and set the new furniture up in the casita. It was so exciting! We hung up all of our shirts and jackets and filled up the drawers. And our 3 Rubbermaids even stack nicely on top of the wardrobe! It felt so nice to get organized. We have more space now and we don't need to dig through duffel bags every time we need a piece of clothing. It's feeling more and more like home.