Sunday 1/22/17 - Baptism After-Party This morning, we woke up at around 9:30 a.m., feeling surpisingly refreshed, given how little sleep we had managed to get overnight. Rosa had not slept, and she and Carol were outside well into clean-up mode. A few friends were also helping, and Jung and another young boy were doing ribbon rhythmic gymnastics with the streamers on the remnants of the stage. Soon, the little piglets were on the stage rooting through the streamers looking for food. Carol accompanied Sisa to the community tienda (store) to get a look at the village. It is a beautiful sunny morning, with snow-capped Cotacachi volcano visible. A couple of young men from the party came over to retrieve their empty beer bottles, and Rosa gave them some chicha. Craig sampled some as well (we hadn't had any last night), but it was too early for me to have anything alcoholic. I brought Shina (still wearing her baptism outfit) outside, and sat her on my lap while we chatted with the young men. She was very quiet and tired. When Carol and Sisa returned, we went into the kitchen for breakfast of scrambled eggs, juice, bread with honey spread, and COFFEE!!! We had a very nice chat with Carol and learned that we have much in common. We met the newest additions to the farm family: 3 cuyes (guinea pigs). Rosa's niece Delia had given the mother and two tiny babies as a baptismal gift. They were in a little crate under the sink. I picked up one of the babies. It was so tiny and still seemed to have part of its umbilical cord attached. So cute! Some of the men from the party came back, sat in a circle with Antonio, and drank chicha. At one point, the piglets got into the chicha bucket! After that, they ran around bumping into soda bottles and looking for more alcohol. Booze is addictive, kids! We chatted some more with Carol and then at 1:00 p.m., she walked back to Quiroga in the gorgeous weather to catch a bus home. We are so glad that she was able to attend the festivities! We went through our photos from the baptism, and I posted to Facebook, resting after a busy day yesterday. We saw a hummingbird with a very long tail outside our window. We opted out of lunch, having eaten quite a bit at breakfast. All day, people have been stopping in to pick up returnable beer bottles and any party supplies they may have let the family borrow. They are all fed while here, and head home with leftover food, chicha, and bottles of soda. A party like this is truly a community effort. Everyone contributes, and the guests are continually fed until everything is gone. For dinner, we had soup and leftovers from the baptism: delicious pork, mote, and potatoes, with coveted Coca Cola to drink. (The family cherry-picks the Coca Cola out of the various soda which has been given to them). After dinner, we watched the Patriots in the AFC championship game as best we could on the computer. They beat the Steelers. Go Pats!

Sisa and Carol Steph holds a baby guinea pig See all photos from this day