Friday, January 19, 2018 - Spending time with the familyToday was a low-key day around the house. Javier returned home to Quito for the weekend, and will come back next week. I had many meetings at work.For breakfast, we had corn pancakes, ham, cheese, yogurt, juice, and coffee. The kids came home from school and Sisa read "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" to Shina. For lunch, we had soup, steak, rice, peas, and salad. After lunch, Sonam entertained the kids as only he can. He teaches them a variety of English songs and accompanying dances, and they love it. Today he taught them a Bhutanese scouting song that he learned at a leadership workshop in college. He says in a drill sergeant-esque voice "Posi-tion!" The kids take a stance like they are Maori warriors about to do a haka. He then follows it up with "Jump jumpa jump jump" and the kids started to jump side to side in unison. They loved it so much! Antonio guided today, and he came home with some hand-made Famous Grouse whiskey fudge. It was very soft and tasty. The kids took a tiny taste and overreacted greatly at the flavor. We sang a bit of "Wiskeycito" and laughed a lot. Sisa loves to do word search puzzles ("sopa de letras" in Spanish). We had bought a couple of book sof bilingual word searches, which have you find the same words in Spanish and English. Each puzzle has a theme (farm animals, clothing, bedtime, etc.) Sisa dove right in and enjoyed finding every word, and learning the English and Spanish equivalencies. Yupanqui had a more difficult time, but we tried to coach and encourage him. Sonam made "kewa datshi" (potatoes, cheese, and peppers from Rosa's garden) to go with dinner. It was delicious, and Rosa and Antonio enjoyed it as well, though it's still too spicy for the kids. We are all so impressed with Sonam's cheerfulness and enthusiasm. He hums and dances as he cooks and washes dishes. He reminds us very much of his Apa (father) in the way that he constantly takes care of others. We saw the kids' school photos in little frames in Antonio and Rosa's room. They were absolutely adorable. Antonio serenaded us with his violin, and Sonam gave it a try (not bad for the first time he has picked up the instrument!) Now that the weather isn't so rainy and cold, Abuelita has resumed her ritual of cooking on the fire in the evenings in her outdoor kitchen. We joined her out there for a while, and she was smiling and laughing as usual. Shina was exhausted after a week of school, and fell asleep before dinner. For dinner we had home-made cream of tomato soup, pasta, and vegetables. We went to bed soon after dinner; we would be getting up early for a day of sightseeing in Quito! |
 Abuelita at her fire  School photos: Sisa, Yupanqui, and Shina  Antonio serenades Rosa See all photos from January 19, 2018 |
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