Ecuador 1/11/2019 - 2/2/2019 |
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Wednesday, January 16, 2019 - Mukul visits the Alpacas, Antonio's BirthdayFor breakfast today, we had potato pancakes, ham (for the meat-eaters), cheese, bread, juice, and coffee.When we saw Javier on Saturday, he had mentioned that he would be coming to Morochos on Wednesday with a group of his university students. Antonio would be taking them to see the communal alpacas on the mountainside, with a possibility of visiting Lake Cuicocha afterwards. He had invited us to go with him, but we couldn't. I had to work, and Craig was saving his strength for the Galapagos trip. But we thought that it would be a good opportunity for Mukul to learn about the community and Kichwa culture. The alpacas are communally owned, and the villagers share in the wool that they produce. Two trucks and a bus full of university students arrived in the morning. We all greeted Javier, and Antonio and Mukul got into the vehicles with them. They drove partway up the mountain and then walked for 30 minutes up a steep trail to where the herd of 70 or so alpacas are kept. They were shown a demonstration of shearing the wool and filing the alpacas' teeth. In the meanwhile, I worked remotely, and El Señor Chipikins the cat slept on our bed all day, keeping Craig company in the casita. Sisa came home from school early. She had come down with a fever, as Shina had two days ago. Rosa gathered some medicinal plants to treat her. Timing of my work meetings meant that I had to eat lunch in my office: juice, soup, corn, beans, and cheese. Mukul gifted Abuelita a wooly hat which she promptly put on...she looked really cute in the yellow wooly hat. For dinner, we had soup, chicken (for the meat eaters), fries, rice, and red cabbage. Today was Antonio's birthday, and Aida had gone to town to buy a cake. Mukul had purchased some alcohol, and he handed out Pilsener beer and Boone's Snow Creek Berry wine coolers to the adults. They put number candles on the cake...49. This perplexed us, as last year we had celebrated his 47th birthday with Javier and Sonam...somehow things are never as straightforward as they seem. The family sang to Antonio in Kichwa, Spanish, and English. Then they did the traditional Latin American cake face smash, and we all enjoyed the cake. The kids had some Coca Cola and the grown ups enjoyed beer and berry wine. Antonio's Birthday Cake |
 Javier, Craig, Antonio, and Mukul  Cachupin  Rosa lights Antonio's birthday candles See all photos from this day |
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