Ecuador 7/19/2023 |
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PrologueWe had originally planned to visit our Ecuadorian compadres in May, over Craig's birthday. It had been 7 months since we had last visited the family, and we were eager to go. However, when we told the family this, they informed us that they would be having a quinceañera party for Sisa's 15th birthday in July. We immediately changed our plans, as we wouldn't miss Sisa's special day if it was at all possible. (We unfortunately had to miss our goddaughter Aracely's quinceañera in Guatemala because she turned 15 during COVID).As the trip drew closer, we realized that it would be different from past trips. I usually work remotely on the weekdays when we visit, but at the end of June, I was laid off after 22.5 years with my company. There are, of course, many down sides to this. One up side, however, is that I would be able to spend more time with the kids, as they would be on summer break. In addition to the layoff, we had some other bad luck leading up to the trip. Our car was rear-ended at a stop light on July 11, and the woman fled the scene. Luckily, I got a photo of her car and license plate. The police later cited her, and her insurance paid for our car to be fixed, but there were lots of phone calls and emails to attend to in order to straighten everything out. Then I called Logan Way, the affordable and dependable car service that we usually take to the airport. A recording told me that I was dialing out of the country, and asked if I wanted to continue. This is a local company, so I was confused. I then went to their website which said that they were not currently accepting bookings. I wonder if the proprietor was out of the USA, visiting his country of origin. Other car services are way more expensive, so we decided to take the Logan Express bus instead. Of course this meant that we would need a ride to get to the bus terminal. Wednesday, July 19, 2023 - ArrivalOn our day of departure, Craig's mom picked us up at 9:30 a.m. and drove us to the Logan Express terminal. We caught the hourly bus which departed at 10:15.We got to the airport, checked in, and went through security. We got sausage, egg, and cheese bagels at Dunkin Donuts. Our flight was on time at 1:05 p.m. It was Jet Blue. so we got complimentary drinks and snacks. The guy seated next to me (who was wearing a "Damn I Love Firearms!" T-shirt and was crying before getting on the flight) had 2 Jack Daniels cocktails and then fell asleep. In his sleep, he put his arm around me and caressed my hair. It was super creepy. Then there was another time when he reached out toward me and I ducked away. I could have made a big deal out of it, and would have if it had continued, but I ignored it. We got to Fort Lauderdale and got to our gate to find that our connection was delayed until 8:20 p.m. The air conditioning at the gate couldn't keep up with the late afternoon heat, and it was crowded and stifling. We texted our Ecuadorian compadres to tell them that we would be arriving late, so that they didn't leave as early for the airport as they had originally planned. We finally got to board the flight, and it took off even later than 8:20. We got drinks and snacks. Nobody was in the seat between us, which I very much appreciated after sitting next to that creep on the prior flight. We were at least able to spread out a little bit. As we were making our descent into Quito, the crew announced that we were in for some turbulence, and to make sure that we stay in our seats with our seat belts fastened. We experienced some wind shear and the plane was really fishtailing. Then it suddenly dropped. In all of our years of flying, this was the most dramatic drop that we had experienced. Just about everyone on the flight other than us was screaming, which made it all the more unsettling. We were a little shaken up. When we finally landed, the flight attendant said, "Well, we made it!" Nervous laughter and applause ensued. We disembarked, went through immigration, and collected our bags. The whole family was there at the airport to meet us. Sisa had her guitar with her, and serenaded us. It attracted quite a bit of attention from the other travelers. She is studying music in school, and we were very proud of her for playing in such a public forum. We greeted everyone with hugs. When I went to give three-year-old Nena (Adelis Dashel) a hug, she just stared at me. She had probably slept on the 2 hour van ride to the airport; she seemed a little bit out of it. Aida reminded her that I was Achi Mama, and Nena got a huge smile and ran to give me a hug. She has been asking about us since we left last October. We walked out to the parking lot, met our driver, and got into the van for the ride back to the house. Sisa had her guitar out for part of the ride, and she asked if we recognized a song she played. It was "Dust in the Wind!" She doesn't know the lyrics, but her finger-picking of the guitar part is very impressive and delicate. Soon everyone other than us was asleep. We arrived at the house at 2:30 a.m. local time. We went to bed and I slept like a rock. Before I knew it, I was hearing the early morning bus passing the house! |
 Kuri, Shina, Sisa, and Yupanki  Sisa serenades us on her guitar  Antonio, Shina, Kuri, and Nena See all photos from July 19 |
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