Ecuador 7/26/2023 |
||
Wednesday, July 26, 2023 - CotacachiWe heard the guests leaving their rooms and getting onto their bus, but we weren't awake enough to get up and say goodbye. We had wished them well last night, and hoped that they enjoyed the rest of their adventure.We got up at 8 a.m. Breakfast was crepes filled with mora (blackberry) jelly, bread with mortadella and ham, and, of course, coffee. The family buys Nescafe crystals for us, as we always need to have a cup of coffee to get going in the morning. Nena has caught on to our coffee ritual, and will always say "coffee!" in English in her cute little voice. The gas truck came by during breakfast (it plays a song so that you know it is approaching). The family all heard it at once and mobilized. Sisa and Antonio ran out the back door but Yupanki sprung out the front window like Spiderman and caught the truck just in time. Quick thinking, Yupanki! You don't want to run out of gas; it is used for cooking as well as heating the water in our shower. After breakfast, Antonio, Aida, Sisa, and Yupanki went down to the lower land to harvest corn. With the weather as dry as it has been, it's too dusty for Shina's eyes. (Shina was born blind and has artificial lenses in her eyes, which make them quite susceptible to dust). So Shina stayed home to babysit Nena and Kuri. We stayed home too. I washed the dishes and Craig dried them and put them away. The whole kitchen was clean when we were done. Sisa and Yupanki came home to cook lunch. They prepared fries, chorizo, fried egg, and cucumber. I played with Kuri, taking him for a ride on his little car. Later, Antonio and Aida came home with bags of corn. Shortly before 4 o'clock, Antonio, Sisa, Craig, and I took a camioneta to Cotacachi. Sisa proudly wore her BTS T-shirt and a new varsity-style jacket, both quinceañera gifts. Antonio had some business to do with a lawyer regarding property ownership. The lawyer used her phone to translate her speech into English for our benefit. She patiently answered all of Antonio's questions. When asked how much the consultation would cost, she kind of shrugged it off, but said that it would normally cost $10. She seemed to imply that we didn't have to pay if we didn't want to. Of course we wanted to pay for her time (even more so when we realized how afforable it was...we couldn't imagine a lawyer in the US having a 30 minute consultation for $10!) We went to the TIA supermarket to buy more yogurt and Nescafe. We had been having coffee in the afternoons as well as the mornings, so our supplies were dwindling. When we came out of the store, there was a procession for the Virgin Mary moving past. We followed it and took some video. Recorded music was being played. Women were burning incense and showering the effigy of Mary (which was dressed in Otavalan attire) with rose petals. Kids raced to pick up the rose petals as they fell on the street. We always love these Latin American religious processions; they are so festive. We passed the statue of Charlie Chaplin on Leather Street. Since Craig was also sporting a hat and a cane, we couldn't resist having him pose next to the statue for a photo op. Then we caught a taxi back to the house. Craig had coffee and we chatted with Sisa in the kitchen. We ate some leftover birthday cake. For dinner we had soup, mora juice, and tuna, potatoes, carrots, and peas with ramen noodles. Nena was very talkative and playful tonight. We came back to the room at 10 o'clock. |
 Nena and Sisa  Procession for the Virgin Mary in Cotacachi See all photos from July 26 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
