Ecuador 8/1/2023 |
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Tuesday, August 1, 2023 - Our 25th Wedding AnniversaryToday was our 25th wedding anniversary. It was hard to believe; the years have passed so quickly. We couldn't think of a better way to spend the day than celebrating with our compadres.For breakfast we had crepes, turkey ham, bread, coffee, and juice. Yupanki still had a sore throat today, and we gave him a lozenge. We both took showers (Craig's had some hot water, but mine didn't) and then went to sit outside. Not much sun today, and lots of wind. Kuri stood up by himself for the first time, over by the grinding stone. He stood up holding onto the stone, and then let go and kept his balance. What a big boy! We pointed it out to Aida, who was over at the sink doing laundry. It was obvious from her reaction that she had not seen him do this before. Child development is fascinating; they learn new things and gain new skills literally every day. Yesterday it was a new tooth, today it is standing unassisted. Right before lunch, Sisa and Antonio went off on the motorbike to buy a cake for our anniversary. They also asked if we would like to go to Laguna Cuicocha this afternoon. We thought that it was very sweet that they wanted to do a family outing to celebrate our anniversary. It is always a lot of fun to go to this nearby picturesque lake which is so important in their culture's creation stories. For lunch, we had soup, tuna, rice, fries, fried egg, lentils, and fresh juice. Then we had the cake. They had a 2 and a 5 for candles. When they lit the candles, they started to sparkle. This clued Craig in to the fact that they were trick candles, though we had never seen trick candles that were shaped like numbers. Lo and behold, we blew them out and they kept reigniting. Much laughter ensued.  We didn't know what time we were going to the lake, but we know that things happen very suddenly around here. So as soon as we were done with lunch and cake, I suggested that we go back to the casita to get our things together and go to the restroom. The sky was dark and it looked like it might start to rain, so we wanted to have our jackets with us. Sure enough, just as we were finishing gathering our things, Antonio called out that the camioneta was already here. Craig, Aida, Kuri, the girls, and I rode inside the camioneta. Antonio and Yupanki followed on the motorbike. It started to rain - the first rain since we got here. It figures! It was sprinkling as we walked from the visitor's center down to the area where the boat rides and restaurant are located. But by the time we arrived, the rain had stopped and the sky became blue with white puffy clouds. Cuicocha is a crater lake which was formed by a volcanic eruption over 3000 years ago. This is a sacred lake for the Kichwa people. Cuicocha's name translates to "Guinea Pig Lake." The lake contains two small islands, one of which resembles a guinea pig. That island is said to be the namesake of the lake. There is another theory that the name is a corruption of the Kichwa word "Kuychikucha" or "rainbow lake." We sat outside and enjoyed gorgeous views of the lake. The clouds were very interesting. We noticed that there were new, bigger tourists boats which contained individual seats rather than the benches in the prior boats. It was still a bit chilly and breezy. We stayed for a little over an hour, and then the camioneta brought us home. We sat with the kids and ate cookies that they had bought us for our anniversary. I looked up jobs on my computer while Sisa showed Craig members of BTS and other prominent KPop stars. Nena drew in her notebook. We went outside to take a look at the super moon. It was beautiful, but difficult to photograph. For dinner we had mushroom soup, hot dogs, rice, peas, and salad with juice. Yupanki was feeling much better tonight and was back to his normal self. We came back to the room at around 10 o'clock and found that I had an interview request for one of the applications I had submitted. (It ultimately didn't work out, but it was encouraging to at least get the opportunity to interview.) It was nice to see the job search progressing, even as we were on vacation. |
 Posing with the family for our anniversary celebration  Yupanki and Nena at Laguna Cuicocha  Nena and Achi Taita at Laguna Cuicocha  Laguna Cuicocha See all photos from August 1 |
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