Ecuador 5/20/2024 |
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Monday, May 20, 2024 - Working RemotelyI woke up at 7 o'clock and started work in the casita. The last time we visited, I was unemployed, having been laid off after 22.5 years. But since then, I have found a great job. The only down side is that I now only get 3 weeks of vacation as opposed to the 5 I was getting. So I will be working while down here. It works out pretty well, because I work while the older kids are in school. Working from 7-4 gives me enough hours to take advantage of summer Fridays, where we get the afternoon off.At 9:00, I went upstairs to Sisa's room to have a meeting. The family brought my breakfast upstairs: a ham and cheese sandwich, crepes filled with jam, coffee, and juice. Nena came up occasionally, and was very well behaved. She sat on my lap and I had her on camera for my daily morning group meeting. I came downstairs between meetings occasionally to say hi. Antonio brought the table into our casita from the other guest room. This made it easier for Craig to access his laptop. Kuri took a bath. One thing about Kuri, he doesn't like to wear pants. He runs around the house and property with his little buns visible. We saw a hummingbird feeding on the flowers outside the casita. We are always surprised by how much larger they are than the ones we have at home. I had another meeting at lunchtime, so I had lunch upstairs in Sisa's room: soup, chicken, broccoli, carrots, rice, potatoes, and juice. Yupanki and Shina get home from school around lunchtime, Yupanki takes the bus from Cotacachi, and Shina walks home from the community school. Next year she will be in the Cotacachi high school as well. I finished work at 4 o'clock. Sisa and Antonio didn't get back until around 6:30 since they had to go to a funeral at the cemetery after he picked her up from school. It was apparently a very dramatic funeral, as one of the mourners apparently stumbled into the open grave. (This was a bit better than what we originally thought, as Sisa had told us that someone "fell out", and we pictured someone rolling out of the casket!) Since Sisa can't stop singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", we looked it up on Youtube and played the Paul Anka version. Yupanki had lots of homework and didn't come into the kitchen until dinner was ready. We Talked with Antonio about work. He can't be a guide any more because he doesn't have his bachelor's degree (equivalent of a high school diploma). Luckily, he was able to take the marine safety courses and get the job piloting the boat at Laguna de Cuicocha. However, he can only make so much money doing that, again because he doesn't have his bachelor's. He can't even get his driver's license without it. The system is stacked against indigenous people. Also, Runa Tupari, the indigenous travel agency that used to drive business to their homestay, no longer works with the community, so they need to find a way to advertise directly to potential guests. Despite all of this, the kids are getting their educations and have the prospect of a better career. Antonio stresses to them the importance of graduating high school. In addition to her school courses, Sisa may have the opportunity to take courses to become a certified native guide. That is an exciting prospect, and would help the family. On Saturdays she continues to study English, which would be a great help in a guiding career. Dinner was carrot soup, steak, melloco, rice, and cucumber/tomato salad. When it came time to give goodnight hugs, Kuri kept running up to Craig with open arms again and again to hug him. We went back to the casita shortly after 9 o'clock. |
 Craig playing ice cream vendor with Nena  Sisa  Steph with Kuri Photo Gallery May 20 |
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