Ecuador 5/21/2024 |
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Tuesday, May 21, 2024 - Working RemotelyI woke up at 7 o'clock and started working in the casita. I went upstairs in the main house at 9 o'clock for a meeting. I ate breakfast up there: a ham and cheese sandwich, a fried egg, French fries, a hot dog, yogurt, and coffee.Nena and Kuri came up and were playing in the room when I didn't have a meeting. Kuri would close the door and then open it and run inside laughing. They also played ghosts by putting blankets over their heads. Kuri brought in an alphabet book and we looked at it together. I came downstairs at 11 o'clock and Craig and I took showers. The external gas water heater is very touchy, and doesn't always work. Antonio bought it second-hand years ago, and it is now quite old. We both like to be there in case one of us is showering and suddenly the water turns ice cold, the other of us can go outside and try to reset the water heater. We also like to shower mid-day on sunny days, so if we do wind up with cold water, we can warm up outside afterwards. The temperature never gets down to freezing here, but at this altitude the ambient temperature can be very cold when you're not in the direct sun. We had hot water in the shower with no problems, and Craig's fix on the bathroom sink drain was holding. No water on the floor when using the sink. Things were looking up! But then suddenly there was a LOT of water backing up in the shower stall. We thought this was ok because the water was contained within the shower stall. But as Craig stepped out of the shower, his feet were (still) underwater. That's when we realized that the bathroom floor drain was also backing up, and Craig's shower water was now flooding the whole bathroom. If it's not one thing it's another. We called Antonio in and showed him the problem. He immediately knew what the issue was. The outdoor gray water drain pipe had been compromised while tilling the garden, and it had subsequently become blocked by dirt. Antonio perforated the pipe further up before the blockage so that the water would drain out in to the garden instead of backing up into our bathroom. Aida then came in to help us mop up all of the water. After we cleaned up, I took my shower. Everything worked fine. Phew - crisis averted! Showers now complete, I went back upstairs to work and Nena joined me. She sat on my lap for my 30 minute weekly core team meeting and just stared at the screen. My colleagues wanted to talk to her so I unplugged my headphones and used my laptop's speakers and microphone. She wouldn't smile or wave or talk, but she was transfixed. Everyone loved seeing her. She was so good and sat there for the whole meeting. The second I disconnected she was all smiles and giggles. I had another meeting and then came downstairs to eat lunch. We had soup, steak, fried plantain, peas, rice, broccoli, and cauliflower. When it was time for me to go back upstairs to work some more, Nena went with me. Sisa got home from school earlier today. She did her homework and we played with Nena and Kuri. Then Sisa played "Careless Whisper" for us on the sax. Then she played some other songs. Craig asked if she plays "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," since she is always singing that song. She said that she has never tried playing it, but she would give it a shot. She found the sheet music online and played it while sight reading. She hit a few wrong notes, but we were so impressed with her ability to read music on the fly and her confidence in her abilities. She was not afraid to make mistakes. We talked with Sisa about the plight of the indigenous in Ecuador, and, indeed, around the world. She asked if we had heard of Dolores Cacuango. We hadn't, so she taught us about her. She was a Kichwa woman who fought for indigenous rights in Ecuador in the mid-1900's. She is a heroine of the indigenous communities here, and built the first school to educate indigenous children. Sisa looked her up online and played one of her impassioned speeches for us. Antonio came in while we were discussing this. He then brought up Rafael Perugachi, a Kichwa man who did similar work in Morochos, Cotacachi, and nearby communities. At 16 years old, Sisa has really matured. We can have serious conversations with her in English and she is very attentive and responsive. She is an intelligent young lady and we know that she will succeed at whatever she puts her mind to, despite the disadvantages that the indigenous face every day. We ate dinner (soup, steak, lentils, potatoes, rice, and radishes). Sisa's cat hung around the dining table looking for scraps. She sat in the window peeking through the curtain over Craig's shoulder. After dinner, we came back to the casita. |
 Nena in her new dress  Sisa with her sax Photo Gallery May 21 |
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