Ecuador 5/31/2024 |
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Friday, May 31, 2024 - Summer Friday, A Guest from FranceI woke up at 7 a.m. and started to work in the casita. Antonio made an early morning trip to the store to buy fresh bread and other food items. At 9 o'clock, I went upstairs to my "office" for meetings. I ate breakfast up there: an omelette, bread with ham and cheese, a delicious home-made empanada filled with cheese, and coffee.Today was an exciting day for the kids. Sisa and her school band had a concert at a theater in Ibarra this morning. She texted us a photo of the theater. It was very impressive. We are so proud of her! And Shina's class went on a field trip to see a movie in Ibarra today. Once I was done with meetings, I brought my laptop down to the casita to finish my workday. Nena kept coming into our room to visit. She often did this when I was upstairs working; she and Kuri would wander in and play with Craig. She was excited to see that I was here too, today. She was playing well with Kuri and sharing with him, so we gave her lots of praise. Today was a "summer Friday" for me at work. Because I had put in enough hours during the earlier part of the week, I was able to knock off work at noon today. This meant that I could eat lunch in the kitchen with the family. We had soup, steak, broccoli, rice, and melloco (a local root vegetable). Chloe, a tourist from France, arrived during lunch to stay in the guest house for a night. The two youngest kids took to her immediately. They wanted her to pick them both up at once. She is young, strong, and full of energy, and played along happily. The little ones can be very intense though, and before long she was a bit overwhelmed by their constant attention seeking. After lunch, Aida called me outside to take a video of Nena. Nena had collected some plants that are used for dispelling bad energy, and was chasing Kuri around with them. He held his arms out and she swatted at him with the plant clippings, the way a shaman would. It was adorable! Chloe was looking for things to do and see in the community. She asked if Lake Cuicocha was walkable from the house. It is around five kilometers away, and given that it was already 3:30 in the afternoon, we advised against it. It gets dark around 6 p.m., and the roads are dangerous to walk on after dark. They are not lit and she would have a hard time finding her way back to the house. And even if she could make it there and back before dark, she wouldn't have any time to explore the lake. We suggested that she take a camioneta (collective pickup truck). A camioneta drove by, and we went out to try to catch it, but we were too late. We asked Aida about calling one, and she led us next door, where we talked to her aunt who was out in front of the house. Her aunt was able to tell us how much the camioneta would cost for a round trip ride to the lake. Chloe thought about it for a moment and then decided to pass. She decided to explore the community on foot instead, and we explained to her how to walk up to the school, community center, church, and neighborhood bodega. We saw Aida's aunt's family's adorable new puppy. He was so fiesty and friendly! Even so, the little kids were afraid to get too close. The packs of stray dogs that roam the countryside have turned them off to all dogs except their own, Negra. This is probably a healthy fear, given the ferocity of the stray dogs and the fact that you never know if they are healthy or not. 
Then we went back to the house and had coffee and cocoa and chatted with Chloe when she got back from her short walk. We learned that she had started a solo year-long adventure in January, and has thus far visited many places in South America. We had a good time talking with her. She eventually plans to go to Guatemala, so we gave her Humberto's contact information in case she needs a place to stay or a guide when she gets there. she explained that even though the camioneta ride to the lake was relatively cheap by U.S. standards, it was too expensive for her. Since she is on a year-long journey, she needs to watch her money carefully. Spending extra cash on a quick trip to the lake is not something that she could do. Kuri took a plastic container filled with water from the outdoor sink and watered some of the plants. He played hide and seek with Nena in a rolled up tortora reed mat, and he rolled around inside the laundry hamper. He was wearing a pair of fuzzy blue hooded pajamas that resembled Stitch from the movie Lilo and Stitch. Craig and I were playing with him when he suddenly said "Ka!" We now knew that this meant that he had to go to the bathroom. I didn't know how much lead time he gave, so I hurriedly took off his sneakers, unzipped the one piece Stitch costume, took it off, and took him, wearing only undies, to the bathroom. We made it! Craig and I prided ourselves for our understanding of his unique language. Antonio got home from work. As it started to get dark, Sisa went to Quiroga with Antonio on an errand. This was surprising, since they had already done grocery shopping for Chloe's arrival. Also, Sisa and Antonio are usually very involved with guests. They hadn't been home all day to spend time with Chloe, and now that they were home, they were going out again for some unspecified errand. It seemed unusual to us, and unfortunate for Chloe. We had dinner: soup, beef stew, lentils, cabbage, and rice. Aida heated alcohol with ortiga leaves and rubbed it on the kids' legs. She said it is because they often don't wear shoes, and their bones get cold. This is another of the traditional, plant-based remedies that they often use. Ortiga is stinging nettles, but when it is boiled, it no longer retains its stinging quality. We went to our casita at 9:30 p.m. |
 Nena swinging  Achi Mama with Nena  Chloe with Nena and Kuri  Achi Taita with Kuri and Achi Mama  Achi Taita with Kuri and Nena Photo Gallery May 31 |
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