Friday 8/4/2017 - A Quiet Day Around the House Today was a low-key day in between two busy days of sightseeing. I had many work meetings today, so I ate my breakfast in the upstairs room that serves as my office. I worked as the kids played around the house. Rosa and Paulina's friendship congtinued to blossom as they performed household chores together, chatting away. Both families exchanged gifts from their respective communities, which was very nice. Our Ecuadorian compadres also gave nice locally made sweaters to Craig and myself. Cachupin the dog apparenty had a big night last night. We had heard dogs barking during much of the night. We saw him literally falling asleep while sitting up, swaying as he dozed, and eventually snapping himself awake. It was quite amusing, and Abuelita got a good laugh out of it. For lunch we had cream of tomato soup with popcorn, followed by pasta with cheese sauce. In the afternoon, the kids played with "Despicable Me" plastic block playsets. We taught the kids the importance of reading and following the instructions when trying to put together complex constructions. Sisa was trying to build hers on her own, but she was having trouble. Eddy stepped in, reading the instructions carefully and helping her to finish it. We are very proud of him for modeling such good habits and stepping in to help her. The boys spent some time with Abuelita in her fire shed before dinner. Sisa loves "Sopa de Letras" (literally, Alphabet Soup, or what we call word search puzzles). We sat with her at the kitchen table doing a bilingual word search which helped to reinforce some English vocabulary. Eddy excitedly ran into the room saying that Yupanqui had lost a tooth! Yupanqui came into the room with his fngers in his mouth. It turned out that the tooth was barely hanging on, and Antonio found a string to tie onto the tooth. This was too much for me right before dinner; I am squeamish about teeth. Luckily, they went into the other room to perform the deed. Craig and I wondered whether Perez the Tooth Mouse would visit tonight. He is the Latin American version of the tooth fairy, a small mouse who collects childrens' teeth, and who is pictured in at least one dental office in Cotacachi. Dinner consisted of soup, fried rice, fried plantains, and a bit of leftover pasta from lunch. After dinner, we all went to bed early because we have a big day tomorrow. We will be traveling several hours to Intag, a subtropical region of Ecuador featuring some of the best organic coffee in the country, hot springs, and wildlife.

Achi Mama with Shina and Yupanqui Abuelita is amused as Cachupin falls asleep while sitting up See all photos from August 4, 2017