Ecuador: 1/12/2018 - 1/27/2018

Saturday, January 13, 2018 - Arrival in Ecuador

We both managed to sleep on the plane, something which is never usually possible for Craig. We woke up at around 5 o'clock a.m. and were served breakfast. Craig had an omelette and I had a quesadilla.

We landed in Bogota ontime at around 6:15 a.m. The wheelchair was waiting for Craig, and it was a good thing, because it required a long walk down a seemingly infinite hallway. We were grateful for the wheelchair attendant, who pushed Craig and helped him through security. We waited at the gate for about an hour until it was time for our connection to Quito to board.

At first, we felt wrecked. It was a similar feeling to when we have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the airport. Our stomachs tie in knots and we feel disoriented since we have been roused after far too little sleep. Thankfully, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast of strawberry pancakes and COFFEE and soon felt a bit more lively.

Our flight landed early in Quito. Our checked bag was tagged as priority due to our business class status (so this is how the other half live!) and was waiting for us when we reached the baggage carousel.

We camped out in the airport lobby for our 6+ hour wait for Sonam's flight to arrive. We were eager to see him as well as the family. We had told them he was scheduled to arrive at 4:15 p.m., and they said that they planned to arrive at the airport at around 4 o'clock.

We each got a cup of local coffee and a beef empanada for lunch. I went to the Quito tourist information counter and got a sightseeing map. We want to take Sonam into Quito next weekend to explore the beautiful capital city which blends both modern and colonial architecture so effectively. We studied the map and made a mental list of potential destinations. Coming from a Buddhist kingdom, Sonam has never been inside a Christian church before. Quito has many splendid examples, including a gothic basilica and several churches with gleaming gilded altars. We also wanted to take him to the equator and give him a nice view of the city from a surrounding hilltop.

Sonam's flight arrived slightly early. We didn't know who would show up first: the family or Sonam. As it happened, they both showed up simultaneously. Sisa had just run over to us to give us a hug and a bouquet of flowers when Sonam emerged from the customs area. It was a joyous if slightly chaotic time as we greeted him and the family greeted all three of us.

We usually arrive late at night. The kids are usually sleepy and a bit slow to warm up after dozing on the 2 hour ride to the airport. They greet us warmly and then promptly fall back asleep on the ride home.

Not so today, which was great. They were full of energy and bonded with Sonam immediately. He has a great way with kids. He is studying primary education, and he knows how to relate to children and make them smile. Sisa, Yupanqui, and Shina warmed up to him immediately. Even though he doesn't speak Spanish and they don't speak English, he communicated with them via hand signals as well as by speaking simple English which they happily repeated.

There is a new mall across the street from the airport. We walked through it on the way to the parking lot, and made a brief stop so that the kids could go down the slide in the indoor play area.

We met Antonio's friend Hector who would drive us back to the house. We got settled in the car and the kids immediately gravitated to Sonam. They were giggling and tickling him, teasing one another the entire way home. We couldn't have hoped for a more successful meeting between our godchildren and our son!

I noticed that in the intervening 6 months since our previous visit, 5-year-old Shina Tayanta had really come into her own. In the past she had always been a bit shy, mostly following her older siblings' lead and repeating things that they would say. But this time she was spontaneously talkative and giggly, immediately warming up to Craig and myself as well as to her new brother Sonam.

We pointed out various locations and landmarks along the ride, including the desert-like Jerusalem Park, the villages which grow and export roses, the serene Lake San Pablo, and the indigenous Kichwa city of Otavalo. We felt a familiar homecoming as we passed through Quiroga, the final town before we reach the family's home village of Morochos.

It got dark as we reached the house. We all got settled into our rooms. The family has a guest house which has two rooms, each with private bath. Sonam would be staying in one of these, the very room where we had stayed when we first met the family in 2010.

The family built us a separate casita in 2013. It is a one room cottage with a private bathroom. In the past there had been two beds, which took up a lot of floorspace and didn't allow much room for seating. We had wedged a table in between the beds, and would sit on the foot of the bed to work on the computer.

Craig got the idea to ask Antonio to commission bunk beds from a woodworker friend of his. Craig found a design online and sent it along. The bed featured a staircase with drawers in the steps, and also storage drawers under the bottom bunk. Antonio oversaw the project, and within a month or two, the bed was ready.

Sisa was so excited to show us! We were blown away when we walked into the casita and saw the gorgeous cypress wood structure in front of us. The craftsmanship was beautiful, and he kept some rustic touches like knots and knobby wood. It was so solid that it didn't even shake at all when climbing up and down the stairs, and we couldn't move it if we tried.

We are so grateful to Antonio and his carpenter friend for making this a reality! And there was another suprise: there had been some money leftover from the construction so Antonio had bought two comfortable plush armchairs. The smaller footprint of a single bed structure allowed room for the two chairs on either side of a table; the perfect place to work on our laptops!

The family had also purchased a more powerful router, and the wifi signal was much better in our casita than it had been in the past.

The kids knocked on the door and presented us with fresh flower arrangements in the shape of a teddy bear and a puppy! So cute! Rose Parade, eat your heart out!

Once we and Sonam had settled into our respective rooms, we joined the family for dinner. Sonam is a vegetarian, and Rosa is very good about preparing appropriate meals for him. We had carrot soup with canguil (popcorn) added for a bit of crunch, and then pasta with veggies.

After our respective long journeys, we were exhausted in the best possible way and retired to our rooms to get some well-deserved rest. Craig and I were very excited to sleep in our new cypress bunks!