Ecuador 8/17/2025 |
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Sunday, August 17, 2025 - A Sunday with the FamilyAs it was Sunday, and we had gotten to bed so late, we slept until 9 a.m. Antonio had already gone to work at Lake Cuicocha by the time we woke up. After brushing our teeth, we made our way to the kitchen.We noticed that the family now had a birdcage with a parakeet in it on the porch. One absence which was immediately felt was that of Abuelita, Antonio's mother and the kids' great-grandmother. She had passed away last Christmas Eve, and this was our first visit where she was not around, smiling and laughing and speaking to us in Kichwa. She had been a fixture since our first visit in 2010, and it just wouldn't be the same without her. I had often posted photos of her, and she had gained quite a fan club amongst our Facebook friends. The family ws preparing breakfast. They now have a panini maker, and Yupanki made breakfast paninis filled with cheese and bologna. We had a fried egg and fries, juice, and coffee. When he was done eating, little Kuri brought his plate up to the sink. He stood on a chair and washed his plate. So adorable! After breakfast, Craig and I went back to the room and got everything set up. Because we come here so often, and have our own little casita that the family had built for us, we leave certain items in Rubbermaid totes there so that we don't have to bring them back and forth every time. These include things like toiletries, an alarm clock, an electric water kettle, a lamp to provide ambient lighting, a throw rug, shearling slippers, etc. We unpacked and got everything set up so that our casita is cozy and comfortable. Before we knew it, it was time for lunch. We had tree tomato soup, rice, llapingachos (fried medallions of mashed potato), steak, and beets. After lunch, we played with the kids. Kuri has new ride-on plastic car, and he and Nena pushed one another around the property. Three-year-old Kuri doesn't speak much, but he understands and responds appropriately when people speak to him. He says a few words (Sisa, Nena, yo, no, si, chao). Kuri led us into the back corn fields where a neighbor was grazing his cows on their property. Nena collected some leaves and pretended that she was using them to cook a pizza. As the afternoon progressed, Craig and I started to get tired, so we made coffee. The shot of caffeine perked us right up. We had bought new clothes for the kids and distributed them. Luckily, my guesses about sizes were accurate, and everything fit everyone. Nena's little outfits came with accessories: a hair clip, a headband, and a mini backpack shaped like a daisy. Kuri was very upset that he didn't get a mini backpack, and started to cry. He was inconsolable until Nena let him try it on. Water from the tap is not safe for us to drink here. The family has a reverse osmosis water filter, and even after using that, we boil the water several times before drinking. Craig went to fill our electric kettle from the water filter, but the filter started to spray water all around the kitchen. A plastic part had broken, and water was spraying out before it even got to the filters. Antonio took a look at it when he got home from work, but it wasn't something that he could fix. He wondered if he could get a replacement part, but the whole mechanism is around 15 years old and the plastic is getting brittle. We don't even know if they make replacement parts, but it is likely that something else could let go as well. So we convinced him that it is a better idea to replace the whole filtration system. We would drink bottled water until it was replaced. We have a large bottle of water in our room for emergencies (there are times when the municipality shuts off the water with little to no notice). We would use this, and Antonio would buy more to get us through until a new water filter could be obtained. Antonio showed us his X-rays following his accident in March, when he had been hit by a drunk driver while on his motorcycle. We could only imagine the pain that he had been in, and still suffers. For dinner, we had quinoa soup, chicken, broccoli, rice, and melloco. Kuri was falling asleep at the table and went to bed in the midst of dinner. We could relate. We went to our room at 9:30; I was exhausted and would have to get up early for work the next morning. |
 Our casita  Achi Taita, Kuri, Achi Mama, and Nena  Nena and Kuri model their new clothes Photo Gallery August 17 |
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