rain...............

The rain has finally returned to Quito. As I am typing, I am sitting in the window in the dining room that overlooks the city, watching the long awaited rain pelt the city.

The thunder started about 15 minutes ago. I had been reading for quite some time, but as soon as I heard the first rain drops hit the patio tiles, I came dashing into the main house. One of my favorite things when I lived here was sititng in front of the large windows in the dining room that overlook the valley of Quito. What a pleasure it is to sit here again, dry and warm while the daily rain falls.

I am not sure if I have menioned the drought that has plagued Ecuador for the last several weeks or more. This is the rainy season, so when you mention climate change here, there is no doubt in anyone's minds about the reality of it. The drought has impacted the country in multiple ways. First, the cities are unexpectedly hot since they do not cool during the customary afternoon rain. Second, are the threats of water shortages in the coming spring and summer. The biggest concern is the electricity supply. The majority of the nation's power is hydropower. When there is no rain, there is not enough river current to generate the electricity needed to meet demand. Last Saturday the apagones (rolling blackouts), were suspended. The apagones have continued nationwide since before my parents arrived here on December 27th.

The blackouts have wreaked havoc on people's lives. Businesses have to shut down and traffic in the city comes to a virtual stnadstill as the police force can only direct at the major intersections. Businesses that have generators use them for several hours during the middle of the day, adding further pollution to the air, and since there is no rain, the pollution lingers over the city. Neither are good for business and people are already hurting during these poor economic times.

I am so happy that it is finally raining, but also disappointed. The rain is now hardly more than a drizzle. The real Quito rain this time of year is that sheet of drenching rain that doesn't let up for at least 30 mintues, if not several hours....

But at least it has rained. Maybe now things will improve and the dreaded blackouts won't return.

It's nice that I was able to see the rain here in Quito since I spent so much time treking through it in the afternoons. After a while, it just becomes part of the reality of life in Quito. Simply knowing that the rain will only last a few hours at the most makes it tolerable compared to the constant drizzle that those of us in Seattle know so well.

Now the rain is picking up again, so maybe it will be real Quito rain afterall.

Relaxing and Enjoying

So the last few days here in Cuenca have been wonderful. I have enjoyed hanging out with Francesco, Wendy and Anna, as well as meeting new guests at the hostel. The city is so beautiful and the people are wonderful. I´ve been going to museums, local arts and crafts markets, hole in the wall lunch places, wherever suits my fancy.
(FYI - I am having issues uploading pictures, so I will do that once I get back to Quito)

My stomach is still not too sure what´s going on, but I am puke free since Sunday night!! I have oatmeal every morning at the little cafe right next to the hostal. Alex, Faviola and Glenda are always happy to see me, as are the owners of the hostal. It feels so wonderful to be surrounded by such amazing people.

The best part is that when I am tired or just want to relax and read my book, I can. No one to think I am not enjoying or taking advantage of my time here. I am reading a great book that I am really enjoying, the weather here has been great - though that means that it has not been raining so the power situation is still iffy. The government (who runs the power grid and supply here) will decide tonight if the blackouts will continue.

I have had a wonderful time people watching, carefully picking presents for people and just resting. Sometimes I get a bit tired and warm like my body is fighting something, but I started taking the antibiotics my doctor sent with me, so hopefully that will pass.

Tomorrow I fly back to Quito and then I will be going to Otavalo for a few days with Mami, Sandra and Pedro. I am soo excited to see the market again and see how Otavalo has changed in the last ten years. I will also hopefully get to pay my respects to Mami´s other brothers and sisters who are still mourning Tia Fanni.

For now, I need to go figure how I am going to get everything in my suitcase to take back to Quito tomorrow. I am not even thinking about how I am going to get everything back to Seattle! One step at a time!!

Healing, Cuenca style

So I planned my trip to Cuenca alright. I got an airplane at 10am this morning for the short flight down. I am pressed for time, not feeling well and the bus ride is 10 hours. No thanks. The $80 bucks was completely worth it.

I got in about 11am. I took a taxi to the hostel I read about in Lonely Planet. On the way there, we passed a "Paseo del Niño" parade around one of the churches in town. The taxi driver explained that it was probably one of the city`s neighborhoods that got together and decided to do the procession and then they go back to their neighborhood and have a big party.

Problem was that once I got to the hostel, no one answered when I rang the bell. I wanted to stay there since it was so highly recommended, I decided to have a cup of coffee at the cafe and breakfast place right next door. What great people! The women who run the Cafe are awesome! I sat next to an amazing couple from the states. They have traveled all over, but are living in their house here in Cuenca and are in the middle of remodeling it. As much as they love Cuenca, it is a bit too chilly at night for them, so part of the remodel is putting in a heating system. People don`t heat their homes here, so they have had to bring in a guy they know from another country to install it because no one knows how to do it. Hopefully the system won`t need maintenance, right?

At any rate, after a cup of amazing real coffee, I went back and rang the bell at the hostel again. Since I didn´t call ahead, they were full for the night. So I went back to get my bag from the cafe and the women told me that the hostel attached to their cafe is really nice. So I went and looked at it - it was great and the two women who run it are so awesome! I was hoping for a single room with a private bathroom (in case I got sick again), but all they had were beds in the dorm style rooms. The room and the whole hostel was beautiful and clean so I took it.

How glad I am that I took that bed, but I will get into that later. I put my stuff away and grabbed what I needed to go check out the Paseo del Niño and some of the churches if I felt up to it.

The Paseo was amazing! I saw several other gringos enjoying the show and taking pictures as well, but most of the crowd was Cuencan. It was a wonderful surprise to be able to see the Paseo since it´s a bit late in the season for them. After the Paseo went by, I walked through the main food Market in Cuenca enjoying the fruits and vegetables, meats, etc. From there I headed to the main plaza with the New Church, saw the flower market nearby and wandered through the local outdoor market selling all sorts of things for the locals.

I sat for a bit resting in the beautiful park next to the cathedral before heading back to the hostel for a nap. The joys of vacation!! As I came in to the hostel to take my nap, I ran into another American trying her best to inquire about a room or bed for tomorrow. I helped her out, and they brought her up to check out the room. She liked it and will stay in our room tomorrow night. Wendy is here to study Spanish. She´s from Fort Collins, Colorado - what a great fun person!!

I got to meet one of the other people in the room, Franceso, from Milano, Italy who is taking an entire year to travel through South America. When I mentioned that I would be going up to the Mirador, the viewpoint over Cuenca, he said if he was around he would love to go.

So about 5pm, as Francesco got back to the hostel, he ran into Wendy downstairs, and the other person in our room, Anna, came back. So, all four of us crammed into a taxi and headed up to the Mirador. The view was amazing and the company was even better! We sat and chatted, shot pictures and shared a couple of beers as the sun set over the city. We decided it was time to get some dinner and head back down to the City.

After some searching, we found a nice cafe in the center. We shared some llapingachos, which are traditional food of the Ecuadorian Andes. They are fried potato pancakes with fresh mozarella cheese inside. So good! I ate mine slowly, but my stomach was doing great. Hopefully I am finally over this bug.

My mistake was ordering a shrimp stirfry. What was I thinking? As soon as it came and the smell of the seafood hit me, I knew it was a bad idea. I managed to take a bite, and it was delicious. After about a minute I knew I was going to lose the battle. I ran for the bathroom and proceeded to puke all over the tiny bathroom. I barely made it into the bathroom, and it was all I could do to get most if it in the toilet. Of course, the toilet paper was gone, so I couldn´t even clean up some of it... I have never been so embarrassed in my life as when I had to ask one of the waiters for a rag or something. He of course refused to let me clean anything up. I was SOOO embarrassed.

The best part: I had managed to get some of it on my jeans....

I was able to eat a little bit of the rice that came with the stirfry and I took the rest of the rice home with me.

So yeah, apparently my stomach isn`t quite over this shit.... Awesome. But the company was great, so it didn´t seem so bad! Meeting fellow loke minded travelers was exactly was I needed and these three are wonderful. We had a great time hanging out, which was perfect. It seems sometimes that these things are meant to be, or at least serendipitous.

Disillusionment

So in addition to being sick, the relationship with the family has changed, too. Yesterday evening, when I was still puking up water, Sandra kept telling me, don't think about being sick, you will be able to go to Otavalo with us tomorrow. You'll feel better. There's optimism for you.

So I say, yeah I hope I feel better, but I don't know about going - I'm worried about getting sick on the road. Pati, her brother (keep in mind here that I am sitting around the kitchen table with Sandra, Pati, Mami, Papi and Neil's parents from South Africa), says in a dismissive tone, I'm sick of people who get sick and can't eat certain things (I'm lactose intolerant) and complain all the time.

Really? I've been puking for almost 24 hours. Really?

I asked him if he could make me feel better immediately, to please do so, that would be wonderful. Whatever. I can understand about the complaining part to a certain extenet - I don't do sick well. I did pretty well about it, keeping up a good face, but what the hell, am I supposed to pretend I feel just fine? Excuse me while I run to go puke up the 1/4 cup of tea I just drank (I think it was at least another 15 minutes before that did actually happen, but still). I spent almost the entire day half-asleep in my bed out in the apartment off the patio and was barely around the house. How I was irritating while asleep, I'm not sure.

By some 24 hour miracle deadline, I woke up feeling much better this morning. So I get up and get ready to go, eat some bread and weak tea, which I keep down. Right on, let's do it. I really want to go see the market, it will be a short day, I am going to get ot back again later so it'll be nice to just take it all in without worrying about presents and things to buy.... Yeah, the car was full. So Sandra says, well you and I can go on the bus and meet them up there. Before I can say, yes, let's do that, someone else says, it's such a short trip, what if we can't find you, etc.

So if I say I want to go I making more problems, but if I say I am going to stay, I am just wallowing in my sickness. So now I'm upset because I don't know what to do... So I am thiking out load trying to decide what to do, I do really want to go even though we will be there again in a week, but on the off chance I get sick again while we are gone... Sandra gets this fed up look on her face and tells me, enough worrying about being sick, don't start with that again.

At least I found a way to extricate myself from the situation. I needed time today to plan my trip to Cuenca.

It's funny that something as small as being sick and not wanting to push myself managed to remind me that this trip was a roll of the dice from the beginning. As I am reading back over this, I'm realizing that describing it doesn't cover all of the undertones to the situation. When I lived here before, the little comments like the ones above were hard. More often they were tied to being forgetful, messy, misplacing things, or sleeping in - all of which are associated with being lazy. In a Catholic society, being lazy is practically a sin. It makes me a bad person.

Having someone, or a family, who is supposed to love you and treat you as their own, say things like that and make you feel that way is a damaging experience. It was those wounds I came here to try and cleanse, but for now the alcohol really stings and the wound seems too deep. I know that the healing will come from myself alone. I knew that coming here, but after how well things had gone until now, my hope that they would treat me better grew.

So for now, while the sting is fresh, I am leaving this house where so many previous hurts haunt. I hope that I will get to Cuenca and be able to enjoy myself in one of the most beautiful cities in Latin America, rather than retreat and lick my wounds.

Growing and healing always hurts, but that knowledge never seems to make it any better.

Food Poisoning...

So yesterday was a pretty crappy day.... I guess I should add pukey, too.

The puking started at about 11pm Wednesday night and the diarrhea wasn't far behind..... I don't know if it was the shellfish I had for lunch before we left the beach to come home or some virus, but something pissed off my digestive system.

I spent most of that night and the following day in the bathroom or in bed resting. What a way to spend my vacation, right? Bored, in bed or puking. I think I did manage to play 4 or 5 games of Sudoku... The real kicker? Everyone else got to enjoy the crab feast planned for lunch that day. I couldn't go into the kitchen for more than a few minutes without having to run for the bathroom. The smell was more than my stomach could handle....

After a day of eating bread and drinking water, which most of the time I couldn't keep down anyway, I woke up this morning feeling much better. I was able to drink, rather than sip, water and had no problem eating bread. What a feeling!!

I had some black tea with more bread for breakfast this morning and for lunch I am going to try eating a broth soup with some pasta.... Yum - flavor!!

Wedding Pictures

So I know most of you are anxious for pictures, so this post is just a few of the pictures from the wedding. I will try and add more soon. I also have some great videos, but I will need to upload those another time - it takes forver to upload just the pictures!


Enjoy!


Neil rode a motorcycle to the church, just down the street from the house.


Pati has gotten Pedro out of the car and Papi and Sandra are about to get out - everyone had to go inside so I don't have a better picture.


Sandra and Neil at the altar.


Priest blessing Pedro. His godfather Brian, Neil's best friend, is holding him. Brian's daughter Olivia is his godmother, and Sandra's brother and sister, Big Marcelo and Genoveva are his Ecuadorian godparents.


Here are the three of us with Sandra, Neil and Pedro!


During one of the band's breaks, Sandra's cousin, Raphael, Olivia - her neice in South Africa, and Daniela, her neice here, all got up on stage to sing along with the music played by the DJ. We weren't having any fun at all...

Elevation Pains...

So the last few days have been rough... For those of you who don't know, Quito is about 2,900 meters, approximately 9,500 feet, above sea level. That is really freaking high, like Mt. Rainier high. As a result it is very common that tourists suffer from altitude sickness. Yesterday the dizziness and exhaustion hit hard. I have been dragging around Quito with my parents like you would not believe...

Then the digestive crap started... My stomach cramps a bit, and, well, it all goes downhill from there. Whether it's the altitude, the food, or something else - who knows. It's probably a combination of both. Either way, I don't want to take anything, because it is much better to just let it pass. So far it isn't bad enough to worry about. Compared to what I went through when I first got here ten years ago, this is NOTHING.

It's funny because I will be fine and then all of a sudden, the dizziness hits and my stomach will kind of roll over.... Good times, right? It should get better soon. I just hope that tomorrow for the wedding I feel much better!!

Lactose Free - even in Quito!

Success!!! I have found soy milk!!! The Mega Maxi chain grocery stores have soy milk! The damn stores are like a Fred Meyer - they have everything. There was a food court attached that included a Cinnabon! (Note that I refuse to mention the existence of the Chili's across the street and the 3 or 4 different Tony Roma's that I've seen around town)

But the best part EVER....... They have Soy yogurt drinks!!! OMG. May I have a moment of silence, please......

Sorry, there is just no other way to describe the joy. I bought two huge bottles, one in each flavor. (My dad had to go get a cart.) The drinkable yogurt is one of my favorite breakfast or snack items when I am outside of the US. They just don't make it or sell it here. Finding it made with soy - divine.

Maybe now my stomach will calm down.... Or not. Either way, at least now I can have coffee with soy milk instead of just with water.

*contented sigh*

Sometimes, it really is all about the little things.

Guayasamin Museum and La Capilla del Hombre

This morning my dad and I went to the Guayasamin Museum. Oswaldo Guayasamin is the the most famous Ecuadorian painter of the 20th Century. (Note here that my dad has always loved the visual arts and that he has taught Art History for many years. This was the one thing he wanted to do while he was here, aside from spending time with Sandra and going to the wedding.)

Guayasamin's work focuses on the poor indigenous populations of Ecuador and South America, showing their suffering and helping them to find a voice and fight the massive oppression that they still suffer today, albeit to a lesser degree.

There are two important locations - the Museum located in his old home (he died in 2006) and the Chapel of Man, La Capilla del Hombre. The Chapel is his homage to man. It was absolutely humbling. Even stumbling, half dead, feeling like crap and breathing hard after climbing only a couple of steps (I told you the altitude was killing me), the Chapel was a profoundly moving experience. I think the photos will say it all.

Unfortunately, since I am posting this at a later date, I don't have my dad's pictures of his actual artwork, except for two that I took. I do have the three quotes located inside the Chapel, which are what most moved me. I will try and translate them to the best of my ability.

May we all remember just how blessed we really are.

This is his painting of the Andean Condor, found only here in Ecuador (I do believe), killing the Bull, the symbol of Spain. A metaphor of the indigenous tearing down their oppressors: the white, european upper classes.


This is his painting of Pinochet, the former Chilean Dictator, who still has not been brought to justice for his crimes against the Chilean people.


"I cried because I did not have shoes, until I saw a boy who did not have feet."



This is perphaps the most profoundly moving pieces of writing I have come across. It brought both my dad and I to tears. It took me a few minutes to fully translate it for him. I hope you find it as moving.

"From town to town, from city to city, we were witnesses of the most immense misery: towns of black clay, in black earth, with children plastered with black mud; men and women with skin burned by the cold, where their tears have been frozen for centuries, until they did not know if they were made of salt or stone, music of andean flutes that describes the immense solitud without time, without gods, without sun, without corn, only clay and wind."



This quote was both at his home and here at the Chapel of Man. I think for Guayasamin, this is his way of reminding people that the desire and ability of the oppressed to rise and change their fate will never be extinguished - that it will forever live on in those who remain.

"Keep a light burning, because I will always return."

Being Tourists in Quito...

Getting back from Mindo, we got home just in time for lunch and then headed out later to do some touristy things (after a nap of course). Lunch was AMAZING! Mami is such a good cook. I miss her food like crazy. My parents hadn't yet had a chance to have a lunch she had cooked, so I was very happy that she made lunch for everyone.

Lunch in Ecuador is a big deal and the biggest meal fo the day. We had soup, Sancocho, which is made with rice, vegetables and pieces of green, as in not ripe, bananas. The texture of the green bananas is wonderful in the soup. It is by far one of my favorites! Then we had rice, baked (ripe) banana (barf, but ate it anyway) and some beef in a tomato type sauce. So good. My parents were finally able to fully appreciate why I missed her cooking so much! I had forgotten to tell them that after the big bowl of soup that there would be a full plate of food coming - oops! I told Papi not to give us too mch, which means just a regular amount, instead of a heaping (literally) plateful. We were all stuffed. Eating the way they do, with no real solid breakfast or dinner and then an enormous lunch is rough! It takes some adjusting...

So, the touristy things were more that we needed to change money, and I wanted my parents to see some of the gift shops and see if they wanted anything else for gifts. We headed out in a taxi from the house. How Quito has changed! There are places I don't remember at all because there are new buildings there or nicer ones with new fancy restaurants or apartments. It's amazing!

The tourist gift shops are fun with lots of neat things, but they are expensive so I am holding out for when I am at the actual regional markets where they make them. My parents, since they are leaving on Sunday, have less time so they couldn't avoid it.

We waited in line for SO long at the bank to get change for a hundred dollar bill. It was hilarious!! So there were three tellers and at one point a woman from the loan area of the bank goes to the window of one of the tellers and they talked for a good 5 minutes about the loan for the teller's sister. People were so pissed... My dad was just shaking his head. As much as I think it wold be great for my parents to retire in Latin America, it's moments like that when I know my father would never survive!

We ended up being out late, so we had to get some dinner. At that point we were away from where the restaurants and cafes along Amazonas, the main "gringo land" drag, are. I saw some policemen/boys (they were so young!) walking towards us, so I asked them, hoping for a good local place. They walked with us a bit, asking where we were from, etc, before pointing to a restaurant a few blocks down. I see it, and it looks a bit fancy, so we go around the corner to the very hip Coffee Tree cafe (I swear, that is the name) for a coffee. With a name like that, they should have soy milk, right? No. Oh well. We had a quick coffee and ended up going back to the restaurant they had shown us. We had typical Ecuadorian food - it was wonderful!! Of course, did I remember to take a picture of the food? NO! I'll try and remember from now on.

We enjoyed the food, though some of the things, Mami makes much better! Anyway, we headed home and to bed. Tomorrow, to the store for soy milk and other things. We'll figure it out in the morning!

Rainforest Pictures from Mindo

The hotel we stayed at has amazing grounds with lots of paths to the different cabins. There is one path that is a bit more rustic than the others and it turns out that it runs through a wilder part of the forest. What an amazing walk!! It took me over an hour - could have done it in 10 or 15 minutes. But what's the point of that?

I could have spent all day and still felt that I didn't appreciate it enough.













Here's the cabin our room is in - we are on the bottom floor on the right hand side.

This is the side path to our cabin at the hotel



That tall straight leaf is three times as tall as I am!















These little mushrooms are so tiny!! They are on the edge of a wooden step in the path.









Bromeliad.





This type of tree - I call it the fern tree, is one of the most ancient trees in the entire cloud forest. They are now facing extinction.

Mindo - Cloud Rainforest in Ecuador

So we left Quito at 6am on the bus to Mindo. (I will fill you in on the day trip through Quito later).

It took 2 and half hours to get from Quito to the turn off to Mindo, where you grab a truck down into the town. The road is windy and bumpy, but the views are beautiful! We stopped in town to buy water and a few things before heading to the hotel (bonus of traveling with your parents - they don´t do $10 per night hostels!).

The place is amazing, and so affordable!! The main hotel building is beautiful - it has a big dining room which has great cheap meals and a loft upstairs with television and chess. The rooms are all separate from the main building - small cabins tucked away in the forest throughout the property. AMAZING! We have a room in a cabin right on the Mindo River with three beds. Since it is the slow part of the year, there aren´t many guests, so I don´t think the other three rooms in the cabin are occupied.


This is my bed in our hotel room!


Here is the view from the window at the head of the bed. Paradise! I could have spent all day sitting on that bench and relaxing!

We got to our room and all took long naps before getting lunch and arranging for a taxi to take us to the cable car, the ziplines through the tree canopy, and then to the orchid farm. I will tell you all about those later with all the details and the photos. Right now, I am in search of soy milk in a tiny town in Ecuador.

Deseanme suerte!

Arrival in Quito

After two very short connections, I am finally here in Quito. Despite coming from a very long day and Tia Fanni´s funeral, everyone came to the airport to meet me except for Papi, Sandra´s Dad, who had to stay with baby Pedro since he was already asleep. It was such a joy to see my Ecuadorian family again.

It is amazing to be back. The airport has been completely renovated (thank god) and Quito has grown. The changes are small, yet large.

We are sleeping in the apartment in the back part of the patio of the house. It is perfect - we are part of the household but still have our space, which is so important.

The crappiest thing is that now I am lactose intolerant, and I can´t have my coffee with milk... :( Papi has heard of soy milk and thinks I might be able to find some in the city.... We´ll see!

It has been completely wonderful - to be in Quito, to be with the family. Pedro is an angel with chubby cheeks and a quick laugh. Sandra looks wonderful, as does everyone else. Though ten years have gone by, it doesn´t seem that anyone has aged, but maybe that is just the rose colored glasses through which we all see our loved ones.

I am so happy to be here and even happier that things are going well.

Who's Who - The Cevallos Family

So for those of you who can't remember who everyone is, let me give you a quick run down on the Cevallos family:

Sandra - the one getting married to Neil. Sandra is Ecuadorian and lived with us for a year as an exchange student when I was little. I came to live with her and her family (her parents and brothers) for a year in 1999-2000.

Neil - the South African (white guy) she met while she was on vacation in China with her friend Veronica and her husband Roberto. Roberto is in the textile business like Neil, so they were introduced and spent one evening together before he had to leave Shanghai. The romance blossomed from there.

Pedro - Their 8 month old baby. About the cutest thing I have EVER seen. And so laid back! He is so chill and easy going it is unbelievable.

Mami and Papi - Sandra's parents

Their kids (and grandkids) in order of birth:

Marcelo - I will refer to him as Big Marcelo. Marcelo is a bit more serious than the rest of the kids. He is a policeman, only a few years from retirement (they are able to retire very early). He is married to Particia who is a doctor, and they have three girls: Andrea - 10, Marcelita - 7 (?), and Emilia - 4.

Patricio (Pati) - Very sweet, fun and out-going. I guess he has a girlfriend in Colombia now. I love him to pieces so I really hope they are able to make it work! He works for Movistar, the big latin american cell phone company. Since he isn't married yet, he still lives at home, which is the custom here.

Gustavo (Tavi) - Tavi is an architect, but has very little work at the moment. He is the most quiet and reserved of the kids. He and I were close when I lived here. He was often the only one who understood me. He is also living at home.

Genoveva (Beba) - Beba is an Orthopedic Surgeon for the Police Hospital here in Quito. She is married to Edgar and they have three kids: Marcelo, or Marcelito (18), Daniela (16 or 17) and Gabriela (10). Edgar is a Captain for the Police. He was just transferred to Banos, a good 6 plus hours in bus from Quito. The Police here are national, there are no local police, so they get transferred like the US Armed Forces. Edgar comes home every weekend since there is no way Beba and the kids can move to Banos.

Marcelito - Beba and Edgar's son who just got his pilot's license for small planes. He is leaving for South Africa on Monday 1/11 to live with Sandra and Neil and go to school and learn English. His english is pretty good already - he really helped my parents the week before I arrived.

Daniela - Beba and Edgar's oldest daughter. Daniela is in her last year of highschool her in Quito. Her english is also pretty good and can help translate when needed. She has decided to study German though, not sure what that's about...

Gabriela (Gabi) - Gabi was born at the end of my stay last time. Gabi also speaks english well considering she is 10. She loves to speak it and really loves talking to my parents. Gabi is big into Gymnastics. Her coach is Russian, a five time World or European Champion but no Olympic medals I guess. Gabi has already performed and competed outside of Ecuador and is going to San Francisco to perform in two weeks. I will still be here, but my parents are going to try and go see her. She has already decided that she wants to come to Seattle as an exchange student to learn english.

Sandra - the youngest sibling.

That is the main part of the family. I will explain who is who in terms of friends and cousins as I go, but I figured this would be a big help for me and you guys!

Some bad news.....

I just spoke with my parents. Yesterday evening Tia Fanni (Sandra's aunt), que descanse en paz, died suddenly of a stroke. Sandra and family received the news while at a pig roast and party at her cousin Pancho's house. The family has headed to Otavalo to be with Mami's other siblings and help with the funeral arrangements. I am saddened that the funeral will be held a few hours before I arrive in Ecuador.

Tia Fanni will be missed so deeply. She was a warm open fun-loving woman who always too care of those around her with a kindness anad generosity of spirit that touched all who knew her. When my uncle, Dicky, came to visit me in Ecuador in 2000, he adored Fanni, who showed us Oavalo and the market with such joy and pleasure. She loved being able to show us her home and her city.

I have yet to call Dicky. It will break his heart that he will not be able to attend her funeral. We will all miss her enormously. Hopefully the grief over her death will not dampen the joy and excitement of Sandra and Neil's Wedding and their son, Pedro's baptism on Saturday, January 9th. While all of us will miss her presence, she would not have wanted her death to affect the festivities.