La vida rica

6-7-11

This morning I awoke to a blue sky, fresh breeze and lots of sun.  It was a happy morning, accompanied by “instant” coffee in a cup of hot milk.  A treat of scrambled eggs and bread and cheese sandwich was my breakfast.  The Muñequitos were surprisingly well-behaved today, even though they had a big fiesta with some kids from another school from Cumbayá.  This school supposedly is really rich, with each student paying $600/month, in comparison with Muñequitos paying $15 a person/month.  The guy in charge of our place told me yesterday that this school was bringing pizza for the kids for lunch, which is odd because we don’t eat pizza here, so I was pretty excited.  Those dreams were shot down when they brought ham and cheese sandwiches on white bread.  Almost none of the kids ate any/all of their sandwiches; I think because they don’t eat processed meat haha. After working hard at the comedor, I came home to eat lunch (rice, broccoli and carrots, with a side of beef; freshly squeezed pineapple juice).  I took a snoozer before preparing myself for those naughty children.  I was supposed to have an English class for older children (11+) today, but no one showed up.  I ended up calling the mother of one of the kids who was supposed to be there and she said she forgot!, but would like to come Thursday, so I am excited about this!! Since no one showed up, I took a walk to the internet café not too far away.  I am really feeling more comfortable walking around, since I am getting to know more and more people.  After the internet café, I just happened to drop into an ice cream shop.  A good combination; mint and mango.  I opened shop back up and the volunteer (from the university) met me there (good timing!) We sat around talking, as people curiously came into the store to look around.  And then what I thought the day was going perfect, here come those naughty kids wandering into the store!  They were actually better today, but still thought the store was a playground.  I put on my serious face and told them that I was going to walk them home.  They followed, but said their house was far away (I believed them and didn’t want to walk forever), so we stopped after we walked down the sidewalk for a while.  I started asking people waiting at the bus stop if they knew the parents of these kids; none did.  I told them I needed to go home and that they should just play around that area.  It worked!  I closed up shop and went home.  It is a beautiful night out tonight, so I decided I was going to sit outside, look at the mountains surrounding me, while writing my blog and listen to Band of Horses for inspiration. And something crazy happened; my computer found wireless internet outside my window on our patio!! I tried finding internet inside my room, and no luck. I am pretty excited about this!! With any luck, I’ll have internet at my house from now on!!

The view from my bedroom window one morning.  The middle-left side, where it's white, is the Cotopaxi volcano.

Some students from a higher-class school in Cumbaya came for a morning to play games with the little kids.

Two really cute girls playing on the slide.