Ecuador Day 28

Happy Sunday! It was a pretty happy day for us here today.

We made it to church early and enjoyed our time there. Everyone is very friendly and loves to help with our kids, which we think is great. I enjoy seeing Angel and Jenny, from my OSSO days and chatting with them a bit too. It is also nice to be able to have an English speaking sunday school class where we can participate.

After church, we headed to Maria Dolores' house as she had invited us to lunch. I have been to her house just once before, on my return trip to Ecuador with my friend Kylee after my OSSO days. Maria Dolores had us over for dinner then and fed us a whole fish (eyeballs and all), plus some soup with chicken feet (an Ecuadorian staple). When MD invited Devin and I to dinner, she asked if there is anything that Devin does not eat. I told her no, then later when thinking about it, laughed about it because Devin really does not like fish and I recalled the fish that she had fed Kylee and I (which was quite good-- just kind of creepy with the eyeballs). Devin definitely would not have enjoyed the fish..haha.

This time we had a three course meal, plus dessert, that, luckily for Devin, did not include fish.  However, the chicken feet did make a re-appearance. We first ate a cold soup that was really delicious. I don't know what it was, but I loved it. She had a bowl of popcorn and "tostadas" (toasted/salted corn bits basically) that we added to the soup.

The second course appeared-- my dish came first--and lo and behold, there were the famous chicken feet. I laughed a little at Devin because I had told him it would be coming. However, Maria Dolores returned shortly with his dish and what do you know-- NO CHICKEN FEET. Instead, he got a nice chunk of regular old chicken in his soup. So, let's review. Me- chicken feet. Devin- actual chicken. Someone got unlucky in that equation, and it sure wasn't Devin. I honestly did not know how to eat the chicken feet last time I was here and ended up swallowing all of it, bit by bit, bones included, because I didn't know what else to do. It's a horrible memory. This time, like last, MD sat and watched us eat (she had a little bit of food here and there, but not much in comparison to how much she fed us), so I got smart and asked her how I was supposed to eat it. She demonstrated that I should pick it up and eat the "meat off the bones." That didn't do much to clarify things for me as there really is no meat to be had on the bones, however I did the best I could given the situation. I think Devin owes me something for taking one for the team that time, eh?

The next course included chicken, potatoes, and rice, and was really good. We were very appreciate of Maria Dolores having us over. She is very sweet and really good company. She lives alone and so I think she enjoys having guests. She does have dogs, cats, chickens, and birds, which Hallie loved.

It was interesting to see Maria Dolores' house and living area too, because it again puts things into a little bit more perspective. She lives in a less affluent part of town, behind a commercial area. You have to take a dark tunnel and some concrete stairs with a really low ceiling (I had to duck the whole time) to get back to her house from the street. The house itself is divided into three areas-- the dining room/family room, a bedroom, and the kitchen, all completely separate from the other areas of the house with individual doors. She does have a really big yard with lots of trees and plants, which is nice as most people have little or no yards here.

We stayed at Maria Dolores' house for about 2 hours and then got home to get our kids down for naps. We enjoyed a lazy afternoon at home together, had a light dinner, then got the kids to bed.

One item of bad news for the day is that the dryer here has started to shred our clothes. Yippee, just what we need. We took a load out last night and almost every item has holes. UGH. So no more dryer. We are going to have to put a line up somewhere in the house to dry our clothes. We will be wearing holey clothes for these next few weeks as that load had quite a large portion of our wardrobes (remember we each only have a week's worth of clothes). Wahoo.

Alright, here are some pictures of the day. Enjoy.

Lunch at Maria Dolores' house. The girls got plain soup with no chicken and then the main dish of chicken, rice, and  potatoes. They both devoured it all (Hallie with some prodding as MD had put on Barney for them to watch during the meal. The TV is always going to win out for her. Flor- not so much- food wins every time).  Flor got popcorn for dessert while we all had ice cream. She didn't seem to mind.

And the famous chicken feet. The rest of the soup was actually really good, but the chicken feet-I gagged my way through it. Quietly of course...as quietly as possible. MD was sitting across the table from me and the last thing I would want is to offend her, but I couldn't help it, I just don't do well with slimey textured things.

The toppings for the first soup. Popcorn and "tostadas" as she called them. We used to eat those here a lot and I think they are pretty typical Ecuadorian food, so I am glad that Devin got to try them.

Devin is not so good with angles in taking pictures. Sort of an up angle here-- so not attractive, but it is what it is. Here we all are, minus Devin, with Maria Dolores.

A view out the door from where we were eating at MD's yard. You can see some of the chickens in the back.

This is the tunnel entrance to the house that comes in from the main street.

Our new "dryer" until we can get something to make a line. So fun.

And, just have to throw this one in here. Jacer and his awesome speed-racing PJ's. Thanks to Aunt Kirston who supplies us with such awesome clothes. He just looks so studly in them that I couldn't resist.