Ecuador Day 37

WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD

Well, first things first. Poor Mishell and I were up at the crack of dawn in order to get to the civil service registry on time. Ramiro picked us up and then we went to get MJB as well. We then went to the court to get our signed decree, which was supposed to be all ready. Well...an hour and 15 minutes later...Yeah. Typical Ecuadorian standard time. We then drove our little buns on down to the civil service registry in the way south of Quito. It has moved since my last time here and is now in a mall. Seriously. These people and their malls. Need a new pair of shoes? check. A new cell phone? check. See the latest movie? Check. Get your birth certificate while you are at it? Check.

At the civil service registry, we waited and waited a lot. MJB worked some of her magic and got someone really friendly to help us. He told us that he would like to get the birth certificate and cedula done in one day, but unfortunately it is not possible because the system takes 12 hours or something to recognize a name change. SOoo.. that was the best we could have hoped for I guess. We go back tomorrow at 8 am SHARP to get the birth certificates and to get the new ID. MJB has court with another family here at 11, so we NEED to be done by then. Fine by me. After she is done with court, we will go get Mishell's passport tomorrow afternoon and submit all the documentation to MIES with a prayer in our hearts that we can go to Guayaquil Thursday. So all in all, I am feeling pretty good about things. 

Since our day was cut short (for which we were grateful), we came home and decided to venture out on an outing with everyone for the afternoon. We kept Ramiro on board to drive us around. First we went to a restaurant that MJB had recommended with authentic Ecuadorian food. She didn't tell us that it was fancy fancy. We were again a little out of place there with the kids and we had quite a few stares. However, the food was delish and the atmosphere was great. It was called La Choza, in case anyone is ever in Quito. :)

After that, we toured the Basilica and the Presidential Plaza. We walked some in the Centro Historico and then stopped at a lovely place for ice cream, per Ramiro's advice. It was called The Union and it was a bakery and cafe type deal with delicious ice cream. I also recommend this one. We also stopped on the way and picked up the documents of Mishell's life. It cost me an arm and a leg, but I decided it was worth it to have them for her for any questions she may have in the future. As of now, I have brought up her story a few times and she does not seem very interested in asking questions or wanting to know much. But of course that can change. I am glad we at least have the information. 

And now, for a whole lot of pictures:

These cute girls were getting to know each other!

A nice little lunch at La Choza

Some of these are out of order. I am feeling to lazy to fix it...Lo Siento. This guy was outside the Basilica selling his paintings for $2. Sad. My mom paid him for the picture at least.

In the tower of the basilica

Beautiful historical part for Quito.

At the Presidential Plaza

Delicious ice cream at the Union

Presidential Plaza

Oh, this is from yesterday but I had to show cute Emma hoarding my diet coke for me. How sweet.

In the Basilica again

A Basilica Selfie

Bread babies. They have these things all over this time of year as some sort of celebration for the Day of the Dead coming up. No idea what bread babies have to do with the Day of the Dead, but that's what I was told they are for...so yeah, we go with it.

Mishell's life story right there.