ECUADOR!!!

We just got back from going to Ecuador, where I grew up. We went there for Tio David's wedding. He married his high school sweetheart Karina. Of course the Nata came along also. Of course right before we left she got an ear infecion (See "Funky Ear" post). Lucklily she must have gotten it out of her system becuase she did great on the airplane. Poor Tia Lucia had more ear problems than Natalie!! Our flight left on Saturday May 27th at 2 pm, from Cinci. We got into Guayaquil at midnight. We were all exhausted.

On Sunday we went to meet Karina's family. We had lunch at her parents' house. Natalie got to meet her new little cousin Paulina, Karina's 4 year old daughter. Paulina and Natalie got along great. She was already asking me when Natalie is going to visit her in Germany (where David is stationed). Sunday Natalie also got to meet Abuelito ( my Dad) for the first time. We went out for coffee and dessert. Of course he just loved her. Then we went to see the Krumholz. That is where Lucia, Pat and Cynthia stayed. It was great to see them, we hadn't seen them since we had left Ecuador 10 years ago. They also loved Natalie. Everyone was calling her "sonrisa barata" which means cheap smile, becuase she smiles at everything.

Monday and Tuesday we spent in this town in the mountains called Cuenca. It's really old and has some beautliful buildings and churches. On our way to Cuenca, which ended up taking 7 hours becuase the roads were so bad, we stopped at Ingapirca which are Inca Ruins. When we got to Cuenca it was dark and Jason said it reminded him of Rome. I think he changed his mind the following morning when he saw it in daylight. Don't get me wrong, it's a beaultiful town but they still have a long way to go renovating the old buildings. They have done a wonderful job with the main square and the main road and the cathedral is incredibly impressive. It's made out of red marble!

Wednesday was the civil ceremony. In Ecuador first you get married by the law and then you have the church ceremony. The ceremony was at Karina's parents house. We had a great time. Poor David was sweating bullets!! Of course Natalie had no problems sleeping in a pack and play that Karina's family had set up for her. They were all very nice and accomodating.





Thursday we all took a day trip to Playas which means Beaches. It's a beach about an hour away from Guayaquil. We wanted the Gringos (Jason and Pat) to be able to see the mountains and the coast of Ecuador. Unfortunately it is not beach season any more so the water was a little too cold to get in. This was the day that Natalie got the poops. Poor thing she had been taken to so many places she was great the whole time. This was her bad day. She was pretty fussy and with reason. She had 7 poopy diappers in one day! Can you imagine!!

Friday Natalie and Jason got to meet some of my old friends. I hadn't seen any of them in seven years. Everyone looked pretty much the same but we have all had babies and finished school and are working. It's amazing how fast seven years can go by. Poor Jason had to endure a two hour lunch with all girls catching up in spanish. He did really good and was really patient. I think they made his day becuase they said that Natalie looked like him but she had my eyes!!

Oh my, how fast this week went. Saturday was the big day, the church wedding. We all met at Annie's house (my Mom's friend that invited us to stay at her house) to get dressed becuase it was about 5 minutes away from the Church. The ceremony was beautiful. Natalie didn't even make a peep!! After that came the PARTY!! Natalie was taken to Karina's sister Claudia's house with Paulina and the rest of the cousins. Irene's nanny (Claudia's baby) was going to take care of Natalie also. Jason and I did our best to party with the rest but you have to understand Ecuadorians party hard. By 12:30am (the party started at 6pm) we were ready to go get Natalie and go back to Annie's. This is where the night got a little stressful (for Jason a lot stressful). We went to get Natalie and no one answered the door. We knocked on the window and nothing. We called on the phone, nothing! Jason was freaking out! We went back to the wedding and found Claudia's husband who sent us back with the keys. By this time Jason was sweating and imagining all the kidnapping stories he had heard. We got to the house and went in and found them all alseep in one room. They couldn't hear anything because the air conditioner was on (people don't use central air in Ecuador becuase electricity is too expensive). Natalie was asleep of course. Jason picked her up and didn't let her go until we got to Annie's and layed her on the crib there. What a night!!

Sunday was our last day. My Dad took us on a tour to the cemetery. I know it's kind of morbid but it's something you just have to see. It's really different from any cemetery here in the US. I had never been inside the cemetery either. My Dad's family has a mosolium there so we wanted to go see it. After that we went to "Las Peñas" a historic neighborhood in Guayaquil. It looked great the city did a great job renovating it and cleaning it up. ON Sunday unfortunateoy we had to say good bye to everyone. We made a bunch of stops to make sure we saaw everyone, including David and Karina, before we left the next day. Our friend Cesar also came by to see us and meet Natalie. We had sucha busy week that we hadn't had a chance to see him yet. We got done with everything around 10 pm and we still had to pack!! Ourflight left the next mornign at 7:45 am.

We were exhausted when we got back home but we were glad we went. Thanks to Annie and Gustavo for welcoming us into their house and the Krumholz and Karina's family. They all made us fell at home again. It was also great seeing my Dad. I hadn't seen him in a long time and I was glad he got to meet the Nata. Sorry for making this entry so long. There was a lot to say.