ECUADOR - My June/July 2003 Trip Journal -- by Donna R. Carter
Page Seventeen
~^~ E/R, and Visiting Fanny Raquel in Tumbaco ~^~ Sunday ~^~ July 13, 2003
I got up early Sunday morning, and watched the sunrise, laying there on my bed looking out over the valley and up into the mountains... so beautiful! I couldn't just lay there. I went out on the porch and took pictures.
After getting up, showered and dressed, I went out to head down to the lower house. Michio was already heading out the gate when I left the house, so rather than awaken Anne-Marie, I hitched a ride with Michio, having decided the day before to go to the hospital to get the gunk off my back already. It was slipping around, and feeling sticky and oozing and totally disgusting.
I went in to the Emergency room and they removed the patches and swabbed my back again. Thankfully they didn't have to put more on again and they said I should be okay now. Unbelievable: That visit to the ER only cost $13.70! Makes you think twice about how much it costs in the U.S.!
From the hospital, I walked over to the church. Fanny Raquel wouldn't be picking me up until 11:00, so I had time to go to the service and get to the guest house before she arrived there. Last time I went to this church was 5 years ago, one Sunday, with Jeff and Melissa when we were here last time.
I hadn't had access to a computer for a few days, so after church, I went and used the guest house computer to chat with Jeff. I would be moving from the Ozaki's house to the Moncayo's house starting tomorrow and would have access to Aracely's computer so I could keep in touch with Jeff more frequently.
~*~*~*~
Every time went outside, I felt like I was counting the days until I had to go... I was trying to indelibly imprint images and sounds and smells in my mind. Less and less people I knew from before remained there, the city was changing dramatically at every turn. I hated never knowing when I'd come back... Always wondering "Will this be the last time?" ... and knowing that with each leave-taking, the next homecoming will be to even more changes, because life does indeed go on. I just had to believe that I will return again, and it will always still be home.
~*~*~*~
The visit at Fanny Raquel's was great.
She came and picked me up at the Guest house since she knew where it was, and we drove first over to her restaurant to drop off some groceries and things, and then out to Tumbaco where she lives.
When we arrived at her house, Sonya was there, a niece and her husband, Fanny's two sons, her daughter (and her husband) and Alfredo.
We sat in the living room for a while, just talking, while dinner was being prepared. I was given a small glass of wine. I had forgotten that I hadn't eaten much at all since Saturday noon (and not much then either) so I felt the first sip, actually. I decided it would behoove me to just "hold the glass" and barely sip at it until dinner was served.
Dinner was served shortly, and the first course was choclo (a tasty, rather starchy type of corn) served on the cob with slices of fresh cheese. This was followed by locro de papas (potato soup, served with wedges of fresh avocado), and then fritada (fried pork with tostados), lima beans, and potatoes. Mora swirl vanilla ice cream was served for dessert, but I passed on that until later, as I was already quite full.
We sat at the table for a few hours just talking and enjoying the company and conversation, but eventually we moved to the living room. It was a laid back afternoon - a "shooting the breeze with family" kind of thing. At about 5:30, Fanny Raquel drove me home. Alfredo and Sonya were also in the car, since Sonya needed a ride home as well.
They dropped me off at Anne-Marie and Michio's and I talked a bit with Anne-Marie and then went up to bed.... looking out over the mountains at Cayambe and Antizana as the near-full moon rose high in the sky.
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