Thursday, February 4, 2010

Ambato

Zoila in her Nana's house
Emilie and Galo bargaining for some "Guabas"
Emilie eating a guaba
Buying peaches
Parque Montalvo
Parque Montalvo

Today is a "cleaning day". Emilie, Zoila and I wake up around 9 a.m. again. I wish I could be lazy and stay in bed but the girls won't let me. They're ready to explore the house and the city! But the house is SO dusty. I have to wash Zoila's hands and feet each time I let her crawl around. The dust is everywhere. And we clean one room, then another one, and the first room is dusty with ashes again.

I want to bath "ashy Zoila" but we realized there is no hot water...okay, so Zoila will just get "wiped clean" with boiled water. Emilie's lucky, she is avoiding a bath today.


We all get to enjoy pan y queso fresco for breakfast, even Zoila who loves it. After cleaning a bit, we go to the "centro" to get some fruits and veggies for Zoila. I've been feeding her with baby food and she doesn't like it. Annoying but makes me feel good about the yummy organic food I cook for her at home. Can I do that here too? We'll see.


Nana Celia buys most of her produce from indigenous women selling their small bags of fruits and vegetables in the streets. Definitely cheap. I think some of them don't even speak Spanish and only Quechua. I enjoy listening to Nana Celia bargaining: "50 centavos? Eso no puede valer más de 25 centavos? Dame entonces 2 para 50..." I always admire people bargaining. I used to be very good after my trip to China when I was 20. I need to get used to it again. People get offended if you don't bargain! Galo doesn't bargain and even leaves a tip. People are shocked! :)


I finally find a place with internet and I check my emails. 2 days without checking my accounts and I have hundreds of emails to read, it's crazy! Internet is slow...I already miss my computers!! We buy a few more things and get back home. Emilie and I tried our first Guaba. This sweet fruit looks like cotton or "barbe à Papa" and is found inside a large stick. Amazing exotic fruit.


Some more cleaning at home. We have our lunch left over for dinner: left overs of "arroz con camarones y platanos fritos" and "encebollado mixto", rice with shrimp and fried plantains; and soup with fish and shrimps. Very yummy. I can't wait for Zoila to be able to eat all this tasty food like her sister. For now, I just cooked some potatoes and carrots soup for her. She liked it :)


The girls didn't nap much today, so we're bed early tonight.

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