Finally getting around to publishing our final post from Cotacachi. After 4 months in Ecuador's mountainous north, we're on the move again, this time a quick visit to Quito on our way to Cuenca--our original desitination before we fell in love with this area. I asked the family what they would remember most about Imbabura and here's what they said:
I liked the long recess at school. I also got a queen size bed all by myself. When I woke up in the morning in my queen size bed, I looked outside and saw trees with yummy fruits, humming birds, a house being built and church bells ringing. Really far away, I could see a mountain with some fields. Then I would go back to my queen size bed and stretch out like a star.
My favorite thing to do during the day, when I wasn't in school, was doing monkey bars at the playground and train Quilo in the back yard.
Sometimes in the evening we went to my friend Aliani's Pizzaria. The pizzaria is on the plaza (which means square in Spanish). We went scootering around and sometimes traded her bike for my scooter. Sometimes we went to her house for lunch. She had a pig and some beans and also some fruit called which I don't remember. She also had chickens that made eggs a lot.
Niko:
The things I'll remember most about Cotacachi were the long recesses at Las Lomas, and my closet bed being so high up and cozy. I like walking around the market in Otavalo and bargaining for things. It was also pretty nice because things were pretty cheap so I could afford to buy things with own allowance. I liked to play guns in the back yard (which included climbing trees, hiding from my cousin David and chasing each other inside the house). I also liked making friends at Las Lomas.
Yvonne:
* Walking the kids to school and watching their friendships and Spanish grow.
* Spanish classes with Derk and our teacher, Elisabet.
* Buying fruit at the market! Yum.... maracuya papaya banana juice. And how on earth will we make aji without tree tomatoes in MN??
* Our garden out back where Kaia trained Quilo for hours, turning him from street dog into a really well behaved little guy. Also, she built a (very noisy) cart for Quilo to pull her around town.
* Niko completely covered after a foam fight with neighbor kids as part of mardi gras.
* Weekly walks to Aya's organic farm where we bought our veggies and let the kids play with her lovely Kichwa-Japanese girls. Other hikes in the area, including Cuicocha.
* Pizza and conversations at the pizzaria run by Kaia's friend Aliani and her mother Blanquita.
* Getting to know 12 year old nephew David better while he lived with us for 2 months.
Derk:
A few things I'll remember:
Spending time, lots of it, doing things like:
The Mountains
web.jpg)
And I learned that to really train bulls correctly, apparently you need lots of beer. Who knew?
Kaia:
I liked the long recess at school. I also got a queen size bed all by myself. When I woke up in the morning in my queen size bed, I looked outside and saw trees with yummy fruits, humming birds, a house being built and church bells ringing. Really far away, I could see a mountain with some fields. Then I would go back to my queen size bed and stretch out like a star. 
Sometimes in the evening we went to my friend Aliani's Pizzaria. The pizzaria is on the plaza (which means square in Spanish). We went scootering around and sometimes traded her bike for my scooter. Sometimes we went to her house for lunch. She had a pig and some beans and also some fruit called which I don't remember. She also had chickens that made eggs a lot.
Every morning and every evening we had parades.
Niko:
The things I'll remember most about Cotacachi were the long recesses at Las Lomas, and my closet bed being so high up and cozy. I like walking around the market in Otavalo and bargaining for things. It was also pretty nice because things were pretty cheap so I could afford to buy things with own allowance. I liked to play guns in the back yard (which included climbing trees, hiding from my cousin David and chasing each other inside the house). I also liked making friends at Las Lomas.
I liked Cotacachi because it was small and not much pollution. The stray dogs were kind of a pain because when ever we would go hiking we would have to pack together with sticks.
Yvonne:
* Walking the kids to school and watching their friendships and Spanish grow. * Spanish classes with Derk and our teacher, Elisabet.
* Buying fruit at the market! Yum.... maracuya papaya banana juice. And how on earth will we make aji without tree tomatoes in MN??
* Our garden out back where Kaia trained Quilo for hours, turning him from street dog into a really well behaved little guy. Also, she built a (very noisy) cart for Quilo to pull her around town.
* Niko completely covered after a foam fight with neighbor kids as part of mardi gras.
* Weekly walks to Aya's organic farm where we bought our veggies and let the kids play with her lovely Kichwa-Japanese girls. Other hikes in the area, including Cuicocha.
* Pizza and conversations at the pizzaria run by Kaia's friend Aliani and her mother Blanquita.
* Getting to know 12 year old nephew David better while he lived with us for 2 months.
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| Reading time: A refrigerator box from neighbors/shop keepers Rafeal and Conchita: By FAR, the best 7th birthday present ever. Seriously -- months of use. |
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| Simple Pleasures: Dirt piles at Aya's farm. |
Derk:
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Researching home snake skin tanning
techniques with Niko (He's still
working on his snake skinning blog).
|
Spending time, lots of it, doing things like:
 |
| Violin practice outside with Parrots, (territorial) humming birds, Lemon trees, and avocados. |
The Mountains
Walking and chatting to and from school
web.jpg)
The Doors
And I learned that to really train bulls correctly, apparently you need lots of beer. Who knew?
