Mamarina's 80th B-Day

After getting to the bus terminal in Quito at 3 AM, we took a $10 taxi to the house, which is located 45 minutes away. I would have normally taken a trolley from the Quitumbe Terminal to the house, but the next trolley was leaving at 4:00, so we didn't want to wait an hour, and plus it's always safer to hitch a taxi ride instead of travelling by trolley when it's still dark. When we arrived at the house, Tio Nelson opened the door for us (Carol and I, since Emily continued to her house after dropping us off). I proceeded to sleep in an extra room in the downstairs apartment until about 8 AM, and then headed upstairs to eat breakfast with Wilma and the gang. Andrea hadn't gone to work yet, so it was nice catching up with her. Wilma (classic my host mom) made a fruit salad with bananas, papaya, dragonfruit, gooseberries, apple, strawberries, and grapes, and then made me a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice with homemade granola, and served yogurt and bizcochos and coffee. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I spent the majority of the day working on Dome's gift. Just in case, to try and untangle this giant family for readers, Dome is Wilma's and Hugo's niece, Gaby, Andrea, Cristian, and Carol's cousin, Mamarina's granddaughter, Elsiee's daughter, and Sara's sister. She lived with me in Peterborough this year, so I'm making her a little something before I leave to say thanks for a great 8 months. 

Today Mamarina turned 80! We celebrated with cake and tea as a family. Since her real big birthday party (80+ people are going) will be celebrated next weekend, this shindig was just a small celebration. It was a fun little way to recognize how incredible it is that this woman goes on more outings, has more friends, knows more people, has more energy, and does more things than I even do now at my age. 
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