April 17, 2008
Steve took writing duty today:
We took the day off yesterday and spent some time just relaxing and running errands, el banco, el bus terminad, and lunch at the Whale café which is owned by an American couple. Michelle and Cora had pancakes and Tate had sausage and eggs. I had a steak sandwich and no one had any rice. After that we tried to have a siesta which is hard to do in a town of 8000 people, 4000 dogs and 2000 motorcycles. We actually studied quite a bit on Wednesday and then headed down to the internet café/beach for the nightly round of email checking and futbol en le playa.
On Thursday after class we packed up lunch and went to Los Frailes beach. It’s part of the national park system. The beach was really nice and we were the only people there. The waves were pretty big and there was a very strong undertow. We all swam naked in the ocean. Except for Tate, he was having a wizard battle of some sort with the ocean itself. When we got back it took about an hour to get the sand out of everything and I did my last load of laundry in the wash tub. Another soccer game is planned for tonight although they seem to be less organized every night. On Friday afternoon I leave for Guayaquil at 4PM for a 4 hour bus ride. My flight leaves at 9AM Saturday and I should be in Columbia around 11PM. At least the time zones are the same.
*Michelle adds a note:
Steve loves doing laundry. He does at least a load a day when we are at home. When we were alone in Quito we did one load, after he arrived we did 3! He just can’t help himself. When we got to Puerto Lopez and he found out there was a well and washtub to do laundry here he was out there in seconds flat handwashing a bunch of clothes. I am sure Raquel and Freddy and Chian are amazed. (Chian does some of the cooking and cleaning here.) Cora asked, “Where’s Dad?” I said he was doing laundry and she said, “On vacation?”
Also, I got this e-mail from Phil at Casa Gabriel:
Hey Steve, Michelle, Tate and Cora,
It was so fun to meet you and hang out with you for a while.
I am glad you are liking Puerto Lopez... I prefer warm and sunny also :)
The things you brought us was great. We have already gone through and
organized and have been able to divvy out clothes for the boys and some for
their families. Thanks for the emails of the individuals who donated and
helped make this happen.
Just want you to know I really enjoyed spending time with your family. Loved
all the questions and comments and stories. I hope we can get together some
time in the future. Maybe when you return you can meet our other children,
Chelsea and Jordan. They will both be in Columbia for the summer. Jordan
just got an internship at Fulton at the nuclear plant and Chelsea will be
working at University Hospital and Clinics.
On Saturday we had a house work day, after lunch I broke out one of those
big bags of American candy you brought down for us and my daughter Danelle
had fun walking around sharing with all of us. :)
Blessings,
Phil for all
Steve took writing duty today:
We took the day off yesterday and spent some time just relaxing and running errands, el banco, el bus terminad, and lunch at the Whale café which is owned by an American couple. Michelle and Cora had pancakes and Tate had sausage and eggs. I had a steak sandwich and no one had any rice. After that we tried to have a siesta which is hard to do in a town of 8000 people, 4000 dogs and 2000 motorcycles. We actually studied quite a bit on Wednesday and then headed down to the internet café/beach for the nightly round of email checking and futbol en le playa.
On Thursday after class we packed up lunch and went to Los Frailes beach. It’s part of the national park system. The beach was really nice and we were the only people there. The waves were pretty big and there was a very strong undertow. We all swam naked in the ocean. Except for Tate, he was having a wizard battle of some sort with the ocean itself. When we got back it took about an hour to get the sand out of everything and I did my last load of laundry in the wash tub. Another soccer game is planned for tonight although they seem to be less organized every night. On Friday afternoon I leave for Guayaquil at 4PM for a 4 hour bus ride. My flight leaves at 9AM Saturday and I should be in Columbia around 11PM. At least the time zones are the same.
*Michelle adds a note:
Steve loves doing laundry. He does at least a load a day when we are at home. When we were alone in Quito we did one load, after he arrived we did 3! He just can’t help himself. When we got to Puerto Lopez and he found out there was a well and washtub to do laundry here he was out there in seconds flat handwashing a bunch of clothes. I am sure Raquel and Freddy and Chian are amazed. (Chian does some of the cooking and cleaning here.) Cora asked, “Where’s Dad?” I said he was doing laundry and she said, “On vacation?”
Also, I got this e-mail from Phil at Casa Gabriel:
Hey Steve, Michelle, Tate and Cora,
It was so fun to meet you and hang out with you for a while.
I am glad you are liking Puerto Lopez... I prefer warm and sunny also :)
The things you brought us was great. We have already gone through and
organized and have been able to divvy out clothes for the boys and some for
their families. Thanks for the emails of the individuals who donated and
helped make this happen.
Just want you to know I really enjoyed spending time with your family. Loved
all the questions and comments and stories. I hope we can get together some
time in the future. Maybe when you return you can meet our other children,
Chelsea and Jordan. They will both be in Columbia for the summer. Jordan
just got an internship at Fulton at the nuclear plant and Chelsea will be
working at University Hospital and Clinics.
On Saturday we had a house work day, after lunch I broke out one of those
big bags of American candy you brought down for us and my daughter Danelle
had fun walking around sharing with all of us. :)
Blessings,
Phil for all
Comments
By the way Steve I believe the pee remedy is for sea urchin stings...
Glad Tater and Cora are enjoying making some friends and playing soccer.
The laundry thing must be a Windmoeller trait - Larry doesn't think I know how to do it and that's fine with me.
Glad you guys got the sand out of "everything".
Steve call us Sunday and have a safe trip.
Love, G