We began the weekend with dinner out at our favorite restaurant -- Gruyere, the fondue place. It's not exactly traditional Ecuadorian fare, but it's tough to pass up a pot of melted cheese.
On Saturday morning we went to Parque Carolina, so Jairo could have his first horse ride. He had a great time, and Eric did his best to figure out how to get the horse to stop eating and start walking.
Saturday afternoon was the moment Jairo had been waiting for -- his birthday party, complete with Spiderman pinata. His birthday is March 29, but we wanted to have a party for him here, so he could celebrate with his friends and Tias. So we went up to Casa Fe, and all the kids were really excited to take a swing at the pinata. Thanks to Eric's very effective yet discreet maneuvering of the pinata, Jairo was the one to break it, which he was very proud of. It was great seeing how much the kids enjoyed the candy and trinkets that spilled out, and we were proud to see Jairo sharing his hoard of treasure with the kids with special needs who were unable to scramble for the spoils themselves.
After the pinata we had cake and soda -- a huge treat for the kids -- then Jairo's cohort of friends came down to our house for pizza and a movie. It was bittersweet to spend the evening with them, knowing that this was the last time they would all be together. The five of them have grown up together here, so they are like siblings, and we know it will be really tough for all of them when Jairo leaves. We are praying that Jessica, Fabian, Carlita and Wilma will all find families of their own very soon.
On Sunday morning Eric was a bit worn out from a late night of "watching" Georgetown lose in the Big East Finals the night before (i.e., hitting refresh on our computer every 30 seconds to get a score update), so he stayed home to rest while Jairo and I went to visit a local family. One of my ESL students back in Virginia, Martha, is from Quito, and her extended family still lives here. So she introduced us, and they invited us to spend some time with them. It was really great to see the way they live -- it's exactly as we would have imagined a family would live in rural Ecuador. They have a huge, multi-generational family all living right near one another, many under the same roof. The women were all busy in the kitchen preparing the food, the many children were running and playing in the crops outside, and the men were talking about the local futbol (soccer) teams. Jairo fit right in, and enjoyed playing in the choclo (corn) and climbing the guava trees to pick the fruit. And he was in heaven playing with the many, many dogs on their property. It was a rare opportunity to get away from the well-worn tourist routes, and to experience how real life is lived in Ecuador. We are very grateful to Martha's family for their warm and gracious hospitality.
We returned home around noon on Sunday, just in time to have some guests over for lunch. Our friends Claire, Andrew and their daughter Sienna joined us for a casual lunch, and we enjoyed seeing them one more time before we head home. We rounded out Sunday afternoon with our normal routine of weekend activities -- playing with Suki, watching a movie, and doing homework.
Sunday night was very special for us, as we went up to Casa Fe to give gifts to Jairo's Tias. We had brought some things for them from the US, and Jairo had made them cards. We also wrote letters to them, doing our best to thank them for raising our son so well over the past four years (though words could never begin to convey the depth of our feelings). We went to Casa Fe after all the children were in bed, so it was nice to have some time alone with the Tias, and they used the quiet time to tell Jairo what they were feeling in their hearts. Though we could only understand about 75% of what they were saying, it was more than enough for us to know just how much they love Jairo. They also said many, many kind things to Eric and me, which meant so much to us. Needless to say, it was a very tender experience, there were a lot of tears, and it was something we will all always remember.
what treasures you have to take home with you. The memories and time you had getting to know your son and his world before he joined yours. I hope you keep writing on your blog once you get home. Such beautiful stories.....
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