Going everywhere

On the past 10 days we have been really busy. After returning from Yanapana, Pat and I had a date and went to watch Karate Kid the movie. It was a nice escape for us. Thanks to my mom who took care of Mateo. Then, Mateo was a bit sick for few days, later I discovered that he was teething. We also spent few days in my home town Puellaro. We really enjoyed spending time with my grandma and aunt. After that we had Nikki from Hidden Villa visiting us and we took her to Yanapana for couple days. We enjoyed nature a hike in the forest and a refreshing soak in the river. Finally today we went to Papallacta, to some hot springs one and a half hours from here. It was great to soak in hot water with Mateo. As usual he is so happy in the water.
Now I look forward to some weeks at home and get Mateo in some sort of routine.

Mateo and my grandma Anita

Hiking in the forest with Nikki

Happy with dada

Back in Quito/Snakes

It is nice to go to Yanapana for few days and recharge in nature, it is also nice to come back to Quito and have a hot shower, do laundry that actually dries with the sun, and be away from mosquitos! Both of our homes have their good and not so good, we try to enjoy them well when we are in each place.
Last Monday after 3 1/2 hours of driving through green and beautiful scenery we arrived at Yanapana. We usually unload the truck and set up the kitchen and bedroom before it gets dark. It gets dark by 6:30 pm sharp! We also like to have early dinners and head to our cabin to read books to Mateo before he goes to sleep. Remember we do not have electricity yet so everything is lighted by candles. We like this cozy life. I especially enjoy sheltering inside our mosquito net that hangs above our bed. After Mateo goes to sleep I love to write in my journal and read, my bedtime is around 8:00 pm or so since there is not much more to do. It seems like we sync with nature and go early to bed and early to rise.

Snakes:
I have seen 4 snakes on my way to the out house so I do not enjoy these trips anymore since I am very alert and think I will see another one hiding. The last one I saw this week fell from a tree above the pathway and when I looked back to see what it was, there she goes sliding in my direction at a fast speed. I scream! She stayed quiet and I do the same. After realizing I wont do anything to her, she leaves in the other direction and disappears in the green bush. It was a bright green, thin and long snake. Our caretakers told me that this one is not poisonous. The one they found the day after, as they were making a new trail in the forest, was a poisonous snake and Lucho was glad to not have been attacked by it. After this snake theme of the week I realize that I respect snakes very much and I hope they live in our property but never harm us or any of our visitors. It is good to be aware of their presence and very careful always. They could be anywhere!!

Snake "X". This is poisonous

This was near the out house and likes to climb trees. It is harmless.

Things falling into place

Seems like life is getting easier and we are loving it! The first thing we have been focusing our attention on these past three days is in allowing Mateo to have a nurturing environment here at home. I have been cooking for him good meals and making sure he snacks often so he can recuperate from last weeks dehydration. Pat has spent time reading and playing with him. Yesterday, my mom stayed home with Mateo for few hours while we went to get him toys and new books. He is so happy and entertained with the new things we got for him. Also, we notice that this boy is changing and able to hang out around the house while we do things. Before he would not let me do much in the house because he wanted to be held or he wanted me to be near by him at all times. Maybe he was getting used to his new environment and since we went out of the house pretty often on the first weeks here, he was not sure what was going on. It is all in the past and I feel like he is ready to continue to thrive in this his new home. He is even making new sounds and trying to say new words. He sure understands everything I say to him in both languages. We are so grateful that Pat and I can be home and watch this kid grow.

This afternoon as we were looking at the window, we noticed that our neighbors dog, cat and white rabbit were playing on the tile roof of their house. Mateo was very entertained for few minutes.