After (mostly) sleeping in, we awoke this morning refreshed, and had a nice breakfast of pastries that Heidi and Corina left with us last night.
At last it was time to walk the Santa Cruz streets and grab a bus to go to see Don Hector and Do{n~}a Lucila, Yoli’s parents.
As usual, the bus ride made for an artful display of driving prowess. The close calls, the sudden stops, the mad dashes for holes in traffic. There’s nothing quite like it.
Walking to and from the bus stops, the girls got a reminder in Bolivian sidewalks, which vary in style, construction, height, and existence from house to house.
We had a lovely, relaxing visit. The kids had fun digging in the sand with their cousin Kuko and playing on the slide and teeter-totter. Joseph admired his Abuelito’s collection of motorcycles, Ludi helped Abuelita stock her __kiosko__, and the kids got a kick out of the cats and chickens.
For lunch, Do{n~}a Lucila prepared majadito, which is rice with chicken, eggs, and fried plantains. It was very good.
Afterward I showed Don Hector how to hook up the cables of his DVD player and Yoli showed him how to play Angry Birds on his cell phone. Then he showed the girls how to play harmonica (Jadzia and Ludi brought harmonicas from home).
Eventually Yoli’s sister Eliza came with her children Melany, Rebeka, and Daniel. They had a task to perform first: burying a dead pet dog. Once that was finished, we had a nice visit. Melany, who already knows violin, showed off her new mandolin skills.
The girls didn’t want to leave, but eventually we headed back home for dinner. While they waited for dinner to arrive, the kids seem to have made friends with one or two of the kids who live here at the guesthouse.
After dinner, the girls decided to play “security.” They were inspecting anyone who came through the various gates, interviewing me, and issuing ID cards. I guess yesterday’s experiences really soaked in.
Melany is all grown up! She is so lovely. I adore the photos of Yoli’s parents with the children.
The pictures are very lovely. Good to see you all had a good time visiting! The breakfast looks pretty good right now!