Ecuador Day 13

Saturday Dec 17th
Today we decided to get up early and head out for a day of taking in Cuenca...We got a taxi to down town and went to the Tourism office there...the lady (she spoke English) =), told us of the best museum to go to and that it closes on Saturdays at 1, so we decided to go to that during the week...there were several shops we wanted to visit from a list I found on the OSSO website that the American volunteers have recommended.  We went to a shop called Galapagos...Laura is the owner and she was so happy to meet Adriana and made us feel at home in her store.  It was neat to look around and see all the fun things she had there.  Adriana (and Zac) feel in love with this large rain stick....but we decided it wasn't needed and would most likely be an issue getting it home...since it is about 5 feet long...oh well.

Adriana has been watching this Dora Christmas movie we brought and in it, Boots opens a set of maracas and every time he does Adriana gets so excited...so we found her a set of maracas! She loves them...and we liked the cost...$1.50!

I had been hoping to get a traditional Ecuadorian dress as a keepsake type item for Adriana...and when we visited the Casa De La Mujer, which is where the Indiginous people from Otovolo come to sell items...we found it!  After some bargaining with the lady, I was able to get exactly what I wanted....Tiffanie....I need to schedule a photo shoot of her in this outfit before she outgrows it!

Growing?! Yes, I think Adriana has already put on atleast 5 pounds since she started living with us last friday...maybe more...Zac and I laugh because we know she's our kid because she eats like Zac and she rubs her feet together at night when she is going to sleep like I do!  Love it!

After doing some shopping and enjoying some of the cathedrals, we decided it was time to eat...while standing in line at Raymipapa's (also recommended on the OSSO list and right next to the "new" cathedral) three of the volunteers from OSSO came walking by...Adriana was SO exited!  She gave all of them hugs and we took some pictures...We got seated at Raymipapa's and felt a little uncomfortable as people were very curious of us...lots of looks and that awkward moment when you look up to see people looking at you..oh well...starting to get used to it...We all had this very good potato soup....Adriana loves soup...I had ordered this traditional Ecuadorian dish that included a black sausage...I didn't eat the sausage...but learned later that the black sausage is black because of the blood that is used to mix the meat together that's inside it...(holding back my vomit as I write this)  EWWWW...I thought I was being brave and venturing to do a traditional dish...yeah, bad idea!

We headed home as it was starting to rain pretty good (it has rained every day..usually around 2:30 for a couple hours).  We attempted to put Adriana down for a nap, but she wasn't interested, so we played some play dough and I made dinner...the hamburger, rice, vegetable combo that has little to no flavor but fills you up. =)

Zac and I started watching Modern Family tonight...I have heard several people say they enjoy the show...it is very funny....I have mixed feelings about it...but it was nice to just zone out and feel as if we were just hanging out at home watching a show....