Ecuador Day 16

Tuesday Dec. 20th
Today we all woke up early..as we all had went to bed quite early...Zac worked while Adriana and I played...John had invited us to go into the Cajas National Park and we were able to head up there mid morning...we went from Cuenca at about 8000ft to the peak of the Cajas which is about 15,000...we got out to take a short hike to see a view...and we were all winded!  It was quite a view and quite an experience.  We stopped at a local restaurant that serves a tea that the Indiginous people make that is supposed to help with altitude sickness...none of us are having issues with that...but it was still yummy tea!  We also got to see several free ranging Llama's which was pretty neat as well...just hanging out, sitting in the middle of the highway!
We also went to this hostel that is known for their trout dishes....It was the best meal we have had in quite some time!  While at the restaurant, I had ordered potatoe soup that we've had at other places as I knew Adriana loves it....I was trying to help Adriana and was unable to eat my own soup or pour my cola from the bottle..(mom's you know how it is...but we're used to it) anyway...I could see the waitress continue to watch me...first she came over and poured my cola into the glass...then she went back to her perching post and continued to watch me...then she came over and picked up Adriana's spoon and started to feed her!  I was guessing it was kind of a customary thing here, so I didn't say anything....however, Adriana started choking!  She was able to cough up the piece that she was choking on, but I think the waitress felt bad...and I nicely told her I could finish feeding Adriana and I would be OK...she did continue to make sure my glass was full of the cola from my bottle. =)
On the way home from the Caja's we saw an Indiginous funeral..people walking down the street...a large number of people and at the front of the group were several men carrying the casket high in the air...there were also people playing instruments as well...a very unique thing to see..
When we got home, Priscilla, our lawyer, and her brother (who is in town visiting for Christmas from Canada and speaks a bit of English...so he was helping to translate) came over to let us know INFA has still not released Adriana's file and is saying that it won't be ready until January!  Ug!  Priscilla told us that she had called the INFA office in Quito to complain as well as our agency rep in Quito, Maria Jose, and that phone calls were placed and INFA was going to get it to us sooner....Priscilla was thinking we could get it as early as tomorrow (Wednesday)...we can't have court until we have that file...
Priscilla also told us we would need to go to a notary to get a Power of Attorney signed for after Zac leaves so I can continue on with the rest of the process in order to bring Adriana home...so after three different notary offices, we found one that would do it for us (turns out later they only agreed to do it for a small "extra" fee)
Priscilla let us know she would call us tomorrow to let us know if she got the papers from INFA...we were so hopeful to be able to spend Christmas in Quito with our friends, but the chances of that are getting slimmer...