Buenas Noches!  We (Alicia, Heather, Sydney and I) just returned from an evening venture down to La Ronda, a newly developed area that is full of restaurants, cafes, and stores.  It was a big spot about 100 years ago and the town hall recently restored it after it took a turn for the worse.  It's now a very fun place with a lot of tourists and attractions.  We went to get hot chocolate from a cafe called Khipus, which sells gourmet chocolates and drinks from Ecuador.  It was delicious!  However, on our way there we stopped in a store Baggie had found that restores old instruments and teaches music lessons.  Inside we found the composer Huberto Santa Cruz who happily showed us around to the two hundred year old pianos with open backs and performed with four of his students.  He mentioned he had wanted to teach classes at CV and gave Alicia a copy of his CD, asking to start at Casa Victoria this fall!  He then had one of his students perform for us, an original song that won a contest he recently entered.  It was rather impressive and very fun!  Much more than we expected, we honestly weren't sure we would be able to leave!  

Anyway, we eventually made our way to Khipus where we met a couple, Ron and Sunitha, who are visiting from Chicago.  Ron spent time in Ecuador during his residency and they are back for vacation.  We talked with them about the city, their work (he is a family practitioner who has done a lot of work with HIV/AIDS and she is a psychologist) and we told them about Casa Victoria.  It was fun to talk about the South American culture, family, weddings, and their experience here.  We talked extensively about family traditions, and how different it is in America.  Heather and Sydney spent most of this past week with their friend's family in northern Quito, where they met 150 people at 8 different reunion and spent days together eating, dancing, and talking.  Meals last for hours and parties for an entire day, which is very different from the typical American ones where everyone is rushing off to do something else.  About two years ago I was in Colombia for a family wedding, and certainly noticed how much longer and more relaxed interactions are, and how weddings go late into the night with everyone dancing.  Ron and Sunitha are Indian, and told us about her family and how they spend time together and visit very often for birthdays, graduations, parties, and reunions.  I really admire this type of family culture and tradition.  I love the big dinners in my family, partially stemming from our Italian roots, and enjoy hearing about other customs.  Afterwards they took us to their hotel on La Ronda, a beautifully restored building with gorgeous stenciling on each wall and above the doors with a beautiful view of the city.  It's a bit expensive but I hope to stay there one day (maybe).  We walked back afterwards, marveling at how the short outing had turned into something much more fun.  Ron and Sunitha are coming for breakfast in the morning.  We're very excited to show them Casa Victoria!