Sixto Durán Ballén

We just had an incredible night.  First to just catch up on the day though (save the fun stuff), we went to the supermercado this morning to stock up on food and made a good lunch of fresh salad with avocado and tomatoes, lasagna, and my favorite new juice, mora.  Afterwards we had a bit of a slow early afternoon, Alicia is leaving for the coast with her family tomorrow and was getting everything settled, so cleaned up, made fresh cinnamon bread, and read.  However, after, we went with Alicia to her parents' home in northern Quito, and as I recently learned her father was actually the president of Ecuador from 1992-1996!  Everyone knows him as Sixto, and he spent his whole life in public service, as a congressman, minister of housing, mayor of Quito for two terms, President, Prime Minister, and Ambassador to the U.K.  He is an incredibly sweet and humble man, now 91 and happily living with his wife of 67 years, Fina.  They met in New York when they were in school/training, she is a nurse from New Orleans, and they have nine children.  Still happily married and affectionate, they are quite an inspiration.  We spent the afternoon with them talking, looking at his awards and memorabilia, and his expansive stamp collection.  It was so fun to look through everything, including pictures with Queen Elizabeth, old campaign posters, plaques and many awards.  And what's in their house isn't everything!  They also have an awards room at their home on the coast and there is currently an exhibit at a local college dedicated to him!  He is so highly decorated that Alicia said when he went to meet the Queen in full dress he had to remove some of his medals because no one can enter who is more decorated than her!  He said being mayor of Quito was his favorite office, Fina's too, because he could visibly see what was and wasn't getting done and Fina was able to handle the health and family agenda which is her speciality.  Likewise, being an ambassador was the most fun with the least amount of work.  His stamp collection was also stunning.  He began it when he was 8 or 9 and has 150 books full of stamps from around the world.  They acquire each one thru an actual letter or trade.  I learned there are clubs and societies where you meet people from other places who also collect and begin corresponding to help each other get the stamps.  I couldn't believe how many he has, dating back to the 1800s.  His son Sixto has been helping to get it all organized and they plan on passing it down through the family. We were certainly awestruck and humbled by him, and it was an honor to sit and listen to him talk and learn about his stamp collection.  I can only hope to do a fraction of what he has accomplished.