some little american girl somewhere crying

as ive mentioned, my parents came through to visit last week and we had a great time though by the end i was pretty tired. they wore me out walking the city and doing fun things - the problem was that while i worked, they saw estah, so they were recharged. there were too many highlights to put one here and forget the others. i can make a list if you like, but come to think of it - even then i probably wont do it. lets just suffice to say that we did almost everything we could in the week they were here and that they are welcome back whenever they like. ok fine, maybe i will make a little list.

my father managed to rig up a big yarn ball that the cats have been playing with. they are really getting to test out their hunting and fighting skills with that yarn! if i were yarn i would stay away from cats. and whats better is that now they are utilizing their practiced skills on flies. ive seen fat-fat actually catch a fly and was encouraged that next time one of the monster bugs comes he wont leave me unprotected. plus its possible that they get tired out so we can let them in to sleep in our room at night if they want and they will actually sleep and not pounce on my toes or climb all over me or fight with each other under the bed

my mother was able to learn a good bit of spanish while here and actually by the last day when shopping at the market for x amount of scarves, she could bargain and buy on her own. i think she has a natural talent for language - and also for salsa dancing.

my parents were able to reenact their wedding ceremony at the house of an ecuadorian politian/accordian music pop star.

there were a million things. but, the most impressive was that they ate the guinea pig without even batting an eyelash. well, my mother was kind of iffy about it at first until she visited my class and the kids there made it into such a cultural peculiarity that she couldnt not eat it in the end without feeling as though she were snubbing the culture. so she did, and at the restaurant we went to the cuy takes an hour to come out and they dont serve sides while you are waiting so with all of us there trying to kill time while the food was on its way we probably would have eaten rat. it turns out there is some good face meat in the cuy. despìte the fact that there is some little american girl crying at the loss of her guinea pig, we were fed well.

also, my mother was able to conquer her fear of looking out the window of the bus while it hugged the sides of the mountains. we went through cajas during the foggy hours and both parents had a good appreciation of the view and not fear of the potential drop. thats the sign of a good traveler! and, my father was able to sit out back in the patio of my apartment and spot tiny hummingbirds even during twilight and even with his having jsut had eye surgery. maybe they gave him a bionic eye. who knows¿