LATTER CHRISTMAS SEASON 2022
Well, life is always full of surprises and the unexpected. We started off the Christmas season in the previous post, and this post presented us with the winds of fate moving us in directions not anticipated. Our friend Danielita and her husband Javier and their five children invited Gringo friends to their home for an early Christmas dinner party, which they have done on several occasions.
The dinner was fabulous. I had my first Johnny Walker Red and was amazed at how smooth it was. I was expecting a real harsh whisky taste going down, since I never liked whiskey per se. Daniela did a superb job with the turkey and all the trimmings. As their children grow older, I enjoy getting together with them more, because they are more enjoyable to talk to and less rambunctious.
In the above photo on the left is Janet and Buddy McGehee, toward the back is Daniela and her daughter, Paulina, Javier is holding their son, Julian, and has his arm around Wendy, who until recently was the youngest daughter. Scott Pryor is next to me. His wife, Rachael, took ill and was unable to attend.
Below, David is the eldest of the five hijos, and is sixteen now, and goes to a technical school for electronic engineering. David is a fine young man, and I enjoy my time with him. Slowly but surely he is learning more English. Thank God for cell phone translators and Spanglish.
Javier and Danielita are just above me. I never noticed before how much the eldest daughter, Paulina, who is fifteen, looks very much like her mother. Paulina loves futbol and I mean she loves playing futbol. She plays for a futbol team, and to think just a few years ago she and her younger sister, Wendy (13 years) were taking ballet classes until the plandemic hit. Paulina is dedicated to becoming very good with learning English.
Below is the little guy, Julian, who is four years old. How he got to be four so fast is beyond me. It seems like he was just born. Kids don't stay babies and toddlers for very long. He's a cute kid with lots of energy.
Last but far from least is the new addition to the family, Isabela. She is four months old, and until the week before Christmas, she did nothing but sleep all the time. I guess she wanted to be well rested for her first Christmas. She is such a precious sweetie.
The guests were enjoyable, and we had a good time. Danielita looked radiant that evening, little would we expect that she would be in the hospital in a few days.
Javier called me at 11:00 at night last Thursday, the 22nd, to say Daniela was in the IESS hospital, and except for given her some medication to calm her, after hours of being there, the staff for whatever reason was doing nothing. Daniela was having a severe gall bladder attack and a belief by the doctors that she was also suffering from an inflamed pancreatitis. Daniela was in such severe pain, that Javier wanted to remove Daniela from the government IESS hospital to a private hospital.
Luckily, Mathias went with me, so he could handle all the transactions and translations, since Javier speaks very little English and no one would give me any more than a participation trophy for my Spanish level achievement. An x-ray was taken, and then Daniela was scheduled for surgery at 10:00 the following morning. Mathias and I returned to the apartment at 4:00 a.m. Next day was a sleep recovery day. Mathias is the energizer bunny, so it is not very often he sleeps many hours. Me, I make up the difference between the two of us.
Daniela's surgery went just fine, and with the removal of the gall bladder, her inflamed pancreas almost immediately improved, and nothing more had to be done. Daniela is a great mother, and has such love for her children. She was especially concerned about the four month old, because the baby was still nursing. Luckily, the baby took to the bottle while Daniela was in the hospital. The doctors wanted her to remain in the hospital another night, but Daniela wanted to be home with her family, since it was the 23rd and Christmas Dinner and opening gifts is mainly celebrated in Ecuador the next day on Christmas Eve.
This year our Christmas Dinner was taking place as last year at the Rios' home. Maria Rosa was to fix a roast pork since we had turkey for Thanksgiving and I had Daniela's Christmas turkey. The pork never got cooked on Christmas Eve, nor did we get to see the Viajo Nino Parade, which had been put on hold for three years because of the plandemic. Maria Rosa took sick with severe stomach pains. We were not all together at the time, as Mathias took his mother to the hospital. They spent about four or five hours in the emergency ward, and finally Maria Rosa was given injections and different medications to take. When she and Mathias arrived home, it was about 11:00 p.m. Luckily, Pizza House was open and we had delivered a family size pizza, fries, and alitas (chicken wings). Believe it or not, I actually think as I recall that Maria ate some of those fast food items.
I guess the only thing that could have topped our Christmas Eve dinner was to steal a scene from "A Christmas Story", when the the dogs entered Ralphie's home and ran off with the cooked turkey on the dinner table. Ralphie and his family had to eat Chinese in the only restaurant opened on Christmas, while being caroled to by the Chinese staff in broken English. It was the first time Mathias and Esteban saw the movie. They enjoyed it, and it left us with a great sense of a Christmas spirit.
To look at that smile, it is difficult to believe that Maria was just in the hospital with serious stomach pains. Now, she's ready to put
away an entire pizza. Only kidding. Like Danielita, the doctors wanted Maria Rosa to stay overnight for observation. "No way, Jose," Maria was spending Christmas Eve with her familia.
The next day
Maria Rosa felt well
enough to cook the roast and the boys helped her get everything
ready. By evening, Sherry and I arrived, and we sat down to the Roast Pork that had been soaked in tequila. The roast was well worth the wait, and Sherry Nadeau's desserts are always to die for. She is a master at making pastries especially cakes, very moist that just melt in your mouth and are full of flavor.
I enjoyed the way Maria Rosa had all the side dishes of pastas and vegetables arranged on the meat platter.
Above is Mathias Rios and Sherry Nadeau. Mathias has a pose like he is doing some profound mathematical thinking.
We joined hands and gave thanks for our many blessings, that Danielita and Maria Rosa were on the road to recovery, and the fact that we all have each other.
Esteban and Andres Rios
After a sumptuous dinner, we went into the living room to open gifts, while Mathias played the piano.
It was a nice, cozy feeling with the lights of the tree and the fire emanating from the fireplace.
Esteban was ecstat-ic with his new Tom Cruise "Top Gun"(Maverick) Pilot's Jacket, with all the insignias on it.
Esteban is looking forward to be an airline pilot someday.
It is almost impossible to get Esteban to take off his jacket. He said it was only a problem, when he showers while wearing it.
Next it was Andres turn, and he has been very excited for days, since he realized that the biggest package under the tree was his gift. He tore through the packaging, and was thrilled to find that he would have his very own keyboard, just like his older brothers. A little smaller for a beginner.
Andres is thirteen years old. When he was still an infant he fell on his head, went without oxygen for a time, and almost died. He miraculously survived, but he has not been able to learn like other kids his age. Since he entered puberty, he is beginning to show greater brain improvement. He actually speaks a great deal of Spanish, which I was totally unaware of during my first year of knowing him. Now he even throws in a few phrases of English and uses them correctly. He gets shy and self-conscious around strangers, so he doesn't always demonstrate what he knows.
The piano was Mathias' idea, since Andres showed quite an interest in playing on Mathias' keyboard. It will take time for Andres to follow the notes, but he shows promise. I am hoping that Andres' practice will help him to develop more neurological pathways that will allow him to experience more mental success. Andres can't read or write.
The equivalency of Special Ed here in Ecuador would put him in a class of thirty-five students, which is almost impossible for a student to accomplish much. That type of classroom had never worked out for Andres. There are private schools for students like Andres, but the tuition is $5,000 a school year, and with all my other expenses, it is more than I can afford. In the last year, it has been amazing how much he wants to imitate his older brothers. He does the dishes, sets the table, and helps out in anyway that he can, often without being asked. It gives Andres a feeling of competence and accomplishment. We hope Andres will show the same desire to continue to imitate his brothers in learning to play the piano. The big question now is can Andres improve his long-term memory?
So as another Christmas Day came to a close, our thoughts began to focus toward the New Year. Last night, ten of us gathered in Jerry Ramos' apartment in the Palermo. He is located on the 16th floor of what for the time being is still the tallest residential and commercial building in the city. The 17th floor has the pent houses and most are two stories. Therefore, we were well positioned for the midnight fireworks, as we arrive at 10:00 p.m. to enjoy snacks and side dishes everybody brought. All but one of the guests were friends who live in the Palermo. Unless someone lived nearby or has their own car, the taxis are impossible to get as drivers are home with their families enjoying the nighttime festivities.
During the afternoon of the 31st, Maria Rosa, Esteban, and Andres went to El Centro to see the monigotes, which are made of paper mache, stuffed with rags, saw dust, and dressed in old clothes. They can represent people one would like to forget, especially certain politicians, enemies, negative concepts and feelings, whatever allows a cleansing out of the negativity from Viejo Ano, the Old Year. The Monigotes are usually burned on the streets in the evening, and especially around midnight when the fireworks begin to usher in the new year. This year had a new twist, and if it were not for the fact that I lost everything I typed the night before for this blog post in another strange twist of fate, and had to start all over I would have gone with the three of them, but at least, that to Maria Rosa, you can get an idea of what the Manigoties are all about from her three brief videos below.
Certain spots in El Centro have monigotes setup in scenes. I hope they expand this concept next year. It was great. I would not be surprised if some of these monigotes find their way into the January 6th night-time parade, which begins about 9/10 p.m. and ends about 1;00 a.m. I developed my hacking dry cough again last night after I thought I finally had it all behind me, so if it gets better by Friday and if it is not raining that evening, I hope to catch something of the Christmas activities with the big night-time parade. I have missed so many activities this holiday season, mainly due to illness that now I hope next year will be a different story.
Here are three brief videos of the Monigotes in El Centro:
Link for the video of Monigotes at DownTown:
https://youtu.be/E3cSFhRULcA
Link for the Video of the church lights display:
https://youtu.be/LO3FBWSlEnY
Link for the video of burning Monigote at Palermo Building:
https://youtube.com/shorts/MACpz79C3vk
2023 Greetings TO Family and Friends Alike. May we all enjoy prosperity, find unity in working together, and recognize that without Jesus Christ as the center of our lives, everything else is meaningless.
Maria Isabel Latta
