In the time we spent in Ecuador we became part of two families. Actually we already were but until we met the rest of the family members in person it had not really seemed that way, or we had not yet realized it. Since we spent more time with Graciela's family their daily routine, in parts, became our routine. We had bread and cheese in the morning with fresh-squeezed juice and coffee. Dinner was with the entire family at about 1:30. And in the evening there was always a gathering around the dinner table for coffee, leftovers from dinner and conversation.
With Maritza's family our time was considerably shorter so while we did not get to know Francisco and Alicia as well we did get to spend time with them and share our experiences with their daughter. Importantly though we got to see Maritza's home - and quite a bit of the country. Francisco liked to drive!
Part of the Donoso household includes the housekeeper/cook Maria and her helper Favlovia, (Bola). They live downstairs with Maria's mother, and Bola's 8 year old son Hugo. We had a tremendous time with them. Neither spoke English and they were so good-natured about that and our lack of Spanish. We kept working at learning how to say things - it was great. Hugo (pronounced ugo) was like a grandchild to Luis and Marta and the little kid knew how to 'tweak' grandparents! Before we got there he had asked Graciela what her gringo friends would do here. We did the same thing Luis and Marta did when he was around - got 'tweaked'! A really neat boy.
The day before we returned home we went to a cook out at Jorge (Graciela's older brother) and Carmen's home . They have a beautiful home built totally different from the typical home in Quito. They are located on the side of a mountain (who isn't in Quito!) in a more rural area of the city.
Graciela's older brothers and sisters were there as well as some cousins so we got to meet the entire family.