You may recall that there is a four-story building on the same property where I live. On the ground floor there is a cyber cafe and the upper three floors have one apartment each. The couple who live on the third floor have three adorable children and the other day they let me take their pictures.
If the parents don't mind, the kids always have fun with it because I let them see themselves on the back of the camera after I take each shot. That always makes them smile and be up for more pictures.
Oh how I wish I could remember the oldest boy's name. It's something like Ariel but that's not right. One of these days I'll actually remember it after he tells me what it is. I'd guess he's about 7 or 8 and he's the shyest of the three.
Here are Daniela and Matias playing in the fountain. They had so much fun with that! It was great to watch them. There was water in both the top and center section so it was a perfect place for kids to play. The housekeeper was picking Daniela up so she could stand on the middle section of the fountain and play in the top section while the housekeeper held onto her. She was only there for a few seconds before she decided she'd rather play down where her brother was.
Don't you just love the look on Daniela's little face? She made it especially for the camera.
She found a little avocado on the ground and was washing it in the fountain. Well, she was also pounding it on the concrete so I don't think it ever had much of a chance of ripening. Did you know avocados never ripen on the tree? I just found that out a few weeks ago when I was trying to find out if there's any way to freeze them since I had about five that needed to be eaten or preserved very, very soon. By the way, there is. If you puree them with 1 tablespoon of lemon or lime juice per avocado you can freeze them with great success. I'll use mine for a cream of avocado soup when the time comes.
Matias is giving his little hot wheels car a wash, too.
What a face. It's lovely when the kids are out there playing and I hear their little giggles coming across the courtyard.
One of the things I see here that I don't see nearly so much in the States is the ability kids here have to entertain themselves with very little in the way of toys. Matias had his little hot wheels car but neither of the other two had anything when they came outside. Daniela found the avocado and her oldest brother didn't seem to need anything. He played with each of his siblings and helped them with what they were doing. I see this all the time with kids who are out playing. They play swords with sticks or practice their futbal (soccer) moves with stones. There is some kind of game, the name of which I really need to learn, played with a top and stones. It takes great skill and the tops appear to be quite old in most cases, indicating a lot of practice.
Mostly what I notice with children is how content most of them are with far fewer toys than I saw in the States. Of course this is a generalization and I know of a little boy who has a room devoted to his toys and he seems unhappy far more than many of the children I see. I have also seen children in the States who were happy with the most meager of toys. It's simply a matter of how much more often I see it here. I also try to remind myself that I live in a small town and it may be very different in a big city.
I'll be going to Quito for a week next month and I'll have an opportunity to see how things seem to be there. In fact, I'll be seeing how many, many things are there.
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