Sunday January 20th

I slept in again today, and when I got up and went downstairs for breakfast, Lucía’s granddaughter Isabela was here. She’s fifteen but looks as least as old as I do. Lucía tried to tell me where we were going to go, but I didn’t entirely understand. Isabela explained to me that they were talking about a club with pools, and though I at least understood the words of her fluent English, it still didn’t make a whole of sense. I wasn’t worried, though, and just went along with whatever was happening.

The three of us went out to a shopping center on Av. Amazonas so Isabela could get a Munroe piercing. She had had one before, but it came out when she was drinking water and she swallowed it. The guy in the piercing shop, however, said he only did tattoos and to come back tomorrow.

Lucía drove back to her house and picked up her neighbor, whose name I have forgotten despite spending the whole day with her. I want to say it was Estrada, but I’m not entirely sure of that. We drove to the private community where Sylvia, Lucía’s daughter, lives, and dropped off Isabela, and then left Quito and drove into the valley, to Cumbaya. In Cumbaya we went through another private community called La Jacaranda and picked up another of Lucía’s friends, Pelito.

The club she was talking about was another ten or fifteen minutes past Cumbaya, in Puembo. I was told several times that it’s the best private club in Quito and the surrounding area, for members only, and very expensive. To get me in without questions, Lucía told the guard at the gate that I was her daughter, Kati Bermeo.

The place was huge and beautiful, at the top of a mountain. We wandered down to the riding ring to watch the guy who was there jump his horse, and then we walked back up to the main clubhouse. I took lots of pictures out back, where there was part of their golf course with an incredible view of valley and mountains, sun and clouds. The four of us had lunch at the restaurant and then found a deserted dining room upstairs in which to play cards.

I wasn’t sure how well I would be able to learn a card game without English, but I gave it a go anyway, and I was glad I did. They taught me Mexican Rummy (Rumi Mexicano), and I watched the first game and played the next two. They play with real money, but the stakes are very small, so I wasn’t worried. I lost the first game pretty spectacularly, going from two dollars to thirty cents, and I was on the verge of having to bow out of the second game due to lack of coins when I started winning. By the end of the game, I had actually made ninety-five cents, and Lucía had bought two of my American quarters off me because she found them interesting. They teased me that I learned too fast.

By that time it was almost 6:30, so we dropped off Pelito, then Estrada, and then went home. I was about to take a shower when Lucía said she was going to visit Isabela and asked if I would like to go. I said sure, and we went back into the fancy gated community. It was the Ecuadorian version of the Flume in Amherst; huge, fancy houses hidden behind high walls. Lucía’s house is very nice, but I walked into Sylvia’s place making an effort to keep my mouth from hanging open.

We weren’t there long; visitors are frequent in this country, but they never seem to stay more than twenty minutes. Lucía visited with Sylvia, who she told me afterwards is sick with multiple sclerosis, and I went upstairs with Isabela. We watched TV and talked, and I met her older sister María. When we returned to the house, I did finally get my shower – and there was even hot water.

Tomorrow I start classes with my Spanish placement exam at 8:30 am. Lucía’s going to go with me to the school so I can find my classroom, but I’m on my own after that. Wish me luck!