Benito & crew come to town!

My dear friend Benito came to visit us for three weeks in July. He came with an entourage: his husband Cliff, his co-parent Jeffers, their son Jonathan, friend Josh, and in-laws Papa David & Nana Barbara. Benito and family would like to live in a Spanish speaking country for a year in the future, and they were checking out Cuenca as a possibility.

We had such a great visit! Tomu and Jonathan really hit it off. We shared dinners at our house or their AirBnb, played in parks, went up to Cajas for a day hike, checked out the Dali exhibit at Pumapungo Museum, ate out in fancy restaurants, played music, played bridge, made art…and in general enjoyed each others’ company. We don’t get to see each other very often, so it was a real treat to have a long visit.

Benito, Jeffers & Luz at Le Petit Jardin. Benito & Cliff treated us to two fancy dinners there!

One night we went out dancing, Benito, Jeffers, Josh and I. We went to the gay club in town, danced up a storm for an hour straight, then went home. It reminded me of our Peace Corps days 16 years ago, dancing with Benito in Guatemala City & Antigua—that guy can shake a tail feather!

Jonathan wanted to have an art-making day, so Benito hosted us at the Airbnb one morning. The kids painted planets and made owls out of plastic bottles. He introduced Tomu and Jade to the hot glue gun, which we inherited after art-making day. Now sometimes I find myself hot glue gunning with Jade at 6:30 am with Luz on my lap…

Cutie pies!

Our day hike around Laguna Toreadora was epic. It rained the whole time, at times lightly sprinkling, at times more steady rain. It was also pretty windy. I have never seen the trail that muddy or slippery. For most of the way, Tomu and Jonathan hiked together at the front, playing and talking and having a great time. When we were about ¾ of the way around the lake, Tomu started crying. He said he was cold, and he wished we had never come to Cajas today. When we got inside the restaurant, we stripped off our rain gear, and I saw he was completely soaked underneath. I had to buy him new pants & a new sweatshirt from the restaurant in order to help him warm up. Papa David made it the whole way around, at 76 years old!! Wow. The adults had canelazos (warm shots with cinnamon) and locro de papas (potato soup) and the kids had hot chocolate.