Camila's family

Camila is the 12 year old girl who I am tutoring English, on the side for an hour 2x/week.  Because I am busy,  I wasn't sure about taking on another commitment, but boy am I happy that I did!  Her parents invited me to have lunch out with them yesterday.  (I think this was sort of a way of saying thank you.)  We went to the same restaurant that I went to back in the fall with my students.  This restaurant is known for its cuy, guinea pig.  They thought that they would be introducing me to cuy, but the fact is, I have now had it more times that I can count.  Lunch was lovely & I met Camila's older sister & mother.  (I had already met her father as he is the 1 who brings her for tutoring.)  They are a lovely, interesting family from whom I learned a lot.  The about 23-year-old older daughter speaks English quite well.  She is very enterprising,  traveling to Miami 2x/year, buying as many items of clothing as she can, returning here & selling them again, making a profit, but still selling them at a cheaper price than what many of the clothes in the local stores charge.  I had no idea that this happens.  I also learned that many local people buy lots of things on Amazon (electronics, clothes, etc.) as it costs less than buying them locally even with the added cost of shipping.

Today I went with Camila's family to their weekly Sunday family gathering with ALL the relatives--grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles--everyone.  There were about 30 people at the home of one of the aunts & uncles.  It was so much fun being with all of them.  Their warmth and the fact that they clearly enjoy each other emanates from each & every one of them.  The family is vegetarian so we had vegetarian lasagna, with broccoli & spinach, a welcome change.  Mostly they wanted me to talk in English so that the children would have the opportunity to speak with a native English speaker.  Most of the various cousins speak English quite well.  In fact, 3 were born in the U.S.  One cousin, who is 13 years old, would like to show me around the city, practicing his English.  Unfortunately there are only so many hours in the day, but I said that we could get together from time to time.  His family suggested that I go with them to Paute, a town about 40 minutes from here, where they have a home.  I have been invited back to have lunch with them again in a couple of weeks at Camila's family's home.  I feel so fortunate to have these wonderful experiences.