We were super lucky to have made friends with a family from Cuenca. We met the wife in the airport in Quito and they have been so kind and generous towards us. This past week, we invited them over for lunch and I made soup that didn't have enough salt! Our friends adore Maeve just like every other person in Ecuador. Her bottom scoot is so unique and endearing. 

We've generally found that the men here in Cuenca are more friendly than the women. I've had a harder time making friends than Conor has, which could just be because of me? I don't know. The woman at church are kind but they aren't as warm and friendly as the women in Quito. We are hanging on to the friendships we have and working to forge new ones. 

I've "gone native"! This past week, I made chicken stock from chicken feet. Here's the problem, I can't buy ready made stock at the grocery store. So I have to make my own, which I do all the time at home, however, at home, I use the bones from a whole roasted chicken, never chicken feet. Well that all changed! At the market, I bought chicken feet, $1 for a pound. When I told the vendor that this was my first time buying chicken feet for stock, she very kindly threw in a couple extras!

Thanks to google, I found out that I needed to pre boil the feet and then cut off the claws (gag!). And then let them simmer for 4 hours. I did it and the stock is really good. It's been helpful to have on hand for some recipes. Soup is a huge staple here in the Andes of Ecuador. Stock makes everything taste better.

Couldn't help but take some pictures. This experience showed me how far removed from my food I am in America. People handle their meat so differently here. In America, there is so much fear about what we eat and so many are timid when handling raw meat, myself included. 

We live just a few minutes from a great free museum that also has incan ruins, an incan garden and an aviary. We've walked over there twice and I hope to go a couple more times! The outside area is really pretty and so fun to walk around. The girls loved the aviary. I'm trying hard to get outside despite the rain.

Inside the museum is an exhibit about the Shuar tribes of the Amazon. The Shuar people shrink the heads of their enemies and in the museum, there are a few different shrunken heads on display. It's pretty bananas. Shrunken human heads are now illegal, but there's still black market demand. A part of the Shuar culture that still exists is an initiation into manhood. A boy goes into the jungle with a green plantain. Before the plantain ripens, he must return with a shrunken head of a sloth. The lighting of the exhibit prevented me from taking any great photos of the shrunken heads, so you'll just have to google that!

Almost daily, I find all my daughters hanging out in the pantry. I'm not entirely sure what is so amazing about this room, but it seems to lure them in. Maeve is constantly getting in there to chew on whatever she can find and when Holly and Greta are in the pantry, Maeve will throw a big stink to be included. Maybe it's the microwave? We haven't had one in our home for over 5 years so I think it seems to be magical to my daughters, Holly especially. Holly has heated up countless mugs of water and the girls like to make "carrot cake" by slicing carrots and microwaving them. It's hilarious! I couldn't help but capture a few pictures of my three girls all hanging out. It's really sweet to watch their sisterhood grow. 

If someone is brushing their teeth within view of Maeve, she has to have a toothbrush herself! The other day, I found her sitting on the couch with Greta giving Greta's teeth a brush and occasionally her own. I had a good laugh about that. Maeve is developing a stronger sense of self right now. And we totally indulge her!