BIRTHDAY WEEKEND, day #2, Saturday

Saturday was Juan Gabriel's  11th Birthday -- Yolanda  had told me they were coming at 11am with a surprise....well, it was closer to noon but here they came with a big box from the bakery &  inside a fancy decorated cake "for the 2 birthday celebrants" .....  we decided that before we had cake we would take them to Bertuchi's Italian Restaurant  for some hamburgers so we walked around the corner and had a yummy lunch.   We always enjoy watching Juan Gabriel eat, he is so serious about it -- manners are impeccable and says that everything is  "muy delicioso"....

   

We wanted to make this a special birthday for him,  so we went to the Mall del Rio - Cuenca's largest shopping center - they had never been there....Ricardo showed them all around the mall while I shopped for Juan Gabriel's school clothes....by they time they got to Coral  (Cuenca's Walmart) I had found the white long sleeved shirt he needed,  white turtle neck,  navy pants and black socks...all they had to do was verify sizes,  and then we got groceries.....

Back to the house so we could all rest a little before dinner....wanted to take him to Tacanijo for some good Mexican food --- we all enjoyed a really spicy, savory dinner and then back to the house....

Susana and Bertha were waiting -- they had planned a surprise party....and about 20 of the family came with a beautiful cake,  pizza, and presents!

It was such a lovely evening with such good friends....

As a side note ..... we had a chance during lunch to talk to Yolanda about her finances.....for those of us who have so much  (even tho we think we are poor retired people on a fixed income ) we have no realization of how little other people in other lands have to live on.....Yolanda has her chicken business beside house cleaning,  but boy does she have to work to make a little money....she has to butcher the chickens every morning,  pluck them,  wash them and deliver them  --- she makes between .35  and .50  PER CHICKEN  --- she had a really good day and sold  47 chickens -  but that only makes her about $23 at best,  that doesn't even pay for Juan Gabriel's school clothes -- good thing we bought them for him!   It's a tough life but she never complains,  just thanks God for what they have!!  And it really made me appreciate even more that beautiful cake from the bakery that she bought.....