Arrowsmiths in Ecuador: Happy Birthday, Sofia!

Sofia has the distinction of being the first of us to celebrate a birthday in Ecuador. And within 3 weeks of our arrival, which filled me with a little bit of dread. What can we do to make it special? Will we know anyone to justify throwing a little party? Where do we find a birthday cake? (I have not attempted to bake at this high altitude yet and didn't think such a special dessert should be my 1st attempt.) However, we have made friends with kids quickly so we put together a little gathering. Having a birthday in January and living in Oregon has doomed Sofia to a lifetime of indoor birthday parties, so we thought we should take advantage of having a "summer" birthday while living in the southern hemisphere and have her party outside at our favorite park.

Birthday Girl!

We are at the stage when the command,
"Smile!" gets you this face.

Setting up the party, no rain in sight

Cuenca's weather is a little like Florida or Hawaii… the late morning and early afternoon are sunny and warm, but there is often a mid-late afternoon rain shower. And the day of Sofia's party was no different! The rain started coming down about 30 minutes into the outdoor festivities. Luckily, our guests are very accommodating people and walked the 3 blocks in the rain to our apartment to continue the party.

An appetizer of cake was followed by a (mostly) dry walk to Sofia's favorite "Ecuadorian" restaurant, Fabiano's, for a pizza dinner. Good times were had by all! A special shout-out goes to our new friend, Rich, for many of the fabulous photos in this post. You will be seeing more of his work in upcoming posts, as his daughter, Clara, is becoming a fast-friend of Sofia's.

-- Ileana