Daily Grind

This is Jorge, his wife Ximena and their daughters Diana and Amelia in their very successful and wittily named coffee shop. It's a very small shop - almost a booth really, but in a well chosen spot, facing the Plaza Bolivar and ideally placed to catch passing trade from the plaza, the church and the markets. Despite the limited space, they offer very good coffee (freshly ground for every cup!), four kinds of beer, cupcakes, crepes, bagels... We're there (with the other coffee addicts) when they open at 8.30 am and often in the evenings for a pre-dinner fix, when the plaza, fountains and surrounding buildings (the church, the town hall) light up at 6.30 and to watch the families bring their children to be fascinated by the changing colours in the water.
Jorge has been most entertaining and informative about life in Ecuador and tonight we met his family. Diana and Amelia are both learning English at school. Diana would like more and sometimes comes to the shop to practise with the likes of us. Considering she only gets an hour a week of English classes, her English is very good.
The people we meet seem very happy with their lives. It doesn't seem too much of a 'grind' here anyway. It will be hard to say goodbye to such lovely people in a couple of days...