Rosalie has the house above us on the hill. At 56 she is a loving grandma. While her daughter is at work she looks after Carmila her granddaughter. When we visited she was doing the washing because, she told us, Carmila is a grubby little granddaughter, always playing in the dirt and mud. I had to admit she was right, when Carmila came out with mud up to her little shins and a purple stain on her shirt and cheeks.
She was interested in the fact that we had no children. She had 7 and her daughter was on her way to following in her mother’s footsteps. Carmila is 2½ years old, and her mum 19. It’s hard to explain this difference in culture without talking about education, family planning and feeling condescending. It’s also hard to explain how we have no land, no house and little money, but can travel the world, while she has 3 plots of land, 2 houses and a little money but has never left Ecuador.
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