asakiyume | raincoat, my place in the world, ugly-cute, home invader

One thing I did on this trip was bring along some permanent markers and ask my friends and their kids to write or draw on my raincoat. The result is a wonderful memento that I've already had occasion to use.

Here are two of L and R's kids doing some decorating.

Two children drawing on a blue raincoat

And here's what the back of the raincoat looks like now:

blue raincoat with words and pictures on it

And one sleeve:

blue raincoat sleeve with words and pictures on it

The second-oldest of L and R's kids also gave me this, which I LOVE. I know my kids made things like this in school--I think it's a wonderful activity. This one isn't quite finished: it only goes down as far as the Department of Amazonas (equivalent of a US state), and interestingly, for places in Amazonas, she doesn't include her own town/city, Leticia. It does show Puerto Nariño, a town up the river a bit.

Mi lugar en el mundo/my place in the world (click through to Flickr to see it at a larger size--only possible with this photo; the others are sited here on DW and don't get any larger)

My tutor and her boyfriend took me to some shops that sold local crafts, lots of earrings, bracelets, carved figurines, etc. "How about these?" my tutor would ask me. And I did get some of those things. But then I saw this. "How about THIS!!" I asked. So weird and adorable! I loved it immediately and gave it to my grandson :D

ugly-cute handmade fish toy

And here's Lai! She's a kid goat who lives next door to L & R, but she really, really, really loves their home. She comes in whenever she can, saying "Mehhhh, mehhhh" and generally wanting to be part of the family.

white goat with black legs, a black stripe along her spine, and a black-and brown face