My second major comfort in Quito came as I strolled through the Plaza del Teatro, a famous landmark in Quito. The cobbled plaza sprawls out in front of the Teatro Nacional Sucre, and seems to be a popular spot for people to rest and for little Ecuadorian boys to chase the adorable local girls. I was trying to find a coffee shop called El Cafeto, which was rumored to have the best organic Ecuadorian coffee in Quito. I found the street, Calle Chile, and headed down in a direction open only to pedestrians. For whatever reason, I can resist no drum beat. As soon as I hear a drum my ears perk up, my interst is piqued and I follow the rythm. I heard drumming upon turning onto Chile and forgot about my coffee mission. As I approached I noticed that the drummers were very small. Now, many Ecuadorians are tiny people--my five-foot frame is on the taller end of the spectrum of people I pass on the streets of Quito. On further inspection, I realized that the drummers were children, not just tiny 'ecuatorianos'. There was a taller man with them, who was wearing a very interesting hat with what I can only call 'swag' or 'flare' all over it. The children all had different, interesting, swag-y hats on as well, and other flared-up accesories and pieces of clothing. I was immediately transported to Oregon Country Fair and to the wacky streets of Portland. I was mesmerized. On top of the get-up, the children were actually drumming quite well. The man, who I learned later is their father, didn't have a beautiful singing voice, but something about it was striking. His words, his weathered voice and the way he interacted so proactively and encouragingly with the children to steer the rythm, all the while letting them flow and make art was hauntingly beautiful. At one point he took off his nearly worn-out sandals and began to dance around the children, just singing and obviously enjoying their rythm. It was an amazing moment to happen upon. At another point he grabbed a saxophone that had been leaning aagainst the two-tone stuccoed wall and began playing and dancing. I imagined the dances to be traditionally inspired, but they were so similar to those of the Oregon hippies that I honestly can't be sure. He may have just been jamming out hippy quiteño-style. If such a style didn't already exist, this man and his children--Ruco y los Guagua Pichincha, named for one of Quito's volcanoes--are blazing the trail for it. When I finally looked up from the spectacle, I happened to be one door down from El Cafeto. The coffee was just as good as I had heard, and made better by the fabulous performance I had just witnessed. I felt as though I had been privy to a secret performance of a family of musicians that could only be a fantasy for all their outrageous comstumery and deliciously improvised rhythms. I went back to speak with them after my coffee. I wanted names and ages. Hell, I wanted to take them all home with me. The father was very kind and, despite their obvious poverty, well-spoken. He informed me that the children do not go to school, that they teach themselves about mathematics, literature and the world through the computer. I told him that sometimes that's the best way to really learn. He liked that I said that. His name is Fabian Velasco and I didn't ask his age. The oldest boy, who wore a gold, sequined cowboy hat is Jacinto Ariruma. He is 13-years-old. His younger brother is 12-years-old and is called Moisés Calcu Chimak. The little beauty who blew me away at the ripe age of 10 is Selva Nina Linda Bella Aurora (at least that's what her brother Jacinto wrote down for me). If that's not a hippy name, then I don't know what is.