In care gorohe Gorokhovsky lane is an old and famous place. In the XVI century. there was a path that crossed the sovereign's Pea Field, which stretched in the floodplain of the Yauza River. From those times left the name of the alley and the expression "under the king of Peas". In the time of Peter the Great, foreign nationals — traders, craftsmen, military men, and diplomats — began to settle on the border of the Pea field near the Kukui brook. House 12 was built in the 1830s. Its first owner was Second Lieutenant Maria Vasilyevna Bulygina, nee Sheremetyeva, whose husband Ivan Fedorovich served under the General Staff and was related to the poet Fedor Tyutchev. In the middle of the century, State Councilor K.V. Pazhenkopf, who ordered the restructuring of the facade to the architect Alexander Osipovich Vivien in 1881. In 1900, the building was owned by the Mezhevoy Institute, located in the same alley in the former Demidov Palace. After the revolution, residential buildings of land surveyors were nationalized, and in the house 12, like in others, Soviet institutions were located. 35 years ago, the house was handed over to the embassy of Ecuador. Historical background of Elena Savinova

SALON: What impression did the house make on you when you first arrived in Moscow?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Of course, we immediately liked the house. But it was almost empty. Empty rooms, empty walls. We brought our personal belongings, bought new furniture, not everything that we would like, but it is enough that our family and guests who come to us feel comfortable here.

SALON: The house is the residence of the ambassadors of Ecuador for a very long time. Are there really nothing left from the previous owners?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Something left, of course. Some furniture has been here since the first ambassador of Ecuador moved into this house - it happened 35 years ago. I think it was he who bought the furniture, which is now in the living room and dining room - it is very old. But usually each ambassador brings his own things into the house: small pieces of furniture, paintings, decor objects.

S: This house is different from those in which you had to live earlier?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: In Paraguay, we occupied a large house, in Italy - not a very large apartment, but for the first time we live in a house that resembles a small palace. There are high ceilings, and he himself is beautiful, albeit small.

S: What does your own home look like in Ecuador?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: In Quito, we have not a house, but an apartment. It is completely different, more modern. Big.

S: Did you invite a decorator to make it?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: No, it never crossed my mind. I designed it myself, like all the houses we have ever lived in.

Mr. Ponce Alvarado: Quito lies in a valley among the mountains, the sun shines there for a whole year, the days are warm and the nights are cool. Around the expanse. When you open the windows, you have snowy peaks of mountains. In Moscow, the terrain is flat, the houses look out the windows in the windows. True, there are many trees and old beautiful houses, which are not in our country. In Ecuador, the houses are mostly modern.

S: Quito is called the city of eternal spring, but people joke about Russia that we have nine months winter is white and three are green. How do you like our climate?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Before we came here, everyone told us that the climate in Russia was awful, the winters were monstrous, the temperature was down to -30 degrees. But my first winter turned out to be quite pleasant, perhaps I easily transferred it, because I knew that we would live here only a few years. In fact, I even liked the winter. I had to wear winter clothes - in our country I never had such a chance, because it was warm all the time. However, after three - four months I already dreamed about the sun, about the heat ...

Mr. Ponce Alvarado: Moscow is very beautiful under the snow, for us it is so unusual.

S: Is it difficult to be a diplomat's wife?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: It was hard at the very beginning. We met at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, I worked there from 1980 to 1990. When we got married, I had to quit. I used to work, so it was not easy for me. And then everything was fine. In Moscow, I am occupied much less than before when we lived in Latin America. She organized a small club for Ecuadorian women living in Russia, participating in the work of an international women's club ...

S: Do you have two children?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Yes, to the son - 18, daughters - 15. The son studies at university in France, he comes in the summer for holidays, and the daughter lives with us, studies at the French school in Moscow. Fortunately, our children have always adapted well in different countries. Daughter feels great here.

S: Do you often have to move?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: My husband worked for 33 years in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before Russia, we lived in Peru, Brazil, Italy, Argentina, Paraguay. Mr. Ponce Alvarado: When we come to a new place, I immediately start working, but my family - wife, son and daughter - should get used to a new life, a new language, new people. It is very difficult, especially considering that diplomats change a country every five to six years.

S: What do you do in your free time?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: On weekends we walk around the city a lot, find some nice places, small restaurants ... I love the theater, the conservatory - cultural life is much more active here than in other countries. If you wish, you can go every evening to the concert, then to the ballet or to the opera. And of course, like all people, we go to stores and to the market.

S: And cook yourself too?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Honestly, I do not like to cook, although, of course, sometimes I have to. I have a helper, she’s with me for 15 years, she usually cooks.

S: Do you like Russian cuisine?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Yes, especially borscht and salad from beets and nuts. And you have amazing salmon. We can't get it.

S: Do you collect anything?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Small boxes. I have Ecuadorian boxes, Iranian, Dominican, Peruvian - different. I really like the Russian painted boxes, but they are quite expensive.

S: Pictures you brought with you?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Almost all. These are mainly paintings by Ecuadorian artists, and the city depicted on most of them is Quito.

S: Do you often go home to Ecuador?

Mrs. Hurado Sanchez: Unfortunately not. It is quite expensive and far. The flight from Moscow to Quito takes 20-25 hours. We have not been home for a year and a half, but we are going there soon. I hope this can be done.