Arrival

Last Saturday, after what I hoped was my last blast of cold air for the year, I boarded the plane. We got about as far as the perimeter before we turned back to the Wpg airport (apparently certain planes aren´t fit for Wpg winters). So I arrived in Quito one day late. My luggage, however, was not so lucky. I prepared for this by strategically packing my carry on, but thanks to heightened security, no carry ons were allowed. But, a passport and a toothbrush can take you a long way, and I am back in Otavalo today (a 2.5 hour bus ride from the project site) to be reunited with my things.

Our house is quite remote, near a very small village. There are six other volunteers (2 from Aus, 2 from England, 1 from Scotland, and 1 from California - a good mix). There is a volleyball court in the centre of a nearby town, where the seven of us played yesterday. I think the local people where quite entertained by seven gringos playing horrible volleyball - they had a good laugh. The countryside is georgeous...it´s nice to be around mountains again. It´s supposed to be the rainy season but climate change is messing things up and it hasn´t rained yet. This is bad news for the crops, but I am enyoying the sun. I´m loving learning about the research here and issues affecting the local ecosystem. Our house is at about 2000m; walking up hill is a bit more difficult, but other than that no altitude sickness. I learned a decent number of Spanish words before I came, but I´m not so good at formulating sentences yet. There´s a woman in the village that teaches Spanish so I´m sure I will be able to improve. So, other than wearing the same clothes for the last few days, everything is going very well.

Until next time,
S.