Blog-
The last few days have been pretty crazy. I know I just barely wrote a post, but I feel
like writing another. Besides, by the
time I finish this one it will probably be another two weeks, and I will be
past due on my blog things.
After Santo Domingo I made it to Quito. I made it there alright, but quite tired. My
feet and lower legs are covered in purple spots from some type of fly that had
a feast of me when I was in the village near esmeraldas.
Quito was a very pretty city. I stayed with a friend of Brad Walker, and
they took care of me really well. From
the terrace of their apartment you can see two snow covered volcanoes. I woke up early enough to see the sunrise
(5:30 AM to be exact).
I didn’t mean to wake up then, but the daughter had an
archery tournament and had to get ready.
Since I was already up, I went to the terrace to watch it rise. It was magnificent. Its cool to see pink clouds surround the
volcano, with the city in the foreground.
From Quito I took the bus ride to Otavalo, or so I
thought. As I was pulling into the city
I began to notice a lot of signs about Ibarra, which is a city just north of Otavalo
(about an hour on Bus). I thought,
“Well, I hope they are just trying to promote Ibarra by putting billboards in
Otavalo.” When I got off the bus my
suspicion was confirmed and I had arrived at Ibarra. I had to laugh about it. I made some calls and tried to rearrange my
schedule, then went to find some food to eat.
I asked a lady how to get to the center of the town, and started walking
the way she pointed. As I walked I saw a
church up on the hill, and since there are usually restaurants near churches, I
decided it would be a good place to go.
I found a place, met some Colombians there and ate with them for a bit,
then went to wait a bit longer till I could call the coordinator of
Ibarra. After 7:30 or so I went to a
phone booth to make the call. For the
life of me I can’t figure out how to make phone calls in this country. There was a guy there with his wife who
helped me out, and we started talking.
He was a really funny guy, really nice too. After the call I had to wait till 8 to call
again, so I said I would just go wait in the park by the church till then. He got serious and told me not to go there,
because it was dangerous. (I had just
came from there). He also warned me
about the Colombians from this area (I had just eaten dinner with them). Since I was already two for two I decided to
try one more. I asked him about the area
by the church that I went to for the restaurant, and the market that I had
passed through. Both of them were bad
places two, according to him.
Seeing that I could use some protection, he had me stay in
the store till I had to leave, then he called a taxi for me to go to the bus
station. Well, by that time the busses
had all left, so I took a taxi to Otavalo.
I think I’m lucky that I was in Otavalo instead of any other
city in Ecuador at 9:30 pm in the street waiting for my ride. The people here have to be the nicest people
ever. Most of them speak Quichua, in
addition to Spanish, because they are the native people of this area. The men all wear long braids, and they all
have the coolest clothes. A group of
young guys stopped and talked with me on the street and taught me a few words
in their language, then went on their way.
I felt a lot safer after that.
The rest of my time in Otavalo was great. I stayed with the stake president and his wife, who is also the area coordinator for the program, and they took such great care of me. I bought a bunch of cool souvenirs and wore their typical clothes to church.
On Sunday night I took the long bus back to Guayaquil, then to Machala. I stopped there again to say hi to the coordinator and see how things were going. She is doing such a great job. She made a deal with the local health centers and got free supplements for a bunch of the kids, and is ready to go. She also made me rice with fresh crab and clams, so I can't complain.
At 11:30 I took the overnight bus back to Piura. I was happy to be back, its nice to stop traveling for a bit. I realized that I had been gone almost three weeks! I thought I was only gone two. When I got back I found out that the Abuelo I live with was in the hospital. He had gotten a hernia from lifting too much stuff up at his farm. They found him in pretty bad condition, his daughter was pretty worried. I went to see him and he seemed just like normal, except that he was lying in a hospital bed. It turns out that the week before that he had been at the farm, and had fallen off of the trail and broke his hip. A few days later he said he was healed from that, and went back to work and that was when he got the hernia. He is a lot tougher than I am. After he got back from the hospital he was put out because his daughter wouldn't let him go back to the farm. He asked, "what am I going to do around here?" Well, at 6 a.m. a few days later I hear a noise outside and see him shoveling sand in order to clear a space to dry out his coffee beans. He always finds something to do.
Things are wrapping up with the Liahona project. The coordinator here is a girl my age, but is doing such a good job with the program. We bought the "Sprinkles" supplement (chispitas) and soy powder. This next month we will get soy powder from a company an hour north of here, so it will be even cheaper. We are just under our budget, which means that the project can continue to run as long as prices don't raise too much. Once I get home I want to work on fundraising, so watch out, you may be hearing from me.
I visited a few houses to hand out the supplement. It surprised me the poverty that I saw, even after being here three months. A few of the families had practically nothing. Dirt floors, they barely had roofs and walls (its a kind of mud and stick mixture for the walls), and sand gets in everywhere. We committed all the moms to only give the supplement to the kid in the program, but I can see why they would be tempted to share it, because it looks like all the kids don't get enough to eat. But we can only help a few, so we focus on the youngest because it has the greatest impact in their development. More than anything the program seems to give moms hope that their kids will get better, because they worry so much about them but aren't able to do much. Tomorrow I am going to visit some more kids in the program to get a better idea about the situation here.
Well, it looks like things are coming to an end. This Saturday I'm coming home. I'm excited for cereal in the morning, raspberries, and good ol' Utah mountains. I've had a great time here in Peru and have been blessed more than I could have imagined. The people here have done so much for me, and have shared so much. I feel blessed to have been able to meet them and experience there culture. They are truly some of the kindest and loving people I have ever met.
See ya soon,
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| Me with the Presidente Gomez and Gisella, and the Abuelo. |
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| traditional fishing boat from Chiclayo |
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