Padre Rumi---sacred rock in the paramo

Hi Folks. I'm trying this post for a second time from Ambato as yesterday the electricity went off in Riobamba and my work was for naught. Thought I'd post a few more pics of Padre Rumi, the sacred rock that Lucy and I hiked to (at around 13,000 feet)a couple of hours from our house. Juan and his son Oscar were our guides. As you can see from the photos, this rock is a very strange phenomenon sitting 4 stories tall on the fairly level top of the grass-covered mountains. My favorite of this series is the couple working their steep field with azodones. The women appears to have a baby on her back which is very common here. In this indigenous culture, men and women appear to share equally in physical work as their strength allows. Believe me. These women are strong! Lucy insisted I put up a photo that includes myself, so there's one of the ol' geezer showing off the drip irrigation system I installed just before it started raining almost non-stop. That's all for today. Love to all.

Craig

It's still raining

Alli Chichi friends. I'm in sunny Riobamba again today and thought I would catch you up on what's happening in our lives. Out at our site it has been raining several times every day (all night last night). This is very unusual for this time of the year when usually it is dry and windy now with no rain until September. Perhaps more evidence of global climate change.

Lucy and I are fine. We have been busy. We did a very successful yogurt making workshop in Sasapud attended by 30 women and some of their curious husbands. We were assisted by Crystal, another PCV whom you will see in one of the pics posted today. Now we're getting requests by others to teach them how to make yogurt also.

I had fun experimenting with drip irrigation which I installed in our little garden. This had attracted a lot of interest until about a week ago when it started raining almost nonstop and people are starting to think how they can dry their land out. Lucy and I also started another map of the world on the wall in a classroom in Sasapud. Already were finding it a good way to meet more people up there in that remote town. Lucy is also teaching a sunday afternoon English class in Sasapud which was well attended last Sunday. The Indigenous seem to have little regard for the Spanish language but hold the English language in high esteem. Of course many see it as a way to access more opportunity, both educational and economical.

We also accompanied a couple of people from our community to visit another community south of here that neither had visited before. This was to reciprocate a visit another PVC initiated to our site with a woman from her community (Capulispungo)---A new inter-Ecuadorian solidarity project? Maybe they will actually start helping each other. The other community did make us grateful for where we are. It was even colder there and much windier. The soil is much sandier and in many places was completely eroded away. The people seemed downtrodden---poor not only financially but also in spirit.

You will see here a couple of photos of us trekking up to maybe 13000 feet to visit Padre Rumi, a sacred rock located in the paramo a couple hours from us. As you can see Lucy got a little help from a burro and then a horse. The paramo is beautiful, but maybe endangered as well from to much cattle grazing. As we understand it, it acts as a big sponge for all the winter rains and then slowly releases it to the water table the remainer of the year.

Enough for now. Our thoughts are with those of you who have suffered loss. May peace be with you.