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.