Long Day

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So, the trip to FRATES was not too bad. Sue came with me, she decided to take the day off work. We got to the bus stop at 6:10am and hopped on the bus. It took an hour to get there. Sitting in front of us was some drunk 20 year-old who kept turning to talk to us, slurring his words, but thankfully he passed out. Also in front of us was the school teacher that I was supposed to meet with.

We got off the bus, and they had to slap awake the drunk guy to get him off the bus. I introduced Sue to the teacher and she said the meeting was with another group of teachers at the Colegio (high school) at 8:00. It was 7:15 so we had some time to kill. We walked back to FRATES and I showed Sue the facility. She also got to meet the caretaker Guillermo who had just woken up and was in his underwear washing his t-shirt.

We returned to the school and I gave the spiel about Peace Corps to one of the teachers. As I was chatting with her, the other teachers called the students to attention outside and they lined up in rows and then sang Ecuador´s anthem. I wondered if I could have gotten my students to do that in C-ville. I had a hard enough time just getting them to stand and remember the words to the pledge.

After our 15 minute meeting, we had about 7 hours until the bus came back. We took a hike to the cascada (waterfall) Hola Vida which is next to FRATES. The trial was surprising nice and the 20 minute hike was through the rainforest. The waterfall itself was breathtaking and so remote. We snapped some photos and I am sure Sue will post them soon to the net.

We walked back to FRATES and decided to take a nap in the hammocks there. Guillermo´s son came over and was trying to ride his big brother´s bike. It was way to big, this was a kid who was 4-5 at most and was riding an adult sized bike. I helped him out a little, but lost count at about 50 on the number of times he fell over or racked himself. Sue took some pictures of that as well.

So we napped and rested and then I wandered around the facility taking notes of things I could do to make it better. I spoke with the owner - Umberto (an Italian who lives in the U.S.) yesterday and he wanted my opinions on how to make it a better place for the community. I have a lot of great ideas and Sue and I see some real potential there. He also said that we could stay out there anytime we want for free - though one night only costs $5 anyhow. It is spartan, but it does have electricity and hot water. It needs some TLC for sure.

Eventually, after another long walk, we caught the bus and headed back to Puyo. We decided on our walk home to stop and have beer. We picked a great spot, because Puyo is starting a week of festivities there is a big Feria (Fair) and yesterday was a huge parade (desfile) marking the beginning. There were five Queen candidates for Miss Puyo. The whole thing lasted about 1.5 hours and rivaled any I have seen in the states - except there were no politicians, which was good thing. There were however, so people dressed up in the parade that were mocking politicians. They had suits and briefcases with cash falling out of them and funny political signs. The thing that impressed me the most about the parade was the dancing. Instead of floats or bands, various groups were dressed up in traditional clothes and danced. Each group had a different dance. It was beautiful to watch as I was drinking my beers in the bar.

We picked up our clothes and now they fit a little better and smell a lot better. Life is GOOD.

Peace,
Jeremy

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Comments

[tom driscoll]

frates board in nyc
Hello Jeremy. My name is Tom Driscoll. My wife, Stephanie Walls and I are secretary and president, respectively of the board of Frates. I've been enjoying your blog. I came upon it by chance when I googled "Puyo". Anyway, it's been very instructive to read about your exploits. We haven't been to Ecuador yet (we plan to visit later this year) so your descriptions have helped us understand the situation. Umberto is Stephanie's cousin. Steph and I are recently retired teachers so Umberto decided that, since we were no longer working, we should preside over the organization here. So, we are new to the enterprise. Part of the problem Umberto has had is running programs from such a distance. Codeama has taken over much of the administrative work and that has been a great help. We are hoping that you will be able to help too. We want to use the resources we can gather to do the most good and that is sometimes difficult to determine from here. Your imput will be very helpful. We've been thinking about helping the schools. Any specifics there would help. We also wonder if there are any programs to help bring clean water to the communities. Umberto has been after me to get SKYPE. If I finaaly do, maybe we can talk. Until then, keep writing. Tom