Volcano update

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Hola from Banos, a picturesque village nestled beneath the currently-active Tungurahua volcano. The surrounding countryside is lush and green, a bit like alpine Europe. It´s warmer, but with heaps of tourists: a sort of Queenstown but much tackier! It feels totally different from Otavalo, and we´re sorry to see hardly an indigenous costume anywhere. We´re finding our home stays much easier to understand, but perhaps that´s because they are both teachers, and we have 3 weeks experience! Perhaps something is getting through after all!

The journey down was a bit longer than expected due to a blockade near Mt Cotopaxi. At first we were told it was a check for arms, and we looking forward to a body search. However, it was nothing more interesting than a bicyle race - which held us up for nearly 2 hours in the windswept, dusty altiplano. We then stopped for lunch in a restaurant specialising in local food. Jean had the recommended dish of boiled sweetcorn with a pile of broad beans and a hunk of local cheese. We were worried that we wouldn´t know the difference between Tungurahua erupting, or Jean!

Cotopaxi itself was quite breathtaking, the perfect cone, with a dollop of icing on the top, ie snow. It´s the highest active volcano in the world.

Eventually arrived here at 4.30 pm, stayed in a hostel overnight and were introduced to our new families this morning. Both very nice, and friendly. Gail and Rosemarie are with a family with 2 children, 5 and 2, and Diane and Jean in a pool complex with a studio overlooking the pool, sauna, gymnasium, Turkish bath and solarium - complete with salsa music all day long! We´ve been assured it will stop tomorrow after the long holiday weekend.

We´ll be doing our lessons in the complex, which should be interesting.

We´ve been told we can see the eruption at night from several vantage points, and are working on this.

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