I do like horizons

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Back in Zhud, trying to get back into the swing of things after being gone over a week. It was a good week.

I took a night bus to Quito last Friday night, got in around 5:30 am, and hopped on another bus to Ibarra to go see Mina. Usually I sleep quite well on the bus. No such luck this time. And not quite enough leg room since the person in front of me put their seat ALL the way back. I didn’t know the seats could go back that far. But nothing was stolen, so I won’t complain too much.

I spent all day Saturday, Sunday, and half the day Monday hanging out with Mina, her Ecua boyfriend, and 3 other of their friends. While language did make things more interesting, it was still fun. They are the closest Ecuadorians I’ve met to friends back home. Saturday we drove way out into the mountains down this rustic dirt road for 2 hours to a tiny town with steaming natural hot springs. We camped out inside where the hot springs were and therefore had access to them all night. We cooked sausages over a campfire, drank wine, and sat in the thermal baths until we were full-on raisins. Going to sleep was not as fun seeing as it was freezing, my hair was wet, and our tent was set up on cement (hard and cold). Round 2 of a crappy night of sleep.

Sunday we took our time departing. When we were finally ready to leave and were just eating some choclo con queso (corn with cheese) as a final snack, we heard some glass shatter. Oh deary me, what could have happened to one of the poor towns people? We went to the door to peer out. Oop, turns out somehow the back window of our little truck just decided to shatter out of nowhere. They explained something about how changes in altitude can cause it to happen; I still don’t get it. The owner took it amazingly well as we taped plastic in its place and headed out.

On our way back to Ibarra, we stopped at apparently the oldest church in Ecuador. I spent the night in Ibarra. The next day we had big plans for Mina to teach me lots of crafts. I guess we got sidetracked. We have rescheduled this for Reconnect. I finally left around 4 on Monday for Quito. I was going to meet Manuel that evening so that we could head to the hotel where our tourism conference was taking place all week. After he said he would get in around 6, he finally got in around 8 and we decided it would be best for him to stay with a friend that night while I finally headed out on my own to the hotel.

It was a good week at the conference. I am sure I got some valuable information from actually attending the conference, though the highlight would be hanging out with my other PCV buddies that were also at the conference. We were together in the hotel compound from Monday night to Friday morning. We slept there, attended the conference there, and ate every meal there. Peace Corps seemed intent to find the most secluded location possible for the conference, keeping us basically on lockdown. Luckily it was a decent place with good food and a pool table.

I returned to Zhud on Saturday, losing my phone on the way to the bus terminal in Quito. It wasn’t the best way to start my return. Returning is always difficult. That did not help. I’m getting settled again at last though. Sandra, my program manager, is coming tomorrow to meet with Manuel and I to discuss how things are going here in Zhud. I think I am looking forward to it, though I could be wrong. We will see how it goes and if she can indeed provide some insight or support.

As always, I need something on the horizon to look forward to. The next big event will be Reconnect in a month. All of the volunteers in my training group will reunite along with our counterparts in Tumbaco for a week-long gathering/training event. This will be the first time we will all see each other since the end of training. Yes please. Then a week or 2 after that, Miss Locke (aka mom) will arrive and be my first visitor here in Ecuador (though hopefully not the last, hint hint). As I continue to make strides in the forward direction in my community, it always helps to have the horizon to look on to.

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