May 1, 2009 We have arrived in Quito, after almost 8 days on a boat in the Galapagos. It was a wonderful trip. We had hot, sunny days with very little rain. Our boat was quite nice, and though it has a capacity for 16, there were only 8 of us – this allowed the boys to spread out into their own cabins.    We saw every animal we had hoped to see and more. In particular the snorkeling was great. We saw sharks, sea turtles, rays, puffer fish, starfish, eels, and all sorts of brightly colored parrot, surgeon and angel fish. The most fun though was swimming with the sea lions. They were so curious and playful and would just spin around us in the water, coming up to check us out.   We saw every creature the islands are known for and so many times that we were heard saying “Oh, it's just more sea lions (blue footed boobies etc.).” What was most exciting was how close we were able to get to so many of the animals.
    Just for Eli, here is a collection of some of the birds, reptiles and animals we saw on the islands.     On Sunday we leave Quito for our last service project in a small Afro-ecuadorian town about 4 hours north of the city. May 16, 2009 We just completed the last of our service projects. Each one has been challenging and fulfilling in very different ways. These last couple weeks we have been in the village of Tumbatu, about 5 hours north-east of Quito. It is an afro-ecuadorian community just less than 2000 people, made up primarily of farmers. These afro-ecuadorians are descendents of slaves who were brought to work the plantations and still face significant discrimination in Ecuador. Most families live in simple cement block or adobe homes with multiple rooms. They have electricity and most people have cell phones, but their water supply is via a canal system that is unreliable. Scott and I were given a room in the home of one of the wealthiest families. We found out that we were actually in the master bedroom and while we were there the family of four all slept in one bed in the other room. They actually had an indoor bathroom with a flush toilet and a shower, but they only worked the few days that the water was running. Our boys stayed in a two-bedroom concrete block building that also served as our kitchen and eating area. Their bathroom was an outhouse with a squat toilet and a hose for showering. The weather was warm and sunny during the day and fairly pleasant at night. So we stayed warm and the only real annoyance was the biting flies, gnats and mosquitoes. Oh, and the rooster who would start up at about 2:00 in the morning. Earplugs and exhaustion eventually solved that issue. Our project was to build a set of concrete bleachers in the main square. The village gathered every evening in the square to play volleyball, soccer and just socialize. The bleachers will clearly get a lot of use. Our days started with breakfast at 7:00 and work starting soon after. We dug out the dirt, built and installed forms, carried rocks, gravel, sand and cement via wheelbarrow, mixed cement and pored it. Our volunteer group consisted of 7 people of which we were 5, but we often had help from villagers. It was backbreaking work, but it felt good to make so much progress each day. By late morning the sun was so hot that we usually stopped before 1:00, though towards the end some of us put in afternoon shifts as well.       Usually in the afternoon we would organize an art class and an English class at the school. The children were enthusiastic and found us an interesting diversion. Though at times overwhelming, their warmth and affection made our stay in the community really special.     We developed a short video to share with the community that if you’re interested. It is about 8 minutes long.
We have a couple more days here in Quito and are enjoying the opportunity to explore some of the museums and the old town. We are hoping to go to the middle of the world and straddle the north and south hemispheres. On Tuesday we fly to Panama City where we have rented an apartment. It is an opportunity to hunker down and get Alexander caught up on schoolwork. |
