Family

My Christmas was great, mostly because my family came down to visit me!

They showed up on Dec. 21 and we were in San Lorenzo Dec 21 through 26. The 27th we headed to Riobamba and went (in the back of a pickup truck) to a market in a little town called Zalaron the next day. Katherine got a hat like the indigenous folks there wear, which was pretty entertaining for everyone.

We spent the 30th until the 2nd in Mindo, went birdwatching (which was amazing) and ate good food, celebrated the New Year, etc.

My dad flew out the night of the 3rd so we spent the day exploring Old Town Quito a bit, though we decided that one gold-bedecked church was probably enough.

Jan 5 Mom, Katherine, and I went to the enormous artisan market in Otavalo, and had to get an extra bag for them to carry everything home in.

Then we headed off to do what's called the Quilotoa loop. The first day we stopped in an art gallery in a tiny town called Tigua, and stayed the night in the next town, called Zumbahua. They were having their party for 3 kings day, which included clowns in blackface and a paper-mache cow with attached fireworks that three guys ran through the crowd carrying.

Then we went to the Black Sheep Inn, an eco-lodge place in Chugchilan which had wonderful wood stoves in the rooms, a sauna, and composting toilets.

Mom and Katherine flew home yesterday, so now I'm waiting to have a physical on Monday and then go home.

Here's a link to some photos my dad took:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bollenburger/Ecuador1

And his description of part of the trip, which is better than what I would write:

We enjoyed a wonderful time together. Mary met us at the airport in Quito, the evening of Dec 21. We spent that night in a hotel and visited until we were exhausted. Seeing Mary again, after almost a year, was a great delight. She looks great and her smile was wide--so were ours--when she greeted us at the airport. The next morning, Mary and I walked up a steep hill (Ecuador consists entirely of steep hills) to find an ATM machine. I was immediately aware of Quito's 9500 ft. altitude as I tried, huffing and puffing, to keep up with Mary. Later in the morning we boarded a bus for the 5-hour ride to Guaranda, the city of 20,000 nearest to Mary's village of San Lorenzo. The bus ride itself was an education. The bus stopped every few blocks, and then every few miles, to pick up passengers along the road. Eventually, a bus with seats for 100 people was carrying nearly twice that many, redefining our notions of personal space. The bus ride also exposed us to some of Ecuador's beauty as the road climbed above 14,000 ft. Katherine was thrilled to see llamas, and we were amazed to see farms--garden-sized farms--on what seemed to be vertical slopes. We caught a glimpse of snow on Chimborazo, Ecuador's highest mountain. The snow began at about 16,000 ft on the 20,000+ ft. mountain. Guaranda is about 6 miles from San Lorenzo as the crow flies, but the bus ride takes an hour, up and down and around mountains. We took a taxi (I believe the fare was less than $5). As we drove into San Lorenzo, a man threw up his arms, shouted "Maria Elena!" and came running after us. He was Miguel Angel Flores, brother of Maria Elena, Mary's counterpart and mother in San Lorenzo. We gathered that Mary Helena was much appreciated by this family. Indeed.

On Christmas Eve, we were invited to join Maria Elena's extended family for dinner, after the Christmas Eve mass. Before the mass, beginning at about 10 PM, one of the town's bands began playing, and leading a procession through the streets of the town in search of the baby Jesus. The baby was found, and was brought into the church by Mary and Joseph. The mass then began. It included, at the priest's initiative, a prayer and healing service, for which the entire population of San Lorenzo (it seemed) lined up to be anointed. We repaired to the home of Maria Elena, for dinner, at 1 AM. There we were served roasted Cuy, a delicacy. Cuy are otherwise known as guinea pigs. Katherine and I gritted our teeth and ate, first the legs so that we didn't have to look at the curled paws on our plates. The dinner was great, and even delicious, including the Cuy (which doesn't taste like chicken!). During it, one of Maria Elena's brothers told us that Mary was fully a part of their family, that she was considered by the people of San Lorenzo as part of their family, and that, hence, Janice, Katherine, and I were also part of their family. I was speechless, which rarely happens. The people of San Lorenzo live hard lives, in many ways--ways we would consider hard. But I have never encountered people who so readily smile and evince genuine joy. Mary's life is hard in some ways. She heats water on her propane stove for her shower, which consists of pouring water from a cup. We did the same for 5 days, and it's really quite fine. On one of our walks/climbs around the mountains, Mary remarked how fortunate and blessed she was living in such a beautiful place, doing what she's doing, and with such good people. Indeed.

One afternoon we walked (climbed, as it seemed to me) to the beginning of Mary's canal--the canal she has worked with others to repair. On our way we passed several homes built into the mountain sides, and watched farmers plowing with a bladed stick hitched to the horns of milk cows. As we walked back, a woman suddenly ran along side us and began speaking excitedly to Mary. The woman's husband soon joined her. They had seen us, gringos, and hoped we could help. Their baby was born with three fingers fused, and they had heard that gringos sometimes come around to offer medical services. In the moment, I wished I was a real doctor. I won't soon forget those faces.

Much more could I tell, including our trip, in the back of a pickup, to the market in Salaron, a high mountain village among people Mary described as "pure Inca." There some people were cutting up pigs for sale as meat while others were selling whole pigs, sheep, cows, grain and beans. There we stood out as curiosities--blond women and a grey-headed bearded man, good for entertainment. And then Mindo, in a cloud forest, with birds of every description and beyond describing... But enough for now.