Kichwa, Tuna, and Bus Rides

I'm beginning to wonder if I am cut out for a full time job. I get easily distracted at work...but really who wants to be working when they are visiting another country?! Because I like to vary the daily routine, I jumped at the chance to go on a community visit. Tannia is a woman that works with HCJB doing hygiene education and training in communities where water projects are underway. When Tannia said she would be going into a community overnight on her own, I quickly volunteered to accompany her. I ran home (to be honest, I walked, it's straight uphill), gathered some things, and in less than an hour we were on our way.

You can take a bus from Quito to most parts of the country. The buses, whether running a route through the city or to a faraway province, are usually packed. Tannia and I caught to Otavalo and luckily found seats near one another. Although Tannia grew up in Ecuador, she went to Hope College (Calvin's rival school!) and has excellent English. However, I asked if she would mind practicing Spanish with me. The whole trip down we spoke only in Spanish. It's very frustrating to me that I cannot express myself well when I'm speaking Spanish...I know I don't sound very educated or intelligent. But I'll never get better if I continue taking the easy way out and speaking in English. After a two hour ride, we arrived in Otavalo where we eventually caught another bus to our destination, Carabuela. Total length of time on a bus = 2 hours and 20 minutes. Total cost = $2.18

HCJB has helped with a water project in Carabuela. Tannia and I met with the committee of people who now oversee the project and the operation of the water system. While she spoke to them (at this point I was completely lost because not only were they speaking quickly in Spanish, but the people from Carabuela were also speaking Kichwa, another language native to Ecuador that is nothing like Spanish) I entered the results of kids fecal tests into a spreadsheet. I hope that these weren't the kids with access to clean water because most of them had giardia and e. coli among other parasites. Though it is very true that clean water is not much help if the people aren't practicing good hygiene and sanitation. We were invited to someone's home for dinner. We had a tasty one dish meal - rice with a topping of a fried egg, tuna, and tomatoes. The tea we had to drink was nice and sweet - just to my liking. In the morning, we had a very similar breakfast with the same family. They were very kind and hospitable. The youngest daughter however, was quite scared of me. I don't know if it was my blonde hair or the fact that I had terrible Spanish.

After stopping by a medical clinic and the hospital, we headed back to Quito. At the bus station, people climbed aboard all the waiting buses trying to sell snacks and candy. Tannia and I had icecream bars. Mine was homemade coconut - with coconut flakes even! It was delicious. Though it wasn't a long trip, I am very glad I had the opportunity to see another community and to spend some time getting to know Tannia!