The beginning of my time in Salasaca

Finally I am writing again! It´s about time, too, because a lot has changed in my traveling life since I last updated this blog. First and foremost I have temporarily put the nomadic lifestyle on hold. Last week I moved into the volunteer house of the Sumak Kawsay Yachay Ecuador Organization (SKY Ecuador, look in up on Google, great web site). This is a non profit organization that helps to run and organize a public school in the Andes of Ecuador, in a small town called Salasaca. The volunteers teach classes to children and adults, help with maintenance tasks, staff the library, and-or take care of the garden. Also, as a volunteer you only have to pay 10 dollars a week (a very small few compared to most of these volunteer operations down here) for a bed to sleep in in a really nice volunteer house and two meals a day. This organization is simoulaitiously well organized and laid back and thus can contribute a good education to this town and also attract a troop of traveling volunteers who want to have such an opportunity.

I arrived Friday afternoon after what may have been my most unenjoyable bus ride to date. I have found that the way buses work in most parts of Peru and Ecuador, especially the cheaper ones, is that they act more like a city bus than a long distance transportation service. This means that people can get on and off at any point along the journey, all you have to do is stand at the side of the road and wave one down and if all the seats are taken there is plenty of aisle room to stand. Add to that a noisy and horrific movie and crying children on all sides of my bus seat. So I was a bit squished to say the least. I got off the bus in Ambato and after making my connecting bus to Salasaca I asked around to where I could find this organization. Noticing the very obvious sense of anxiety on my face, a very nice set of Salasacans loaded me onto an open back truck to get off at the Bibiloteca Rosa Maria, the library that this organization runs.

I aimed to find an opportunity to get off the beaten travel track when I came South America. I wanted the chance to live next to people who know this land so well, whose life styles and expectations about life sit out side my comfort level. When I arrived to Salasaca and started learning about this organization I realized that this place can give me the opportunity to ease into finding out more about Ecuadorians. In the short week I have lived here, I have settled back into country living and am now accustomed to walking from home to school to feed the chickens, about a half an hour walk in which time I usually pass a handful of humans to say hello to, and countless sheep, donkeys, and cows. Also, I am enjoying the chance I have to be working again. Although I am not being paid, the satisfaction I get from volunteering is totally worth it, especially after many months of wandering around the continent. The jobs I have are to work in the little garden and to teach two classes: English for Adults in the evenings, and Spanish Literacy (yes that's right, Spanish) to a small group of young children. I think I´ll be learning a lot this month!