a day
Today started like any other day. I got up, did some crunches, showered, drank coffee, then biked to the Waorani Women’s Association office. I got a few things done that I needed to do to prepare for the upcoming work trip “adentro” with a group of Duke students and some Peace Corps pals. Around lunchtime I see that the sky is darkening, so I decide to pedal on home in hopes of missing the rain. Yeah, right. About 4 minutes into my ride, it starts to rain hard. Then I narrowly miss getting hit by a bus (more on Puyo traffic in another post). Then I got uncomfortably close to a hitting car because my back brakes are now rusty after the last time I got caught in a downpour on my bike. Then, I see this poor, poor little dog hopping down the side of the road and its front left paw is totally gone and the bone is sticking out and it was gross and just sad and I was helpless to do anything for it. It was truly awful. And I can’t get the image out of my head. When I finally get to the apartment, soaked, and realize I left my keys in my desk drawer at the office. Thankfully my dear husband jumped in a cab and came home to save me from my mini-meltdown by coming and unlocking the door for me, even though he wasn’t planning on coming home for lunch because he had to catch an afternoon bus. I get in the apartment and strip off my wet clothes and go to make some hot tea…and of course there is no water.
Always the optimist, I am trying to find the silver lining in all of this. I guess I should be thankful that I was not in fact hit by a vehicle… unlike my friend Becca who was hit by a truck last week (she’s fine. Just has to do some physical therapy, though).
In other news, I am now on FaceBook. Yes, I know I swore I would never get involved in those social networking site things, and that I thought no one over the age of, say, 27 is into them. And I also swore them off because I was afraid my addictive personality would get hooked. Well, when I was helping with the training of the new group of Peace Corps Volunteers, I was peer (actually “beer”) pressured into joining. And, well, I signed up. And, well, I am sort of hooked. I now have 40-some FaceBook Friends in at least four different countries… including an old boyfriend I had when I was a Freshman in high school, my childhood friend who met her husband online in the mid 1990-s and moved to Germany (WAY before dating online was fashionable), and lots of other totally random people. Well, enough chitchat. Must check my Facebook account to see how many new friends I have. Ciao!
Oh…one last thing: a big shout out to my pals Rick and Melinda who are proud new parents of Kindred Connor. Can’t wait to meet you KC!
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1 comment:
Hi Susan, I didn't see any Contact Me info on your blog. Ari referred me to you.
I'm a single woman solo traveling to Ecuador in May and it's been a dream of mine for many years to go and spend time with the Huaorani people. I've always had a love for the indigenous peoples of South Ameica, and have been appalled at what the oil companies have done to deforest the rain forests and intrude on the native territories.
I believe that by spending time with indigenous peoples...getting to know them on a personal level...that I can help to share with the rest of MY world (Virginia, USA) just how special the Huaorani people are.
I'm trying to contact someone who might help me make arrangements to make such a visit while I'm in Ecuador. I don't need to stay in a lodge. If I couldn't stay with a Huaorani family, I have a tent that I'll be bringing anyway. I'm fine with trying native foods, and helping out with day to day tasks that the people carry out. And I'd like to be able to photograph my journey so that I can share it with those back home.
If you can help me to contact someone, I would greatly appreciate it! I can be reached through my couchsurfing site: http://www.couchsurfing.com/people/mouses_motor . Thank you.
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