It was hot, but now it´s not

30/3/2008
Cuenca!!!!!!

Hello to all!

We are half way through our two weeks of techinical training and we thought we should send out a quick saludo...

Hola.

We have lots of pictures to share with you all, but we will not be able to post them for another week or so as we are away from our home computer (and camera cord). As such you will just have to form a mental picture (for now) and then compare that to the pics we post sometime within the next 7-10 days. For now, here is a quick summary as to what we have been up to since we left La Esperanza one week ago....

-bus ride down the western slope of the Andes to an educational farm/conference center(that resembled a tropical resort more than an educational center) located in the coastal/transitional region of the country.

-lots of sweating and scratching (it was hot, humid, and at times buggy)

-lots of bird watching

-classes on all sorts of things natural resource and agriculture related

-river swimming

-soccer playing

-playing Carcuson (a totally addictive game, that I´m not sure how to spell correctly, that someone should send us the home edition because as stated we are totally addicted...I guess that´s our first please send us line...but you can wait until we send you our new mailing address...)

-a day long hike in a nearby cloud forest (Maquipukuna Reserve) during which we were forunate enough to spot an endangered Andean Spectacled Bear (and also a ridiculous number of hummingbirds)

-a talent show (which was hilarious!)

- mary learned lot´s of ways to use the imperfect subjunctive while mike had a cold beer

-a tour of an organic chocolate proccessing plant(including free chocolate!!)

-awesome ceviche at a street vendor´s booth, don´t worry we were there with three other volunteers who have been in country for over two years and they all swear by it.

-a four hour bus ride back up into the Andes (Quito) followed by a ten hour bus ride to Cuenca that had an additional 2 hours added onto it due to a landslide that blocked the road...several miles ahead from where we were stopped...it was a good oppurtunity for a nap as it was from 4am-6am.

...and now we are finally in Cuenca. Everyone who reads this should try to come and visit us sometime during the next two years. The climate is perfect, the city is beautiful, the people are friendly, the food is delicious, and we will be living 16km outside of the city! This afternoon we will be taking a bus to Sayausi to walk around our site for the first time!

Check our last post to see the itinerary as to what we will be up to this week.

Happy Spring to all!