¡¡Sayausi!!

March 3, 2008
Friday 6:00PM
The Patio

Big news!! We know where we will be spending the next two years….Sayausi!

From Sayusi Mike will be working with nearby Parque Nacional Cajas and I will be working with the sacerdote of Sayausi developing things related to environmental education, womens groups, and probably several other things. We met with a volunteer who has been working with the park for the past year and she was incredible and the park and Sayausi sound wonderful!

Sayausi is located way south of Quito in the province of Azuay, of which, Cuenca is the capitol. First, Cuenca is the third largest city in Ecuador (although supposedly New York City has more Ecuadorians than Cuenca) and is known for being the home of a three time Olympic champion speed walker and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Second, Parque Nacional Cajas has over 200 lakes, ranges from 3,000 meters to 4,500 meters in elevation, has150 bird species (including 20 different types of hummingbirds), the Inca trail passes through running East/West, and has four distinct ecosystems (including high Andean Paramo). Third, Sayausi is 8 miles from Cuenca and under 3 miles from the park entrance. We are totally and completely pysched!!

For more information on Sayausi, Cuenca, and Parque Nacional Cajas click on the following links:

Parque Nacional Cajas
Cajas again
Cuenca
Cuenca again
Azuay Province


Other than that fantastic bit of great news, this past week included lectures on avian flu (there’s never been a case in Ecuador and we have the treatment for it in our med kits, so again, don’t worry), lectures on using pesticides safely (hence the picture of Jose wrapped in toilet paper to emphasize that the pesticide gets all over you), lots of wonderful meals with our Ecuadorian family, lots of wonderful lunches with other aspirantes at panaderias (places that sell all sorts of delicious breads), more classes in Kichwa, a baile (dance) demonstrating to all the aspirantes the most common dances in Ecuador, lectures on all things technical for natural resources, hanging around El Centro Mensaje (our training center), aspirantes saying hello to their moms who have discovered this site, me trying to unwrap a lollipop, the place where we send our emails, finally a clear view of Volcan Cayambe from our front door, more beautiful pictures around our house, and us composing our email message to all of you on our patio.

Love to you all! We miss you and hope all is well!

oh.... Thanks to those of you who have called us. Our family really gets a kick out of hearing all of you speak such beautiful Spanish. Unfortunately, you will only be able to contact us by phone for another 2 weeks. After that we will be traveling to other parts of the country for a week long site visit (Holy week) followed by two weeks of technical training in different parts of the country. After that we will be back in La Esperanza for a week (early April) before swearing in as volunteers on April 18th. After that though you should be able to call us again on our cell phones! (assuming that we have reception in Sayausi). So for those of you who havent figured out how to make an international call yet, eventually you will have to!!!

enjoy the pictures....