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Andrea in Ecuador |
I had another good morning of flotation and learned from Javier that the insects which look like giant wasps to me around my flotation site do not sting. That is a big relief. Yesterday and last night we had a visit from Emily who is an archaeologist from Bellingham, WA. She got my email from a mutual friend of ours (Kim Kwarsik) and wrote to me to see what I was up to here. I told her a bit about the project and wasn't sure how we could connect. In the meantime, she somehow got Ross's email and begain emailing with him to set up a time she could come visit his excavation. She didn't realize we were all on the same project until she arrived to work on the site. It was great having another archaeologist to speak English to and she seemed to enjoy our company...we even convinced her to stayed for dinner before she took the one hr busride back to Ambato where she is living. We will probably go visit her on Sunday for the big markets in Ambato and a trip to the Cine (movies). Emily is a former Peace Corps worker who quit the Corps to work with an Ecuadorian foundation which helps Indigenous Ecuadorians. She says it is an odd mix of wanting to help them financially, through tourism, yet preserve some of their indigenous heritage. Their work is in a village with an archaeological site which has apparently been looted for years. She hopes to find a way to bring money into the community to both preserve the archaeological site and create a tourism opportunity for the local people to increase their income. At present, they are just scraping by like so many small Ecuadorian communities. Thatīs all for now. Adios amigos y amigas! -- Annie
Busride to Baņos (click a photo to see it larger):
Andrea, Pasqual, Efrain, and Mike in Maeve's glasses (click a photo to see it larger):
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