Andrea in Ecuador

I can't believe I only have 7 days left in Ecuador. Suddenly I feel the need to see as much as I can since it's unlikely that I would be able to come back, though Pepe and Elva have insisted that I bring Andris with me to visit because they want to meet an American bombadero (fire fighter) from un Parke de National (national park). They are extremely nice people, as are their two sons, Javier who has a degree from Polytechnic in Riobamba in Computer Engineering, and Juan, who is in school at the University in Riobamba in Economics. Unfortunately the economy here is so bad that professional degrees are no kind of guarantee for getting a job. Javier has been finished with school for awhile now (though his official graduation is this July 29) and he hasn't found work yet, Juan spends his spare time driving his dad's taxi.

This morning Javier and I finished the flotation for the site Ross excavated last year (Lamb) so there is no more flotation to do unless I help Mike out with a few of his. It was very hot here yesterday and today and it actually felt good to work with the freezing cold water for a change. Yesterday, Javier helped interpret for me at Polytechnic where I was able to acquire many seeds from the seed bank in a native reforestation program. The woman who helped me (Ing. (Engineer) Jenny Nuņez) is very nice and is interested in seeing micrographs of charcoal that I will produce from some of the cuttings she gave me. Also, we went back to the Herbarium where Ing. Jorge Caranquia identified the scientific names of about 50 plants for me. Now Javier and I will continue to extract seeds from them and put the seeds in the freezer to build up the comparative collection for SFU. There is much work to be done but I need to have some fun too, so tomorrow we are planning to take a picnic to Chimborazo and go to the soccer match in the afternoon. Thursday we're probably going to a birthday party for one of our neighbors (of a group of medical students from Texas). Then on Friday Claudine and I plan to take the Gringo Train into the mountains during the day and then go dancing with the others in the evening. Saturday will be a day at the market and a BBQ in the evening with Elva and Pepe's family as well as Emily (from Bellingham) and her friend whose name I don't know yet). Then we will all go out in the evening to dance again (whew! how exhausting). As Claudine likes to put it, it's our last few days in Ecuador...we're going out with a bang. Then Sunday and Monday I may try to go to the beach though it's a very long busride so I'm not sure about that yet. Well, that's all for now. My love to all. Andrea