Recent happenings, in (not so bullet-like) bullet points

-Have been a bit busy down in these parts. Things at the school are still coming along, as per the usual, and then some. (cf. the forthcoming This Salasacan Life post)

-With respect to the volcano, just this last week, Mama Tungurahua has started to wake up from her little 7 (or so) month nap. On Sunday, the Geophysics Institute recorded 125 "moderate" explosions, and 32 earthquakes inside the mountain itself. Down in town, I barely noticed a thing. Although, I did recently go up to a lookout point, (where the highway to Riobamba used to be, before the 2005 outburst that she had) and watched a spectacular lava show, complete with an almost full moon and a sky full of stars. It was really beautiful and completely eerie at the same time. At this very moment, there are some rumblings coming from up in her general direction. I´m not sure if this actually happens more late at night, or whether one just notices it more then. Whatever the case, I hope that she just has the volcanic equivalent of indigestion, or something like that.

-In less explosive news, and partially due to the rains, I have some purty flowers blooming right now. Yee. Haw.

-And speaking of, rainy season (winter, here) has begun, along with the occasional landslides and other fun stuffs. I am having a hard time believing that it has been a year already since the last time, yet, the scars on the mountains from last years rains have grown over some (albeit mostly with the fast-growing ground cover). But nonetheless, they once again look like mountains they used to be. We shall see what this year’s rains have in store. There was already a massive series of slides between Rio Verde and Rio Blanco, which filled up one of the tunnels completely. It is amazing that nobody was killed, in fact. If you don’t know this road, (which you likely don’t) there are a series of tunnels that took something like 40 years to complete, which are carved straight through several very, very large mountains. These now obviate the need to take the old road, which was constantly being washed out by landslides and waterfalls and such. I remember taking that old road when going between Tena and Baños, and it could be quite the trick to get the bus around the curves and through the washouts and waterfalls. Usually, the busdriver’s helper had to get out and direct the driver. Sometimes, only 3 wheels of the bus would actually be on the road. I imagine that a good portion of said old road is no longer there. It is a relief to no longer have to take it.

-As for other roads, the one between Baños and Ambato has, on the other hand, been quite good. Since last year’s lahar debacle, the national corps of engineers has been hard at work on a fix for the problem. They started (unintuitively to me, not being an engineer) by building a two-lane bridge where the lahars were the worst, with long cement anchors on each side. From there, they excavated under the bridge, leaving a small canyon for the lahars to run down. This seems to be working, for now. I am knocking on wood that it continues to do so.

-The Sumak Kawsay Yachay Foundation is still coming along as planned, and has been doing a lot, between the Biblioteca Rosa Maria, the Katitawa School, and various other smaller projects.



-Tula is gone for good. I think that I know where she lives currently, though; with a family that includes a couple of children. I am feeling like it would be worse to steal her (back) from the family that has had her for the last 6 weeks, and in turn break the kids’ little hearts. Maybe she likes it there.

-Also relating to Tula being gone, the neighbors felt bad for me, and so were going to give me one of their puppies. BUT, before they could be weaned, all NINE of them were carried away by the recent floods. No joke.

-More randomly, although it does deserve saying, Langston Hughes never gets tiresome. Ever, ever.