Our trip to the hot springs of Oyachachi took us over the divide into the Amazon side of the Andes. We had been riding roads paved with stone but now we wound our way up and around on dirt roads with deep precipices to the side, lots of ruts and bumps that set the bus rocking from side to side. This awakened old fears in me, the ones I struggled with while in Colombia where travel got quite treacherous at times. I prayed intensely and sensed others praying at home. The rest of the team seemed much less affected by the ride. Unfortunately it was a rainy day so much of the majestic view was hidden in mist but it was obvious that the countryside was changing into more rugged terrain, more trees, waterfalls coming out of the side of the mountains. As we reached the town of Oyachachi we noticed wood house construction with peeked roofs rather than the cement block with flat roof we had been seeing. The Covenant Church in the town is a growing, active group with an ambitious building project that will become a multi-purpose community hall with kitchen for all sorts of activities. They even have a guest house so that when meetings go too late people can stay overnight and travel home in daylight.
We all enjoyed the hot springs, a series of pools with an icy river beside it. Dave took me totally by surprise when he jumped into the river then back into one of the hot pools, not just once either, but at least four times (this from a guy who doesn’t like to swim in Lake Huron!) So after some hesitation – I stuck my toes in and the water was cold!!! The river is fed by a glacier – I decided to get my whole body submersed and then rushed into a hot pool to get warm again. It felt quite good but once was enough for me.
When we got home (and yes, we arrived safely) we practiced for our children’s program which we’ll do on Thursday, we’re learning Spanish choruses and we are performing two songs with puppets, so five of us will have some fun acting up with puppets.
Each night we fall into bed quite tired, working and walking in the high altitude requires more work just breathing, the bus rides keep the body a bit rattled (at least this old body, the younger ones just take the opportunity to take a nap) and so he bed feels incredibly good at the end of the day. The forty five minute ride to work each day does provide a lot of insight into the way of living around here. We go down narrow streets, yet buses pass by each other – sometimes with what seems like a hair’s with of space between, a donkey will have to be maneuvered around – it does not budge, we watch people work their fields, babies firmly tied to their backs, others walking their sheep, cows and pigs to the fields for grazing. All women dress in very colorful clothes, shawls of bright colors, lovely skirts – and rubber boots, since it’s the rainy season and it gets pretty muddy. We have fun on the bus discovering all sorts of things on the outside and have accumulated quite a lot of pictures so far. T
No comments:
Post a Comment