Salasaca! - 5/30/09

I forgot to note down three very interesting people i met last weekend. 2 climbers from AZ who went to school in Cali named Andre and Steven, they were very nice and I hope to meet them again. Another guy from Munich named Flo who has the German patent on the beer bong, which I think is hilarious, AND he is climbing the highest peak in every country from Alaska to Antartica; I think it´s amazing. He´s another person I hope to meet again, if only to hear about how his trip went. SO, I made it to Salasaca which is so so beautiful. Its on a mountain with farms including numerous aloe plants, donkeys, cows, sheep, chickens, and pigs. Kristina and I, for some really dumb reason, decided not to get a pickup truck to take us from the bus station to the hostal with an unknown location. Instead we walked a really far way, in high altitude, with all of our heavy stuff. We honestly had no idea where we were going or what the hostal looked like, but people kept pointing us in the right direction along the way. So while we are heading in the direction that we were pointed we came upon this beautiful brick and wood cottage on a picturesque part of the hillside, overlooking the farms and towns below. Inside there was a large room with a fire place and it looks so cozy. We went around back and there was a large, two level terrace with insane views. We had no idea what this place was but we wanted to stay there. No one was around so we kept walking in search of our hostal and we asked the next person we saw, again where the hostal was. And this man told us that the amazing cottage was our hostal! I think we may have literally skipped back there. The whole project consists of the hostal which is rented out for the volunteers, a library with computers, and the Katitawa school with about 30 Quechua students from ages 2 to 12. The man in charge is Robert who is so kind and crazy generous. He is 77 and has lived in Arizona, Mexico for 30 years, and now in Salasaca for about 7 years. He uses his pension and savings to fund the school, pay for a teacher in addition to the one paid by the government, for the library, hostal, the cook Faviola, and whatever other expenses not covered by the one dollar a day paid by the volunteers. He only wishes that he can find someone to do what he has done after he´s gone and keep the project running. At the school I am working in the kindergarden, the lower level math class, and the higher level english class. The philosophy at the school is that kids can learn if they want to but they cannot be forced; thus, if a student stands on their desk or runs out of the classroom and refuses to return when asked, there is nothing else you can do. It is definitely frustrating at times and can make it difficult to get anything done, but the alternative is having the school like the surounding ones that have 50 students with one government paid teacher and thats it. In the long run everyone feels that the kids are definitely benefitting. There are also computer classes and homework help before and after school. It´s a huge step in learning when compared with one generation before. There are also plans to expand the library and create a reading corner for kids to be read to and hopefully develop a love for books. It has been amazing just in this week and if I continue to enjoy it I will probably stay until the end of the school year which is in late June. Since Thursday I have been having some serious stomach problems but am recovering slowly and I am relaxing today in Baños again with a couple of the Salasaca volunteers. Also, Monday is my birthday; the big 23. Hopefully I´ll be better by then. We also have two filed trips for this week to a cultural event and museum and then to someones farm and lake near a volcano which should be fun for everyone! Thus far I´m content just to look out the back door and see a volcano erupting in one direction, a snow capped mountain in another, and miles of fields in the next.