Ojala for Loja!

We arrived in lovely Loja by bus from Cuenca on Friday afternoon. (Thankfully our bus was a bit bigger and our driver way safer as the road had many more twists and turns.) We stopped briefly at the small town of Saraguro. This rural place is in the center of indigenous Saraguro culture. We stopped briefly in the central square to make some friends with the locals and peruse the handmade crafts.

Once in Loja (a little over 4 hours from Cuenca), imagine how grateful we all felt to not only be meet by our friendly host families, but to discover they all live in the same neighborhood - we are all within walking distance of each other! It makes such a difference when it is easier to get together and coordinate events.

After a short rest, we went to listen to a presentation by the group Nature and Culture International. We were suprized to here that the work they are doing in conjunction with many groups including the La Jolla Rotary Club has a lot going on in San Diego. The SD Zoo has been partnering with them on various conservation and research related activities. It is some of their forest reserve that Solana Beach is purchasing to offset their carbon footprint. (check out this link to learn more: Sign-On San Diego.)

Our plans for the weekend are pretty lax and we love it! On Saturday we traveled to the nearby village of Vilcabamba where the president of the Loja Rotary Club has a country home. The area is known for having many centarians and possibly the fountain of youth. Teddy, the president of the women's Rotarian group had a grand father who is rumored to have lived to be 130 and his face is plastered on all of the water bottles that come out of the area.

Those who were ready for action spent the evening with some of our host families and a group of caballeros in town for an Ecuadorian and Peruvian horse show. They were treated to dinner and some fancy dancing by a Peruvian dancing group. Those who weren't so ready caught up on some much needed sleep.

Sunday's main event was attending the horse show. The thing to do is to dress in white like the caballeros and judges and wear a hat (of course) so we followed suit (literally). We spent part of the afternoon under the shade of a big white tent watching fancy horsemanship and more Peruvian dancing.

Because we are in Loja during the weekend there really aren't many schools we can visit. However, we did visit one that made quite an impression. The EDUCARE school in Loja is dedicated to meeting the needs of some unique children - those that have to work in the streets in order to support themselves and their families. Through their innovative program, they are fitting schooling into these childrens' lives and turning their priorities to their education.

Tonight's plan is to take our families out too pizza and then hit the hay early as we have to be ready to leave for the airport tomorrow at 6am. After our restful weekend here in Loja we are off to Quito for an almost non-stop schedule!

New pictures are on PICASA.