Going Up

My weekends here in Ecuador have been exhausting in a different way than the weekdays.  When I'm working in the office or in the community it's mostly mentally tiring, from trying to do engineering in Spanish.  But on my days off I like to get out and explore the country, which can take it out of me physically.  It's always a good kind of tired though, I never have trouble sleeping at night.

This past weekend was a good example, as I destroyed my legs climbing two mountains.  After trekking up to over 15,000 ft above sea level I have a new appreciation for how awesome the terrain is in this country, and also for the people that have to build roads around here.  The views were amazing, right up until we reached the clouds, and then everything went white.  There's something about reaching the summit of a mountain that makes all the pain, headaches, and gasping for air worthwhile.  At least I think so.  I wish I had more time here to explore.  There is so much to see with such a huge variety of landscapes in Ecuador.

I took a few pictures along the way.

The winding trail up Pichincha

We made it to the top!

Tomorrow I head to Carabuela for another visit.  This time we hope to fix our pump problems and get the system running, assuming everything goes as planned.  After Roberto, an HCJB engineer from a Quichua community, helps me with the installation, I'll be on my own for a few days.  During that time I'm going to be monitoring the disinfection system and testing the water quality.  On top of that I'll be developing procedures for the community water administrators to maintain the system on their own.  This will be a challenge, honestly I don't feel very well equipped for this.  Teaching technical ideas is hard enough, let alone doing it in Spanish.  But God has a way of putting me in situations where He can more easily show His presence, reminding me that I can't do things on my own.