Of Cable Cars and Guinea Pigs

Monique and I finally found a house that fits the embassy's daunting list of criteria...it's safe, in a nice neighborhood, and not too big or too small. The landlords have to ground all the plugs and make some other modifications, but hopefully we'll be moved in by April 1st at the latest. It's a great place with an amazing view of Quito, a big kitchen, a fireplace, a yard and a terrace. And lots of room for guests...we're very excited.


Now that we're done house hunting we have a chance to do all the fun touristy stuff we've been itching to explore. Last weekend we put our faith in Ecuador's infrastructure to the test, by riding the Teleferico up to the top of Pichincha Volcano. It was quite the harrowing experience.


The Teleferico is a cable car that launches from a hill above Quito, and climbs 4000 feet, dangling it's passengers high above the sides of a lush volcano for a mile and a half ride. You end up at close to 14,000 feet, and can see the entire sprawl of Quito along with the surrounding valleys. For a linguistically amusing description of the attraction, check this out. After a bit of hiking at the top, we hurried back down to beat the dark clouds rolling in (the thought of riding the Teleferico through a storm wasn't very appealing, although it didn't look like a few thunder clouds was going to slow down the operation). Lucky for us, there is a make-shift amusement park at the bottom of the mountain, where we played air hockey and rode sketchy carnival rides for the rest of the afternoon.





Our work has been very interesting lately. Monique got to travel to near the Colombian border this past week for the inauguration of some USAID funded water and infrastructure projects. It sounded like quite the event...the U.S. Ambassador attended, and they had a local karaoke star for entertainment. As thanks for the projects, the local government presented Monique with this basket of potatoes and carrots, along with a manila envelope containing a smoked guinea pig wrapped in foil. Monique refused to eat the little rodent (I think the teeth put her off), and I didn't think I could finish the whole thing, so after nibbling on the hind leg I gave it to one of the kids who camps outside our hotel selling bubble gum. I guess they don't teach kids here not to take guinea pigs from strangers, because this girl's eye's lit up when I asked, "¿te gusta cuy?" (do you like guinea pig), and as soon as I gave it to her she ran off to show the delicacy to her mom.

Although I have yet to be paid in guinea pig for my work, things have been very busy at the office. The Ecuadorian government is about to initiate a program to register the majority of the hundred thousand or so Colombian refugees who are now living under the radar, and Asylum Access is collaborating with other civil society organizations to make sure the process is carried out in line with international human rights law. The project is going to begin on the Northern Border and I probably won't get an opportunity to go up there until school is finished, but all of our clients are very interested in the process because it will be much more streamlined than the normal refugee status determinations. This weekend I gave a Know Your Rights presentation to about 30 refugees focusing on the new registration process, and also on the rights granted to refugees under the new constitution. The KYR presentations have been a really fun part of my job, because the attendees are very engaged in the presentations and excited to mobilize other refugees to assert the rights.

The weather has been great all week, so I'm going to try to enjoy some sun by the pool before the clouds come in. Hasta pronto,

Dan & Monique