Always dreaming of dolphins...

The day of rest after the epic of last week. We took the morning off and in the afternoon went into Cuenca together to meet Catherine for our Environmental Anthropology class. Finding her flat downtown is difficult, perched above a nondescript hole in the wall vegetarian restaurant one enters a fantastic labyrthine of a building with stairs all a kilter up the skylights above like something very much out of an M.C. Escher drawing. At the top overlooking the city we sat around talking of man and nature and the narratives that shape the perceptions we carry, particularly those used by large non-governmental organizations. The crisis narrative, the noble savage narrative, the great achievement narrative. The stories and paradigms we consciously and unconsciously live our lives by. Sipping on fresh squeezed guava juice and tea, munching on wafers, and enjoying the view. Her flat is as cozy and airy as a swallows perch above the city. I?m looking forward to the class as much as the students I think.

While we were in the field many things happened in Ecuador, though I doubt it was able to beat out the ongoing disasters and celebrity worship of the world news beat. The indigenous confederations of Ecuador went on massive offensive throughout the country. Striking in protest of promises unmet, laws unmade, neglect. The first time such a massive protest has been staged countrywide since Correa, the leftist populist President now in power took office. Major roads blocked, protests, an indigeno shot and in retaliation 21 policemen killed. In Quito and the larger cities there is an alert or martial law of sorts in effect. Here in sleepy Cuenca things look much the same, though I?ve noticed there are more police out. Standing beside the banks and fancy corporate offices brandishing Uzis and sawed off shot guns in the shadows. The supermarket too is totally bereft of produce and meats, the arteries of trade shut down throughout the country.

We will see what happens here over the next few months. I doubt it will affect us too much, but you never know what will happen in Latin America. If you ask me, the fault line of active participatory democracy in the world. You will seldom find the moribund apathy of much of my American kindred here. People really get out in the streets and demand justice. It can be a wild place and in some ways incredibly refreshing too.

Looking down on the city lights below from our house in Cuenca is quite the view, especially when the city is lighted up at night like a thousand fire flies. I?m so lucky. I have my own room with both a view and a gorgeous mural to brighten up life! Casting aside the world?s worries and dreaming of dolphins playing over my head every night?