my new volunteering gig is in a town in the andes. cotacachi is a world trendsetter: the province has established an environmental charter for itself that supposedly is leading edge, to protect it's precious natural resources which include 2 of the world's 25 'biodiversity hotspots.' i came to the cotocachi ecology center to help out, but more to learn how they were going about putting the charter into action. 'cause it's this type of action that i want to study in school.
so i arrived to the centre, which is composed of a few bedrooms, an office, a kitchen, a cafe/fair trade shop, and a walled garden area which is currently in disrepair. at present there are 3 volunteers: dorit, a german woman in her early 30's (?) who is pretty in an anne of green gables way; leny, a younger woman who seems cold but i just attribute it to that matter of fact german attitude; and scott, a younger austrailian guy that is incredibly enthusiastic in general. each of them have been here, or will be here for at least 6 months. wow. when i arrived, i was filled with daydreams of coming back next summer, to do my required school intership. but after spending a long quiet day 'working' in the cafe, i wondered. what am i doing here? all the other volunteers are doing things, and i could be too- i could just say, hey, i'm going to start designing that greywater system for the garden you were wishing for. what i've learned is that all the 'sucessful' expats are creative, d-i-y weirdos. there is a long, narrow, swaying suspension bridge made of seemingly weak bamboo over a wide expanse of rushing river and through cloudforest canopy that i must cross to get there. baby steps, i tell myself. but i wonder, if i will ever get to the other side, or just come to a standstill in the middle of the bridge somewhere.
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