Huayrapungo is a Kichwa word that means,
Door in the wind. Door in the wind, I
love this word. I have been rolling it
around in my head over the past week.
How awesome that there exists a culture with the imagination to create
such a word. Maybe imagination is the
wrong way to look at it. Whether it
stems from the dwellings of imagination or from another place that escapes me,
who knows…
I do know that this word could not be more
perfect to describe the entrance to Lloa.
There is an invisible door along the mountains separating Lloa from
Quito. It is impossible to know exactly
where it is, but I am sure it is up there.
Here is my evidence… To get to
Lloa you drive up the mountainside out of the sprawling city of Quito. Quito, a scramble of rebar and cinder block,
is completely hectic and dirty, and well a city. As you drive higher and higher up the
mountainside Quito begins to look more like a gigantic grey lake creeping up
the side of the mountains. At the top of
the mountainside, in a blink of an eye you are in another world. In place of a city, the mountainside is a
quilt of different shades of yellows, greens, browns, and reds. In every direction you are surrounded by rolling
mountaintops, the one exception being the jagged mouth of the volcano Pichincha
which looms above everything. As you
descend into the patchwork of colors, the road spins you around a few times
until you stumble upon the town of Lloa.
From here you would have no idea that the giant city of Quito is only a
hop over the mountains. The contrast is
completely shocking and thus my evidence that there is a door somewhere up
there that must transport you to this world.
How else can you explain it?
Besides hours I´ve spent scanning the
mountaintops for some glimpse of that door, I have actively tried to work on my
first mission as a PCV: integrate.
So far integrating has meant:
Milking cows (which is my host families business
along with making cheese), my four year old host sister is an expert…
Attending my host sister Maya´s first
communion along with the entire community of Lloa (it is pretty small).
Helping prepare meals which has
occasionally involved cutting the toenails off of lots of chicken feet to be
added to our soup for the evening.
Commenting to everyone I meet how beautiful
their home is. Lots of people have been
concerned that coming from the US I would find the climate too cold. I find it quite wonderful. It is like a day in the end of fall all the
time, warm in the sunshine but chilly in the shade and requiring lots of layers
at night.
Showing off my amazing guitar skills and
singing voice (sarcasm here) to my host family on the roof. Then passing the guitar around for others to
give it a shot.
Roaming the hillsides with my host
siblings, climbing from field to field over and under barbed wire barriers and
electric fences.
So… Huayrapungo, Door in the Wind. I think I am going to put an end to my
pondering and put this phrase at the top of this blog. The next two years I hope to continue
updating this blog with stories from the world that you enter through that door. Tomorrow I am attending a bull fight followed
by a raffle to win a sheep or a cow.
Stay tuned for the results!!!
