Piquiucho

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¿Como estas?



Today we explored Piquiucho - the reason for our travel to Ecuador and the final destination.

We woke up at 8am and had a biiig yummy breakfast to be energised for a long day full of impressions.

The plan was to leave at 10 am but by the time we got going it was almost 12am. We promised ourselves to be more punctual in the future.

On our way to Piquiucho we passed by Augustin Delgado´s pueblo. Augustin is another of Ecuador´s famous sons. We then reached Piquiucho which is a 15 minutes drive from ¨Oasis¨. We first stopped by at the "Coliseo Ulises De La Cruz" - the leisure centre that Ulises has built with the help of the Ministry of Sport. It is a modern structure which houses a basketball court and a five a side football pitch. However, the sports centre is sparingly used, once a month at best.

We were also lucky enough to meet both the Architect who helped designed the centre and a representative of the German company Gruenenthal. Gruenenthal, which already has been helping the village by providing medical supplies, is going to help with the funding of the new hospital which is being built next to the sports centre. The hospital is in a semi-constructed stage and if all goes well will be completed in May. It will be equipped to provide first aid, also minor surgeries and maternity facilities.

We then went on ahead and met the local people. We were told that all the old houses that were built before FundeCruz got into action are crumbling because of the quality of the materials used. We also had a look at the new houses that FundeCruz has helped to build. They are much more reistant than the old ones. The two houses we saw had good bathroom facilities, running water and electricity. One of the houses had a refrigerator and a TV.

Next on the agenda was Ambuqui which had its fiesta ongoing. We had another taste of the Ecuadorian cuisine. Afterwards we watched "torro-fight" in an arena which was flimsy at best. The name of the game was to drive the bull completely mad by throwing stones and challenging it which made the bull very angry and tried its best to flatten anyone who came towards it. The majority of the "bull-fighters" were young boys who ran into little enclosures in the bull-ring every time los torros took a couple of steps forward. Some of the lads were completely chicken and did not come out of their enclosure even once. It was all fun `n games until a gentleman (who we think had muchos cervezas y puntas) decided to walk up the bull to say hello. The bull threatened to attack as usual but this chap didn´t budge. It was almos as if he had a death-wish!!!!!!!!! The bull then attacked with full force and this guy´s idea of escape was to simply lay down and take a chill-pill. The whole stadium let out a collective gasp as the bull smashed his horns into him...and then walked away desinterested! Afterwards the guy surprisingly got up and went back to his seat as nothing has happened....mucho loco!!! (Pictures/Video as soon as we have better internet connection !!) The show went on...after a bit the professionals came in and enterntained the audience with their acts of bravery. We particularly amused by an "extremely voluptous mujer negra" (read badly made-up man). It was all great fun and an experience which we will cherish for life.

Final thoughts:

We gathered a lot of information from our trip to Piquiucho and are looking forward to our visit there tomorrow to get a better idea of the people.

Ciao for now!

Sarah & Kartik