Blog

Today we are heading to Ecuador where we will be spending the next two weeks traveling the country meeting people and conducting interviews for the projects first trip to South America. I am flying from San Francisco (via Houston) to Quito, a city some say is the most beautiful in South America. It is situated at the base of Andes in the shadow of the large volcano Pichincha, one of the 58 active volcanoes in Ecuador. We are traveling with a man named Juan Alfonso Pena who has kindly offered to host us at his home in Tumbaco, a small town 20km from Quito. He will accompany us as we travel through Ecuador, interviewing shamans in the high Andes and Amazonian jungle, politicians in the cities, nuns and priests working with the poor in the barrios and others. Our schedule is quite ambitious, as we set off to explore a country whose bio-diversity is listed as one the highest in the world, and where you can drive from the snow capped mountains to the jungle in just one day.

Ecuador is a country in the midst of change, having recently undergone economic collapse and major political reform. I'm looking forward to talking with people we meet about the kinds of economic and political changes taking place in their country. I’m curious to know how people we meet and interview will respond to the idea of oneness, especially since there is no direct translation for the word in Spanish. (We will be using the term 'unicidad global', which I understand is as close a translation to 'oneness' as possible, but maybe people we meet will come up with their own translations.) It will also be interesting to see how the indigenous people we talk to describe oneness in their own native languages, and the meaning and roots of these words. What will we learn from the indigenous men and women from the Quicha, Naporuna and Yachak peoples we will talk to? What insights and knowledge will they share with us?

These are just a few of the questions circulating in my mind as I wait at the gate of the Houston International Airport. I'm hoping to post this blog daily, but may have limited access to the internet as we are traveling to some remote towns and villages.

Just called our plane to board.....off we go!