Monday, May. 19, 2003 - 3:23 p.m.
Thursday, May 15th I took a night bus out of Cuenca on my way back to the Oriente. This time I was headed to Sucua, about an hour south of Macas (where I went about 3 months ago with my friends to the Jungle) to meet Suze Kroker, a friend of a friend's who is working for MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship, a missionary organization that provides medical service by planes to remote communities). Suze teaches the kids of MAF pilots, as well as her 15 year old son David. I was a little nervous taking the bus by myself at night, but I had no problems. The bus ride was long, 11 hours. We had a few delays. At one point the muddy unpaved road had a short steep incline and the bus couln't get up it, so (at 4:30AM) they had everyone depart the bus to reduce the weight. Blurry eyed, we stumbled off the bus into the hazy humid night air, insects chirping and clicking. We walked up the incline and stood and watched as several young men hopped around trying to get the bus up the hill. It was almost comical watching them. Looking around at the other passengers, I then realized I was the only gringo on the bus.
At another point we stopped at a border crossing (or province) and despite the fact that I had my Censo (foreign residency card) and copy of my passport, I still had to get off the bus and get registered and asked questions by the military.
I arrived exhausted in Sucua, 2 hours delayed. Suze met me in town. I hadn't realized that the town of Sucua is in the Oriente, or on the edge of the jungle, humid and lush. Suze took me back to her house that was only a block away. I thought she would be more remote than this (she told me she had thought so too). I met her son David and then she gave me something to eat. The first time I went to use the bathroom was before the maid got there. I discovered a small "wall spider" and a half dead cockroach on the tile floor. Suze and I chatted awhile and then I went tot he guest bedroom and crashed. I slept about 5 hours, I was so tired! They also have an adorable little kitten who kept me company while I napped. After I awoke, Suze and I went and got an almuerzo (lunch) at a nearby restaurant. Then we returned to the house and just vegged and read for a bit.
Later I got a tour of the house and school, which is all the same building. I was impressed with the amount of teaching resources she had. Suze was in the process of packing and getting ready to move to Quito. Because of the age of her students, MAF decided it would be more appropriate and economical to send Suze and her students to Quito where she could teach (and her students could study) in a private school for Americans. She had lived in Sucua for almost a year, she had made many local friends and become quite settled in this little community. Now in one month, she had to say goodbye to her friends and be uprooted to a large city and re-adjust to a new life. I could relate, since planned to leave Cuenca at about the same time and had been there for almost a year, made friends and now had to say goodbye as well!
I got to meet some of Suze's local friends and also went on a short bike ride with her down the main street through town. ONe of her friends was a sweet older lady (Estella?) who seemed keen on having me meet her 20-something year old son when she learned that I was single. That evening Suze warned me about the bats--if they fly into the bedroom, she said, cover yourself with a blanket so that they don't bite you (in case they have rabies!).
The next day, again, we took it easy. Life is very "tranquillo" in Sucua. That afternoon we had lunch at a friend's house, a local woman who also works for MAF, in the office. Then we stopped by the house of Andy and Chad, one of the MAF pilots. They have a cute little boy of about 16 months(?) named Josiah. That evening was a going away party for Suze and David at the house of the other MAF pilot, Daryll and his wife Sandy. There were a lot of locals there as well, and many children. It was a lot of fun and Sandy cooked a huge spread of food, it was a wonderful banquet. Plus it was amusing watching the locals deal with devilled eggs for the first time! Daryll and Sandy were wonderful hosts, they have lived there in Ecuador for several years. They have 3 sons, two of which are students of Suze's, the third and oldest living in Quito and going to the private American school that Suze will be going to. As the night came to an end, as we were preparing to leave Sandy made the fateful comment "Oh, it was so nice of you to visit. Had me known that you were coming, you probably could've joined Daryll on one of his flights!". I cringed since I had already bought my return bus ticket for early the next morning. A chance to fly in a little airplane over the Ecuadorian jungle for free! I vowed to myself to return to Sucua another time, to visit Daryll and Sandy again, if I had the chance!
The next day was a long one, all day on the bus back to Cuenca. I couldn't help fantasizing about what it would be like to be flying over the beautiful lush vegetation of the Oriente in a little Cesna plane.
