Quito

One would have to be truly shameless to try to describe flying over the Andes. I was going to remark on what a clumsy traveler I am, always one step away from losing my passport. I thought I might mention that flying in an airplane when I should be sleeping somewhere is not good for my brain. But I have looked out of an airplane window and seen the Andes, and nothing else really matters. I have never lived anywhere really mountainous, but I will now. Can one actually bathe in the reflected glory of a landscape? And if one does, does that make one glorious somehow, or at least uplifted?

At the moment, I am sitting in the AVANTI office. Angus and I enjoyed a fine breakfast, where I asked a million questions about Pistishi that I'll have to ask again after I've slept. But the opportunity to do meaningful work in Pistishi is clear, and I know that however long I stay there will be time well spent. And I will get there sometime tomorrow.