The only guarantee when I head out to visit communities is that something interesting will happen along the way. In fact, it’s become so commonplace that I often don’t notice it as something notable. It’s sometimes nice to take people along on community visits to get a sense of those interesting things again.
I went up to Huathua Laguna and Huadhua last week to visit community leaders and discuss school start dates and coordinate upcoming parent meetings. I had the company of two friends of Alma on the narrow, windy road up to the communities, and one wondered aloud what happens when the car going up meets a car going down. Luckily, the answer played out within the next five minutes when a local combi came down the mountainside towards us.
Normally, the vehicle going uphill has the right of way, but in this case, I (the uphill vehicle) was closer to a slightly wider area of road, and I pulled over to let the combi pass. Unfortunately, what appeared to be a widened area of road was an irrigation ditch, and both the front and back wheels of the passenger side slipped in snug! It took us about 10 minutes and 15 large rocks to get us out, and we were back on our way.
After a great visit and catching up with some parents and students, we were on our way back down. This time it wasn’t another vehicle blocking the road but a large boulder that had fallen off the mountainside. We were just able to squeak around it without ourselves becoming another road block further down the mountain!
It was nice to enjoy the fresh perspective of adventure that comes with working in isolated areas.
