The grumpy report

I have been grumpy before bed this week, taken by an uncharacteristic exhaustion that wipes me out before 10:00.

The indigenous people are in paro in the Province of Imbaburra- the government has left a public water project hanging- leaving the people grumpy and without water. A company swindled them out of a bunch of money for the necessary study to install the water lines. The study was botchy and half assed, and to do it again will cost $1,000,000, which they don’t have- no doubt leaving the politicians grumpy. Many of the highways are closed, leaving travelers grumpy, only to be surpassed by the grumpiness of bus drivers, although some indigenous communities who already have water are accepting bribes to let the buses pass (we are one of them), which is definitely cause for grumpiness among the indigenous communities who are striking.

On my first attempt at taking a horse to visit rural schools, Norteño decided he was far too grumpy to let me usher him off into the mountains alone. The second horse, Dulceña, grumpily conceded to be separated from her buddies for this journey, but I have may have gotten there faster if I walked. The time was made up by her ecstatic galloping as we returned.

Today two very pushy teachers arrived to inform me they were coming for a field trip to the condor restoration project tomorrow. When I told them this was not possible, they argued with me for some time, leaving us both grumpy. I was reconciled when I went to see their principal about scheduling field trips for their school. I told her that tomorrow was too short of notice, and she replied “claro.” She said that she had told them as much.