With a friend from Portland, I will fly directly to Cuenca and stay within the Cuenca/Cañar region before flying back to Portland on March 8.īut the situation is heartbreaking. This was a two-week trip planned when Michael’s health crisis in October made it obvious we would have to cancel our usual stay. My friends in Cuenca report that all is calm in the southern highlands. The answer is yes, I’m going, and I’ll be safe as long as I stay away from the coastal city of Guayaquil and the borders with Peru and Colombia. After that, the 35-year-old president Daniel Naboa, imposed a nationwide state of emergency to last for 60 days. No wonder – with news of the assassinations of public officials, “wars” within prisons with unspeakable violence between gangs, the recent escape of the two high-level gang leaders with certain help from security officials, and the invasion of a TV station by a dozen armed thugs that was broadcast live. (I’m going for a small job, a big project, and the scholarship program). Many of you have written asking if it’s safe for me to travel there for a planned visit end of February. I think it’s safe to say we won’t be here this time next year. Other than one brief Covid period, this is our first winter in Portland in 18 years. Others were not so lucky: Nine people died, two from fallen trees, several of hypothermia, and three others tragically electrocuted when power lines fell on their vehicle two stepped onto the street and a third tried to help. After eight days they could finally go home and begin to recover their lives. They checked into a hotel for two nights. Michael blesses Harrient and Jiggy before their trip home.įinally, on Thursday, Day #6, when our guests saw their power was on, they packed up and went home only to find their pipes still frozen and the power off again. Anne and Ken and Michael took turns cooking, and Zoe walked the dogs, while I took photos and made sketches. So for five days we were frozen in place. The next day another storm came in, and roads and sidewalks stayed solid ice. I grew up in Colorado so it brought back memories of a long walk home from the bus stop when I was six years old. The sun was out that day, so I went for a walk to buy bagels and brats for our dinner. On Sunday, the roads were solid ice under a sheet of snow, but our friends were barely able to get out of their neighborhood to come to stay with us, taking 1.5 hours for a 20-minute drive. Schools closed, public transportation was paralyzed, and folks were displaced by fallen trees on their houses or burst pipes in their apartments. (Portland has a large unhoused population.) The storm continued to blow and icy rain made leaving the house treacherous. Temperatures stayed in the mid-teens as warming shelters were opened around town, and soon overflowed. By Saturday afternoon Portland’s mayor had declared a state of emergency, and a few days later the governor would declare a statewide emergency.
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