Thursday, July 30, 2009
A Cultural Experience
Quick Update
Training is going along like I think it does at this point. All of the lectures are talks are getting repetitive a bit, but I can definitely see how they are all necessary. Training really is different than what the real PC life is going to be like. At the same point though, it is completely necessary no matter how much at times you really wish you didn’t have to go through it all. And either way, we only have three more weeks left which is really like one more week because this one is half over and one of the weeks is a technical trip.
My technical trip is to the Guayas and the Santa Elena provinces (these are along the coast about in the middle of the western side of Ecuador). We start off our trip Sunday afternoon, the 44 current trainees all get split up into four different groups and locations depending on what technical skills you are going to be needing for your site, and we are going to Guayaquil first. Well technically Quito first because that is where all of the buses leave from.
We leave Sunday on an overnight bus to Guayaquil. We then are going to be doing loads of different things until Friday including traveling to a couple other sites…the only one I remember though is La Libertad off of the top of my head. We head to La Libertad that Monday so we are really just in Guayaquil as a pit-stop. Long story short though, we are then travel a little on the coast line there in Santa Elena while doing technical skills practice with charlas and talking with current PCs and seeing what they are doing at their sites (so I am really on the coast line for my trip starting at La Libertad going North). My groups’ main focus is business and joven a joven which is youth to youth (sex education and things along that line). The other youth and family trip is going to the Esmeraldas…and I don’t remember where the two health trips are going for sure…one is Riobamba though. Long story short, I’m going on a technical trip next week and I will blog about it once I get back and have time.
The rest of training is really going to go by quickly. We all go to Quito on August 16th, Sunday, and say goodbye to our host families here. That is going to be really weird to say goodbye to my “family” that I have been living with for the past two months…but I guess that’s a part of life for you! We then have closing CBT activities in Quito and we swear into the Peace Corps and become an official volunteer on August 19th at the Ambassador’s residence. We then leave for our sites and should be at our sites August 20th for the next two years.
It is all pretty exciting and overwhelming at the same time. The CBT (country based training) is really very different than what we are going to be actually doing at our site and that is exciting and scary at the same time. However, once we all get to our sites things will calm down a lot as well and being away from all of the Gringos (Americans) will definitely help the Spanish come quicker as well as the ability to integrate into your community. The first 90 days at site you cannot use any vacation days and your main job is to get to know your community and asses it. Since I am the first PCV at my site, I am sure that this will take me the first 90 days to accomplish as well as build relationships and trust within the community. It’s pretty excited in a lot of ways and at the same time I am sure it is going to be VERY hard and frustrating for the first few months.
On an exciting note, I have figure out SKYPE and it works wonders. For those of you who don’t know about SKYPE, Google it! It is basically a free download on any computer which allows you to call any other computer for free anywhere in the country. This means, that I can talk to any of you for “free” (I have the internet café fees…but they are really small…completely free for you though) if you have SKYPE on your computer, a microphone to talk with (you can get headsets pretty cheap in the States I do believe), and an internet connection. It really works well and I would love to chat with you all anytime. My user name for SKYPE is lesley.parker1986 I do believe…99% sure…you can also check using my email of lparker2008@yahoo.com. I also learned how to purchase credit on SKYPE so that I can call a landline or a cell phone…but this cost a lot so I am only going to use this method to call people to tell them that I am on SKYPE and that they should get to a computer if they can to talk to me. I think you get the idea…but if you have any questions, let me know. Because I would definitely love to talk to people back home…especially when I have more down time when I get to my site after August.
So those are my updates for now…there was more that I wanted to post up, but I have forgotten now, oh well! It must be the fact that my bed is calling my name and that’s all I can think about. Sweet Dreams all!
My Barrio - El Retiro
Alright, so I have a little more time now to update you on my barrio site visit to El Retiro. In all honesty, it’s kind of hard to describe the barrio as I was really only there for about three days and one of those days I went into Machala. And as we all know, first impressions are only first impressions and what you think might end up happen, may not be the case at all.
El Retiro has about 1,000 people I do believe (or at least that’s what the paper that the PC gave me says). It is basically one paved street with a handful of dirt streets that go off of that road. There are always people on the main road walking, on bike, or in cars which is kind of nice as it makes the town really seem alive. The main street is pretty long though and takes about 20 minutes to walk all the way down give or take I would say. The barrio is right off of the main road (Pan-Americana) which is really nice because there are buses that come probably about every 15 minutes that go to Machala or Santa Maria. On the other three sides of the neighborhood are banana fields…tons and tons of bananas like you wouldn’t believe. As my host dad said to me, the bananas are free here because they are everywhere. My house for the first three months is on the main street on the right hand side about half of the way down and it is, in one word, cozy.
My host family mom and dad have eight children but they are all grown and some are actually living over in Spain (two or three I think). One of her daughters lives down the street though with her two children, Mario who is eight and Shirley who is eleven, and I think that they are going to become my two best friends in the area because the kids are super cool. There dad is a policeman but only lives at home during the weekend pretty much because of where his job is. In my actual house though, it is just my host mom, dad, me, and another woman who is a worker of my mom and dad in the restaurant next door.
You see, my host family actually owns the building next door which is their kitchen and a restaurant for the community (el comedor). So they have the restaurant where they work all day on the left hand side and then their house where they sleep on the right hand side. The restaurant is really neat and there are people there ALL day long really which will help me get into the community I am sure. It is open every day but Sunday and they feed about 40 people a day I would say, give or take. Therefore, my mom is cooking pretty much all day long and she actually has two women who help her cook and clean the house, with the one actually living with us (I think she might work to pay for her “rent”) so there’s four people in the house including myself.
The restaurant is really interesting too because the three women cook everything while the man, my host dad, actually is the person who talks to the people, cleans the tables, and brings out the food. He is kind of like the hostess I suppose. The reason I say this is interesting is because it really pains the gender roles here. On the coast, machismo is a really big thing and I could definitely tell even in the couple days that I was there…and I think it will take some getting used to.
The men are the ones who do the talking and works at a job all day while the women stay at home with the kids and cook and clean the house. Not only is this true for the men and women, it is also true for the boys and girls. With the youth (11-13) that I talked with on my visit, all of the boys have some type of job and they actually want to work because they want to learn the trade of that job for when they get older, and all of the girls stay at home and help their moms. The gender roles are very much defined and the idea of machismo can be seen every day. In my opinion machismo is basically the idea that the men have to be the person “in control”, working, not really doing too much with the family, as that is the women’s job, and coming and going as he pleases. I think that I am going to find that it is also very common for the man to have another woman on the side. The women definitely rule the household though and are really the people in charge of the children by far. The kids are well, kids. However, with the structure of the family the mother is very strict with them. The gender roles will be very interesting to observe as they are definitely different in my neighborhood than they are in the States.
My host mom told me too that it is common for women to get pregnant and married as young as 15 and then get divorced, or just really be on their own, around the age of 30. Obviously all of this is just the first bit of information that I am getting and it will be interesting to see what parts are true and what aren’t. They were also really surprised though that I was 23, had no kids, and no husband or boyfriend. This isn’t really the norm for women in my town at all. They started to then ask me what I find handsome in a man (we got warned this would happen – That they would try to set us up on dates) to which I responded one thing; he has to be taller than me. This is pretty much one of my requirements no matter where I am, but with this one requirement it also cancels out about 90% of the Ecuadorean men which hopefully means they won’t set me up on any dates. Because honestly, I just don’t want that at all.
Another thing about the coast is that they are very lively, animated people who are not afraid to ask you anything. Therefore, some of the first questions you do get asked when you met someone goes something like this: What’s your name, how old are you, do you have a boyfriend, how much do you make. Now I don’t know about you, but these are not really the first questions that come to mind for me when I first met someone! But on the coast, it’s just normal.
So back to describing my neighborhood, there are a handful of soccer fields and volleyball fields which have people playing on them almost all of the time. These two sports are definitely hobbies and I think that there is a soccer game just about every day. And if you don’t play in the games, you are watching. There is also an internet café and my “sister” down the street actually has internet in her house which she said I could use too. The town also has a school, a kindergarten, two churches, a police center, a health center, a community house, bakeries, restaurants, and stores. All in all, I think it makes for a pretty nice little town. Oh yeah, they also have a stadium where people play soccer a lot and it is basically a pretty nice sized field that is fenced in.
Having my host family have the restaurant is pretty cool as well since I can go and eat pretty much whenever I want. It took me the whole time I was there to convince my host mom though that I really just want fruit for breakfast instead of a whole huge meal, which is custom for breakfast complete with rice and meat. On the last day, I got a plate full of cut up banana and apple which was amazing. She even gave me some milk with ice in it since I told her I don’t really like hot milk, which is custom here for breakfast. And for lunch it is normal to have soup as well, which in all honesty, I am just getting pretty sick of here lately so I didn’t really eat it. The next day, my host mom didn’t give me soup with my lunch. Basically, when it comes to food my host mom is amazing as she observes what I did and didn’t eat and then she tailors my next meal accordingly. Therefore, by the end of the visit I was getting more meat, less rice, vegetables that I like, such as tomato and lettuce instead of yucca…yuck…, and lots of banana. I am definitely going to enjoy the food on the coast more than what I do here in the Sierra.
The house next door to the restaurant is where I will be living. I have my own room and there is one bathroom and shower for us all (there is one in the restaurant too). And get this…there is a washing machine. I did notice that they still washed some of their clothes by hand, but I think on the coast it isn’t as common for people to wash their clothes like I do here up in the Sierra. I am pretty sure though that I will be able to use the washing machine though when it comes time to do laundry…we’ll have to wait and see though. The PCs that currently live in that area told me that they take their laundry to a cleaner about every two weeks. The laundry cleaner cleans and folds your clothes for about $2, and it is a lot easier on your clothes. We’ll have to wait and see I guess! (I also posted pictures of my barrio and what not on facebook too so you can see what I’m talking about).
There are about four current PC girls that live right around where I am. Two live in barrios that are actually apart of Machala, one lives in a barrio about 15 minutes from me, and then another lives in a different barrio as well about 30 minutes from me. So all in all, there will be about five of us all within 45 minutes of each other. This will be really nice as I know that I can have some time with Americans if I need it. It is a little weird because most of them were in the same Omnibus (they have been here for about a year) and therefore have really strong friendships. But I am sure that I will be able to join in on this as well with the support system.
My job is really still pretty vague and I think always really will be. I work with INFA, Institucion de Ninos y Familias (Institution of children and families), and will be working with the community of El Retiro as well. So Romulo and I have made up some tasks for the first few months that are as follows:
1 – Introduce me to the community and explain the Peace Corps and my purpose as I am the first PC in my town. I think Romulo even mentioned a possible Fiesta for me, but we will just have to wait and see about that!
2 – Work with INFA and what Romulo is currently doing in the community. INFA gives out becas (scholarships) to the families and in return the kids have to go to school and certain other talks and the parents are certain talks that they have to attend as well for education. So Romulo has a talk right now called “Aventura de La Vida” (adventure of life) which I believe is a class for the kids that happens two times a week. So I will be helping him with that.
3 – Start a community bank. This is a big one that the community really wants but it is a project that is going to take some time because I first have to give talks about what the community bank is and how it works and then facilitate one. Basically, I have to first educate the community about a community bank and how it works to get the interest in it and then run one with the community.
4 – Give talks to the youth about self-esteem, values, and goals. Basically, just be like a social worker for the kids and remind them that they are their greatest asset. It is along the lines of one of the programs that the PC has, “Como planear mi vida” (how to plan my life), which is a resource that I am sure I will be using often.
Those are just the basic things that we managed to come up with in the first few days…and I am sure that some of those ideas will work which others will end up failing miserably. That’s just the life of a PC though for what I have heard. Once you are actually living in the community as well you will be able to see more things of what the community actually needs and wants.
So there is a summary of my barrio and my job…or what I think will be my job…for the next two years. Like I have said above, all of this is just the first impression and it will be interesting to look back at this in two years compare it to what the community and job actually were like.
Now we have a week of training back here in Cayambe followed by a week for our technical trip. The fiesta for La Chimba is this Thursday to Sunday too so that will be interesting with many circles of dancing, with the same song being played over and over again, and of course drinking all around. I am sure it will be a interesting week to come!
Saturday, July 25, 2009
The Site Visit - This is going to be long
So I guess before I get into this long blog I should just put the summary right up here at the top in case you don’t want to keep reading. My initial site visit to the El Retiro Barrio in the El Oro providence of Ecuador went pretty well and I think overall it left a pretty good impression on me and that I left a pretty good impression on them. Now with that said, I still don’t think any of this is going to easy going…but I probably would say that no matter where my site was! You can stop there if you don’t want any more details, because here they are folks.
So the trip started out with a group of five of us and one facilitator going from Cayambe to Quito (a two hour bus ride) where we had to work our way through Quito from the old bus terminal to the new bus terminal. Sounds easy, right? Well of course not. It was a Saturday when we left and apparently that changes how the metros run in Quito and we needed to take the metros to get to the new bus terminal along with walking a block at around 8pm at night. Long story short it took us about two hours total to get from the old bus terminal to the new terminal and this is with us all having our five days of clothes and whatnot for luggage that we are hauling around while not trying to look lost or too foreign so that we don’t get targeted by a pickpocket (Quito I believe is the second highest city in Ecuador for crime with Guayaquil surpassing it).
Before I continue here let me paint a picture of the public transportation here. The public transportation here is used ALL of the time and when you are standing there on the bus with absolutely no room to breathe, much less move, not only one but two or more people will manage to somehow get on. And all of the while you will have your bum into some guy you have never met and a little lady shoving you around in front (something like this…) while people constantly get on and off. I think you are starting to see how pick pocketing is an easy hobby here with the public transportation.
Okay, so now that you have that very important picture in mind I will continue. We get to Quito and head over to the first of three different Metros we ended up taking in the city. We all get shoved on together and we even run into another group of ours that is heading to the New Terminal too. The other group gets off at a stop before our group, and the other group ended up being at the right stop and we were at the wrong one. Luckily, there was a really nice guy on the Metro with us who works for the Metros that our facilitator was talking to and he took us back over to the Metro and got us on for free going the opposite direction. The kicker is that it was a Saturday night and I guess that one Saturday to get from the old to new terminal you have to take three separate Metros instead of just the normal two. So anyways, we got back on and got off at the right stop.
We then had to walk down a little over a block to the other Metro…the only thing here is that since the new bus terminal literally opened up this last weekend, no one had ever really been to it and thus no one really knew which line to take exactly. So we ended up standing in three different lines before we finally decided it was the right one. And then once the Metro comes, well let’s just say that they don’t wait. They open the door, people literally shove themselves and whoever else is in the way on or off, and the doors close whether people are in the way or not. And here is when it gets fun.
The zipper Dana’s backpack broke…now what makes this really funny is that his backpack had actually broken that morning in Cayambe when he first tried to leave. So this second backpack was actually the backpack of his host family. And of course, it had to break right when the metro came and people where being shoved on and off while others were waiting for a different line. Somehow I ended up right at the door of the Metro as it was beginning to shut. I look into the Metro and see half of my group with the other half still on the platform along with our facilitator and Dana trying to frantically stop his belongings from falling all over the Metro floor while at the same time trying to get on the Metro without getting pushed over because he is trying to not lose his belongings…and all I’m thinking is I can’t go around this city without our facilitator right now! So I literally end up holding the door open, by myself, with my bum pushing against the right side door as I yell at the rest of my group to hurry up because I don’t know how long I can hold it open. Thankfully…we all made it on, Dana with his falling apart bag and all, and my facilitator made a comment that it was a good thing I was strong to hold open the door. It was definitely a panic moment for me as I’m sure it was for Dana too!
So we have got one more Metro to get and at this point it is about 8 and we are starting to get tired and hungry since we left Cayambe at 4. Thankfully this Metro we actually had to wait for about five minutes for which gave Dana and us time to re-pack his belongings into the room that each of us had and what bags we could make up since he now no longer had a functional backpack of his own (the mosquito net bags came in really handy here). I ended up having his toiletries in my bag (remember this). So we got all of that situated before the last Metro came and then it was just the normally getting shoved on to the Metro.
The new bus station in Quito is actually a pretty nice modern building. This is where our group breaks up again because not all five of us were going to the same place; just three to el Oro and the facilitator stayed in Quito. So the three of us; me, Dana, and Sarah; head to the Pan-Americana Bus line to buy tickets (there are lines which just go straight from point A to point B and don’t pick up anyone along the way, only drop people off; safer). The tickets were $9 and we all paid with a $20 bill and got a $10 back and a dollar coin. The reason this is “funny” is that one of us ended up getting passed back a fake $10 bill, but we were just so tired for the past two hours of running around that we didn’t notice at all…and go figure, it was Dana (this part comes into play later in the story).
Our bus ended up leaving at about 9pm so we really just had time to grab some snacks and jump on the bus at that point…which the three of us didn’t really mind either, because sitting down in assigned seats with our bags safe underneath the bus, didn’t sound like that bad of a plan at that point. So we all breathed a big sigh of relief and set in for our 10 to 11 hour bus ride. They played some weird movie which I don’t really remember and I ended up half falling asleep for pretty much the whole night. Here’s a little funny side note for you too, they serve you a free cup of coke it you want just about right before you go to bed at 10pm…I guess it’s to try and help you stay up to watch the movie. But anyways, the “sleep” that you get on these buses, isn’t really much sleep.
And then of course at 2am we got pulled over by the Army, which I guess is pretty regular, and they search all of the men. It was really kind of weird though because I think that it is regular just to get stopped and have them check your papers (citizen idea cards, and we have PC cards), but they didn’t do that at all. They just patted down all of the men and pretty much just left the women alone. Either way, it was a nice stretch for the legs.
So morning comes and we are texting one of the current PCV in Machala (the big city we are going to) and trying to figure out where we are exactly and where we need to get off. And of course…we missed all of Machala and drove right through it to Santa Maria where we got off and had to take a 30 minute public bus ride back. Definitely could have been worse, but it was a minor panic moment and way too early in the morning to have to be thinking. My counterpart that I am going to be working with was actually already at the Pan-Americana bus terminal when I got into Machala so I took off and the other two went off for their bus that they needed to take about an hour and a half for Sarah (to Arenillas about 30 minutes from the Peru border) and about two hours for Dana (to Huaquillas basically right on the Peru border).
Now remember Dana’s backpack problem…and remember those toiletries. Well you guess it; Dana went off to Hauquillas while his toiletries went off to El Retiro with me…sorry Dana!!! And of course Dana realized this about 30 minutes after we parted but by then it was too late. So he ended up having to go out and buy some necessary toiletries for the trip. Now remember that fake $10 bill Dana got given back…well you guessed it, he tried to use that for his toiletries which is where he ended up finding out it was a fake. Poor man with bad travel luck!
So I got onto my next bus which costs 0.40 and is about 30 minutes to El Retiro, my barrio, from Machala; not bad at all. My counterpart is a 27 year old man, Romulo, who works with INFA in the El Retiro barrio and lives in a barrio about 15 minutes away of El Cambio (barrio = neighborhood). Machala, which in my opinion is a pretty big city, I think I am really going to enjoying being by. It has a daily market which is about four by eight blocks FULL of fresh vegetables, fruits, meat, seafood, and even clothes. Not to mention that there are some pizza and hamburger places in Machala as well (some food places I can run to for comfort so to say) as well as some super market type stores around and places that sell DVDs in Spanish AND English! There is also a big fishermen’s port in the city and from there you can take a 20 minute ferry ride to the beach which is really an Island called Jambeli. Machala is also where I will be getting my mail at a P.O. box and it is where my bank is. So I am definitely pretty excited that it is just an easy 25-30 minute bus ride away from my barrio.
From there Romulo and I headed off to El Retiro and made small chat here and there. He seems like a really nice guy that will definitely help me out in the next two years. About 15-20 minutes from my barrio just outside of Machala is a center which they actually call “Shopping”. It is basically a mini-shopping center with a food court, a movie theater (which plays movies in English every once and a while too), and a store which is kind of like a super-sized Target from what I have heard. All in all, pretty exciting…oh yeah…I forgot one of the coolest things about Shopping. It has free wireless internet there! It is supposed to be really slow, but still, it is internet…and it is free (some of the current PCVs have even used SKYPE there). So having Shopping right by my barrio is another awesome thing.
So I guess it’s time I actually talk about my barrio, eh? But sadly I am out of time right now so I will have to wait and post up another post for my thoughts on my site. All in all though, I really do think that it is going to be good.
P.S. I posted some new pictures on Facebook of my site area as well.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Exhausted
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Time for the first 13-15 hour bus trip
I am really excited to go to my site and get my first impressions of everything. That really is about all I´ve got right now besides the fact that I am feeling pretty doped up from the medicine I am taking and I feel sleepy...which could be a good thing for this bus trip. Happy reading with the other posts!
And the winner is...
Just a couple quick updates to mention. First things first, the PC decided to not really give us a day off this weekend as we have language class first thing in the morning tomorrow and then for people who have a long trip to their site, like me, we get to leave right after for the buses. So my long journey will be tomorrow and I am actually kind of excited for it because I am sure that after two years of living down south I will be pretty familiar with this trip at the end of it all (we have to go back to Quito for certain things here and there throughout our service).
Today we just had language classes and we were able to go to Cayambe which was really good because we all needed money from the ATM for our trip. We also had to pay our host families here in La Chimba their money as well so we all definitely needed to get more money with both paying our host families and having enough money to take on our site trip with us. The ATM machines were not really working very well and it took us a couple of tries and three different machines in the end but we all ended up getting our money (the PC is still having problems with the banking at the moment). I think pretty much everyone struggled a little with the ATMs though so no one was left out.
For the fun update, I woke up this morning and couldn’t talk. Well more so as one of the PCTs said today, I sounded like one of the cartoon characters from Family Guy (I think she said the baby, Stewy) or my personal favorite and one I know that my father will love, the Godfather, when I tried to talk. I stayed up last night as well using the last of my voice to talk to my mom on the phone, which was total worth it, but it was definitely gone this morning. Once we all got together though four out of five of us realized that we needed to talk to the doctor about something or another. So we called him and he was actually going around to the communities to give out the mosquito bed nets for the people in the Malaria Zones (yes this includes me…). So he came and handed out our mosquito bed nets and then had a consultation with each of us, minus the one healthy one.
One girl has to wait on her next bowl movement to see the outcome as to if she can even go on her site visit this weekend or not (I definitely think it sounds like she’s got it the worst out of all of us!). Another girl has to go to Quito at some point to get tested to see if she is diabetic and the other girl I believe just has a cold right now with diarrhea that seems to be pretty constant. My diagnosis was the only one that the doctor could actually put a name to right now (and drive around the corner to get the medication)…and the winner is…laryngitis!
Basically, I have had a cold for about the past week and it just decided to move a little further down south into my esophagus and lungs. Everything that is coming out of my nose is really clear but when I cough I have green stuff come up from my esophagus and lungs (not to mention I have pressure around both of my ears). I also get light headed really easily especially with the altitude here. And today was the top off with my inability to speak in either Spanish or English. So I have antibiotics that I get to take over the next three days, one pill a day, and some lovely cough type medicine that I take a teaspoon of every 6 hours along with 2 ibuprofen, and I got told that my voice will be sore for about five days or so.
I realized this morning though that I was taking a total of 7 pills in the morning for the past few days give or take (2 Tylenol, 2 nasal decongestants, 1 malaria, 1 anti-allergy and 1 birth control). Now I just have to take 5 pills in the morning (2 ibuprofen, 1 malaria, 1 anti-allergy and 1 birth control) with a few more ibuprofen during the day and an antibiotic during lunch for the next two days. Got to love the crazy things a different altitude, area, and climate do to your body. There really are so many illnesses out there!
So that’s my interesting update though…that I have laryngitis and now the local people really look at me like I’m crazy when I try to talk because I’m speaking really broken Spanish in a voice that even makes the Americans laugh at me because of how weird I sound. Oh well, another experience to put in the books!
D-Day (It´s going to be Okay...Just Hang In There)
So it finally came...D-day (the “It’s going to be Okay…Just Hang In There” is from the card I got from my mommy today). But before I get to the exciting news of where my site is and how the day went, I first must update you all on the events of yesterday. Yesterday, in Cayambe (the “big” city within our training area), there was a riot in the main park. I’m not really 100% sure what happened since I was not there but I will tell you the most that I know.
Basically, a joven, or what is rumored to be possibly up to three “young people”, got into a Camineta truck (this is basically a glorified taxi driver which is really something like a Ford truck where everyone piles into the back to make it up the mountain) and the driver got robbed and murdered. The Camineta driver was from Cayambe and the murderer is not from around this area, I believe it’s possibly someone from the Coastal Area. The police managed to find the one youth (16-21 years old) and took him to jail. However, in this area there is actually a clause in their constitution which says that they can have community justice essentially (this is an area with strong indigenous roots). Therefore, there were people in the community who wanted to lynch, murder, and burn the murderer and therefore a riot followed yesterday at around 5pm in the central park of Cayambe. No one was really sure though where the murder had been taken since the police kept trying to through people off. Some of the PCTs where in Cayambe though and there was tear-gas that the police set off in the park to break up the mob. No PCTs got hurt although one or two did get exposed to some of the tear-gas which I guess is used often in Latin America from what I have been told because it is a really effective way to break up mobs. The rest of the PCTs that were in Cayambe at the time were all in building or stores and stayed there until our Duty Officer came in his car to pick them up from right outside of the building. Sad story now though is that our main big city that is close by, Cayambe, was off limits again today unless you live there.
So that’s the exciting riot story to start off this blog. But onto the super cool stuff for the day; the site selection. We got to training at 8am this morning where they prolonged the suspense until about 9:45 when they finally starting to tell us our sites. It was actually really neat as they had taped off the different regions on the floor in a map of Ecuador (even with Peligroso/dangerous signs for the Columbian boarder area). They then reached into a bag with all of our names in it, and read off our city and we ran through a little human tunnel out to the other side with the map and regions and we were then taken to our area. I think my name got called about ¾ of the way through so that most of the people where already standing on the map on the other side at the site spot. And the drum roll please!!!! My site is El Retiro – El Oro region (El Oro literally translates to the Gold). Now the funny thing is that I was actually the first of the three people in my region to get called. I am in the southern part of Ecuador in the Coast region. I have two other people from my Omnibus living in the region with one; one girl and one boy; and I do know that there are other PCVs currently down in that region, but I have no idea how many of whom as of right now.
I really would love to spend like the next page telling you information about my site…but the truth is I really don’t know much! Like I mentioned, it is on the coast and I do have to take malaria medicine for my full service (right now this is Doxycycline which I have to take daily), I think I will have a bug net to sleep under as well, and that it is going to be HOT. So like a 180 from where I am currently living as I believe the one lady told us that it is around 90 degrees F there and it is not 8,000 to 10,000 feet of altitude like where I am currently living! The bigger city that is by me is Machala (I believe it even has an airport…not international, but it is an airport) and it is about an hour to an hour and a half bus ride from my neighborhood of El Retiro or about 1,000 people. I also believe that my site has internet as well and all the basic amenities. Oh yeah, and that the main exports are bananas and shrimp.
I am working with the Instituto de la Ninez y Familia (INFA) and I will list below the aspects that have been given for me for my job (these always change once you actually are working at your site keep in mind):
• Plan and implement educational activities with the families and the community.
• Organize recreational activities with children and adolescents focused in aspects of life skills.
• Conduct workshops about bettering the quality of life for families.
• Help to start community banks and small enterprise businesses.
• Organize activities related to preventing the exploitation of children as workers and the promotion of children’s rights.
• Help to strengthen the after-school tutoring program.
I think that for the moment that is just about all of the real information that I have. We leave to go on our site visits this weekend, I leave Saturday and travel overnight (a 13-15 hour trip all in all) and get to my site for Sunday. I then leave my site Wednesday to travel overnight and get back home for Thursday. So I have about three days really in my site to explore and try to get a feel for things.
All in all, today was a really emotionally packed and exciting day. I can’t wait to learn more about my site and my nerves and emotions are jumping up and down all over the place. It’s almost like you don’t know which way is up anymore as there are a million and one thoughts that run through your head with questions and curiosity. One other thing I guess I should mention is that we lost a member of our Omnibus today as she decided to go home (we went from 45 down to 44), or as they have acronyms for everything around here, she ETed. This is sad, but also kind of expected as statistics show that one out of ten PCTs does not complete training.
Once I have had my site visit and my dad has researched my site on the web (I’m counting on you dad!) I will be sure to post up more information. As for right now though, it is REALLY late (this is 10:30 for me now) and I’ve got to finishing reading a little more information and then head to bed. Oh yeah, one other little neat thing is that the PC took our aspiration statement that we wrote back during the application process for the PC and used some of our words in a letter back to us. Remember your words: “I feel like it is apart of my responsibility to give back to people who do not feel that hope in life that I have been given. Life is too short and precious to waste it by only experience what you know.” Wow am I ever good!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Oh the waiting!!!
Nothing else to say....Peace out until tomorrow!
P.S. I put more pictures up on facebook
An Interesting Day
Today was an interesting day, or at least I thought it was for me! I started off the day at 8 am when my host mom knocked on my door for desayuno (breakfast). I was already awake, like I tend to be these days anyhow as I really don’t think it’s possible to sleep in around here between the rosters, the fact that the cows need to be milked at 5am, and of course the dogs. And yet when I don’t have to get up to go to classes, I tend to just lie in bed until breakfast is ready at around 8, sometimes 9 if I’m lucky. So anyways, I get up and eat my breakfast of potato and onion soup…yes that’s right folks; potato and onion soup for breakfast. For some reason my family has soup with or for every meal (tonight was chicken soup…the Ecuadorean style, slightly different than at home). I even talked to the main language and culture guy about the soup at every meal and he was a little surprised as well. I mean, it does make sense though since it is almost always cold up here to have soup a lot. So I got up and ate my soup for breakfast.
Next I worked on some competency stuff that I have to do every week for the PC (competencies are their way of saying this is some form of a test to show that you are learning something during training). Once that fun stuff was done I walked down to the soccer field in La Chimba where three of the other PCTs from La Chimba where. There are always soccer games in La Chimba on Sunday and today there were a lot more because the women were playing too. They play on a lot smaller field though than the men and they always play with less people…I think it was 7 on the field plus the goalie for the women’s where as the men’s game is normal. So anyhow, some of our host mom’s and/or sisters were playing in some of the games so we stayed around and watched (neither my host mom nor sisters played).
Since the games were taking so long and we needed lunch, we went and bought some bread and made cheese and tomato sandwiches. We also made some guacamole dip that we put on top of the sandwiches, Sprit to drink, and some yogurt. All in all, it made for a pretty good lunch. So we made the food and then took it back to the soccer pitch were everyone looked at us with funny faces because a, we are the gringas, and b, because we were bring in a packed lunch of sandwiches. However, it didn’t face us and nor did the group of dogs that ended up circling us as we ate. All in all, the lunch was definitely a success.
The games kept on going for the most of the day so one of the girls and I decided to go on a walk up towards the mountains instead. And MAN what a view from up top. And MAN what a work out. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. I will be sure to get one of those pictures up because it was completely worth it for the view. Not to mention that I can now say I have climbed up one of the Andes Mountains, oh yeah! All in all it took us about three hours, two hours up and one hour down. Coming down is a lot easier, but it still takes quiet the effort. And we could even see the whole town of La Chimba from where we were. It was pretty amazing really.
Then we got home around five and I decided I should really do the laundry that I needed to get done. So I started out scrubbing away at my clothes on my rock pedestal and I thought, well hey, my shoes need a little rub off to after the day. So I went and got them and just brushed them off with a little water knowing that I would have to wear them tomorrow too because they are my only pair of tennis shoes. So I see my host brother”s shoes on the stairs drying off some too and I figure, okay, I’ll just set my right next to his. Then I go back to scrubbing away at my laundry. About five minutes later I see one of the dogs run out into the yard and he has something in his mouth but I can’t quite tell what it is. Then I look again and a little closer and I realize that it is my shoe. Not only is it my shoe in his mouth, but I then realize that my other shoe is not on the stairs anymore either.
So I run out into the yard where the dog thinks it’s a game and I grab my shoe back from him. Thankfully, it was all still in tack…but there’s still one big problem; I only have one shoe. My host brother comes out and asks me what is going on and I told him that dog took my shoe and now I only have one! So he starts to look around the three possible lots where this dog might have put my shoe. About an hour later we are still looking for me shoe. It was like it had up and vanished. So it gets to the point where I am about to start crying because I am starting to have to try and accept that I might not find my other shoe and that means that I was going to have to go shopping in a country where the average female height has got to be about 5’2” for a pair of size 11 tennis shoes. I was not amused by this thought at all. So I figured to look one more place, up on the roof. And sure enough, that’s where the little thing had stashed my shoe. Some of the laces were pulled apart, but it was all still intact. At one point though, I really thought I was going to have to slap that dog for stealing my shoes. Not amused; not amused at all. What I don’t get is that my host brother’s shoes did not get touched at all…and they were right next to mine. It’s almost like the dog knew better than to take the one pair, so he just took mine instead.
So after that I quickly finished up my laundry before it got too dark (7pm here it gets dark) and then I jumped into the shower because our walk really made me stinky and we also have the U.S. Ambassador visiting us tomorrow and our one requirement was that we were all too shower…this was a half joke and half serious I think! So I was kind of starting to dread this shower because it was already dark and cold outside but I forced myself to do it. And man was I every glad that I did because it was the BEST shower that I have had here in Ecuador. It was steaming HOT water that I loved every minute of. I really do think it was the best shower that I have had here in the country yet.
Then I got out and had my chicken noodle soup for dinner, washed the dishes from dinner, and then had some type of fresh herbal tea that my mom had picked the herbs during the day in the area she was at (it was fresh from the fields) and it was really good and enjoyable.
Now I am warm in bed and the dog that isn’t really ours, Martin (our one dog, not my best friend dog but the other one who isn’t a puppy is the shoe theft though), is moaning really loudly which means I get to try and out there and have him shut up….oh dogs. I definitely still like dogs…but I also have to say there are definitely a couple of them I wouldn’t care to ever see again. This really makes me lean toward getting a cat for sure! Goodnight…hopefully!!!
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Just a quickie
That´s about all that is new. Besides that just the same old same old. Tomorrow is laundry day which means I will be rubbing my cloths and hands against a rock with soap for about 2 to 3 hours. We are thinking about a possible hike up the Cayambe Mountain as well during the day and of course the football game that happens every Sunday in La Chimba. It really seems like Saturday is a good day to come down to Cayambe and then have Sunday to relax in La Chimba for the upcoming week.
That´s it folks, all is still well here in Ecuador :)
Update on the Ecuadorian Front
Update on the Ecuadorian front. Like I mention in my last blog, we are starting to get into a routine here. There are basically lots of lectures during the day, mixed in with technical classes, language classes, and culture classes. That is pretty much the life of a PCT in a nutshell. Oh yeah, and you have to put in the competencies in there as well (basically tests) and progress reports. In the spare time that we have, which isn’t really too much, it is usually spent either traveling from point A to point B or preparing a charla or some competency for the upcoming week. And if we don’t have a charla we have to work on, then it’s either time to wash the laundry, take a shower, or take a nap. Now don’t get me wrong, we manage to mix in some time in there to have fun with each other as well…whenever we can which doesn’t tend to be that often.
I guess what I am trying to ramble on is, we don’t have much spare time during CBT (community based training). For La Chimba, it also doesn’t really help the cause that we have to spend about two hours a day traveling give or take. I think we estimated that we walk about 2 mile one way to Olmedo just about every day either to take the bus to our site for the day or to eat lunch that day (there are no restaurants in La Chimba). Then we have the 2 mile walk back as well. It is definitely one great way to get your exercise for the day, but it also really cuts back on your day when you have lectures 8am-4/4:30pm with 2 hours of travel and it being dark at 7pm easily. But we are definitely getting the trail down, that is for sure.
I have also heard though that once you are actually at your site you have loads of free time and almost don’t know what to do with it all because you don’t have all of these lectures and classes. CBT is definitely a thing of its’ own which is really needed and yet at the same time can become kind of tedious. It is a great way to strengthen our PC support group with each other though.
So this past week has basically been more lectures and classes, nothing really too crazy to report about the week. However, last weekend I went into Cayambe on Saturday where they are currently having the fiestas. In case I have forgotten to mention it in any of the blogs…which I think I might have…right now is fiesta time…for four months. That’s right, four months of fiestas every weekend. Now let me quickly define fiesta for you as well. It’s a parade that goes around for quite a few hours around the town (and by parade I mean people that dress up from each sector of the community and then dance and drink around the town), with some “typical” parade things as well such as community queens and such, with lots of people selling stuff on the street and of course...drinking and “dancing”. They always decorate the town with streamers and such. Now let me quickly define dancing for you. This would be when everyone stands around in a circle and moves their feet back and forth as they continue drinking and walking around in a circle together. I think you are starting to get the picture; lots of drinking and lots of “dancing”.
Each community in the area is assigned 1-3 weekends of fiestas, for their respected Saints, depending on the size of the community, one weekend is always the biggest, and this past weekend was the biggest one for Cayambe out of three weekends. It was actually really cool because I ended up just walking around by myself, during the day so it was safe, and just looked around at all of the street vendors. Just by doing that I ended up in the plaza de torros where sure enough, there were some “brave souls” in the middle of the ring with their red on taunting the bull; the good old running with the bulls. However, there were a lot of people in that area which was very cramped and had quite a few intoxicated people, so I didn’t stay that long watching the bulls. I then came home and spent Sunday completely in La Chimba, sleeping “in” (waking up at 8), washing my clothes, washing myself, doing general maintenance to my body such as clipping toe nails, and working on some Spanish language practice. And let me tell you, it was great to actually have the time to do all of that.
Now the interesting/sad part of this story is that some other people also went into Cayambe over the weekend and got something stolen or had some attempt to steal something. From my understanding thus far, assault is really not that common here in Ecuador, but thieves and burglary are. One girl took her camera out to take a picture of the torros and then put it back into her purse where someone grabbed into her purse and stole it. Another girl had the back of her purse pouch that they gave us to keep our valuables in, it’s like a mini purse if you will, slashed without her even knowing. However lucky for her, the knife hit her camera that was in the purse, so it didn’t get slashed enough for anything to fall out (her camera had a nick on it later she realize when she got home and saw the small slash). She said that she didn’t even feel it at all.
Now before you start to worry mom, it really could be a lot worse. Most of the theft here is pick-pocketing in the streets and it is especially common during the fiestas. So basically this just means that you have to be aware at all times and make sure to not leave things in your pockets where things can easily be taken especially in crowded situations. You just have to remember to put your belongings underneath your cloths and close to your chest where you will be more aware of someone try to steel. But enough with that downer because all in all the weekend was a lot of fun; it was also just a good reminded that we are living in a foreign country where you have to be careful.
My nose is still slightly peeling…and man do I just not understand why because this is like the fifth time it has. Oh well, that sun really is strong here. They actually told us today something about how they rate the UV rays and how dangerous they are…and the UV rays in Quito are about 2-8 points higher than what they consider to be dangerous. Long story short here, wear sunscreen you pale white gringa, and wear the silly sunscreen (thanks Dad…). My bug bites however are completely gone in the itchy and bumpy way, now they just look like really funky scares. And thankfully, the fairy has not made another visit to me but I have heard that she is having some extended visits with others.
Today I did pick up a bit of a cough though which is really annoying because I already have a hard enough time breathing up here in this altitude without the cough! I told the doctor today because he was at one of the lectures and he basically told me what I thought; this is just the Sierra form of a cold because the air up here is so thin and dry that it affects your throat like this at times. It is definitely a new feeling though for me…a new feeling that I’m not the fondest of! Hopefully tomorrow it will be better…or I will just have become more accustomed to the feeling.
We also had our first progress report today with our technical group leader for Youth and Families, Cristina (who is Ecuadorean). Everything for me was pretty much on the positive side which was nice to hear that they think I belong here even if there are sometimes when I question whether I do or not. If the trainers think that I have the right attitude for this gig, I guess I have to just agree with them and have a little more faith in myself sometimes. Now with the language competency for the day I would say that I did pretty well on, but of course I would like to have done better as they are definitely places that I can improve. My language needs work, but they know that I want to work on it and that it will come little by little…which I just have to keep reminding myself of!
Other than that, the only other news I have is that we now have another dog “living” at my house. This one however I am not too fond of as it is a larger dog, one of the larger ones I have seen really, and he tends to like to bark at night right outside my door (for example last night between the hours of 1 and 2:30 where I was wide awake). He is actually the dog of my mother’s brother who has a PCT staying with them as well. Basically the conclusion that we have come too is that this dog, Martin, doesn’t like staying at his house because he is the only dog there were here he has three other ones to play with. However…even though it is hard for me to say…I’m not a fan of Martin and I really, really wish he would just go back home (and he won’t because we have tried a couple of times and he just comes back here). So hopefully for tonight he won’t bark a whole bunch because otherwise I think I might have to go get a stick to get him to be quiet because that is what they do around here. My three dogs though I do still love and adore and my best friend still walks with me every day…the three year old girl told me his name is Bismoth…but I think that the PCT girls of La Chimba are going to give him another name at some point as he walks with us every day.
Alright, I think I’m just about blogged out for the night. The only other thing I can think of to add is that in one week we will know our site for the next two years which is…super exciting!!! It will be really nice to be able to look at the bigger picture and know where you are going to be with what type of people (because the type of people differs greatly by region just like in any country) and what type of climate. That in itself I am really excited for like I am sure all of the PCTs are. Cristina told me today that even the counter-parts that we will be working with are getting anxious and asking her when they will know who they are working with as well. So that is something for the upcoming week to really look forward too. Tomorrow night I think we are getting together with the people in Pesillo (a town about 30 minute walk away) for an “American” type dinner, and then for Saturday it is either time for a hike up into the freezing cold mountains, or a trip down into Cayambe. Sunday will probably be another nice relaxing day in La Chimba with laundry to do and a futbol game in the afternoon. Now though…it is bedtime!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Happy July 4th and an Update on the Pictures
As for the pictures, I have figured out that you can upload them to the blog site but it takes forever and you actually end up having the pictures in the text. Because of this, I have decided that I am going to just break down and actually upload my pictures on to my facebook account. This means that if you actually want to see the pictures that I am posting, you have to look on to facebook (mom/dad...just ask Michael and he´ll be able to help you out). So that is where the pictures are going to be, on the good old world of facebook.
That is about all I have to say for this post, now off to find some good food somewhere! :)
That was a quick week
July 03 2009, Friday
In a nut shell, that was my week and man did it ever go by quickly. The charla that we gave was in groups so that much it a lot easier than what they will actually be when we get to our site and have to put on charlas by ourselves. But it was definitely a great eye opener to the idea of them as I am sure that there are plenty of charlas in my future. We did the human knot activity, and then we had a small activity on answering some questions about yourself personally and how honest you are within yourself and your emotions and we ended with some skits that we put on to demonstrate good and poor communication. Our yeah, the trip to Pesillo was an interesting one though as the “road” that we went down was way under construction and had literally holes and trenches all the way along it. So much so to the point where we had to jump from spot to spot to keep going (although some places had boards you could walk over from point A to point B I felt the jumping methods was a little more secure). Either way, it was quite the adventure just to get to Pesillo! After that route we realized that there is another route to Pesillo, it just takes a little longer. However, if you are in the mood for an adventurous walk, the way we went was the way to go.
Today was actually a lot of fun as we had a soccer tournament between all of the communities (we lost the first game, but it was still a lot of fun!). And you know what I learned from this soccer game…the altitude here is a K-I-L-L-E-R. The games only lasted 12 minutes…but then it took you about the next two following games to actually gain your breath back. At one point during the game my hands actually became all tingly and I guess that is because my body wasn’t getting enough oxygen, or at least that is what I got told! Man is that altitude every a killer. It was rather funny though watching everyone feel like they were extremely out of shape regardless as to if they actually are or not! I guess when you do go up like 8,000 feet above sea level it makes quite the difference. This is what we all learned today here at the PCT.
After the games we had the BBQ with burgers, hot dogs, chips, salad, guacamole, chips, soda, and best of all…wait for it…NO rice!!! It was definitely a good old American meal which was nice to have for a change. We also got to meet and talk with some of the current volunteers here in Ecuador that had come from all around for the event. I also got to meet my “big brother” Garret, who seemed really nice and friendly. It was really nice to be able to talk to other PCV’s and I think that they enjoyed looking back at all of us and remembering for themselves when they were in our very own shoes not too long ago really. There were PCV’s from all of the groups as well here in Ecuador; Youth & Families, Health, Agriculture, and Natural Resources (probably 15 or so PCVs). All in all, it made for a really nice day and the sun even came out for the later part of the day.
Once all of the activities were done for the day we got to spend the rest of the day in Cayambe hanging out, which was really nice to actually have some down time. So most of us went out and had a drink or two and then went shopping for whatever necessities we needed to get from a larger town while we were there.
That was my week. I think that for the most part we are starting to get into a pretty solid routine here. I am really looking forward to having this weekend off though. Both Saturday AND Sunday! I think that tomorrow I am going to go into Cayambe during the day and meet up with some other PCTs and eat lunch and hang out for the day…actually during the day instead of during the afternoon where I don’t get back to La Chimba until 730/8 like during the weeks. Then Sunday I think I am just going to stay here in the wonderful community of La Chimba and go to the weekly soccer game. It will be really nice to stay here in the community for a day and be able to read over some Spanish information and maybe even some of the other many books the PC has given us thus far!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Pictures
I know I´m a hyprocritic
June 29 2009, Monday
Just a quick little note to put in here…I realized today that we have Cuy (Guinea Pig) in our back yard in a coup that I thought had chickens in it. Now for those of you who don’t know by now, Cuy is a delicacy dish here. And it was in this moment that I realize that I think I would be a vegetarian if I had to actually kill the animal myself. Now I know this is VERY hypocritical, but I just don’t think I could actually kill one of those animals. But I love meat so much that I am just going to keep eating my met and not think of the living things in my back yard that I am actually eating.
Another quick little update is that the swelling on my ankles has definitely gone down but I think that the individual bug bites themselves have actually gotten bigger and redder and itchier if possible. But at least the swelling has gone down so that there isn’t that pressure on my ankles now when I walk. Now I just have to stop myself from scratching those big red bumps! Nothing else new to report for now.
Cultural Trip - Mascarillas
June 28 2009, Sunday
Hard to believe that the last time I wrote anything down for my blog was three days ago. These past couple of days have been really crazy and busy and a lot of fun at the same time. But before I get to all of the new stuff that I did this past weekend I have a couple of things that I have figured out/remembered that I should probably write down and have forgotten too.
This past Monday June 22nd Estella, my Ecuadorean mom, was running around like crazy trying to get breakfast for me. I didn’t really think much of it, just that she was in a hurry or that she knew I was. Later that day when I came back from training though I learned that the reason she was running around so much. Her daughter went into labor that morning and had a little baby girl in the Cayambe Hospital that day. Estella was running around trying to get me breakfast before she went with her daughter into Cayabme, an hour trip one way by car, to give birth. Crazy, I know. Now there are a couple other crazy parts to this story as well. One being that I know realize that Estella has two sons and two daughters. She just didn’t list the one down on the paper that I filled out with her because her other daughter actually lives next door and not in the house with us. So long story short with that, I believe now that Estella has two boys (both single), one 14 and one 22, and two daughters (both married) one 23 and I’m not sure of the other’s age that lives next door with her husband and son. The father of the new born is 31.
Now the real crazy part of this story in my mind is that the new mother came back home the same day she gave birth! Not only the same day, but in a 13 hour time period including the two hours of driving. They left the house at 7am and came back the same day at 8pm. The poor new mother could barely walk. Now the new baby girl is absolutely adorable and probably just about the tiniest baby I have ever seen. And of course when they walked in with her they asked me if I wanted to hold her and I basically said nuh uh, that baby is way too small and cute for me to hold on her first day of life. Another crazy point to this story is that the father did not go to the Cayambe Hospital. He waited here at the house for phone call updates on the situation. Just a little different I thought that the mother would go but not the baby’s father. And the last crazy part of this story is that the baby still doesn’t have a name. When I asked the new mother about naming the baby, she basically said, we get to name it whenever we want to and have a good name for her. All in all though, quite the experience and now we have lots of family members and friends that are constantly coming and going. The poor new mom has to stay on bed rest for a month though which means that Estella waits on her whenever she can.
So that really was the big update which I forgot to tell you about…my bad. Quick wrap-up of the week activities is that we had a lot of classes and lectures. Moving on to this weekend, which started bright and early at 5am on Friday. We went on our cultural trip this weekend. My group, the whole 45 got split up into two different groups, went to Mascarillas (an Afro-Ecuadorean culture) while the other group went to a Native Ecuadorean culture where they speak Kitchwa, the native dialect. Mascarillas was about a two hour bus trip from Cayambe. So we all meet together in Cayambe at 7:30 in the morning to head out (thus the getting up at 5 because Cayambe is about an hour to an hour and a half trip).
Now Mascarillas is another smaller type community area like the areas we are currently in. However, Mascarillas is two hours DOWN the mountain which means, you guessed it, that it was much warmer (up to the 80’s) which we were all very excited about. So when we got there, everyone changed into our skirts, shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, and most importantly…sandals. Next we watch one of the local crafts take place of making a clay mask…it was really really good. Everyone had to try to make their own mask but none were as good as hers was, which she made look so easy to do. We then went on what I would call a nature walk around the community where our "tour guides" showed us the plants and their uses which included but where not limited to, bug repellent, sun screen, makeup, herbs for teas, medicine, and more. After that we went on a walk to the river…now the kicker here was finding the river. Sounds easy, right? Not when the whole river is surrounded with brush and who knows what. There really wasn’t a path to the river which might help explain why we went the wrong way about three times. At first I was wondering why one the tour guys had a machete with him…that quickly made sense. And of course in the process of making our way to the river we picked up the lovely companions of mosquitoes. So needless to say, my legs were all types of bitten up. The best part though, the river was really worth it; so beautiful and peaceful. After that we went back into the city and watched some people perform a dance known as the Bomba. It was pretty darn crazy and I have video of it that I would like to upload at some point. These women dance and they balance a glass vase on their head that has water in it while they dance around; definitely a talent. The one woman even got down during this dance and did some push-ups with this vase on the top of her head not faltering once. Pretty darn neat I thought…and a lot of talent! Everyone then ended up dancing and it was a lot of fun. We ended the day by all meeting up at the sports center and watched the locals play indoor soccer and then had some games of our own.
The following day was a lot shorter so we would have time to get back at a decent time. First, we walked down to the local compost where the men basically make fertilizer from decomposition stuff. So we learned all about that process that takes a total of about 6 months for one row to become decomposed. Next, we had a nice talk given to us by a musician of the Bomba music and he spoke about how the Afro-Ecuadoreans have had trouble and still are today. His talk was really interesting. That was pretty much it for the second day of the trip because we then had to make our way back to La Chimba.
Now the kicker to this Cultural trip is that I was just getting over my sunburn disaster and now my legs are eaten up like none other by mosquitoes. The good thing is that I didn’t make my sunburn any worse during the trip, only mosquito bites. The trip home though was a hard one for me because of those bites. I really got eaten up around my ankles and the combination of my skin’s reaction to them and my legs being down all day and walked upon made my ankles swell up. By the time I got home, it hurt to walk on my ankles and it basically looked like I had two rolled ankles. So today, I spent a lot of time trying to stay off of my poor swollen ankles. Basically, I managed to get rid of one disaster, my sunburn, and replace it with another, my bug bites. Now on the good news though, my stomach is taking things better, so the fairy has left me for now.
Today we walked over to Olmedo for a little while because that is where the fiesta is this weekend and today is the last day of it. It was really interesting to see the fiesta, which is basically a parade where people get all dressed up and going around drinking a ton starting at about 8 am. The people also dance and sing to this one same sang over and over and over again. It was really interesting though and we meet up with some other PCT there as well. All in all, it made for a pretty fun day. I came home at about 3 pm and washed my cloths by hand on my rock and put them up on the clothes line. This took me about a total of two hours to complete. That was really about it for the day. After I washed my clothes I met up with the other La Chimba girls to work on some "homework" type stuff that we have and then came home for dinner and now am in bed.
I sure do hope that I get to sleep some tonight though. I have taken enough Benadryl for my bug bites that I should be knocked out here pretty soon. The one thing though about the fiestas and sleep is that you don’t get a whole lot even if you don’t part-take in them. Last time I was woken up three different times, about 11 pm, 2am, and 4am, by singing people in their costumes banging on my door. You see, it’s tradition for people to go around at night and knock on doors for bread and other food and then sing you a song and have you dance with them in a circle. The down side to this is that even if you don’t answer the door, which people don’t really late at night, then the dancers just make a whole lot of noise to try and get you up (aka, they sing really loudly and pound repeatedly on your door for about 10-15 minutes). I asked my host mom today if it was better to give them food or to not give them food. She said it was better to not give them food because then they won’t come back, and yet she gave them food anyways so I asked her way. And she said simply, its tradition. So it will definitely be an interesting night for me with more banging and singing I’m sure. Oh and how could I forget the dogs barking! Must not forget that part! Sweet dreams to me.
P.S. I did already see a guy "resting" in a ditch on the way home today at about 7pm – This is common during fiestas. And a little FYI, fiestas in this area over all of Cayambe last for about four months from May to August (La Chimba has their fiesta in August).
The Fairy
So the fairy has arrived…what fairy you might ask…the diarrhea fairy that goes around and visits every Peace Corps Trainee (PCT) without fail. As our medical doctor told us during one of the health lectures, "diarrhea… well you’ll just have it so that’s all there is really to say". It’s not so much a question of if you will get sick while you are here, it is more so a question as to when you will get sick. Lucky for me right now, it isn’t unbearable, but it is definitely here.
We took the bus today from Cayambe up to La Chimba. And I swear, it is just about the worse bus ride I have been on in my life which last about an hour and a half. This was the second time I have taken this trip, and all of the pot holes where still there. On the bright side, it is a really beautiful country side that you get to see on the way up the mountain. It wasn’t too bad at first though because I was feeling ok at that point (and I was standing up so I had to use my whole body from falling all around). And then a seat opened up and I sat down. That’s when the fairy came to visit and I still had about 30 minutes left in the trip. And let me tell you that was just about the longest 30 minutes in my life. And all I kept thinking was, yo puedo, yo puedo (I can, I can) in reference to not pooping in my pants. Thank goodness, I was able to hold it all in until we got back to La Chimba. However, I went into the bathroom at the Centro where we have classes in La Chimba and of course there was not toilet paper. Now thankfully I had five other people who were at the place with me in the room across the way so I texted them with my phone explaining my situation. Thankfully they came through with just enough toilet paper for me to make it by. Needless to say, the fairy visited me again about four hours later and I have this suspicion that it might just be here tomorrow morning as well. On the bright side, I have enough drugs in my medical kit that I should find something that will work. Tonight I took Diphen and Bismuth tabs which will hopefully do the trick.
Besides that, my sun burn is coming in nicely from the soccer game that I went to last weekend. I think I started to try and peel a couple of places a little early because the skin that was underneath was RED and really stung. Not to mention, that it just had all this gooey stuff on it that hardened again to protect the red skin. So those places were the very top of my forehead and my right ear. And let me tell you that I am now paying for that decision. However, the rest of my sun burn is coming along nicely on my face, ears, hands, and neck. The hands don’t really hurt at all, although they look really bad, my neck really hurt yesterday but today is much better, my one ear really hurts while the other is okay, and my face the nose is a little sensitive and the top of my forehead is a no touch zone. Either way, it is coming along and trying to heal which is the good part.
So today we had two more vaccination shots…it’s like a gift that just keeps on giving and coming back to you. I had the second of my rabies shots in my left arm (I think it’s a serious of 3, so we’ve got one more to go now) and the other one was in my right arm and was for Typhoid. The shots themselves didn’t really hurt, but the Typhoid shot definitely ached afterwards for most people. The other vaccinations that we have had I recovered fine from, so I just have to be sure to not sleep on either of my arms tonight and I think that I should be fine again. But that Typhoid one was definitely something fierce.
The classes that I have throughout the week are a combination of different types of lectures including, safety and security lectures, PC policy lectures, health lectures, technical classes, language classes and maybe a couple of other things thrown in there. The technical classes and the language classes are broken down into smaller groups (mine are about 13 people for the tech class and 5 for the language). The rest of the lectures are all together with all 45 of us in Ayorra.
So where is Ayorra one might ask? That is the fun part; it is about a forty minute walk from where I live followed by a 20 minute bus ride from Olmedo. And if you can do math and know time that means that in total my commute is about an hour. So far all of our sessions have been in Ayorra, so it has made for some long days. But at the same time, I guess at least I can say that I get my exercise every day.
And today we got a lot of exercise because we walked to Olmedo like normal to take the bus, and then we took the bus to Ayorra for our morning vaccinations. Then we got on a bus after that which took us to Cayambe and we must have walked around Cayambe for about 2 hours…partly because Pablo, our , got lost and had us walk the wrong way for about an hour. So to repay us for his mistake, he paid for all of us to take the bus back to the center of Cayabme so we could walk the correct way. Next was our bus ride where I almost pooped my pants back up to Cayambe. We then had our afternoon language class and afterwards we decided that we wanted to go to Olmedo for the internet café and for some coffees for those of us who like them. So that was another 20 minutes of walking followed by 40 minutes back home. All in all, a lot of walking today, sore arms from the vaccinations, a sick stomach from the latter half of the day, and a sore leg. Which I forgot to tell you about! I think it was two days ago now I tried to walk from my room to the bathroom without a flashlight…wrong idea. I slammed by leg right into a piece of rebar that is what the stairs are made with. Needless to say, the piece of rebar won and my leg lost with a nice scrap and bruise. So what this all means…my body is sore! But that’s what the medicine is for.
I finally got to talk to my mom and dad today which made me very happy. Always nice to hear from the people at home. Not having communication like I am used to is definitely going to take some adjusting. But I’ll adjust just like I am having to for everything (definitely a part of the experience)!
A little disclaimer I would like to put in here. I definitely love it here in Ecuador. The culture and atmosphere, not to mention topography, is awesome. We definitely were lucky to be chosen for this program. And as far for the language, I think that I have come to a conclusion for now. It is definitely one of, if not the most, frustrating things that I have ever had to deal with in my life. Not being able to express yourself and not understanding others is very hard. But I have to believe that over the time and training my language skills will get better and better over the two years of service as well. Learning a language is a process and it’s not practical to think that you can just learn to speak a language in one day…even though I would like to! Poco a poco…little by little. That is the saying here. And even though I get really frustrated with the language, I know that little by little I will get it and I will improve. Now the last step for me, is to simply accept that fact (easier said than done, let me tell you)!
I think that my brain is starting to go and it is getting a little later (10pm is now LATE for me folks) so I think I better get heading to bed. Tomorrow we get to go on our Cultural Trip which should be really interesting and fun since we are going to an Afro-Ecuadorian community which is about two and a half hours from here and the weather should be with a high of 80!!!! The sad part is, we have to be in Cayambe park at 730 in the morning which means that we have to leave the center of town at 6am which means I get to wake up tomorrow at 5am. What luck? I’m sure it will be worth it though. Until later folks.
P.S. Best thing about today by far…well I guess in a close second with talking to my parents…I learned that there IS a hot water switch up in the piping and if I turn that knob I get warm water for my shower…you read right people, a WARM shower (after a week of cold ones…it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G).
