My Barrio - El Retiro

July 26 2009, Sunday

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!