Half marathon, police riot, and a gun fight

October 22, 2010

Once again I find myself at a loss as to how I should start this blog entry. It is crazy to think that I have now lived here in Ecuador for 16 months and even crazier when I realize that it will have been a year and half since I have been in the States when I come home to visit over Christmas. Nevertheless, this is the life that I have chosen at the moment.

A couple of updates on my life would be that I ran my first half marathon. 21 kilometers, a little over 13 miles, in 2:04:54 averaging 9:37 minute miles. Not too shabby at all if I do say so myself. However, I did manage to loss a toenail in the process and had to do no physical activity for the following week because of the abuse that I put my body through. I never really was one to hold myself back even if my body might have wanted to at times. All in all, it is another thing that I can cross off my list. I would love to say this inspired me to do a full marathon, but I still stick to the fact that you have to be slightly insane to run for almost four hours.

We also had our mid-service meeting up in Quito with the rest of my 102 Omnibus. It was definitely a PC milestone making it to mid-service and it was really nice to get to see everyone again as well. It never ceases to amaze me how different each and everyone’s PC experience is. Especially here in Ecuador where you can drive up the road 10 kilometers and discover what seems to be a completely different culture at times. Ecuador truly is very diverse for the size of this country.

To make things interesting, while we were up in Quito the Ecuadorean police decided to protest against our current president; Correa. It seems like we have a national strike here in this country about once a month either because of the indigenous, teachers, or transportation not agreeing on something. In some ways it is almost comical because the strikes tend to accomplish very little and yet they keep having them. So we all got locked in our hostel for the day, completely safe but we could hear everything going on outside.

With this particular strike it became rather dangerous because the police decided to “take the day off” so to say. In other words, it was a dream for any thief. Many banks got robbed as well as some stores and everything was pretty much closed for the day. The day concluded with a 45 minute gun fight at the police hospital in Quito between the Ecuadorean military (in favor of Correa) and the Ecuadorean police as Correa was “being kept against his will” at the hospital after being treated for tear gas poisoning. I think the death count was up to about six the last I knew with about forty injured – All police and military. The following day, of course, everything went back to normal.

Latin America countries are famous for their use of tear gas, machismo, and strikes. Ecuador proved this that day with the President telling the people striking against him, “Si quieres matarme, matame! Aqui yo estoy!” while being tear gased. This translates to, “if you want to kill me, kill me! Here I am”. Once again, this country never ceases to amaze me. Although I would have to say the real amazing part was how quickly everything returned to normal. The military were in control for the following week and then everything went back to normal.

Other than that, I do have to say I am in love…with my cat Tito. That is one thing I am completely sure of. I am also pretty sure that I am not completely able to articulate myself in English properly anymore. Sometimes I find myself not being able to remember a word in English and I tend to speak in a sort of Spanglish. I mean, my spelling was bad before I came to the PC, but now it is horrible. I guess that is the price you pay when you try to learn another language!

In the upcoming…well days really now…I am going on a weeklong cruise to the Galapagos Islands with my Uncle Andy, Auntie Alex, and her brother from England. I am very excited to be able to spend some time with them as well as see the beautiful Islands that I have heard so much about. It will also be really nice to take a couple of weeks of vacation to escape everything. And then before I realize it, Christmas will be here and it will be time for my vacation back to the States.

I would love to be able to tell you that I absolutely love this experience; but that would be a lie. I love what I am learning from this experience, but man can it ever be hard at times. There is really no way to explain the hardships of being a PCV, but after living here for sixteen months I can certainly feel the effects of them. Feeling so disconnected from pretty much everyone as you don’t completely fit in the community you live in, I will always be the weird Gringa, and things back home have changed without you there. It is a feeling that I don’t think you can replicate any other way. Now the great thing about this crappy feeling is how much you learn about yourself and the world in the process. It really is true that sometimes clarity comes to you in your hardest moments. And for that I am very grateful.