Wednesday, September 23
So once again I find myself writing a blog entry after so much time has passed I can’t remember the last blog entry of mine…and since I write these entries from my computer at home most of the time, where I don’t have internet, I can’t read my last entry either. Long story short, we are starting fresh here!
I have been at my site now for a month and three days…yes, I do know down to the day…and man oh man has that month ever seemed like a long time and at the same point it seems to have gone by relatively quickly. It is really hard to explain it, just one of those weird things I guess that time does! In all honesty, I haven’t done that much in the past month, but I am slowly starting learn that is half of the battle of the Peace Corps experience. You don’t feel like you are doing anything, but in reality, just by doing the daily things that need to get done and talking with the community that you live in you are doing “work”.
The Peace Corps experience is definitely one that I knew would be hard, but I never could have imagined that it would be this hard. And the funny thing is that you spend most of your time not really doing a whole lot which is partly what makes it so darn hard to do. And when you don’t have much that you have to do, it is even harder to find the motivation for things that you should do or might want to do.
I am currently working with INFA, an Ecuadorean group that helps children afford to go to school. We do put on educational talks every now and then, but as with most things here in Ecuador, when you say something is going to happen, it sometimes does and other times does not. And for the first couple of months here, I really do need to just work with INFA until I can start up some of my own projects once I have the right contacts.
Describing my job is a hard thing to do in itself because the job is so vague. I have no office, I have no real coworkers (besides other PCVs none of which are at my site), and my boss is a ten hours bus ride away. However, I will describe my job for you. I am going to be working with the youth in my community by teaching the themes of self-esteem, values, goals, communication, relationships, sexuality, and so on. How I am going to accomplish this task is still up in the air somewhat.
I will be using the community house to give some of these “lectures” but they will be done in a way to try and attract the youth such as forming a youth group. I also spoke with the local school and they are open to letting me teach some of these life skills there which I will start in about a month after exams and a week of vacation. As you can see, it is a pretty vague description because I am basically working on my own to try and find and utilize the resources that the community has to teach life skills to the youth. I also want to facilitate a community bank at some point and some type of trash project especially for the “indoor” soccer field (it is just like soccer and it is outside, but with a smaller field and a smaller ball…they call it indoor).
Sometimes when I start to think about all of the projects and ideas that I have for the community I get really excited. And then I realize that a lot of my ideas will probably fail because there is no current structure here to support them. With the Peace Corps, it isn’t good enough just to come up with a great idea of something that the community that you live in needs. You need to figure out some type of support structure to make that idea a living idea. And when you are the foreigner, who doesn’t speak their language really well and doesn’t know all of the customs or norms, that can be really difficult to do.
So I guess what I have to say is, I definitely have my up days and down days…and I would even go as far as to say I have my up hours and my down hours at times. However, I think at the heart of the Peace Corps experience you have a volunteer who is putting themselves into a foreign, literally and figuratively, situation where they will grow as a person and hopefully in the process help develop something at their site that will last once they leave. At the least, that volunteer will have touched someone’s life just by being their friend. And with all of the cultural barriers that are out there in the world today, having that understanding between two people of different cultures is something in itself. I would have to say that at this point, I think a successful Peace Corps volunteer is someone who has made it through the experience; that in itself is one heck of an accomplishment.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
My host family in El Oro
Wednesday, September 23th
So I thought I would post a blog just about my host family here in El Retiro as it is rather large. However, everyone is also really nice. My host mom and dad are 59 and they have eight kids…yes that is right, eight kids. Thankfully for me they are all grown up, but then this of course means grandkids. However, three of the eight kids live abroad in Spain right now so that leaves five here, all but one of which are married. Now before I continue, let me just say that I know some of the daughters better than others and therefore I know more about some than others.
The oldest daughter, Carmon, lives next door to my house and has at least two kids that I know of one of which is 16, a boy, and the other which is 2, a girl…but in all honesty, I don’t really know too much about them and I have never seen the husband…that is if there is one too. The next oldest daughter, Betty, lives down the road and has two kids, one son, Mario, who is 8 and one daughter, Shirley, who is 11. The father is a part of the military though so he is out of town most of the time. The next daughter, Joana, lives here in El Retiro but a little further out of town with her husband and daughter of about 4, Valoria, who is a handful. Joana goes to University all day Saturday and the husband works with the Bananas all week around more or less, so that leaves Valoria at our house all day Saturday. Then there is Diana who is 23 years old who is not married but has a son, Kenneth, who is two years old and they live in Machala. However, they tend to spend the night here plenty which leads to many nights of no sleep for me as the two year old doesn’t go to sleep until midnight, he naps a lot during the day, and well…he is two. There is also the brother of my host dad who tends to be babysitting Kenneth. So where ever Kenneth is, the Uncle is as well. And last but not least, the son…who’s name I can’t remember…is married to Lydia with two sons, one who is 5 I believe, Michael, and one who is just about a month old. But I do believe that their marriage is far from great as I never really see the two of them together and he ends up sleeping over here every now and then as I don’t think she lets him into the house when he has been drinking.
So in case you are trying to keep track, the host family is my host mom and dad – Milda and Larry, with eight children – Carmon, Betty, Joana, Diana, the son who’s name I can’t remember, and three children abroad in Spain (I am not sure what order..I only know that Carom is the oldest followed by Betty and that Diana is the same age as me) – and eight grandkids that I know of – The two of Carmon, Mario and Shirley, Valoria, Kenneth, Michael and the new baby. All in all, it is a lot to try and keep track of!
Everyone though is very nice and they try their best to talk with me when they can. However, after living with my host family for the past month, I definitely know that I will want to get my own place for a few reasons. One would be Kenneth, the 2 year old basically because he is two and has a voice that you can hear all the time. Normally screaming something like, mommy mommy mommy, or I want I want I want, with other loud banging noises on whatever he can bang on, at nine to midnight without anyone telling him to hush up. What can I say though; he is two and a very cute kid.
Another one to mention would be Valoria who will enter into my room anytime it is not locked…and when it is locked she just figures that means you pound on the door for five minutes. She is always running around and full of energy though, that is for sure.
And last but not least with the kids you have Michael and Jeffery, who is 7 I believe. Jeffery isn’t a part of the family by blood, but he works at the house sweeping up the bird poop and whatnot just about every day. They enjoy listening to Michael Jackson way too many times and singing and dancing along to it. Not to mention that when I lock myself in the room when Jeffery is around, he just takes it up to himself to climb my wall and say hello to me from there (the ceilings are open at the top).
Then you have the hammer that puts the nail in the coffin, my host Dad snores. And not just a little here, we are talking a lot and loud. All of this combined, just reminds me why I enjoy living by myself so much even when the people are really nice!
Okay…so I think that is enough on my host family. All in all, they are really nice but I can’t help the fact that I still really enjoy living by myself and am looking forward to being able to again in two more months. The down side of this is that my host family won’t understand why I want to move out, so that will be another hurdle that I will have to deal with when it comes. In Ecuador, people don’t move out of the house unless they are married, that is just pretty much how it goes. And even then, it isn’t uncommon to have young mothers/families live with their parents. The family life here is very different from the states; from how you raise your children to who has what responsibilities. But I guess that is one of those things that I will just have to deal with when it gets here.
So I thought I would post a blog just about my host family here in El Retiro as it is rather large. However, everyone is also really nice. My host mom and dad are 59 and they have eight kids…yes that is right, eight kids. Thankfully for me they are all grown up, but then this of course means grandkids. However, three of the eight kids live abroad in Spain right now so that leaves five here, all but one of which are married. Now before I continue, let me just say that I know some of the daughters better than others and therefore I know more about some than others.
The oldest daughter, Carmon, lives next door to my house and has at least two kids that I know of one of which is 16, a boy, and the other which is 2, a girl…but in all honesty, I don’t really know too much about them and I have never seen the husband…that is if there is one too. The next oldest daughter, Betty, lives down the road and has two kids, one son, Mario, who is 8 and one daughter, Shirley, who is 11. The father is a part of the military though so he is out of town most of the time. The next daughter, Joana, lives here in El Retiro but a little further out of town with her husband and daughter of about 4, Valoria, who is a handful. Joana goes to University all day Saturday and the husband works with the Bananas all week around more or less, so that leaves Valoria at our house all day Saturday. Then there is Diana who is 23 years old who is not married but has a son, Kenneth, who is two years old and they live in Machala. However, they tend to spend the night here plenty which leads to many nights of no sleep for me as the two year old doesn’t go to sleep until midnight, he naps a lot during the day, and well…he is two. There is also the brother of my host dad who tends to be babysitting Kenneth. So where ever Kenneth is, the Uncle is as well. And last but not least, the son…who’s name I can’t remember…is married to Lydia with two sons, one who is 5 I believe, Michael, and one who is just about a month old. But I do believe that their marriage is far from great as I never really see the two of them together and he ends up sleeping over here every now and then as I don’t think she lets him into the house when he has been drinking.
So in case you are trying to keep track, the host family is my host mom and dad – Milda and Larry, with eight children – Carmon, Betty, Joana, Diana, the son who’s name I can’t remember, and three children abroad in Spain (I am not sure what order..I only know that Carom is the oldest followed by Betty and that Diana is the same age as me) – and eight grandkids that I know of – The two of Carmon, Mario and Shirley, Valoria, Kenneth, Michael and the new baby. All in all, it is a lot to try and keep track of!
Everyone though is very nice and they try their best to talk with me when they can. However, after living with my host family for the past month, I definitely know that I will want to get my own place for a few reasons. One would be Kenneth, the 2 year old basically because he is two and has a voice that you can hear all the time. Normally screaming something like, mommy mommy mommy, or I want I want I want, with other loud banging noises on whatever he can bang on, at nine to midnight without anyone telling him to hush up. What can I say though; he is two and a very cute kid.
Another one to mention would be Valoria who will enter into my room anytime it is not locked…and when it is locked she just figures that means you pound on the door for five minutes. She is always running around and full of energy though, that is for sure.
And last but not least with the kids you have Michael and Jeffery, who is 7 I believe. Jeffery isn’t a part of the family by blood, but he works at the house sweeping up the bird poop and whatnot just about every day. They enjoy listening to Michael Jackson way too many times and singing and dancing along to it. Not to mention that when I lock myself in the room when Jeffery is around, he just takes it up to himself to climb my wall and say hello to me from there (the ceilings are open at the top).
Then you have the hammer that puts the nail in the coffin, my host Dad snores. And not just a little here, we are talking a lot and loud. All of this combined, just reminds me why I enjoy living by myself so much even when the people are really nice!
Okay…so I think that is enough on my host family. All in all, they are really nice but I can’t help the fact that I still really enjoy living by myself and am looking forward to being able to again in two more months. The down side of this is that my host family won’t understand why I want to move out, so that will be another hurdle that I will have to deal with when it comes. In Ecuador, people don’t move out of the house unless they are married, that is just pretty much how it goes. And even then, it isn’t uncommon to have young mothers/families live with their parents. The family life here is very different from the states; from how you raise your children to who has what responsibilities. But I guess that is one of those things that I will just have to deal with when it gets here.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Missing Labor Day
So I have officially had my first real holiday in the States which I am missing. Good old Labor Day with the football games on with the start of college football season...yes, I have to admit I even missed the football games. But I guess this is just the first of many holidays which I will be missing in my PCV service. On the brighter side, Ecuador had a soccer game on Sunday...which they lost to Columbia...but it was still a really fun time. Not quite Labor Day with the burgers and beer, but we made do with what we have here. Moral of the story here, the next two years are going to be very interesting.
I still haven't really "done" that much with my job, but I am slowly starting to accept that is one of the main aspects of my "job". Just living in a third world country where you don't speak the language or know the culturally accepted ways of doing things is a job in itself. I did meet up with my counterpart though, so I am doing a little more with INNFA now helping here and there. I have also attending some of the local meetings in my town and was apart of the Dia De Deportes (Day of Sports) this past Sunday where, of course, I got sunburned.
My first three months here my main job (being the one that I actually have to write a report for and turn into the PC) is a survey of my neighborhood and find out about the area and the things that they want to see changed. This really just involves a lot of observing and socializing. Development really does start with the people in the community, and not yourself. I am pretty proud of myself though that I have written up a couple of surveys that I can hopefully put to use sometime starting next week after I have my counterpart give his opinion on them as well.
All in all...my mood changes all of the time if not almost hourly here. But I really think that is one of the many joys of the PC experience. There is definitely a reason it is called an experience instead of just a job. The things that I am doing here don't really fit a regular job description at all and I don't think that they need to. I guess in some ways it goes back to the good old saying you'd be surprised by how far a smiple smile goes.
Living in El Retiro for the next two years of my life is going to be by far the most challenging thing I have done in my life and the most rewarding. And even though I have days where I don't know what I am doing here, I know that when the time comes to leave this area and return back to the States, that in itself will be hard as well.
I still haven't really "done" that much with my job, but I am slowly starting to accept that is one of the main aspects of my "job". Just living in a third world country where you don't speak the language or know the culturally accepted ways of doing things is a job in itself. I did meet up with my counterpart though, so I am doing a little more with INNFA now helping here and there. I have also attending some of the local meetings in my town and was apart of the Dia De Deportes (Day of Sports) this past Sunday where, of course, I got sunburned.
My first three months here my main job (being the one that I actually have to write a report for and turn into the PC) is a survey of my neighborhood and find out about the area and the things that they want to see changed. This really just involves a lot of observing and socializing. Development really does start with the people in the community, and not yourself. I am pretty proud of myself though that I have written up a couple of surveys that I can hopefully put to use sometime starting next week after I have my counterpart give his opinion on them as well.
All in all...my mood changes all of the time if not almost hourly here. But I really think that is one of the many joys of the PC experience. There is definitely a reason it is called an experience instead of just a job. The things that I am doing here don't really fit a regular job description at all and I don't think that they need to. I guess in some ways it goes back to the good old saying you'd be surprised by how far a smiple smile goes.
Living in El Retiro for the next two years of my life is going to be by far the most challenging thing I have done in my life and the most rewarding. And even though I have days where I don't know what I am doing here, I know that when the time comes to leave this area and return back to the States, that in itself will be hard as well.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Living the Peace Corps Life
First things first, I have gotten all of my pictures up on facebook which equals four new photo albums. This way you can get a better idea of what I am trying to describe down here. Not to mention pictures are always fun to look at anyhow.
So now that I am an official PCV you might be wondering what my life is like. And in all honest, I am still wondering myself that as well. Basically our job is just about the vaguest one in the book. I think that half of the battle here for me is that our "job" is far from anything that you could ever do in the states. The Peace Corps has three main goals as follows (I am paraphrasing here):
1 - To promote the understanding of Americans in a different culture outside of the United States.
2 - To promote the understanding of that other culture outside of the United States back to the people in the USA.
3 - Teach technical skills that are needed in that developing country.
Now the thing here is that two out of the three goals is basically just socializing; socializing with the people here in Ecuador and then with the people back at home. Only one of the three goals is actually what we would consider to be results oriented which is teaching technical skills. That in itself no matter what country you are in is hard to really measure as well. And in all honesty, you really have to work on the first two goals first before you can work on the third one because if you don't understand the culture, how can you teach?
So I guess long story short, my main job is really just to let people stare at me...which they do all of the time...and try to speak my broken Spanish to them and share our cultures and their differences. Now for someone who is used to working Monday through Friday 8 to 5 (using the analogy here) this can be kind of hard to accept and get used to really. I have a lot of what I consider to be "free" time everyday and there is no set in stone schedule that I will ever have to follow over the next two years.
Now don't get me wrong here. With time I will establish regular classes where I will be teach about the topics of self-esteem, sex education, parenting skills, and so on. Hopefully I will be able to facilitate a community bank as well which would have meetings weekly. But that probably won't become a routine for another six months or so. The first three months of service our job is just to survey the community and see what they need and want to see happen in their community.
It is amazing to me how different the cultures define a "job". Not to mention that when you are brought up thinking that you have to be clocked in to be considered working that changes your view point on everything. Here, there isn't really so much a clock to punch in on (some people do, don't get me wrong). And even without having a clock to punch in on, people can tell if you are doing the work that is needed for your job or not. I guess it really goes back to the point that in the States people "live to work" where as a lot of other people "work to live". And the Peace Corps Experience definitely is a one of a kind "job" that seems to fall somewhere between those two thoughts.
P.S. I have also decided that Peace Corps secret goal number four is to give the host country a constant source of entertainment for them, because no matter what you do, where you go, or what you say...they are going to laugh at you and hit on you.
So now that I am an official PCV you might be wondering what my life is like. And in all honest, I am still wondering myself that as well. Basically our job is just about the vaguest one in the book. I think that half of the battle here for me is that our "job" is far from anything that you could ever do in the states. The Peace Corps has three main goals as follows (I am paraphrasing here):
1 - To promote the understanding of Americans in a different culture outside of the United States.
2 - To promote the understanding of that other culture outside of the United States back to the people in the USA.
3 - Teach technical skills that are needed in that developing country.
Now the thing here is that two out of the three goals is basically just socializing; socializing with the people here in Ecuador and then with the people back at home. Only one of the three goals is actually what we would consider to be results oriented which is teaching technical skills. That in itself no matter what country you are in is hard to really measure as well. And in all honesty, you really have to work on the first two goals first before you can work on the third one because if you don't understand the culture, how can you teach?
So I guess long story short, my main job is really just to let people stare at me...which they do all of the time...and try to speak my broken Spanish to them and share our cultures and their differences. Now for someone who is used to working Monday through Friday 8 to 5 (using the analogy here) this can be kind of hard to accept and get used to really. I have a lot of what I consider to be "free" time everyday and there is no set in stone schedule that I will ever have to follow over the next two years.
Now don't get me wrong here. With time I will establish regular classes where I will be teach about the topics of self-esteem, sex education, parenting skills, and so on. Hopefully I will be able to facilitate a community bank as well which would have meetings weekly. But that probably won't become a routine for another six months or so. The first three months of service our job is just to survey the community and see what they need and want to see happen in their community.
It is amazing to me how different the cultures define a "job". Not to mention that when you are brought up thinking that you have to be clocked in to be considered working that changes your view point on everything. Here, there isn't really so much a clock to punch in on (some people do, don't get me wrong). And even without having a clock to punch in on, people can tell if you are doing the work that is needed for your job or not. I guess it really goes back to the point that in the States people "live to work" where as a lot of other people "work to live". And the Peace Corps Experience definitely is a one of a kind "job" that seems to fall somewhere between those two thoughts.
P.S. I have also decided that Peace Corps secret goal number four is to give the host country a constant source of entertainment for them, because no matter what you do, where you go, or what you say...they are going to laugh at you and hit on you.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Pictures
I have a load of pictures to upload onto Facebook...just been having issues with that so you will have to wait for those to show up. Hopefully in the next week here I will get around to it!
My Address
All is still going along here in El Oro Ecuador. I have gotten my mail address...and since all PCVs love getting mail from home, feel free to send whatever you would like. It is just basically a PO box though so if you send something larger than a normal padded envelope let me know so I can try to avoid all of the custom costs and pick it up as soon as possible:
Lesley Parker
Casilla 07-01-477
Machala - El Oro
Ecuador
Everything else is just going along as I am trying to get an idea of what my job here is going to be like. So far it has been a lot of down time and getting to know the area, which is normal, and letting all of the people in my town stair at me all of the time I go out anywhere or do anything. I think half of our purpose here is to be entertainment sometimes!
Lesley Parker
Casilla 07-01-477
Machala - El Oro
Ecuador
Everything else is just going along as I am trying to get an idea of what my job here is going to be like. So far it has been a lot of down time and getting to know the area, which is normal, and letting all of the people in my town stair at me all of the time I go out anywhere or do anything. I think half of our purpose here is to be entertainment sometimes!
Finally at my Site where I will be for the next two years
August 21 2009, Friday
So to be honest right now…I cannot even really remember the last blog entry that I wrote. And since I am writing this blog entry right now in my bed where I do not actually have the internet, I will try my best to pick up where I think I left off in the blog last time.
First things first, I am an actual sworn in PCV now!!! That is right folks. No more Peace Corps Trainee; I am a fully fledged Peace Corps Volunteer. Finishing up training was a very busy time that was filled with a lot of paper work and a lot of sad goodbyes. Not only to the host family members that we lived with over the past two months, but also to each other as we are now all at our own sites by ourselves.
Finishing up training though went pretty well really. We had a family appreciation day as well the last Saturday that we were there. All of the family members were invited to the Ayora training center where we had lunch and some cultural activities that included a dance and singing. I actually joined the dance group somehow…by accident I think really one day after classes. I thought we were just learning some of the traditional dances for fun; it wasn’t until later that I realized I had actually signed up to dance in front of some 200 people. It actually ended up being kind of fun even though I am sure my dancing was far from perfect.
All of the dances, the ten of us girls in total, dressed up in the traditional dance and then did a little dance to the traditional Sierra song. One of the PCTs told me that her parents got a kick out of the dance just because of Joy and me (the two girls that are about six foot that danced) for the pure fact that we were able to dance in the clothes and look really funny doing it I think. Either way, people seemed to enjoy the “entertainment” and we enjoyed learning how to do it the best we could as well. I did not actually get any pictures of the dance, but I am sure with time that pictures will show up on Facebook. I only got pictures of myself before the dance in the traditional dress which will be up on Facebook at some point. We also had two huge roasted pigs for the lunch meal which was a big hit with everyone. All in all, it was a good day.
That pretty much wrapped up training as the next day we left for Quito with all of our stuff at 8am from Cayambe. It was definitely a bitter-sweet feeling leaving the freezing cold of La Chimba. I will not at all miss the cold weather but I will definitely miss the amazing view; one of the best I have ever seen in my life. Hopefully one day I will revisit that area if for nothing else but to see that view again.
So off we went to Quito where we dropped off our stuff all together in the hostel and then went off to the Mitad Del Mundo (the middle of the world). First we ate at a really nice restaurant on the PC dime which was really good. Then we went to the wrong Mitad Del Mundo as there are actually two in Quito (one I think that is supposed to be the “real” one and the other one is more touristy…and then I also heard someone say that they thought the real zero zero point was up in one of the mountains…long story short, who really knows???) for about ten minutes. Next we went to the one we actually had tickets for which was the touristier one. So I got pictures of me at both of them which I will also put up on Facebook. It was nice and weird at the same time to be doing something that was touristy. Either way, I have now officially been to the middle of the world…both of them in Quito.
The time at the hostel went by rather quickly really. We would all go to the PC office during the day and have our final lectures and sign our final papers…of training only though, I am sure there are plenty more papers to follow over the next two years. During the night we would all hang out at the hostel which was a lot of fun actually as it was a nice time to relax. There was a Papa John’s right down the street as well which had a two for one deal on Tuesday. So we all ditched the hostel food for the night and went and got pizza which was amazing, let me tell you. Definitely worth the whole 4 dollars I had to spend on pizza and breadsticks once all was said and done.
Then came the swear in day, Wednesday August 19th, where we all got to get dressed up, my first time of putting on mascara in two months might I say, and actually feel pretty again. For swearing in we went to the Ambassador’s house in Quito where we had the ceremony. The ceremony was just like any other for the most part except that it was in Spanish and English and of course we were at the Ambassador of the United States house and she gave a speech to us as well. Once the speeches were all done, one from our Trainer Facilitator, one from our Country Director, one from the Ambassador, and two of the PCTs in my group, we then all got to come up one by one and shake the hand of the Ambassador and our Country Director as we got our certificates…and these pictures will also be up on Facebook book. After the ceremony, there were bagels, fruit, coffee, and tea with of course many pictures. We then all went back to the PC office where we waiting for our time to head off to our sites (some people left right after, some left that night, others were leaving the next day). My group actually left at 8pm so we had some time just to relax in Quito. Then the three of us, Sarah, Dana, and me, got on our 10 hours overnight bus trip to head down to El Oro.
Thankfully, everything on our trip went relatively well. I say this because we were a group of three Gringos with lots of luggage…this equals a big target for theft around here. But as I said, thankfully everything went well in that sense. As for actually getting from point A directly to point B I had some issues. The bus that we take goes down to Machala and then keeps heading south. My barrio, El Retiro, is further south on the Pan-American Highway. So I thought that the bus would just go right by my barrio. In reality, it took a different side road so it didn’t go by my barrio but straight to Santa Rosa on the Pan-American. Now thankfully again, we had actually made this same type of mistake last time and therefore I knew that there was a bus that went back towards Machala which would for sure go by El Retiro.
Now the sad/bad part of this story is that the drivers of the Panamericana line decided to drop me off at the roundabout with two suite cases, my backpack, and my purse instead of actually going a little out of their way to drop me off in town. So I was left at the roundabout with all of my luggage not really 100% sure which way to go. Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was raining slightly…thankfully, not a whole lot, but enough to make it count. So after I forced myself not to cry because I knew all that would do would be attracted any one that might want to rob me, I began collecting all of my stuff and myself together and started the trek towards Santa Rosa where I knew there was a bus.
Besides sweating a lot and getting really muddy while avoid catcalls from the males in the street, I did pretty well. I only had to go about a half mile in towards town and then I found a bus that was heading to Machala and thankfully they put my luggage in the actually bus with me so that I knew it would be safe. Once on that bus, I recognized where El Retiro was pretty easily and got off there. There it was just about another half of a mile walk to my house where I will be staying for the next three months. So I arrived to the house, all sweaty and muddy where my host family asked me what happened and I just told them it was okay, it was good exercise for me. Really, I am just really proud of myself for not breaking down and crying when I got left at the roundabout!
So yesterday, Thursday, was my first official day as a Peace Corps Volunteer at my site and man oh man did it all hit me. Between the language, the culture, and my purpose for being here, the next two years are definitely going to be challenging. I have settled in though into my room with all of my stuff and the fact that my host family has the restaurant next door is really nice and it is something that I am going to really enjoy. Today was another relaxing day where I just stayed in the house and the restaurant really and “talked” with the kids and the customers. I say “talked” because my language still has a ways to go. However, they do have two TVs here; one in the house and one in the restaurant which I am sure will help out my Spanish as well.
I still have yet to met up with my counterpart as he has been busy these past couple of days. I am sure though once I talk with him I will get a better feel of what I am going to be doing here as he is really my support system here in the barrio. I think that for the first month or so I am just going to follow him around with INFA and see how things work. Once I get a better feel, I then get to do surveys around the barrio to see what people think of their barrio and the things that they want changed. It’s called the CAT tools that I have to use to assess the neighborhood and see where I can help. And of course it is for my own knowledge as well. We have to complete these tools with in the first three or four months here and have a full report down up for our Reconnect session in Spanish. Yes…the PC does give you assignments to complete. It should be a good thing though, just something that I have yet to figure out completely how I am going to go about doing.
My first “real” assignment here though is just to introduce myself to the community as well as the Peace Corps as I am the first volunteer. This in itself will be something that will take time. All in all, everything right now is just a lot. That I guess is the easiest way to put it. It is a lot to be on your own in a society that you do not understand, or fit into at all, with a language that you cannot really speak. Not to mention that you want to help develop this place, but you know that is something that takes a lot of time and it is something that you might never see the results of anyhow, if people even accept you at all. All in all, it is just a lot for a person to take it. And I am sure that over the next two years, I will encounter a lot of different things that will include many ups and downs. I mean heck, I think that I have ups and downs hourly at this point! The PC experience is definitely a one of a kind thing that is going to push me to limits I never knew I had and teach me things that I could never imagine; both in good ways and bad ways. Hopefully I will just be able to keep my sanity along the way…even if I only had a little to start with
So to be honest right now…I cannot even really remember the last blog entry that I wrote. And since I am writing this blog entry right now in my bed where I do not actually have the internet, I will try my best to pick up where I think I left off in the blog last time.
First things first, I am an actual sworn in PCV now!!! That is right folks. No more Peace Corps Trainee; I am a fully fledged Peace Corps Volunteer. Finishing up training was a very busy time that was filled with a lot of paper work and a lot of sad goodbyes. Not only to the host family members that we lived with over the past two months, but also to each other as we are now all at our own sites by ourselves.
Finishing up training though went pretty well really. We had a family appreciation day as well the last Saturday that we were there. All of the family members were invited to the Ayora training center where we had lunch and some cultural activities that included a dance and singing. I actually joined the dance group somehow…by accident I think really one day after classes. I thought we were just learning some of the traditional dances for fun; it wasn’t until later that I realized I had actually signed up to dance in front of some 200 people. It actually ended up being kind of fun even though I am sure my dancing was far from perfect.
All of the dances, the ten of us girls in total, dressed up in the traditional dance and then did a little dance to the traditional Sierra song. One of the PCTs told me that her parents got a kick out of the dance just because of Joy and me (the two girls that are about six foot that danced) for the pure fact that we were able to dance in the clothes and look really funny doing it I think. Either way, people seemed to enjoy the “entertainment” and we enjoyed learning how to do it the best we could as well. I did not actually get any pictures of the dance, but I am sure with time that pictures will show up on Facebook. I only got pictures of myself before the dance in the traditional dress which will be up on Facebook at some point. We also had two huge roasted pigs for the lunch meal which was a big hit with everyone. All in all, it was a good day.
That pretty much wrapped up training as the next day we left for Quito with all of our stuff at 8am from Cayambe. It was definitely a bitter-sweet feeling leaving the freezing cold of La Chimba. I will not at all miss the cold weather but I will definitely miss the amazing view; one of the best I have ever seen in my life. Hopefully one day I will revisit that area if for nothing else but to see that view again.
So off we went to Quito where we dropped off our stuff all together in the hostel and then went off to the Mitad Del Mundo (the middle of the world). First we ate at a really nice restaurant on the PC dime which was really good. Then we went to the wrong Mitad Del Mundo as there are actually two in Quito (one I think that is supposed to be the “real” one and the other one is more touristy…and then I also heard someone say that they thought the real zero zero point was up in one of the mountains…long story short, who really knows???) for about ten minutes. Next we went to the one we actually had tickets for which was the touristier one. So I got pictures of me at both of them which I will also put up on Facebook. It was nice and weird at the same time to be doing something that was touristy. Either way, I have now officially been to the middle of the world…both of them in Quito.
The time at the hostel went by rather quickly really. We would all go to the PC office during the day and have our final lectures and sign our final papers…of training only though, I am sure there are plenty more papers to follow over the next two years. During the night we would all hang out at the hostel which was a lot of fun actually as it was a nice time to relax. There was a Papa John’s right down the street as well which had a two for one deal on Tuesday. So we all ditched the hostel food for the night and went and got pizza which was amazing, let me tell you. Definitely worth the whole 4 dollars I had to spend on pizza and breadsticks once all was said and done.
Then came the swear in day, Wednesday August 19th, where we all got to get dressed up, my first time of putting on mascara in two months might I say, and actually feel pretty again. For swearing in we went to the Ambassador’s house in Quito where we had the ceremony. The ceremony was just like any other for the most part except that it was in Spanish and English and of course we were at the Ambassador of the United States house and she gave a speech to us as well. Once the speeches were all done, one from our Trainer Facilitator, one from our Country Director, one from the Ambassador, and two of the PCTs in my group, we then all got to come up one by one and shake the hand of the Ambassador and our Country Director as we got our certificates…and these pictures will also be up on Facebook book. After the ceremony, there were bagels, fruit, coffee, and tea with of course many pictures. We then all went back to the PC office where we waiting for our time to head off to our sites (some people left right after, some left that night, others were leaving the next day). My group actually left at 8pm so we had some time just to relax in Quito. Then the three of us, Sarah, Dana, and me, got on our 10 hours overnight bus trip to head down to El Oro.
Thankfully, everything on our trip went relatively well. I say this because we were a group of three Gringos with lots of luggage…this equals a big target for theft around here. But as I said, thankfully everything went well in that sense. As for actually getting from point A directly to point B I had some issues. The bus that we take goes down to Machala and then keeps heading south. My barrio, El Retiro, is further south on the Pan-American Highway. So I thought that the bus would just go right by my barrio. In reality, it took a different side road so it didn’t go by my barrio but straight to Santa Rosa on the Pan-American. Now thankfully again, we had actually made this same type of mistake last time and therefore I knew that there was a bus that went back towards Machala which would for sure go by El Retiro.
Now the sad/bad part of this story is that the drivers of the Panamericana line decided to drop me off at the roundabout with two suite cases, my backpack, and my purse instead of actually going a little out of their way to drop me off in town. So I was left at the roundabout with all of my luggage not really 100% sure which way to go. Oh yeah, and did I mention that it was raining slightly…thankfully, not a whole lot, but enough to make it count. So after I forced myself not to cry because I knew all that would do would be attracted any one that might want to rob me, I began collecting all of my stuff and myself together and started the trek towards Santa Rosa where I knew there was a bus.
Besides sweating a lot and getting really muddy while avoid catcalls from the males in the street, I did pretty well. I only had to go about a half mile in towards town and then I found a bus that was heading to Machala and thankfully they put my luggage in the actually bus with me so that I knew it would be safe. Once on that bus, I recognized where El Retiro was pretty easily and got off there. There it was just about another half of a mile walk to my house where I will be staying for the next three months. So I arrived to the house, all sweaty and muddy where my host family asked me what happened and I just told them it was okay, it was good exercise for me. Really, I am just really proud of myself for not breaking down and crying when I got left at the roundabout!
So yesterday, Thursday, was my first official day as a Peace Corps Volunteer at my site and man oh man did it all hit me. Between the language, the culture, and my purpose for being here, the next two years are definitely going to be challenging. I have settled in though into my room with all of my stuff and the fact that my host family has the restaurant next door is really nice and it is something that I am going to really enjoy. Today was another relaxing day where I just stayed in the house and the restaurant really and “talked” with the kids and the customers. I say “talked” because my language still has a ways to go. However, they do have two TVs here; one in the house and one in the restaurant which I am sure will help out my Spanish as well.
I still have yet to met up with my counterpart as he has been busy these past couple of days. I am sure though once I talk with him I will get a better feel of what I am going to be doing here as he is really my support system here in the barrio. I think that for the first month or so I am just going to follow him around with INFA and see how things work. Once I get a better feel, I then get to do surveys around the barrio to see what people think of their barrio and the things that they want changed. It’s called the CAT tools that I have to use to assess the neighborhood and see where I can help. And of course it is for my own knowledge as well. We have to complete these tools with in the first three or four months here and have a full report down up for our Reconnect session in Spanish. Yes…the PC does give you assignments to complete. It should be a good thing though, just something that I have yet to figure out completely how I am going to go about doing.
My first “real” assignment here though is just to introduce myself to the community as well as the Peace Corps as I am the first volunteer. This in itself will be something that will take time. All in all, everything right now is just a lot. That I guess is the easiest way to put it. It is a lot to be on your own in a society that you do not understand, or fit into at all, with a language that you cannot really speak. Not to mention that you want to help develop this place, but you know that is something that takes a lot of time and it is something that you might never see the results of anyhow, if people even accept you at all. All in all, it is just a lot for a person to take it. And I am sure that over the next two years, I will encounter a lot of different things that will include many ups and downs. I mean heck, I think that I have ups and downs hourly at this point! The PC experience is definitely a one of a kind thing that is going to push me to limits I never knew I had and teach me things that I could never imagine; both in good ways and bad ways. Hopefully I will just be able to keep my sanity along the way…even if I only had a little to start with
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