Heyo. Time for my weekly post.
So my last day in quito was pretty sweet. We did all the touristy stuff, and hit the bars at night with a vengance. The next day we took the two hour bus ride to Cayambe, where we arrived in the middle of Inti-Rami, a 2 month long indigenous festival dedicated to the sun. I was loving cayambe. It´s a midsize city with character, and lots of cheep stuff. After hanging out for a while, we split up into our smaller groups and headed to our communities. My community is realy, really rural...or campo in ecuadorian.
Things we have in the campo:
Children going to the bathroom everywhere. The other day my 5 year old host brother just whipped it out and started peeing on his porch in the middle of a conversation. This kind of behavior makes life in daycare interesting.
Dogs. puppies. more dogs. lots of them. and they´re nuts. The other night all the dogs in the village got together and had a late night rumble right outside my door. They stopped barking and fighting at about 2am , which is right when the roosters start to crow. I could hear it all clearly through my open air (but not supposed to be) bedroom. That was a fun night.
Hot water...for about 27 seconds. Which is exactly 14 minutes and 33 seconds less than what I require as a avid long shower taker. This remaining time is spent shivering in ice cold water in a bathroom which open to the 40 degree weather. Although, if there´s reggaeton playing i can generally get my groove on, which helps fight the cold.
Short people. I feel like a giant. All the doorways are about 5 feet 6 inches tall. The shower head is at my nipples. Which makes the whole cold water shivering, reggaeton dancing, midget shower stooping all the more comical. I felt like i should have been videotaped for some sort of life affirming indie film about overcoming cultural differences.
Beatiful mountains everywhere. Last night I went for a run, which lasted about 5 minites. The combination of the thin air and the knowledge that the more i sweat the more i need to shower limits the amount of running i can do. Anyway, I ran (read: walked) up this mountain and watched the sunset...which was pretty sweet. To get up the mountain, I trespassed like it was my job. I jumped fences and dodged cattle. No campesinos were out, so it was ok. However, on my way back down they were out in force for the evening farm chores. They all looked at me pretty funny: some giant redheaded gringo hopping their fences and running in the tiniest shorts they had ever seen. Both running and wearing shorts are generally considered social unacceptable here. Anyway, considering how much this town gossips I´m sure i´ll hear about it over rice and potatoes tonight. I´m also sure i won´t understand what their saying, and just smile and say "si".
Cows. I got up at 4:45 today walked 45 minutes into the mountains and learned how to milk them
On a more serious note, it´s definately been an experience. There have been a few flashes of brilliance, but the overall tone for the first week has been one of misery. It´s been a lot harder to adapt than I thought it would. Also, my particular living situation is pretty dismal. I feel like got the short end of the trainee stick in a bunch of different areas. I wish i had one thing to hold onto, one comfort zone to crawl into...but i just don´t. At night, I go home and attempt to speak with my host family, but it doesn´t really work. After dinner, I go right to bed where i freeze my culo off and pray that i´ll have a good dream.
Maybe I just need an attitude adjustment. I´m trying to do that...hopefully it does the trick. I just remind myself that my situation now will only make me stronger after training. I hear life as a volunteer is way better than life as a volunteer.
Untill next time, send me some good vibes, and i´ll continue to fight the good fight.
Love,
Chris
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Friday, June 20, 2008
Hello all. First off, some administrative stuff. For the next couple months i´ll only have internet access on the weekends. If you check here on sunday night or monday, hopefully i´ll have a new blog. Also, every volunteer who has a blog is supposed to speak with some administator about what can and cannot be said. Knowing how politically correct I am at all times, that shouldn´t be a problem. However, if you notice anything less than kosher, message me and i´ll edit it. Finally, I can´t figure how to get spell check off of spanish, so my entire blog is currently highlighted as a spelling error...so if there are some spelling mistakes, just deal with it.
ok, so...(wanted to use a dash there, but couldn´t figure it out)
I spent two days in miami getting to know everyone and learning a little bit about the Peace Corps mentality. Meetings were long and tedious...words like perserverence, flexibility, and acceptance were thrown around quite a bit. No one had opened up yet, and after keeping my guard up all day i was annoyed and exhausted. On the second day, after 9 hours of conferencing, I took a wicked nice siesta to cleans the anxious soul. I was feeling a little homesick, and all the emotional stressors were making me miss all the people I loved...namely those of you reading this blog. At this point, we had already lost one would be volunteer due to boyfriend woes. Anyway, I woke myself up and shook of the mal aire. I ended up having the best last night in the states ever. After eating sushi and doing saki bombs, we hung out in the hot tub of our swanky hotel. As we watched a tropical storm coming in off the ocean, we told stories, each more rediculous than the last. The best story came from Jimbo, a rich gold mining executive (yeah, we tore into him for that) from Arkansas. I wont tell you the details because there might be children reading, but hearing him speak Spanish with an Arkansas twang only added to the hilarity to his tall tale. Before long, the tropical storm that we were watching was upon us, and it began raining buckets on us as we swam...which was really fun. We continued hang out, moving to the pool and playing sharks and minnows untill a shocked security guard came to kick us out.
The next day, the tropical storm delayed our plane by three hours. When he finally got to Quito(where we will be untill sunday...forgot to mention that before), we were hustled through a special line in customs by a PC agent. The airport was one big party. Hundreds of latinos were cramed in, waiting to meet loved ones coming off the plane. The shouting, dancing, and hand made posterboard signs made the venue feel more like a soccer stadium than an airport. I remember waiting in a line where everone had documents ready. Some latin offical came up to me and said something in spanish, which needless to say i did not understand. After motioning for a while with some kind of paperwork in hand, he got frusterated and moved onto someone else...i was suposed to wait there and find my paperwork, which i didn´t do. im not in jail right now, so i figured it wasn´t important.
After being greated by equally crazy current PC volunteers, we got into a bus, which proceded to pull off a masterfull 12432452352363 point turn to get out the the tiny parking lot. no joke...it took us 40 minutes to get out of our spot, pulling up and moving back 6 inches at a time. The streets here are far too small for buses, so each one has two operators. One to drive, and the other to get out and help navigate corners.
The next day in quito was a long one. Lots of initial training. I don´t think i´ve ever been so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted in my life than i was on that day. The combination of being at altitude, getting three shots at once, no sleep, and straining to understand a new language all day long definately took it´s toll. However, I will say that even after only a couple days of training in quito I´ve really improved my Spanish. I tested into the lowest level of intermediate speakers, which was a huge accomplishment for me. It´ll be tough though. Im definately the lowest of the low in my language group of 5. After speaking only spanish for a couple hours for the first time in forever, I felt like my brain would explode. It´s fine though, i´ve never shyed away from a challege before. Plus, im learning a ton. So much in fact that last night while playing pool with a PC friend and a local, I had the confidence to say ¨we are bad¨to describe our abilities after missing several shots in a row. Everyone laughed...turns out what i actually said was ¨we are naughty girls¨. Ahh, the first of many.
Today, I explored the city for the first time. During the day, I took in the sights. The city itself is rather typical. Dirty and cramped. Whats extraordinary is the juxtaposition of that with the giant and beautiful mountains just beyond the city limits. The sprawl is only limited by the steepness of the terrain it runs into. At night, a few of us went to the bar district where all the young american backpackers go. It was a lot of fun, but you can´t really let your guard down. All the current volunteers have stories of getting robbed in that area. Walking around past 8pm is out of the question, too. I felt rediculous, but we took a cab the 5 blocks home from the bar area. However, I did manage to retain some of my machismo. Earlier today, a group of six of us were walking back to the hostel from the mall, which was a full block and a half away. It was just after 8, and the only only other male in our group of six decided to take a cab, which he hailed at the corner and took him the remaining half a block home...no joke. I puffed out my chest, and safely escorted the women the remainind 80 feet all by myself.
ok, so...(wanted to use a dash there, but couldn´t figure it out)
I spent two days in miami getting to know everyone and learning a little bit about the Peace Corps mentality. Meetings were long and tedious...words like perserverence, flexibility, and acceptance were thrown around quite a bit. No one had opened up yet, and after keeping my guard up all day i was annoyed and exhausted. On the second day, after 9 hours of conferencing, I took a wicked nice siesta to cleans the anxious soul. I was feeling a little homesick, and all the emotional stressors were making me miss all the people I loved...namely those of you reading this blog. At this point, we had already lost one would be volunteer due to boyfriend woes. Anyway, I woke myself up and shook of the mal aire. I ended up having the best last night in the states ever. After eating sushi and doing saki bombs, we hung out in the hot tub of our swanky hotel. As we watched a tropical storm coming in off the ocean, we told stories, each more rediculous than the last. The best story came from Jimbo, a rich gold mining executive (yeah, we tore into him for that) from Arkansas. I wont tell you the details because there might be children reading, but hearing him speak Spanish with an Arkansas twang only added to the hilarity to his tall tale. Before long, the tropical storm that we were watching was upon us, and it began raining buckets on us as we swam...which was really fun. We continued hang out, moving to the pool and playing sharks and minnows untill a shocked security guard came to kick us out.
The next day, the tropical storm delayed our plane by three hours. When he finally got to Quito(where we will be untill sunday...forgot to mention that before), we were hustled through a special line in customs by a PC agent. The airport was one big party. Hundreds of latinos were cramed in, waiting to meet loved ones coming off the plane. The shouting, dancing, and hand made posterboard signs made the venue feel more like a soccer stadium than an airport. I remember waiting in a line where everone had documents ready. Some latin offical came up to me and said something in spanish, which needless to say i did not understand. After motioning for a while with some kind of paperwork in hand, he got frusterated and moved onto someone else...i was suposed to wait there and find my paperwork, which i didn´t do. im not in jail right now, so i figured it wasn´t important.
After being greated by equally crazy current PC volunteers, we got into a bus, which proceded to pull off a masterfull 12432452352363 point turn to get out the the tiny parking lot. no joke...it took us 40 minutes to get out of our spot, pulling up and moving back 6 inches at a time. The streets here are far too small for buses, so each one has two operators. One to drive, and the other to get out and help navigate corners.
The next day in quito was a long one. Lots of initial training. I don´t think i´ve ever been so physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted in my life than i was on that day. The combination of being at altitude, getting three shots at once, no sleep, and straining to understand a new language all day long definately took it´s toll. However, I will say that even after only a couple days of training in quito I´ve really improved my Spanish. I tested into the lowest level of intermediate speakers, which was a huge accomplishment for me. It´ll be tough though. Im definately the lowest of the low in my language group of 5. After speaking only spanish for a couple hours for the first time in forever, I felt like my brain would explode. It´s fine though, i´ve never shyed away from a challege before. Plus, im learning a ton. So much in fact that last night while playing pool with a PC friend and a local, I had the confidence to say ¨we are bad¨to describe our abilities after missing several shots in a row. Everyone laughed...turns out what i actually said was ¨we are naughty girls¨. Ahh, the first of many.
Today, I explored the city for the first time. During the day, I took in the sights. The city itself is rather typical. Dirty and cramped. Whats extraordinary is the juxtaposition of that with the giant and beautiful mountains just beyond the city limits. The sprawl is only limited by the steepness of the terrain it runs into. At night, a few of us went to the bar district where all the young american backpackers go. It was a lot of fun, but you can´t really let your guard down. All the current volunteers have stories of getting robbed in that area. Walking around past 8pm is out of the question, too. I felt rediculous, but we took a cab the 5 blocks home from the bar area. However, I did manage to retain some of my machismo. Earlier today, a group of six of us were walking back to the hostel from the mall, which was a full block and a half away. It was just after 8, and the only only other male in our group of six decided to take a cab, which he hailed at the corner and took him the remaining half a block home...no joke. I puffed out my chest, and safely escorted the women the remainind 80 feet all by myself.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Hello everyone. This is the first of (hopefully) many blogs detailing my experiences serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador. Although I'm not yet sure how much internet access I'll have, I'll try my best to keep everyone posted. Here's what I know so far:
I depart for Coral Gables on June 16 for a couple days of training and vaccinations. From there, I fly to Cayambe Ecuador, which is located at the base of a 19,000 foot volcano...yeah, pretty sweet. Hopefully I'll get to climb it. There I'll be educated about culture, how to do my job as a Health Extension Volunteer, and the local language...Spanish or Kichwa. I'll be told my Spanish is terrible...which is true. My knowledge of the language peaked when Taco Bell came out with the "yo quiero taco bell" commercial, and has been on a steady decline ever since.
After three months of training, I'll be shipped to another locale to serve and hopefully make an impact for two years. I could be in the amazon, in the highlands, or on the coast. Three very different regions that require very different clothing, so i have to pack a variety. That makes fitting all my worldly possessions for the next two years in two checked bags a challenge.
My last couple weeks stateside have been pretty sweet. I'm going to leave here feeling very loved, which i guess is a good thing. After i graduated, spent a week hanging out with Emily, splitting time between our two houses. That was awesome. I visited Mack, who was pretty bummed about shattering his scapula the second day into his cross country bike trip. I've spent the last week at home. Ive kept pretty busy with packing, seeing friends, and entertaining family at a going away/graduation party.
I've been pretty busy, but in the doldrums of packing this week I've experienced my first feelings of self doubt. I generally like to be in control of my life. The fact that I have no idea what the next 27 months will be like gives me a little bit of anxiety. Seeing all the people I know and love and realizing I probably won't see them again f or quite a bit is also kind of a downer. After taking a step back reflecting on these feelings, I realize that I'd be some kid of emotional freak if I wasn't experiencing them. So that makes me feel better. I just have to get through this initial period of not knowing...after that I have faith that the experience with be very fulfilling, not to mention a ton of fun.
That's it for now. More to come soon. Hopefully for your sake and my own, my future blogs will contain far more interesting stories than this one.
I depart for Coral Gables on June 16 for a couple days of training and vaccinations. From there, I fly to Cayambe Ecuador, which is located at the base of a 19,000 foot volcano...yeah, pretty sweet. Hopefully I'll get to climb it. There I'll be educated about culture, how to do my job as a Health Extension Volunteer, and the local language...Spanish or Kichwa. I'll be told my Spanish is terrible...which is true. My knowledge of the language peaked when Taco Bell came out with the "yo quiero taco bell" commercial, and has been on a steady decline ever since.
After three months of training, I'll be shipped to another locale to serve and hopefully make an impact for two years. I could be in the amazon, in the highlands, or on the coast. Three very different regions that require very different clothing, so i have to pack a variety. That makes fitting all my worldly possessions for the next two years in two checked bags a challenge.
My last couple weeks stateside have been pretty sweet. I'm going to leave here feeling very loved, which i guess is a good thing. After i graduated, spent a week hanging out with Emily, splitting time between our two houses. That was awesome. I visited Mack, who was pretty bummed about shattering his scapula the second day into his cross country bike trip. I've spent the last week at home. Ive kept pretty busy with packing, seeing friends, and entertaining family at a going away/graduation party.
I've been pretty busy, but in the doldrums of packing this week I've experienced my first feelings of self doubt. I generally like to be in control of my life. The fact that I have no idea what the next 27 months will be like gives me a little bit of anxiety. Seeing all the people I know and love and realizing I probably won't see them again f or quite a bit is also kind of a downer. After taking a step back reflecting on these feelings, I realize that I'd be some kid of emotional freak if I wasn't experiencing them. So that makes me feel better. I just have to get through this initial period of not knowing...after that I have faith that the experience with be very fulfilling, not to mention a ton of fun.
That's it for now. More to come soon. Hopefully for your sake and my own, my future blogs will contain far more interesting stories than this one.
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