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