So next week we will be taking our first tech trip. My group is going to Santo Domingo-Pedro Vicente Maldonado-Puerto Quito. Im pretty sure that's several cities lol. Anyway this is where we will be giving out first charlas to groups of children. Within this group we are going to be split up into smaller groups. We are giving all in all 4 charlas. One is on "corazon feliz", the other about personal higiene and washing hands. The third is Nutrition and the fourth is another one on "Corazon Feliz". The charlas range from 5 year olds to adults. The specific charla on corazon feliz was presented to us today and seems really interesting. A PCV started the program and it focuses on educating ecuadorians about Diabetes, Hypertension, Cholesterol and Blood Pressure.
Im excited to see how it goes. As of right now Im not very nervous because I've got all these fun ideas on what hands on activities we can do with the people. Even though the charlas seem basic they are so necessary because, even though it's hard to believe, many of the people don't practice things like basic higiene things like washing hands. Tomorrow actually we will be going to a school to give some type of charla, but won't find out till tomorrow morning exactly what we'll be doing.
Along with the charla our group has to do a survey and interviews with people about the community and then we will give a very formal presentation about our findings in front of a panel of the Peace Corps Trainers.
Ok I gotta go wash my underwear by hand. Host mom's giving me gloves this time so my hands dont freeze! yay!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Week three cont...
Yeah decided to just start another blog for the actual week..Im sure it gets a little boring ready my really long posts.
So Monday we did a really fun activity with tire gardens!! yes it's exactly what you think, we took tires, cut one side so the hole was a little bit bigger, also cut out handles. Then we had to flip the tire inside out. SOoooo much harder to do than you'd think. These are just your regular car tires. It's a lot easier with softer tires, but everyone was able to flip there's inside out. We then planted everything from carrots, to radish, and cilantro. These types of gardens work really well with people who dont have a lot of land. Plus those who want just small gardens or want to be able to move them..although they are pretty heavy to move once they are filled with soil. The guy that led the activity has been in PC forever!
On Tuesday we did and interesting activity talking about behavior change. It started out as a regular lecture which I wasnt super pumped about because they tend to be boring. The facilitator talked about what it takes to make a behavior change. We would be picking a behavior about ourselves that over the course of training we want to change. This really helps us as volunteers get in the mind set of how as we go into these communities we may have all these great ideas on how to make the community "better". In reality this will involve the Ecuadorians to make many behavior changes, and this is hard. So in order for us to understand how hard it is for them to make changes we first need to practice on ourselves in a way..I haven't really thought of a behavior I want to change. Maybe just being more patient in general..not sure. If anyone has ideas on how I should change let me know, lol
Wed we did our community bank. In a way it's kinda a joke because people don't really take it seriously. It's a great practice for when we get into our communities but our group doesnt work the best to respect those who are supposed to be holding some type of authority (president, secretary, etc) Hopefully as the weeks go by we can learn better to work together. Oh just so many ideas to take with us to our communities!
So on the 4th of July there will be a mañana deportiva. Each group (TEFL, youth and families and health) are going to have three sport teams (soccer, basketball, and volleyball) we took some time to talk about the team and chants and stuff. It should be fun! Im going to play futbol and voleibol.
Then that evening we stayed a little later and did a bonfire with food and s'mores for Katya's birthday. It was really fun..reminded me of summers at home :)
Today (thursday June 23) we did another cooking class, food from the jungle. It was this mix of chicken breast with cilantro and this other vegetable that I don't remember all cooked in a big leaf. Really good and healthy!!
So Monday we did a really fun activity with tire gardens!! yes it's exactly what you think, we took tires, cut one side so the hole was a little bit bigger, also cut out handles. Then we had to flip the tire inside out. SOoooo much harder to do than you'd think. These are just your regular car tires. It's a lot easier with softer tires, but everyone was able to flip there's inside out. We then planted everything from carrots, to radish, and cilantro. These types of gardens work really well with people who dont have a lot of land. Plus those who want just small gardens or want to be able to move them..although they are pretty heavy to move once they are filled with soil. The guy that led the activity has been in PC forever!
On Tuesday we did and interesting activity talking about behavior change. It started out as a regular lecture which I wasnt super pumped about because they tend to be boring. The facilitator talked about what it takes to make a behavior change. We would be picking a behavior about ourselves that over the course of training we want to change. This really helps us as volunteers get in the mind set of how as we go into these communities we may have all these great ideas on how to make the community "better". In reality this will involve the Ecuadorians to make many behavior changes, and this is hard. So in order for us to understand how hard it is for them to make changes we first need to practice on ourselves in a way..I haven't really thought of a behavior I want to change. Maybe just being more patient in general..not sure. If anyone has ideas on how I should change let me know, lol
Wed we did our community bank. In a way it's kinda a joke because people don't really take it seriously. It's a great practice for when we get into our communities but our group doesnt work the best to respect those who are supposed to be holding some type of authority (president, secretary, etc) Hopefully as the weeks go by we can learn better to work together. Oh just so many ideas to take with us to our communities!
So on the 4th of July there will be a mañana deportiva. Each group (TEFL, youth and families and health) are going to have three sport teams (soccer, basketball, and volleyball) we took some time to talk about the team and chants and stuff. It should be fun! Im going to play futbol and voleibol.
Then that evening we stayed a little later and did a bonfire with food and s'mores for Katya's birthday. It was really fun..reminded me of summers at home :)
Today (thursday June 23) we did another cooking class, food from the jungle. It was this mix of chicken breast with cilantro and this other vegetable that I don't remember all cooked in a big leaf. Really good and healthy!!
WEEK THREE!!!
So I thought for this update I would do an over all week "resumen". And if I can get it to work ill put up some pictures :) It's officially the start of week 3..can you believe it? Re-cap of the rest of the weekend. I ended up going out on Saturday night. We went to a club just getting into the city of Quito. We were supposed to be meeting another volunteer there with her sister but as we arrived we realized that she wasn't there. There were a bunch of people outside and it was obviously awkward because it was a group of 5 gringas trying to figure out what exactly to do. So I just walked up to where it looked like people were going in and asked if this was where we entered. The guy told me that it was VIP only, so I asked him if we had to go to another door, he asked who I was with and I told him 5 other girls. So we got in ahead of everyone, perks of sticking out and being good looking I guess.
Everyone was pretty dressed up. By this I mean the girls were in practically dresses and heels or just done up really nice. The guys of course had their hair gelled back with hollister looking shirts, lol..ahh so typical. Around 11ish people started arriving and the night was pretty fun. Erika and her sister finally showed up so we had some other ecuadorians to hang out with. Made me kinda think of home and how we'd always go out to this place called honey...but completely different. At 1AM a band started to play more traditional music so that was fun to dance to that with various people.
Father's Day was kind a bust. After much deliberation we ended up going to the same pool place like the previous sunday. Neither of the actual children showed up, and it started to rain pretty hard around 3. We didnt get out of there till 5. Apparently it was my host father's birthday on friday (love how no one tells me). So my host brother, Pato and his family (two girls and wife) came over and we had cake. I wanted to call my own father but hadnt had time to buy saldo. Thought I wouldnt get to talk to him but he ended up calling so that was nice!
Everyone was pretty dressed up. By this I mean the girls were in practically dresses and heels or just done up really nice. The guys of course had their hair gelled back with hollister looking shirts, lol..ahh so typical. Around 11ish people started arriving and the night was pretty fun. Erika and her sister finally showed up so we had some other ecuadorians to hang out with. Made me kinda think of home and how we'd always go out to this place called honey...but completely different. At 1AM a band started to play more traditional music so that was fun to dance to that with various people.
Father's Day was kind a bust. After much deliberation we ended up going to the same pool place like the previous sunday. Neither of the actual children showed up, and it started to rain pretty hard around 3. We didnt get out of there till 5. Apparently it was my host father's birthday on friday (love how no one tells me). So my host brother, Pato and his family (two girls and wife) came over and we had cake. I wanted to call my own father but hadnt had time to buy saldo. Thought I wouldnt get to talk to him but he ended up calling so that was nice!
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 18, 2011
Second day of our “cultural trip” to Cotocachi. Everyone got up yesterday and met at the park at 6 am. So early! We then split up into different groups. Each group was about 20 people. We took a bus into Quito. Then from Quito we took a sort of coach bus to Otavalo/Cotacachi. We arrived at the central Plaza around 10:30, I guess the people that were supposed to meet with us were late, and so we had time to look at the open market merchandise.
The guys arrived and we split up in 2 trucks. Most of us rode in the back clinging on for dear life, still, it was exhilarating to be in the back of the truck, mountains surrounding us, bouncing all over the place because of the rocky terrain.
We arrived to a community named La Calera. There was a school and kids were out playing volleyball. Many of them had the traditional dress on and everyone had braids. This made it somewhat difficult to distinguish girls form boys when they wore modern clothing.
After waiting around for some time we all went to the upstairs of the community center. A guy talked to us about the community tourism that goes on throughout the area. It sounded like a good idea-tourists come into the community and live/learn with the people there. Most of the communities are still very traditional. There are also a variety of excursions/activities offered, from hiking, to bike riding and trips on horseback.
For the rest of the afternoon we were going to walk around the community to learn about the different jobs people had and then alter we would help with a project. To put the afternoon in a nutshell we walked to different houses, saw what the people were doing and then kinda stood around. There was very little interaction and like I said, a lot of standing around. On our little tour we saw a women making traditional blouses (rather, the high tech machine did all the sewing for her), a hammock maker, and where they make cement bricks.
On top of this we had arrived around noon, expecting to eat and didn’t get fed till about 2 hours later. The food was so-so..I think everyone was a little disappointed with the lack of organization and interaction with the people. Many of us were hopeful for the “minga” where we were going to help the community with a project.
So we headed down the mountain to this small watering hole. Apparently this is where everyone was going to bath in the next few days out of tradition. The people were hard at work cleaning the watering hole and clearing paths..but there wasn’t really anything for us to do. For one there weren’t enough tools and 2nd, there was really no direction as a to what was supposed to be done. After awhile of batting away mosquitos and watching people work, a path was cleared to go to a sacred watering hole with hot water. Let’s just say the water wasn’t hot and it wasn’t as spectacular as we had been told. Realizing that this whole trip kinda seemed like a bust the only hope we had left was the time with our host families.
Rebecca, Portia and I ended up in a group together. We arrived to the house. Attached to their house was a room and bathroom for us-really cute. We ventured out back and met the mother, her sister and grandmother finishing up the slaughter of their chickens. IT was so dark I have no idea how they were able to see.
Apparently there was going to be a Baptism in the morning and the family was responsible for providing the food afterwards. So we helped peal potatoes, with knives. For every one potato that we did, they had finished 3 or 4. There were so many potatoes! At around 8 we were called for dinner. The dinner was pretty good, lots of carbs though.. rice, and mashed potatoes. Half of the family was in the kitchen eating because there wasn’t enough space at the table. They had chicken foot soup. My oh my did one of the boys go at that chicken foot! I'm glad ours didn’t have any feet.
Around 9 we came to our room- FREEZING!! It is so cold here! And we are supposed to be in summer. A part from that it was almost always cloudy. So this morning we were to wake up, have breakfast and then do activities that the family normally does. We had breakfast and talked with the father some.
He then walked us around the garden in the back, so many plants of different kinds. Evidently he does agriculture and construction for work. Because of the baptism everyone left, except for the son-who is maybe 8. They made him walk us around. It was a nice walk, practically all in silence. I tried to ask some questions but only got on word answers.
We came back to the house and most everyone was gone. We got our things together and then the bus picked us up around 10. We ventured back to Cotacachi only to wait forever for the bus. Thank goodness it took us straight to Tumbaco. A group of about 8 of us had lunch at my parent’s restaurant. One of the Spanish facilitators, who was a PCV and now is married came and we talked to him about the training system. Apparently the Spanish classes have been cut heavily. Some people have been raising concern about it because they are worried they will not get the proper education in Spanish to do their 2 year service. He suggested talking to the director and shared with us how the director somehow feels that every couple years they have to update the system even if it’s working well. I guess a couple groups ago they had 4 hours of Spanish a day. I hope that the people that need the Spanish get it so that they are confident.
I then stopped over to Portia’s house for a little fiesta. It was about 7 people sitting around in the garage drinking and dancing..oh so Ecuadorian, but really fun! I finally came home around 6 to an empty house, which was good because I need some down time before we go out. Hopefully we can get a small group together to go to Cumbaya or Quito. Tumbaco doesn’t really have any places to go out and dance. We’ll see what happens.. Buenas!
The guys arrived and we split up in 2 trucks. Most of us rode in the back clinging on for dear life, still, it was exhilarating to be in the back of the truck, mountains surrounding us, bouncing all over the place because of the rocky terrain.
We arrived to a community named La Calera. There was a school and kids were out playing volleyball. Many of them had the traditional dress on and everyone had braids. This made it somewhat difficult to distinguish girls form boys when they wore modern clothing.
After waiting around for some time we all went to the upstairs of the community center. A guy talked to us about the community tourism that goes on throughout the area. It sounded like a good idea-tourists come into the community and live/learn with the people there. Most of the communities are still very traditional. There are also a variety of excursions/activities offered, from hiking, to bike riding and trips on horseback.
For the rest of the afternoon we were going to walk around the community to learn about the different jobs people had and then alter we would help with a project. To put the afternoon in a nutshell we walked to different houses, saw what the people were doing and then kinda stood around. There was very little interaction and like I said, a lot of standing around. On our little tour we saw a women making traditional blouses (rather, the high tech machine did all the sewing for her), a hammock maker, and where they make cement bricks.
On top of this we had arrived around noon, expecting to eat and didn’t get fed till about 2 hours later. The food was so-so..I think everyone was a little disappointed with the lack of organization and interaction with the people. Many of us were hopeful for the “minga” where we were going to help the community with a project.
So we headed down the mountain to this small watering hole. Apparently this is where everyone was going to bath in the next few days out of tradition. The people were hard at work cleaning the watering hole and clearing paths..but there wasn’t really anything for us to do. For one there weren’t enough tools and 2nd, there was really no direction as a to what was supposed to be done. After awhile of batting away mosquitos and watching people work, a path was cleared to go to a sacred watering hole with hot water. Let’s just say the water wasn’t hot and it wasn’t as spectacular as we had been told. Realizing that this whole trip kinda seemed like a bust the only hope we had left was the time with our host families.
Rebecca, Portia and I ended up in a group together. We arrived to the house. Attached to their house was a room and bathroom for us-really cute. We ventured out back and met the mother, her sister and grandmother finishing up the slaughter of their chickens. IT was so dark I have no idea how they were able to see.
Apparently there was going to be a Baptism in the morning and the family was responsible for providing the food afterwards. So we helped peal potatoes, with knives. For every one potato that we did, they had finished 3 or 4. There were so many potatoes! At around 8 we were called for dinner. The dinner was pretty good, lots of carbs though.. rice, and mashed potatoes. Half of the family was in the kitchen eating because there wasn’t enough space at the table. They had chicken foot soup. My oh my did one of the boys go at that chicken foot! I'm glad ours didn’t have any feet.
Around 9 we came to our room- FREEZING!! It is so cold here! And we are supposed to be in summer. A part from that it was almost always cloudy. So this morning we were to wake up, have breakfast and then do activities that the family normally does. We had breakfast and talked with the father some.
He then walked us around the garden in the back, so many plants of different kinds. Evidently he does agriculture and construction for work. Because of the baptism everyone left, except for the son-who is maybe 8. They made him walk us around. It was a nice walk, practically all in silence. I tried to ask some questions but only got on word answers.
We came back to the house and most everyone was gone. We got our things together and then the bus picked us up around 10. We ventured back to Cotacachi only to wait forever for the bus. Thank goodness it took us straight to Tumbaco. A group of about 8 of us had lunch at my parent’s restaurant. One of the Spanish facilitators, who was a PCV and now is married came and we talked to him about the training system. Apparently the Spanish classes have been cut heavily. Some people have been raising concern about it because they are worried they will not get the proper education in Spanish to do their 2 year service. He suggested talking to the director and shared with us how the director somehow feels that every couple years they have to update the system even if it’s working well. I guess a couple groups ago they had 4 hours of Spanish a day. I hope that the people that need the Spanish get it so that they are confident.
I then stopped over to Portia’s house for a little fiesta. It was about 7 people sitting around in the garage drinking and dancing..oh so Ecuadorian, but really fun! I finally came home around 6 to an empty house, which was good because I need some down time before we go out. Hopefully we can get a small group together to go to Cumbaya or Quito. Tumbaco doesn’t really have any places to go out and dance. We’ll see what happens.. Buenas!
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Today flew by!! Our tech group worked in the “huertos” all morning. We did raised beds with lettuce, radish, carrot and spinach. Then at the end of the beds we planted Parsley and Cilantro. We also learned about worm gardens! I'm kinda pumped about trying to start all this at my site! Or even once I'm settled down back in the states..even though it’s far away all of this information is going to be good for life, ya know?
At lunch we put our presentation for the afternoon. Everyone had to present the PACA tools that we used in Puembo on Saturday. I think our group did the best. We had the 24 hour calendar and the “rueda de recursos” (resource wheel). So what we did was make a table of all the kids we interviewed and coordinated the times and activities with colors. This way it was easy to see when the majority of kids were free.
With the “rueda de recursos” we gathered the names/places of important resources in the community. We then made little nametags and attached them to different flowers. So instead of a “wheel” we had a bouquet of flowers. We then gave examples of different projects and had the audience create different bouquets with the different resources, creative, right?
After school there was a soccer game-gringos vs Ecuadorians. I didn’t play although I should’ve. I gave my shoes to someone else to play, maybe next week. By the time they got don't it was getting dark so we came back. I was with a different crowd than yesterday so it was good to hang out with other people. It’s nice to know I can fit into the different groups within the big group.
We are off to Cotacachi tomorrow-5 am I have to be up, and I wanna sneak an episode of Deter in!
At lunch we put our presentation for the afternoon. Everyone had to present the PACA tools that we used in Puembo on Saturday. I think our group did the best. We had the 24 hour calendar and the “rueda de recursos” (resource wheel). So what we did was make a table of all the kids we interviewed and coordinated the times and activities with colors. This way it was easy to see when the majority of kids were free.
With the “rueda de recursos” we gathered the names/places of important resources in the community. We then made little nametags and attached them to different flowers. So instead of a “wheel” we had a bouquet of flowers. We then gave examples of different projects and had the audience create different bouquets with the different resources, creative, right?
After school there was a soccer game-gringos vs Ecuadorians. I didn’t play although I should’ve. I gave my shoes to someone else to play, maybe next week. By the time they got don't it was getting dark so we came back. I was with a different crowd than yesterday so it was good to hang out with other people. It’s nice to know I can fit into the different groups within the big group.
We are off to Cotacachi tomorrow-5 am I have to be up, and I wanna sneak an episode of Deter in!
Wed. June 15, 2011
So today was exciting! We were able to leave the training camp..er I mean facility and travel to Quito to visit the office there. It took 1.5 hours all in all. 1st we al met at the park in Tumbaco. Then took the bus into Quito. From there we hopped on the Trolebus and then took another train type thing to where we would get off and walk to the office.
It was really nice to be in Quito and se places that used to be everyday routine. The Peace Corps office is just down the street from where the old CIMAS building used to be. I was telling my Spanish teacher about the program and it turns out she used to work for CIMAS as a Spanish teacher! She knew the people from CIMAS and everything! Small world right?!? (p.s. for those of you who don't know, CIMAS was the study abroad program I did the spring semester of my sophomore year in college)
The Peace Corps office is hidden in a way. There are no signs to show that it’s PC. They took an old house-huge house and turned it into offices. It’s a really neat place, everyone was super nice. We were able to get the full tour. Then they sat us down and gave us a charla on security!! At this point it’s practically unnecessary. Everything is such repetition!! They even brought a taxi to show the correct signs of a safe taxi. This in theory is a good idea but at least for me, I’d had enough.
Then another guy talked about all the finance stuff. It was good to see what money goes where, etc..his presentation was much more engaging! We left around 2 and actually got back to Tumbaco early! I went with some people to get boots for working the garden tomorrow. Then we met up with others to get drinks. It was really fun to hang out with people outside of training. It was the 1st time that I had and now I feel a lot more connected with people
Peace
It was really nice to be in Quito and se places that used to be everyday routine. The Peace Corps office is just down the street from where the old CIMAS building used to be. I was telling my Spanish teacher about the program and it turns out she used to work for CIMAS as a Spanish teacher! She knew the people from CIMAS and everything! Small world right?!? (p.s. for those of you who don't know, CIMAS was the study abroad program I did the spring semester of my sophomore year in college)
The Peace Corps office is hidden in a way. There are no signs to show that it’s PC. They took an old house-huge house and turned it into offices. It’s a really neat place, everyone was super nice. We were able to get the full tour. Then they sat us down and gave us a charla on security!! At this point it’s practically unnecessary. Everything is such repetition!! They even brought a taxi to show the correct signs of a safe taxi. This in theory is a good idea but at least for me, I’d had enough.
Then another guy talked about all the finance stuff. It was good to see what money goes where, etc..his presentation was much more engaging! We left around 2 and actually got back to Tumbaco early! I went with some people to get boots for working the garden tomorrow. Then we met up with others to get drinks. It was really fun to hang out with people outside of training. It was the 1st time that I had and now I feel a lot more connected with people
Peace
Tuesday June 14, 2011
So this morning we had Spanish, nothing too out of the ordinary. The nurses then gave us a presentation on Malaria and Dengue. They also gave us Malaria pills, which I'm not too thrilled about taking. The pills do not do anything for resistance against Malaria but rather suppress the malaria itself.. I know you won’t be too happy about this mom but if I don’t take them I am automatically medically separated which means bye-bye Ecuador.
The next session was on our health benefits, and when/what the Peace Corps does and doesn’t cover. They offer a pretty amazing health coverage, awfully boring presentation. To top the day off we had another painfully boring presentation on community banks, which I think could’ve been interesting if the presenter wasn’t so monotone and boring!! We split into 2 groups and formed our own community banks, which we will do in real life, so that should be fun!
I came home and washed my underwear by hand! My family goes to get the laundry done’ kinda like a laundry mat but they don’t wash underwear for you. So I did it on the cement slabs. A lot more complicated than I though, and takes forever! The water was cold too, so my hand and fingers were numb by the end. I used the last to check some e-mail and then went down to eat, watched some news and called it a night!
The next session was on our health benefits, and when/what the Peace Corps does and doesn’t cover. They offer a pretty amazing health coverage, awfully boring presentation. To top the day off we had another painfully boring presentation on community banks, which I think could’ve been interesting if the presenter wasn’t so monotone and boring!! We split into 2 groups and formed our own community banks, which we will do in real life, so that should be fun!
I came home and washed my underwear by hand! My family goes to get the laundry done’ kinda like a laundry mat but they don’t wash underwear for you. So I did it on the cement slabs. A lot more complicated than I though, and takes forever! The water was cold too, so my hand and fingers were numb by the end. I used the last to check some e-mail and then went down to eat, watched some news and called it a night!
June 13, 2011
Week 2! Wow time is seriously going by so fast. We started out the day with a presentation on Worldwise schools. It’s this program where a PCV and teacher are paired up to correspond/work together. The program is to help promote global awareness in the classroom. The kids have the opportunity to ask questions about the work the volunteer is doing. Curriculum can even be deigned around what part of the world a PCV is in..etc.. P.S. Nat I put hour name down, I think it would be cool to Skype or something with your kids-after all you will be teaching Spanish!!
We then had a long repetitive (literally because there was a translator) presentation on safety and security. I'm not saying more because I’ve already talked some about this and it was THE SAME stuff
In the afternoon we were in our tech groups. We talked about nutrition and then did a cooking demonstration!! We made fish, rice, lentils, salad and “patacones”, which is with platano verde, the big green banana. Then of course we got to eat it all ☺ Soooo good!
After “school” Portia and I went to switch my cell phone and flash drive internet over to my passport number because on Saturday I didn’t have it. Only come to find out we were supposed to wait a week..she then wanted to do a recarga of $3 on hers. The way the “re-charges” work is you give a number to whomever and they put the money on that flash. Well because there were 2 flash drives and 2 numbers we didn’t know which one went with which number. Alas she ended up putting the money on mine. But we worked it out so that she could use it during the day today. I was then able to Skype with Jordie and Annie last night…yay!
We then had a long repetitive (literally because there was a translator) presentation on safety and security. I'm not saying more because I’ve already talked some about this and it was THE SAME stuff
In the afternoon we were in our tech groups. We talked about nutrition and then did a cooking demonstration!! We made fish, rice, lentils, salad and “patacones”, which is with platano verde, the big green banana. Then of course we got to eat it all ☺ Soooo good!
After “school” Portia and I went to switch my cell phone and flash drive internet over to my passport number because on Saturday I didn’t have it. Only come to find out we were supposed to wait a week..she then wanted to do a recarga of $3 on hers. The way the “re-charges” work is you give a number to whomever and they put the money on that flash. Well because there were 2 flash drives and 2 numbers we didn’t know which one went with which number. Alas she ended up putting the money on mine. But we worked it out so that she could use it during the day today. I was then able to Skype with Jordie and Annie last night…yay!
June 14, 2011
Alright, I have a lot to update. Lets start with Saturday:
Sat: June 11
We were in the community of Puembo today practicing our PACA tools. My group had to interview children under ages 13 about their 24 hour calendar. We also had to find out what resources the community had. Not many people were out and about when we arrived but poco a poco we found kids to talk to. Many of the kids get up around 5 or 6 AM and are in school till 1:30-2. They then come home to eat and have the rest of the afternoon to do homework and play. One of the boys we interviewed was on the 10 siblings and on the weekend worked at a country club nearby. The country club is for the very weathy that have their 2nd homes out here. Many of them, he said, are “extranjeros” which means they are from other countries. This boy works on the weekends and makes about $80/month, which is quite a bit for a 12 year old.
After Puembo we returned to Tumbaco to get phones! I also got my flash-drive for Internet. For now it’s all pre-pay: $3 for unlimited 24 hr use of $16 for unlimited one-week use. The nice thing is that once we get our bank accounts established we can purchase a plan for $20/month for unlimited use. I don’t want to be spending $60/month so ill probably get Internet every other week or just some days.
After the phones, Ryan, Portia and I went to eat at my family’s restaurant. We then stopped by Portia’s to grab her computer and came back to my house to use the internet. It’s crazy how technology works and I'm definitely grateful to have it! Portia left around 5:30 and I watched Dexter-such a good show! My parents finally got home at like 7, we ate and I was so tired! I don't know what it is-the altitude or the heat but I am always exhausted by 9 or 10 pm
Sun June 12, 2011
Went to the market with the fam. We were supposed to leave by 7:30 am but didn’t leave till almost 8:30..you’d think after living in Latin American countries I would get used to the time always being later than they way..apparently not, lol These mercados are amazing. It’s pretty much like a farmer’s market except a little dirtier. The meat was what amazed me the most. There was everything from sheep’s head to pig feet, whole cow legs and other animal intestines that hung out in the open air.
We were over in the meat section for awhile because both my sister and my host parents had to get meat for the restaurants. Just the contact from the raw meat to money and bags almost grossed me out. My family was telling me how the animal is killed around 2 AM, then brought to the market at 4 am, when the market opens. Everything for the most part is very fresh and I haven’t gotten sick yet so more power to them.
As my host mom went to buy naranjas, limones y queso my sister showed me the live animal area. This was where you could buy anything from chicken, pig, duck and guinea pig live and then kill and eat at your desire. Let me back up…yes guinea pig. They call it cuoy (sp?) here. And no, they are no different than the sweet innocent furry pets many of us had as children. I tried to explain that this is a loved pet at home. She kept on referencing hamsters as pets and found it hard to believe that guinea pig was a pet.
That afternoon we went to the pool. Soooo much cooler than it sounds. The pool was in a valley, mountains all around us, next to a river. There was also a Jacuzzi with sauna. The sauna had real eucalyptus leaves creating the best steam experience ever! Some family members showed up. From 12 until 5 we as a family-about 8 people- finished off 12 beers. These weren’t your normal sized beers, probably twice (or more) bigger than regular beer. And the way they drink is so interesting. There’s one small glass and people take turns pouring a ¼ a glass full of beer and handing it to the group. Yes, I know what you are thinking Nurse Hannah, the spread of sickness, lol
I liked being the pourer because then I got away with not having to drink. We discussed the system of donating organs upon death and the drinking limit, which was recently changed from .08 to .001 or something to that effect. Huge change, many upset about it.
By the time we got home it was windy and cold. I immediately got ready to shower, hoping that the water would be warm, and it was! The water was almost hot. I probably got a little too excited because I slipped getting into the shower, fell completely down to the ground, scraping my back along the way and popped the shower door out of place!..oops..
There was no way to fix the door from inside the shower and I was losing precious hot water in the mean time. I showered without the door and afterwards was able to put the door back in place. That was all the excitement for that evening.
Sat: June 11
We were in the community of Puembo today practicing our PACA tools. My group had to interview children under ages 13 about their 24 hour calendar. We also had to find out what resources the community had. Not many people were out and about when we arrived but poco a poco we found kids to talk to. Many of the kids get up around 5 or 6 AM and are in school till 1:30-2. They then come home to eat and have the rest of the afternoon to do homework and play. One of the boys we interviewed was on the 10 siblings and on the weekend worked at a country club nearby. The country club is for the very weathy that have their 2nd homes out here. Many of them, he said, are “extranjeros” which means they are from other countries. This boy works on the weekends and makes about $80/month, which is quite a bit for a 12 year old.
After Puembo we returned to Tumbaco to get phones! I also got my flash-drive for Internet. For now it’s all pre-pay: $3 for unlimited 24 hr use of $16 for unlimited one-week use. The nice thing is that once we get our bank accounts established we can purchase a plan for $20/month for unlimited use. I don’t want to be spending $60/month so ill probably get Internet every other week or just some days.
After the phones, Ryan, Portia and I went to eat at my family’s restaurant. We then stopped by Portia’s to grab her computer and came back to my house to use the internet. It’s crazy how technology works and I'm definitely grateful to have it! Portia left around 5:30 and I watched Dexter-such a good show! My parents finally got home at like 7, we ate and I was so tired! I don't know what it is-the altitude or the heat but I am always exhausted by 9 or 10 pm
Sun June 12, 2011
Went to the market with the fam. We were supposed to leave by 7:30 am but didn’t leave till almost 8:30..you’d think after living in Latin American countries I would get used to the time always being later than they way..apparently not, lol These mercados are amazing. It’s pretty much like a farmer’s market except a little dirtier. The meat was what amazed me the most. There was everything from sheep’s head to pig feet, whole cow legs and other animal intestines that hung out in the open air.
We were over in the meat section for awhile because both my sister and my host parents had to get meat for the restaurants. Just the contact from the raw meat to money and bags almost grossed me out. My family was telling me how the animal is killed around 2 AM, then brought to the market at 4 am, when the market opens. Everything for the most part is very fresh and I haven’t gotten sick yet so more power to them.
As my host mom went to buy naranjas, limones y queso my sister showed me the live animal area. This was where you could buy anything from chicken, pig, duck and guinea pig live and then kill and eat at your desire. Let me back up…yes guinea pig. They call it cuoy (sp?) here. And no, they are no different than the sweet innocent furry pets many of us had as children. I tried to explain that this is a loved pet at home. She kept on referencing hamsters as pets and found it hard to believe that guinea pig was a pet.
That afternoon we went to the pool. Soooo much cooler than it sounds. The pool was in a valley, mountains all around us, next to a river. There was also a Jacuzzi with sauna. The sauna had real eucalyptus leaves creating the best steam experience ever! Some family members showed up. From 12 until 5 we as a family-about 8 people- finished off 12 beers. These weren’t your normal sized beers, probably twice (or more) bigger than regular beer. And the way they drink is so interesting. There’s one small glass and people take turns pouring a ¼ a glass full of beer and handing it to the group. Yes, I know what you are thinking Nurse Hannah, the spread of sickness, lol
I liked being the pourer because then I got away with not having to drink. We discussed the system of donating organs upon death and the drinking limit, which was recently changed from .08 to .001 or something to that effect. Huge change, many upset about it.
By the time we got home it was windy and cold. I immediately got ready to shower, hoping that the water would be warm, and it was! The water was almost hot. I probably got a little too excited because I slipped getting into the shower, fell completely down to the ground, scraping my back along the way and popped the shower door out of place!..oops..
There was no way to fix the door from inside the shower and I was losing precious hot water in the mean time. I showered without the door and afterwards was able to put the door back in place. That was all the excitement for that evening.
Monday, June 13, 2011
June 10
So tired but I feel like I have a lot to write. I didn’t write yesterday. On thurs morning we were in our groups talking about PACA tools that we will use in our site. PACA stands for Participatory Analysis for Community Action. This includes a community map, FREEHOP (family, religion, education, health, organizations and politics), a 24-hour calendar, food recall and a wheel of resources. All of these are used to survey the community we will be in and to gather information needed on assessing our communities..was that redundant? Anyway they are really good tools to use and we did an activity where we made up our own communities applying a couple of these tools. Tomorrow we will have the chance to actually go into a community close by and practice them! A little nerve wracking because we will be released into Puembo to try to talk to people about their community…
In the afternoon some current PCV’s (peace corps volunteers) came to talk to us and answer questions we had. Each person is doing something different and they all seem to be enjoying it. A part from their main work they’ve all started different kinds of projects. It’s quite impressive and kinda intimidating. They all seem to be so successful. Some are urban while others rural. Rural of course meaning having to travel an hour to shower! One guy had chickens-all were eaten- a dog and wants to buy a pig for Christmas feast. Lol
After the talk I was just so excited to be in my site, integrating with the community and working on projects. If they can do it so can I!! I guess the hardest part to get through is training. I personally don’t think it’s bad at all but it is very structured with long hours and that definitely does not seem to be the case for the 2 year volunteer time.
That night Lucy and I went out with one of her friends Jose Luis. I was so tired but wanted to go out. We went to “all mirador” to a restaurant that looks over Quito. So beautiful. Jose Luis was cool, loaded and machista but really funny and nice. He’s headed to Brasil tomorrow for work/vacation..luck…
So today we had an extensive charla on diarrhea. Who knew there was so much to learn. We talked about worms and parasites too..ahh..the memories, lol. After this we got into our tech groups. Then we split up. My group went to Puembo, a community just 20 minutes away from Tumbaco. Bibi our program manager went with. She is awesome! She was telling us all about her experience as a PCV and life in Ecuador now. We were able to drive there-PC SUV’s, super nice. Took over an hour rather than 15 minutes because they were paving ½ the road and had to let each lane take turns….not sure if that makes sense but it was sure an adventure. At one point there was an ambulance that tried to get through. With so much traffic we had to get onto the median, then drive the opposite way down the other side of the street to find another entrance back into traffic!
We finally arrived at the Centro de Salud. The doctor who couldn’t have been more than 25 talked to us about all the programs they have. Med students in Ecuador start their 4 years of med school right out of high school and then have one year of “rural”. Apparently she was the top of her class and picked Puembo to work at for that year. They like her so much that they asked her to come back to work full time after she graduated.
For a clinic that serves about 20,000 people there are 2 doctors and 1 nurse. They offer everything from vacunas to exercise for los ancianos. She also goes out into the more rural areas on Thursdays to those who don’t have means of getting into town. They have FREE HEALTHCARE!!! Although one woman I talked to briefly said she had been waiting since 6 am and probably wouldn’t be seen till 3 or 4 pm. But still the fact that this “3rd world” country has figured out some kind of medica gratuita says something about the U.S. of A…just sayin’
We came back and shared our experiences. The 2 other groups went to Tumbaco-one to a Centro de Salud and another to a “natural store” (I guess it ended up being like a GNC) Then language class. So they divided the groups-our class has 5 students, im pretty sure we are avancado-intermedio.. We learned lots of random vocab today.
I ended up coming home early because I had understood that my family wanted to go to Quito and we would eat around 7 then go. So I rushed to get home found out that what my host dad said was that he and my hostmom were supposed to go into Quito for something and wouldn’t be back till 7..I rushed home for nothing..so I showered and luckily ran into Lucy on my way out to an Internet Café. When I was finished I met her at the grocery store ‘Santa Maria’ (huge walmart type). We came home and ate, I helped my host mom with the dishes-see mom I'm still doing them ☺ Kind weird how they wash dishes in cold water. Now time for bed, we are going back out into Puembo to use PACA tools tomorrow then get phones YAY..and possibly internet.
Night.
In the afternoon some current PCV’s (peace corps volunteers) came to talk to us and answer questions we had. Each person is doing something different and they all seem to be enjoying it. A part from their main work they’ve all started different kinds of projects. It’s quite impressive and kinda intimidating. They all seem to be so successful. Some are urban while others rural. Rural of course meaning having to travel an hour to shower! One guy had chickens-all were eaten- a dog and wants to buy a pig for Christmas feast. Lol
After the talk I was just so excited to be in my site, integrating with the community and working on projects. If they can do it so can I!! I guess the hardest part to get through is training. I personally don’t think it’s bad at all but it is very structured with long hours and that definitely does not seem to be the case for the 2 year volunteer time.
That night Lucy and I went out with one of her friends Jose Luis. I was so tired but wanted to go out. We went to “all mirador” to a restaurant that looks over Quito. So beautiful. Jose Luis was cool, loaded and machista but really funny and nice. He’s headed to Brasil tomorrow for work/vacation..luck…
So today we had an extensive charla on diarrhea. Who knew there was so much to learn. We talked about worms and parasites too..ahh..the memories, lol. After this we got into our tech groups. Then we split up. My group went to Puembo, a community just 20 minutes away from Tumbaco. Bibi our program manager went with. She is awesome! She was telling us all about her experience as a PCV and life in Ecuador now. We were able to drive there-PC SUV’s, super nice. Took over an hour rather than 15 minutes because they were paving ½ the road and had to let each lane take turns….not sure if that makes sense but it was sure an adventure. At one point there was an ambulance that tried to get through. With so much traffic we had to get onto the median, then drive the opposite way down the other side of the street to find another entrance back into traffic!
We finally arrived at the Centro de Salud. The doctor who couldn’t have been more than 25 talked to us about all the programs they have. Med students in Ecuador start their 4 years of med school right out of high school and then have one year of “rural”. Apparently she was the top of her class and picked Puembo to work at for that year. They like her so much that they asked her to come back to work full time after she graduated.
For a clinic that serves about 20,000 people there are 2 doctors and 1 nurse. They offer everything from vacunas to exercise for los ancianos. She also goes out into the more rural areas on Thursdays to those who don’t have means of getting into town. They have FREE HEALTHCARE!!! Although one woman I talked to briefly said she had been waiting since 6 am and probably wouldn’t be seen till 3 or 4 pm. But still the fact that this “3rd world” country has figured out some kind of medica gratuita says something about the U.S. of A…just sayin’
We came back and shared our experiences. The 2 other groups went to Tumbaco-one to a Centro de Salud and another to a “natural store” (I guess it ended up being like a GNC) Then language class. So they divided the groups-our class has 5 students, im pretty sure we are avancado-intermedio.. We learned lots of random vocab today.
I ended up coming home early because I had understood that my family wanted to go to Quito and we would eat around 7 then go. So I rushed to get home found out that what my host dad said was that he and my hostmom were supposed to go into Quito for something and wouldn’t be back till 7..I rushed home for nothing..so I showered and luckily ran into Lucy on my way out to an Internet Café. When I was finished I met her at the grocery store ‘Santa Maria’ (huge walmart type). We came home and ate, I helped my host mom with the dishes-see mom I'm still doing them ☺ Kind weird how they wash dishes in cold water. Now time for bed, we are going back out into Puembo to use PACA tools tomorrow then get phones YAY..and possibly internet.
Night.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
June 8, 2011
I wonder if I will get used to getting out of the shower covered in goose bumps? The shower teases me with really warm (WARM not at all hot like we like in the states) water and then is chilly (nothing freezing THANK GOD-bc at nights it does get cold). Today actually went by really fast. Had my med interview. The nurse said I was super healthy-thanks to homeopathy I would say-that’s all you mom We were in Spanish from 10:30-5 pm (with a break for lunch and two other small breaks) but now looking back on it, it actually flew by. We learned about the different regions, states and then talked about the indigenous groups in Ecuador. Some of us decided to walk home today. It was all right…probably not going to do it again/if so not very often. It took an hour and a half. By the time I got home it was dark. No Internet today…oh well. Surprisingly I haven’t’ longed for it. I also may start bringing my lunch, too much rice!!! All right I need to get in an episode of Dexter, Buenas.
June 7, 2011
So a week from yesterday I was saying the last of my goodbyes. Crazy how time flies. Mom, Ruth and Howard called!! How nice to hear their voices. Training was so intense today, lots of stuff. I had my tech interview (community health) and it went well. They really wanted us to open up to our supervisors-it’s nice they want to get to know us on a personal level as well as professional level, they both seem really cool! I was put in the advanced Spanish-on Thursday we will divide into different levels within the advanced. Spanish was 3.5 hours long! Lots of small group work-which I love. Havent really figured out the internet yet but as of right now café’s will do. I need to learn to be more patient and I think this is a great basic way to do it. It’s amazing how in just a day I changed from wanting the internet so badly to not having it as such a high priority, gotta love adaptations ;) The sobrinas were over today, so freakin cute! They are my host brother, Pato’s two girls, 2 and 4 I think. They know colors and numbers in English so were telling me what color everything in the room was, we bonded, they like me now..lol We also received books and a dictionary today…Really tired so not going to write anymore. Hasta luego.
June 6, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATALIE!!!
First day of “school” today. I woke up at 6:30, had breakfast and then Lucy drove me to school. We were going to follow the bus route but lost the bus and ended up on some pretty crazy roads. It still amazes me how they can drive these little cars on such rough terrain!
Classes were intense today-so much information. Parmer our director went over policies, many of them common sense. HE also elaborated on the prohibited areas…half of which I’ve been to from my other study abroad…amazing I am still here, lol lunch was at a small restaurant nearby. When I say restaurant don’t be fooled. It most def means the back of someone’s patio with plastic furniture. Health inspection would probably give it an F but the food’s good and I'm not sick yet (knock on wood)
We came back to a presentation on development and what we will be expected of. I don’t know about other PC countries but Ecuador has their shiznit down. Their vision is so in line with how many other organizations should run! “Development is a process not a project” in this PCV’s (Peace Corps Volunteers) are to go into communities and support those in need..whether that be health educators, teachers, organizations etc..Training and feedback are important, especially in the 1st year. After the first 3 months we make surveys and evaluations on what the community needs. We all come back together after these 3 months to make sure we have knowledge/resources on how to help implement the projects. We then meet after the 6-month mark to evaluate progress, etc. then at the one year mark the same. The second year we are pretty much on our own. Rightfully so because that 1st year we are provided with support and resources, ideas, etc. I think this helps for a very successful 2 years. We
We then split up into our groups (community health). We talked about our learning objectives and all the different activities we will be doing! These next 11 weeks are aimed to help give us knowledge and tools to use in our sites. We will be going out into communities to practice (tech trips). They want us to be able to practice and process so that we are confident once we get into our own communities-isnt that awesome!?!?! Then there will actually be a week where we go to our future sites to meet with our counterparts and look at needs of the community. That way we can jump start research for the remainder of training. I'm going to be learning so much!!
I took the bus home with some other volunteers, rather we all piled on. Portia and I went to an internet café. Tomorrow I will look into a flash drive Internet. It’s just really hard to us ethe internet café’s because by the time we get back into town it’s already almost 6 and since it gets dark at 6:30 that doesn't leave a lot of time. Alrighty I’ll write more tomorrow..im thinking about you Nat, hope everyone got together and did something fun for you
First day of “school” today. I woke up at 6:30, had breakfast and then Lucy drove me to school. We were going to follow the bus route but lost the bus and ended up on some pretty crazy roads. It still amazes me how they can drive these little cars on such rough terrain!
Classes were intense today-so much information. Parmer our director went over policies, many of them common sense. HE also elaborated on the prohibited areas…half of which I’ve been to from my other study abroad…amazing I am still here, lol lunch was at a small restaurant nearby. When I say restaurant don’t be fooled. It most def means the back of someone’s patio with plastic furniture. Health inspection would probably give it an F but the food’s good and I'm not sick yet (knock on wood)
We came back to a presentation on development and what we will be expected of. I don’t know about other PC countries but Ecuador has their shiznit down. Their vision is so in line with how many other organizations should run! “Development is a process not a project” in this PCV’s (Peace Corps Volunteers) are to go into communities and support those in need..whether that be health educators, teachers, organizations etc..Training and feedback are important, especially in the 1st year. After the first 3 months we make surveys and evaluations on what the community needs. We all come back together after these 3 months to make sure we have knowledge/resources on how to help implement the projects. We then meet after the 6-month mark to evaluate progress, etc. then at the one year mark the same. The second year we are pretty much on our own. Rightfully so because that 1st year we are provided with support and resources, ideas, etc. I think this helps for a very successful 2 years. We
We then split up into our groups (community health). We talked about our learning objectives and all the different activities we will be doing! These next 11 weeks are aimed to help give us knowledge and tools to use in our sites. We will be going out into communities to practice (tech trips). They want us to be able to practice and process so that we are confident once we get into our own communities-isnt that awesome!?!?! Then there will actually be a week where we go to our future sites to meet with our counterparts and look at needs of the community. That way we can jump start research for the remainder of training. I'm going to be learning so much!!
I took the bus home with some other volunteers, rather we all piled on. Portia and I went to an internet café. Tomorrow I will look into a flash drive Internet. It’s just really hard to us ethe internet café’s because by the time we get back into town it’s already almost 6 and since it gets dark at 6:30 that doesn't leave a lot of time. Alrighty I’ll write more tomorrow..im thinking about you Nat, hope everyone got together and did something fun for you
June 5, 2011
Well today was quite an exciting day! We met our host families! It was so nerve wracking because we’ve talked/prepped so much for it and I just wanted to meet them. After living with several host families you’d think I’d have the drill down..nope.. So they had all the host families come into the common area and then we filed in. They read oru names, we stepped forward and then they read our host families names and they came to greet us.
My host mother and sister came to get me. My host mother’s name is Teresa and my sister Lucy. Then we FINALLY went into Tumbaco-the training center is a little outside the actual city and the whole PC complex is enclosed with fence. They wouldn’t let us leave the 2 days we were there so it was nice to finally get out.
We drove to the family restaurant to meet my host dad-Jorge. Apparently he used ot be an accountant for Pilsner-local beer. Now that he’s retired he and Teresa decided to open a restaurant, which seems a bit opposite but the good was good and it seems to be doing quite well. We finally came to the house. Lucy, who is a chef, not sure what that means…like if the qualifications are the same as in the U.S. started a restaurant on the 1st level of our house and so we live on the second floor.
The house is nice-typical…nothing special, my room is pretty big, I have a little desk, shelving and a dresser. I unpacked some and then Lucy and I drove a little around Tumbaco. We went to the Mall and talked with Moviestar (phone company) to see if they could unlock my phone, which they said they could, but after the guy saying it was worth about $1000 dollars here I decided to not take the risk of having it stolen and I’ll probably just get a regular phone. All I want to do is text and call.
We then went to pick up/see a friend of Lucy’s. Her name is Paula and she is so funny and super nice. They showed me to an internet café where I could finally e-mail people!! I didn’t have a lot of time so I just e-mailed family. Hopefull I can get on a sched of checking e-mail and maybe even skyping. The internet café is pretty nice, it has skype with a camera and microphone so I’d be set! Plus it’s super cheap. The other option is for people to call me from a calling card or something like that. I’ll let you know the number once I get a phone, hopefully soon.
We then went into Quito-Paula, Lucy, Jorge, Teresa y yo. We went to the centro colonial/historico, which is a gorgeous place with narrow stone streets and restored colonial buildings. I felt kinda bad that I had seen it all already and fibbed a couple times saying I hadn’t remembered going to some of the places. It was really nice family time! Lucy is the best & Paula is awesome! Both my host parents are very nice and we all were joking around the whole night.
We came home, had some tea with pan y queso. I was exhausted do now I'm ready to sleep. I’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do in the morning..sooo many clothes!! Plus they already gave us homework for Monday. These 11 weeks are going to fly by…we’ll see how the 2 years goes. I still can’t believe I'm here finally doing the Peace Corps. I get these random thoughts of home but nothing serious (homesickness that is)
Buenas Noches
My host mother and sister came to get me. My host mother’s name is Teresa and my sister Lucy. Then we FINALLY went into Tumbaco-the training center is a little outside the actual city and the whole PC complex is enclosed with fence. They wouldn’t let us leave the 2 days we were there so it was nice to finally get out.
We drove to the family restaurant to meet my host dad-Jorge. Apparently he used ot be an accountant for Pilsner-local beer. Now that he’s retired he and Teresa decided to open a restaurant, which seems a bit opposite but the good was good and it seems to be doing quite well. We finally came to the house. Lucy, who is a chef, not sure what that means…like if the qualifications are the same as in the U.S. started a restaurant on the 1st level of our house and so we live on the second floor.
The house is nice-typical…nothing special, my room is pretty big, I have a little desk, shelving and a dresser. I unpacked some and then Lucy and I drove a little around Tumbaco. We went to the Mall and talked with Moviestar (phone company) to see if they could unlock my phone, which they said they could, but after the guy saying it was worth about $1000 dollars here I decided to not take the risk of having it stolen and I’ll probably just get a regular phone. All I want to do is text and call.
We then went to pick up/see a friend of Lucy’s. Her name is Paula and she is so funny and super nice. They showed me to an internet café where I could finally e-mail people!! I didn’t have a lot of time so I just e-mailed family. Hopefull I can get on a sched of checking e-mail and maybe even skyping. The internet café is pretty nice, it has skype with a camera and microphone so I’d be set! Plus it’s super cheap. The other option is for people to call me from a calling card or something like that. I’ll let you know the number once I get a phone, hopefully soon.
We then went into Quito-Paula, Lucy, Jorge, Teresa y yo. We went to the centro colonial/historico, which is a gorgeous place with narrow stone streets and restored colonial buildings. I felt kinda bad that I had seen it all already and fibbed a couple times saying I hadn’t remembered going to some of the places. It was really nice family time! Lucy is the best & Paula is awesome! Both my host parents are very nice and we all were joking around the whole night.
We came home, had some tea with pan y queso. I was exhausted do now I'm ready to sleep. I’ve still got a lot of unpacking to do in the morning..sooo many clothes!! Plus they already gave us homework for Monday. These 11 weeks are going to fly by…we’ll see how the 2 years goes. I still can’t believe I'm here finally doing the Peace Corps. I get these random thoughts of home but nothing serious (homesickness that is)
Buenas Noches
June 3, 2011
Night 2..things are going well We had a Security Agent that works for the U.S. Embassy come and talk to us about safety in Ecuador. It was a really good presentation. They do an amazing job trying to keep people safe. Not that they don’t ut it’s amazing the resources they have to help in case of emergencies.
We also did a language test-written as well as an oral one. My oral exam was long..but I think maybe that’s a good sign because some people said they got into the interview and 2 sentences into it the interviewer told them that was good enough.. We also got vaccinations. I only got the rabies one because I’ve had the others from the last time I was here. We had our pictures taken for our official PC (peace corps) I.D.s and opened bank accounts. I guess here in Ecuador in order to withdrawal money from the bank (not atm) you have to have the exact same signature on this special paper as your passport. So everyone was practicing their signature and some people had to re-do it so many times. I got mine on my first try
We also met with our specific groups. There are three main groups-Community Health (ME!), TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and Youth and Families. The community health program sounds really fun. They talked about the plan of focusing on a few basics for Public Health to prepare us for our sites rather than discuss a lot of little things half ass..sounds like a good plan to me.
A new thing that they want to promote is nutrition and a way they are going to do this is with building gardens and cooking classes. What a neat way to promote nutrition and fight against the common diseases. Most people will be on the coast or highlands. We won’t be in super rural areas nor all by ourselves. Everyone will have running water and electricity so that’s a little comforting even though I was expecting the worst, lol. We will also be with host families the first three months of the volunteer time, which will help us, integrate into the community. After the 3 months we can decide to live by ourselves or stay with the family.
We will also most likely be by ourselves and about an hour away from other volunteers. I guess they are placing us in clusters and then those clusters are dispersed about an hourish away from each other.
The food here is great! The training center is awesome and it sounds like the PC is going to be so supportive through everything. We meet our host families tomorrow! I'm excited and nervous. Apparently our families will have internet but I don’t want to get my hopes up or anything. I would like to get in touch with people somehow!
Sounds like many people that have done PC end up staying another year because the first year is challenging and by the time the second year comes and goes they feel as though they’ve just established a solid start. Others stay because they get married! I have no plans of this but I guess we’ll just have to see. It’s kinda hard to look into the future.
Hast Luego
We also did a language test-written as well as an oral one. My oral exam was long..but I think maybe that’s a good sign because some people said they got into the interview and 2 sentences into it the interviewer told them that was good enough.. We also got vaccinations. I only got the rabies one because I’ve had the others from the last time I was here. We had our pictures taken for our official PC (peace corps) I.D.s and opened bank accounts. I guess here in Ecuador in order to withdrawal money from the bank (not atm) you have to have the exact same signature on this special paper as your passport. So everyone was practicing their signature and some people had to re-do it so many times. I got mine on my first try
We also met with our specific groups. There are three main groups-Community Health (ME!), TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) and Youth and Families. The community health program sounds really fun. They talked about the plan of focusing on a few basics for Public Health to prepare us for our sites rather than discuss a lot of little things half ass..sounds like a good plan to me.
A new thing that they want to promote is nutrition and a way they are going to do this is with building gardens and cooking classes. What a neat way to promote nutrition and fight against the common diseases. Most people will be on the coast or highlands. We won’t be in super rural areas nor all by ourselves. Everyone will have running water and electricity so that’s a little comforting even though I was expecting the worst, lol. We will also be with host families the first three months of the volunteer time, which will help us, integrate into the community. After the 3 months we can decide to live by ourselves or stay with the family.
We will also most likely be by ourselves and about an hour away from other volunteers. I guess they are placing us in clusters and then those clusters are dispersed about an hourish away from each other.
The food here is great! The training center is awesome and it sounds like the PC is going to be so supportive through everything. We meet our host families tomorrow! I'm excited and nervous. Apparently our families will have internet but I don’t want to get my hopes up or anything. I would like to get in touch with people somehow!
Sounds like many people that have done PC end up staying another year because the first year is challenging and by the time the second year comes and goes they feel as though they’ve just established a solid start. Others stay because they get married! I have no plans of this but I guess we’ll just have to see. It’s kinda hard to look into the future.
Hast Luego
June 2, 2011
So we have arrived in Tumbaco! We got to Quito and were moved quite quickly to buses. The bus ride went kind of quick..it’s definitely weird to be back in Ecuador. I honestly don’t know how to describe the feeling. Neither bad nor good…The Training site seems nice. All the staff are great. Apparently we are the 1st group to stay here at the site for the 1st couple days before meeting our host families. Before they had them in hotels.
First shower experience was nothing out of the ordinary-no water pressure, scalding hot, then sometimes freezing but I got clean and that the most important part, right? Everyone here is really cool. There are 62 of us so it’s still hard to remember peoples names. I haven’t felt homesick yet although I wish I could contact home and let them know I'm all right, but it sounds like that won’t happen for a few days. Lots of info tomorrow so now I need sleep, I’ll update later..AHHHhh im so excited to be here and start this adventure.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
TUMBACO!!!
Just wanted to let everyone know I am here in Ecuador safe and sound :) the only internet i have access to is in internet cafes, so until i have a schedule down i probably won´t be able to conect on a regular basis. I have a lot to update so dont worry i will give a detailed update asap! Plus soon i will be getting a phone :) Tumbaco is great and so are all the Peace Corps Volunteers and all of our leaders. I just met my host family today and they are really nice too! I wish i could talk to you all and let you know how i´m doing but that´s just not really possible..
Hasta Pronto
Hasta Pronto
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
First Thoughts
So Im trying to start out strong and blog on a regular basis when I have internet. I am currently in Philly, just finished what they call 'staging'. We talked about expectations, aspirations and what makes us nervous, pretty typical, pre-departure stuff. Everyone that I've met so far is pretty cool. There are quite a few people from the Midwest, even a few from Wisconsin. Oh and a women from Rockford, crazy right?!
Flying was pretty smooth, mom and i had quite the adventure trying to get to the airport, really messy construction and horrible signs ..I blame Walker.. Arriving was kind of a challenge with my luggage but i figured it out. Who knows how I'm going to get all of it to my site when the time comes but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
So all along I've been telling people how Im going to be in Tumbaco the first couple days then to Quito for the next three months training...yeah totally off...apparently we are in Tumbaco the whole time for training, oops...it's a lot smaller town and about an hour away from Quito. Im not really sure what my internet access will be like but it's likely i'll have some access..The address that I put up is still correct, I'm sure we will be traveling to and from the city (Quito) frequently, Peace Corps office for Ecuador is there, it just so happens that our training is in Tumbaco.
Well that's it for now! The next blog will be in ECUADOR!!! I love you all my lovely 5 followers...lol
besos
Flying was pretty smooth, mom and i had quite the adventure trying to get to the airport, really messy construction and horrible signs ..I blame Walker.. Arriving was kind of a challenge with my luggage but i figured it out. Who knows how I'm going to get all of it to my site when the time comes but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
So all along I've been telling people how Im going to be in Tumbaco the first couple days then to Quito for the next three months training...yeah totally off...apparently we are in Tumbaco the whole time for training, oops...it's a lot smaller town and about an hour away from Quito. Im not really sure what my internet access will be like but it's likely i'll have some access..The address that I put up is still correct, I'm sure we will be traveling to and from the city (Quito) frequently, Peace Corps office for Ecuador is there, it just so happens that our training is in Tumbaco.
Well that's it for now! The next blog will be in ECUADOR!!! I love you all my lovely 5 followers...lol
besos
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)