I feel like time goes double fast on my blog. I honestly thought it was just a couple weeks ago that I wrote, turns out it's been almost a month...
Well I just arrived back from our COS conference in Tumbaco. In this conference we talked about returning home, all the work that involves finishing a government job. We also had a couple sessions where they gave us some really good resources for job searching, interviews etc.
It was really great seeing the other volunteers. Of the 61 that arrived in June 2011, we are now a group of 45 volunteers. So fun to hear everyone's plans. Everyone is really over all over the board in terms of plans. A couple staying, one getting married to an Ecuadorian, many going back to work, some going back to do more school. Our health group made a card and printed out some fotos for our program manager and Bibi, who was the training leader for us and now has moved to being the head trainer for all of peace corps ecuador. There were tears, many of joy and agradecimiento (thankfullnes??) After that everyone went to an italian place that served us all you can eat pizza, pretty good. Parmer, our country director gave us certificates and after a group of us went out in cumbaya to go dancing. We had the place to ourselves seeing as it was wednesday, except for a few creepers, but lets be honest, that just adds to the ecua-ness of the night :)
Sharon and I then left on thursday around 4:30 AM to head back to Ambato for our girls group. Ahh the things we do for these girls! We assigned them their parts for our final performance of the little red hen and practiced the dance over, and over and OVER. They are picking it up and as we start meeting twice a week I think things will really move along.
Today Sharon and I met to cut out the fabric for the little skirts we are going to make for the contra dance and so im hoping to drop off the stuff so Chino's grandma can sew together the elastic, etc..
I am leaving tomorrow for Santo Domingo to help out in a brigade. This will be my second year with them and Im excited to see who they've brought in terms of a medical team. After Santo Domingo things hopefully will go back to normal. A couple days a week at the University, two days a week with the girls and preparing for my departure from ecuador.
Still hot here, hope home is getting warmer, but isn't too hot and humid when I get back :)
Friday, May 10, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
My Ecua week,,,
So this week was FULL of ecua events...by this I mean cultural things that of course only happen in good ole' Ecuador.
Lets start with MONDAY:
So today was the big day to reveal the new cafeteria that the University had been scrambling, at last minute to finish. The administer is a graduate and friend of Fernanda's from Riobamba. I arrived at 9:30 thinking the inauguration was going to be at 10. Found out it was at noon. Good for them because they were no where near ready to open the place up for the public. Things being up on windows, pictures being put up and people cleaning floors. as I've probably mentioned before, Ecuador is all about looking good, but not always thinking about being practical. Example: The floor had been re-tiled and looked wonderful! The only problem, the two colors were white/creme and brown. One, a light color, and another a dark color. Both colors which show dirt and dust very easily. So as much as we swept and mopped everything still looked dirty. The cooks were ready with the food around 12:15 and we had the grand ribbon cutting by the president. Many of the Dean's showed up and they even brought in a PRIEST to bless the event. You know me and separation of church and state..we prayed and everything, ayyy. The food was great though!
They also explained the new system. Students and faculty would have to buy a card ($2.50) and then had the option of buying lunch plans or individual meals. This amount would go onto the card and as you get meals it gets deducted from the card, simple right? Well not so much. In the afternoon the cafeteria was open for people to buy cards. 1-when you get your card, you have to go to the OTHER campus to pay (not ideal for students who have class all day) 2-the prices aren't that cheap. We heard many comments of how the students weren't going to bother and would rather go off campus to eat. The faculty seemed more interested and some bought cards that afternoon. The other problem was that the system was down and no one had thought to check to see if it worked and no one knew how to fix it..lets hope in the next coming weeks more people decide to buy the cards. The bar looks great and the food is great, but the logistics and practicality were not thought through at all and now someone is going to have to suffer those consequences, will it be the cafeteria, the university or the students themselves who won't enjoy the luxury of having this bar??
WEDNESDAY:
This was a big day because Fer and I had our health fair. It was flawless because we had been planning about a month in advance and everything was ready to go the day of. There was a fluke with tents but somehow things came through and the University gave us theirs for the morning. We lost power for a bit on one side of the tents but besides that it was great! Gorgeous weather, super sunny, I burnt my part (on my head), which is the worst...but I think everyone was impressed. Too bad our compañeros can't learn that planning actually pays off.
That afternoon they had a session for the staff, and faculty that completed 25 years at the University, those that were going to be retiring and then the top students of the classes. Chino was at the top of his class for the english department. This "session solemne" which is a formal way for saying diploma hand-out was to start at 5 pm. I was at the University all day so when I got done, I went down to the auditorium and found his mom and grandmother waiting by the door. Even though the session was to start at 5 they weren't going to open the doors till 5. At about 10 till 5 people started filling the entrance and as soon as the doors opened we were hurdled like cattle squishing and pushing to get through one doorway (later they realized that it would be a good idea to open both doors). The auditorium isn't that big and between the 25 yr people, the retirees and the students that left about maybe 50 seats for family etc. People rushed to get seats, luckily we got seats for all 6 family members that came to the session. On top of this the faculty and students had to find their seats with their picture. For what, I have no idea because they were not called up in order or seating. As they went up they entered one side of the stage and had to find their diploma that had been handed to one of the deans. Then they shook hands with the rest of the deans and the president and exited off the SAME side of the entrance. This led to lots of congestion and took probably twice as long as it would've if they had their diplomas handed to them in the beginning and exited off the other side of the stage. Afterwards there was a great presentation of a guitarist that had been playing for 75 years!!!
FRIDAY:
My week ended with a meeting with all of DIBESAU. Now Wed was one Sesion Solemne and Thursday was the other Sesion Solemne that is bigger with like 600 guests (mainly staff) and then a fiesta afterwards. The next day (usually a friday) the University is closed because everyone is hungover (or as they call it dia del servidor). We of course had not met yet to talk about the presentations that start on Monday (Monday we start the talks on sex health, mouth hygiene, and prevention of breast and cervical cancer). So as Sonia loves to do, we were going to have this meeting LAST MINUTE. Everyone from the office had to come into work. We were supposed to start the meeting at 9. Everyone was at the office by 9:10 and Sonia came rolling in at 9:40. Personally I find this very disrespectful. If you call a meeting at a certain time, everyone is expected to be there. I don't care if you are the freakin pope, be there on time! But it's Ecuador, and because she is the director she can pretty much do whatever she wants and no one says anything. So we were in our meeting from 9:45 till about noon. At the end we find out that the oficios that we had done to get sent out had not been sent out and now were short 5 projectors for the presentations on Monday. No one was working today so there was no way to really do anything..ayyy. We have three in our office, Fer is going to ask a friend for one, and then we will have to get our butts in gear to find three more for the afternoon. Sometimes I find myself wondering if maybe they like the stress...why do something so last minute and have to scramble to get it done in time.. who knows. But Im sure everything will work out on monday.
All in all it was a week full of Ecuaness. Yup it's now a word, I'm hoping to patent it before leaving. All of this happened at a University, which is supposedly class A, whatever that means. Where people are supposed to work at a professional level, but at times this gets left behind, or really just doesn't exist. For me it's great after almost 2 years, to see the light realize that these are cultural things that aren't going to change any time soon. For some reason they work here, and although I may not agree with them I have learned to accept them and not try to adapt too many things that will get me into trouble at home!!!
In other news Peace Corps called and wants the University and possibly the school to be site for a tech trip! That means that the new health group will come and practice charlas that they have worked on in training with the students! Exciting. On thursday I go to the training center for a meeting and to help the spanish professors prepare for a test.
Alright have a good weekend all!
Lets start with MONDAY:
So today was the big day to reveal the new cafeteria that the University had been scrambling, at last minute to finish. The administer is a graduate and friend of Fernanda's from Riobamba. I arrived at 9:30 thinking the inauguration was going to be at 10. Found out it was at noon. Good for them because they were no where near ready to open the place up for the public. Things being up on windows, pictures being put up and people cleaning floors. as I've probably mentioned before, Ecuador is all about looking good, but not always thinking about being practical. Example: The floor had been re-tiled and looked wonderful! The only problem, the two colors were white/creme and brown. One, a light color, and another a dark color. Both colors which show dirt and dust very easily. So as much as we swept and mopped everything still looked dirty. The cooks were ready with the food around 12:15 and we had the grand ribbon cutting by the president. Many of the Dean's showed up and they even brought in a PRIEST to bless the event. You know me and separation of church and state..we prayed and everything, ayyy. The food was great though!
They also explained the new system. Students and faculty would have to buy a card ($2.50) and then had the option of buying lunch plans or individual meals. This amount would go onto the card and as you get meals it gets deducted from the card, simple right? Well not so much. In the afternoon the cafeteria was open for people to buy cards. 1-when you get your card, you have to go to the OTHER campus to pay (not ideal for students who have class all day) 2-the prices aren't that cheap. We heard many comments of how the students weren't going to bother and would rather go off campus to eat. The faculty seemed more interested and some bought cards that afternoon. The other problem was that the system was down and no one had thought to check to see if it worked and no one knew how to fix it..lets hope in the next coming weeks more people decide to buy the cards. The bar looks great and the food is great, but the logistics and practicality were not thought through at all and now someone is going to have to suffer those consequences, will it be the cafeteria, the university or the students themselves who won't enjoy the luxury of having this bar??
WEDNESDAY:
This was a big day because Fer and I had our health fair. It was flawless because we had been planning about a month in advance and everything was ready to go the day of. There was a fluke with tents but somehow things came through and the University gave us theirs for the morning. We lost power for a bit on one side of the tents but besides that it was great! Gorgeous weather, super sunny, I burnt my part (on my head), which is the worst...but I think everyone was impressed. Too bad our compañeros can't learn that planning actually pays off.
That afternoon they had a session for the staff, and faculty that completed 25 years at the University, those that were going to be retiring and then the top students of the classes. Chino was at the top of his class for the english department. This "session solemne" which is a formal way for saying diploma hand-out was to start at 5 pm. I was at the University all day so when I got done, I went down to the auditorium and found his mom and grandmother waiting by the door. Even though the session was to start at 5 they weren't going to open the doors till 5. At about 10 till 5 people started filling the entrance and as soon as the doors opened we were hurdled like cattle squishing and pushing to get through one doorway (later they realized that it would be a good idea to open both doors). The auditorium isn't that big and between the 25 yr people, the retirees and the students that left about maybe 50 seats for family etc. People rushed to get seats, luckily we got seats for all 6 family members that came to the session. On top of this the faculty and students had to find their seats with their picture. For what, I have no idea because they were not called up in order or seating. As they went up they entered one side of the stage and had to find their diploma that had been handed to one of the deans. Then they shook hands with the rest of the deans and the president and exited off the SAME side of the entrance. This led to lots of congestion and took probably twice as long as it would've if they had their diplomas handed to them in the beginning and exited off the other side of the stage. Afterwards there was a great presentation of a guitarist that had been playing for 75 years!!!
FRIDAY:
My week ended with a meeting with all of DIBESAU. Now Wed was one Sesion Solemne and Thursday was the other Sesion Solemne that is bigger with like 600 guests (mainly staff) and then a fiesta afterwards. The next day (usually a friday) the University is closed because everyone is hungover (or as they call it dia del servidor). We of course had not met yet to talk about the presentations that start on Monday (Monday we start the talks on sex health, mouth hygiene, and prevention of breast and cervical cancer). So as Sonia loves to do, we were going to have this meeting LAST MINUTE. Everyone from the office had to come into work. We were supposed to start the meeting at 9. Everyone was at the office by 9:10 and Sonia came rolling in at 9:40. Personally I find this very disrespectful. If you call a meeting at a certain time, everyone is expected to be there. I don't care if you are the freakin pope, be there on time! But it's Ecuador, and because she is the director she can pretty much do whatever she wants and no one says anything. So we were in our meeting from 9:45 till about noon. At the end we find out that the oficios that we had done to get sent out had not been sent out and now were short 5 projectors for the presentations on Monday. No one was working today so there was no way to really do anything..ayyy. We have three in our office, Fer is going to ask a friend for one, and then we will have to get our butts in gear to find three more for the afternoon. Sometimes I find myself wondering if maybe they like the stress...why do something so last minute and have to scramble to get it done in time.. who knows. But Im sure everything will work out on monday.
All in all it was a week full of Ecuaness. Yup it's now a word, I'm hoping to patent it before leaving. All of this happened at a University, which is supposedly class A, whatever that means. Where people are supposed to work at a professional level, but at times this gets left behind, or really just doesn't exist. For me it's great after almost 2 years, to see the light realize that these are cultural things that aren't going to change any time soon. For some reason they work here, and although I may not agree with them I have learned to accept them and not try to adapt too many things that will get me into trouble at home!!!
In other news Peace Corps called and wants the University and possibly the school to be site for a tech trip! That means that the new health group will come and practice charlas that they have worked on in training with the students! Exciting. On thursday I go to the training center for a meeting and to help the spanish professors prepare for a test.
Alright have a good weekend all!
Monday, April 8, 2013
April, and the months begin to fly by
So much to write but I will try to write the most important stuff.
Annie came and it was amazing! Such a great time to be with friends from the states. The new airport is a pain in the ass but it all worked out and I hope she liked the little bit of ecuador that she saw!
Working with the girls on creating some other small projects before the school year ends. It is going to be hard to leave them in June when school ends. We so hope that Bianca, the ecuadorian that is working with us, can keep working with the girls. Sadly there will be no volunteers in Ambato next year, from none of the programs. The closest one will be in Chibuleo, and sounds like they will have a lot of work to do, so can't count on a volunteer to take the reins. We believe in Bianca and she has shared with us that she will continue, but is worried about getting the respect that we receive as foreigners in the school. We are going to have a meeting with the director to lay everything out on the table and I think they will be supportive.
Im finishing up at the University. Planning ANOTHER health fair (I know, I know I agreed to never do another one, how do they convince me to do these things?!?!?!) for next week and then finishing up with doing sex-ed charlas at the University. I think it will be a nice transition out of the University. As of right now we don't have carpas or the coliseo to use, so hoping we can get Fer's Universty to help us. It's amazing how stuff falls apart right at almost the last minute, BUT at the last second everything works out ;). The most important thing that I've learned here is to be patient and that things seem to work out. After several visitors I now realize how up-tight and stressed americans can be about little things that here people don't worry about. I still have my moments, where I freak out, but in general I feel that I've adapted to being more relaxed, not sure how that's going to work out for me when I return :/
Having so many different wave's of emotions about finishing my 27 months here in Ecuador. It has gone by so incredibly fast and at times I can't imagine leaving this place. Sometimes I get excited and sometimes I am so sad. Im sure August will be the worst emotional rollar-coaster.
Have had some future PCV's contact me about questions after reading my blog, yayyyy people read my blog. Love answering questions and am so jealous of those who will be coming in May. This has been the most amazing life changing experience!!
Getting ready for Nat in June!!!!
On another note I had an American friend here in Ambato in one of the public hospitals. She ended up going to the hospital that I told her NOT to go to. I went to visit and for the first time encountered free third-world health care. All tests and stay were free but every medicine, etc. she had to pay for. No toilet paper, no cups to take pills, horrible sanitation, def eye opening. Ecuador has free health care, although it may not be up to par with private hospitals it's something right? After two days of really not knowing anything she went to a private hospital in Quito where the care was much better. Thank god for Peace Corps and "Peace Corps Insurance"!!
Annie came and it was amazing! Such a great time to be with friends from the states. The new airport is a pain in the ass but it all worked out and I hope she liked the little bit of ecuador that she saw!
Working with the girls on creating some other small projects before the school year ends. It is going to be hard to leave them in June when school ends. We so hope that Bianca, the ecuadorian that is working with us, can keep working with the girls. Sadly there will be no volunteers in Ambato next year, from none of the programs. The closest one will be in Chibuleo, and sounds like they will have a lot of work to do, so can't count on a volunteer to take the reins. We believe in Bianca and she has shared with us that she will continue, but is worried about getting the respect that we receive as foreigners in the school. We are going to have a meeting with the director to lay everything out on the table and I think they will be supportive.
Im finishing up at the University. Planning ANOTHER health fair (I know, I know I agreed to never do another one, how do they convince me to do these things?!?!?!) for next week and then finishing up with doing sex-ed charlas at the University. I think it will be a nice transition out of the University. As of right now we don't have carpas or the coliseo to use, so hoping we can get Fer's Universty to help us. It's amazing how stuff falls apart right at almost the last minute, BUT at the last second everything works out ;). The most important thing that I've learned here is to be patient and that things seem to work out. After several visitors I now realize how up-tight and stressed americans can be about little things that here people don't worry about. I still have my moments, where I freak out, but in general I feel that I've adapted to being more relaxed, not sure how that's going to work out for me when I return :/
Having so many different wave's of emotions about finishing my 27 months here in Ecuador. It has gone by so incredibly fast and at times I can't imagine leaving this place. Sometimes I get excited and sometimes I am so sad. Im sure August will be the worst emotional rollar-coaster.
Have had some future PCV's contact me about questions after reading my blog, yayyyy people read my blog. Love answering questions and am so jealous of those who will be coming in May. This has been the most amazing life changing experience!!
Getting ready for Nat in June!!!!
On another note I had an American friend here in Ambato in one of the public hospitals. She ended up going to the hospital that I told her NOT to go to. I went to visit and for the first time encountered free third-world health care. All tests and stay were free but every medicine, etc. she had to pay for. No toilet paper, no cups to take pills, horrible sanitation, def eye opening. Ecuador has free health care, although it may not be up to par with private hospitals it's something right? After two days of really not knowing anything she went to a private hospital in Quito where the care was much better. Thank god for Peace Corps and "Peace Corps Insurance"!!
Monday, March 18, 2013
ahh the joys of washing laundry, BY HAND!!!
So Annie will be arriving in two days, wow TWO DAYS!!! Like always I left my laundry for the last minute and had this ginormous pile in my bedroom. Instead of sending it all to the laundry lady I decided to sort out things that I could wash by hand and that would dry fast enough for wednesday morning.
I ended up washing 12 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 5 sports bras and 7 pairs of socks. Now I know in comparison to my fellow PCV friends who live in the boonies this is nothing because some have to do ALL of their laundry by hand (I def respect you for it), but I was quite happy with myself having washed so much in about an hour and a half. I found out that someone who washes peoples laundry by hand (la lavandera) gets a dollar for each 15 pieces that they wash. ONE DOLLAR PER 15 PIECES. I was half dead after doing just that little bit, and imagine I would´ve only earned about $2.00!!!
I hung everything except the jeans inside because the dog lives outside and I don´t like having dog hair or smell to my freshly HAND WASHED clothes...After hanging everything up there was just no room for the jeans so they were sent outside on the line. I tried to wring out as much water as I could but since my bathroom is like 95% tile I didn´t mind having everything drip-dry. I then went to drop off my laundry and do some errands and when I got back home I realized that all of these clothes were not going to dry in this tiny bathroom and that I needed to hang stuff out around the whole apartment. The only problem was that everything was STILL dripping. (clearly I never do laundry by hand and therefore don´t have proper wringing strategies....)
So I did what anyone would do who doesn´t have a clothes dryer...I got out the hair dryer. I remember my dad used to use the hair dryer to get damp clothes to dry quicker, and would even warm up my clothes on those frigid winter mornings by running the hair dryer over them. It´s like a hand held clothes dryer (that uses a lot of energy and heats up really quick :-/ ..) And as I stood there drying the ends of my shirts so that they wouldn't drip as much I thought about what had happened yesterday evening.
Mayra (Chino´s sister) had an internship with her mom these past couple months and would be returning to regular classes on monday. Her mom had put ALL of her school socks (yes there are specific ones that she has to wear to class) to wash and they wouldn´t be dry by the next morning. They realized this at about 6 pm and decided that the next best plan would be to go out and look for a pair to buy, after all socks only cost about .80 cents/pair. Seeing as it was 6 pm on a Sunday everything was closing or didn´t sell the socks that she needed. So when we went to the Aunts house I mentioned how she should just use a hair dryer. She only needed one pair of socks, and with a hair dryer it would take 10 minutes max to get them dry. She acknowledged my advice but didn´t seem convinced, lol. Instead she ended up asking Mayra´s aunt if any of the cousins had white socks that Mayra could use for class the next morning. Sure enough they found a pair and the problem was solved.
It´s interesting how something so simple ends up being different among cultures and who knows maybe it´s not necessarily a culture thing but more a question of personal choice. At home, we would´ve just thrown the socks in the clothes dryer. Here I would have just gotten the hair dryer. Instead they turned to family members to share a pair of socks. :) :)
I ended up washing 12 shirts, 2 pairs of jeans, 5 sports bras and 7 pairs of socks. Now I know in comparison to my fellow PCV friends who live in the boonies this is nothing because some have to do ALL of their laundry by hand (I def respect you for it), but I was quite happy with myself having washed so much in about an hour and a half. I found out that someone who washes peoples laundry by hand (la lavandera) gets a dollar for each 15 pieces that they wash. ONE DOLLAR PER 15 PIECES. I was half dead after doing just that little bit, and imagine I would´ve only earned about $2.00!!!
I hung everything except the jeans inside because the dog lives outside and I don´t like having dog hair or smell to my freshly HAND WASHED clothes...After hanging everything up there was just no room for the jeans so they were sent outside on the line. I tried to wring out as much water as I could but since my bathroom is like 95% tile I didn´t mind having everything drip-dry. I then went to drop off my laundry and do some errands and when I got back home I realized that all of these clothes were not going to dry in this tiny bathroom and that I needed to hang stuff out around the whole apartment. The only problem was that everything was STILL dripping. (clearly I never do laundry by hand and therefore don´t have proper wringing strategies....)
So I did what anyone would do who doesn´t have a clothes dryer...I got out the hair dryer. I remember my dad used to use the hair dryer to get damp clothes to dry quicker, and would even warm up my clothes on those frigid winter mornings by running the hair dryer over them. It´s like a hand held clothes dryer (that uses a lot of energy and heats up really quick :-/ ..) And as I stood there drying the ends of my shirts so that they wouldn't drip as much I thought about what had happened yesterday evening.
Mayra (Chino´s sister) had an internship with her mom these past couple months and would be returning to regular classes on monday. Her mom had put ALL of her school socks (yes there are specific ones that she has to wear to class) to wash and they wouldn´t be dry by the next morning. They realized this at about 6 pm and decided that the next best plan would be to go out and look for a pair to buy, after all socks only cost about .80 cents/pair. Seeing as it was 6 pm on a Sunday everything was closing or didn´t sell the socks that she needed. So when we went to the Aunts house I mentioned how she should just use a hair dryer. She only needed one pair of socks, and with a hair dryer it would take 10 minutes max to get them dry. She acknowledged my advice but didn´t seem convinced, lol. Instead she ended up asking Mayra´s aunt if any of the cousins had white socks that Mayra could use for class the next morning. Sure enough they found a pair and the problem was solved.
It´s interesting how something so simple ends up being different among cultures and who knows maybe it´s not necessarily a culture thing but more a question of personal choice. At home, we would´ve just thrown the socks in the clothes dryer. Here I would have just gotten the hair dryer. Instead they turned to family members to share a pair of socks. :) :)
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
a new etapa
So after two months I figured it was time to dust off the blog and write a new entry! I believe that I have reached a new "etapa" (stage) in my PC life. I believe that my PC is not just an experience anymore, obviously it's my life and most importantly another home. This is all very hard to explain, but I think that as I hit my 5 month marker (as in 5 months left till end of service) I realize that the idea of going "home" kind of scares me. Where is home? I struggled with this question as my parents divorced and I began to live in two different places with each parent. I have now come to accept that home is where you have loved ones around you, where you are supported and are able to grow. I feel so lucky to have created another/different type of home here in Ecuador and will be very very sad to leave it. That said I have only 5 MONTHS!!! The emotions running through me are all over the place.
"Work": I have stepped back some from the University and decided to dedicate more time to job hunting and the school where we have the girls group. Sharon and I are going to start a focus group and try to get a better idea of who the students are and what they have/dont get from their school. Our idea is to start a mentor program, and perhaps english club. Sadly we only have about 3 months and we hope that a new volunteer will be coming into the area so that they can keep working on what we started but I believe those chances are low.
At the University I am on a final project that is a continuation of the World Aids Day event we did back in December. After three months (which I guess for Ecua time would be right on time) we are doing our follow up with sex-ed trainings in the classrooms. Fernanda and I are in charge of coordinating and organizing the schedule for not only the sex ed trainings, but also, dental hygiene and prevention for breast and cervical cancer for the doctors to give to the whole University (18.000 students). We are about half way done and I will be so relieved when the schedules are approved. We are supposed to start going into the classrooms by the end of April, lets hope everything goes as planned.
For our girls group we are starting to work on our final presentation which will be the "Little Red Hen" (in english) and then some contra dancing along with some songs in english. Our hope is that the girls can memorize the script (it's really REALLY repetitive) but we'll see. We have a great group this semester. About 8 of the girls from last semester and 10 new girls are part of the group. I am having a blast working with them and doing the planning for each week.
Dad and Tracy came to visit in February. It was a great time. This was their first trip outside of the States and I think they enjoyed themselves. I had a great time showing them around. We were in Quito, the jungle, Cuenca and Ambato!
Alright I think that's good enough for a short update. I'll be writing more frequently. After all, these are the final months to write about this amazing life changing experience ;)
"Work": I have stepped back some from the University and decided to dedicate more time to job hunting and the school where we have the girls group. Sharon and I are going to start a focus group and try to get a better idea of who the students are and what they have/dont get from their school. Our idea is to start a mentor program, and perhaps english club. Sadly we only have about 3 months and we hope that a new volunteer will be coming into the area so that they can keep working on what we started but I believe those chances are low.
At the University I am on a final project that is a continuation of the World Aids Day event we did back in December. After three months (which I guess for Ecua time would be right on time) we are doing our follow up with sex-ed trainings in the classrooms. Fernanda and I are in charge of coordinating and organizing the schedule for not only the sex ed trainings, but also, dental hygiene and prevention for breast and cervical cancer for the doctors to give to the whole University (18.000 students). We are about half way done and I will be so relieved when the schedules are approved. We are supposed to start going into the classrooms by the end of April, lets hope everything goes as planned.
For our girls group we are starting to work on our final presentation which will be the "Little Red Hen" (in english) and then some contra dancing along with some songs in english. Our hope is that the girls can memorize the script (it's really REALLY repetitive) but we'll see. We have a great group this semester. About 8 of the girls from last semester and 10 new girls are part of the group. I am having a blast working with them and doing the planning for each week.
Dad and Tracy came to visit in February. It was a great time. This was their first trip outside of the States and I think they enjoyed themselves. I had a great time showing them around. We were in Quito, the jungle, Cuenca and Ambato!
Alright I think that's good enough for a short update. I'll be writing more frequently. After all, these are the final months to write about this amazing life changing experience ;)
Friday, January 4, 2013
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
My parents left Quito at midnight on Saturday. So I went with them to the airport, we said our goodbyes and then I stayed over at the Hotel. Sunday there was only, Alan (the guy from Inglaterra) and I left. His flight left Sunday in the evening. So we had breakfast together and chatted about the trip. I went back up to the room, packed and headed back to Ambato.
It was surreal being back "on land". I was somewhat ready to be back in Ambato. Not looking forward to spending New Years without the boyfriend, but he was off in the states having a great time. On New years eve I hung out with Hannah the whole day. We did a late breakfast and then walked literally all around Ambato. Then later that day I went back to my house to grab some stuff.
Let me go back in time just a bit to mention that when I arrived on Sunday the front gate was locked with a key. The landlords had put the lock on but had not given out keys. Well turns out, while I was gone they turned in keys..!!!!! Lucky up until when I was with Hannah I was able to get in through the garage gates.
So when Hannah and I went to my house everything was closed up. I tried jumping the gate but it proved to be a bit tricky, so I decided to just go back to Hannah´s and figure out what exactly to do!! We went back to her house and tried calling the house, but no one answered. I needed to get back to my house and change, shower to get ready for the midnight dinner with Chino´s family!!!
I went to my house around 6 hoping that someone had left a door open...no luck. So I climbed up the gate and some how was able to get over! I got into my house and about 20 minutes later the daughter came home, so I ran outside to ask for the key! All was well once I had a way to get in and out of my apartment, lol
I talked to dad on Skype and said happy new year, and then got ready to go over to Chino´s. Here in Ecuador, like I think I mentioned last year, they have many traditions for the New Year. The one is making paper mache figures and burning them at midnight, in hopes to get rid of everything that happened the previous year and start out fresh for the new year. They also do this thing where guys dress up as girls and ask for money in the street. It´s not as sketchy as it sounds lol. What they do is literally dress as women and dance in front of the cars, approach people (mainly other males) and usually get about 5 cents in return. Therefore you really can´t get anywhere in a car on New Years Eve because there are Viudas EVERYWHERE!!!
Here in Ambato they do a competition for the best Viuda presentation and the best Viejo presentation. So in the main road "Cevallos", different people bring there life size Viejos, and the Viudas do different dances, etc. We went down to look at it all around 10:30. The street was soooo packed, I couldn´t believe how busy the street was!!
We walked back up to the house and slowly by slowly family members started to arrive. We ate our 12 grapes right before midnight (with 12 wishes) and then at midnight said Happy New Year. Here there is no counting down, so it´s pretty much like everyone is asking "is it midnight, is it midnight??" and then when everyone agress it´s close to midnight you hear fire works going off and there are fires EVERYWHERE from the people burning their viejos! People run around the block with suitcases hoping for a year of travel, and other have on different colors of underware for different "good luck charms".
After ringing in the new year everyone sits down and has a dinner with the family. Chino´s aunt read the "Testamento del Viejo", which is where she acts as an old person that is reading off her will, but in a sarcastic way, making fun of different family members, it was HILARIOUS!!!
About an hour later begins the parties. All the old people go to sleep and the young people go out to party. It was so weird not being with Chino but it was good to have friends to be with. At the end (around 3:30 AM) we FINALLY ended up at a party and stayed till about 4:30. I then went to Hannah´s to sleep and woke up about 8:30 to go home and sleep in my bed. After a full night of NO ALCOHOL I woke up with a horrible "Chuchaqui Seco" which means dry hangover, like a hangover with out drinking, lol. So I pretty much spent all of Tuesday sleeping lol.
Wednesday Chino came back! And Thursday real life started again. Now it´s finally friday!!! Another week, of the new year! Who knows what this new year will bring but I am very optimistic :) :)
Christmas in the Galapagos
Welcome 2013! I feel as though it is going to be a great year, with many ups and downs, as I will be finishing my Peace Corps Service and hopefully starting another great adventure!
I left the office on the 20th to go to Quito and receive my parents that night on midnight. It´s amazing how many times I´ve been at this airport, but once again I was there waiting, watching as their flight once again was delayed....ugh...Luckily it was not as delayed as the other time and arrived about an hour and half later.
We went back to the hotel and had all of Friday to be in Quito. Friday night was the de-briefing with our tour group. Were were a group of 16; another family of four from Oregon (daughter 10 and son 14), a family of three (son, 20) from Chicago, a couple from California, a couple from Finland, and a guy from England. It was a really good group and we had a lot of fun.
I´ll give you a little overview of what we did at each of the islands.
SATURDAY:
We arrived to Santa Cruz island and walked to the hotel. Saw sea lions basking in the sun, in the afternoon we rode up to the highlands and then biked down to a loberia, where new sea lion pups had just been born, they are adorable animals and so fun to watch in the water. We biked back into town and had dinner.
SUNDAY:
We went for our first snorkeling adventure. The water is absolutely beautiful and the life under the water is even more. Mom had her first encounter with a snorkel, and lets just say it didn´t go well, she tried though, bless her heart :) The snorkeling was great, we swam with sea lions, saw many different colors of fish and even a turtle! The second snorkeling was by this rock formation called Kicker Rock. There we swam with sharks...well not exactly with them, but they were not too far below, and also saw sting rays!
We had lunch on the boat and set for a beach to have some free time.
MONDAY:
We took a somewhat rocky TWO HOUR boat ride to Floreana, one of the least inhabited (by people) islands. We had a really nice hike in the highlands and learned a little bit about the history of the first people that arrived. The beach that our hotel was on had black sand, very pretty!
TUESDAY:
We headed yet again to another Island called Isabela. Our tour guide was from here and had much to be proud of. This was probably my favorite island. A small beach community, not as developed as Santa Cruz or San Cristobal, but has more people than Floreana. We started off with a walk through different mangroves and volcano landscapes. We ended up at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center and saw these huge turtles and then the itty bitty ones that had just been born. In the afternoon we had free to walk the beautiful beaches. Fine, white sand and crystal clear turqoise water.
WEDNESDAY:
This day we did some snorkeling and saw the galapagos penguin! Such a cute little animal. Mom did her best at yet another effort of snorkeling but alas decided to stay inland. After this we went to see the sharks and walk around on some volcananic landscape. They had told us that we were not going to have bathrooms until the afternoon, and even though we were all concious of this we still had to pee by mid morning. So they said the only bathroom we would have is the water. About four of us lowered ourselves into the water from the small dock. Poor Ruth on her way up cut her knee. It bled profusely, thank god the guide had a first aid kit. We went to see tortoises mating and sharks trying to rest, while little fish moved them out of their area!
On the way back into town we took about an hour to do some kayaking, which was really fun!
THURSDAY:
Mom´s Birthday, and the big hike day. We hiked around Sierra Negra Volcano, that last errupted in 2005. Sadly it was very foggy and kinda rainy so we could not see the crater. We then arrived to miles and miles of lava fields and at the top a breathtaking view of the island and ocean! By the time we got back everyone was drenched and muddy. We all cleaned up and had a lovely Birthday Dinner for Mom and did some dancing, I think she was content :)
FRIDAY:
We traveled to the last Island, Santa Cruz. This is the most populated Island and the most developed. It´s a very nice Island but very touristy and Im glad we only stayed for one day. Right when we arrived we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and went straight to the Charles Darwin Station, saw where lonely George lived. We also saw different land lizards that were very colorful in yellow and orange. In the afternoon we walked to Tortuga Bay. When you first arrive you find a beach with super white sand, crashing waves and lots of people, then you have to walk practically the whole beach and arrive to this little hidden place where the water is calm, almost like a pool. It wasn´t that deep, which made it warmer! So pleasant. Mom and I went to the Beach and Howard and Ruth stayed back...
Ahh yes to continue the story about Ruth´s leg. A couple days before Ruth had hit her leg while peeing in the ocean, well turns out that the anti-bacterial liquid that the guide drenched her led with had completely taken off the sunscreen, soooo she happened to get an awful awful burn on her leg, that turned into a swollen leg and foot and various blisters on her leg!!! So she stayed back to keep her foot up and hope that the swelling would go down.
Once mom and I got back from the walk to Tortuga Bay we took a strole through town and looked in the different shops to see what to buy. I didn´t get anything but they bought different things for people back home.
That night we had our final dinner together as a group on Galapagos and Saturday headed back to Quito. The flight had been moved up so we were not able to get to the higlands of Santa Cruz. The drive was enough, about an hour ride from the port to where we needed to take a ferry to the airport. We drove through everything, forest, dessert, rain, and sun. The ferry ride was about 10 minutes and in no time we arrived to the airport. This little thing in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived the airport there weren´t really any people, but by the time we were closer to our flight time, it was PACKED. We got on the plane and said goodbye to the lovely Galapagos!!!
Saturday we arrived back at the hotel and had a couple hours to kill so I showed Mom, Howard, and Ruth a nice little store that has different gifts from fair trade places around Ecuador. We had a dinner in Quito together, the majority were there, others decided to go into the oldtown.
All in all I would totally recommend for other to visit the Galapagos. It can be pricy but is sooooo worth the experience. So many different things to see and do!
Alright I´ll continue the rest of my vacation on another post.
I left the office on the 20th to go to Quito and receive my parents that night on midnight. It´s amazing how many times I´ve been at this airport, but once again I was there waiting, watching as their flight once again was delayed....ugh...Luckily it was not as delayed as the other time and arrived about an hour and half later.
We went back to the hotel and had all of Friday to be in Quito. Friday night was the de-briefing with our tour group. Were were a group of 16; another family of four from Oregon (daughter 10 and son 14), a family of three (son, 20) from Chicago, a couple from California, a couple from Finland, and a guy from England. It was a really good group and we had a lot of fun.
I´ll give you a little overview of what we did at each of the islands.
SATURDAY:
We arrived to Santa Cruz island and walked to the hotel. Saw sea lions basking in the sun, in the afternoon we rode up to the highlands and then biked down to a loberia, where new sea lion pups had just been born, they are adorable animals and so fun to watch in the water. We biked back into town and had dinner.
SUNDAY:
We went for our first snorkeling adventure. The water is absolutely beautiful and the life under the water is even more. Mom had her first encounter with a snorkel, and lets just say it didn´t go well, she tried though, bless her heart :) The snorkeling was great, we swam with sea lions, saw many different colors of fish and even a turtle! The second snorkeling was by this rock formation called Kicker Rock. There we swam with sharks...well not exactly with them, but they were not too far below, and also saw sting rays!
We had lunch on the boat and set for a beach to have some free time.
MONDAY:
We took a somewhat rocky TWO HOUR boat ride to Floreana, one of the least inhabited (by people) islands. We had a really nice hike in the highlands and learned a little bit about the history of the first people that arrived. The beach that our hotel was on had black sand, very pretty!
TUESDAY:
We headed yet again to another Island called Isabela. Our tour guide was from here and had much to be proud of. This was probably my favorite island. A small beach community, not as developed as Santa Cruz or San Cristobal, but has more people than Floreana. We started off with a walk through different mangroves and volcano landscapes. We ended up at the Giant Tortoise Breeding Center and saw these huge turtles and then the itty bitty ones that had just been born. In the afternoon we had free to walk the beautiful beaches. Fine, white sand and crystal clear turqoise water.
WEDNESDAY:
This day we did some snorkeling and saw the galapagos penguin! Such a cute little animal. Mom did her best at yet another effort of snorkeling but alas decided to stay inland. After this we went to see the sharks and walk around on some volcananic landscape. They had told us that we were not going to have bathrooms until the afternoon, and even though we were all concious of this we still had to pee by mid morning. So they said the only bathroom we would have is the water. About four of us lowered ourselves into the water from the small dock. Poor Ruth on her way up cut her knee. It bled profusely, thank god the guide had a first aid kit. We went to see tortoises mating and sharks trying to rest, while little fish moved them out of their area!
On the way back into town we took about an hour to do some kayaking, which was really fun!
THURSDAY:
Mom´s Birthday, and the big hike day. We hiked around Sierra Negra Volcano, that last errupted in 2005. Sadly it was very foggy and kinda rainy so we could not see the crater. We then arrived to miles and miles of lava fields and at the top a breathtaking view of the island and ocean! By the time we got back everyone was drenched and muddy. We all cleaned up and had a lovely Birthday Dinner for Mom and did some dancing, I think she was content :)
FRIDAY:
We traveled to the last Island, Santa Cruz. This is the most populated Island and the most developed. It´s a very nice Island but very touristy and Im glad we only stayed for one day. Right when we arrived we dropped off our stuff at the hotel and went straight to the Charles Darwin Station, saw where lonely George lived. We also saw different land lizards that were very colorful in yellow and orange. In the afternoon we walked to Tortuga Bay. When you first arrive you find a beach with super white sand, crashing waves and lots of people, then you have to walk practically the whole beach and arrive to this little hidden place where the water is calm, almost like a pool. It wasn´t that deep, which made it warmer! So pleasant. Mom and I went to the Beach and Howard and Ruth stayed back...
Ahh yes to continue the story about Ruth´s leg. A couple days before Ruth had hit her leg while peeing in the ocean, well turns out that the anti-bacterial liquid that the guide drenched her led with had completely taken off the sunscreen, soooo she happened to get an awful awful burn on her leg, that turned into a swollen leg and foot and various blisters on her leg!!! So she stayed back to keep her foot up and hope that the swelling would go down.
Once mom and I got back from the walk to Tortuga Bay we took a strole through town and looked in the different shops to see what to buy. I didn´t get anything but they bought different things for people back home.
That night we had our final dinner together as a group on Galapagos and Saturday headed back to Quito. The flight had been moved up so we were not able to get to the higlands of Santa Cruz. The drive was enough, about an hour ride from the port to where we needed to take a ferry to the airport. We drove through everything, forest, dessert, rain, and sun. The ferry ride was about 10 minutes and in no time we arrived to the airport. This little thing in the middle of nowhere. When we arrived the airport there weren´t really any people, but by the time we were closer to our flight time, it was PACKED. We got on the plane and said goodbye to the lovely Galapagos!!!
Saturday we arrived back at the hotel and had a couple hours to kill so I showed Mom, Howard, and Ruth a nice little store that has different gifts from fair trade places around Ecuador. We had a dinner in Quito together, the majority were there, others decided to go into the oldtown.
All in all I would totally recommend for other to visit the Galapagos. It can be pricy but is sooooo worth the experience. So many different things to see and do!
Alright I´ll continue the rest of my vacation on another post.
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