So I´ve been in the process of looking for, and applying to jobs. I had about a two week span where I spent quite a bit of time on this. I applied to a total of 5 and of those 5 one asked me for an interview, two have passed on my resume to the hiring manager and the others I haven´t heard from.
I had an interview for a job in Washington D.C and it went fairly well. It was my first job interview in a long time. We´ll see what they have to say in about a week. I finally contacted Planned Parenthood because I applied on the 24th of may and according to their website the job is still available and my application materials are active on my profile page. I called the PPH office in madison where the job is being offered. The lady said it would be better to contact Milwaukee where they have their administrative headquarters. So I called Milwaukee, the lady that answered transferred me to an HR person. Well that lady didn´t answer. I did what I could and left my name, why I was calling and my e-mail. All of the people who answered the different phone calls were very nice and the lady that I left my e-mail with actually e-mailed me back! She said that the hiring manager was on vacation and that my resume had been forwarded to her....so who knows, I´ll have to try again next week to see whats up. In that whole time I spent about $3.00 in skype money, which isn´t bad. But it´s def harder to do this job stuff when you are thousands of miles away..I´ll keep at it, but I´m not super hopeful that anything will result in a job offer. The good thing is I´ve had an interview and I hope at least one of the places that passed on my resume will contact me for another. I need the practice!
Time is coming to an end. I have my money to buy my plane ticket but just can´t decide when to leave. It´s become so real now that I have to get my ticket...scary and exciting at the same time! I also may be going to Argentina. Well not maybe, it´s pretty much for sure, I just need to coordinate with Hannah (my friend that I will be visiting there) to fill out my vacation request form. The PC director already approved me traveling internationaly (bc technically it´s not allowed the last three months). So I figure I should go!! I will probably be going the end of July, beginning of August.
The volunteers who said that they would buy some of my stuff as I leave are now saying no because PC apparently has everything they need. Im hoping to maybe find other Americans that are working at the University for another program and see if they are interested. I also need to talk to my landlord family about how we will do the payments for August since I will not be there the whole month...
Other than that it´s really a matter of wrapping stuff up. I have one last project that I´m helping Fernanda with. We did the application of a survey for the Jurisprudencia Facultad on their knowledge of HIV-AIDS. The next step is to see the results and create different trainings-educational sessions on the things that the students did not score high on. After that do the same survey and see how much their knowledge has improved. Im waiting on Fer to send me the presentation so I can edit it.
Natalie comes on Sunday. It has been so hard to get a hold of her to talk and schedule, and even today when we talked she was in the midst of taking down her classroom. It will be good to have her undivided attention when she is here. I think she really needs some vacation, with the process of a new job and moving. She´s really got a lot on her plate and a nice vacation to Ecuador will do her well :)
Chino´s playing on the professional basketball team here from Ambato (Comunikt). He hasn´t been called to play at the majority of the games, but today ¨le convocaron¨ . So hopefully they will put him in for a couple minutes!
Sharon left on saturday. It was sad to see her go and haven´t heard from her since, oh well, such as life. It´s nice though to have Kim here for the summer.
I´ll sign off here! Peace Corps newbies come on monday to do cooking demo with some University students. Im excited to meet them and get to talk to them!
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 3, 2013
June post
It's June. Only two months before I am home. What's going through my head..hmm so many things. Im trying not to let them get the best of me because I want to enjoy what time I have left of Ecuador. I need a job. I need to figure out where my relationship is going with my boyfriend. I need to get rid of my stuff. I need to say my goodbyes.
Life at the University is dwindling down. Im there from time to time to check-in and say hi. Im going to help Fernanda with her thesis project which is apply a survey about what students know in regards to HIV/AIDS, do trainings and then apply another survey and see what they have learned. She chose to go to Quito this week for an international conference. Apparently the certificate that she receives is way more important than finishing her project on time. ohhh certificados...lol
The girls group is coming to an end. We have our final presentation next week. I think they will be ready. We made masks out of pizza boxes and skirts out of old sheets. Last week we painted the scenery. We've had some problems with the Director thinking we took his ladder (from wayyyy back when, when we painted the map). So what did we do in return, we wrote him an oficio. A nice long oficio explaining why it was no longer our responsibility and that we did everything the way we were supposed to. He hasn't mentioned anything yet, so lets hope it worked.
Natalie is coming at the end of June. Im hoping to get a solid conversation with her before she comes so we can plan a little. She is so busy with finishing school and moving and what not. Can't wait to see her in person though :)
Kim comes back this week to stay for the summer! So excited to see her and catch up.
Looking for jobs. Applied to a few places, hoping to get back an e-mail, at least for an interview. Not sure where I will end up, most likely madison, but who knows!
Alright, late now, well only 9:20 but for some reason I feel tired. I feel like I had a story to tell but now doesn't come to mind. If it does I'll write again soon!
Life at the University is dwindling down. Im there from time to time to check-in and say hi. Im going to help Fernanda with her thesis project which is apply a survey about what students know in regards to HIV/AIDS, do trainings and then apply another survey and see what they have learned. She chose to go to Quito this week for an international conference. Apparently the certificate that she receives is way more important than finishing her project on time. ohhh certificados...lol
The girls group is coming to an end. We have our final presentation next week. I think they will be ready. We made masks out of pizza boxes and skirts out of old sheets. Last week we painted the scenery. We've had some problems with the Director thinking we took his ladder (from wayyyy back when, when we painted the map). So what did we do in return, we wrote him an oficio. A nice long oficio explaining why it was no longer our responsibility and that we did everything the way we were supposed to. He hasn't mentioned anything yet, so lets hope it worked.
Natalie is coming at the end of June. Im hoping to get a solid conversation with her before she comes so we can plan a little. She is so busy with finishing school and moving and what not. Can't wait to see her in person though :)
Kim comes back this week to stay for the summer! So excited to see her and catch up.
Looking for jobs. Applied to a few places, hoping to get back an e-mail, at least for an interview. Not sure where I will end up, most likely madison, but who knows!
Alright, late now, well only 9:20 but for some reason I feel tired. I feel like I had a story to tell but now doesn't come to mind. If it does I'll write again soon!
Friday, May 10, 2013
COS (close of service) and getting ready to go home??
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 :)
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, 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 ;)
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