Goodbye Cayambe!

well today is my last full day in Cayambe. tomorrow we leave for quito where we will spend the rest of the week. on wednesday we have our ´swear in´ceremony and on thursday after i have officially become a volunteer, i will travel to my new site!!! i´m nervous because i don´t know how i´m going to carry all of my stuff to my site by myself.

today we had a big party for all of the volunteers and our host families. it was alot of fun to meet and see peoples families. we got a huge roasted pig for everyone and it was awesome. but i had a lot of fun because i spent a lot of time talking with my cousin (in spanish) and i was actually able to hold a conversation with him. so it was huge for me to be able to see the improvement!

anyways this is a short one but i this week has been crazy trying to get ready for the party today and i still haven´t packed. eck. packing is so over-rated. i´ll probably wait until later to do it anyways. maybe tomorrow morning. but yes thats it from here...tomorrow is the national elections in sunday so stay tuned for the results! take care...

tech trip

Well, what a week! Ha it really wasn’t that exciting but it was really nice to have a change of scenery and activities. Although now I only have one week left here with my family and in Cayambe and I am getting really sad. I don’t want to have to say goodbye…

Anyways about this week, we left Cayambe early Sunday morning and arrived to our resort/hotel in Puertoquito in the early afternoon and had the day free. The resort was nice and had a pool, river, vball court and was basically like summer camp all over again. All of the girls slept in a cabin together with like 40 bunk beds. We stayed in Puerto Quito until Wed morning and had training/visited a local organic farm in the mornings and mostly free afternoons which we filled with more exciting things like playing in the pool, soccer, vball, basketball and dancing. You would not believe how much people dance here. It’s like a pastime. Instead of playing cards or reading a book, they dance. But anyways it was a lot of fun being with everyone and being able to hang out and relax. We had a talent show on Tuesday evening; we have quite a few talented singers and guitarists so it was really entertaining. One of the better talents was when one of the guys got up and snapped his fingers.

Wednesday morning we all split up into different groups and headed our separate ways. My group went to the armpit of Ecuador where two of the girls have their sites. It was hot, muggy, full of insects and no breeze. I took two showers everyday, it was so intense. On Thursday we visited an agricultural university where they showed us around and told us how to raise animals, make feed and what not. Friday we went to a government funded agricultural/crop research center. The facility itself was almost 2000 hectares so probably around 4500 acres, it was huge and they had everything. But we focused mainly on coffee beans and cacao. On Saturday we went to another farm (really tired of farms by this point) and it was a farm where a volunteer had been before and so we admired his previous projects that were a success, such as animal pens, hatching chickens/quail and how to make and package yogurt! After the farm, we jumped on a bus that took us to Santo Domingo de los Colorados where we were supposed to spend Saturday and Sunday night but we there was a change in plans due to an outbreak of Dengue in the area that we were supposed to visit. The outbreak happened in an indigenous region which is supposed to have a really unique culture and we were going to have a tour, lunch, and have a fun day in the community with the current volunteer there but we were banned from the region so our trip was cut a day short. But the highlight was that in Santo Domingo, there’s a huge mall so we got to spend Saturday evening at the mall (still dressed in the same dirty clothes from the farm and which I’d been wearing all week) and were treated to multiple fast food options. I had burger king, pizza and real scooped ice cream. And I’m shocked as to why I’ve gained weight… but after dinner, a group of us went and saw the movie shop-alcoholic. Not a great movie but I loved every second of it.

And then today we spent the entire day in a bus traveling back to cayambe, it was so nice to return to the Sierra to a temperature that is actually enjoyable and doesn’t make me angry. Ha my site is going to be difficult because it has about the same climate as what we were just in this past week.

Last Saturday, I had a chance to video chat with my mom (Debbie, actual mom) and at the end, she asked me if I’d had any problems with the food and diarrhea and what not. I said no and made some joke about how I eat everything and nothing has affected me. Well silly me, I forgot to knock on wood because I have no had diarrhea three times during this past week. I got really sick last Saturday night, sweating, fever chills and what not and had diarrhea all the next day. Then on Wednesday night we ate seafood and I guess I had some kinda of allergic reaction because that gave me a diarrhea and made my eyes swollen the next day. And now as I write this lovely re-cap of my week, I have had to take a bathroom break/sprint three times! Thanks DJ.

But that’s about it from me. Tomorrow my group has a free day because all the other groups are still traveling so I’m excited to just relax in Cayambe. Use the Internet, wash my clothes, and hang out with my mom. She was really sick while I was gone and told me she was really lonely without me. I can’t believe I have to leave in a week! Sunday is Election Day in Ecuador, which is a big thing, and I can’t wait for it to be over because the amount of propaganda here is ridiculous. This week I also have my final language test, which I have to reach intermediate middle and at the last test I was one under that level so I hope I’ve learned enough to move up a notch. But having a week off of classes has not helped any…so keep your fingers crossed for me!

Semana Santa

This week has been a weird week and a lot of my friends have been agreeing with me. I think that we've kinda reached the feeling of being close to the end and are just ready to be done with training. This week was also a little bit different because there was a lot more activity going on in the town. Easter Weekend is a big ordeal here. nothing is open thursday thru monday and families celebrate all weekend. We spent the first three days having technical classes which was draining and annoying and then on thursday we just had a half day of spanish class and the afternoon free. it was nice to have a break but i really didn't have much to do because my whole family left for another town for the weekend. my mom was raised in a town about 45 minutes away from cayambe and so their whole family was gathering there for the weekend. So thursday i was home, completely alone, for the first time and it was actually kinda weird and a little scary. but i watched a movie and received some calls from friends in the states which was awesome and i survived the loneliness.

on friday i took a bus to meet up with the rest of my family and spent the day celebrating with them. i had a lot of fun and it was really interesting to experience the difference in traditions. they make a soup called Fanesca, which contains every type of grain that is grown in the area, they only make it during semana santa and its a huge ordeal. they made it on both thursday and friday and eat it for lunch and dinner. i'm surprised they don't serve it for breakfast actually. but its absolutly delicious and about the heartiest thing you'll eat. its also served with mashed potatoes, a hard boiled egg and cheese. and then followed with a delicious drink of milk, rice and cinnamon. needless to say, i ate really well this weekend and could defiantly go 3 days without eating anything more. 

after lunch, there was a church service at 3 which started by proceeding through the town and different houses had a set up the stations of the cross outside of their homes. so we walked to each one and listened to the reading and prayed. after the stations, we went to the church were mass was held. it was a pretty normal service i think, it was all in spanish but from what i interpreted, it seemed normal. the only new thing was when everyone got up to kiss the knees of Christ on the cross. never done that before but it was interesting!  after the service, which lasted til nearly 7, we had dinner of fanesca again, soo good. afterwards, i rode back with some of my family because there weren't enough beds for everyone where we were. there were probably about 30, 35 people there for lunch and more.

on saturday, my family left before me and i took the bus again because a big group of us met up to play basketball! it was so much fun. we had about 14 people so played an actual 5 on 5 game. i feel like absolute crap right now and I'm pretty sure its a result of being so out of shape, from the sun and the attitude. but it was a lot of fun!! after basketball, i went and had lunch with my family, today they eat meat so we had chicken. i wish that i would be around tomorrow to see what they eat. i'm sure its a feast like no other. 

i ended up catching the bus back to cayambe ahead of my family because i need to back my bags for this upcoming week. Tomorrow we leave for a 9 day trip. the first 3 days all 45 of us spend together and then we split off into groups depending on what region we'll be moving to and what program we're in (Ag or natural resources). i'm excited for a change but hope that this crappy feeling of being sick that is starting to set in goes away by tomorrow. not likely, but i sure hope so.

anyways, i hope that everyone has a great Easter weekend! i wish i could be there to celebrate and see everyone but i guess i'll just have to wait :) love!

 
 
 
 

Site Visit to Cumanda!

Well I am happy to report that I survived my site visit and have decided with a full and excited heart to return back in a month! My visit went really well and I enjoyed every aspect of it…well almost every aspect besides the fact that it was way hotter than I had expected.

 

I arrived to my site around 5 pm on Sunday after 10.5 hours on the bus (I was told it would only take 7) and was met by my counter part, the person who I will be working with and for and who is most responsible for my well-being. His name is Joseph and I still have yet to figure out how to properly say Joseph with a Spanish accent. But nonetheless he is a very caring and passionate man and I am excited to be able to help out the cooperative that he is president of. After meeting my counter part and another associate of the coop (Robert), they dropped me off at my house. Once again I don’t have an ordinary 2 parents, 2 kids type of family but this is an ideal family. Melita, who owns the house, also has a store in the front of her house and she has everything you could ever imagine and the store is always busy. There is a couple that have a 6 year old daughter that rent out a room from Melita and then Melita has another women who comes and helps in the store/house everyday and she brings her two sons. Everyone is so busy that I don’t feel out of place and they really just absorbed me and even let me work in the store!! Its so nice to finally have kids to play with and to give me hugs!!

 

Monday I had breakfast with my two counterparts and then went with Robert to visit a few of the farms that were processing bananas and then also to see where the new coop factory is going to be built. We met up with Joseph and his family for lunch and I had fresh shrimp with rice! For the afternoon we went and visited another banana farm and the owner’s three daughters came with us. After the farm, they convinced Robert that I needed to come and play in the park with them. I was a little unsure of how it would be perceived that I am coming to help expand this company and here I am giggling and playing with three girls in the park. But whatever, perceptions don’t matter, I had fun. Monday night was awesome because there had been a huge rainstorm during the afternoon and I guess when you live in the tropical coast and it rains, all the creatures that belong outside like to come inside. I came home to shower and I had a lovely, larger than a cockroach type insect on the wall behind my toilet. I was not happy. After about 5 minutes of freaking out trying to decide what to do with it, I ended up showering with the curtain open so that I could keep an eye on him. My shower was a cold shower but I don’t think that there will ever be a moment in my next two years that I will want a warm shower at this site. But anyways after my shower, my cockroach friend was obedient and didn’t move, I reached for my towel to find that I had frightened a little salamander from his home and he went scurrying across the floor which set me into another panic attack. I threw on my clothes in about 30 seconds and jumped underneath my mosquito net where I remained for the rest of the night.

 

Tuesday we talked business with my counterparts and they gave me their business plan and their goals and aspirations that they have for me. It was really hard to understand and comprehend and I know that I missed at least 50% of the information due to lack of Spanish. This makes me really nervous because its understandable that I don’t know Spanish well but I feel like that once I move in May, it will be expected that I know everything and that is merely impossible. In the afternoon we went and visited a small town that is 30 minutes on a paved road and 45 min on a dirt road uphill. We were literally in a cloud. It was incredible. Oh yes and the highlights of my day were BBQ-ed Tilapia and Ceviche and popcorn for dinner. I forgot, the absolute BEST part of my family is that they are the quite possibly the only vegetarian family that lives in Ecuador. The first night, Melita told me that I would have to forgive her for not having any table knifes in the house because she doesn’t believe in eating meat or anything that requires a knife! It made me so happy!

 

Wednesday Robert took me to his farm and we worked helping process the fruit and we walked around his farm, showing me all the aspects of banana farming. I learned how to prune trees, how to tell how old they are and also how to plant them. It was an interesting day, I learned a lot. It took a lot longer than I wanted it to though because I had a lot of other research/questions for ‘people of the community’. I had a few hours in the afternoon to myself to talk with my family and to visit my future apartment/house. After the first three months, I will live on my own in a house that Melita owns. Its half tree house half miniature store. My area of the house is split into two rooms, front and back. The back is completely wooden, on stilts and looks over a garden two stories down. The room is very old, has a sink and thus will be my kitchen and the walls are warped enough that I can see into the other renters room. The second, front room faces the street and is completely cement and tiled and has two garage doors that open to the street.  My bathroom is also in this room and is maybe, just maybe, 4 feet by 4 feet and houses my sink, toilet and shower. But at least its inside and closed off so I shouldn’t have to worry about interesting creatures disturbing me anymore. After visiting my house, I met up with my counterparts again for a last question/answer session. Now that I am home, I realize that I have a lot more questions for my counterparts and really wished that I had thought of them earlier but its hard when everything is so new and shocking and in another language.

 

Thursday morning I hoped on a bus around 6 and thankfully one of my friends waited for me because he lives halfway in between my site and Cayambe so I got to share half of the 11 bus ride with him. the best and worst part about the buses here are that vendors get on with food, drinks and treats quite frequently so you never have to get off. However, along with the food vendors, you get pesky little kids who put candy in your lap and repeatedly say all the swear words in English that they know until you are about ready to scream. 

 

It felt good to return to Cayambe and it really did feel like coming home. I really missed my mom and our routines while I was gone so I was happy to be home and even though I can’t speak Spanish much better, she has repeatedly complimented me on how well I can speak now. I like to think that she means to say she missed me too.

 

Yesterday we had classes with the whole group in the other town and we had a great dance party for about the first 20 minutes and they had brought us Dunkin’ Donuts all the way from Quito.  Almost everyone’s site visits went really well and we each gave a quick presentation on our sites and projects so it was fun to listen and hear about everyone’s experience. Unfortunately, I think that one girl is going home because within the first day of arriving to her site, the mayor of the town told her that one, they didn’t need a volunteer and two, especially not a female. I am so thankful that my counterparts expressed as much need for me as they did.

 

Today is Saturday and we have Spanish class for half the day. I’m sad because my whole family just loaded up into the back of a pickup truck/taxi for a day trip and I can’t go cuz I have class. Lame. But this morning I did go on my first Ecuadorian run and I last 16 minutes before almost dying from my lungs, heart and throat burning. It feels awesome to be out of shape.

 

Anyways that’s about it for me. I think I’m going to venture out and experience my first Ecuadorian mass tomorrow for Palm Sunday. I’m sad because we’ll be traveling on Easter Sunday and that is by far my favorite church service ever. I guess I’ll get over it. I hope all is well with everyone and I hope I didn’t bore you with my stories. Invitations are open for guests starting in August; you can sleep in the hammock that I’ll have in my tree house/kitchen but you are responsible for bringing your own mosquito net. Ciao!