the month of september...oops

Its been way too long, I know. As always I am shocked at how my daily life seems so tedious but yet the months just fly by. September has actually been a great month for and quite possibly my busiest, thus an excuse for me to not have shared an update with you all.

I was fairly busy for the first half of the month putting together my presentation for the “Reconnect” activity for Peace Corps where we made a small presentation on our communities and what future projects we are going to be working on for the next two years. Due to “safety reasons” peace corps decided to host 3 different reconnects for our group of volunteers based on regional areas, costal, mountain and jungle. So all of us that live in the ‘coastal region’ were lucky enough to have our Reconnect in one of the worst areas of Ecuador, often referred to as the armpit of Ecuador. The town we stayed in is always humid, dirty and is currently having a problem with a local gang that has been on a rampage of murdering someone every weekend. And yet we were sent to this lovely town for “safety reasons”. None the less, in the coastal group, there were 10 of us and we had a great time catching up and having our own parties in the hotel, where we felt safe.

September brought me two great visitors. The first was my program manager from Quito who came and checked up on my progress here in Cumanda. It was great to have him here and be able to share with him my future ideas with where and what I can do to help and to hear his feedback. He also really liked my new house and felt that it was a good choice.

The second visitor was a good friend from college and my first actual visitor from the states! I felt a little guilty when I made him bring me a bunch of goods from home that I’ve been missing (peanut butter, mom’s dried fruit etc…) but thankfully he didn’t mind. After the Reconnect event, I went to Quito to pick up Christian and we spent a few days in Quito, stopped over in Riobamba and then headed to Cumanda. We spent the week in Cumanda so that I could get some work done since I’d just been gone the week before and as we were leaving on Friday to go to Guayaquil, he admitted that he was ready for the next city and slightly bored of Cumanda. Hmm….i guess it’s a place you just grow to love. We spent the weekend in Guayaquil and were able to make a quick trip to the beach and then he flew home after the weekend. All in all, it was a great trip and so much fun to have a friend from home here. It felt so good to be able to share my everyday life with someone and for someone to experience it with his or her own eyes. But as I have come to learn having a visitor also has its downsides, for it was hard to adjust back to the normal life.

This past Sunday I was invited by a friend to go with his family and group of friends to do a biking tour of the waterfalls around Bucay. It was an awesome trip and was something I’d probably never do but it was free so I couldn’t turn it down. Afterwards he also invited me to lunch at this beautiful resort style ranch about 20 minutes outside of town. While at lunch, I was talking to one of the caretakers and he asked if I would assist him in starting an organic garden to supply food for the kitchen. He showed me a huge plot of land that they have available and it made me super excited for the opportunity to help him.

Also, Alice (the new volunteer in Bucay) and I have been working on a fun little presentation about soil and water quality to give to the elementary kids, which we’re starting next week. Slightly nervous for the presentations but am proud that we’re finally getting this project started. Its defiantly something I should’ve done a long time ago but only now am feeling confident enough in my abilities to be able to do it successfully.

I think that due to the Reconnect and great month of September, my mind was given a bit of a break or rest from the daily pressures of Cumanda because I now have new feelings of confidence, feeling ready to tackle some of these problems and actually do all these projects that I’ve said I would do. It feels good. I feel good.

This weekend is a friend’s birthday so we’re having a joint birthday party and house warming party here in Cumanda. I am excited to see everyone and have everyone here but there have been a lot of issues with teachers and striking so peace corps has limited our traveling. But I am being hopefully and am hoping that everyone will still be able to come. So if any of you don’t have any plans for the weekend, feel free to drop on by!

My apologies for keeping you all in suspense about what I have been up to. I promise things will go back to normal now. I don’t have any other big events planned. Just working, which I am excited about.

Oh yes, the other great thing my mom sent me was a mixture of seeds to plant in my garden. I made miniature seed boxes to keep in my house and I planted them a week ago. I have an herb garden in my kitchen and the basil has just started to poke out of the ground and in just a week my pea plants have grown about 6 inches. I think I’m going to have to transplant those soon. The glorious thing about living here is you can grow things year round. Its hard to keep track of the months because I feel like I’m eternally living in July where as its actually October. Hmm life on the equator has its benefits.

I hope all is well and that you are all having a beautiful fall!! Take care, love love.