Ever since overcoming my one-year mark this summer my time remaining here has been diminishing faster than the glaciers of the North Pole. These past few months have been highlighted with numerous memorable trips, studying for the GRE’s (expecting results in January, ugh), graduate school applications, and oh ya trying to maintain projects with the community.
September brought to end the 2nd trimester at the high schools, which concluded our study of “geography” and the painting of our World Map Project.
We’re still working on our gardens with some more successful than others but we have seen a healthy turn out of tomatoes, cabbage and corn. Yum! A handful of us volunteers have taken on the task of creating a Peace Corps wide “seed bank” with an end goal of providing each incoming volunteer a basic packet of seeds in order to aide in transition into sites. AKA something we ALL wish we had been provided in order to obtain community trust and respect. So in attempt to get this project off the ground, I am growing lots of zucchini and radishes with my girls in order to harvest their seeds to help stock our Seed Bank.
September also saw the end of my working relationship with my original counterpart organization, the baby banana growers. After dealing with my counterparts lack of motivation and respect for me I decided enough was enough. So instead I’ve been spending more time helping a recently formed co-op of cacao growers map out their goals for the upcoming year, apply for their own volunteer and teach them the basics of methods of recording finances. They actually need help and value the time I spend with them, which is a complete 180 from the previous group I was working with. What a relief!
In short, the past few months have been some of the best I’ve seen in awhile. Whether that is owed to my distant end nearing or a newfound efficiency, I understand why people say the last 6 months of service are the most rewarding.
These next few months I feel are going to pass in the blink of an eye with many exciting events on the horizon. The end of December brings Christmas break in which classes and work do not exist, the visit of a good friend and a trip to Peru and the welcoming of the New Year! Mid-January is the end of the school year here and I will also spend a week in Quito at our “Swearing Out Conference” in which we pick our final date of service, complete the last stage of medical exams and submit an unimaginable amount of forms that no one will ever read but are required of us. January, February and March are what we call “party months” for between All Kings Day, Carnival and Easter Week there are surprisingly few days in which people actually work. Long live the Catholic Church and your infinite reasons to celebrate! But as always, good things must end and that very April will bring the sobering reality of my 24th and final month of service. Where life will take me from here is as undetermined as the headless chicken from Sunday’s feast. Any and all suggestions are welcome as I continue my personal search for answers at the bottom of Pilsener bottles.
With the end of the year nearing we will see the end of mango season (more glorious than college football if you can believe it) and the onset of obscene amounts of rains. As this will be my final entry for the year 2010, I thank you all for staying updated on my happenings and the continual support. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and hope you enjoy these special moments with your families; for you never know when your adventurous twenty-some-year old child will decide to abandon you for a few of the world’s deepest canyons and remarkable ruins!
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