long time due (like always)

March 4, 2011
After a total of 98 weeks, a few short of two years, I am finally embarking on my last official week of being a resident in Cumanda. The end has come a lot earlier than expected but I will be going out with a bang, as Saturday is the start of the four days of Carnaval. Following tradition the kids (and some adults) have already started launching water balloons, tossing buckets of water and spraying silly string; the holiday hasn’t even started and I am ready for it to be OVER.

My time here in Cumanda has been incredible and I have been avoiding thinking about leaving for quite awhile now. Looking back, its as if my time here is split in half, the one half which I spent looking forward to the day I’d be leaving Cumanda and the other half dreading that same day.

Well, that first part was written about 10 days ago and life has changed over night. I just completed my third day of work and I think its safe to say that I have done more work in these past three days than in my previous two years. Is it too late to go back to Cumanda??? I got really comfortable with being the celebrity gringa and getting by on my whiteness. I guess all good things do come to an end.

Gratefully I report that the move to Guayaquil was a safe yet tearful experience. Granted that I had lost the paper with my new host families name, telephone number and home address I was still able to locate the home and to my luck they were actually there! My biggest fear was the taxi driver throwing (more like painfully dragging) my suitcases out of his car and leaving me stranded in front of some random house HOPING its residents would allow me to stay.

I am happy here. Its different. I miss greeting everyone I encounter on the street. Here the strangers just stare at me and ignore my greeting. But its fun that everything is a new adventure. Like the 50 minute bus ride I took this morning when its normally takes me 20 to get to the office, but magically I arrived at my front door. I’m still baffled, 12 hours later about how we ended up in the perfect spot. The adventure of finding new running spots. I live two blocks outside of a very posh neighborhood (home to Guayaquil’s Mayor) with cobblestone streets and cars that stop giving me the right-a-way.

Tomorrow for work I am meeting 4 new PC volunteers who will be working in sites that ACDI/VOCA is also involved and delivering them to their new sites. I’m excited to witness their transition as I feel it wasn’t that long ago that I was the same over anxious volunteer ready to set the worlds problems straight.

Anyways I know this is short but I just needed to send you all an update that I have survived the change and am ready to start thriving. I have a few more weeks until the end of march and then it’s a week off to visit the Galapagos islands with my Mami! It couldn’t come soon enough. Well, actually it could wait ‘til my diet kicked in and sheds me of my “rice baby”. I’m worried I’ll be more of a site than those cute little blue footed boobies! Hope you all have a good lent and stick to your promises!! Love love.