Pinta had puppies! So of course I’m planning on adopting one. Meet my little Niko!
Toucan in our papaya tree.
The most difficult challenge is leaving - Peace Corps Print Public Service Announcement
Some advice: don’t join the Peace Corps if you have arachnophobia. FYI, this guy was about as big as my hand. My host siblings were pretty upset with me when I didn’t try to kill it with a machete.
Walking far from home
This past Saturday my host fam told me that we were going to visit their other finca for the day and give a taller in the center of town. So I put on my botas and off we went to 7 de agosto. We drove for about a half hour until the road got too muddy to continue. That’s when the walking began. A short 45-minute walk later, uphill and through the mud, we arrived at the finca! Two other guys who were helping out with the taller had gone a different, longer route on 4x4’s and after about 20 minutes of lounging around; I asked when they were going to arrive and where all the people were. My host parents just laughed at me and told me that we were only on the outskirts of the community and that we’d be walking more to the center of 7 de agosto.
That’s when the real walking began. We headed off to the taller in the blazing sun, tromping through the river and treacherous muddy paths. We each took turns laughing at each other when someone just barely saved themselves from falling into the river. About 3 miles later, sweaty and about to collapse, we made it to the center of town. The people in 7 de agosto are some of the most welcoming and hospitable people that I’ve met thus far in Ecuador. Sitting down with the people, you could just feel the sense of community and comradery that exists there. Every house we walked by on our way to the center of town, without fail, waved and shouted buenos días out the window and offered us some food or drink. After about an hour or so of hanging out and chatting with people, I was invited to about 5 parties, offered a meal anytime that I’d like to come visit and a horse to ride on so I wouldn’t have to do the walk again!
After that, we spent an hour or so in the vivero making biol and hanging out. They all seemed very impressed that the gringa wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty working. After that, we started the long walk back to my host family’s finca. With the heat and humidity, I really wouldn’t have minded falling into the river but after the walk back (where I got a pretty sweet tank top tan) we finally arrived back to the finca where I immediately passed out on the hammock for about an hour or so. Woke up to some queso fresco that my host mom made from the milk they got from the vacas on the finca. Talk about fresh! As we were hanging out there, my host dad turned to me and said “Eso es la vida” and I couldn’t have agreed more. The day was long, tiring and sweaty but the peacefulness of being out in the bosque and away from any cars, pollution, noise and other stresses was rejuvenating. I’d been having a rough time earlier in the week but every troubling thought just seemed to disappear from my mind there.
By then it was starting to get late and we needed to make the walk back to the road before sunset, so we all put our botas back on and made the final walk of the day. On the way home, my host dad nonchalantly told me that there was a meeting in our community, El Aguacate, which they were late for and if I would mind if we stopped by there on our way home. I hadn’t really been to the center of my community since getting to site so I said sure.
Surprise! When we got there, my host parents told me that the meeting was all about me and to introduce me to the community. They said they didn’t want to tell me so I wouldn’t get nervous beforehand. Sweaty, covered in mud and completely grimy from the day was not the way I planned to meet the community but asi es la vida. Oh, and did I mention we were 45 minutes late to the meeting? Welcome to Ecuador.
The meeting was pretty informal and about 20 guys showed up (my host mom got pretty upset about the lack of mujeres at the meeting) and everyone was very welcoming. There are some thing’s I’ll probably have to clarify at the next meeting since they asked if I would build them a community center and then build a new water system for the community, but there was a few people who were really enthusiastic to get working on some projects. One of the guys even offered to go door to door with me to invite people to the next meeting about me, which will be next weekend, and introduce me to the community. Unlike what my host parents thought, I’m super excited about this and surprisingly not nervous at all despite my difficulties understanding the coastal accent. I’m really hoping to get more women and jovenes to show up to the next meeting. Also hoping I don’t get any parasites since I’m planning on accepting any food/drink offered to me on my door to door visits (except cuy!).
A great (and tear-jerking video) of Peace Corps training. (made by Marisa Casey)
sunset from the beach in Atacames, Esmeraldas, Ecuador
The dog whisperer is melting
I like to draw my readers in with interesting blog titles. Have you noticed?
Well, a few days ago, a week, or some time ago (since I’m writing this blog on my laptop in my Internet-less home and not quite sure when I’ll make my next trek to the Internet café) I arrived to site. Our swear-in ceremony was a whirlwind of an event that started at 9am, included some great speeches from other trainees, the PC Ecuador Country Director, the Consulate from the U.S. Embassy´s Guayaquil office, and a lot of crying (by me), and ended at 11:30am when the first group of us was off to the bus station in Quito.
After getting on the bus with our host families, it took the Esmeraldas crew (as we will henceforth be known as) 3 hours to get out of Quito. No, that is not a typo. 3 HOURS. Being the organizational masterminds that they are, the Peace Corps decided that we should all leave from the southern bus station in Quito. A couple short cat naps and few hours later, we were headed north out of Quito and on the way to Esmeraldas!
What can I say about Esmeraldas? It is almost unbearably hot here and every day I feel like I’m melting. Seriously, I’m not exaggerating with the world melting. Come visit me! See and feel for yourself! The people are also a lot more direct here and very forward. I’m asked if I’m single pretty much every day and then promptly told about a very guapo Ecuadorian that I should start dating. I’ve been saying that I like very tall, blonde men to ward off any unwanted suitors. It hasn’t been working so far though.
Since getting to site I’ve been, to be honest, doing a whole lot of nothing though. But hey, I’m integrating! Some events worth mentioning so far:
- Stepped foot in the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life while visiting my cluster-mate Justin at his site in Muisne.
- I’m becoming a dog-whisperer of sorts (à la Cesar Millan). I’m telling ya, they just sense my weakness for the species. While in Muisne, a dog followed me around for a while and then even jumped on the boat with us when it was finally time to leave. She picked the right gringa though because I am determined to go back and find her and give her some doggy treats. My family’s host puppy Rambo has also started to follow me around the house. Little does my host family (and my U.S. family, for that matter) know that he will be making his first international flight in about 2 years to come home and live with me!
- Had a delicious batido de piña and then shrimp in butter and garlic sauce while sitting by the beach in Tonchigue with my other cluster-mate Dani. Can’t beat that.
- Bought way too many little bags of sliced mango. I am becoming a mango-aholic.
- I have only gotten
58 mosquito bites so far. I consider this agreatmild success. - Tried fanesca, a traditional soup eaten during Semana Santa made from 12 grains (to represent the 12 apostles), fish, egg and corn. It was pretty good, but soup on the coast? Really? In this heat? Are they kidding me???
- My host mom was wearing a shirt that read “Is it chicken or is it fish?” I doubt she has even the faintest clue who Jessica Simpson is.
- Saw a giant spider (think size-of-my-palm giant) behind one of the chairs in my house then watched my host mom smack it to death with a broom.
- Spent Easter Day hanging out with my host family and playing Ecuavolley on the beach. I sat out for most of the partido de futbol . I told them that I needed more practice playing with other gringosbefore taking on any ecuatorianos. They found this hi-lar-i-ous.
- Got an impromptu salsa lesson near the beach by my host mom. I think they were shocked that the gringa could move her hips at all but I kept messing up the turns so they got a good laugh out of that, too.( I’m always happy to provide the comic relief for my host fam.)
- Taught my host brother and sister how to play the card game War and then lost miserably.
- Went to a meeting at Eco-Cacao, the organization I’m working with. I have a lot to learn about cacao. Going to be busy though because the harvest starts in June!
- Read
12 books so far. I have a lot of free time. Please send book suggestions! (and Kindle gift cards!) I’ve also watched 2 seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
¡Así es la vida en Ecuador! Other than that, missing everyone from home (and vegetables) and trying not to melt from the heat!
I´m officially a Peace Corps volunteer!
Swear-in
I’m swearing in as a Peace Corps Volunteer tomorrow! Then I’ll leave immediately after the ceremony and be whisked off to beautiful El Aguacate and begin my 2 years of service. ¡Que chévere!
