I finally made it back from my site visit, and all I can say is WOW!!! As it turns out my PC adventure is not going to be quite as rustic as I thought...
The city itself is much bigger than Beaumont, which I know isn't saying too much. However, its crammed in a much smaller area, giving it the feel of a much larger city. It has all the conveniences that I could possibly want: shopping mall, 'super' grocery stores, HUGE daily fruit/veggie/meat market, Internet cafes galore, regular cafes, stadium, restaurants, movie theatre, night clubs, etc... Riobamba is also the old capital of Ecuador and is pretty old to boot, so it has an abundance of colonial government buildings and cathedrals. Nicely enough, most of these buildings are situated around quaint, landscaped parks with fountains and statues. Honestly, I kinda felt like I was somewhere in Europe! So the city is not exactly gonna be the 'living in a mud hut' experience I was prepared for.
And it gets even better!
I finally discovered what I would be doing for my job. I'm going to work at Escuela Superior Politecnica de Chimborazo (ESPOCH or Politecnica or Poli), in the Bienestar department. Basically this department is charged with the wellbeing of the students, of which there are 15,000. Hence, my job is health promotion for college students... I don't have to go out in the field, explain basic hygiene, or deal with children. Instead I work out of an office, give lectures to university students, help with studies and update Bienestar's website. How cool is that?!?
So, yea, my life pretty much rocks!
Except for the fact that tomorrow I have to give a charla over swine flu to the trainees. Apparently I have experience with contagious diseases (hospital work?), so I was pegged to give the talk. Its really not that bad, but I need to make some fun posters or something today so people don't fall asleep, given the inherent boredom factor of the subject. I pride myself on having captive audiences regardless of the topic! Silly games also go a long way.
We have classes all this week and then we leave on Sunday for our tech trip. We're going back to Riobamba for a week to do God-knows-what. So pretty much that's my life in a nutshell!
ps I finally uploaded pictures on flikr, so check it out!
Attention HSLC members: READ! The book is not that long! It would be nice to have the meeting when I get back from the tech trip.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Triste
Ok guys, this is gonna be a short one because I don't like to dwell on sad things... So what am I sad about? Well many things- this has not exactly been the best week for me.
First off, my friends and I did a little clothes shopping on Sunday and I discovered that I've gained weight. Not that I had a scale, but I could see a pooch in my belly.
Then, on Monday we had our second LPI (language test) and I bombed it! They do an interview, and they asked about my old job. As it turns out I didn't know any of the vocab for the lab i.e. agar plates, bacterial cultures, syringe, plasma, centrifuge etc... So of all the people in Cangahua, I was the only one who didn't advance a level.
Monday the ambassador visited and gave a little speech (which is actually a positive point). However, when I was getting ready that morning I found out my camera was broken. So now I'm trying to plot a way to get a new one, but that bummed me out.
Then today my best friend that I've made in Cangahua (Alex) early terminated because she missed her family and friends too much. So that really sucks because I spent most of my free time with her... Also, it got me to thinking of how much I miss y'all back home!
Sooooo, to make myself feel better I'm writing this and listening to sad music. For some strange reason feeling worse seems like the best way to feel better...
ps there was a little riot in Cayambe yesterday; everyone is okay except a few people who were exposed to tear gas.
First off, my friends and I did a little clothes shopping on Sunday and I discovered that I've gained weight. Not that I had a scale, but I could see a pooch in my belly.
Then, on Monday we had our second LPI (language test) and I bombed it! They do an interview, and they asked about my old job. As it turns out I didn't know any of the vocab for the lab i.e. agar plates, bacterial cultures, syringe, plasma, centrifuge etc... So of all the people in Cangahua, I was the only one who didn't advance a level.
Monday the ambassador visited and gave a little speech (which is actually a positive point). However, when I was getting ready that morning I found out my camera was broken. So now I'm trying to plot a way to get a new one, but that bummed me out.
Then today my best friend that I've made in Cangahua (Alex) early terminated because she missed her family and friends too much. So that really sucks because I spent most of my free time with her... Also, it got me to thinking of how much I miss y'all back home!
Sooooo, to make myself feel better I'm writing this and listening to sad music. For some strange reason feeling worse seems like the best way to feel better...
ps there was a little riot in Cayambe yesterday; everyone is okay except a few people who were exposed to tear gas.
Monday, July 6, 2009
3rd of July
The super-nice PC Ecuador administration decided to throw us lowly Americans a Forth of July party this past Friday (instead of having classes). Everyone met in Cayambe at the same complex where we spent our first days in Ecuador. I have to say, that my 3rd of July was one of the best days I've had here so far!
A per Ecuadorian tradition, events like this start off with a reina (queen) contest. Each town had to pick a girl to represent them, and she basically competed in a beauty contest. My town, Cangahua (khan-gog-wha), went all out for the occasion. Our reina borrowed indigenous clothes from her family, and the rest of us dressed alike (with crazy hairdos) and chanted while our queen competed. Joy, our queen, had to parade in front of the 3 judges, then answer a silly question. Today, the country director for Ecuador told our language instructor that she was impressed by our team spirit. Needless to say, out of the 9 communities, Joy came in 3rd place!
After the reina competition, there was a soccer tournament between the different cities. Although I (the only male in Cangahua) haven't played in years, one of our players got violently ill and two of our players were over 50, we kicked BUTT! Ok, maybe not that good, but we did make it to the second elimination round! YAY CANGAHUA!!!
When the tournament ended we were treated to a traditional US BBQ, consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, all the dressings, potato salad, fruit salad, regular salad (VERY hard to get here), chips, guacamole, veggie kabobs, different cokes, sweet tea and a flag cake. We totally pigged out since everyone was getting tired of Ecuadorian food. Everyone except me because my mom is 1) a GREAT cook, and 2) not hosting me just for the money. After the feast, we played more games, hung out, and then a few of us went into town to get some beers. Its really cool because everyone in Omnibus 102 really gets along quite well.
The actual 4th was not quite as eventful. The Cangahuans we into the city (Cayambe) and had a very nice lunch (which cost $4!). Later that night when we returned, there was a big fiesta de san pedro in the park/city center. I met my host family and their friends there and danced my feet off. At around 10pm, there was a really neat fireworks display which was quite dangerous by US standards. Literally some of the rockets shot into the crowd! By this time we were tired and my fellow PCVs retired to my house and watched 'Sense and Sensibility': good movie! When everyone left and I could barely sleep because the band in the park played until 6am, and I live two houses from the park... I slept in the next day (Sunday) and missed the First Communions at church, for which I feel really bad because I told a girl I would be to see her :(
On a positive note, my mom's daughter opened a seafood restaurant close to my house. Apparently what this means is that when my mom doesn't feel like cooking, I get to eat there for free! So far I've had ceviche, shrimp in a creole-like sauce and two different fish soups (they are much better than they sound). Also, on the weekends, when they don't have to feed me lunch, the regular price is $2 per meal! Hooray for cheap food!
I think I'm gonna be pretty busy this week. We have a lot of integration homework which basically consists of us interviewing tons of people in the community to practice for when we get to our sites. I can't wait because on the 16th we finally get our assignments! I care more about working with HIV/AIDS than my location. However, I am getting a little tired of being cold all the time... Whatever, it doesn't really matter because I don't have a say in anything as with all PC operations ;)
A per Ecuadorian tradition, events like this start off with a reina (queen) contest. Each town had to pick a girl to represent them, and she basically competed in a beauty contest. My town, Cangahua (khan-gog-wha), went all out for the occasion. Our reina borrowed indigenous clothes from her family, and the rest of us dressed alike (with crazy hairdos) and chanted while our queen competed. Joy, our queen, had to parade in front of the 3 judges, then answer a silly question. Today, the country director for Ecuador told our language instructor that she was impressed by our team spirit. Needless to say, out of the 9 communities, Joy came in 3rd place!
After the reina competition, there was a soccer tournament between the different cities. Although I (the only male in Cangahua) haven't played in years, one of our players got violently ill and two of our players were over 50, we kicked BUTT! Ok, maybe not that good, but we did make it to the second elimination round! YAY CANGAHUA!!!
When the tournament ended we were treated to a traditional US BBQ, consisting of hamburgers, hotdogs, all the dressings, potato salad, fruit salad, regular salad (VERY hard to get here), chips, guacamole, veggie kabobs, different cokes, sweet tea and a flag cake. We totally pigged out since everyone was getting tired of Ecuadorian food. Everyone except me because my mom is 1) a GREAT cook, and 2) not hosting me just for the money. After the feast, we played more games, hung out, and then a few of us went into town to get some beers. Its really cool because everyone in Omnibus 102 really gets along quite well.
The actual 4th was not quite as eventful. The Cangahuans we into the city (Cayambe) and had a very nice lunch (which cost $4!). Later that night when we returned, there was a big fiesta de san pedro in the park/city center. I met my host family and their friends there and danced my feet off. At around 10pm, there was a really neat fireworks display which was quite dangerous by US standards. Literally some of the rockets shot into the crowd! By this time we were tired and my fellow PCVs retired to my house and watched 'Sense and Sensibility': good movie! When everyone left and I could barely sleep because the band in the park played until 6am, and I live two houses from the park... I slept in the next day (Sunday) and missed the First Communions at church, for which I feel really bad because I told a girl I would be to see her :(
On a positive note, my mom's daughter opened a seafood restaurant close to my house. Apparently what this means is that when my mom doesn't feel like cooking, I get to eat there for free! So far I've had ceviche, shrimp in a creole-like sauce and two different fish soups (they are much better than they sound). Also, on the weekends, when they don't have to feed me lunch, the regular price is $2 per meal! Hooray for cheap food!
I think I'm gonna be pretty busy this week. We have a lot of integration homework which basically consists of us interviewing tons of people in the community to practice for when we get to our sites. I can't wait because on the 16th we finally get our assignments! I care more about working with HIV/AIDS than my location. However, I am getting a little tired of being cold all the time... Whatever, it doesn't really matter because I don't have a say in anything as with all PC operations ;)
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