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 ;)
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Las Indiginas
To stress the importance of cultural integration, the PC sent us to various indigenous communities these last two days. I was picked to go to Carabuela, a small little town whose economy relies heavily on handicraft sales. And so the adventure begins!
We arrived early Friday morning and spent the better part of the morning learning the entire process of making knitted clothing. It was pretty interesting because they allowed us to participate in all the steps. First, they cut the wool from the sheep, then washed it in the river and hung it up to dry. After a couple hours, we took the clean wool and teased it with big combs until it was in long fluffy tubes. We then spun the wool tubes into yarn, which was used to crochet or knit the goods. So in theory I could make my own sweater with a sheep, scissors and a crochet needle!
After the yarn making, we walked around the town observing various other trades. We made bread in a traditional wood oven, watched a man make shoes from twine and saw a woman making pottery from clay she literally dug up from the ground.
That night, we all gathered at the shaman's house, and he did a 'cleaning ritual' on us to banish bad spirits. The process is quite simple if you would like to try this at home:
1) Make an alter out of stones
2) Spit chicha (fermented banana liquor) on foot-long plants
3) Smoke a cigarette
4) Smack the cleansing recipient's body from head to toe with the plants (linger on those who are especially full of bad spirits)
5) Spit more chicha on their feet
He didn't spend too much time on me, so I guess my soul was relatively clean.
After the shaman, we were herded to the community center for dinner and general festivities. As guests of honor, we were served an Ecuadorian delicacy: guinea pig (cuy). I was quite disappointed with my portion because I received a piece of the back which doesn't offer much meat... After the meal, we danced to bands that played native music and watched a group of locals perform a traditional dance- all the while we passed around a big bottle of chicha for shots.
The party ended around midnight, and here is where the night took a turn for the worst. Apparently the planning committee didn't think too hard on sleeping arrangements, as we slept on concrete floors. Combine that with arctic weather, a general lack of blankets, a homeless handicapped man blowing a whistle outside the house till 4am, a girl banging on the door in search of her mother, a man loudly vomiting downstairs and frequent dog barking-- one might have problems sleeping... I really wished I braved a few more shots of chicha. Naturally I woke up a little pissy, only to discover they don't drink coffee. Let’s just say I was quite happy to leave after we ate lunch...
All-in-all, the trip was a successful; I came back with a couple hand-made hats, a bag and added a few Quichua words to my vocab. Fun times in Carabuela!
When I woke up this morning at 8am (which is very late given my new sleep schedule), I was taught how to do laundry. But don´t you already know how to wash your clothes Jason?!? Yes, I do know how to operate a washing machine, however that´s not an option here… Washing clothes by hand is really not as time consuming as it seems though; It takes about as much time as a machine. Granted, its more labor intensive, but the clothes get cleaner in my opinion. This is just one in a series of things that never crossed my mind when thinking about life in the PC :P
After the laundry fun, I went to mass, which is different than in the States. The order is the same (although it’s in Spanish) but the people literally talk throughout the entire mass… Literally, during the Homily I had trouble hearing the priest for all the noise. Another difference was that relatively few people took communion. I would guess that only 30% of the participants partook. Also, instead of offering the blood separately, the priest dips the host in the wine and will only put it in your mouth. I plan to go weekly, so hopefully that assuages Mom and Grandma´s worries.
Now I´m off to the fiesta! Today is one of the bigger fiestas for San Pedro. Hooray for dancing!!!
We arrived early Friday morning and spent the better part of the morning learning the entire process of making knitted clothing. It was pretty interesting because they allowed us to participate in all the steps. First, they cut the wool from the sheep, then washed it in the river and hung it up to dry. After a couple hours, we took the clean wool and teased it with big combs until it was in long fluffy tubes. We then spun the wool tubes into yarn, which was used to crochet or knit the goods. So in theory I could make my own sweater with a sheep, scissors and a crochet needle!
After the yarn making, we walked around the town observing various other trades. We made bread in a traditional wood oven, watched a man make shoes from twine and saw a woman making pottery from clay she literally dug up from the ground.
That night, we all gathered at the shaman's house, and he did a 'cleaning ritual' on us to banish bad spirits. The process is quite simple if you would like to try this at home:
1) Make an alter out of stones
2) Spit chicha (fermented banana liquor) on foot-long plants
3) Smoke a cigarette
4) Smack the cleansing recipient's body from head to toe with the plants (linger on those who are especially full of bad spirits)
5) Spit more chicha on their feet
He didn't spend too much time on me, so I guess my soul was relatively clean.
After the shaman, we were herded to the community center for dinner and general festivities. As guests of honor, we were served an Ecuadorian delicacy: guinea pig (cuy). I was quite disappointed with my portion because I received a piece of the back which doesn't offer much meat... After the meal, we danced to bands that played native music and watched a group of locals perform a traditional dance- all the while we passed around a big bottle of chicha for shots.
The party ended around midnight, and here is where the night took a turn for the worst. Apparently the planning committee didn't think too hard on sleeping arrangements, as we slept on concrete floors. Combine that with arctic weather, a general lack of blankets, a homeless handicapped man blowing a whistle outside the house till 4am, a girl banging on the door in search of her mother, a man loudly vomiting downstairs and frequent dog barking-- one might have problems sleeping... I really wished I braved a few more shots of chicha. Naturally I woke up a little pissy, only to discover they don't drink coffee. Let’s just say I was quite happy to leave after we ate lunch...
All-in-all, the trip was a successful; I came back with a couple hand-made hats, a bag and added a few Quichua words to my vocab. Fun times in Carabuela!
When I woke up this morning at 8am (which is very late given my new sleep schedule), I was taught how to do laundry. But don´t you already know how to wash your clothes Jason?!? Yes, I do know how to operate a washing machine, however that´s not an option here… Washing clothes by hand is really not as time consuming as it seems though; It takes about as much time as a machine. Granted, its more labor intensive, but the clothes get cleaner in my opinion. This is just one in a series of things that never crossed my mind when thinking about life in the PC :P
After the laundry fun, I went to mass, which is different than in the States. The order is the same (although it’s in Spanish) but the people literally talk throughout the entire mass… Literally, during the Homily I had trouble hearing the priest for all the noise. Another difference was that relatively few people took communion. I would guess that only 30% of the participants partook. Also, instead of offering the blood separately, the priest dips the host in the wine and will only put it in your mouth. I plan to go weekly, so hopefully that assuages Mom and Grandma´s worries.
Now I´m off to the fiesta! Today is one of the bigger fiestas for San Pedro. Hooray for dancing!!!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Banishment
Its official, I´m not to go in the kitchen. Okay, maybe banishment is too strong a word, but my sweet little viajita (78 y/o!) insists on waiting on me hand and foot. I´ve finally convinced her that I am capable of washing my coffee cup in the morning, but that took some time because she insists that "the water is too cold" for me to wash. At first I thought it wouldn´t bother me, but I just feel really bad that she cooks and cleans for me, which are things I´m more than capable of doing.
With that, let me tell you a little about my host family. I live alone with my mom, who is a widow. She has 6 sons and 1 daughter, all of which are grown and gone. The daughter comes by the house every so often, and is a rose cultivator in Cayambe (the nearest large town). I have a couple of observations so far about family dynamics, that are markedly different than the US. First, as I have already stated, I am not really required to do chores. Also, even though it is just me and my señora, she waits until I finish eating before she serves herself. However, tonight the daughter came for dinner and ate with me... I can´t quite put my finger on how exactly these gender/age roles all fit together. I have a private room with a queen size bed, all of which are red! The bathroom is also private with running water, but there is no hot water heater. The shower head is connected to an electric heater with warms the water as it comes out. Therefore there´s an inverse relationship between water pressure and temperature. Obviously there is no central heat, but I have 4 wool blankets on my bed with keep me more than warm at night. My amenities are pretty uptown compared to other volunteers.
Enough with the culture though! I´ve not been doing too much outside of class lately. We have to go to classes in another town which is about an hour commute via bus. So by the time I get out of class and make it back to my pueblo, the internet cafes (we are graced with two in my town) are closing :(
I´m not allowed to say exactly where I am because of PC safety and security rules, but I can tell you a little about my town. What the PC did was give us all homestays in the surrounding area, with 4-5 volunteers per community. I really like the people in my town, which is good since we will go through training the next 2 months together. My town is a small little farming community WAY up in the Andes with a little problem with that thing called poverty. Although its pretty poor, the people here really keep the city in great condition. It has a nice town park/square where the people hang, and regular bus service to Cayambe, which is more than I can say for other volunteers. I am really pleased with my placement, except for one thing: altitude. I literally have problems breathing when I go on the smallest walks. Everyone says that I´ll get used to it, but that has yet to materalize... I don´t think most people understand that going from 0ft to around 1600ft will actually affect you.
I went to the fiestas in the street this last weekend, which was a blast! The Ecuadorian tradition for drinking is a little different. Everyone shares the same cup, which one person fills and then chooses the person who he wants to drink. So I partook of this tradition and then proceeded to dance in the street. And no, I wasn´t drunk. The band literally plays in the park, and everyone gathers around and dances outside. I got quite the workout since there were way more women than men. Literally the girls just grab your arm and drag you into the dance. The fast paced dancing combined with my breathing problems, made me leave after one hour. Am I gonna do it all over again this Sunday for the fiesta grande? You bet!
So I don´t really have that much to say since I´ve been in training pretty much all day every day. Also, since its still the first week we´ve yet to get to the juicy stuff; its all pretty much been orientation type stuff. So I´ve yet to learn exactly how to safe the world... More to come later!
ps sorry I dont have time to edit/reread, the cafe is closing!
With that, let me tell you a little about my host family. I live alone with my mom, who is a widow. She has 6 sons and 1 daughter, all of which are grown and gone. The daughter comes by the house every so often, and is a rose cultivator in Cayambe (the nearest large town). I have a couple of observations so far about family dynamics, that are markedly different than the US. First, as I have already stated, I am not really required to do chores. Also, even though it is just me and my señora, she waits until I finish eating before she serves herself. However, tonight the daughter came for dinner and ate with me... I can´t quite put my finger on how exactly these gender/age roles all fit together. I have a private room with a queen size bed, all of which are red! The bathroom is also private with running water, but there is no hot water heater. The shower head is connected to an electric heater with warms the water as it comes out. Therefore there´s an inverse relationship between water pressure and temperature. Obviously there is no central heat, but I have 4 wool blankets on my bed with keep me more than warm at night. My amenities are pretty uptown compared to other volunteers.
Enough with the culture though! I´ve not been doing too much outside of class lately. We have to go to classes in another town which is about an hour commute via bus. So by the time I get out of class and make it back to my pueblo, the internet cafes (we are graced with two in my town) are closing :(
I´m not allowed to say exactly where I am because of PC safety and security rules, but I can tell you a little about my town. What the PC did was give us all homestays in the surrounding area, with 4-5 volunteers per community. I really like the people in my town, which is good since we will go through training the next 2 months together. My town is a small little farming community WAY up in the Andes with a little problem with that thing called poverty. Although its pretty poor, the people here really keep the city in great condition. It has a nice town park/square where the people hang, and regular bus service to Cayambe, which is more than I can say for other volunteers. I am really pleased with my placement, except for one thing: altitude. I literally have problems breathing when I go on the smallest walks. Everyone says that I´ll get used to it, but that has yet to materalize... I don´t think most people understand that going from 0ft to around 1600ft will actually affect you.
I went to the fiestas in the street this last weekend, which was a blast! The Ecuadorian tradition for drinking is a little different. Everyone shares the same cup, which one person fills and then chooses the person who he wants to drink. So I partook of this tradition and then proceeded to dance in the street. And no, I wasn´t drunk. The band literally plays in the park, and everyone gathers around and dances outside. I got quite the workout since there were way more women than men. Literally the girls just grab your arm and drag you into the dance. The fast paced dancing combined with my breathing problems, made me leave after one hour. Am I gonna do it all over again this Sunday for the fiesta grande? You bet!
So I don´t really have that much to say since I´ve been in training pretty much all day every day. Also, since its still the first week we´ve yet to get to the juicy stuff; its all pretty much been orientation type stuff. So I´ve yet to learn exactly how to safe the world... More to come later!
ps sorry I dont have time to edit/reread, the cafe is closing!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Escape Successful!
First, I want whoever reads this to take a second to thank their Internet connection just for being there. You dont know what you have until its not there anymore...
So, I made it to Quito alright and even had a little of that money left over thanks to a dive bar in Miami! When we arrived, we went straight to a little hostel in Quito for the night, then headed to Cayambe the next morning. We stayed in a complex there for two nights, alternating between being bored to death by classes, eating YUMMY food, and hanging out at night (I´m addicted to mafia now btw). The last day (today) they assigned us our host families with who we will be living with for the next 8 weeks. Im in a quaint little mountain town, and am staying with a sweet little old lady.
A little aside on the food: Every meal that I´ve had here has had at least three starches, and in no small quantity for that matter. Usually its rice, potatoes, and bread/pasta.
Well today my host mom cooked a large meal for my first lunch here. It was a bowl of potato soup (prob about 2 1/2 cups), white rice (at least 1 1/2 cup), fried potato (a whole potato), a chicken breast and a salad. Everything was DELICIOUS! However, my mom stood next to me and watched me eat the entire meal (as it turns out she was nervous of whether or not I would like it). This obviously made me nervous, so I cleared my entire plate even though I felt ill with fullness half way through. Big mistake. She intrepreted this as me being hungry and ran to the kitchen to bring me another plate of plain white rice. I wanted to cry as I shoveled it into my mouth, but decided to suck it up for the sake of cultural sensitivity. So now I´m sitting in an Internet cafe, wanting to puke, and reading on the Internet how one should not finish their plate in Ecuador for this very reason.
At least I´m prepared for breakfast tomorrow!
Other fun things that have happened: I got bit by a dog, got 3 vaccines, rode in the bed of a truck through the Andes to my site, discovered I WAY overpacked and finished 5 corsswords.
This month is the fiesta de san pedro, so I´m sure I have more stories to come!
So, I made it to Quito alright and even had a little of that money left over thanks to a dive bar in Miami! When we arrived, we went straight to a little hostel in Quito for the night, then headed to Cayambe the next morning. We stayed in a complex there for two nights, alternating between being bored to death by classes, eating YUMMY food, and hanging out at night (I´m addicted to mafia now btw). The last day (today) they assigned us our host families with who we will be living with for the next 8 weeks. Im in a quaint little mountain town, and am staying with a sweet little old lady.
A little aside on the food: Every meal that I´ve had here has had at least three starches, and in no small quantity for that matter. Usually its rice, potatoes, and bread/pasta.
Well today my host mom cooked a large meal for my first lunch here. It was a bowl of potato soup (prob about 2 1/2 cups), white rice (at least 1 1/2 cup), fried potato (a whole potato), a chicken breast and a salad. Everything was DELICIOUS! However, my mom stood next to me and watched me eat the entire meal (as it turns out she was nervous of whether or not I would like it). This obviously made me nervous, so I cleared my entire plate even though I felt ill with fullness half way through. Big mistake. She intrepreted this as me being hungry and ran to the kitchen to bring me another plate of plain white rice. I wanted to cry as I shoveled it into my mouth, but decided to suck it up for the sake of cultural sensitivity. So now I´m sitting in an Internet cafe, wanting to puke, and reading on the Internet how one should not finish their plate in Ecuador for this very reason.
At least I´m prepared for breakfast tomorrow!
Other fun things that have happened: I got bit by a dog, got 3 vaccines, rode in the bed of a truck through the Andes to my site, discovered I WAY overpacked and finished 5 corsswords.
This month is the fiesta de san pedro, so I´m sure I have more stories to come!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Escaping the USA
So I finally made it to Miami, albeit it involved waking up at 4am and lugging 100+ pounds of luggage around the airport. But whatever, I've never been one to complain...
So basically today we went through a little orientation/ice-breaker thing with all the volunteers (which is close to 50!). And now I am about to go to dinner with some of the people I met and plan on blowing the $120 they gave us to "cover expenses for tonight." Everyone is really nice, so far, and I'm really looking forward to finally making it to Ecuador tomorrow!
That's really all that happened, more to come later!
So basically today we went through a little orientation/ice-breaker thing with all the volunteers (which is close to 50!). And now I am about to go to dinner with some of the people I met and plan on blowing the $120 they gave us to "cover expenses for tonight." Everyone is really nice, so far, and I'm really looking forward to finally making it to Ecuador tomorrow!
That's really all that happened, more to come later!
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