If I had to describe the Coast in three words they would be Hot, Bacan (the equivalent to fun or cool in the States and Chevere in the Sierra), and Mosquitoes…
AKA it is my new favorite place in Ecuador!
All in all I would say my site visit went perfectly, although the 9-hour overnight bus ride was definitely not the highlight, I am pretty happy that I successfully made it through both the Quito and Guyaquil bus terminals without getting robbed or completely lost, which was most likely due to the fact that I was not traveling alone. Hopefully, that will be the case whenever we leave for our sites after swearing-in as well.
So, I do not have any pictures of my site yet since I was afraid to take my camera with me since the bus terminals are crazy. Plus, I decided I have two years to take pictures, but I will try my best to describe it in words. I am actually living in Puerto Rico, which is across the river from Colimes, where I will mostly be working. Colimes looks a lot like Florida, say maybe Fort Lauderdale…but obviously more beautiful. There are people riding motorcycles, horses, cars, buses, and mototaxis (which are motorcycles attached to a cart) all on the same road…and it can be pretty intense at times. Everything is so green, almost as if someone just painted everything green, it is really beautiful and tranquilo, or calm. It honestly made me miss home a bit, which I think is actually a good thing, because I can definitely see myself living there and loving it for the next two years.
For all of my sweet friends and family from the South, the weather is very similar to our weather around May, but it is a bit cool at night and since it is “summer”, or the dry season, it does not rain…ever. Yet, during the “winter”, or rainy season it is warmer and rains EVERYDAY, so much so that the river floods and I will no longer be able to cross the river on the sugar cane bridge, and I will have to take a canoe to work everyday, which in my opinion is pretty sweet. And yes, I do feel a bit like I will be living in Candyland since there is a bridge made out of sugar cane…
My new family is also pretty awesome. I will be living with a mom and dad, Carolina and Alberto, who are both teachers, so as you can imagine they have already started cracking the learning whip. They have four sons, two of which live in the house, Carlos, who is 23-years old and Beto, who is 15-years old. Junior lives across the river with his wife and adorable baby and the other brother lives in Guyaquil. Carlos also has an amazing girlfriend who runs the family store during the day while everyone else is at school and she lives across the street. She is very sweet and is definitely going to be a great support system. The entire family is a blast and Carolina has already begun to call me the hija, daughter, she never had.
During my site visit I had the opportunity to visit the PLAN Ecuador office, which is my NGO that I will be working with for the next two years. The office is located in Santa Lucia, which is about 40 minutes away by bus. Everyone in the office is very helpful and amable (nice) and the office even has air conditioning and internet…so, as you can imagine I plan on spending a fair amount of time there! I will be helping them out with charlas (or health and nutrition talks) and they also have an international big brother/sister program that will probably help out with as well. I also met my counterpart, Sandra, who is also muy amable and fun. She will be a great resource because she knows all of the current health volunteers in Colimes, in addition to everyone in town, and we will also have monthly meetings at her house.
I had a chance to meet the closest volunteer to me, Mathias, who is a blast and is very helpful. He showed me around his site which is about a 30 minute bus ride and is also where the nearest ATM and internet are, so if once I get to site and I am slow to answer your emails, do not be offended ha. I hung out with a group of the kids that he has been working with and they are so cute and so much fun! I will probably try to continue that youth group after he closes service since these kids are already accustomed to meeting and are excited about learning, etc.
I also visited the Subcentro, which is the local health center in our town. I will most likely be spending a fair amount of time there in addition to the three local high schools and the one elementary school. I had the privilege of introducing myself to the all of the kids at one of the high schools, which was fun/a bit nerve racking since I definitely did not prepare a speech!
So, in general it seems like my work thus far is pretty unstructured. The volunteer before me, Diana, who the entire town of 21,000 people was in love with, has definitely set a high standard for me. Unfortunately, she is already back in the States, but she has been so supportive through email, and I am already feeling better about the few things I was a bit nervous about. I would like to continue most of her projects since they will definitely be a great place to start. It was hilarious when Carolina introduced me as Diana’s replacement because no one believed I was American, until of course they heard my Spanish!
Overall, I spent a lot of time this week lying in a hammock, reading and eating sandia (watermelon). It was definitely nice to have a break from training and having a set schedule everyday. I am excited to get to know everyone at my site and begin my work on the Coast, but this week definitely made me realize how much I will miss the other volunteers in my training group, especially since we have all grown really close. Luckily, there are several volunteers in Guyaquil, where I have to go to receive my mail, and also in other sites within 2-4 hours.
The Sierra definitely feels colder after being on the Coast for a while, but I have missed it all the same. I will definitely be enjoying the next month without mosquitoes before I officially call Colimes home!
Mangos and Mosquito Nets,
Tiffany :D
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