It's been a long time coming...

So , it’s been awhile… a long while, since I last shared what has been going on in the campo of Colimes. Looking back on this experience I am definitely going to wish I had documented more of it, but I honestly can say that most of my days are the same, a charla here, an English class there, or sometimes nothing at all. But fortunately in the past six months I have been much busier than in my first six months or even my first year. So, to start off with a little recap….


This past summer I traveled home for the 4th of July and did a small southern tour of the Gulf Coast visiting friends and family. It was a ton of fun and a nice break, even though it was hotter at home than in Ecuador, but at least there was air conditioning. In July, my best friend from home traveled back to Ecuador with me. We traveled to the Galapagos and other sites within the mainland. Needless to say, the Galapagos were amazing. We saw all there was to see, beautiful landscapes, exotic and one of a kind animals and sea life, and ate really yummy food. We traveled to Isabella for one night and spent the rest of our time in Santa Cruz. We were fortunate to stay in the Red Mangrove hotels, which were amazing and everything was so beautiful (Thanks Dr. & Mrs. Proffitt!). We only wished we had been there for more days, although I am pretty sure we saw everything there was to see in four nights and five days, especially since the Galapagos is not for those who are looking for a relaxing vacation, on the Islands everything is go, go, go…

After Rachael’s visit it was back to normal life ☹, which was a bit difficult to adjust to, but it was time to get back to work. My first big project, and well the only project that I have worked on pretty much solo, began in September. The name of the program is Cuanto Sabes de VIH/SIDA? And is a program for youth focused on HIV/AIDS education. This program is really unique because it trains youth to become health promoters themselves, since program developers and researchers have found that peer-education is much more effective than boring ole me standing up in front of a classroom teaching kids about HIV/AIDS. So, I started out with 24 kids and finished with around 15 that were really, really committed. Almost all of the 24 kids made it up until the 1st of December, which of course is World Aids Day, on which we held a march and an open house in which all of the schools and high schools participated in addition to local authorities and other institutions like INFA and the Minisetrio de Salud Publica (Ministry of Public Health), and it ended up being a great success. The kids met with me once a week from the end of September until the beginning of January, which is when we began our replications. The kids made the commitment to visit all of the middle schools and high schools and repeat the charla for the students. In total we visited four middle schools and four high schools teaching hundreds of children and youth about HIV/AIDS prevention. This past Friday, the participants received their certificates and we had a little fiesta to congratulate them on all their hard work. Also, several of my youth helped me organize an event with the Municipio (Mayor’s Office) for Dia de la Mujer Colimena, in which we celebrated Women’s Day (a little late, but still counts) with presentations from the kids that participated in the local summer camp in music, theater, dance, and art. We were fortunate to have roses and stickers donated, which we handed out to the women of Colimes. There were also presentations on the importance of the workingwoman and women of the campo as well aa a brief history of International Women’s Day.

While I was working with my youth group, I continued teaching English in the two schools were I have been helping out since I arrived, Hermana Bertha and Marrietta Escobar. There I am in the classroom 2-3 times a week teaching Basic English. I also participated in a medical brigade with the subcentro (the local clinic) during Global Hand Washing Day in October, in which we visited schools in the more rural areas. While the doctors gave vaccines, I gave a charla about the importance of handwashing and how to correctly wash your hands. The kids were all really receptive and eager to participate. I often find that sometimes it is more rewarding to go out into the campo and work with the children and families who do not receiving as much attention.

Before I knew it, it was Christmas and soon it was the end of the school year. I spent half of Christmas with my host family here in Colimes and the other half of Christmas with my boyfriend’s family in Guayaquil. For New Years, I went to Santa Elena, which is about four hours away from Colimes, with my boyfriend’s family since they had recently had a death in their family and everyone was in town for the funeral. It was pretty interesting to be at my first event with all of my boyfriend’s extended family especially since it was also a funeral, but regardless it was a fiesta. Of course we could not dance, which is tradition here when someone passes away, that the close family members do not dance for weeks and some not even for years, but there was definitely still beer and liquor…

At the end of the school year there were many graduations, which I also learned served champagne and liquor, even sometimes to the kids, which I was completely thrown back by, but I appeared to be the only one that found this to be strange. After the weeks of graduations and fiestas it was finally invierno, which winter here means summer for kids on the Coast because this is when they have their break from classes. Winter here also means beach time, because it is when it is the hottest at the beach and also when it is not raining at the beach, and its too hot to stay inland, so everyone heads to the beach. Yet, this year has been a year of no rain, but plenty of heat and sun. Just this week it has begun to rain again, but unfortunately it is too late for most of the crops, mainly rice and corn, which means the price of rice and corn and many other crops will be rising this year, probably causing an economic crisis of some sort here in Ecuador.

But here in Ecuador, no one is going to let a little drought get in the way of a good time, and so everyone still heads out to the beach or to visit family for Carnaval. So, for all my fellow Mobilians and New Orleanians, You know that Carnaval is like Mardi Gras… except for it’s not… Not sure how I missed out on all the craziness of Carnaval last year, but this year I spent Carnaval in Santa Elena and we visited two of the more popular destinations, Salinas and La Libertad. Here, instead of getting showered with beads, you get showered with this knock off silly string/foam, buckets of freezing cold water, and sometimes even paint or dye! If I had been crazy enough to spend this holiday in my site, I would’ve been showered with mud, paint, flour, and sometimes-even urine… let’s just say the campo likes to play dirty. But all in all it was in good fun, but I personally prefer Mardi Gras!

As far as the technical side of Peace Corps, we had or Mid-Service conference at the end of September. There we were given the opportunity to share our past projects and get help from each other and staff on how to make the rest of our last year a success. It was definitely great to see all of my fellow volunteers and have a chance to let out some steam. I didn’t believe the staff when they said that this last year would fly, but they were right, here we are on the brink of COS, which is our Close of Service Conference, which is sort of like the first of all our despedidas, getting us prepared to leave our sites. In a little more than a month decisions will have to be made and those of us who are considering staying will have an answer on whether we will be given that opportunity. I am currently preparing my letter of interest to apply for PCVL in Guayaquil, which is a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader. This would mean that I would move to Guayaquil and extend my service for one more year and I would have the opportunity to do volunteer support and volunteer with another organization. I think it would be an excellent opportunity because at times I feel like I have so much more left in me to help in Ecuador and I also am not completely prepared for my return to the States, seeing as I still have not applied to any grad schools (Sorry Mom). So, only time will tell if I will be given this opportunity. So cross your fingers, the competition is serious!

In these past months, I also had the opportunity to go home for a visit for my birthday in February. It was definitely more relaxing than my first trip home and I was able to really spend some time with my family and enjoy some cold weather and some hot showers.

As of now, I am preparing for classes to begin again next week, and of course without any materials… apparently we are supposed to just “hang out” with the students until the books come, so that will be interesting. I am also waiting on materials to being a program called Corazon Feliz, or Happy Heart, with a group of women in one of the recientos. I will continue working the youth group who are currently planning a convention on the topic of the Constitution and the Codigo de la Ninez y Adolecencia, which is the Code of children’s rights. They are super pillas and I know it will be a great success. We are also in the works of doing a project for Global Youth Services Day in April. Finally, I am also working with an English class with a group of women and I hopefully we will be able to start a community bank. I am trying to stay as busy as possible and trying to get as much work done as possible. I’ve learned that often the days are slow, but the months are flying by.

Hasta Luego!

Don't Worry About a Thing, Every Little Thing Will be Alright...

So, it has been ENTIRELY too long since my last post. A friend whom I met in Ecuador sent me a message asking for the link to my blog, and since me daba verguenza (I was embarrassed) I decided it was probably time I got to updating.

Life here is going. We have been at site exactly nine months May 20th and I can hardly believe it. We arrived in Ecuador almost a year ago, which I also can barely believe. I am very excited that I will be visiting home around the one year mark and the end of June for a few weeks, it will be great to reconnect and visit with family and friends and have a taste of what I have been missing!


As far as work, I am trudging along. I am currently teaching lots of English and little much more, but school just started and I need to get my foot in the door so I can arrange my charlas (health presentations) later. I am also working with a youth group which is sponsored by the municipal and there are some super pillas (intelligent) kids in the group, and I hope to start a new program focused on Sexual and Reproductive Health with them. As they say there are definitely days when you are too busy, but there are definitely more days when you are not busy enough in the Peace Corps. Although, my friend Lisa made me feel better right before she COS'd (finished her service) she told me that even if I am just hanging out and talking with the women and kids in my community that I am working, and that really gave me a lift. I believe it is often difficult for volunteers to feel they are truly needed or effective, especially those of us that live close to urban centers, or live in communities where volunteerism is not quite understood or embraced. More so, it's often difficult because I am not in the middle of no where, this is no Ghana, Ecuador is pretty developed for a 3rd world country, and sometimes when you pass a Hilton or a Mcdonald's on your way to the post office, it's almost surreal. I know many of us have felt that this is not the experience we expected at all in the Peace Corps, but at the same time I think that is what makes the experience unique and so wonderful, because you cannot really define it or put it into a mold.

Although Peace Corps Ecuador is often, and fairly, called posh corps, there are definitely many of us who are roughing it. Especially one of my closest friends who is living in a casa de cana (house made from Cane) with no cell phone reception... we definitely all still have challenges. From the constant fear of being robbed in the cities, to my personal fear of the bats flying in my house, Peace Corps is definitely no cakewalk. The challenges that most people feel are difficult: being away from family and friends, learning another language, putting aside advancing your education, or an awesome job are the challenges that I, and I feel many of my mates, have long risen above. Now we are just living the day to day, praying to catch the last buses back to our sites, and praying that the someone understands and learns from our charlas (talks) or that the kids in your classroom will be quiet for five minutes. I can honestly see my personal progress in patience and acceptance of the things that I have no control over, but I also realize that I have so much further to go.

So, as I near a year in mi linda Ecuador (in my beautiful Ecuador) I hope that this upcoming year is even better than the past, challenges, parasites, and horrible bus rides and all.... bring it on.

This Too Shall Pass...

As I sit in my hammock this morning before it is about 100 degrees outside, I am actually proud of myself for making it two weeks in my site. Considering I have 102 weeks to go, I probably should not revel too much, but since everyday has been a sort of a challenge, I will let myself celebrate just a bit.

I have heard from other volunteers that the trick to surviving is having something to look forward to every month. I saw surviving, not because we are being chased through the jungle by wild animals, or at least most of us are not, but living daily here really is a challenge. Everyday activities that appear to be simple, or at least would be simple in The States have become a complete chore for me here. For example, doing my laundry. While I am incredibly fortunate not to have to go outside and scrub my clothes on a rock here like I did in the Sierra, I now have to face the inconveniences of less than modern technology. So, we have a washing machine. But since I am in the Campo, and indoor plumbing is well, almost only outside, our washing machine hose is connected to nothing and there is no such thing as a spin cycle on this machine. So, to wash clothes I must put the water in by hand with a water hose and then let me clothes wash, and by washing I mean I watch them go around in a circle for about 30 to 40 minutes. After watching my clothes circulate, I have to take them out and put another load into the dirty, soapy water that I just used. After another load I drain all of the water out onto the ground, place my soapy clothes back into the machine and then add more water with the hose. I once again let my clothes circulate for 30 to 40 minutes and then put in the other load after the first set of clothes are finished. Needless to say, this is not the cleanest that my clothes have ever been, but it works…my pants are just a little stiff.

Another recent and relevant example is going to the doctor. I remember being in The States and getting sick, I would call up the doctor’s office, get an appointment, usually that day or at the latest the next, I would drive up in my car, be seen within an hour, go to the drug store, get my meds and be on my happy way. Well, here I live in the campo where the doctors are as sweet as can be, but not always as knowledgeable as you may need them to be. So the Peace Corps has specific clinics, hospitals, and doctors that we are allowed to see. Lucky for me, the nearest clinic or hospital that is approved is two hours away in Guayaquil. So, I have been suffering with this ear infection and in order to go to the doctor I had to take a two-hour bus, and then a $2.00 taxi to the emergency room on Saturday to see a physician. The advantage was that I was seen quickly, the disadvantage was that I had to pay for it and wait to be reimbursed by the Peace Corps after filling out some lengthy forms. Needless to say, I had to make the trip back as well with a horrible fever in a non-air-conditioned bus with people standing up the full length of the aisle for two hours. Thankfully, I had a seat.

Besides being ill, fighting with a washing machine, and having my many run-ins with various creepy crawlers all is not lost here. I spent last week helping out in the subcentro, or clinic, weighing and measuring the local school kids and handing out medicine. I also am learning other skills, one of which is injections, which I plan to keep “learning” for the next two years. I also went way out into the campo with my organization PLAN to help take photos of kids who are a part of their international big brother/big sister program and I had the chance to meet some adorable schools kids. I also spent a day in Guayaquil exploring the big city with my mom and meet up with some other volunteers for lunch and ice cream, so no worries I have still been enjoying myself and learning a ton as well!

Obviously, none of my problems are as grave as many of the people that I am here to hopefully help. These are just examples of adjustment. My host brother’s girlfriend gave me some great advice my first days here, that everything seems really hard and difficult right now, but that in a little while it will all be easy. I believe her; it is just tough to see the future when you are having a hard time getting through the present.

As for my Spanish… it is still a bit weak, but it is getting there. I have a trip to the beach to visit another volunteer to look forward to for this month, so that is covered and as soon as I am able to hear again, I plan to be back in the subcentro full force and hopefully getting things together to begin teaching English as well. I am constantly reminding myself and other volunteers that we have only been here for two weeks, and we have plenty of time to change the world.

*Mande? (What?)*

So, amazingly… and I’m not even sure how, I made it to site with all of my things, all of my things excluding of course the locker full of winter clothes and other unnecessary items I left in Quito. The Journey here was long… and I mean very long. It included packing up all of my things in Puruhantag into three bags, one of which was a small purse, surviving painful goodbyes with my family and the other families in our small town and then loading up two buses with the other volunteers to head to the capital in Quito. Upon arriving in the capital city we disfrutamos, or enjoyed, a nice meal and a trip to the middle of the world, or el mitad del mundo. The best part about this trip was that we actually went to the real middle of the world, and then we found out that the Peace Corps had actually purchased tickets for us to go to the “fake” middle of the world where the nice monument and park are. Needless to say, it was still entertaining, and expensive, but I felt like a super tourist at that point…

After an eventful day at the middle of the world, we spent the next couple of days being briefed about becoming real volunteers and meeting other important American diplomats who are working in Ecuador. Clearly, these talks varied from non-informative to extremely entertaining, but in all seriousness they were all informative, but we had all been lectured to death by this point. In-between our numerous servings of Papa Johns, Burger King, McDonald’s, Sushi, Snow Biz, and any other “American” food we could get out hands on, we actually learned a great deal about the work that is happening in Ecuador and completed various last minute errands.

Finally, on Wednesday, the big day arrived! We were finally sworn-in as Peace Corps Volunteers by the American Ambassador of Ecuador at her beautiful home in Quito. We also enjoyed an amazing last “free” meal of bagels, fruit, and non-instant coffee. Two of our fellow trainees/volunteers gave speeches that were very inspiring and heartfelt. Then we were off to our sites, after numerous crying fits.

Of course I was the first to say a week ago that I would not cry or be that upset when we all left to go to our sites. I repeatedly said that I was ready to go and needed some personal space, etc. etc. Without a doubt, I was the first one to start boohooing when one of my closest friends left in the first car out of town to head to the jungle. She is about 16 or 18 hours away from me, so the tears were definitely warranted. As each car or taxi drove away, I had a similar laughing/crying attack, which was actually pretty hilarious, but obviously sad as well. While I am definitely excited to finally be at my site, the moment we were all separated made this experience as real as I believe it will ever be.

So, we were the last of the group of volunteers that were leaving on Wednesday night to go. We hopped in our taxis around 9:30pm and headed to the bus terminal to leave for a bus to Guayaquil at 11:15pm. As much as I hate night buses, it was probably one of the better experiences I have had thus far, considering I sat by a close friend and was able to sleep for the majority of the ride. After traveling all night we arrived in Guayaquil around 7:30am, I enjoyed one last breakfast of McDonald’s and hopped on a bus to Colimes around 9:00am. I was completely stressed about my luggage underneath the bus, which was enclosed by a tiny bolt and nothing else. Yet, somehow I made it to Colimes with everything in tack, although very dirty, and met my mom at the bus stop!

Last night could not have been anymore like a movie. We hopped in the taximoto which is literally a cart attached to a motorcycle, which is ok to ride since I am not actually on the motorcycle ha. We arrived at the house and I opened all of my bags and realized that I had of course forgotten how much clothing I actually had, which is a good thing since I am not sure how well my clothes are going to hold up for the next two years. We then had lunch, which was rice, carne, or beef, and a green bean salad, which I helped chop up by the way! Already topping almost all of my meals in the Sierra (sorry). After lunch we sat and talked with the women in the community on the porch, and then began the weirdness of the night…

One of the neighbor’s kids comes over to the store to buy a drink while we are all sitting on the porch and proceeded to tell us that there is a dead man in the river. Of course I believe that I have misheard because A. My Spanish is horrible and B. Obviously no one is this calm when a dead man is floating down the river. So, I lean over and ask my mom to translate, AKA repeat the story slower, and she tells me exactly what I thought I heard. So, naturally I’m freaking out, because the same day I arrive so does the dead man in the river. Not exactly the omen you want to be following you around for the next two years. So, of course, since this is the Campo, or the country, everyone decides that this is worth a look. So, we all head down to the river to catch a peak at the dead guy. I, obviously, have made it clear that I do not want to actually see the dead man, but I figured what is a better way to integrate into my community than to head to a general meeting of everyone in town to see the dead man that has washed ashore.

Thankfully, I never saw the poor guy, but I of course heard the stories that he had no face since the fish had already found him. This of course leads into scary story time, which of course leads into me telling stories about New Orleans and haunted cemeteries and such, of which my brothers already knew a bit about since they watch a fair amount of National Geographic, thanks American T.V.

Despues, or after, as if this night had not already been weird enough, the power goes out in the middle of dinner. After living in the Sierra for two months, where often the power AND the water have a tendency of going out, I was not the least bit surprised, yet considering the circumstances with the dead man and my arrival, I was just waiting on something else super weird to occur. Luckily, the power came back on after about 15 minutes and then the fireworks started… signaling the beginning of the fiestas in Colimes. Needless to say, this was a better ending to the night.

After dinner I hung out for awhile and then watched a little bit of a movie with my mom and brother, James and the Giant Peach, which is obviously for kids but I still could not understand it, and then hung up my mosquito net and got ready for bed. I cannot say that this was my best nights sleep after the dead man in the water, power outage, and scary stories, but I definitely did enjoy sleeping in until 10:00am for the first time in a very long time.

On Friday night we went over to the cathedral after misa, or mass, to see the Image of the Virgen. So, those closest to me already know my stance on religion, so this may not seem like an activity I was very excited to participate in, but it is all about integration, right? So, we get to the church and they begin to bring out the Image of the Virgen, to start the parade. Naturally, I ask my mom if I can take a picture, and since I am standing on the side of it, it is not even a good picture, but she says that it is o.k. so I take out my camera to snap a quick picture. About 2.5 seconds after I take the picture, the Virgen falls out of her box and her kneck snaps off and the Baby Jesus in her hand breaks off as well... talk about enough bad omens for one week. And of course this had never happen before I arrived. Si es mi vida....

I am not sure what is planned for the rest of the week, but I plan on lying low and hanging out with everyone until Monday morning. Monday afternoon I have a meeting with the Health Promoters in town and Tuesday I have a meeting at the PLAN office in Santa Lucia. My mom got me out of work at the PLAN office by telling them that I had not arrived yet, so for that I am ever so thankful! I am excited because the big fiestas start next weekend, so that means lots more baile, or dancing, and hopefully a new outfit to wear as well!

I cannot believe that I am finally a real volunteer. I felt like this day would never come, but I actually made it after a year and eight months since I applied! I know that the real challenges are ahead, but I am ready for them, come what may.

~Viva la Costa~

Tiffany (or Estephanie)

Walk Like an Ecuadorian….

Looking back, I honestly cannot believe that we only have one more week of training left and then a few days in the capital city, Quito, and then we will officially swear-in as Peace Corps Volunteers! I can truly say that, at times, it has felt like two years instead of two months, but to actually have made it this far, I believe is an accomplishment in itself. I have heard from almost every volunteer that training is the most difficult part of service, which has definitely been a relief for me. While I really enjoy some aspects of training, it is pretty intense. We work a ton, sleep a little and occasionally have down time, but I believe it has seriously been a rewarding experience and I feel that I am as prepared as I can be to move to my site and begin my service.

This past week we traveled to the province of Manabi on the Coast for our technical trip. Manabi is one province closer to the Coast from Guyas, where I will be living. It is pretty hot there, but it is beautiful and there are fewer mosquitoes than in my site, but they are definitely still there! Basically, tech trip is an opportunity for us to practice giving charlas, or presentations, practice our Spanish, and learn more about what other volunteers around Ecuador are doing. There were four different tech trips, two for the health group and two for the youth and families group. It appears that our trip was the most intense, considering we were up every morning at the latest by 6:00 a.m, but usually 5:30 a.m. to take a bus at least an hour and a half away to give our charlas. Which means we also had to travel back to our hotel and prepare for the next day. One day we traveled six hours to give a charla, and therefore it was our worst. In total we gave 18 charlas… which is pretty impressive considering the highest number of charlas given besides for our group was four. Essentially, we had pleanty of practice!

The theme of our first charla on Monday was HIV/AIDS and we presented it to three groups of high school students. Our first charla was a bit rough, but by the end of it we were rolling. The next day we did a charla for a group of kids in middle school about recycling. It was pretty funny, and definitely reminded me of my friend Hannah, the recycling queen! Yet, I also realized that I am not very informed about recycling, so I definitely need to brush up on that before going to my site.

On Wednesday, we helped out a volunteer with a health event at which all of the women from her town and neighboring towns were offered free pap smears, which is obviously a huge deal in Ecuador. Some of the women there had never had a pap smear and already had numerous children or were older. It was so weird to think of something so simple that most women do every year as something that some women had never even heard of. We had two tables where we gave a quick charla about how to do a self-exam for breasts, which most of the women had never even heard of. The other group did a charla about la Ley Maternidad, or Maternal Law, which provides free healthcare to children under the age of five and for a major part of services related to pregnancy. Many women in this country are not informed that they and their children are eligible for free medical services and it really is an awesome thing. I definitely plan on working with this theme a lot in my site.

Friday, we had the privilege of joining an former Peace Corps language facilitator and counterpart to see what he is working on now and we also gave charlas to two groups of jovenes, or teenagers, about the importance to plan pregnancies and pretty much any other major decision of this sort. Needless to say, this was a bit of a touchy topic, and I can honestly say that this was the most awkward of all of our charlas. First, I felt that we did not have adequate Spanish to discuss a topic that is pretty intense in Ecuador, and I also felt that we needed to have more confianza, or trust, with the group before we just basically began criticizing their way of life. It was definitely pretty intense, but I believe the groups still enjoyed themselves.

On Thursday night, we finally had a break and we had a BBQ and a little fiesta, or party, at a place called La Finca. It was overall pretty awesome. One of the volunteers is a friend of the owner and he hooked up with amazing seafood and pretty much anything else we wanted. It was definitely nice to have a little break after working muy duro (really hard) all week.

Overall, I learned during out tech trip that my Spanish needs to improve… drastically, which I think will make giving charlas less intimidating and easier. I also learned that being prepared counts much more here. It is much more difficult to swing a presentation in another language. I am not really sure how I did not figure this out during college, but I am definitely aware of this now!

We returned from our tech trip on Friday extremely exhausted, but I had to rest up for Saturday since I had the privilege to dance in the fiestas with my family again. This time it was even more fun because my entire family was there, including the in-laws who were hosting the majority of it. We left the house to begin dancing a 5:00 p.m. and we danced until 5:00 a.m. in the morning… no lie. It was definitely an experience. We danced and partied so hard that by the morning, everyone had cried at least once. It was honestly amazing, and I can say I have pretty much never felt so welcomed. I even had a fan club of 4 jovenes, which were really cute and fun. I am really excited to see how the fiestas in the Coast are different, and fortunately they start the weekend I arrive, so I will get to experience them first thing!

Basically, the past week has been extremely intense but definitely a great experience! I am ready to knock out this last week of training and enjoy some down time with my favorite people before we all head to our sites! I cannot believe that swear in is so close! I would be lying if I said that I have not had a single doubt throughout training, but I believe just making it through this week has reinforced why I joined the Peace Corps and why I wanted to come here. I think this will honestly be one of the best experiences of my life… the good, the bad, and the occasional ugly. I absolutely feel like I am becoming a little more Ecuadorian everyday…

Viva La Costa!

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

The news we have all been waiting for...

So, today was the big day! We finally had our sites revealed to us and I am headed to the Coast of Ecuador! I am so incredibly excited! I am about a 85 KM from the largest city in Ecuador, Guayaquil, and about two hours away from the playa (the beach!)! I am so excited! Wait, I believe I may have already said that… ha

My site is located in Colimes, which is a fairly large town (for the Peace Corps anyhow) of a total population of about 21,490 people. I will be working in Public Health with a concentration on nutrition, tropical diseases and parasites, teen pregnancy and sex education. All things that I have a great interest in and am very excited to learn more about and get my hands dirty, so to speak. For all you who are interested, there is running water, phone service, and internet in my town, so everyone should be delighted to hear that! Especially those of you who will be coming to visit *Hint Hint*

Saturday is the big day that we are leaving to go visit our sites! Some of us will be leaving Saturday; while others who have closer sites will be leaving on Sunday. In total, I have 13 hour overnight bus ride... so, that is going to be pretty intense! But we will be traveling through Quito and Guayaquil so maybe we will have the chance to hit up some nice food locations!

The agencies that I will be working with are Plan Ecuador Santa Lucia and NUTRINNFA. With these organizations and my counterpart, who is an Ecuadorian who the Peace Corps has assigned to me, I will be giving presentations about nutrition with high school teachers and also giving presentations regarding themes like sexual and reproductive health to youths in three high schools. I will also be working with the promoters from Plan International/Plan Ecuador in sexual and reproductive health. My secondary projects are to work in technology and communication, which we all know how much I love technology, in high schools and work to create new business ventures. So, basically I have my hands pretty full for the next two years! Needless to say, all of this can change whenever I actually get to my site, even my counterpart and the agencies that I am working with. Overall, I am ecstatic, but I am obviously pretty nervous as we are going through two of the largest bus terminals in Ecuador this weekend in one trip! Also, of course this is my first time to visit my site, so obviously all of this is new and exciting, but also a bit nerve racking.

There is apparently one volunteer that is already there that is pretty close to me that was actually a volunteer in Bolivia before they were evacuated. I hear he is pretty cool, so I am definitely excited to meet him! Also, I am very excited to meet my counterpart and I hope we get along very well, or at least professionally! I believe my host family has four members, but I cannot be sure until I arrive this weekend. My host mom will be meeting me at the bus terminal, so that is a pretty sweet setup. I will be living with her for the first three months at my site, and I will be staying with her for the five day visit at my site this coming week. I am so excited to get some fresh seafood and fruit, and I guess I will have to begin my long journey to love bananas this week as well!

Other than site visits, which have obviously been the major highlight of this week, there was a small disturbance in Cayambe, which is the town we travel through at least twice a week to get to our technical training and general meetings. Here in Ecuador there is a large Indigenous population and they are known to take justice into their own hands when someone from their community commits a crime. Earlier this week three Indigenous teenagers were accused of murdering a camioneta driver (camionetas are like taxis, except they are trucks) and the community wanted the one captured teenager back in order to execute their own form of justice and locate the others who were accused. Obviously, the police did not want to give the suspect back because he has not formally been proven guilty. So, various members of the Indigenous community rioted in the streets of Cayambe yesterday and there was tear gas thrown and other things that were definitely a first experience for me. It was a little scary, but it was also a reality check for many of us who, up until this point, had not really considered that things of this nature happen in Ecuador. Obviously the Peace Corps has an amazing emergency action plan and they were able to get all of us out of harms way without any problems.

This week we have a day and half of language classes left before we head to our sites! Everyone is very excited and ready to visit our sites! I will update everyone on my adventures as soon as I return!

Peace, Love, and Ecuador

Ciao

Tiffany :D