September 19, 2009

Thats a photo of me with my new hair cut (see below for the story)

So I know my posts have been a little dry but I've had an interesting time recently, so hopefully I can add some humor in here (Now that I’ve written the whole thing I came back to say it’s really long, sorry! It’s so hard to try to write everything in a semi-organized fashion, I kinda just write what I would say, which can be pretty verbose and scattered. If I were a good writer I would go back and rewrite, but alas I don’t have the time, patience, or urge to do so. So you get to follow along my though processes for an exorbitant amount of time) The first thing that comes in mind to share is my first “teaching” experience in Ecuador. I use quotes because I was supposed to be observing my host mom teaching language classes (side note: Thursday I really wanted to go back to work but I hadn’t heard back from my counterpart so I tagged along with my host mom. And by really wanted to go back to work I mean I really wanted to go back to sleep when my 6am alarm went off, but after a week and I half without working I knew that afternoon I would regret not getting up and doing something productive, soo I threw myself in the freezing cold shower and was instantly awake). So I get into this 3rd grade classroom with my host mom and she teaches for a few minutes, and boy are these kids restless. It’s a very different environment in the classrooms here, very chaotic and she literally has to scream for them to hear/listen to her. Then she comes over and tells me she has a meeting with the directora (principal) and a couple of the moms, and she’ll be back in 5 minutes. I’m like um ok great? So she leaves the kids with a little story to read in their textbooks. Wellll that lasts for about 2.5 minutes, then one by one they start misbehaving. At first they’re just joking around, then they start running around, then they start climbing the windows like little monkeys (the windows are just bars without glass, and they start about chest level for me, so they had to grab hold and pull up – I'm impressed by the agility of these kids!). Then some of them start running out of the door. A few ask me to go to the bathroom, and I let the first one go, but then when all of them asked, I figured out quickly they just wanted to escape. I felt like a movie star, surrounded by paparazzi touching me and asking me questions, except this was little kids poking me until I looked at them and asking repeatedly to go to the bathroom. Well I had a dilemma because I didn’t want anyone to pee their pants (how embarrassing for little kids!) and I was afraid that the one who needed the bathroom would be denied because the group wanted attention. At this point the noise had drawn a crowd of the parents who hadn’t left yet, some of whom were yelling at their children to sit down and behave. So I decided the safest thing was to ask the parents, so I asked one of the moms about the bathroom thing, and she said not to let them go because the 1 I had let go was picking a fight somewhere. Well, then some of them decided they wanted to just go without permission, so I lost two more out the door, one of whom wasn’t even in the class according to the moms. So the moms were like, just close the door duh! Again, dilemma: do I literally lock these kids in the room with me, that seems like entrapment or holding them against their will or something? But ruling out the moral issues, I decided that the legal system here probably wouldn’t have a problem with it and what else was I supposed to do?? So I shut the door and stood in front of it, checking my watch. It had gone from calm reading to totally loco in about 7 minutes. At this point they were running and throwing things and writing on the board and erasing what the teacher had written and all kinda of crazy stuff, so I confiscated the dryboard eraser and markers and a large stick someone had pulled out of nowhere and remained guarding the door. A male teacher came by at one point and restored semi-order for about 30 seconds then he lost interest and left as did the parents, so now I was on my own with these boogers. I knew if I took charge by teaching something they would calm down but I didn’t really wanna go there, so I kept checking my watch. 20 minutes. Chaos. Kids asking me stuff in Spanish amidst all of this = no way I could understand. Then it happened, I was talking to one child and I heard laughter. When I turned a boy was pulling up his pants – he had been depantsed. That was the end of it, I had let it go too long and I was taking charge. I yelled for all of them to sit down immediately and when they saw the look on my face they obeyed, only a few of the problem children resisting, but they gave in very quickly with my “obey or else” look. So after I had them at least seated (there were still paper airplanes flying) I asked them if they had learned any English in school, which caught their attention as well. They had learned the numbers 1-9 so we recited those, and I was teaching them the numbers 10-15 when my host mom fiiiiinally returned, a little proud smile on her face when she saw I was teaching English to a well-behaved class of 35 demon children. 5 minutes with the hora ecuatoriano (Ecuadorian hour) = 30 minutes real time. I was soo glad she came back to a well behaved classroom and didn’t see what a mess I’d made of it while she was gone! Well I sat and de-stressed while these little angels told her how great I had done when she was gone and how they really wanted me to come back. Yah, no way if there’s any chance I’ll be alone with them for more than a few minutes. Just a note, they acted up like crazy even while the teacher was there, kids getting out of their seats when they felt like it, yelling out answers, walking/climbing around. Phew I would looove to see these children in American schools – they wouldn’t be able to act like that where there’s actually a system of respect and discipline – or maybe I just haven’t visited any American schools recently. This just reminded me of a zoo with a trainer trying to control AND teach the animals, but really just yelling and hoping to make a difference in 1 or 2 of the 35 children’s lives. I did work 1 on 1 with some of the kids during the group work time, which was actually pretty cool. They’ll listen to anything I have to say since I'm a new gringa! That was class #1.
Class #2 was 4th graders, and I was a little worried when we were walking to that class and my host mom said “that was the easy class, here comes the crazy one.” I silently prayed I wouldn’t be left alone with them or I might just walk out on the Ecuadorian education system. Well as usual they were really quiet and shy when I first introduced myself, but one I took a backstage seat and watched my host mom teach they opened up a little bit. Then they started coming up to me and asking questions, or just coming up to say hi, which was cute except for the fact that my host mom was still standing teaching. I also strategically stood near a few boys who seemed to be having issues, which helped them focus on the teacher very nicely – good old proximity control! There were 2 boys in particular in this class who seemed to have a lot of issues paying attention and sitting still, but they also seemed to be looking for affirmation, so they would bring up their notebooks while she was teaching just to show her how good of notes they were taking. Adorable, but I could tell they were really wearing her patience, so I tried to help keep them focused. Well they were learning about articles in this particular lesson (la, el, los, las, etc – aka “the” in English) and my host mom wrote about 20 words on the board and had them copy and fill in the articles. Some of the children were running up every answer to ask her to check them so she was very busy. So busy she didn’t notice a boy copying the answers from his friends notebook. I bet he thought he was really sneaky, he kept peeking under the desk, writing, then looking around the room for a minute. Buuut clever as he was it was obvious since I was watching him. I walked over and before he had noticed and hidden the notebook I had my hand out and told him to give it to me. The notebook quickly disappeared into his friend’s backpack, so I told him he needed to do his own work and that I would be watching – I don’t think he was my biggest fan. Well, at this point everyone keeps coming up and tattling that so and so it cheating. Not only did I not know their names, but I was at this point walking around the room simultaneously helping kids who were struggling and using proximity control to control the cheating. I noticed a couple things that bother me about the education system here. For one, the kids who are trying get a lot of punishment. For example, several of the kids kept walking up, putting their notebooks on the teachers desk, standing there, and copying the words from the board. Or they would get up and come to me to ask what the word on the board was (they couldn’t read her handwriting). The teacher would notice them and yell at them to sit down they shouldn’t be out of their seats. But they kept doing it and kept being yelled at. I figured it was because either the handwriting (something they can’t help), or they were sitting too far away to see (something they can’t help – the classrooms here are set very backheavy, away from the teacher and the board, because of how large the rooms are, so a lot of kids are really far back. This encourages distraction/goofing off and makes it hard for kids to hear/see. I think this is a general problem with schools here since I've seen it in every school I've been in). I received confirmation when I was working with a really sweet quiet boy who just couldn’t do the assignment. He was supposed to copy words from the board into lines but only could do it when I was spelling it out for him. Then there was a word-search and he had to look for different words off the board and again he just stared at his paper with a sad look on his face. When I explained he just needed to find those words, he nodded then just looked up at the board. So I asked him if he wanted me to copy the words down for him and he nodded. I copied the words and told him I’d come check on him in a minute. I kept an eye on him and saw he wasn’t copying them from his neighbor, he was intently doing this word search. When I went back a few minutes later he proudly showed me his paper, completed perfectly. After the class I told my host mom about this and she said she knows he can’t read. But he had read the sentences in his book to me, so I explained I think it’s a problem with self-esteem and the fact that he can’t see the board. She then explained how she doesn’t have time to help him with the other 35+ kids demanding so much attention, which is frustrating but absolutely true. There are a few kids who are so desperate for attention (who show signs that this is due to abuse or neglect at home) that she can’t begin to focus on working with the more reserved ones, so they just fall through the cracks. It’s terrible and I know it goes on back in the states too, but the scale is much more extreme here. From my initial surveys with community members, it seems like a lot of kids don’t finish high school, usually for economic reasons (they have to work in the fields or on the streets). I also think a lot of this inability to divide attention equally stems from the lack of disciple/order in the classroom. It is completely chaotic. I believe that in some smaller schools out in the campo this isn’t as much of an issues, as my visit to the school of my counterpart was nothing like this, but I think the schools in the city (at least both of my host parents schools) are completely chaotic. My host brother was telling me that when he was in elementary school, during recess a couple of 4th graders were play-WWF-wrestling (this is how a lot of tragic stories begin) and one ended up in a choke-hold for too long and asphyxiated. I know that happened a lot in the states too, but things in the states changed as a result. Here, it seems very little has changed. My host bro said recess is better now, but when I was there kids were climbing on walls and roofs, running with sticks, throwing rocks, and smuggling candy and who knows what else in through the windows. It was unbelievable. They literally corralled them for 10 minutes to get them back into classes, and during this time I took away weapons (large sticks, rocks, etc) from 3 different kids who were chasing their classmates around. There’s a little cultural difference for you, the kids here are violent. They hit, kick, scream, do whatever they want and they generally receive nothing besides maybe a look from the adult. There doesn’t appear to be much discipline in general because the attitude is “oh it’s okay that he just punched the other child, he’s just playing. That’s normal.” And I don’t mean light punches, they’re full out aggressive attacks. It’s worse with boys than girls, but I have seen many a girl throw a tantrum when she doesn’t get her way or get into physical violence with a peer. The adults are very permissive with children here and pretty much let them do anything, even though they usually weakly say “no, don’t do that” a few times, but they always give in. Bad news when no never means no for a person’s whole life (which also apparently translates to other social settings but thankfully I haven’t had any issues there). Okay another issues with the system here: recess occurs not between classes but during a class. Soo we have the kids in this class for 45 minutes, then they go run and act crazy for 15, then they go back for 45, and of course are going to do absolutely nothing for at least the first 20 minutes. So we’re looking at about an hour of productive (and I say that loosely) time for this class period.. Who’s idea was that, really?? It would be so easy to correct, and also just by moving the classrooms into a structured format (all facing forward, closer to the board/teacher), and implementing a little discipline.. I can imagine the differences. Anyway, when class was over the 4th graders were so cute, they all came up and shook my hand – that time I felt like a celebrity doing good, not surrounded by paparazzi. Well I only went to those 2 classes with my mom because the only class she was supposed to have had been changed to computers for the day, so she only was teaching 2. So after that, we left early and I headed to the market to buy some veggies. When I was walking back I passed a couple kids from the first class and they stopped to talk to me. It was then I decided that no matter what else I do here in my site, I want to work with kids in the schools at least part of my time, even if it’s just once a week. Whether I’m teaching English, or helping children individually in classes, or working with the kids to develop a tutoring program, that afternoon was the happiest I've been since I've been at my site. I’ve had days when I’ve accomplished more, but this reminded me why I’m here in Ecuador, why I’m dealing with all of the changes and cultural differences, and why I’m putting myself through missing my life at home. And I know it’s not the kind of work that’s going to change the world, but if I change just one or two of their lives I think it’ll be enough of a reward for me. I want to balance this with the organizational work I’m going to be doing, and hopefully in that aspect I’ll be able to work on sustainable development. That part of my work is so overwhelming and obscure – how am I supposed to know how to create programs that are sustainable, that will help the community, etc., and what exactly AM I supposed to be doing?? I know it’ll work itself out with time, but for now it’s really difficult to deal with. Working with the kids provided me with some sort of concrete experience – it’s easy and I know how to do it, and I enjoy it. So that’s what I need right now, and that’s what I’m gonna do

Since this is already over 4 pages, I’m gonna save the other topics I was going to write about for another time, except to tell about my first Ecuadorian hair cut. So I explained to my host mom that I needed to cut my hair since it was long enough to tie up and it hadn’t been cut for 4.5 months now. She asked how I wanted it and I showed her a picture like it was before and explained I just wanted it layered, basically just like it was but all of it shorter. She said some word back and demonstrated with her hands what I’d just described, so I thought we had an understanding. So we headed to the beauty salon here. She talked to the lady and I said a few words of clarification, used hand gestures to explain, everything I could so this would go smoothly (a fellow volunteer had a very bad experience with her first haircut and ended up with a mullet and I was trying to avoid it). Well she starts cutting. Things are looking pretty good for awhile, then she starts cutting some parts really short but I keep telling myself she knows what she’s doing and throw a few words to clarify again, and she appears to understand. Well the scissors are moving as fast as her mouth, and I swear she’s cutting without looking at this point, just chatting with my host mom. Eventually I start literally squirming in my seat, telling myself it’s just hair and it’ll grow out, then finally it’s over. I’m just staring blankly in the mirror (the woman’s still just chatting away not noticing anything, blow-drying my hair) when my host brother walks in and says something about how my hair is shorter than his (he does have pretty long wavy hair, so it’s not like I have a buzz cut or anything), then he sees my face/reaction, laughs, and walks away chuckling to himself. In the end she didn’t layer it, didn’t cut everything, just cut some parts really short and left some parts long – basically did nothing I told her to do. Okay, the top is still pretty long (3.5 inches or so, don’t think she cut it at all), the back was cut to about 1.5 inches, but not the sides in the back (that part is like half an inch), and the sides range from 2 inches to .5 inches, depending on which part. Now, my whole point of cutting my hair was because I wanted it shorting because for one it’s a lot cooler here in the heat, and I guess the lady accomplished that much at least. Buut for whatever reason, they seem to think Americans like mullets (which I blame on the American TV shows they have here). Before you start judging, my hair wasn’t a total mullet, but definitely was a close cousin, too close for me. So I pay the lady the dollar and walk out stunned, trying to decide how long it will take before I can meet up with any other Americans or take any pictures of myself. And my host mom is insisting she likes it, so I tell her I like it to – what good does it do to be negative at that point? Well now a few days later, I’m actually starting to like it. I know it hasn’t grown a lot, but it doesn’t look like a mullet anymore, and my only big issue is I wish the top part was a little shorter (but I’m not getting into going back to any salons here). It’s actually a lot of fun, after I shower I just towel dry it then let it air dry without using a brush, and it’s really wild and curly looking. With a little mousse it would be more fun (and with a little gel it could seriously be a Mohawk, which I think I’m going to have to try at some point). Then after it’s dry I can brush it so it looks like I didn’t roll out of bed, but it still sticks up and is curly some. It’s very free and wild (not to mention really cool in the hot climate) while still presentable - I think my hair type is perfect for this cut. I got compliments from my coworkers today when they saw it, and I'm really happy with it. So the lesson: I guess everything works out in the end, even scary Ecuadorian haircuts. I just need to get it cut and wait a few days before leaving the house so it fixes itself



Okay I realize this turned into a long, probably really boring entry, but I had decided to be sure to write this weekend especially since I’ve gotten lots of encouragement from my friends back home: I’m glad those of you who are reading this are reading it and letting me know (not sure if that sentence makes sense). It’s really easy to feel like people don’t read my blog which makes it easy to not write often, especially since I get to talk to my family fairly often so it’s not like this is the only means of communication with them. It’s hard not being able to chat with you all when I want to, and I always think “oh man ___ would really get a kick out of this”, or “I wish I could tell ___ about this” – buuut then I usually forget before I write it down haha! And I really like getting little messages or facebook chatting about what’s going on in your lives (you know who you are) sooo send those when you have time! And if you haven’t heard it, look up “You know you want me” by Pitbull and Calle Ocho – it’s playing all the time here and therefore is in my head constantly, and I actually really like it.

One more little thing: I am feeling much better. I don’t know what tropical illness I had, but I know it was probably transmitted by mosquitoes and it was either a systemic viral infection or dengue fever. I'm gonna get a test later on to check if it was dengue, but the point is I am feeling almost back to normal. The only thing is that I’m really tired, sleeping 12 hrs a night, which I think is how it will be for awhile. I did start running again, and once I get back to a regular work routine, I think the tiredness will work itself out. Maybe I’ll just be going to bed at 8pm for awhile like I have been, but that’s okay because I think that’s what my body needs right now. It was definitely one of the most miserable times in my life, which was all that much harder since I’m here away from my home. Thanks for all the well-wishes, they really helped me feel better! And yes, I’m trying to avoid the mosquitoes, but the little buggers are really fast and smart – I've gotten a couple bites today and I can’t figure out when or how but apparently they were in my pants somehow. I’m killing them as fast as I can but they’re pretty much everywhere here and they’re small and sneaky and did I mention fast? :)

Ok thanks for reading this long entry (unless you cheated and just skipped to the end like I used to do in the “Make Your Own Adventure” books…)

Jessica

Grandma: Since I know you read this to grandpa when mom gives it to you, I just wanted to say hi and I love you and miss you. I just got your letter with the newspaper clippings – the article about the world’s oldest dog and the comics. You know, I never read the comics back in the states, but I really like getting them here. I’ve hung them on the wall with my pictures (I brought some with me to Ecuador and mom has been mailing me some too, so I made a collage). I know this will probably take awhile to get to you, and the next letter you write will take awhile to get to me, but I just wanted to say thank you for consistently writing me. I hope you are both healthy and happy, and I think about you often too. Try not to worry, I am doing well here. I’m glad you have the opportunity to read these blog entries and hopefully they’re interesting enough to keep you entertained! Miss you and Love you both! Jess

Jodi Stapleton, I just saw you are following my blog. How are you??? Are you still at DCCH? I want an update on how you´re doing and all! Miss you!!

So I´ve been sick for the last week and this is my first day feeling back to normal, and I want to post something but the only thing I have is what I´ve done for the Peace Corps about my sickness, so here that is. I´ll make a real post when I´ve got some energy again!

Monday: went to bed at 8 because of a headache and low fever (around 100°F) that started after dinner
Tuesday: woke with bad headache (pain around the eyes, forehead, temples, back of the head) and achy body (mostly neck and back). Stayed home and slept until 2pm, then read for most of the day. Thinking it was possibly a tension headache, I went for a jog at 5pm. Afterwards I showered and felt more relaxed but the headache was persistent. I went to bed at 8pm with a fever of 100.4°F and took Tylenol from the med kit to reduce the fever. IWell then i woke up at 1145 to pee, freeeeezing cold. So i put on more clothes. Let me describe this to you: i’m sleeping in a room that was 76 degrees that night, sleeping in: shorts, track pants, socks, a tank top, long sleeve shirt, and hoodie sweatshirt with the hood up, underneath a sheet and a heavy wool blanket. Well i couldnt get warm and back to sleep, so i took my temperatura and it was up a little, around 101.6 or so. Since i was then cold and hungry, i got up and made some hot chocolate with a rice/chicken broth soup – my mind was thinking i was getting a stomach problem because of not washing strawberries with Vitalin (a washing agent) on Sunday. So finally i feel full and almost warm, so i took some ibuprofen, laid down and start shivering. I had trouble sleeping because I was so cold and shivering so dozed until about 2:15am. I then got up to use the bathroom and when I returned to my room I checked my temperature (102.6°F). At that point I removed the clothing and blankets, wiped down with cool water, and took another Tylenol from the med kit for the fever. I was able to fall asleep after about 45 minutes and slept until 8:45am on Wednesday.
Wednesday: When I checked my temperature around 9am it had returned to a low fever (100.8°F). I called Dr. and left a message on his cell phone around 9:30am and when I hadn’t heard back I called the emergency cell number around 11:30am. He then called me back and instructed me to buy Tempra 500 every 4 hours for 24 hours for the headache and to not take any more ibuprofen. The headache had subsided to a dull ache with more sharp pain when standing, bending down, or making rapid movements. I went to the pharmacy and bought the Tempra 500 and began taking at 3:00pm. I went to bed early that evening, waking to take each dose of the Tempra.
Thursday: I woke around 10am with just a slight headache remaining. I finished the last dose of Tempra at 11:00am on Thursday. I called Dr. in the early afternoon on Thursday and told him I felt much better and that the headache had all but passed. My left ankle was hurting pretty severely but I figured it was unrelated and I had just twisted or irritated the ankle, which I previously injured. Also, my back was hurting but I figured it was just from laying in my bed so much in the past few days. Around 4:00pm but i knew the next symptom would be a rash starting on the hands or feet (according to this great book they gave us). I was sitting at the park and kept thinking i saw a rash on my hands and forearms, but then couldnt decided if i was just imagining or creating it, psychologically, because i knew it would be next if it was dengue. Talk about a mind-game. So i just decided to ignore it since i would find out soon enough (if i had a rash the next step would be a high fever in the night). When i got home i hung out, then when i went to shower i noticed the beginnings of a rash on my feet and thighs, plus a definite rash on my back. I kinda freaked out at that point, showered quickly, and called the doc. My host family suggested it was Dengue Fever after seeing the rash. I also took several photos of the rash. He instructed me to take 2 Diphen (Benadryl) from the med kit immediately and 1 more before midnight. At this point I did not have a headache but my ankle and back were still hurting. The blood vessels in my eyes had also ruptured and parts of my eyes were very red. When I put LiquidTears in my eyes they burned and the redness spread. I also had a low fever around 100°F. I took the Diphen and slept until the next morning.
Friday: I woke on Friday with a worse headache than before and could barely get out of bed. It was originating from behind my eyes and forehead, was worse when I was getting up or moving around, and I couldn’t move my head without feeling nauseous from the headache. It was pounding when I was lying still and unbearable when I was moving around. I called Dr. that morning and was told to not take any Tylenol/Tempra and to take Diphen for the rash. He also said I would probably be able to go to Guayaquil to Clinic Kennedy on Saturday if not improved. I took a Diphen and slept until 12pm, ate lunch and showered, then went back to sleep until 5:30pm. I sat around and watched TV until bedtime and tried to go to sleep. I had a fever around 100.5°F throughout the night. I was unable to sleep because of the headache and felt like I was going to throw up because of the pain, but finally fell asleep at 5am with a cold rag on my head.
Saturday: I woke on Saturday at 730am with the same unbearable headache and my host brother offered to take me to Guayaquil to go to the doctor. I tried to call Dr. between 8:30am and 9am but was unable to get through, so I decided to leave for Guayaquil and call en route. A fellow PCV sent me the number for the other PC doc (which I had failed to put in my phone), so I called her and spoke to her. She authorized me to go to Clinic Kennedy, so I went. I arrived at 10:30am and was given a bed immediately and completed paperwork. So I got to the ER and was given a room immediately, and a nurse took my blood pressure and temperature (they take their temp in the armpit, which was weiiiiird). Then the doc came in and I described my symptoms to him, and he said they were going to do some blood work. So a labtech drew 2 vials of blood, and only needed 3 holes to do so! Then I laid in the ER for 2 hrs while they checked the results. Finally, 4 hrs after arriving the doc came in and said he didn’t think it was dengue but rather a systemic viral infection, but he wasn’t sure either way (the dengue lab will be negative until 2 weeks after onset of symptoms, so I hve to be rechecked in a couple weeks to know if it was dengue). Either way, he prescribed me some pain meds and vitamin c (?) and I headed on my way after paying a huuuge amount, thankfully Peace Corps will reimburse me! Well I felt like I was going to throw up and starting passing out while I waited for my bro, so the first thing we did was get lunch and I took the pain meds. About 40 min later the pain had subsided and I felt soo much better, still crappy but not in tremendous pain. Saturday I continued to take the Parabay and it continued to help with the headache.
Sunday: I woke and still had the dull headache but it was significantly improved since Friday. I stopped taking the Parabay to see if the headache would return and it did return somewhat but much less strongly. I still feel a little groggy and very tired, but the pain remains as a low pain, no longer sharp and nauseating.
Now Monday im not feeling pain much, just achiness and groggy and really really tired, so hopefully that’s the end of my illness.

So, Dengue or no Dengue? I´ll find out with a blood test in a couple weeks..