6 de Noviembre 2009
So I'm hanging out bored playing online jigsaw puzzles (yup got back into that old habit again!) and figured I might as well update all of you. 3 updates in 2 days - good luck trying to keep up :)

So I was in my first earthquake last week. Before you get too excited, it wasn’t a big deal – just a small shake. I was sitting at the kitchen table working on my computer and the family was scattered throughout the house. My chair shook and I looked around the chair to pet the dog, thinking he was hitting the chair leg for attention but he wasn’t anywhere near. I looked pretty loco looking down and around the chair. I was confused for a minute then just ignored it and went back to the work. A few minutes later my host brother burst out of his room and my mom came out and they started talking about the “earthquake”. They looked at me and asked if I felt it and I explained yes but I thought the dog had pulled a sneak attack which they thought was funny. Anyway, it was barely noticeable and people standing didn’t feel it, so it wasn’t a big deal but in addition to the 3 major earthquakes they’ve had in eastern Ecuador, it’s a healthy reminder that it is possible here. Since I don’t have any experience with earthquakes I read over safety tips and stuff so if we get a bigger one I’ll be prepared. It’s weird having the ground moving like that though!

So for Halloween a group of us met up in the big city, dressed up, and went out to a discoteca. I dressed up as a vampire, pretty easy but as it turns out wearing a sweater in a totally packed club wasn’t my best decision! But at least everyone was totally sweating from dancing and the heat. It was a lot of fun though. It had a cover then free drinks after that, but of course the drinks were bottom shelf stuff. Being my first time out in Guayaquil I was a little nervous so I just had a couple beers and called it a night. Super packed, but I think the club would be more fun on a normal night, so I bet we’ll be heading back there sometime. It was also nice to get to hang out with other volunteers that aren’t in my training class in addition to our normal crew. With so many of us near the big city we tend to hang out with each other a lot since we know each other already. Even though in the states I don’t really do much on Halloween, it was nice getting to do something here – the American holidays can be lonely and suddenly are much more important here. The Ecuadorians also celebrated Halloween to an extent. Children dress up in costume all day, just going about their normal business – go to the store, walk around town dressed in costume. Then in the evening the teens and young adults go to clubs or parties dressed in costume. To me it seemed more that they are embracing the American holiday as a way to have a party – totally legit though! This assumption is based on the fact that my host brother asked me why we celebrate Halloween and said here they celebrate because we do in the states. It also may be related to the Ecuadorian holiday November 1. This is the “Dia de los Santos” and it’s a huge holiday here. The families all gather and go to the cemetery to celebrate their loved ones. There are also different foods and food venders chill out by the cemetery selling food and drinks. The youth often head to the beach to celebrate because the entire country is off work for Monday and Tuesday, and the schools take the whole week for vacations. It is pretty interesting

A really gross (and very Peace Corps-like) story… I was in a hurry to get somewhere so I unpacked my backpack onto my bed very quickly. I had pens and pencils and erasers and that kinda stuff in it, so I was just grabbing by the handful and putting on the bed. Well I put a handful on the bed then as I was scooping another I saw something moving in the previous pile. I moved the piece of paper off and it was a huge cockroach, like 4 inches long. He was upside down so he couldn’t move or anything, so I had a minute to freak out! I jumped up and down and shook my hands and made this high pitched squeaking noise with the little air I could manage to breathe (I didn’t want to alarm my host brother into thinking there was something terrible happening). After a few minutes of that followed by a stream of curse words I realized I had 2 options. Deal with it myself or get my host brother, who would make fun of me for the rest of my time here in Ecuador. I started to get him then realized will be living in my own place soon and I might as well start dealing with this stuff now. So I double bagged a couple grocery bags, picked it up like you pick up dog poop, tied it, put it on the ground, and proceeded to rain-dance on it until I was sure it was sufficiently dead (about 5 minutes later). I carefully picked up the bag and put it out in the trash. Then I grabbed my soap and washed my hands for several minutes, scrubbing every part that may have touched the nasty thing. After this ordeal I dumped the backpack contents and went for a walk to clear my memory a little. Thinking about this later, I realize how lucky I have been with my Peace Corps experience as far as gross bugs and such!

Well we are officially 2 weeks short of our “3 months in site” date! And as such, I have my official site visit coming up soon, where one my manager people comes to my site to see how things are going. I’m stressing about this a little because my work is still very… slow and complicated. Hopefully she can help me work things out a little bit though. Also I have to have apartments ready to be approved. The apartment search has been incredibly difficult but I finally got a lucky break yesterday. A friend of my family showed me an apartment on the main street, which was nice but waaay out of the Peace Corps price range, so I explained that to him and he was like “well me and my family are living in a house near your current house” (and a bunch of stuff I didn’t understand) which didn’t make sense to me because I wasn’t interested in living with another family. But I followed him to the house where there were like 3 women and a couple kids and he started showing it to me. Not sure exactly how to broach the subject I said “it’s nice, but don’t they live here…?” at which point I realized what I hadn’t understand previously, that they are just living there temporarily to fix it up. So everyone had a good laugh as the lightbulb clicked in my head for everyone to see. It’s really great though, so I’m hoping it works out. I’ll know in 2 weeks if it gets approved, and if it does I’ll give more details then. I’m still looking for more places but I really love that house so cross your fingers for me!!

So one of the things I’ve been cooking for my family since I got here is spaghetti, because they love it. However, last weekend when I was out of town my host mom decided to cook it herself. It was both a relief and saddening for me. Relief because now if they want spaghetti they can cook it. Sad because that was kinda my “thing”, my way of contributing, and now I’m not really needed anymore. She made it for lunch again today so I pushed down the bad feelings and told her how good it was. It was really good, lacked a few things so I gave her some pointers, but I think she was relieved I liked it. It’s a very strange thing though – I make them spaghetti when they want it because they seem to like it so much, but she wants to make it for me/thinks I want to make it because I like it so much. I do love having a change from the normal foods here but I’ve never had so much Italian, we have spaghetti/lasagna almost every week! Definitely helps keep my American-food cravings down though! I haven’t taught them to make hamburgers yet though, so I still have one secret! Also I think I’m going to make them chili cheese dogs soon. I have some gold star seasoning, so just need to buy the meat, hot dogs, buns, and cheddar cheese! I’m definitely ready to break open those seasoning packets :)


As far as adjustment to the new life here goes, it’s very complicated. Sometimes everything is great, and other times I feel like a hormonal pregnant mood-swinging teenage bitch (sorry to the family, no other word really conveys what I’m trying to say). This is totally common with volunteers, and just with adjusting to living in a new country in general (or at least that’s what I‘m telling myself…), but it is so frustrating sometimes. For example, I am craving dill pickles, and of course I have not found any here in Ecuador (…adding pickle seasoning to the list of things I want Ang to bring when she visits… haha). I also worry that my host family doesn’t understand the emotional reactions I have, but for the most part I do a good job concealing this from them – they just think I'm tired or busy from what they say. I’m not proud of my emotional responses and do everything I can to just get out of the situation and take a walk but I will be happy when this part of the adjustment process is over! I think it will be better when I actually have my own place too so I can have “peace and quiet” on a regular basis. This experience just reinforces my knowledge that I’m not good at living with people! I’m also going to be very sad to leave my host family though. I wish I were able to live with people better because they are totally awesome. At least I will be living super close if I get one of the 2 places I’ve picked out to move to. And hopefully we can keep a really great relationship so I get to spend a lot of time with them – I just need my own place to retreat to when I need it!

Also, I have found my current second home – the gym in my town. It has soo much character I LOVE it! Okay try to visualize: it’s painted seafoam green and hot pink, has mirrors on the walls like an old dance studio, and one wall is completely open (it’s on the 3rd floor). The open wall is great for providing a cross breeze but also provides a nice home for dozens of birds, so there is bird poop all over the place. Every time I enter the gym birds squawk and take off out into the street. Okay now for the equipment: pretty much all of the equipment is circa 1980 but mostly in functioning shape. For cardio items there are 2 elliptical (my personal favorite), 2 bikes (funky positioning so they’re uncomfortable to ride), a stair machine (made out of hydraulic pumps), and a treadmill (that doesn’t have a motor, you just push it to run on it) – none of which are electrical, they’re all mechanical (for you old fogies I realize that natural progression was from mechanical to electrical but it’s weird for me because I’ve never really used machines like these). As far as weight machines, there’s several newer looking weight machines (the chin up/bench press one is my favorite) and a TON of free-weights. They also have a TV with workout videos (nope, won’t be doing that in the presence of testosterone-fueled men) and a stereo with music (there’s one workout CD I totally LOVE – it starts with Eye of the Tiger, which is basically the best workout song ever!, progresses through some good 70s disco music, Michael Jackson, and ends with reggaetone. I really might slyly steal this CD to make a copy). Besides the fact that everything’s covered with poop from the birds, it’s way nicer than I thought it would be and the best part its only 50 cents for an hour. Also, it’s never very crowded (though I haven’t been on weekends yet), and the guy that owns it is a doc who has a practice on the 1st floor. It’s also a block from my house and really safe – what more could I ask for! I’m gonna go every other day with a 2 day break once a week (or that’s my goal at least). The cool part is that since I’m paying for an hr I pretty much have to stay for an hr so I’m getting some great workouts in. But the absolute best part is that I don’t have to run by vicious dogs and cat-calling men anymore – no one can even look in since it’s the 3rd floor! Maybe I do have a chance to get in shape here :) And I'll be getting a photo up ASAP of my sweet gym, it's too cool to do justice describing without pictures

Ok finally, if you’re out of Christmas gift ideas and want to help support our work here in Ecuador, check out these calendars. The photos were taken by current volunteers here in Ecuador and compiled by our Volunteer Advisory Committee. All proceeds go to support small project grants and volunteer activities (which we need money for!) and the photos are really amazing. They’re $10 each or 5 for $40, which includes shipping to anywhere in the U.S. (allow 2-8 wks for delivery apparently, so you better order ASAP for Christmas!). Please consider buying these for those relatives, coworkers, or friends whom you don’t know what else to get for Christmas! Check out the website for a preview and to order them – I know I’m going to!
http://www.friendsofecuador.org/index.php?tg=articles&topics=8


Current English song stuck in my playlist: “High Road” by Fort Minor
Current Spanish song stuck in my playlist: “Llamada de Emergencia” by Daddy Yankee

Longer update coming but for now, PC had my address wrong just a little (it was wrong before). It shouldn't have affected any incoming mail (according to PC) but to make things easier please change the address you have (the middle set of numbers is 01 not 11)


Casilla 09-01-11805
Guayaquil, Guayas
Ecuador
South America

K I'll update again this weekend!

"Remember, remember, the Fifth of November, the Gunpowder Treason and Plot. I know of no reason why the Gunpowder Treason should ever be forgot... But what of the man? I know his name was Guy Fawkes and I know, in 1605, he attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. But who was he really? What was he like? We are told to remember the idea, not the man, because a man can fail. He can be caught, he can be killed and forgotten, but 400 years later, an idea can still change the world."
-V for Vendetta