Ok I’m back to give a few more updates!

First, December 1 was World AIDS Day. I teamed up with another organization in my town to do charlas (educational workshops) in one of the colegios (high schools) here. We were planning for Dec 1 and were supposed to have a meeting Monday of the week before to plan the details. As is the style here, I showed up for the meeting but no one else did. So I left the guy a note to say I’d been there and to call me, but didn’t hear anything. Wednesday Nov 25 was the Day against violence against women and families and I had heard from a woman I met on the street that there was going to be a parade and open house. I didn’t know what time it was at but as I was walking around that morning I saw someone from the municipio (mayor’s office) helping a cute little lady set up an information booth in the park. So I passed by and introduced myself. I stood there awkwardly for a few minutes then decided to ask if I could help with anything. She looked at me funny for a few minutes, so I clarified that I could do whatever, hang things, move stuff, etc. So she handed me some ribbon and told me to put it up on the tent edge. While I was hanging ribbons and posters and stuff, we talked and it turns out she is a member of a women’s group that meets on Wednesday mornings. They organize themselves to do crafts and stuff to sell. I haven’t been able to make I to a meeting yet but hopefully will go sometime soon. The parade ended at the park and the mayor and board were there. They had some kids from the schools dancing, a few speeches, and people just mingling. So anyway, I ran into the guy that I was supposed to meet with about World AIDS Day and he explained something came up and he couldn’t be at the office that day. But he had time right after the event was over, so around lunchtime I met him at his office to plan the charlas. I didn’t want to show up to the meeting unprepared so I had drawn up an agenda of possible activities then figured they would want to change them around some. The secretary of education also came and they decided it would be best to do the charla that Friday instead of the following week. I was really glad I had it all planned! They also offered the services of a woman that works in their office who is either or a doctor or a nurse and specialized in HIV/AIDS – perfect! I met with her and showed her what I had planned and she said it looked good, so we decided to meet before the charla Friday to finalize everything. So Friday morning I showed up early and made the posters, then sat around waiting. She said something about us waiting on a car, but I watched as the time we were supposed to start the charla came and went. Then the car we were waiting on arrived and I asked how long it would take to get to the high school – 20 minutes or so. So me, the medica, and the secretary of education piled in the car and drove to the colegio. I didn’t realize that it actually isn’t in my town – it’s out in the campo (country), so by the time we got there we were about 45 minutes late. They also then told me I would be doing 2 charlas and had about 40 minutes for each one (the plan had been 2 groups with an hr and a half each) so I had to make some last minute changes, which involved cutting the charla down to 1 activity. So the first group went pretty well, I was glad I had 2 ecuadorians there helping me but I felt like I did a good job. The kids had fun (it was a team competition with true/false about HIV/AIDS and I gave them all candy at the end). Since I had to cut the activities, the medica suggested we do the other main activity with the next group. Because that activity was more based on the previous activity, it turned out that the second group kinda got jipped. They didn’t get as much information during the activity, so at the end we basically summarized everything else they would have learned if we did both activities. In retrospect, I think we should have just done the same activity with the second group, but live and learn. At least they had fun, and the activity was a little faster, which made the other 2 women happy. So after an hr and a half of talking in Spanish with a bunch of high school kids, I was glad to pile back into the car and be done working for the day!

That was the first World AIDS Day activity I did. We also had planned more charlas for the next Monday but that fell through, so instead I met with the health promoters that work with that organization to plan the World AIDS Day activities. Meanwhile I was trying to round up the people from my organization to get them to participate in the parade – very chaotic to be in charge of getting people informed! I also made posters, interviewed labs and health clinics to get details on how much HIV testing cost/where it was available/etc., and made over 450 red ribbons to hand out with candy during the parade. So World AIDS Day came, and not only did we end up having enough people show up from my organization, but I also got a nurse I had met the week before to join our group in the parade. She and I ran around handing out ribbons and explaining to people that there was going to be free HIV testing in the park – if people in my town didn’t think I was crazy before they definitely do now! It’s okay though, I feel like at least we were trying to inform people. The reason I jumped into prepping for World AIDS Day so ambitiously is because when I was doing community assessments with the health providers I found out that (supposedly) 60% of the population in my town has HIV/AIDS. Now I know that receiving statistics from providers can be quite exaggerated (though I heard around 60% from all of the clinics), but even if this is an overestimate chances are that it’s at least close, which is way more people than I expected. The surveys I’ve done with families and youth also show that there is very little knowledge regarding how you get HIV or even what it is. Anyways I’ve decided that HIV/AIDS education is something I’m really interesting in doing in my town, so I will continue programming even now that World AIDS Day has passed.

As far as work goes, I also set up schedules with the promoters so they would know when they needed to come get me to go to work. Good in theory, not so much in practice. They still don’t remember and I find myself sending a lot of text reminders. It’s frustrating because I want to help them with their work but they are so flaky that it’s hard. And I can talk to the people at my office (who are the ones who requested a volunteer and want me to be doing stuff) and they can talk to the promoters but it doesn’t change anything. Some days it’s just easier mentally to do stuff at my house or go around to other organizations to do interviews than to constantly remind them that I’m supposed to be working with them. I know it sounds kinda dumb since I just have to send a text but 1. Having to text someone every day to remind them is 31 texts a month – not what I want to be wasting my texts/ money on! and 2. By the time I realize they aren’t coming and I have to send the text I'm then sitting at my house pissed off that I had to get up early and have sat around waiting for a couple hours. If I were in the states I could text 5 mins after the person was supposed to arrive but here I usually wait somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour because it’s not normal to be on time (but I have to be ready in case they ARE on time, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to argue my point). The schedule I made should have fixed this as I gave them a list of dates and everything, but apparently not. It really is such a little thing but it makes me feel like I’m a burden on them and that I’m not being productive, which just frustrates me. And really, I hate having to get up at 6:30 to leave at 7:30 when I’m sitting at my house until 9:30 – you all know how much I like to sleep! It’s not a deal-breaker, just something that annoys me about how my work is going right now.

On the other hand, I have kept myself busy doing more independent work and meeting with other organizations, and of course playing around in my new house  I also still have the TV that the guy said he was coming to get several weeks ago, so whenever he actually get it I believe my productivity will increase drastically. I also try to spend time with my host family, mostly with the brothers. I went to their house to eat ceviche one day for lunch (since that’s not something I really wanna cook for myself – way too much work!), have watched a couple movies with the brothers, and have been spending LOTS of time with the brothers and their friends (aka the youth group I’m also supposed to be working with). It turns out that I really enjoy their company now that I have a choice whether/when I see the brothers’ friends. The youth group (which I’m going to refer to as the liceo from here on since it takes me awhile to remember “youth group”) has been doing some fundraising to provide Christmas gifts to some kids and have a party with them, so I’ve been helping them out (more like just standing there being the token gringa). They’ve sold chuzos (grilled sausages) a few times and I've just gone and hung out with them while they sold them. Other than the normal annoyances of hanging out with young Ecuadorian men (being asked out etc) they’ve been a lot of fun. I figure if I just ignore the propositions they’ll eventually go away. I don’t really have anything to worry about, they’re harmless and everyone knows I’m “protected” because of my host brothers – they just get annoying sometimes. But when we aren’t talking about me and my dating life, I enjoy getting to know them. It’s also nice just knowing people my age – if only there were more girls in the liceo! I did get invited to a birthday party of one of the guys. Yay for feeling like I have more friends! And all of this because I moved out of the host family’s house – sounds good. Tonight I am going to make mayonnaise for them to sell on the sausages. I don’t really know how but it was safer than letting the boys try to make it, and they think I’m a cooking genius, so hopefully I don’t screw this up! I know the lady last time made it from eggs, lime, oil, and soy milk. I feel like after this experience I won’t want mayo for awhile though, like Ang’s aversion to ranch dressing…

Other than the prospect of making mayo, I’ve been enjoying cooking for myself. I haven’t been making any meat dishes, just eating beans, veggies, fruit, milk, and eggs. Eventually I’ll start buying chicken to cook, but for now I’m happy with the beans and eggs for protein. My favorite new thing is CEREAL! I hadn’t had cereal since being in Ecuador until I moved into my own place, and now that’s pretty much when I want for breakfast every morning. Unfortunately it’s kinda expensive, and the cereal sold in my town is all super-sugary, but until I tire of it I've been eating a CocoPuffs knockoff with skim milk (another thing we never had in my host family’s house!) I also rarely cook with oil, eat mostly veggies, and make my juice without sugar. Overall I see this working out really well for me. The only big problem is that it’s hard to cook some things in small portions. Thankfully my host family is still open to my cooking and also now that I have a freezer I can freeze portions. A few nights ago I made a 5 bean soup (though I only know what 3 of the beans are, the others I just bought because they were in the store) and have been eating portions of that with variations – with cheese crumbles, spinach, peppers, spicy, soupy, etc. It’s basically a base that I just add whatever I feel like. I also made alfredo sauce the other day, which I shared with my host family (and they loved – thanks for sending that seasoning packed grandma!). I had a little leftover so I threw the rest into the bean base, and it made a really yummy mix. However it turns out my stomach can’t handle the bean stuff more than once a day as I found out the hard way, so I ended up freezing a bunch of it so it won’t spoil. I also bought spinach and lettuce (which are both ridiculously cheap!) and have eaten some salads (though it’s risky not cooking them, so I tend to steam them or put them in something to cook). I feel so excited about my freedom of diet, but at the same time I do miss some of the Ecuadorian foods that I can’t make/don’t know where to buy. For example, since I don’t have an oven I can’t make maduros con queso (roasted yellow plantain with cheese on the side), or tortillas (corn tortillas with cheese inside). I just need to get around to asking my family where they bought the tortillas though, since they usually just bought them instead of making them.

Speaking of food, that brings me to my next point – Christmas! I know that Christmas is going to be a really hard time for me, and I’ve been missing my family a lot in the time leading up to the holiday, but thankfully I've been getting packages and mail to make me feel better  And I bought a couple special things to celebrate Christmas morning – gouda cheese and bacon! Both were quite expensive but I decided it would be my Christmas present to myself. I had decided to go to another town for Christmas Eve but I think I’ve changed my mind. My host family celebrates on Christmas Eve with a dinner and though they haven’t invited me since I told them I’m going out of town, I’m sure they would be happy if I joined them. Also the town I was going to go to is about 6.5 hours from here, and I just don’t think I want to be traveling so much for Christmas. Finally, I want to try to find a church to go to on the 24th or 25th, depending on when they have services here. I don’t usually go to church because they’re mostly all catholic and because I try to separate myself from religion (because everyone thinks I'm a missionary), but I feel like going to a Christmas service would really help. Some of the other volunteers are meeting up on Christmas closer to my town but I’m not sure yet if I’m going to go. My host brother also told me that there aren’t many buses and they are really really full right around Christmas (since people are travelling a lot). And if I decide to stay here on Christmas day, I’m going to have my own big breakfast like we always do at home (with pancakes and bacon and gouda cheese) and talk to my family back in the states on skype – this just sounds like a better idea than travelling around in a bus. I also got a couple packages from family in the states and while I couldn’t resist opening and starting the jigsaw puzzle my grandma sent me (thanks grandma!!) I’ve saved the package my mom sent me to open on Christmas morning! And I wasn’t sure if there were sweets in it so just in case I put it in the fridge so the ants couldn’t enjoy my present before me  I’m so excited for opening my Christmas presents – all wrapped up in bubble wrap envelops! Cultural note: I asked my host brother what they do for Christmas and he said that on Christmas Eve they just spend time together and eat a dinner, then Christmas day they sometimes go to the city to spend time with other family members. He said they don’t do any gift exchange – just when they were younger and got toys. A lot of families go to church but he said they don’t. Mostly it just seems like they spend time with family, much like what happens in the states as well.

Another event that’s coming up is New Years. Again, I planned to go visit friends but I think I’m going to hang out here with my host brothers and their friends. One of the traditions they do here is people make big figurines called “viejos” (old things) and at midnight they burn them in the streets. They’re made of wood wrapped in paper and painted, and people make all sorts of things. I’ve seen robots, action figures, famous people, aliens, etc. but my host family has a tradition that they make something they want in the next year. For example, a few years ago they were finishing the house they live in, so they made a house for new years. This year I think they’re going to make a car because they want a new car – it’s supposed to be good luck. I plan to help them make the viejo when they get around to it, and have even thought about making one myself (after I see how it’s done we’ll see). Sometimes people also put firecrackers in the viejos so they make lots of noise and are more entertaining. I haven’t brought it up with the liceo yet (because I haven’t decided if I’m willing) but I’m thinking about offering to have a new year’s party here. Since I have a huge yard, we could just have it outside, and I have a perfect place to make a bonfire. I figure we could borrow a grill and make hot dogs and veggies/plantains and maybe even s’mores on the bonfire! I would probably make the house off-limits (the guys can use the bathroom outside so I’d only let the girls in to use the bathroom) and of course I’d lock up all my stuff (I can *probably* trust the youth but I don’t know them well enough yet to really trust them) but with my huge yard I think I could make it work. In reality it would probably just be my host brothers and a few of their close friends I’ve hung out with a lot, but still I think it could be fun. And of course it would be BYOB – I’m too poor  The liceo was talking about wanting to have a party but they don’t know where, so I’ll probably talk to my host brothers to see what they think about the idea.

Another thing that’s coming up is that Ang is coming to visit in Jan! I’m so excited! I’ve been planning out what we’re going to do, and I think we’ll be in my site some and at the beach some and in the city some. I’m excited to get to travel around but I’m mostly excited that she’s coming and that I can show someone my life here. I can write and write but it’s so different to experience it and I’m glad I have the opportunity to share it with someone in person  When I was working out at the gym today, looking out over my town (my gym’s on the 3rd floor with an open wall so I can see over most of the buildings in my town) I realized that in less than a month Ang would be here and get to experience my life, and how excited I am to get to show her how cool (though not in the traditional sense as it is generally up in the 90s) my town is and my life here. I also realized that’s what I have – I have a life here. It’s a different life than I had back in the states, and of course I miss my friends/family and life in the U.S. a lot, but this has become “normal” to me. Even though it’s limited because of my term as a volunteer, this place is my home for 2 years; this is my work, my life. It was a strange feeling and I can’t really explain it, but that’s the best I can do 

Oh and a side note, we still are having power outages. For now they’re just for 4 hours every morning (thankfully not at night anymore). I am hoping that soon they’ll be over as the rainy season is slowly starting and the rivers will eventually have water. For now we just get a little rain some days/nights (an hour or so), but little by little it will pick up until we have rain most of the day/night. I don’t really know what it’s really like, but you all get to experience the anticipation with me as we approach the “rainy season” – something that didn’t really exist back in Kentucky!

Okay I think that’s about all I’ve done/am going to be doing, so I’m gonna sign off. But if I don’t get to talk to you all, have a good Christmas and I miss you all!!