January 9, 2009

These past few days have actually been pretty productive. Ever since I resolved to stop being cautious and waiting for my Spanish to improve, I’ve been a lot happier with my work.

On Wednesday the librarian called a meeting in order to form a support network of parents of children who go to the librarian. It sounded to be sort of like a PTA for the library. Unfortunately, only three mothers showed up. Apparently there is a lot of apathy amongst parents. They just don’t want to get involved. The librarian apologetically told me that this is normal in Ecuador, and I responded that some things are universal. During the meeting (which lasted FOREVER) we talked about many different topics (most of which did not pertain to why the meeting was called… I swear, these Ecuadorians love to hear themselves talk). Fortunately, however, we did manage to discuss the reading program that I want to start. The mothers really liked the idea, but told me that now would not be a good time to start the program. Exams are coming up and then summer holidays are from February to March. The mothers told me that the program has the best chance of being successful if I wait until April. I don’t exactly want to wait, but I do want it to be successful, so I’m going to take there advice.

This meant, however, that I needed to think of a new project to keep myself busy. So, I decided that I want to teach swimming lessons. I called one of my nearby volunteer friends and asked her if she wanted to collaborate with me. She was down, so today the librarian (I wanted Ecua support and my counterpart bailed), my volunteer friend and I went to the military barracks that border my site and asked a captain if we could use the pool for swimming lessons. He responded that they give swimming lessons four days a week and the cost is $20 a month. I told him that as volunteers we can’t afford to pay that and that we want to provide lessons for the poor children who would not be able to afford the cost either. (Then the librarian had to go and mention how the previous volunteer raised a bunch of money to buy computers for the library… honestly, NOT HELPFUL!!!) So after a bit of negotiating, he agreed to let us use the pool for free if we would teach English classes there. Apparently, he has been trying to pass the TOEFL exam so that he could be transferred to Quito and has kept failing. My friend and I jumped at this offer. DONE-Z!!!

Other exciting news: I was able to get my webcam working, I talked to my mom, Grandpa, and three friends yesterday, and I made some delicious Szechwan Shrimp and I am not ashamed to say that I literary licked my plate clean. 1 lb. fresh shrimp for $1… can you guess what I’ll be eating a lot of for the next 20 months?