I have water!!!! … Sort of.
Today I was awoken to the sound of water gushing from my taps. It was a truly wonderful sound. A few days ago, a pump broke and my entire town was left without running water. It was not fun. Since I only ever have running water in the morning, I was fortunate enough to have a bit of water on reserve but not fortunate enough to have enough to last me until the water problem was resolved. My wonderful neighbors were kind enough to give me a bucket of their precious water to shower with. I was extremely grateful… until I found worm-like creatures living in it. Not exactly something one hopes to see in their bathing water.
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The big election in Ecuador is coming up in a week and every position from the president of Ecuador to the president of my town is up for election. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, I am not allowed to get involved in politics. I will therefore only say this one thing: I wish that politicians in general (US politicians are guilty of this too) would spend a lot less money on flyers and block parties, and a lot more money on paving roads, improving schools, and making sure everyone has running water. Campaign promises start to loose their charm after decades of going unfulfilled.
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My counterpart quit this week. She got a better job in a town four hours away. I was really sad to see her go. She was my only Ecuadorian friend that was my age. However, it was a great opportunity for her. She is extremely bright and motivated, but was toiling at a job that had very little room for advancement. I’ve heard her replacement has already been chosen. I’m kind of nervous about meeting this new person. What if he (I heard it was a he) is lazy? What if he is unreliable? Fortunately, I am busy with my work in the library and integrated enough to feel comfortable starting up solo projects. The librarian and I are working on starting up a reading club that I hope to have running by June. I also went to two school this very week to talk to the principals about my teaching sex ed in the classrooms. I am supposed to go back to the schools on Tuesday. I guess it doesn’t matter too much what my new counterpart is like. Still, I am nervous.
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