I know I have been a deadbeat blogger. As Iimay so astutely pointed out to me, I haven’t updated my blog in over a month. Sorry. Frankly, I have been in a bit of an Ecua-funk lately and did not want to spread my negativity to around. Nothing much has changed in the past few weeks—work is actually picking up. It is just that I’ve been in Ecuador for a year (as of June 18th… whoop!) and I’m sick of dealing when the same problems: people not showing up or showing up an hour late, people canceling at the very last minute and leaving me to take the fall, and people saying things the don’t mean and me knowing they don’t mean it when they say it. I just don’t want to deal with it anymore! Why can’t anyone else be reliable!?
In addition to my Ecua-blues, I recently had my 1-year check up and learned that I have gained 10 lbs. in the last year. In the States, anyone who knows me just a little knows that I was a huge exercise/ gym fanatic. It was my way to deal with stress, boost my self-esteem, and work through whatever problem was bothering me. I don’t do that anymore. It is not safe to run around here and all the gyms in Machala are crappy. I lost a huge part of my life and I don’t know how to recover that.
To top off my 1-year blues, I recently learned that my mother is sick and needs an operation. I decided to return to the States to be there to help take care of her. And while I am so excited about going back, it is hard to be happy about the reason behind my going back. My upcoming visit also means that I won’t be able to return for my friend’s wedding in October which I was really looking forward to.
Life, of course, hasn’t stopped because I’ve got the negativity blues. I am now teaching workshops (self-esteem, body changes, what is menstruation, maternity/ paternity, HIV, STDs, contraception, values, drugs and alcohol prevention, etc.) in the elementary and high schools. It is amazing how little this kids know… no wonder they are constantly getting pregnant. We have an anonymous question bag in which all the kids have to write a question, regardless of whether they really have one or not. Most questions concern what is HIV or AIDS, what is sex (mostly from the elementary school kids), how to masturbate (high school), sexuality, abortion, and what to do when someone is pregnant. There is a ton of need for someone to talk openly and honestly to these kids. Now if only I can get my counterpart to stop flaking out on me….
A few weeks ago Peace Corps invited me to come to Cayambe to give a training session on income generation projects to the next group of Youth & Family and Health volunteers. For those of you who read my blog from the beginning, do you remember all those boring training sessions that I complained about exactly a year ago? Yeah, well I was invited to come and help be a part of that! I was really honored!!! I invited my old counterpart to accompany me and yesterday the two of us made disinfectant with the trainees and talked about the small business that we started in my community. I think it went really well.
Anyway, sorry about being so delinquent. I will try to be better in the future. Just try to understand that I am going through some personal stuff right now and after a hard day, sometimes it is a lot easier to watch a movie or read a book that recount every frustrating detail that I encountered.
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