January 23, 2009

This past week I spent the majority of my days working with my counterpart. On Monday we gave a small business charla to ten mothers in the community. We proposed that they think of a product that they could make and try selling it around the community. I have a Peace Corps small business manuals that has the recipes to products that can be made to sell such as shampoo, conditioner, disinfectant, soap, etc. One interesting thing about Ecuador is that it is extremely easy to buy all sorts of chemicals over the counter. (My brother is determined to buy a big chunk of potassium to blow things up when he comes to visit me.) The mothers chose to try making disinfectant. We then agreed to meet again on Friday (this afternoon) to further discuss the development of a small business.

That day two other volunteers and I also gave a charla to the librarians in Machala about animación de la lectura (literally translates to animation of the reading, a.k.a. “How to make reading exciting”). We talked about informal education, games, how to read to children, and finally ideas of follow-up activities to do after reading. Overall, I think it went pretty well.

On Tuesday, my counterpart and I invited children to my swimming class that starts in February. And yes, I did get to see the inauguration. Five of us PC volunteers and one World Teach volunteer met up at a pizza restaurant and watched Obama be sworn in. Unfortunately, his speech was really hard to understand because there was a voice over in Spanish and I kept switching between listening to him speak and the Spanish translator.

I spent Wednesday prepping for a presentation that I have to give when I go to Quito and teaching English in the afternoon.

On Thursday I finished inviting children to my swimming class. Then my counterpart and I discussed the second small business charla that we are to give this afternoon. Since Monday my counterpart’s parents priced the ingredients for the disinfectant. The total came out to be about $10. Yesterday, my counterpart and I went to each house and requested $1. We then went to buy the ingredients and today we are going to try making it with mothers. Hopefully it will work out!

January 16, 2009

Yesterday morning us volunteers met up in my site to talk to the captain of the cuartel (small military base) about the details of the swimming lessons. When I originally discussed the idea of the swimming lessons with him it was going to be me and one other volunteer and we would each bring 5 children from our respective sites. Then another volunteer asked to participate. I was a bit hesitant because that was not the original idea, but ok… 3 volunteers and 15 kids. Then one of the other volunteers invited a fourth volunteer to join our project without consulting me. 4 volunteers and 20 kids. No. I was not having it. The pool isn’t exactly huge and we are teaching beginner lessons. I know the ratio of volunteer to child would remain the same, but I simply did not feel comfortable with 20 kids in the pool at once. When the fourth volunteer showed up yesterday I was put in the awkward situation of saying something like “ummmm…. I don’t want you to participate.” I felt like a total bitch and was pissed that I was the only one who saw the potential danger. Well, the captain ended up not being there (emergency trip to Guayaquil), so I told the guard to give him my number and call me when he returned.

In the afternoon I visited families with my counterpart, tutored a child in English, and then went to the shopping mall to use the wifi to talk to my Mom. She never showed online and I was pretty disappointed. I really wanted her advice/support on my swimming problem and I think I sent her some not-so-nice emails. Sorry Mom!!!!!

Today was much better. The captain returned early and called me to request that we meet today. I went to the cuartel and somehow managed to negotiate two hours of pool time so that we could have two classes of 10 children each. I was pretty proud of myself! Those volunteers better appreciate what I did!!!

In the afternoon I met up with my counterpart to plan a small business charla (talk) that we are going to give on Monday. We are hoping to start up a small business with some mothers in the community. I then tutored a little girl in English for an hour.

Afterwards, I sat down with the librarian to plan out what we were going to talk about at a meeting that she was having later that afternoon. She has a HUGE tendency to go off topic, which makes her meetings last forever, which causes parents to not want to show up. I am trying to change that. The meeting actually went pretty well. She sorta stuck to the list. I sat next to her so that I could whisper to her when she was getting off topic, nudge her when she was interrupting people, and tell her when to rap it up. I think some of the mothers noticed and appreciated my efforts. Overall, I was quite pleased with my accomplishments today. And in addition to all that… I had my clothes washed!

January 14, 2009

It’s the rainy season (I think). The mosquitoes are multiplying like crazy. NOT FUN!

This week is shaping up to be pretty eventful. On Monday, the little girl that I tutor who I believe has a learning disability returned from Guayaquil. Her mother had sent her and her brother from the same father there in order to spend Christmas with their father.

Unfortunately, the father didn’t want to send them back and was threatening to move so their mother wouldn’t be able to find them. I am not exactly certain of the dirty details, but somehow it worked out and the two children are back! I was very happy to see her again and promptly told her to come over to my place to catch up on all the classes she missed. When she came over she told be she didn’t have any homework, so I broke out my book collection and we practiced reading. After we read my requirement of two books, we invited another neighborhood girl over and the three of us played Uno.

Yesterday, I went with my counterpart to visit families in my site. We went to two barrios that are located in the heart of the banana plantations and have only dirt roads. Since it has been raining the roads were mud and walking was pretty difficult. Thank goodness I didn’t slip!
Then in the afternoon I went to visit one of the volunteers in Machala that has been here a year more than me. She was to give a charla (talk) to her barrio and I wanted to observe her. Afterwards we (ok… I) made bagels. The yeast we bought was dead, but the bagels were still delicious!!!

This morning I went to the Municipal with two other volunteers to discuss a summer camp that the libraries want to do with the children of Machala and my site. (Summer vacation is February and March.) The librarians requested our help. I think I am supposed to teach English, drawing, reading, basketball (I haven’t played basketball in years minus my few games of hoops with the kids in Cayambe), and about a bazillion other activities. I don’t know how it is supposed to work out logistically, but that is their problem to figure out and let me know. The librarians asked us to come back on Monday to teach them animación de la lectura. Basically they want to know how to make reading fun and activities that they can do with the books. This I think I can do!

Afterwards I friend of my counterpart (and my friend too) was going to get married at civil marriage downtown today. My counterpart was to be one of the witnesses and she invited me to come along. It was pretty quick and simple. I was given a camera and told to take photos. I went nuts! Apparently, the new couple is going to get remarried in a church in a month. Until then they will continue to live in their separate homes. I didn’t really get why they have to get married twice. My counterpart explained to me that the bride wanted to be married in a church, but the marriages there are not legal. So couples that marry there have to get civilly married as well. I then asked why the couple is getting civilly married a month before the church wedding (February 14… gag me!). She had no idea either.

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?

January 6, 2009

Today I went to the post office and was completely inundated with packages. I had been going everyday only to be constantly greeted with an empty mailbox. I finally was notified that I had one package waiting for me. Well, that one turned out to be four! YIPPEE!!!! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!! Since I received a lot of books and one or two repeats, here is a list of books that I currently have.

1. Cinco Pequeñas Mariquitas
2. Siempre Te Querré
3. ¡Salta, Ranita, Salta!
4. Mis Cinco Sentidos
5. Buenas Noches Luna
6. El Árbol Generoso
7. Cuentos de Dora y Sus Amigos
8. El Pez Arco Iris
9. Encuentro
10. Un Beso en Mi Mano
11. ¿Tu mamá es una llama?
12. ¡Cómo el Grinch Robó la Navidad
13. ¡Un Día Una Señora Se Tragó una Campana!
14. Conejito No Puede Dormir
15. La Isla
16. Dubi Dubi Muu
17. El Regalo de Navidad
18. Para Eso Son Los Amigos

Looks like my library is beginning to rival that of my site’s. Thanks everyone!

January 5, 2009

I apologize for not writing for some time. I don’t have any excuse except that I simply haven’t felt like writing. It is not like I have been very busy. These past few weeks have been quite boring actually. Since work slowed down for the holidays I haven’t had much to do except hang out with my fellow bored volunteers and read books. I read A LOT of books.

My birthday (December 21st) was pretty good. I am now 23 or, as I prefer to call it, on my second victory lap of 21. The night before my birthday, my fellow volunteers and I met up at a good seafood restaurant by the pier to hang out and speak English. We then stopped by a few bars before going to our favorite club in Machala where we met up with some Ecuadorian friends. The next morning my boyfriend (now ex…yeah, I know that was quick) took me to a nice lunch and then dropped me off to visit with a volunteer friend. We chatted for awhile and, not wanting to spend my birthday dinner by myself, I invited her over for fajitas and a movie. She accepted and we happily pigged out on fajitas and watched Forgetting Sarah Marshal.

Christmas was a bit more difficult to get through. My opinion is that birthdays are supposed to be celebrated with friends, but Christmas is always a family occasion. I have always loved everything about Christmas and it was difficult to think about how I was missing out on all my favorite Christmas traditions back at home. Fortunately, however, I did manage to keep some traditions alive. For example, I love Christmas baking. Every year I enjoy making about 16 different types of Christmas bars and cookies at once and (to my parents’ chagrin) absolutely destroying the kitchen in the process. I will then make little assorted plates of the cookies to pass out to my friends. One volunteer was kind enough to let me use her stove for my cookie extravaganza since my campo oven (big pot with a rock in it on top of a stove) takes a lot long than normal to bake things. I then passed out plates of cookies to people in my site that have helped me throughout the past four months. Everyone was very pleased.

On Christmas Eve Day the same volunteer that lent me her stove wanted to throw a party for the disabled children in her neighborhood. She was hoping to make cookies with them and I offered to help her out. I recommended she make my Mom’s shortbread cookies because it is extremely simple, inexpensive, and I had plenty of cookie cutters and sprinkles sent to me from the States that she could use. In the end only one child showed up, but we still had lots of fun eating cookie dough, chatting with her old host family (the party was being held at their place because her place was too small), and trying to tolerate her 5-year old host sister (who is the biggest pain in the you-know-where that I have ever met!).

In the evening, all the volunteers met up at one of our houses for a Christmas Eve dinner. We ate, drank wine, talked, commiserated, and ate some more. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one desperately missing home. It was a lot of fun, and since none of us had plans for Christmas Day, we decided to meet up again the next day.

I woke up Christmas morning and opened the presents that my family had sent me a few weeks ago and I somehow had managed to resist opening. I then decided to make the Christmas muffins that my family and I eat every Christmas Day. They turned out really good and baked relatively quickly in my campo oven. I then went to visit my old host family. I chatted with them for awhile and then hopped a bus to go to the same volunteer’s house that we had met at before. I then spent the rest of the day eating, drinking, watching movies, and basically being completely lazy.

I spent the next several days doing little besides reading and trying to escape the oppressive heat. Then on December 30, I took a 3 hour bus ride to Cuenca where I met up with the two women from my Spanish training class. One of them lives in Cuenca and the other lives in a remote town about 5 hours from Cuenca but goes there frequently to get her mail. It was great fun to hang out with them. We are so very different in both personality and age that it I would be hard-pressed to think of a situation in which we would have the opportunity to become friends besides Peace Corps, but we got along great and had a lovely time visiting with each other. The one that lives in Cuenca was a beautiful apartment and hot running water. I definitely took advantage of that perk!

New Years Eve wasn’t too exciting. We met up with another volunteer and went to the center of Cuenca to see what could be seen. We were kinda disappointed with the celebrations. It is an Ecuadorian New Years tradition to burn effigies that are supposed to represent the old year. But after seeing a few effigies burn, it got dull pretty fast. Since two of the volunteers that I was with were older than my parents, we didn’t exactly want to go to some club (besides… we were broke), so we ended up returning home right after midnight. I wasn’t too disappointed. It was really cold outside and the change in altitude was making me sleepy.

On New Years Day, the volunteer that lives 5 hours outside of Cuenca returned to my site with me. She stayed here for a few days. I showed her around my site and Machala, introduced her to my old host family and some other Ecuadorian friends, and cooked us healthy food (we both resolved to be healthier/eat better). She like my site a lot, but did not handle the heat very well. That does take some getting used to.

Today was the first day back to work. Determined to actually do something in my two years here, I went to the librarian and told her that I want to start a reading program in the library. I have some great manuals about staring such a program that a previous volunteer had written after starting a very successful reading program a few years ago. I showed the manuals to the librarian and tried to start actually planning how to begin the program. It was difficult because the libraian got side-tracked very easily and I kept trying to get her to focus on the task at hand. We ended up deciding to have a meeting with the leaders of the community next week to discuss such a program. I then had us plan of what we will discuss at the meeting in an effort to focus her and ensure that we accomplish something. I hope this is successful. Kids don’t read here so there is every probability that this reading program will fail. Still, I’m bored and am tired a not doing anything. This should, at least, keep me occupied.