So...about 10 of the 15 volunteers we have here left this weekend. I think that by the end of my time here, I will be pretty darn good at adios-ing. I´m sure there will be new volunteers very soon, but still it feels pretty weird.
This weekend definitely had a theme of bad luck. On Friday night, we all went out and we were sharing drinks all night. A few hours later I hear someone say "Man, my throat´s been hurting SO BADLY this week." So, of course, about 3/4 of us developed a cough, sore throat, stuffy nose, etc. this weekend. I basically slept the day away yesterday. No fun! I can´t imagine that Quito pollution helps the situation very much either....
Despite the sickness, etc., a few of us volunteers and my host mom took a day trip to Otavalo on Saturday. It´s main attraction is a very famous market, supposedly one of those things you have to see before you die. We all had a good time, but I´m not sure it is all that it´s hyped up to be (none of us were very happy campers when we got there, either, because we thought it would take 2 busses and 2 hours to get there, but it actually ended up taking 5 different busses and about 3.5 hours). I only bought one thing--a pair of earrings for $1--but I had a great time watching Aude, master negotiator, bargain everything down to about half of its original price. When we got back on Saturday night, Aude and I met another friend in Mariscal (called "Gringo Landia" by many natives) and splurged on...Italian food?? No rice! No meat! No bananas! By the way: by "splurge," I mean it cost us about $4 each to eat.
I also washed all of my clothes this weekend with my pink towel. When I took the load out, almost everything I owned was covered in light pink fuzz. And I can´t get it off! So...I may or may not be walking around in fuzzy clothes...forever. The end.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Viviana
It is really upsetting to see kids taking care of their siblings like mothers at 8 or 9 years old. They bring them to our activities and want to participate but most barely can because the babies start crying as soon as their older sibling is out of arm´s reach. But it´s incredible how some of them handle it and how devoted they are to their families. One girl that stands out to me in particular comes to the Wednesday morning market. Her name is Viviana and she´s 9-- her 1-year-old sister comes along, and at first Viviana can barely do anything because her sister freaks out when she isn´t holding her. Viviana sees other kids her age playing while she tries as hard as she can to entertain her sister and keep her happy. She really is such a responsible caregiver. In addition selling goods alone on busses or on the streets (which she does-- Lucy says she has seen Viviana on the bus selling chocolates alone), kids in this situation have to be a parent before they hit puberty. Viviana is expected to act like she´s 30. But then you talk to her and remember that she´s 9.
It really makes me happy to see kids like this playing-- we were finally able to win Viviana´s little sister´s trust long enough for Viviana to have some fun. I really don´t mind "babysitting" if it means kids like that actually get to be kids.
It really makes me happy to see kids like this playing-- we were finally able to win Viviana´s little sister´s trust long enough for Viviana to have some fun. I really don´t mind "babysitting" if it means kids like that actually get to be kids.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Many Firsts
Life is good. The first week is over. I´ve only gotten lost once, only been served a peanut dish once (in a restaurant, and I realized very quickly), and only had my personal space bubble burst about 829374 times. A success.
Tuesday-Friday is work, work, work, sometimes followed by salsa class-- those are the best days. I probably won´t remember any of the kids´ names next week since each day is different. After a day in the markets, it feels like I have never been dirtier. But I really love it-- we´ve been singing silly Spanish songs and having so much fun, and the kids never want to leave. I´ve also learned to love our staff-volunteer lunches between work times-- many volunteers only work in the morning and go home before lunch, so it´s been this really awesome little group and even then I´m learning (...sometimes unimportant stuff). Silly fact: just as many of us add an O to every word to make it Español, they add the suffix "-ation" (sanitation, abomination, recreation) to make it English. A few of us volunteers and Danny and Susana, the Ecuadorian UBECI staff, spent an entire lunchtime speaking Spanglish like this ("¿Donde esta la comid-ation?", "ya estoy llen-ation", "que buen-ation", etc.). It was awesome when their Spanglish phrases actually made English words, like when one of the Ecuadorians changed "Tengo sed" (I am thirsty) to "Tengo sedation." This was the day that I also shared my deep dark secret about being afraid of clogging a toilet, and now everyone on the UBECI staff thinks I´m a freak. It´s great.
On Friday night, Lucy and Aude (two other volunteers) and I took a five-hour busride to Tena, a town that lies just at the tip of the Amazon (many people call it the jungle for pansies because it´s not very far in). It was a horrible bus ride that involved smelly people virtually sitting on me, super hotness, sporadic flashing lights, a disturbing Jodie Foster movie called "The Brave One," me almost getting carsick, etc. We spent the night (my very first hostel experience), and had a pretty great tour of the jungle nearby, Selena, the next day. It was super cool to learn about all of the natural resources the jungle can provide. I had my face painted with natural dye from two different jungle plants and also ate ants. They were alive and tasted like lemon. Our tour guide also claimed that termites make a great bug repellent and smeared them all over himself to prove it (they were quite small, but still). I also ate the fruit from a cacao plant and we made chocolate from the beans! All in all, an exciting taste (literally and figuratively) of what the jungle has to offer. Although I was dreading it, the bus ride back was much more pleasant than the first. We arrived back in Quito at about midnight last night, and I slept in this morning which was heavenly. Although I still wake up like 3 times a night to dog fights, speeding motos, honking busses, etc.
This is the beginning of a very awesome four months. Sometimes I´m like, "holy shit, I´m in South America and I don´t REALLY know anyone," and I miss knowing where things are and I just miss familiarity in general. But then I get a huge hug from a little girl I met five minutes ago or dance salsa or eat ants or even hear another volunteer say "trousers" instead of "pants," and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world, being exposed to all of this. And I have sooooo long to soak it all in!!
Tuesday-Friday is work, work, work, sometimes followed by salsa class-- those are the best days. I probably won´t remember any of the kids´ names next week since each day is different. After a day in the markets, it feels like I have never been dirtier. But I really love it-- we´ve been singing silly Spanish songs and having so much fun, and the kids never want to leave. I´ve also learned to love our staff-volunteer lunches between work times-- many volunteers only work in the morning and go home before lunch, so it´s been this really awesome little group and even then I´m learning (...sometimes unimportant stuff). Silly fact: just as many of us add an O to every word to make it Español, they add the suffix "-ation" (sanitation, abomination, recreation) to make it English. A few of us volunteers and Danny and Susana, the Ecuadorian UBECI staff, spent an entire lunchtime speaking Spanglish like this ("¿Donde esta la comid-ation?", "ya estoy llen-ation", "que buen-ation", etc.). It was awesome when their Spanglish phrases actually made English words, like when one of the Ecuadorians changed "Tengo sed" (I am thirsty) to "Tengo sedation." This was the day that I also shared my deep dark secret about being afraid of clogging a toilet, and now everyone on the UBECI staff thinks I´m a freak. It´s great.
On Friday night, Lucy and Aude (two other volunteers) and I took a five-hour busride to Tena, a town that lies just at the tip of the Amazon (many people call it the jungle for pansies because it´s not very far in). It was a horrible bus ride that involved smelly people virtually sitting on me, super hotness, sporadic flashing lights, a disturbing Jodie Foster movie called "The Brave One," me almost getting carsick, etc. We spent the night (my very first hostel experience), and had a pretty great tour of the jungle nearby, Selena, the next day. It was super cool to learn about all of the natural resources the jungle can provide. I had my face painted with natural dye from two different jungle plants and also ate ants. They were alive and tasted like lemon. Our tour guide also claimed that termites make a great bug repellent and smeared them all over himself to prove it (they were quite small, but still). I also ate the fruit from a cacao plant and we made chocolate from the beans! All in all, an exciting taste (literally and figuratively) of what the jungle has to offer. Although I was dreading it, the bus ride back was much more pleasant than the first. We arrived back in Quito at about midnight last night, and I slept in this morning which was heavenly. Although I still wake up like 3 times a night to dog fights, speeding motos, honking busses, etc.
This is the beginning of a very awesome four months. Sometimes I´m like, "holy shit, I´m in South America and I don´t REALLY know anyone," and I miss knowing where things are and I just miss familiarity in general. But then I get a huge hug from a little girl I met five minutes ago or dance salsa or eat ants or even hear another volunteer say "trousers" instead of "pants," and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world, being exposed to all of this. And I have sooooo long to soak it all in!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Beginning!
I´ve been here for three days and already I feel at home. My host family couldn´t be more caring and loving. I´ve been hanging out a lot with my host brother, Diego, who´s 20, and he showed me all around Quito on my first day. The city is so lively...and smells like South America!
I have my own room, which is really nice. Although I can never sleep through the night because I guess I haven´t quite adjusted to all of the screetching and honking of a big city. I feel like I wake up every hour on the hour. And more frequently once it´s light outside. But I´m never tired in the morning! So it´s all good.
This morning was my first actual volunteer experience here. Soooo many kids came out for our "activities," and many of them came up and gave me huge hugs within the first minute. It is so clear to me that the programs of UBECI (the organization I´m volunteering with) are in super high demand and such an incredible thing for these kids. I´m not saving any lives, but I definitely can already feel that we´re brightening them. I had a fantastic time this morning. We travel to a differnt market in the area every morning and every afternoon.
There are about 15 volunteers here at the moment, ranging from about age 10 to age 59. There are people from Spain, Germany, England, Australia, Belgium, and other parts of the U.S. In my free time (of which I think there will be less in the coming weeks), I´ve been hanging out with a guy named Al from London and a woman named Dianne from Australia. We explored the city yesterday, and tonight Al and I are going to take a salsa class! I am pretttty excited.
Although everything so far has been really incredible, I´m having a hard time imagining four months. Mostly because, as I predicted, most people are here for 2 or 4 weeks. None of the volunteers here now (other than me) will be here past the end of September. But...it´s going to be great. I´ll know Quito and UBECI like the back of my hand (what is up with that experession anyway?)!!
Adios, amigos!
I have my own room, which is really nice. Although I can never sleep through the night because I guess I haven´t quite adjusted to all of the screetching and honking of a big city. I feel like I wake up every hour on the hour. And more frequently once it´s light outside. But I´m never tired in the morning! So it´s all good.
This morning was my first actual volunteer experience here. Soooo many kids came out for our "activities," and many of them came up and gave me huge hugs within the first minute. It is so clear to me that the programs of UBECI (the organization I´m volunteering with) are in super high demand and such an incredible thing for these kids. I´m not saving any lives, but I definitely can already feel that we´re brightening them. I had a fantastic time this morning. We travel to a differnt market in the area every morning and every afternoon.
There are about 15 volunteers here at the moment, ranging from about age 10 to age 59. There are people from Spain, Germany, England, Australia, Belgium, and other parts of the U.S. In my free time (of which I think there will be less in the coming weeks), I´ve been hanging out with a guy named Al from London and a woman named Dianne from Australia. We explored the city yesterday, and tonight Al and I are going to take a salsa class! I am pretttty excited.
Although everything so far has been really incredible, I´m having a hard time imagining four months. Mostly because, as I predicted, most people are here for 2 or 4 weeks. None of the volunteers here now (other than me) will be here past the end of September. But...it´s going to be great. I´ll know Quito and UBECI like the back of my hand (what is up with that experession anyway?)!!
Adios, amigos!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hello! and Top Fives
Hi, everyone!
So...I will do everything I can to make this the most exciting page on the world wide web for the next four months (and maybe beyond!) as I live, volunteer, and party it up in Quito, Ecuador and other fun places nearby. I'll update as frequently as I have internet access-- since I'm pretty sure I'll rarely run out of things to say. Comment (please!) and let me know you're reading :).
As my departure date gets closer, I have more and more people ask me if I'm scared or nervous-- or they just assume as much and say "I'm sure you're freaking out by now!" Inspired by this, I've decided to create a Top 5 list of things that are really making me want to purposefully miss my flight. And, inspired by all the things that made me want to go to Ecuador in the first place, I will complement this list with my Top 5 reasons for busting at the seams with excitement.
I'll do the icky list first. My Top 5 reasons to freak out!!
#5-- Packing.
It's not like I'm too lazy to do it or anything (not that I've started...heh). I am totally worried that I won't bring the right kind of clothes/suitcase, etc., too much or too little of something really important, too much in general, or that I'll forget really important items. I don't even know how to begin getting everything I need together!
#4-- Customs.
A very immediate/short-term concern. But I feel like sneezing as I enter Ecuador is enough to make them believe I have H1N1 or something. I had kind of a scarring experience with customs/airport security re: peanut allergy/Epi-pens a few years ago and it totally freaked me out...and I'm just nervous that it might be hard in general.
#3-- The longevity of my trip...
Not that I'll get homesick! Not too worried about that. I just know that many people that volunteer with this organization are there for much less time than I'll be there...so, my concern is that I'll be watching people come and go the entire time I'm there and won't have any (non-Ecuadorian) buddies that stay as long as I do. I guess I'm worried that the friends I make might not be very long-term because chances are we'll be together for such a short time? And I'll never see them again? But I could be wrong.
#2-- Clogging someone's toilet.
This sounds irrational, especially as my number 2 fear. But it's totally not! Honestly, this might be my number 1 fear, but it seems too petty to document officially as such. I HATE the idea of using other people's bathrooms because it would be SO EMBARRASSING to have to be like "hey, soooo...I just met you but my excrements have already broken one of your household appliances." What a horrible situation. And there's nothing to be done because it's not like I can control my bodily functions or the power of a flusher. :(
#1-- The actual "work."
I was explaining to someone my volunteer position in Quito, and their reaction was, "Oh, so you're basically babysitting for four months." That really made me uncomfortable. And the more I've thought about it, the more I feel like that person was right. I have to keep talking myself out of it because I know it isn't true. I'm working with kids. Giving them a chance to learn. But it's still something that's really bothering me because I always wonder if what I'm doing is a waste or if it's really helping someone.
And now onto the awesome stuff! My Top 5 (very general) reasons to be excited.
#5-- Crazy new cuisine?!
Okay, so really I'm just pretty excited to try this thing called cuy, aka roasted guinea pig-- apparently very popular in Ecuador/the Andes. Other than that, I think it will be a lot of beans, rice, potatoes (?)...and yeah. Basically, my #5 really encompasses all the new and crazy things I'll be able to do living on my own in a foreign country (whoa, this sounds much scarier when I actually verbalize it). Which is a lot. So it's just the cuy that's crazy in terms of food, I guess. Uh...I would really like to be Andrew Zimmern.
#4-- Perfecting my Spanish!
Self-explanatory...I feel like I'm so close to being (kind of) fluent and this just might do it! At least, that's what I'm realllllly hoping. And I'll be working with kids a lot-- they won't judge me.
#3-- Self-discovery, a unique experience, blahblahblaaahhh.
It's totally cheesy, but I'm pretty sure I can't wait for that cliche stuff. I'll have some very interesting experience to carry with me to college and through life in general. I'm doing something really different from a lot of people my age and I know I'm lucky. I could definitely write paragraphs about this.
#2-- Meeting people from everywhere :).
Volunteers come from all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, New Zealand, etc., etc. Not to mention the fact that I'll (obviously) be meeting tons of Ecuadorians. Despite #3 on my freak-out list, I am SO PUMPED to know people from all over the world.
#1-- Making some people smile and whatnot.
At least trying to. Yep.
So...I will do everything I can to make this the most exciting page on the world wide web for the next four months (and maybe beyond!) as I live, volunteer, and party it up in Quito, Ecuador and other fun places nearby. I'll update as frequently as I have internet access-- since I'm pretty sure I'll rarely run out of things to say. Comment (please!) and let me know you're reading :).
As my departure date gets closer, I have more and more people ask me if I'm scared or nervous-- or they just assume as much and say "I'm sure you're freaking out by now!" Inspired by this, I've decided to create a Top 5 list of things that are really making me want to purposefully miss my flight. And, inspired by all the things that made me want to go to Ecuador in the first place, I will complement this list with my Top 5 reasons for busting at the seams with excitement.
I'll do the icky list first. My Top 5 reasons to freak out!!
#5-- Packing.
It's not like I'm too lazy to do it or anything (not that I've started...heh). I am totally worried that I won't bring the right kind of clothes/suitcase, etc., too much or too little of something really important, too much in general, or that I'll forget really important items. I don't even know how to begin getting everything I need together!
#4-- Customs.
A very immediate/short-term concern. But I feel like sneezing as I enter Ecuador is enough to make them believe I have H1N1 or something. I had kind of a scarring experience with customs/airport security re: peanut allergy/Epi-pens a few years ago and it totally freaked me out...and I'm just nervous that it might be hard in general.
#3-- The longevity of my trip...
Not that I'll get homesick! Not too worried about that. I just know that many people that volunteer with this organization are there for much less time than I'll be there...so, my concern is that I'll be watching people come and go the entire time I'm there and won't have any (non-Ecuadorian) buddies that stay as long as I do. I guess I'm worried that the friends I make might not be very long-term because chances are we'll be together for such a short time? And I'll never see them again? But I could be wrong.
#2-- Clogging someone's toilet.
This sounds irrational, especially as my number 2 fear. But it's totally not! Honestly, this might be my number 1 fear, but it seems too petty to document officially as such. I HATE the idea of using other people's bathrooms because it would be SO EMBARRASSING to have to be like "hey, soooo...I just met you but my excrements have already broken one of your household appliances." What a horrible situation. And there's nothing to be done because it's not like I can control my bodily functions or the power of a flusher. :(
#1-- The actual "work."
I was explaining to someone my volunteer position in Quito, and their reaction was, "Oh, so you're basically babysitting for four months." That really made me uncomfortable. And the more I've thought about it, the more I feel like that person was right. I have to keep talking myself out of it because I know it isn't true. I'm working with kids. Giving them a chance to learn. But it's still something that's really bothering me because I always wonder if what I'm doing is a waste or if it's really helping someone.
And now onto the awesome stuff! My Top 5 (very general) reasons to be excited.
#5-- Crazy new cuisine?!
Okay, so really I'm just pretty excited to try this thing called cuy, aka roasted guinea pig-- apparently very popular in Ecuador/the Andes. Other than that, I think it will be a lot of beans, rice, potatoes (?)...and yeah. Basically, my #5 really encompasses all the new and crazy things I'll be able to do living on my own in a foreign country (whoa, this sounds much scarier when I actually verbalize it). Which is a lot. So it's just the cuy that's crazy in terms of food, I guess. Uh...I would really like to be Andrew Zimmern.
#4-- Perfecting my Spanish!
Self-explanatory...I feel like I'm so close to being (kind of) fluent and this just might do it! At least, that's what I'm realllllly hoping. And I'll be working with kids a lot-- they won't judge me.
#3-- Self-discovery, a unique experience, blahblahblaaahhh.
It's totally cheesy, but I'm pretty sure I can't wait for that cliche stuff. I'll have some very interesting experience to carry with me to college and through life in general. I'm doing something really different from a lot of people my age and I know I'm lucky. I could definitely write paragraphs about this.
#2-- Meeting people from everywhere :).
Volunteers come from all over the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, the UK, New Zealand, etc., etc. Not to mention the fact that I'll (obviously) be meeting tons of Ecuadorians. Despite #3 on my freak-out list, I am SO PUMPED to know people from all over the world.
#1-- Making some people smile and whatnot.
At least trying to. Yep.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)