Veggies, martians and beauty queens

Health Fair for my community:

I partnered up with Alimenta Ecuador, which is an organization that promotes healthy diets and distributes food to the poorer communities. The idea of the organization is good, but they tend to only visit the communities every 4 months or so to pass out food, so it is not very consistent but I guess every little bit helps. I gave my first nutrition charlas(workshops) at the health fair, and I taught about healthy fats, saturated fats, how to introduce more fruits and vegetables into their diets, etc. People here tend to use too much aceite (oil) when preparing their food. One woman told me she uses close to 2 bottles of aceite a week for her family of 5. (The recommended amount of aceite is 1 bottle per month for a family of 5) I am going to start giving cooking classes soon to try and offer some healthy alternative recipes.

My friend Delia and I teaching about the effects of saturated fat on a person´s heart.

I helped teach a gender equality conference this past weekend to a group of youth who will go back to their prospective communities, and teach what they learned. This particular lesson focused on the difference between sex and gender. One of the facilitators was pretending to be a martian from a different planet where there was no such thing as females and males. The youth had to describe the differenes and eventually realized that there are differences defined by society (which equals gender) and differences that are genetic (which equals sex).
I love working with the youth groups...can you find the gringa?! (acutally there are two gringas)
Waterfalls that we hiked to after the youth group workshops, which ended up being a 4 hour hike. If you look closely, you can see someone standing in the waterfalls. This picture makes the falls look smaller than they really were. The min-lake at the base of the falls is actually really deep, and is where I was dared to jump in to. (which of course I ended up doing, and then had to trekk back for two hours in soaking wet clothes. I was a mess when I got back but I would do it again.)

The youth I work with on our bus ride after our long hike. They wanted to have a mini dance party to have me teach them how we dance in the United States. (I seem to be the form of entertainment for them in many of these situations) Queso!

(Jose Abel, my host brother, is on the far right with the striped shirt)

My friend Jennifer and I on our way to a Beauty Queen Election...boy was that an experience. They are similar to a mini-Miss America pageant. The girls get all dressed up and wear different gowns, give speeches (which almost every girl forgot her speech, I felt for them) and dance on stage in front of everyone. The ceremony didn’t even start until midnight, and in between dress changes, everyone crowds the dance floor to bust out their best cumbia or salsa move. (They never just let the gringa sit and watch so I have been making my best attempt to dance cumbia.)

Reasons to visit your favorite PC volunteer in Ecuador

• You don’t have to worry about currency change
• Experience big lizards and giant tortoises up close and personal
• You can see for yourself (discover the mystery) where your favorite PC volunteers lives
• Beautiful snowcapped volcanoes
• Incredible hot baths/hot springs at the bases of the volcanoes
• Become familiar with delicious costal food! Mention food from Manabi (the provenance where I live) to any Ecuadorian, and they will say that it has the best food in all of Ecuador. (shrimp, crab, corviche/banana dumplings, ceviche/seafood soup and rich fruits just to name a few)
• You can buy a tasty complete meal for under $2
• The tropical fresh squeezed juices and smoothies are simply delightful.
• We can “banarse”(bathe/swim) in the river that trails through my community. The water temperature is perfect!
• You can hand deliver Salsa Verde Doritos chips (and other only found in the USA items) to your favorite PC Ecuador volunteer
• Beach trip (perfect honeymoon spot for friends who are soon to be newly weds)
• You can experience the breathtaking views of Ecuador from the back of a camioneta (truck), which is a popular form of transportation. (optional, but highly recommended)
• Horseback riding up to the waterfalls near my house and then trekking back through the river on horseback.
• You can say you stood on the equator at “La Mitad del Mundo.”
• Whale watching May through October
• You can bargain for colorful jewelry, ornate rugs and indigenous artwork in the largest outdoor market in South America, Otavlo. (bring back a colorful hammock, a must have for afternoon naps)
• Take a cruise to the Galapagos Islands and see the Blue Footed Booby
• World renowned snorkeling on the coast
• We can go canoeing across the lake near my house
• Gorgeous biking trails into the jungle
• Me!

Ants, ants and more ants...

Ormigas..aka ants.
The people here are so generous with their gifts and are always bringing by fresh fruit and different foods to try. One of my neighbors brought by a giant papaya, and I cut it up to share with my host family. After about 30 minutes, we had finished the papaya, and I was collecting the plates to take them back into the kitchen. When I returned, I was shocked to find thousands and thousands of ants taking over the kitchen. Apperantly, I had left a little bit of the papaya juice behind on the counter and the ants were able to detect the sugar. Ahhhh! My host mom and I had to pull out the bug spray and get rid of all the invaders. I am so carefull now to make sure not even a single crum is left behind.

Feliz Cumpleanos a ti! I went to my neighbor´s daughts birthday party last week. It was very similar to little kid birthday parties in the US. Jumbaliah´s 1st Birthday!

(No matter how many pictures I took, I could never get a photo of her smiling)

The Peace Corps staff came to visit my site last week, so it is custom in the rural communities to kill a chicken to serve to the guests. My host family tried to get me to do the honors, but I luckily got out of it by offering to make a fruit salad to go on the side.
There was still an egg inside to lay for the next day. (Not my favorite thing here in Ecuador.)

My neighbor Jennifer, Me and Tia Monce (my host aunt, she is a riot and I love her!)

Juramento de Bandera is a formal ceremony that the Ecuadorians celebrate in the schoools to honor their flag. The students graduating this year had to salute the flag in front of everyone, kneel to kiss the tail end of the flag and then proudly shout ¨Te Juro¨( which more or less means I honor the)

During the lenghy ceremony, one girl passed out and everyone ran to check on her. She had gone unconcious and now everyone was looking at the Gringa (aka. me) to give medical assistance. :/ (No matter how many times I tell them, they still like treat me as if I am the doctor)

I did my best to help by elevating her feet, giving her water/gatorade and luckily she woke up and was okay. As soon as we got her off the stage and sitting in a chair, another girl passed out. We attended to her, and because of the lack of ventilation, maybe lack of a good breakfast, and from standing for so long, over the next 30 minutes 5 or 6 more girls passed out. (Dios Mio!) I handed out water to all of the girls and tried to get them to sit down but because the ceremony is so formal and is a sign of respect, they refused to take a break. I thought it was crazy, but fortunately the ceremony was coming to an end. All the girls ended up being okay, but I was sure glad when everything was over...no more Dr. Alea.

The river behind my house that my host brother and the neighbor kids like to ¨banarse¨in. (To say you are going to play/swim in the river they say ¨banarse,¨ which litterally means to take a bath in the river) Gladys, Sandra and Delia

The girls I like to hang out with in my community.

My new Ecua gang...¨Caritas Felices¨

Nearly One Month in Site

My host brother, Jose Abel with our giant lime that was growing on the tree in front of our house for about 1 year


The delicous lime, which was growing more limes inside


One of the medical brigades that I helped out with in a small rurual community. At first they wanted me to give the vaccinations to the kids, but I had to explain that I am a health promoter, not a certified nurse/doctor....even though sometimes they insist on calling me Doctor Alea.
This dentist performed many teeth extractions this day...lots of blood and little an anesthetics
The doctors and nurses from the health chenter in my community

I have fallen in love with all the kids here


"Saltamontes" I still am amazed by some of the bugs here. This grasshopper is the same size of a bird and was flying around in my house as I was running in the other direction.

I named this grasshopper Jennifer in honor of my friend who works in the mayor's office (She is sitting next to me as I write this caption and understands a little bit of English)Cecilia (my host mom), Me, Jose Abel (host brother) and Monce (host aunt)
I really lucked out with such a great host family!

My new address and phone number

My new address:

Alea Richmond

Cuerpo de Paz

Casilla 13-01-420

Portoviejo-Manabi

Ecuador

South America

To call me from the U.S.:
011+593+94168673 (new phone-Porta)

but I still have my old phone too in case my new number does not work:
011+593+84577182 (old phone-Movistar)

Since, I do not have access to the Internet as often, I would love to get a surprise phone call and hear your voice!

Also, to send a package, please remember to keep them under 4lbs. so they will get through customs. Thanks again! Abrazos!

Day 2 in Site

So after 10 long weeks of training, I am now officially a United States Peace Corps volunteer. Last Friday, I swore-in to service with the other 29 trainees from my Omnibus 100 at teh Ambassador´s residence in Quito.
I´m flooded with emotions...happy, scared, fear of change, fear of the unknown. Can I do this? What will my community think of me? How will I make a difference? 2 years away from my family and friends. When I return to the U.S. I´ll be 2 years older, a new president will be in office, my friends will be finishing graduate school and some will be married.
Although, I am anxious/nervous for what the next 2 years will bring, I am still happy. I am excited for the relationships I will build in my community, and to find out how I can make a positive impact, specifically focusing on health issues. I will be educating six different communities about nutrition, hipertension, diabetes, sex education, etc. I know that I am not going to save the world here, but I can make a difference.
I think about everyone back home a ton, and I thank you for keeping me updated! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers during these last 10 weeks! Thank you Courtney for the awesome music CD...good music has a way of taking me right back home. I appreciate everyone´s support, and I know it is giving me a lot of strength out here. The 2 yr. count down begins now...

Swear-In Ceremony! Laura, Corrie, William and Me

The Ambassador Heather Hodges is brand new and just arrived in Ecuador 3 weeks before our Swear-In. She gave a really nice speech, and her house was b-e-a-utiful!
Good looking Peace Corps group: Omnibus 100

Sam, my language facilitator Carmen (I love her!) and Me

Casey, Laurita, Darle, Sam and Me (I miss you girls!)

I got to meet Correa, the president of Ecuador, when he came to my community to speak this week. He is proposing a new Constitution for Ecuador.

PS. Now that I am in my site, I have limited access to the Internet...sad day. So, it may take me a little longer to respond to emails, but keep them coming because I love reading them! Love you all!

Brain eating zombies

La Hacienda Guachala, which is considered the oldest existing colonial hacienda in Ecuador.

Making new friends in Ecuador

We visited La Mitad del Mundo (The Middle of the World) in Quito.

From atop the globe statue

2 hemispheres at once

Beautiful postcard views on our Sunday hike in Tabacundo.

We climbed to the highest point that we could see


Casey, Me and Garrick’s prom photo on top of the mountain.

Yours truly

We were so sore the next day from our 5 hour hike but it was good to be active and outdoors!

We were inspired to make a random low budget horror film by the laguna, which starred Erin as the brain eating zombie.

Kristen brought her fishing pole and we even gave fishing a try at the lake….it turns out these fish did not like cheese as bait.

And I leave you with this image....Jake navigating the dusty roads on our hike while keeping his respiratory health in mind.
Peace Corps gave us face masks last week due to volcanic activity in north Ecuador...apparently ash tends to travel into the surrounding cities. We have not seen any of the repercutions, but PC like to be extra safe. (which Im sure you like to hear Mom)

I believe my next post will be from my new site when I am an official Peace Corps volunteer! (mas o menos in two weeks) So for now, I miss you all dearly and hope things are going wonderfully for you! Sending my love!