Welcome to the Pacific Ocean

My first trip to the beach....

Even though my site is only a couple of hours away from the beach, I still hadn´t found the opportunity to see the ocean until this past weekend. A small group of Manabí volunteers and I got together and went to a great little local beach called San Jacinto. The cool breeze off the water combined with the warm sun made for a perfect day to enjoy the ocean. I was so thrilled to see the water and to hang out with other volunteers. We swam in the warm water, played soccer, ate fabulous seafood and spoke English all day long...it was great! Sarah, Kendra, Kristen and I decided we needed to plan more regular trips to the beach because it was a good way to recharge. (Above: Manabi girls=Sarah, Kendra, Kristen and Me..sadly Brit couldn´t make it)
We have been without water for 5 days now. I spent the entire morning loading water in buckets up to the second floor to have for cooking and to have for showering. When our back up tanks run out of water, I will be sent to bathe in the river. I had planned to do my laundry the last day we had water and now because I never got to wash my clothes, I am running low. I may be bringing my bag of laundry with me to the river when I have to bathe.

In other news, my community’s annual fiestas started the first of November, and ever since there has been an activity or dance almost every night. I did have another run in with a clown and found myself in front of a giant crowd again, except this time; I had to participate in a mock beauty pageant. The clown started the show off by saying the person who had the best Miss America walk across the stage would be crowed the winner and would receive a huge prize for their performance. I, unfortunately, had to follow two girls who were experienced beauty queens. I figured I would make the best out of the situation and strutted my finest Gringa dance moves across the stage. I´m sure it was a sight to see.

The last participant in the beauty pageant was an older heavyset woman who strolled across the stage with robotic like moves and an unusually serious face. The crowd couldn´t stop laughing and loved her presentation. She had clearly beat out all the other candidates with her unique performance. The clown couldn’t have asked for a better show. He decided to crown the older women as the beauty queen and awarded her with the huge prize… jumbo-sized women´s undies. Pobrecita….humor here is a bit different. I´m just glad she laughed and went along with it.

We have also had a several dances, kids’ performances and today I ran in what they called a marathon, but was equivalent to a 5k race. This Friday is the town parade and a big dance that is suppose to last until Saturday morning. It is my good friend Delia´s birthday on Saturday and it is tradition for her and her friends to celebrate at the dance when the clock strikes midnight. The following day is a running of the bulls/ rodeo show. I will make sure to post pictures of all the festivities.

It is hard to believe how fast the month of November is going and that Thanksiving is right around the corner. I am going to miss cooking with my mom. I think I am going to have to wip up some of my Thanksgiving favorites to share with my host family here. The day of Thanksgiving ,I will be heading to Guayaquil to spend the holiday with other volunteers at the U.S.General Consulate´s house.

Alright, my eyes are crossing from sitting at this computer for so long. Love to all!

Con cariño,

Alea

PS. Counting down the days until December when I get to have my first visitor!

What a great gift

What a great gift! I was so excited about this thoughtful package. I have the poster picture collage up in my room. I am glad I have something so memorable to put up on my walls, which have been pretty bare since I moved in.
So many good memories in these photos. I love being reminded of all our travels together.

Thank you Ashely!

History in the making

My first Halloween in Ecuador was spent 12 hours away

from my site in a small jungle town called El Chaco. Our hotel sat in the middle of a pretty spectacular view of the oriente. Over 60 volunteers congregated in El Chaco to compete in a weekend long rafting competition and to celebrate La noche de Brujas (Halloween). It was so great to see my friends from training who I had been missing dearly.
For our Halloween celebration, I was very impressed with everyone’s creativity for their costumes, considering resources were limited. My friend Laura and I decided to dress up as Ecuador’s staple food….rice and potatoes. My wonderful neighbors got excited when they heard I needed to make a costume that would represent rice. Yolanda and Ana Maria brought out a tape measurer, a sketch book and fabric to design my dress. They also took the initiative to find a special kind of rice still in its shell to use for the
dress, which they insisted would be more visible and authentic.

At the Halloween party we had Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sarah Palin, Little Red Ridding Hood and the Big Bad Woof, Waldo (who made his way into almost every photo), people representing Peace Corps staff members and the Spice Girls even made an appearance. The rest of the weekend consisted of rafting competitions and a hike to an incredible waterfall. It´s hard to show how magnificant the waterfall truly was through pictures but I was taken back by its tremendous force and beauty. People were tubbing in the river that extended from the waterfall and we watched as the people bounced around on the intertubes that were tied together and tried to keep from sinking into the chilly water.

November 4th, what a day!
I had just recently finished up my travels from El Chaco and had spent one night in Quito before jumping on an overnight bus back to my site.
I arrived in my quaint coastal town the morning of November 4th. It is stra nge how after 2 short months, this rural little town now gives me a sense of familiarity and comfort after a spending a weekend away. I did, however, only have a brief amount of time before I was had to jump on another bus to spend one more night out of my site. I had been invited to watch the US Presidential Election with the members of the US Consulate in Guayaquil, and I couldn´t pass up the opportuni ty.
So, I quickly unpacked my bags from Halloween and threw together a day bag to travel to Guayaquil. I had been excited to see my host mom, Cecilia, to tell her all about my adventures to El Chaco so we chatted it up over breakfast. (I had my usual cereal and homemade yogart) She caught me up with everything I had missed and made me promise to show her pictures when I got back from Guayaquil. The, I was out the door and off again!
In between my bus transfers, I was able to call my Mom in the states to wish her a very happy birthday! (I miss you Mom! What a monumental day. Im sure you will never forget this birthday!)
I arrived in Guayaquil feeling like I hadn´t slept in days. (okay, so it was really only 2 days but it was only my 2nd presidential election as an elegible voter, and even if I am living abroad, I

didn´t want to miss this historical moment.) My friend Ke ndra and I checked into our hotel, got all fancied up and headed to the Hilton Hotel for the US Election celebration. We were formally greeted by US Consulate members and then asked to place a sticker in the state where we voted in. I proudly put my yellow sticker in the state of Colorado, remebering how difficult the process was to get my vote to the Arapahoe County office. (Thank you Mom...who knew you could vote via fax?!) The night consisted of various speeches, a mock election for Ecuadorian participants, fancy trays of horderviers and local TV stations lingering in the background.
One of the highlights of the night was talking with Jefferson Perez. If you don´t remember who this Olympic champion is, you should check out this video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urNVmKnEaQ)
We also decided to get a picture with Miss Guayaquil...it was a Reina (Queen) sandwich with Sonya in the middle. (Kristen, the other tall PC volunteer, and I had been the Queens for our communites during training.)
The evening was a night to remember! I feel like this election has raised enormous hope that extends overseas.

Halloween

Happy Halloween!

I just made it into Quito after taking a 10 hour overnight bus. Now I am headed to the jungle for our Peace Corps Halloween Party where I will be reuniting with all my friends from my training group. I can't wait to see everyone! My friend and I will be going as the Ecuadorian food staple...rice and potatos. I will make sure to post pictures soon!

Trekking through the Jungle

I went with the mayor and his staff for a hike through this beautiful jungle scenery. We spotted monkeys, frogs, tropical fish and luckily no snakes. Our wise tour guide Antonio taught us the ins and outs about the tropical plants and the history of the ancient caves hidden deep in the jungle. Pictures can hardly do justice but here is a mini photo essays of the hike.

We also had an artist in our group from Quito who was sketching the increible screnery that surrounded us.

We snacked on rich flavored papaya and mococha. There was no need to pack snacks because the trail was lined with fruit trees. We also cooled off and swam in the gorgeous waterfalls, which was refreshing after our 5 hour hike. It was a adventure I am sure to never forget.

Clown trouble

A mini-circus just arrived in my community, and my friends and I decided to go on the opening night. The small tent was lit up with neon lights and had small homemade signs that welcomed everyone to the big attraction. The show consisted of belly dancing, tight rope performances, clown acts, a 4-year-old contortionist, acrobats and some interesting balancing performances.

The clown acts were where the show took a turn from being slightly funny to slightly obnoxious. The clown eventually spotted the Gringa in the audience and insisted on making lame stereotypical jokes about Americans. He climbed up the stands to talk with me and proceeded to draw unwanted attention to me by calling me his new girlfriend and repeating the only 2 English phrases he knew.,“Hello baby” and “What’s happened to you.” I played along trying to be a good sport considering the community’s eyes were fixed upon me and judging my every move. The clown finally stopped using me as the butt of all his jokes, and the show continued. I was a little annoyed but the audience got a kick out of it.

The final act, the clown came back out and explained how he wanted to reenact a scene from a Tela Novela (Soap Opera). He announced that he needed to girl volunteers. Immediately the clown turned to me and pressured me and my friend to join him on stage. With the audience annoyingly cheering me on, I apathetically made my way to the stage. He explained how Delia, my friend, would play his wife, and I would play his mistress because I was the Gringa. (I can’t tell you how thrilled I was about my role)

Then, he was describing the scene in front of the crowd saying how we were suppose to fight over him, and how he would choose who he would stay with by giving them a kiss. Then he approached me and said “like this…” and started leaning for the kiss. (Who, signed me up for this?!)

I knew how bad this scene must have looked with the Gringa about to smooch the clown, so I quickly gave him my check instead. He kept attempting to kiss me on the lips, and I continued to put up a fight. Even if it was just a joke, I didn’t want his sweaty clown painted cynical lips near me. I could tell he was getting frustrated with me, but in my opinion he could consider focusing his jokes on his circus crew vs. centering his jokes on the audience members who paid to see the show (not be a part of the act). I was then told to go back stage to wait for further instructions. So, there I was back stage trying to figure out a way to get out of making out with this disturbing clown in a respectable manner.

Here I have been working this past month getting to know community members and gaining their respect while breaking negative stereotypes they have about Americans. Now, in front of the entire town, I could lose that respect in a matter of minutes due to this ridiculous clown performance.

I was pushed back on stage, and the soap opera continued. When my part came up, the clown tried several times again to plant a kiss on my lips, and I kept resisting. (Maybe it really wouldn’t have been so bad had he not set up the scene before hand by making rude jokes insinuating that American women are promiscuous.) Anyways, I of course never let him kiss me, and when the awkward performance was finally over, he presented me with a free ticket to see the following night’s show. (Yay! I couldn´t wait to go back...)

Latest News from Ecuador

Me, my neighbors Aura, Jennifer, my host mom Cecilia and my host aunt Monce. This picture makes us all look the same height but I am standing two stairs below everyone. We are at the Night of Art/music concert in a near by community, which turned into a big dance party. I am really not a fan of dancing in front of big groups and having everyone stare at me, but it is seems to be a normal occurrence here. (Please someone give the Gringa a dance lesson!) Mi Duvi is a government organization that is working in my community and is helping families improve the construction of their houses. Currently, the houses are made of cana bark, and Mi Duvi is tearing them down to replace them with cement houses. I am happy for the families who are getting a house upgrade but I am going to miss the character that the cana houses gave the community. Big trucks filled with housing materials come by the communities and drop off the supplies to make the new houses. The families are responsible for transferring the heavy materials to their land, which for some families happens to be down a steep flight of steps and across a narrow bridge. (The families don’t have the equipment to move the materials, so they make several trips back and forth carrying everything by hand.) The entire family helps out. These girls made numerous trips with buckets full of rocks to the top of a hill where they live.
Harvesting oranges!

One worker stands at the bottom of the tree catching all the oranges that are being tossed down from the person situated high up in the tree.

While I was helping harvest oranges, the workers showed me a “culebra” they had recently killed near where we were working. I have to admit I just about died when I saw it how big it was. My community kept telling me that these types of snakes only live way up in the mountains….and now they are living less than 5 houses away from me!

I can handle the spiders, but I just hope I never have to see another one of these beasts slithering around in my community.

On a less daunting note, I have a new little gecko friend living in my house

So, I am excited because my host family and I have been fixing up the first floor of the house for me as my new apartment. We just finished painting the bedroom, the “office,” the kitchen and the bathroom. (I will give you a virtual tour when it´s all complete!) We went to run some errands after we were done to let the paint dry, and when we returned, my host brother had decided to use some of the remaining paint to remodel the front of the house. He painted the bottom part of the house and the patio benches a burnt brown caramel color. When my host mom saw the new revisions, she literally screamed, and then from the phrases that followed the shriek, I learned some new bad words in Spanish. Who knew we had an artist in the family?!

Other random news:

• I have been making homemade yogurt! So far I have made blackberry, peach and strawberry flavored yogurt. I want to try pineapple and mango too, so I will let you know how those turn out.
• With the youth groups, I am conducting diagnostic exams/census in each community to evaluate the needs of the families and what sustainable projects I will be able to facilitate in the communities.
• I got a bike! My host brother fixed up an old bicycle he had lying around, which has become my new form of transportation. It is stuck in the highest gear, and the chain randomly falls off but normally it gets me to where I am going so I am happy!
• Got another care package (Thanks mom!) and some great letters! They mean the world to me! Thank you! Thank you!