Dog Karma - yes, you read that right, Dog Karma. I seem to have it right now in full force. A couple of weeks ago, right after my blog about the neighborhood dog becoming my buddy, I experienced yet another round of good dog vibes. I was out at the FRATES communities giving presentations at the local schools about the state of Ecuador’s environment. It was an overcast, slightly rainy day; I had just given a presentation to the kids in El Porvenir and was walking the 25 minutes or so down the road to the turn off for Vencedores. The [View Full Entry]

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Sorry folks, this is not the awaited blog update about the 2nd trip into Waorani territory - that update will be posted at some point this week. What I am posting on this blog is a solicitud for funding for a project of mine. Please read my letter below and help if you can. Greetings family and friends: Well, it has been 17 months since Susan and I embarked on this Peace Corps journey. We have 10 months left and are at that point where we are trying to start wrapping up projects and putting the finishing and hopefully, lasting touches [View Full Entry]

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So, how do you measure success in Peace Corps terms? One dog at a time. Yes, I have had some crazy dog experiences here in Ecuador - some so bad that I have second-guessed my love of man´s best friend. However, this morning was a good dog morning. As I was walking to work I noticed the dog that lives around the block barking at a passer-by in front of me. This dog has barked at me and nipped my heels for 6 months. I thought I had made a break through a month ago when I was sitting at the [View Full Entry]

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The long awaited next blog. I am sorry that I have been uncharacteristically late in writing this blog. I have been swamped with other important things to do and have not had the time or energy to sit down and write an account of my experiences over the last three weeks. So grab a beer, glass of wine, cup of tea, or whatever else you desire and give yourself some time to read the latest in the adventures of Jer & Sue. The last weekend in April Sue and I headed up to Tena to help out Mary Fifield (from Global [View Full Entry]

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Last week I returned to the dam project with my Peace Corps friend Jason. The plan was for Jason to give a workshop/talk about fish-farming which is a very popular activity in these parts. Fish-farms provide food security and a source of income for a lot of poor rural families. So Jason was giving his fish talk and I was tagging along because they wanted me to give a presentation on the environment and ecotourism. Jason came in on Sunday afternoon, Sue was on her way back from the Gender and Development Committee’s - Camp Alma. You will have to read [View Full Entry]

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A couple of things tickled me this morning. As I was walking to work, I walked by the local funeral home/coffin store. Yes you read that right, coffin store. You see this business is less of a traditional funeral home and more of a place that sells coffins. Anyhow, as I walked by it for probably the 800th time, I noticed that there was a new hand-written sign out front declaring that it now provides 24-hour service. This of course got me thinking about why one would need 24 hour coffin/burial services. It isn’t like a late night drive-thru run to [View Full Entry]

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This week seemed to pass quicker than most and I am not entirely sure why that is. Perhaps it was due to the start of the MLB season and my Indians jumped out to an early start before finishing the week at 2-3, perhaps it was the lead-up to the NCAA final four, perhaps it was because Katie was leaving the country this week and you never get enough time to say goodbye or to tie up loose ends, or perhaps it was because I was busy as usual and these days time is flying by. I have been sick though [View Full Entry]

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Many of you probably received these links already from Susan, however, here are links to photos she posted on shutterfly a couple of weeks ago. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGnB http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbOHLhy0cNGnQ I´ll check my records and see if we have left any photos out. Wouldn´t want to keep you all from seeing good photos. Peace, Jeremy [View Full Entry]

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When last I updated the blog I was talking about giving presentations in the local high schools about global warming. This past week was more of the same. On Tuesday, I gave a presentation at Colegio Doce de Mayo. Whitney Shipman (another PCV) was in town with her husband so she came along to see my presentation. It went fairly well - I was rushed through it though, since the principal told me that I would only have 40 minutes to give it. Whitney chatted with the principal afterwards about collaborating on a project she has with some high school students [View Full Entry]

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Well, well, I had a much better week last week. After settling in and getting a grip on the mountain of new projects I now have, I realized that we often make things out to be a little worse than they really are. I suppose this is some type of natural response that kicks in when the going gets tough. I know that I will make it through all of these work related challenges and that I will continue to enjoy my Peace Corps experience. By no means am I saying that it will be easy - I am going to [View Full Entry]

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