Last week saw the end of the Andrea era at CODEAMA. Her departure was somehow anticlimactic. We had a despedida (farewell party) for her at Colibri. Half the number of people who were supposed to show up did. Bolivar, to his credit, gave a toast that was kind and generous considering the fact that the two of them do not get along well at all. On Wednesday, my last day with her at the office, she opted to work from home. So at lunch, she said goodbye and walked out. She would be working until Friday, however, I was headed to [View Full Entry]

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The last week has been a whirlwind of activity and changes for me. I have reached a spot of moderate stress in regards to work. Here I thought this Peace Corps thing was going to be about doing nothing except reading books and hooking up with country nationals - that’s the stereotype right? To the contrary, at least in Ecuador, most of us PCVs work our tails off - I think I may be on my 4th or 5th tail at this point. Anyhow, the week started like any other. I worked on putting together a new kid’s page and managed [View Full Entry]

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Last Saturday I left off with writing my blog, this Saturday I continue with a new chapter. Most of Saturday was relaxing and dull. Not too much was going on in the way of Carnaval celebrations. Shelly was in Banos and Susan was working at the Waorani artesenia booth. I went for a run, typed up a blog, and ventured into town to do some e-mail. You could definitely tell the fiestas were in the air, however. The town was a little cleaner than normal, there were decorations up, and their seemed to be twice the normal number of people out [View Full Entry]

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I apologize ahead of time for the long time between blogs. Susan and I have been very busy with work and with traveling around with my cousin Shelly. Last week we made our first trip to the beach. As you’ll remember, the three of us were in Otavalo a couple weeks ago. Shelly and Sue returned to Quito (Sue had a work-shop and Shelly was going to plan a trip into the jungle with a tour company). I returned to Puyo on Monday night - for work, of course. Late on Tuesday night I called the ladies to check in with [View Full Entry]

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I failed to mention in my last blog about an issue we had with a DVD and a DVD player. For our environmental video series in Puyo, I purchased - Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest when I was back in the States last September. It is a kids movie, which we needed one for the video series. Of course, I tested the video on our laptop and Andrea took it to her house to preview it as well. We all agreed that it would be perfect for the kids here. When we went to play it at the Casa de Cultura, [View Full Entry]

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Some of you have probably been hearing more about the volcano in the news lately. Volcán Tungurahua has been more active as of late. We are in no threat, as Puyo lies upwind of the volcano and is more that 60km away. However, the increased activity still comes with its inconveniences to Susan and I. Peace Corps has officially declared Baños and the road through Baños as off limits. This means that to go to Quito we now have to travel through Tena, turning a 5 hour trip into a 9 hour trip on a road far more dangerous (due to [View Full Entry]

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There I was patiently waiting to talk with the Director of Escuela Valladares (Valladares Elementary School). My goal was to discuss the environmental education guide that I am developing for all the teachers and to ask her permission to give the teachers some surveys about what material I should include in the guides. There was no reason for me to be nervous, none at all. I’ve dealt with many a principal and never really had any problems before. This aside, I noticed that my heart was racing, I was sweating, and I was fidgeting as I waited outside her office. Why [View Full Entry]

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So Happy New Year to all. Susan and I had a nice holiday doing a little entertaining and a little travelling as well. After Christmas, Susan was blessed with a week off from work, while I, still had to continue with the daily grind. Not really, there wasn’t a whole lot going on at the office. Katie, Susan, and I went out to FRATES with Ari on Friday the 28th. Ari came to Ecuador to travel around and to volunteer some of his time at FRATES. He will be staying out there for a few weeks trying to help in whatever [View Full Entry]

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So Christmas came and went in Puyo. I have to say, it was hard getting into the Christmas spirit here. Yes, yes, the Ecuadorians celebrate Christmas just as we do. They have lights and trees and presents, but somehow it just isn´t the same. Stores don´t play continual Christmas music during the day, there are not Santas sitting around waiting for you to tell them what you want for x-mas. In fact, even Christmas day itself, just seemed different - like any other day. Most of the stores were open, people were out an about and, sadly, people were laboring away [View Full Entry]

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Sue and I finally purchased our new bikes - Super Luxors. They are not the highest quality, but they work and that is what is important. We picked them up from the bike shop on Monday and enjoyed our first ride. I’ll try to post a few photos on the blog if I can figure it out. The weather here has been wacky as of late. We have had a rash of thunderstorms (which are actually not the norm) and a ton of heavy rains. On Monday I went to the FRATES communities for some meetings about a health project that [View Full Entry]

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