Advertisement
Okay, so I kept up with journaling on my netbook but I was never able to upload entries because of the horrible connection that is in Pesillo and all of those annoying little kids who are always playing counter strike at the internet cafes. But today is a new day and I am no longer in Pesillo. I can't believe that I've already been in country for over two months now. It's crazy. So allow me to sum up what has happened since my last entry and catch everyone up to speed.
1. Went to a cultural trip to Salinas (not the cool one).
2. Had a soccer tournament against the other training towns and for some reason we won. I also got a bloody nose during the process.
3. On the same day that I had lunch with the Ambassador of Ecuador, I killed a chicken.
4. Discovered my sites location. I'm located in the Chimborazo province which also has the Chimborazo Mountain. That mountain is the highest peak in Ecuador and also the farthest point from the center of the Earth. Awesome. Take that Everest.
5. Visited my site for a week. My Spanish skills are still pretty
Cuy Killing
I love the look of Brian's face. It's like awkward pride.weak so I didn't get much accomplished, but I did hang out with a bunch of little kids and cooked lunch in the school cafe. Oh, and I survived my first earthquake. 3.6!
6. Returned from my site visit and compared stories. Most people love their sites, which is wonderful to hear. Turns out I have one of the most hardcore sites out of the omnibus and for that reason I have to love my site. I hope that makes sense. I'm 3,600 meters up in the mountains (who knew Ecuador could be cold, let alone freezing) in an indigenous community that speaks the language Kichwa and to top it off there is no running water in my home.
7. Went on a hike in Pesillo. Probably the most beautiful day hike of my life.
8. Cut off most of my hair and I still look cute.
9. Said goodbye to my Pesillo family and headed off for technical training.
Okay, so finally, it's time for the tech trip. They break the tech trips up into groups based on your region and whether you are agriculture or natural resources. My group consists of a total of 9 trainees: Myself,
The Champions
We were the ordinars. (That n has a tilda over it) which means the milkers. Our chat: Lech... Leche... Leche, Leche, Leche. No necessito ganar. Vengen a tomar LECHE. Rachel, Carrie, Lindsay, Aaron, Bob, Jacob, Patrick, the instructor Mary, and the two language facilitators Andrea and Javier. During our tech trip we went to a bunch of sites near Riobamba, Salinas (the cool one), and Guaranda. Some highlights of things that we learned about include:
1. Markets and community action projects.
2. Small animal management: guinea pigs (they eat them down here), bunnies, chickens, quail, and goats.
3. Apicultura or bee-keeping and trout farming.
4. Production of goods such as cheese, chocolate, soccer balls, and wool.
5. Composting and organic pest control.
6. Greenhouses, greenhouses, and more greenhouses and then some other stuff.
From there we went to Quito for a week to prepare to become real volunteers. I can't really recall most of the stuff we did there, it was stuff like paperwork and last minute important tid-bits. Mostly it was a chance for everyone in our omnibus to catch up, make out, and say goodbye. We lost one more volunteer from our omnibus, Alberto, who was not really feelin' his site. Goodbye Alberto, we'll miss you! Two down, 52 to go.
On Thursday April 22nd (Earth Day) we swore in as volunteers at the
Pi
my jersey number. home of the ambassador. It was awesome. Most of the guys from our omnibus grew out mustaches for swear in because they're such dweebs, but the best part was that the director of Peace Corps for Ecuador, Parmer, also had a mustache just for the occasion.
So I'm a volunteer now. How crazy is that! I'm overwhelmed and incredibly excited for what happens next whatever that may be. Look out crazy cold indigenous community whose name I cannot mention because it goes against Peace Corps policy which I totally support, here I come!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.09s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 11; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0362s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
