Blogs from Puyo, Centre, Ecuador, South America - page 6

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 them. They were enjoying themselves at an all-you-can-drink wine bar. Leave to Sue and Shelly to discover the only one of its kind in South America. For $20/person they drank a ton of wine and ... read more

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 damn it? Why? Oh yeah, it all came to me. The Director is a nun. Not your sweet quiet type either. I am talking about the type that instils a sense of fear just by ... read more

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 on construction projects, picking up the garbage, etc. etc. Sue and I tried our best to make this Christmas as normal as possible. We had a group of Peace Corps friends come down on Friday ... read more

40 km of wind in my hair seemed just about right for a Sunday morning bike ride. Susan and I met up with Susan Birch-Carl (another PCV) and three of her Ecuadorian friends to do the bike ride from Baños to Puyo. Admittedly, I didn´t really want to do the ride when I woke up in the morning. I had every intention of going to Baños, doing a little shopping at the grocery store, then spending a lazy day back in Puyo. However, I felt it necessary to join the group on the ride, even though it was cloudy and a little chilly in Baños. We rented some very nice GT mountain-bikes ($5/day) and started out on our mostly downhill journey. 5 minutes into the ride, the skies cleared and we had ourselves a splendid day ... read more

The weeks just keep coming and going in Ecuador. We´ve been here for 10 months now and are nearing the end of our first year. I´d have to say that everyone at Peace Corps was correct when they told us that our service was going to be an emotional roller coaster. Sue and I have both had our highs and our lows. Amazingly, they rarely coincide with each other - this is a good thing, since we can pick the other one up when things are down. Last week, we bought an $11.50 Chinese plastic Christmas tree for our apartment. We spent another $10 or so on decorations and lights. So, we now have our very own Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It is not the prettiest tree, but it does the trick and puts us in ... read more