Why, Yes, ofcourse I would

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I have been in Zhud for one week and four days now. I am still here. That is a good sign.

The last few weeks of training moved quickly and slowly. We were all ready to be done with the training part, the scheduled days and feeling of being watched every moment by the Peace Corps staff. However, with the end of training also came our departures out on our own. I have made some good friends here, and the prospect of leaving them… well I just chose not to think about it until I had to.

The weekend before we left was a good send-off weekend. On Friday, I went out with some fellow volunteers in search of a rumored bar in Cumbaya with some decent beers. The only two beers you can find here are Pilsner and Club. I have not seen one single other type of beer here (I miss Logan’s Alley). Luckily, we were triumphant in our search. We found The Turtle’s Head and heartily enjoyed a few IPA-like ambers. My do I miss good beer.

Saturday was Family Appreciation Day at the training center. All of our host families were invited to come spend the day eating and hanging out. For lunch, we were serving the chickens that the agriculture volunteers had been raising at the center since shortly after we arrived. Originally, we were going to do the butchering ourselves a few days before at the training center. I guess we didn’t have the appropriate facilities and means of cleanliness, so they got shipped somewhere else. I was only slightly disappointed. It was a good day, except for one minor detail: my family didn’t come. I knew my host parents wouldn’t, since my host mom is still recovering from surgery. I thought some others might show up, but I guess they had other things to do.

Saturday night was our party. Traditionally, the volunteers have a big party at the end of training. We did ours at one of the host families’ houses who had a big building out back of their house. Prior to going there, a big group of us splurged and went out for sushi. It was even decent sushi. I love sushi. And good beer. The party was great. Nearly everyone showed up, most of them wearing their dancing-pants. It was just what we needed.

I spent the next few days packing and spending time with my friends. Wednesday was D-day. We arrived at the training center at 8 am to eat breakfast. The Swearing-In Ceremony started at 9. It was fairly uneventful. Someone came from the U.S. Ambassador’s office to swear us in. The ambassador herself was supposed to do it, but she managed to get kicked out of Ecuador a few weeks ago. Following the ceremony, a group of volunteers had to immediately depart for the bus terminals to leave for their sites. Luckily I was part of the group that departed for the terminal that night at 6.

Departure. We met back at the training center at 6, loaded a bus up with all of our belongings (considerable amount with 2 years worth of stuff each), and drove to the Quitumbe bus terminal. We were all taking night buses. My bus left at 9:45. Goodbye my friends. I slept well on the bus. I was personally awoken by the fare collector at 4:45 am and quickly hastened to get off the bus as we had arrived in Zhud. Completely disoriented and drowsy, I somehow conveyed that I needed to be taken a bit further up the road. Somehow I made it to my house, and after knocking a few minutes, my host sister Norma came to let me in. I went straight to my room to pass out for a few more hours.

Getting up that morning was difficult. I could hear commotion around the house, but I felt drained and would have preferred to stay in bed all day. This was it; I had really arrived. Finally, just before 10 am, I put on my brave-pants and opened my door. Immediately they were upon me and asked if I would like to go to the market in Tambo. Why, yes, of course I would! (the response I try to practice as much as possible). My host mom, her 2 children, her sister with her spouse and 2 children, my host mom’s parents, and I all piled into a pickup and drove to the outside market in Tambo.

I had arrived during Semana Santa, so there was much to buy. Semana Santa is a week-long holiday around Easter during which they prepare a bunch of special meals. I was ok with all of the purchases except for one: a cow’s hoof that included part of the leg and was cut every few inches, but so that it was all still connected. It made my skin crawl to look at it. A few days later they would try to serve it to me in some soup. Being the non-picky eater I boast of being, I accepted the soup but did have to insist that someone else enjoy my portion of actual cow hoof.

I have basically been hanging out with my family since arriving, which is okay by me. I wake up around 7 every morning just after the kids leave for school. Rosa, my host mom, and I eat breakfast together and then head out to the fields to check on her cow and help with her parents’ cows. There is currently one that needs to be milked every morning, but two others are pregnant and very close to their due date. I want to see a cow give birth!

The rest of my day is filled with random chores and some down time to read or study. The other day I spent 3 hours washing clothes on a rock. A different day I went up and helped harvest potatoes and malloco for the entire day. Sometimes I can escape to the city nearby and access internet for a bit. I met the volunteer that lives closest to me for lunch and got to see where she lives one day. So there is a bit of this and a bit of that.

I suppose I have attended 2 meetings of the community foundation that I will be working with. I am still unsure of what my projects will actually be, though I may try to assist with a tourism project here if the community decides they want to pursue it. Otherwise, I may also help in documenting the culture, looking into possible improvements to the non-existent waste program, or teaching environmental education in the local school. Things take time here though, and first I need to get better at Spanish. Therefore, I will probably be trying to get to know the community and what it is they really want for the first few months before really starting in on these projects.

This past weekend there was a large celebration. I believe it was for the spring equinox. It started with a parade on Friday night which included an altar loaded with fruit and other food. From the bottom of the altar dangled several live cuy (guinea pigs). Their hind legs were strapped together and then they were suspended, swimming frantically in the air. Eventually I assume they were cooked up and eaten, though I was not invited to partake.

The next two days were also days of celebration. People basically congregated in this one area near the center of town and hung out. The men drank. The men drank a lot. And starting very early in the day. By midafternoon, many were stumbling around or passed out on the grass. I guess they work so hard, when they have the opportunity to party, they take is very seriously. The other custom is that if someone offers you a drink, it is very rude to say no. You must take the drink. I suppose many run into trouble with this rule.

On Saturday night, when I was taking a break from the festivities and relaxing in my room, Rosa showed up looking very distressed. She proceeded to tell me that someone had just been killed. She told me what happened, but I only partly understood. What I got out of it was that one of the drunken men had sliced his wife with a machete. They had taken her to the hospital, but she was dead. What?! The next morning the story changed slightly. Apparently, it was not a machete, but actually he had hit her with 2 rocks. She was not dead but in the hospital, and he was in jail. The house was indeed covered in blood. Damn.

Beside this, the festivities went smoothly. There was a lot of music and dancing on Saturday night, but I simply was not feeling in the mood and told Rosa that I had a headache. She quickly disappeared but returned after a minute with a potato and a knife. She proceeded to thinly slice the potato and apply pieces to my forehead. Then she got a bandana and tied it securely around my head. Apparently this usually helps with fever, but she thought it might help in this case as well. It was nice and cool.

Yesterday I went and watched men perform a routine on horses for a while until Manuel, my counterpart, asked if I wanted to go to a meeting in Cañar (city closeby). Why, yes, ofcourse I would! (practiced response). It was interesting, a meeting of a group interested in preserving the indigenous music and dance of the area. We actually met at this woman’s house who is from Oregon. She and her husband live here 6 months of the year and then go back to Oregon for the other 6 months. She is going to be a good contact. Also she is a photographer and has a dark room in her house. I want to play!

That is all for now.

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Comments

[merry beth duffy]

hola hannah
Hola sweetie really enjoyed reading this.Keep us posted when you can.Keep me up to date on machete skills I'm pretty good myself! My gardner is amazing! take care of yourself and enjoy this adventure. love ya MB