¡Hola! It’s been awhile since my
last entry, and a lot has been going on since then. We’ve just finished
midterms with our classes, so we’re more than halfway through the semester and
I have almost two months left here in Ecuador. It’s crazy how fast this year
has flown. When I think about coming back to the U.S. at the beginning of
August, I get excited, a little sad, and stressed all at once. There’s so much
to see and do before I leave, and there will be so many people to see and so
many things to do when I arrive back in the States.
The past couple of months have been
filled with little everyday tasks and big trips and adventures. In March, I
finally caved and got my haircut. I’ve gotten my haircut by the same person
since I was maybe five years old. I was nervous about what getting a haircut in
Ecuador would be like, as I’d heard some horror stories, and I’m very
particular about my hair. My host sister made an appointment for me with a
stylist from Spain, who apparently is a bit swanky and trustworthy. It was a
very quick process. We argued about the length for a minute, he cut it quickly,
I paid $11, and I walked out the door with wet hair. It was painless. Though we
often pay a lot for haircuts in the U.S., I must say I missed the whole event
of it, including the styling. I was glad to finally have checked that off my
list though, and it was in no way as scary as I thought it would be.
In addition to visiting a hair
stylist, I also visited a doctor back in March. My issues from February came
back and I finally went in to get some medicine. It was a long wait, and there
was no receptionist, so it was a first come first serve basis and you have to
be aware of who is in front of and behind you in line, otherwise you may get
cut. I was eying everyone to make sure I had my turn. Luckily, I had a friend
who was nice enough to go with me and wait for the whole 2 hours we were there.
There are some strict regulations
for parasite medicine and I went on a beach trip toward the end of my dosage. I
traveled back to Montañita with some friends to celebrate Semana Santa and a
friend’s birthday. I wasn’t able to partake in the full festivities, but it was
fun to get together with friends and enjoy the sun. On our last night there,
while walking through a crowed street, my phone was taken from my purse. Now I
can check being pick pocketed off of my Ecuador list. Luckily nothing else was
taken, and I was able to replace my phone after getting back to Ambato.
A couple weeks after that trip, a
group of volunteers reunited in Riobamba (about an hour and a half from Ambato)
for the city’s independence fiestas. The university where I work was
celebrating its 44th anniversary that week, so we had Friday off in
honor of this special event. On Friday, Amanda and I arrived to meet up with
Jessica (a Riobamba volunteer), and Angelika who came all the way from the
coast to visit. The next day, the rest of the volunteers joined us, just in
time for an evening bullfight. I was excited to experience something I’d always
wanted to see, but I wasn’t exactly prepared for it. It was a little difficult
to see the bulls killed like that and the first was a little shocking and hard
to watch. After 4 or 5 fights, we decided we’d had enough of the cultural
experience. 4 hours would have been a little much to sit through. I was glad
I’d finally gone to a bullfight, but I think it’s an experience I may only need
to have once in my life.
Back to every day life in Ambato,
I’ve now experienced an Ecuadorian baby shower. The baby shower was quite
unlike anything I’ve ever been to. There were skits involved and I was assigned
the role of baby while we had to act out the actual event of giving birth. It
was pretty hilarious to watch all the skits. There was also a game where the
“mom” is blindfolded and the “dad” gives her directions for getting food in the
“baby’s” mouth. Again, I was the baby. That was a messy experience. After the
baby shower, everyone asked if it was like baby showers in the U.S. Note: Baby
showers in Spanish are called exactly that – baby showers. I told them in the
U.S., they are definitely more low key.
Wanting to get a little more
accomplished before I leave, as well as switch up my daily routine, I’ve
started volunteering at a school near my house where my host aunt and uncle
work. About 60 students ages 9-18 attend this school for up to four years
before they transition into regular schools.
On Mondays, I’ve started teaching a 40-minute English class to the 4th
and last level. I have about 13 students and it’s a challenge, but it’s fun.
It’s nice to work with younger kids again. I’m definitely getting to practice
my elementary school classroom management. On Tuesdays, I’ve been going on home
visits with a social worker to take pictures of the houses for their records.
It’s been really interesting so far and I’m glad to have a little more variety
in my routine. Last semester I felt so overwhelmed trying to adjust and handle
my workload, but this semester I feel a little more relaxed. I wanted to add a
little something different to my routine and it’s always been my goal to work
with kids in some way since I arrived.
Trying to fit some fun and
adventure into the weekends before we leave, we met some friends in Baños a
couple of weekends ago. Baños is only an hour from Ambato, so it’s a nice
getaway. We had a random Wednesday off recently, so we went to Baños to eat and
grade. This particular weekend, I jumped off a bridge. The plan had been to
jump with a friend, but they only do the double jump during holiday weekends. I
made her go first and then it was my turn. It took me a minute (or two) on the
platform to convince myself that yes, I could actually do it, but then I
finally fell. It wasn’t as graceful as I’d hoped it would be, but when my body
realizes it’s falling off of the stable platform into nothing, it does what it
wants. My waist was attached to a bungee and it’s pretty safe (I think) for
those of you who were worried. There was some soreness for the next few days,
but it was worth it to finally have done it, as I’d always had some excuse for
not jumping when my friends did it in the past.
The next weekend, we went to Tena
for a volunteer’s birthday. This is the rafting capital of Ecuador. We were
unable to do class IV rapids that weekend (I think because it had rained too
much and the water was too high), so we did III instead. It was a lot of fun
and also included some bridge jumping at the end. My body’s not very happy with
me for what I’ve been putting it through lately. I had previously rafted in
Costa Rica and it was fun to do this again. It had been on my Ecuador list and
I’m glad I got to check that off before this year comes to an end.
| Sadly one of my only rafting pictures |
This past weekend, we made the long
trek down to southern Ecuador to visit some friends in Loja. On Thursday
evening, we met at the bus station, about 15 minutes before our bus was
supposed to leave. I heard them say something on the intercom about our bus and
then as I was walking over to it to check if it was ours, it started to pull away.
I realized it was leaving and started to chase it yelling “´¡¡¡ESPERA!!!”
(Wait!!!) I then got into an argument with the bus driver’s assistant, telling
him it wasn’t yet 10:30, and our friend was on his way. I showed him my clock
and he flashed me his. After we loaded our bags on the bus, they told us they’d
drive around the block and pick us up, while I was calling my friend to tell
him to hurry. Luckily, the bus came back to pick us up and didn’t take off with
all of our stuff. I’ve never heard of a bus leaving too early. We were a little
frazzled as we got, but we were able to relax and sleep most of the way (after
they played Rush Hour 3 1.5 times) making the 10-hour bus ride bearable.
The next morning, we pulled into
Loja at 8:30 a.m. and were met by our friends Ryan and Shannon who took us to
the grocery store to meet up with the rest of the group who was going to go
with us to their friend’s house in the country in between Loja and Vilcabamba,
a town farther south. I was in desperate need of coffee and had to wait awhile
for shops to open and coffee machines to warm up, but luckily I was able to
find some before we got on our bus. The countryside is gorgeous down there. We
arrived at the house midmorning, claimed bedrooms and got to catching up while
others cooked and barbequed. I had the excuse of having been on a bus for 10
hours, so they didn’t make me do too much. J After a shower, it was
time to feast. We were all way too full by the end. Then we walked down by the
river that was near the house and explored and sat and talked. That evening, we
swapped stories with the Peace Corps volunteers who were there and sang and
danced a bit. Singing along to classic songs is a new tradition in our group –
American Pie is definitely a favorite.
The next morning we slept in and
were awoken and told breakfast was waiting for us. Not a bad way to wake up.
After cleaning the house and packing our bags, we were on our way to
Vilcabamba. This is a town that is said to have pure water that has antiaging
properties, and therefore the town at one point was thought to have a high
number of residents past the age of 90. After researching this a bit, the
validity of this is questionable, but it’s the town’s claim to fame. I remember
reading about it in my Spanish class in Costa Rica. Who would have thought that
a little over three years later, I would actually be visiting that town?
Vilcabamba is also know for the beautiful hills around it and is a great hiking
area. Our friends took us on a hike as soon as we got there (after we had
gotten coffee, of course). We were told it would take 4 hours and as the sun
was beating down on me, I was sure I was going to be exhausted by the end. We
ended up doing it in 3 and during that time, the sun turned to rain.
Unfortunately, I had forgotten to pack my rain jacket. At first I was thinking,
“Great, I’m going to get soaked.” Then as I was looking around at the
incredible scenery, I thought, “Wow, I’m in Ecuador, hiking with some great
friends, and this view is amazingly beautiful.” It dawned me that I could look
at the situation negatively or positively and just soak it all up, pun
intended. That’s one thing I think Ecuador has taught me, to go with the flow,
try to find the positive, or the humor, and just keep on rolling. Hopefully I
can maintain some of that when I get back to the U.S. After the hike, we
rewarded ourselves with some delicious pizza and snake liquor. Don’t ask – I’m
a little unclear as to what it was myself, but I do know that that one shot was
potent.
The rest of our time in Vilcabamba
and Loja was filled with friends, more dancing and singing, and a lot of
relaxation. Part of Sunday afternoon was spent in a hammock. I finally woke up
and got up when I realized it was dark outside. Nothing beats a lazy day
afternoon spent in a hammock. I was sad to end the vacation on Monday
afternoon, but it was time to return to reality. This bus ride seemed extra
long, as there wasn’t much sleeping. The views out the window made the
sleeplessness worth it though. I arrived home at around 3 a.m., unpacked my
bag, and then took an hour and a half nap before getting ready for my 7 a.m.
class. It took me a couple of days to finally recover from that exhaustion.
During that trip, we kept talking
about how crazy it was that our year was coming to an end and that our end of
service conference was less than 2 weeks away. We talked about how fun it would
be to be reunited with all 31 volunteers again one last time, but how sad it
was going to be as well. This conference is coming up on Thursday and I’m going
into it with very mixed feelings. I’m definitely planning to pack waterproof
mascara should I need it, and I have a feeling I will. Just thinking of saying
goodbyes is difficult. Even though I still have about two more months before I
head home, I know there are some people that I won’t be seeing again before
that time due to distance and schedules. We often talk about visiting each
other when we get home. Being one of the few people in our group from the West
coast makes it a little more difficult to make that happen, but I hope it
actually does happen at some point. We have these visions of reunions and
roadtrips that are fun to imagine, but I hope these dreams become some kind of
reality. We have all had an experience that no one can exactly relate to except
for us. We’ve become close because of the highs, lows, and in between.
Experiencing a year in another country with someone who is a stranger in the
beginning bonds you like nothing else can. They say you never really know
someone until you travel with them and I think we’ve gotten to see each other’s
true personalities throughout the year.
That’s enough sappiness for now, I
know there will be lots more of it in my last blog entry two months from now. I
just know as excited as I am to be in my home country again, I’m definitely
going to look back and miss this. I know these next two months are going to
pass with the blink of an eye, but I want to fit in as much as I can in that
time. There will probably be one more entry after this and then I’ll be on my
way home! It’s crazy to think about, but I knew this year would go by quickly.
It’s been an adventure for sure and I hope these next two months continue to be as well.
