Hi All!
Week three flew by and dragged on all at the same time. It was a great week as far as tech and language, but I´m also glad it´s gone!
I have eaten more things than I ever imagined I would (although still no cuy!). My lunches this past week have included cow tongue, cow hoof soup, and pig skin soup (hair still attached and all...mmmmm!). The rest of the food is still TONS of rice and potatoes, with an occasional veggie cooked into the food, and even more rarely a crisp, raw veggie on the side. I´ve tried everything so far, and not too many complaints! Some foods I prefer more than others, but the only one I really struggled with was pig skin soup.
We had two more cooking lessons this week to finish our community health lessons. We made llapingachos, a potato dish from the sierra, which was quite delicious. We also made meti (mite?), a grilled chicken dish from the oriente. I´m trying to learn how to make these so I can cook good food for myself when I´m on my own!!
It was a bit of a rougher week health-wise. I got sick on Tuesday for the first time, but once my stomach cleared out I was better. I didn´t feel well for the rest of the day and went to bed really early that night (early than my usual 9pm!). I felt much better when I woke up Wednesday, except for the bug bites that I then had ALL over my body! I was worried that I had bed bugs, but I changed my sheets that night, saw some unidentfied bug scurry away when I took off the bottom sheet, and I haven´t gotten more bites in bed since....stilllll itchy from the one night attack, but I think I´m safe in my room again!
Aside from the minor health issues, it was a GREAT week for community health tech!! We learned how to make tire gardens, which is a really cool idea whether we´re in an urban or rural site! We each made a tire garden with partners, and mine has radishes, cilantro and lettuce, which will hopefully start growing soon! I think tire gardens will be one of the first projects I work on at site because they are relatively easy to begin and draw a lot of interest, so it might be a good integration technique with my new community!
I gave two charlas (lectures/information sessions) this week! These were our first charlas, which we are expected to do a ton of at site, so I fell great having gotten some good practice. The first was a hygiene charla at a school on Friday, focused on hand-washing (importance of and techniques). A lot of the things we learn seem basic to us, but it is information that people here have NEVER heard, so it is very important information to share! We had 4 groups give handwashing charlas at the school Friday morning, and my group worked with the youngest kids, about 5 and 6 years old. It went really well for the first 15ish minutes, the kids were adorable and very interested in sharing what they knew, etc. After about 15 minutes, we started losing attention fast, so our Training Manager (who knows Spanish well) helped us start some games to keep the kids interested. At that point we finished with the charla and just played duck, duck, goose and did relay races for the remaining time. It was really fun and definitely helped boost our confidence because that is one of the hardest age groups to work with and while we had some help, most of it was done ourselves! I definitely want to work more with kids at my site :)
The other charla I gave was yesterday during our Saturday workshops where my group had to give a cooking demonstration like we received from the facilitators over the last 2 weeks. We prepared recipes and nutrition information for a traditional Ecuadorian breakfast, then we taught the class and made the food in class. It turned out pretty well and the overall charla went really well!
It is nice to be getting out there and practicing presenting in front of people other than our health program, who we are now all comfortable presenting for. And practice is just what we´re about to get. We leave tomorrow morning for our first tech trip, and my group is giving 4 or 5 charlas over the week, covering the topics of hygiene, nutrition and chronic illness prevention with ages ranging 8-adult. We have 3 separate charlas prepared (in my group of 3!) and now just need to practice and go give them! It will be fun to get away from Tumbaco for the week and get even more comfortable with presenting information to strangers. We´ll see how it goes!
Hello to everyone at home - sounds like everything is going great there! Happy early birthday, Mom!
¡Besos a todos!
Kerry
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
So much to learn, see and do!
¡Buenas Tardes!
The last week has been both exciting and exhausting with a lot happening each day! We are two weeks through training, now into our 3rd of 11 weeks and there is still so much to learn, so the days are packed with information.
We have started our cooking classes within the Community Health program where we learn traditional Ecuadorian foods and how we can modify them to keep them traditional yet improve the nutrition. Last week we learned how to make mañestra (lentils with onion, garlic, broccoli and spinach), tilapia, patacones (double fried plantains - ok, not too healthy, but still delicious!), and a typical salad. The meal was delicious! I was telling my host family about what I had learned and they thought it sounded delicious. Being a typical meal from the coast, it isn´t something they normally eat, so I told them I would make it for them. My 13-yr-old host sister and I made it yesterday for my family and some extended family for a birthday celebration. After grocery shopping and 4 hours of cooking, we had a large and tasty meal, which everyone loved!
Last week we also started our gardens, which is another part of our nutrition objective. We made three garden beds, then planted carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, green peppers, cilantro and camomille. During the tech session we also learned how to create worm beds with California red worms to decompose organic matter more easily than creating compost piles. We learned how to make boxes to plant seeds before transplanting, then how to transplant both vegetables and trees. We worked in groups for all of it and have to maintain our gardens for the next 7 weeks to harvest our veggies. We each got to plant our own tree, however, so I have my very own weeping willow growing in the Peace Corps compound :)
On Wednesday of last week we made our first trip to Quito to visit the Peace Corps headquarters there and get to know the whole staff. The trip to and from requires 3 very, very crowded buses (especially when you try to fit 61 gringos in with the normal bus traffic...) and is a confusing route, but I´m sure that someday I will learn to navigate the public transportation myself (actually by week 6 when we are set out on our own!). After the Quito visit on Wednesday I stayed in the center of Tumbaco to hang with some compañeros, other PCTs. This was the first time I´ve been able to stay and it was fun to get to know everyone better and interact outside of the class/training setting, even if we did break the cultural integration rules by hanging out in a large, loud group in the bodega off the main park. It was a great time!
On Friday we split into three groups for our cultural trips. I went to Cotacachi, a small, rural, indigenous town about 3 hours north of Quito. Although we had to leave at 6am, the transportation there went without a problem, and the bus driver agreed to pick us up the next day and bring us straight home to Tumbaco, so we wouldn´t have to transfer at the Quito terminal. Cotacachi is known for its leather products, so we got to see some neat things in the market at the square. We toured the town for a while, which is actually home to a well-established community tourism program, so nobody was surprised to see a bunch of gringos there. That aspect made it interesting and made us feel a little out of place, but overall it was good. We ate a late lunch on Friday, after travelling for hours then walking around for a few more. Everyone was starving, but my small table of friends was a little less hungry after I found a worm in my potato! We didn´t do a whole lot in Cotacachi, but it was nice to get the feel of a rural town, and the scenery was undescribably breathtaking! At one point we sat on the top of a ridge overlooking huge valleys, mountains, and the volcano Cotacachi. We sat there for a little over an hour, but I think I could have stayed for ever.
We got back Saturday and hung out in town for a little longer before I went home to spend the rest of the weekend with my host family. My family is very sweet and care about me a lot, so I´m having a great time with them! The spanish gets very frustrating at times, but I think our spanish classes are about to increase in frequency, so hopefully I´ll learn a little more quickly. A few other random side notes: I learned how to do my laundry last week, which is not only difficult, but I´m pretty sure I could feel my clothing slowly shredding on the stone that I had to wash it on. We´ll see how long everything lasts with that! Also, I have been lucky enough to not eat any cuy (guinea pig) yet, and I think I´m in the clear with my host family after talking to my host sister about the guinea pigs I had as pets growing up!
Overall, things are going great here. I´m having an amazing time, meeting great people, learning a ton, and doing just what I want to be doing! I miss home and love hearing from everyone, so please keep sending messages!
¡Besos!
Kerry
The last week has been both exciting and exhausting with a lot happening each day! We are two weeks through training, now into our 3rd of 11 weeks and there is still so much to learn, so the days are packed with information.
We have started our cooking classes within the Community Health program where we learn traditional Ecuadorian foods and how we can modify them to keep them traditional yet improve the nutrition. Last week we learned how to make mañestra (lentils with onion, garlic, broccoli and spinach), tilapia, patacones (double fried plantains - ok, not too healthy, but still delicious!), and a typical salad. The meal was delicious! I was telling my host family about what I had learned and they thought it sounded delicious. Being a typical meal from the coast, it isn´t something they normally eat, so I told them I would make it for them. My 13-yr-old host sister and I made it yesterday for my family and some extended family for a birthday celebration. After grocery shopping and 4 hours of cooking, we had a large and tasty meal, which everyone loved!
Last week we also started our gardens, which is another part of our nutrition objective. We made three garden beds, then planted carrots, lettuce, beets, radishes, green peppers, cilantro and camomille. During the tech session we also learned how to create worm beds with California red worms to decompose organic matter more easily than creating compost piles. We learned how to make boxes to plant seeds before transplanting, then how to transplant both vegetables and trees. We worked in groups for all of it and have to maintain our gardens for the next 7 weeks to harvest our veggies. We each got to plant our own tree, however, so I have my very own weeping willow growing in the Peace Corps compound :)
On Wednesday of last week we made our first trip to Quito to visit the Peace Corps headquarters there and get to know the whole staff. The trip to and from requires 3 very, very crowded buses (especially when you try to fit 61 gringos in with the normal bus traffic...) and is a confusing route, but I´m sure that someday I will learn to navigate the public transportation myself (actually by week 6 when we are set out on our own!). After the Quito visit on Wednesday I stayed in the center of Tumbaco to hang with some compañeros, other PCTs. This was the first time I´ve been able to stay and it was fun to get to know everyone better and interact outside of the class/training setting, even if we did break the cultural integration rules by hanging out in a large, loud group in the bodega off the main park. It was a great time!
On Friday we split into three groups for our cultural trips. I went to Cotacachi, a small, rural, indigenous town about 3 hours north of Quito. Although we had to leave at 6am, the transportation there went without a problem, and the bus driver agreed to pick us up the next day and bring us straight home to Tumbaco, so we wouldn´t have to transfer at the Quito terminal. Cotacachi is known for its leather products, so we got to see some neat things in the market at the square. We toured the town for a while, which is actually home to a well-established community tourism program, so nobody was surprised to see a bunch of gringos there. That aspect made it interesting and made us feel a little out of place, but overall it was good. We ate a late lunch on Friday, after travelling for hours then walking around for a few more. Everyone was starving, but my small table of friends was a little less hungry after I found a worm in my potato! We didn´t do a whole lot in Cotacachi, but it was nice to get the feel of a rural town, and the scenery was undescribably breathtaking! At one point we sat on the top of a ridge overlooking huge valleys, mountains, and the volcano Cotacachi. We sat there for a little over an hour, but I think I could have stayed for ever.
We got back Saturday and hung out in town for a little longer before I went home to spend the rest of the weekend with my host family. My family is very sweet and care about me a lot, so I´m having a great time with them! The spanish gets very frustrating at times, but I think our spanish classes are about to increase in frequency, so hopefully I´ll learn a little more quickly. A few other random side notes: I learned how to do my laundry last week, which is not only difficult, but I´m pretty sure I could feel my clothing slowly shredding on the stone that I had to wash it on. We´ll see how long everything lasts with that! Also, I have been lucky enough to not eat any cuy (guinea pig) yet, and I think I´m in the clear with my host family after talking to my host sister about the guinea pigs I had as pets growing up!
Overall, things are going great here. I´m having an amazing time, meeting great people, learning a ton, and doing just what I want to be doing! I miss home and love hearing from everyone, so please keep sending messages!
¡Besos!
Kerry
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Life as a PCT
Hola a todos!
Sorry I haven´t posted sooner, but my internet access is actually more limited than many. I should be able to get weekly access for the next 10 weeks, so I will update then!
We arrived in Quito last Thursday, the night of June second. All 62 of us made it, which apparently doesn´t always happen. When we got to the airport we were immiediately tagged with Peace Corps stickers for easier identification and to expedite our customs and immigration process. We successfully all got our luggage, went through the stops and got to the buses without any gliches. The PC staff was fantastic and was at all the stops along the way to get us through quickly and safely. We then bused to
Tumbaco, which was about a 50 minute bus ride from Quito. We arrived at the PC training center around 9 and were greeted by the whole training staff and a welcome dinner. We then went to our assigned 12 person rooms that were very cute with 6 bunk beds in each. Everyone was exhausted from having travelled since midnight the night before, so we went to bed early.
The training center is an increidble facility recently acquired by PC. It was a run a down and abondoned school that is now home to training. We are just the second group to have training there and the first group to spend the night and the place makes it feel like we are just in a giant summer camp. Friday was a day of safety briefings, medical exams and vaccinations (rabies and hep B for me), paperwork, and introductions. There was also a lot of food and down time to just spend with each other and get to know people better.
Saturday was the day we met our host families! We had a morning session that was a whirlwind introduction to Ecuadorian culture and living with host families. Jeanette, our head trainer, led the session, answered questions, then wished us all a last ¨bueno suerte¨ as we filed up the stairs to the courtyard filled with waiting families. They called the volunteers one by one, then the host family. I haven´t been as nervous as I was standing there waiting to see my family in a long time. They finally called my name about halfway through the volunteers and my host mom came up and gave me a big hug. I collected all of my bags and we set off! We walked for a ways until we could catch a taxi, then drove about 15 minutes to the house. Her son and his family (wife and two young kids) had come from Guayaquil for the weekend to meet me (8 hour bus ride!), and they were very nice. Her daughter Anita, and Anita´s 13 year-old-daughter Cristy were also both there and are great!
We stayed at the house for a few minutes while I dropped my bags off, then immediately left for lunch. We went to some sort of fiesta with a big stage, loud music, lots of people, and food vendors. For lunch I had some sort of pig, which was staring me in the face while they were cutting pieces of meat off for me. That was on top of a wet pile of lettuce and tomatoes, and some Ecuadorian tortillas (like mashed potatoes). All I could think the whole time is that it went against anything and everything I had ever been taught about eating food in other countries, but I survived!
We started training at 8 am on Monday after a 50 minute walk from my house. There are 3 other volunteers in my neighborhood, so we walk to and from training together everyday. There is a bus, but it isn´t much quicker and we all decided we would rather walk along the bike path to get a little exercise before sitting in classes all day! Many of the classes this week were about safety and security, cultural sensitivity, and other introduction classes, but towards the end of the week we broke into more specific groups. Some of the highlights included our first medical session specific to parasites and worms. A lot of people were totally freaked out by it, but I figure there is no point in worrying until it happens (which they almost guaranteed it will to all of us), and then take it from there. Knock on wood, I haven´t been too sick at all yet!
I am in the Programa de Salud, which we have had a few technical sessions for so far. Our goals and jobs during service have changed from the invitation I received, so I will now be focusing on either nutrition and food security or hygiene and water sanitation, or both. Although I was really excited about the child and maternal assignment I originally had, it is all so interconnected that I will still be working tons with children and families. As for the food security part, we are starting our own gardens next week to learn how to create vegetable gardens. In conjunction with that, we are taking cooking classes to teach how to cook balanced meals from foods we can grow when we get to our sites. It should be great!! I think I was preliminarily pushed into the nutition site because of my work little bit of experience in the Dominican Republic, which I´m thrilled about. The other great thing is that we all learn everything within the health group, so we have a foundation of knowledge for anything we may find when we get to our permanent sites.
My spanish comprehension is definitely improving, although I still have doubts about every beig able to speak well. I placed into an advanced language group for training, so classes are challenging but also interesting and will hopefully help me learn more quickly! My host family is also great about the Spanish and I feel like they will probably be the key to me being able to learn more quickly.
That´s about all for now - I am just in the city center getting ready to walk home with one of my volunteer neighbors after a day of conducting preliminary assessment surveys in the nearby town of Puemba. The days of training are long and exhausting, so I´m going to take advantage of having a Saturday afternoon off to rest! I loved getting to read comments from people and want to keep hearing from home - I´m absolutely loving everything here, but still miss all of you!
Besos a todos!
Kerry
Sorry I haven´t posted sooner, but my internet access is actually more limited than many. I should be able to get weekly access for the next 10 weeks, so I will update then!
We arrived in Quito last Thursday, the night of June second. All 62 of us made it, which apparently doesn´t always happen. When we got to the airport we were immiediately tagged with Peace Corps stickers for easier identification and to expedite our customs and immigration process. We successfully all got our luggage, went through the stops and got to the buses without any gliches. The PC staff was fantastic and was at all the stops along the way to get us through quickly and safely. We then bused to
Tumbaco, which was about a 50 minute bus ride from Quito. We arrived at the PC training center around 9 and were greeted by the whole training staff and a welcome dinner. We then went to our assigned 12 person rooms that were very cute with 6 bunk beds in each. Everyone was exhausted from having travelled since midnight the night before, so we went to bed early.
The training center is an increidble facility recently acquired by PC. It was a run a down and abondoned school that is now home to training. We are just the second group to have training there and the first group to spend the night and the place makes it feel like we are just in a giant summer camp. Friday was a day of safety briefings, medical exams and vaccinations (rabies and hep B for me), paperwork, and introductions. There was also a lot of food and down time to just spend with each other and get to know people better.
Saturday was the day we met our host families! We had a morning session that was a whirlwind introduction to Ecuadorian culture and living with host families. Jeanette, our head trainer, led the session, answered questions, then wished us all a last ¨bueno suerte¨ as we filed up the stairs to the courtyard filled with waiting families. They called the volunteers one by one, then the host family. I haven´t been as nervous as I was standing there waiting to see my family in a long time. They finally called my name about halfway through the volunteers and my host mom came up and gave me a big hug. I collected all of my bags and we set off! We walked for a ways until we could catch a taxi, then drove about 15 minutes to the house. Her son and his family (wife and two young kids) had come from Guayaquil for the weekend to meet me (8 hour bus ride!), and they were very nice. Her daughter Anita, and Anita´s 13 year-old-daughter Cristy were also both there and are great!
We stayed at the house for a few minutes while I dropped my bags off, then immediately left for lunch. We went to some sort of fiesta with a big stage, loud music, lots of people, and food vendors. For lunch I had some sort of pig, which was staring me in the face while they were cutting pieces of meat off for me. That was on top of a wet pile of lettuce and tomatoes, and some Ecuadorian tortillas (like mashed potatoes). All I could think the whole time is that it went against anything and everything I had ever been taught about eating food in other countries, but I survived!
We started training at 8 am on Monday after a 50 minute walk from my house. There are 3 other volunteers in my neighborhood, so we walk to and from training together everyday. There is a bus, but it isn´t much quicker and we all decided we would rather walk along the bike path to get a little exercise before sitting in classes all day! Many of the classes this week were about safety and security, cultural sensitivity, and other introduction classes, but towards the end of the week we broke into more specific groups. Some of the highlights included our first medical session specific to parasites and worms. A lot of people were totally freaked out by it, but I figure there is no point in worrying until it happens (which they almost guaranteed it will to all of us), and then take it from there. Knock on wood, I haven´t been too sick at all yet!
I am in the Programa de Salud, which we have had a few technical sessions for so far. Our goals and jobs during service have changed from the invitation I received, so I will now be focusing on either nutrition and food security or hygiene and water sanitation, or both. Although I was really excited about the child and maternal assignment I originally had, it is all so interconnected that I will still be working tons with children and families. As for the food security part, we are starting our own gardens next week to learn how to create vegetable gardens. In conjunction with that, we are taking cooking classes to teach how to cook balanced meals from foods we can grow when we get to our sites. It should be great!! I think I was preliminarily pushed into the nutition site because of my work little bit of experience in the Dominican Republic, which I´m thrilled about. The other great thing is that we all learn everything within the health group, so we have a foundation of knowledge for anything we may find when we get to our permanent sites.
My spanish comprehension is definitely improving, although I still have doubts about every beig able to speak well. I placed into an advanced language group for training, so classes are challenging but also interesting and will hopefully help me learn more quickly! My host family is also great about the Spanish and I feel like they will probably be the key to me being able to learn more quickly.
That´s about all for now - I am just in the city center getting ready to walk home with one of my volunteer neighbors after a day of conducting preliminary assessment surveys in the nearby town of Puemba. The days of training are long and exhausting, so I´m going to take advantage of having a Saturday afternoon off to rest! I loved getting to read comments from people and want to keep hearing from home - I´m absolutely loving everything here, but still miss all of you!
Besos a todos!
Kerry
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Ecuador, here we come!
It feels like it has been a long journey so far, yet the real journey is just about to begin! The application process to get into the Peace Corps began 1 year ago today as I am now ready to head for Ecuador for my 27 months of service! The process was long, including a lengthy and detailed application, an interview with my recruiter, many medical and dental forms, another interview with my placement officer, and finally my invitation to serve, each step having much waiting between the next. Now, as I am just hours away from leaving for Ecuador, I think it was all worth it.
The last month has been particularly hectic with trying to finish school, pack for 27 months and say goodbyes to all my family and friends. The packing was quite challenging, only being allowed 2 checked bags totaling 100lbs and 2 carry on bags. After many frustrating repacks with help from my mom and dad, I finally managed to fit everything I needed into 65.5lbs and more gallon-sized Ziploc bags than imaginable! I am even more pleased with my packing job since I’ve arrived in Philadelphia for staging and seen the amount of luggage some of the other volunteers are bringing – I would not want to be carrying any more than I have right now, but many people used up the entire 100lb limit.
I arrived in Philadelphia yesterday, meeting a few of the volunteers. Today we had registration to turn in all of the paperwork, then training to discuss Peace Corps goals and core expectations, along with our aspirations and anxieties for our time in Ecuador. There are 62 trainees in my group, including volunteers in community health, HIV/AIDs , youth development and ESL. I am a community health volunteer and was told in my invitation that I will be focusing in child/maternal health, reproductive health, and environmental health, although I don’t know anything more than that at this point. It was fun getting to meet so many new, diverse people, many of whom I think will become good friends. I am the only volunteer from Colorado, so I will work hard to represent CO well :)
We are now in a waiting phase, making last minute packing changes and final phone calls before leaving the country. Since we are such a big group, we are leaving for JFK airport with plenty of time to spare, which means we leave at 1:30am and don’t arrive in Quito until 6:00pm, so it will be a long day. The Peace Corps Ecuador staff will be at the airport to meet us and we will immediately get on buses to go to Tumbaco, a city about 1 hour outside of Quito. We are spending 2 nights in the Peace Corps training center in Tumbaco to do our health vaccinations and initial training about how to live with host families, etc. Our host families will then meet us at the training center on Saturday and we will spend the weekend with the families we will live with for the next 3 months. There are some nerves about what to expect, but for now everyone mostly seems very excited to get to Ecuador and begin the training and work that many of us have only imagined and speculated about for so long. Ready or not, here we go!
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