Getting to know Zhoray

I finally spent more than a full week in Zhoray! I now have a better understanding of what goes on here (or doesn’t) during the different days of the week, what the daily routine is of many of the people, and I am slowly getting more used to life here.

I got my first real taste of what the Peace Corps promised us would be an emotional roller coaster – between a bad 24-hour bug and continued miscommunications and language barriers, there were some moments of frustration, but I am now healthy and my Spanish definitely seems to be improving!

I am now in Azogues on Saturday after learning last weekend that almost the entire town leaves on Saturdays, so it is like a ghost town here until late afternoon. Sundays pick up a lot more and much of the town is outside playing sports and socializing, so Saturdays will also be my day out and Sundays a good opportunity to get to know more people!

The weather has been miserable – it rained and was freezing cold for the first 3 weeks I was here. They assured me that it was unusual weather and we really are entering the “warm” season soon, which I hope is true! The last two days have been promising because the sun was out and shining bright, so hopefully that will last. The rain also makes it difficult to do laundry, so I haven’t done it yet. Tomorrow will be my laundry day, and between the washing stone and the mound of laundry that I have awaiting me, it will likely be my only Sunday activity. Luckily I will be alone in the house, so no critical eyes will be watching my poorly developed laundry skills!

I spent my week helping out in the subcentro again. They’ve been teaching me a little more as time goes on, so I now get to interact with the patients more by greeting them and getting their charts ready. I’ve also learned how to take blood-pressure, pulse, weight and height and I regularly get to weigh the patients. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s way more than I have been doing! I will be starting English classes in the school this Monday, which I’m very excited about and also nervous for. Unfortunately MacKenzie won’t be in town Monday, so I have to jump into it alone. The kids around here are all great though, so I don’t think it will be too much of an issue. This week I’m also going to start with English classes with the subcentro staff (and any adults from the community who are interested), along with work in the medicinal garden. We have a meeting with the group of women health volunteers, so I’m excited to get to meet them and see where that will be going. My other task during the days is to work on developing activities to make the health charlas in the schools more interactive, which is much of what we did in training, so I know it is something I can do! Other than that, I’m still just working on getting to know more people in the community, practice my Spanish and learn about the life here.

I met another PC Volunteer on Friday because she happened to be passing through town during the Friday market on her way home from fieldwork. She seems really nice and is one of the two cluster coordinators, so next weekend they will be throwing a cluster party in Cuenca as a welcome party for me and Britney, which should be a lot of fun!

The Friday market is the most exciting day in Zhoray because people come in from all of the communities to sell goods, get medical attention and just hang out. This is my one day to be able to buy any fresh food I need for the week, so I was able to stock up on fruits and veggies. The family is gone on vacation this weekend, so I get to cook for myself, which I’m really excited for! We have a neat Peace Corps cookbook that is designed for Ecuador, so it’s full of easy recipes with foods that are available locally. I’ve been looking through it a lot and definitely plan to learn to cook during my time here!

Nothing too big happened this week, it was mostly time to learn more of the little nuances about the culture and beliefs here, which are VERY different from those at home. It is certainly going to take some more time to get accustomed too, but it always keeps things interesting! While nothing exciting happened, things are still going really well and I’m loving my time here. I’m looking forward to working more and continuing to integrate, but I’m also adjusting well to Ecuadorian time, so I don’t feel any real sense of urgency J.

A few quick updates from the bus ride into Azogues this morning - sometimes standing out and being a gringo definitely pays off, such as when the creepy bus driver called me a queen, but moved a bunch of stuff so I had a seat on the completely full 2.5 hour ride! I was even more glad that I was sitting up front when shouts starting to come from the back to pass back bags as various people got sick behind me. I am still scared to travel on the roads because of the landslides, such as today when the fare collector jumped off the bus to move a giant rock that we could not pass over before more fell...all the little stones were tumbling our way, but we made it no problem. Always an adventure!!

I hope all is well at home – sending my love from Ecuador!

Kerry