Not everything has been easy going, fun, or enjoyable during
the year, but I am happy to say that I am still here and feeling great about
things. I reached some of the lowest points in my life with the loneliness,
insecurity and humility, but I have learned a lot about myself and others
through these times. Some of the “worst” times during my first year:
Living in Zhoray, the electricity went out for the second or
third time that week, but this time everyone was saying that there were major
issues with the electrical lines and the electricity wouldn’t be restored for a
few weeks. When there are 12 hours of darkness a day, this is a daunting
thought. With that in my head, I went up to bed early only to find that the
roof had leaked a lot of thick, nasty brown liquid directly onto my bed. The
difficulty of washing sheets on the stone and knowing my newly clean sheets
were dirtied again was also daunting. I
remember talking to my parents, upset by all of this, just to get off the phone
for the lights to come back on…
I know there were coral snakes in the area where I lived,
but I was lucky enough to never come across one myself. One Monday while I was
giving classes in the school, there was a large commotion and the kids were
extra hyper when I walked into the 4th grade classroom. I asked them
what was happening and they couldn’t be more excited to tell me that Nayeli had
spotted the coral snake under Erika’s desk. Since Nayeli spotted it, she got to
keep it. Luckily for me it all happened just minutes before I got in there, so
the (baby) coral snake was captured and being passed around in a coke bottle
for everyone to look at.
Just a few days after having to move out of my host family’s
house in Zhoray, Cora escaped from the Subcentro and ran away. I was already
feeling really badly about how things were going in the community and with the
move, Cora was about the only friend I had left, so I went everywhere I could
to look for her. Everyone told me not to worry and that she would come back,
but after several different threats of different people stealing her, I wasn’t
reassured. It of course all worked out, Cora had just been confused and not
understood that we had moved out of the house because she went running right
back to the terrace that she knew.
Katrina visited me in my site in Zhoray, so my host family
made a special meal of guatita for us: intestines. It is a specialty for them,
and a horror for us gringos. Katrina, having been vegetarian before coming to
Ecuador, couldn’t bring herself to eat it. Knowing how offended and weird the
family got around food and how accustomed I had gotten to choking anything down
(cow udder, pig liver, stomach and intestines being some of the more
interesting), Katrina shoveled a little onto my plate each time the family
wasn’t watching. Peace Corps Volunteers have a special bond and we have all
learned to suffer for each other and take one for the team. Hopefully that will
never again include intestines for me.
Those are a few of the bad experiences I had during the
first year, but in retrospect, none of them ended too poorly and it could have
been much worse. Sure, there were some low points, but there were many, many
more positive aspects. Some of the best parts of my first year:
Cora. My family at home, my Peace Corps friends and I were all
a little unsure at first whether it would be a good idea to get a dog with all
the added responsibility, but it quickly became clear that getting Cora was one
of the best decisions I made in Zhoray. There were so many times where I had
nobody to talk to, nobody to spend time with, and no way of contacting anyone
outside of the community that Cora gave me company and love, for which I am
forever grateful. I guess it was a pretty good tradeoff: I saved her from
getting poisoned and she saved me emotionally, so it was a great friendship
from the start. She is no longer my “little” Corita, but she is still cute as
can be, absolutely loving her freedom and friends here in Chibuleo.
Peace Corps friends have been an incredible part of the past
year and I have definitely formed friendships that will last a lifetime. There
are so many things that happen in daily life here that are hard to explain and
even harder to understand when you are not experiencing them, but all of the
PCVs here understand and we can talk and laugh about them all the time. They
are a much needed support system, good escape, and just an all-around great
time. I am even luckier now that I am living near Shannon and Orrin, two of my
best friends here, because I get to see them a lot and we always have a wonderful
time together.
Nayeli, my little host sister in Zhoray, was one of the
cutest, sweetest people I have met in Ecuador and a good friend who I will
never forget. One of the best moments so far in my service was chatting with
her. I had moved into the subcentro and she still came to visit whenever she
could and spent as much time with me there as she was allowed to. One day we
were sitting in the kitchen and she was sitting across from me talking when she
suddenly got very serious. I asked her what was wrong and she told me, “I don’t
know what to do. I always thought I wanted to be a police officer, but now I
think I want to be a volunteer.” It is these moments when I understand why I am
here.
Chibuleo is one of the best overall parts of the year. Now
having been here for 3 months, I still love the community, the work, and my
host family. The trainees who came today were all in awe of what an incredible
life I have here and just kept saying that they hope they end up in a community
like mine. It helped that they were here on the sunniest, warmest day I’ve had
here yet in Chibuleo, but I’d agree that I’m pretty lucky. I am getting to know
more of the kids at the foundation and working on more and more projects with
them. Even though I still confuse the 4 Johnathan’s and the 3 Doris’, I am
getting better and we typically work really well together. I am excited for
summer classes when they come for full days because we will be able to do even
more involved activities without the rush to finish so they can get to their
homework. I am still spending a lot of time with the host family, whether it is
at the foundation, at home, or at the soccer fields all day Sunday. They are
wonderful, generous, caring people and I couldn’t be with a better family. One
of the trainees asked me today if I was going to move out and I caught myself
laughing because the thought had never even crossed my mind! Aside from all the
people and projects being wonderful, Chibuleo is also just gorgeous. I am
surrounded by famous and beautiful mountains and volcanoes and I get the chance
to walk around and enjoy the beauty a lot, especially on the sunny days.
All of these are the reasons why I love the Peace Corps and
my life here in Ecuador. Each day is a new experience and I am constantly
learning new things about myself and others. I have grown a lot in the past
year and have changed some of my approaches to life, daily activities, and
interacting with others. I have learned to be even more patient because things
never go right the first time here and plans constantly change at the last
minute. With the patience, I have also learned to be much more tranquila and
flexible with things. It’s not the end of the world if I miss a bus, if someone
walks into a meeting an hour late (hey, at least they showed up!), if there’s
no water or electricity, if the forms take an extra day (or month) to get
signed and approved, etc. It is a different pace of life and I have learned to
accept that. I have become much more confident in myself, especially gaining
confidence to ask questions or ask for help without feeling embarrassed or shy.
With that, I have learned that people are generally really good hearted and
eager to help however they can. I have also become braver with trying new
things, including new foods, activities, and talking to new people, but also
braver with saying no to things and standing up for what I believe, value, and
shouldn’t compromise. Most importantly,
as Peace Corps promised us during training, I have learned to laugh and not
take things too seriously. My problems are really not that bad compared to
things that other people have to face daily all over the world. Life is too
short to take so seriously, so even when I make silly mistakes or do something
humiliating (things that occur frequently when living in a different culture
with a different language), it is so much easier to laugh than to get upset. Usually
everyone else is laughing at me, so may as well join in, right?
So those are some of the good and bad parts of my first year
in Ecuador, and a lot of what I have learned. Now, just a few more of the more
unforgettable moments J
When my parents came to visit in Zhoray, Zoila picked us up
in Azogues so that we didn’t have to bring all of the luggage and Cora on the
bus. Cora had been at the vet for a few days while I was on vacation and I
don’t think they fed her enough because she was starving when I got her, so I
gave her food before we left. We were about 15 minutes from Zhoray when Cora
got carsick in the front with me and vomited into her bowl. That was funny
enough for us, that of course she got sick right before we got there, but then
Zoila pulled over, opened her door, and got sick herself. Thanks Cora, for that
little chain reaction. And Mom and Dad, for doing your best to stifle the
laughter from the back seat.
A bunch of us got together in Guaranda for Thanksgiving last
year, our first big holiday away from family. Rebecca and I both got to
Guaranda the night before and we were hungry after both having had a long day
of travel. Tom, who was hosting everyone in Guaranda, took us to the only place
open at 10pm on a Wednesday night and we got hamburgers from a street stand.
Just looking at them we knew it was a bad idea, but we ate a little bit anyways
because we were hungry. I only got through about half of mine before throwing
it away, too weirded out by the grey color and odd taste. About half an hour
later we were sitting in Tom’s room waiting for him to shower when I looked at
Rebecca and told her I thought I was going to be sick. She looked at me and
said she was also sick, so we grabbed bags and just sat next to each other
vomiting on the bed between bouts of hysterical laughter, knowing we had
brought it upon ourselves and that only in Peace Corps would you find two
people laughing in such a situation. That night was the sickest I have been in
Ecuador – lesson learned.
In Spanish, the verb for being bored is aburrarse. I was
working with the two educators at the foundation in Chibuleo and with some of
the kids on the mother’s day presents when one of the girls turned to Martha
and said that she was bored. Martha was concentrated on the box she was making
and told the girl “no se aburra,” which is “don’t be bored.” Well, I understood
it as being “no sea burra,” pronounced the exact same way, but means “don’t be
a donkey.” I was smiling and trying hard not to laugh when Maria Eugenia looked
at me and burst into laughter. Martha finally caught on too, not even realizing
what she had said, but the funniest part for both of them was that the gringa
had caught it first. There was hysterical laughter for several minutes while
the kids all just looked stunned, and the educators continued talking and
laughing about it for the rest of the week.
Just last week, Shannon and I were walking around the center
of Ambato before dinner. We were on one of the main, busy streets when all of a
sudden we look up and there is a man seemingly practicing with sled dogs. The
man was on a make shift bike/sled with a team of what appeared to be huskies
and random other roof dogs. There was another man running in front of the lead
dog, so moving faster than the team of dogs. Nobody else in the streets seemed
to pay any attention to them at all, except for the drivers who only cared
because they were mad that traffic was being held up! There is always something
to see here….
There are so many other unforgettable moments and I will
continue to throw them in as I remember them (since I have been bad about
journaling and actually not done so in about 9 months…). Overall, the entire
year has been unforgettable and I am proud of the remaining 58 volunteers from
OMN 106 – I can’t wait to see what new adventures our next year will bring!
Un abrazo,
Kerry
