After leaving my chilly home in Chibuleo, I got to enjoy
some Colorado summer for the first time in a few years! I spent a wonderful
month at home, full of visits with family and friends and just soaking in the
Colorado sunshine and beauty.
During Liam and Jamie’s wedding parties, I got to see a lot
of family (both local and from out of town!) and good family friends. It was a
fun and joyous occasion to celebrate the marriage of two people who are perfect
for each other. It was so nice to have Darcy there too – it was the first time
the three of us have been together since I left for Peace Corps 2.5 years ago!
Once things settled down after the wedding party, Carlos
came to visit. He saw Colorado for the first time, met Liam, Jamie, extended
family and a lot of friends, and got a little taste of where I come from. We
did all sorts of touristy and Colorado-y things, including the Denver Zoo,
Botanic Gardens, Rockies game, Sky Sox game with fireworks, Garden of the Gods,
Air Force Academy, State Fair and rodeo, Red Rocks Canyon and of course the
outlet mall. It was an amazing week having him there and getting to know more
about my life and the people I always talk about.
I spent my remaining two weeks in Colorado doing lots of
shopping and hanging out. It was so nice to be home and not feel completely
rushed, but rather enjoy everything about my time there. It was even easier
coming back to Ecuador this time since I enjoyed being home for so long,
knowing I will be home again shortly for Christmas, and looking forward to
starting everything in Quito.
So far, Quito has been all I had hoped for and more. I live
in an absolutely beautiful apartment with Shannon and Kristin, the two other
PCVLs in Quito. It is a 4-bedroom place for the three of us with a big kitchen,
dining room and living. I have my own balcony off my room that allows me to
look out over the city and see the volcano Cotopaxi. The apartment is 25
minutes walking from the office, 5 minutes walking from a huge park and mall,
and about 15 minutes down the trolley from my counterpart. It is so nice to be
independent, creating my own schedule, making my own food and just living how I
am used to.
My work as a Peace Corps Volunteer Leader is good. I work in
the office 3 days a week and really like my two bosses (one who is with me in
Quito and one who is in Guayaquil). My work consists of calling and checking in
on volunteers, holding cluster meetings for the volunteers in the two provinces
I am responsible for, making newsletters and bulletin boards, developing
training sessions, doing site visits to volunteers in the field and any other
jobs that pop up.
Apart from my PCVL responsibilities, I am working with a new
counterpart 2 days a week. My official counterpart is Sister Ruth, a nun with
the catholic organization of Caritas. She is in charge of the health portion of
the organization and we are currently holding Saturday trainings for community
leaders from around Quito. Sister Ruth provides the spiritual, religious health
training and I give talks about hygiene, nutrition and HIV prevention. We have
only had our first meeting so far, but it went well! When I am in their
building I have my own little office with a computer and supplies and everyone
who works there is incredibly kind. There
are a lot of international workers, so people from Italy, Mexico, Argentina and
more. It is a great environment to work in and the organization is well
founded, so there is plenty of work to be done.
I am certainly kept busy between my work with Peace Corps
and Caritas, but I am enjoying them both immensely and still have time for
myself. I have been back to visit my host family once and have spent most
weekends in Ambato with Carlos and his family. We have lots of visitors passing
through our apartment as other volunteers travel to or through Quito for
various reasons. We have already decided to host Thanksgiving dinner, which
will be made complete with pumpkin pie from the pumpkin I brought back with me.
It is a lot of fun having roommates, including Shannon’s new puppy. I couldn’t
be happier with my decision to extend for a third year into the city and I
think this is a great transition from my two rural years with Peace Corps into
whatever comes next.
I hope everyone is doing well at home – I see that the cold
weather is moving in, which I’m looking forward to over Christmas!
Un Abrazo,
Kerry
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