Picture Update!

 Mom and Dad in Ecuador :)

 Visiting Chibuleo

 Mom teaching her brownie recipe to the kids at the foundation

 Dad playing with Dalila at the foundation

 Meeting with my KNH boss, Teresita, and my Peace Corps boss, Rebecca

 My dance crew!

 Mom and Dalila!

 Mom crowned ¨Rey Pan¨ the king of bread for our Day of the Departed celebration

 Dad teaching the kids where Colorado is

 Learning the traditional game with tops

 My two families :)

Best buds

Visitors in Chibuleo

These past few weeks have been both busy and wonderful. Mom and Dad came and it was so great to spend 10 full days with them in a few parts of Ecuador. We spent a couple of days in Quito just hanging out, then went to the Ambato area where we had some adventures and they got a peak into my life. We spent two days at the foundation in Chibuleo, which was perfect! My parents met all the teachers at the elementary school where I work, my boss and coworkers at the foundation, my Peace Corps boss, and my host family. We had a lot going on with the Day of the Dead celebrations, which was also fun to have them there for.  I was so happy to have the chance to share my life in Chibuleo with them – it is hard to share all the realities of things, so now they had the chance to make sense of all that I have told them!

Everyone in Chibuleo was so excited for the visit and talked about it for weeks ahead of time and continue to talk about it weeks later. My parents were a big hit with the kids, my mom teaching the cooking group how to bake brownies and my dad repeatedly pointing out where Colorado is on the huge world map mural. They got to share in my annual visit from my Peace Corps boss and see more of the Peace Corps process, then we had a special lunch for Day of the Dead with guaguas de pan and colada morada, the typical food for the day. My kids and I performed our dance for them, then we spent time hanging out with the host family. I am still so thrilled that they came and my two worlds are a little more intertwined now.

From there, my parents and I went to the beach! We went to Puerto Lopez, but it is after the whale season. We did get to do an incredible bird-watching hike along a river where we saw about 40 species of birds within 2 hours, including one of the rarest endangered hummingbirds of Ecuador! We stayed at a lovely little hostel where we spent time on the balcony by the ocean of laying in the hammocks on the beach. The weather wasn’t hot, but it certainly beat the cold of Chibuleo and the first snow in Colorado!
We spent a few more nights in Quito where we met up with Darcy before my parents headed back to the States. Even though the time flew, the trip was perfect and I had such a great time! I also know that time will continue flying, so I’ll see my parents again before we know it.

Once my parents left, Darcy and I came back to Ambato for election night (whew!), and then spent a few days in Chibuleo. Darcy seemed to really like Chibuleo, got to practice her Spanish a lot with the kids, and everything went really well! My host family was wonderful with all of the visitors, which isn’t surprising because of how sweet they are. They continue to ask me when Darcy will be back, so hopefully we can work something out!

On Saturday we went to a big parade in the city of Latacunga called the “Mama Negra.” It is an annual celebration that basically just showcases the wealthiest people in the city, but they throw a huge fiesta for everyone. The parade lasted for about 4 hours and there were tons of bands, dances with people in traditional attire, elected queens and more. There were tons of groups dressed up with bundles of herbs, sticks and bottles of alcohol who acted as the healers. They selected spectators of the parade, pulled them into the street and did a “traditional cleaning” with some chanting and spitting of alcohol onto the person. Of course being gringas, we were selected many times. The parade was one of the best fiestas I’ve been to so far!
On Sunday I went to my first professional soccer game here with Carlos and his family. It was Macara vs. one of the teams in Quito and it was a lot of fun. Even though Macara lost and they are all die-hard fans, it was still a good time! I hung out in Ambato until Monday evening because Ambato was in fiestas, so there was no work on Monday. There was another parade in Ambato, but I was paraded out after the Mama Negra, so I just watched a little bit on TV.

I am now finally back at work where thing s will settle down and normalize a little bit. I have a lot of work to do, but am excited for it all. After my meeting with my Peace Corps boss, I am going to try to refocus a little bit in the training of teachers rather than only working with the kids. This will hopefully help to try and make some of my programs and lessons more sustainable after I leave. The tricky part is finding people who are interested and want to spend the time working with me. We will see!

Everything else is going really well – my host family continues to be wonderful and I am so happy to live here. I love spending time in Ambato too, getting away and spending time with others. The holidays are coming up and I am looking forward to Thanksgiving with some of my Peace Corps family (even though we are celebrating the Saturday after – I will be bringing REAL pumpkin pie thanks to mom and dad’s gift of canned pumpkin!). Darcy and I will spend Christmas together and New Year’s is always exciting in Ecuador, regardless of where I end up. While I still miss home, the holidays won’t be nearly as lonely this year being surrounded by people I love.

I hope all is well with everyone there!

Un abrazo,
Kerry

Photo Update

Darcy and me at the Basilica in Quito

 Cora making friends

 On the clearest of days, the volcanoes of Karyhuayasco and Chimborazo are visible!

 Presentation of my work at the MidService Conference

 The harvesting of the radishes!

 Nutrition Charla on the day of the visit from a Washington DC boss

Re-enactment of the three little pigs during storytime!


These are a few quick photo updates - hopefully there will be more to come soon!

Un Abrazo,

Kerry

Fully Engaged

The school year has begun and is flying by! I can’t believe it is already mid-October – scary and exciting all at the same time. Just a month ago we had our midservice conference at the training center in Tumbaco. All remaining volunteers from my training group were there and we spent the week reflecting on our first year, preparing for our second year, and sharing our successes, failures, and project ideas with everyone. It was wonderful to see everyone again and really empowering to learn about all the different projects people have going. While we may not be making a huge difference on an individual level, there are a lot of amazing things happening as a whole in Peace Corps Ecuador!

Leaving the conference, I was inspired to get things going here in Chibuleo, and they started going fast! I have now fallen into a somewhat regular routine. On Mondays and Thursdays I spend 5 hours at the high school giving lifeskills and sex ed classes to the three 8^th grade and three 9^th grade classes. We are only a few weeks in, but I have found it to be really meaningful work. I did an evaluation during the first class and the lack of sex ed knowledge is horrifying. I am hoping to at least put a dent in it and most importantly, create a space in which the kids can ask questions without fear or embarrassment and get the information they really need.

I spend 6 hours on Tuesday mornings at the local elementary school that is just outside of my front door. I am the profesora de cultera estetica, which is essentially arts and crafts! So far we have learned symmetry, texture, figures, and origami butterflies. It is really a lot of fun, the kids love it, and since they’ve never really had art classes, I can do basic things so I have enough of a skill-set for it. If anyone has ideas for arts and crafts with very limited resources, PLEASE send them my way! I always loved arts and crafts as a kid, but I realize that weekly projects are a lot and that I am going to quickly run out of ideas…

I agreed to help with English classes one hour a week, so I spend an hour on Wednesday mornings with the 7^th grade class at the elementary school. I teach them a few basic things, then help them with the homework they have from their actual English professor. They begged me to help since the kids from my school tend to be far behind when they enter into the high school. Although I know very little about teaching English, I have at least been able to help with begin with basics that they are lacking. After my English class I go up to the foundation where I have a Kichwa class for myself! One of the educators at the foundation is tutoring me in Kichwa so I can have a basic foundation of the native language spoken here in Chibuleo. I am taking an hour of class on Wednesday and Friday mornings. So far it is going well, although it is nothing like any Germanic or romance language, so it is slow learning for me.

On top of all of this, I spend every afternoon at the foundation with the kids. There are a lot of plans for things this year, but it has been slow starting at the foundation. Since it is the beginning of the year, there are a lot of things to be done and organized, which unfortunately doesn’t leave me as much time as I would like with the kids, but hopefully that will change in the next few weeks. One thing I have been doing with them is reading! The kids didn’t have a single storybook at the foundation or any interest in reading, but that is changing. I convinced the foundation to buy us 15 simple little fairytale books and I have storytime with the younger kids after they finish their homework. They now all go upstairs right after lunch to do their homework quickly so they can participate! The other day I made little paper ears and noses and some of the kids acted out the 3 little pigs while I read it. They loved it, so hopefully I will be able to put together more activities with the stories. I am also on the hunt for simple books to help the kids who are behind grade level learn to read better. Hopefully they will become book enthusiasts for life!

There are lots of exciting things happening right now. First, Darcy is in Ecuador! She came last week and I have gotten to spend a little time with her since. Carlos and I went to get her at the airport in Quito, then we spent the next day in Quito showing her around a bit. We didn’t have a lot of time, but we went to the Basilica, which I LOVE and neither of them had ever been to. It was a clear day, so we had a beautiful view of the whole city from the top of the clock tower. From there we took Darcy to the airport because she went to Cuenca to start language school, but we went to visit her there this past weekend too. It seems like she is doing well, enjoying it so far. I’m excited for her to visit Chibuleo so she can see what my life and work is like here!

Mom and Dad come to visit in just 8 days!! I am so excited to see them, take some vacation time, show them Chibuleo, and just spend a wonderful 10 days together. There is so much to do and see in the tiny country of Ecuador, but they will mostly be spending time around the Chibuleo area with a quick jaunt to the beach J

I also got a call last week that Liam and Jamie got engaged! I am so, so happy for my favorite big brother and can’t think of anyone better to have in the family than Jamie. I know they will have an incredible life together, and I can wait for my next trip home for the wedding!

That’s all for now – things are going to continue to be busy until, oh, next May. I couldn’t be happier with the work and life here though, and I am glad to be busy at last! I hope all is well with everyone in the States.

Un abrazo,

Kerry

Freezing on the Equator

Sorry it has again been so long since I blogged, but a lot has been going on here. During the beginning of August I went to the jungle on a medical brigade, then I went to a workshop in Quito, had medical exams, and have been planning for the new year.

The jungle was a very incredible experience. I stayed in a town called Misahualli, about 45 minutes outside of the big city of Tena and 5 hours from Ambato. I met up with the Timmy brigade, which consisted of 4 medical providers (2 doctors, a physician’s assistant and a nurse), 4 pharmacists, several nursing students and technicians, three college students and translators. The brigade went out into different communities each day and provided a full day of medical care, treating up to 150 patients each day. The patients went through triage, saw the medical provider, then received their medications from the travelling pharmacy. After a full day of work, we then went back to the headquarters in Misahualli to enter patient data into the new computer system and count pills/restock the pharmacies for the following day. It was a lot of work, but also very fun and rewarding. A lot of people were treated and helped in short amount of time and I met a lot of neat people on the brigade. It was also fun going into the jungle for the first time and seeing some of the indigenous culture in the jungle.

The trip was a lot of work, but also some touristy fun. We got to ride a canoe down the river to an animal rescue center, eat traditional meals, and enjoy the warm climate of the jungle. I at a fried grub for the first (and maybe last…) time! I also stayed with the group for the last two days as they went to Otavalo and Quito. It was fun to be with them, I helped with the shopping in Otavalo, and we went on a really neat tour in the historic center of Quito where I learned a lot more about the churches and buildings I have seen but never known much about. The Timmy brigades come every 2 months, so I’m hoping I can fit a few more in during my service!

After the Timmy brigade I came home for 2 days, had a Cora pregnancy scare, then left for the Brigadas Verdes workshop at the training center in Tumbaco. The good news is I don’t think Cora is pregnant. The spaying wasn’t a complete success as she still went into heat, but successful enough as a method of birth control.

The Brigadas Verdes was a workshop to help us design youth groups specifically geared towards environmental protection and awareness. Some of the sessions were focused on engaging youth while the majority were focused on environmental issues in Ecuador and how we can help decrease the carbon footprint here. We learned a lot about water conservation, forest conservation, and recycling. The last day we spent learning different recycled crafts that my kids will be excited to continue with this coming year. It was a really well presented workshop and I think all 13 of use there left feeling a little more inspired with some things we can do back in our communities.

Some of stayed after the workshop and spent a little time in Quito, which is always fun. From there I went home for a few days and then right back to Quito for my 1-year medical exam. Other than some asymptomatic amoebas, I have stayed healthy all year! We did our medical exams in groups, so I got to hang out with the other 5 in my group who I haven’t seen in a long time. Seeing them made me really excited for our mid-service conference coming up next week where all 53 remaining people in my omnibus will get together for a week in the training center for some more in-service training, debriefing, refocusing, etc. It will be interesting and wonderful to see everyone! I haven’t seen some of the people who live far away since our reconnect last November, so it should be fun.

The volcano, Tungurahua, was very active for a week last month. Tungurahua is the volcano nearest me, very visible on clear days. I am in no danger when it is active, no ash came my way this time, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Some of the days were very clear except for the plume of smoke billowing out of the volcano, and a few of the nights we could clearly see the lava spewing out the volcano from the roof of the house. It was a bit eerie during the height of the activity because there was constant rumbling, like claps of thunder but on perfectly clear days. Some of the eruptions were so strong that they rattled the windows, even from this far away! It has calmed down now, but it added a little excitement for a while.

Since the volcano erupted, it has been bitter, bitter cold here. We had one absolutely gorgeous day on a Friday two weeks ago, the most beautiful day I have had yet here in Chibuleo. That afternoon the clouds moved in with rain and have been here ever since. The sun has been out for about 2 hours during one morning in the last 10 days. It is an almost constant drizzle, freezing wind, and just plain cold! I am back to the multiple socks, two pairs of pants, and 5 thick layers on top, plus the hat, scarf, etc, and even then I am freezing. It has been good practice for my baking since it is so cold in the foundation. I have made something every day so that we have an excuse to turn on the oven and heat up the kitchen a little more, where we all huddle during the days. Even the natives here are talking about how cold it is, especially for this time of the year, and are blaming it on the volcano. Whatever the cause, I just hope it passes SOON! Another reason I’m excited for mid-service: thaw out in the valley for a week.

Tomorrow is the parent meeting for the beginning of the year, then Wednesday the kids come back! It has been a nice enough break, but I am more than ready to have them back and have more things to do with my days. I have been spending my time planning and am excited for the things I am going to do with my different groups, especially my garden group, dance group, cooking group and environmental group! I am also waiting for things to get going to see if I can work a little more with the group in the high school, but still need to plan that with my counterpart and the director of the high school. If that doesn’t work out, I’m going to try to start a youth group with the jovenes in my community, hopefully using the foundation, but inviting all of the older youth who don’t regularly come to the foundation.

On Thursday a few Peace Corps official are coming for a visit to see the work I am doing in Chibuleo, including one woman coming from DC, so hopefully everything goes well! From there I leave Saturday to meet up with people for mid-service, then come back for a few normal weeks of work before Darcy and my parents come! The visits are coming up soon now and I couldn’t be more excited!

I am still playing soccer with my host sister, Amparo, and Sunday’s are a great family soccer day. Playing is a lot of fun and I really, really enjoy all the women on the team. The host family is still fantastic and I love living with them. Dalila is growing quickly (now 2 years old) and talking a lot more. Soon there will be another little baby with one of the brothers who lives in the community over, so hopefully he will visit frequently too! Darcy is planning to spend 10 days with me in Chibuleo, so I am really excited for her to know the family here, them to know her, and have her do some fun things with the kids at the foundation. My parents are also coming to visit for a few days, which everyone is really excited for! They have never had PC family visit here before, so everyone is looking forward to it, me included!

Those are the updates for now. I have some pictures that I will try to post as soon as I get fast enough internet for that. I hope everyone is doing well at home – I miss you all!

Un abrazo,

Kerry

Beaches and Ballenas!

I just got home from an incredible beach vacation in Puerto Lopez with Shannon and my host sister Pauli! Even though it took us 16 hours to get there, 12 to get back, and we were only there for 2 days total, it was well worth it! We spent Sunday out on a boat whale watching, going to Isla de la Plata, and snorkeling, then relaxed on the beach all day Monday, happy to be out of the cold! The whales were unbelievable. On the way to the island we saw a pod of 8-10 adult humpback whales (ballenas) VERY close to the boat. The guides told us they were all males following and courting one female, which made it exciting for us because we saw several of them breach, and lots of tails poking out of the water. At one point the whales swam under the boat and came up right alongside us! Even the guides were excited about it, so I think we got very lucky! On the island, Isla de la Plata, we got to see many blue footed boobies, enjoy the strange mating dances, and hear their funny calls all along the hike. We also saw hundreds of frigit birds (fargatas) in a favorite mating site on the island, with the males throats all puffed and red to attract the females. From there we went snorkeling off the island where we got to see a little bit of coral a few neat, big, colorful fish! The way back was even more exciting when we came across a momma and baby whale. The guides said the baby was very young and he was just loving life. He leapt from the water every few minutes, which was quite the site right near the boat!

We spent almost the entire day on the beach Monday, which I’m regretting with the sunburn now, but was quite wonderful. There were 6 other volunteers there, so we hung out with them a lot, which was nice because I hadn’t seen them since November. I also got to see Kirsten, a good friend of Kathleen’s from Baltimore who I met a few times at CC. She was visiting Ecuador with a tour, so we hung out with her group a bit.  Eating lunch on Monday, I ran into an old friend who I grew up with and haven’t seen in about 5 years, so it was funny to randomly run into her on a beach in Ecuador!

We decided to take a night bus home on Monday instead of losing another 16 hours of travelling during the day, so we left Puerto Lopez at 7pm and got into Shannon’s site at Tisaleo at 7am. We spent the morning resting in Tisaleo, then went into Ambato to get our nails done, do some shopping, and enjoy our last day of vacation!

I went to work at the foundation today where I made apple cobbler with the kids, which was a huge hit! The baking group has been the most successful part of summer classes because the kids all love it, and they enjoy having a little dessert after lunch! We have made cookies, carrot cake, tres leches cake, and now cobbler. Hopefully I will be able to continue with the baking group once regular classes begin again in September, although it’s harder when the kids have homework that they have to get done. Tomorrow I am only going to the foundation to check in for a few minutes before I leave to catch a bus to the Amazon. I am going to meet up with the medical brigade in Misahualli tomorrow night and begin working with them Friday, which I’m looking forward to. It should be a great experience!

Tomorrow is the last day of classes, then the foundation closes for the rest of August so they can do some repairs and have a little time off before regular classes begin again in September. I can’t believe how quickly time is flying – we are just 2 weeks away from completing one year of service, which means there is only 1 year to go! I’m looking forward to our mid-service conference in September to see everyone again, then in October my parents are coming for another visit!

I am keeping busy with extra activities since things have been slower at the foundation, but things are always hectic there. Last week we took 36 kids on a trip to Chambo, just outside of Riobamba, to do an exchange with another KNH foundation in the area. It was a sports day, so we had a young boys’ team, a girls’ team, and a teenage boys’ team. There was of course of election of the sports princess, and then my group presented the traditional dance. All of the bosses from the KNH office in Riobamba were there and loved the dance, so that was good and my counterpart was happy. All of this happened before lunch, and after lunch all the kids went swimming (because we were at a little ranch). I was elected to go into the pool to help with the kids since neither they nor the adults know how to swim. Luckily it all ended well and it was a lot of fun just hanging out with the kids!

I’m still working on my embroidery, so hopefully next time we have to present the dance, I will be wearing my own blouse! We’ll see…might not get it done that quickly.

Cora is doing well – someone commented on how fat she was the other day, but she is really just well fed, unlike many of the dogs here. Her ego was only a little bit hurt. She and Precioso are still best buds, and I’m so happy to have a family that doesn’t mind taking care of her for me when I’m gone. It is so much less stressful leaving when I know that she is in good hands, getting fed, and playing freely all day!

Those are the updates for now! Things are going very, very well and I will have more updates about the jungle in the next few weeks. I hope everyone at home is doing well – I miss you all!

Un abrazo,

Kerry

Busy days in Chibuleo

I have once again been bad about posting a blog, but I think it is a good sign that I don’t have that much time to write since moving to Chibuleo.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for me here, so I can’t imagine how everyone is feeling back home in CO. All I got about the Waldo Canyon fire were Facebook posts and photo updates of the beautiful landscape of the only home I have known being completely destroyed. I am happy to hear that it is 100% contained now, but my heart goes at to all of you affected by the fire.

Just a few days after the worst of the fire, I got news from home that a dear, dear friend of mine passed away while working in Mexico City. Mando was a great friend all through middle school and high school, an outgoing, funny, friendly, brilliant person who will be missed by all those who knew him, all over the world. It is hard to be away from home during such times, but I have had to keep going with life here, and I have seen just what an amazing support group I have, both with my Peace Corps friends, my family here in Chibuleo, and all my family and friends back home.

We have started our “cursos vacacionales” at KNH, which are like summer classes for the kids now that they’re out of school. This is our first week and it is definitely what I expected, but it is still going well. The kids come for classes and lunch from 9am-2pm each day, and I find myself much more exhausted after these days than normal days when I work 9am-5pm! I think it is because they kids don’t have homework, so they are there and expected activities all the time, so it is a full day of spending time with the kids. While it is tiring, it is also a LOT of fun! My summer courses include health, cooking, art, dance, environment, garden, and theater classes. The others are each doing a class or two each, but the majority of the work is mine. It is frustrating at times, but it’s also great because I love working with the kids. There are only a few kids during the summer classes (about 15 come each day), so it is a good group to work with.

There is a girl working at the foundation with me, Vivi, who is a college student doing her thesis/practicals at KNH for a few months. She is 21, from Ambato, interested in public health, and a lot of fun to hang out with! I spent last weekend with her and her family in Ambato because there was a baby shower for her sister, so I helped decorate for it. As a typical Ecua party, the baby shower lasted for about 6 hours, but it was fun and I got to meet a lot of Vivi’s friends. We went out dancing in Ambato, so I got to meet more of her friends and she got to meet my PC friends from the area, so it was a nice little exchange and everyone had a great time. I am realizing how nice it is to know more Ecuadorians, spend more time with them, learn more about different families and cultures, and actually improve my Spanish! Funny how your Spanish gets better when you spend your days talking with people…

I made it home on Sunday in time for the second half of our soccer game (since they called me to see if I was playing 5 minutes before the game started…). I think we are almost out for the season, but it has been a lot of fun and another good way to meet more people. It is also nice to get out and exercise some, especially when the weather is nice! After the game we went back to Chibuleo in time for the end of the fiestas. I am not a fan of the campo fiestas because they are usually the same: the men (and in this case the women too) get way too drunk, they all want to dance with the gringa, the music never ends and it is COLD! I went out for a bit and only had to dance with a few guys, but decided I had enough when I got followed into my house by a drunken man when I went for dinner and my host mom had to chase him out. At least I know they are all looking out for me!

Cora made herself scarce during the fiestas because she is afraid of the fireworks. She is doing well, but I came to the frustrating realization that her spaying was not as successful as I hoped because she went into heat. She is now, however, a true Ecua dog because she is living on the roof for a bit so the perros don’t bother her to death. I’m working on getting things figured out for her, but all in all she is doing well and still cute as can be!

I got my vacation days approved, so I’m headed to the beach with Shannon and Katrina at the end of the month to do some whale watching! I am super excited, and also looking forward to being out of the cold for a few days. I am also looking into the possibility of helping with a medical brigade of American doctors in early August, so hopefully I will know more in the next few days. There are no classes at the foundation in August, but if everything works out then I will be in different projects and workshops for almost the whole month, which should be good!

The rest of my time I am passing in the house with the family or with Shannon. I have started embroidering and the two indigenous women I work with are so excited to be teaching me how to embroider the traditional blouses here in Chibuleo. I am making some progress, so hopefully in a few months I’ll have the collar embroidered and be ready to make my blouse – then I will have my own blouse for the dances!

That’s about it for now. Overall, things are going really well here in Chibuleo, but I am sending all my thoughts and love to everyone at home. I miss you!

Xoxo,

Kerry

Summer in Chibuleo

It has once again been too long since I’ve written, but I think it is a good sign that I don’t have that much time to write since moving to Chibuleo.

It has been a rollercoaster ride for me here, so I can’t imagine how everyone is feeling back home in CO. All I got about the Waldo Canyon fire were Facebook posts and photo updates of the beautiful landscape of the only home I have known being completely destroyed. I am happy to hear that it is 100% contained now, but my heart goes at to all of you affected by the fire.

Just a few days after the worst of the fire, I got news from home that a dear, dear friend of mine passed away while working in Mexico City. Mando was a great friend all through middle school and high school, an outgoing, funny, friendly, brilliant person who will be missed by all those who knew him, all over the world. It is hard to be away from home during such times, but I have had to keep going with life here, and I have seen just what an amazing support group I have, both with my Peace Corps friends, my family here in Chibuleo, and all my family and friends back home.

We have started our “cursos vacacionales” at KNH, which are like summer classes for the kids now that they’re out of school. This is our first week and it is definitely what I expected, but it is still going well. The kids come for classes and lunch from 9am-2pm each day, and I find myself much more exhausted after these days than normal days when I work 9am-5pm! I think it is because they kids don’t have homework, so they are there and expected activities all the time, so it is a full day of spending time with the kids. While it is tiring, it is also a LOT of fun! My summer courses include health, cooking, art, dance, environment, garden, and theater classes. The others are each doing a class or two each, but the majority of the work is mine. It is frustrating at times, but it’s also great because I love working with the kids. There are only a few kids during the summer classes (about 15 come each day), so it is a good group to work with.

There is a girl working at the foundation with me, Vivi, who is a college student doing her thesis/practicals at KNH for a few months. She is 21, from Ambato, interested in public health, and a lot of fun to hang out with! I spent last weekend with her and her family in Ambato because there was a baby shower for her sister, so I helped decorate for it. As a typical Ecua party, the baby shower lasted for about 6 hours, but it was fun and I got to meet a lot of Vivi’s friends. We went out dancing in Ambato, so I got to meet more of her friends and she got to meet my PC friends from the area, so it was a nice little exchange and everyone had a great time. I am realizing how nice it is to know more Ecuadorians, spend more time with them, learn more about different families and cultures, and actually improve my Spanish! Funny how your Spanish gets better when you spend your days talking with people…

I made it home on Sunday in time for the second half of our soccer game (since they called me to see if I was playing 5 minutes before the game started…). I think we are almost out for the season, but it has been a lot of fun and another good way to meet more people. It is also nice to get out and exercise some, especially when the weather is nice! After the game we went back to Chibuleo in time for the end of the fiestas. I am not a fan of the campo fiestas because they are usually the same: the men (and in this case the women too) get way too drunk, they all want to dance with the gringa, the music never ends and it is COLD! I went out for a bit and only had to dance with a few guys, but decided I had enough when I got followed into my house by a drunken man when I went for dinner and my host mom had to chase him out. At least I know they are all looking out for me!

Cora made herself scarce during the fiestas because she is afraid of the fireworks. She is doing well, but I came to the frustrating realization that her spaying was not as successful as I hoped because she went into heat. She is now, however, a true Ecua dog because she is living on the roof for a bit so the perros don’t bother her to death. I’m working on getting things figured out for her, but all in all she is doing well and still cute as can be!

I got my vacation days approved, so I’m headed to the beach with Shannon and Katrina at the end of the month to do some whale watching! I am super excited, and also looking forward to being out of the cold for a few days. I am also looking into the possibility of helping with a medical brigade of American doctors in early August, so hopefully I will know more in the next few days. There are no classes at the foundation in August, but if everything works out then I will be in different projects and workshops for almost the whole month, which should be good!

The rest of my time I am passing in the house with the family or with Shannon. I have started embroidering and the two indigenous women I work with are so excited to be teaching me how to embroider the traditional blouses here in Chibuleo. I am making some progress, so hopefully in a few months I’ll have the collar embroidered and be ready to make my blouse – then I will have my own blouse for the dances!

That’s about it for now. Overall, things are going really well here in Chibuleo, but I am sending all my thoughts and love to everyone at home. I miss you!

Xoxo,

Kerry

The Good, the Bad, and the Unforgettable: One Year in Ecuador

I still can’t believe that a full year has passed here in Ecuador. In some ways it feels like we just arrived, but at the same time things are so much more comfortable that we could have been here for years. The trainees for the new health group visited my site today, which really made it sink in that we are no longer the new, scared, unsure volunteers. While there is still much to learn, a lot has already been learned and we are now the confident, integrated, working volunteers who Peace Corps turns to for teaching the newbies.

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 4^th 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

I am back in Ecuador now, but had a great visit to the US in May! I got home on a Tuesday in time to surprise all my friends at CC for their champagne celebration after the last class of their CC career, which was amazing. While it was hard to keep the visit a secret from them, it was well worth it when I saw the looks on their faces that day on the quad! It was so wonderful to see all them and be there during their important graduation while they have been there for me so much during the past year.

After hanging out with them all of Wednesday, I went up to Denver on Thursday to see Liam, Jamie and the pets! It was so wonderful to have some time just hanging out with them because I haven’t seen them in a year either. I spent the night in Denver with them, then my parents came up to Denver on Friday evening where we went to the Rockies game with the family and good friends Colleen and Brad. It was beautiful, WARM weather, and it felt so at home to be at a Rockies game on a summer night with such important people in my life.

I spent most of Saturday with my parents and doing some of the shopping I needed to do on the visit. Saturday night was the big senior dance at the Antlers, so I went with all the CC girls and their families, which was a lot of fun. We danced the night away and just enjoyed being with each other. I spent most of my time with all my best friends, but there were so many people to see that it was fun to just bounce around and say hi to everyone, catching up with as many people as possible in a short amount of time!

On Sunday we had a BBQ at the house with the extended family. It was the first time I got to see my grandparents, and the only visit I had with my uncle and his family, so it was really nice to see them. I still could not get over how wonderful the weather is in CO and we were able to sit outside in the sunlight until after 6 at night! It was nice to catch up with everyone and hear everything they’ve been doing. It was a crazy time for everyone with all the graduations, birthdays, etc, so I’m just glad we were able to find a time to see all of the family!

Monday was the big graduation at CC, so I went and watched all my friends actually walk. It was great to see them all afterwards and I said goodbye to all of their families who were there. On Monday it sank in that I didn’t really have that much more time in CO, so I went and ran a bunch more errands before Mary came over for a wonderful visit. I caught up with her for a (not long enough) bit and then went for a walk with my mom to visit with Bev. It was such a whirlwind trip, but I happily got to see as many people as I could.

I spent Tuesday in Boulder shopping and hanging out with my mom and Jamie, then Wednesday shopping with my mom all day. I had lunch with my grandparents on Wednesday, which was nice to spend some time just with them. We were at Whole Foods when the Thunderbird show was happening for USAFA graduation, so we got a pretty good view of that too! On Wednesday night I went to dinner with all the girls to say goodbye to them, which was the most fun I had with them, but also bittersweet. I am not very good with goodbyes, but luckily I know that I will continue to talk to them all the time.

After a crazy 9 days in CO, I went to Boston with the family for the NCAA Lax Championships and to see all of the extended family from the East coast. It was a blast hanging out with all of the family, and I got to meet/see some little cousins who aren’t so little anymore! The time passed way too quickly, but it was a great mix of lacrosse, family, friends, warm weather, and the big city of Boston. We spent 5 days in the Boston area before I headed back to Ecuador.

The visit was way too short, but wonderful none the less. Being back in Ecuador now, it is strange to see how different my two lives are, yet how easily I can fall back into either. It made the goodbyes less difficult than they could have been knowing that I was coming “home” to Ecuador and a wonderful family and community who welcomes me and loves me like one of their own. The happy and excited look on my host mom’s face when I walked in the door after my trip said it all for me, and I am inexplicably lucky to have homes in CO and Ecuador, two of the more beautiful places in the world!

Un Abrazo,

Kerry

Where oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

To Riobamba is the answer…Cora got spayed in Riobamba 2 weeks ago and is still there ¨recovering¨ (vacationing…) at my counterpart´s house. My counterpart and her husband were fantastic about helping with getting her spayed and really did all of it: they scheduled the appointment at the cheapest but most trusted vet they could find, they brought me and Cora from Chibuleo to Riobamba in their car, they took Cora to the actual operation while I was at a workshop, and when I got home she was sleeping on a sheet bandaged in pantyhose so she couldn´t get at the stitches, fully medicated and fed. They told me they want to keep her at the house where it is a cleaner and more controlled environment until the stitches are out, which is another week or two. I miss having her around, but I know she is in good hands with lots of company from their husky pup. All I hear is how well behaved she is, how much she likes it there, how much they like having her there, etc, so I ´m a little worried that they want to keep her now, but I know they´ll bring her back when she´s healthy. In the meantime, she is very missed here in Chibuleo with the kids asking daily where she is and when she´s coming back. Even the grandpa was asking me about her the other day, so I think he misses his snuggly little pal too. Peace Corps should consider contracting Cora to teach the trainees about community integration because she seems to be a rock star at it!

In other news, things are still going incredibly well here in Chibuleo! We are finishing up the final preparations for our Mother´s Day celebration on Friday where all of the mothers of the project will come for lunch with their kids, then we are doing some poetry reading, presenting our dance again, and giving them the gifts that we have been working hard on over the last few weeks. The gifts are little homemade boxes with a pair of earrings inside made from the paper beads I taught the kids to do. We made over 100 pairs of earrings in 1.5 weeks…whew, glad it´s done! I think they turned out well though, and the mothers will hopefully like them!

I am finished with my work at the high school for the school year, so all we have left to do is have a little ending party. The kids have been great and I had a lot of fun with it, so hopefully I will do more with them again next year. Since I´m done there, I am going to start going to the subcentro again in a few weeks and probably work there more in the mornings. Once the kids are out of school here, however, our schedule changes at the foundation. The kids will only come Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, but they will be able to come at 10am onwards, so full days with them.

I just heard from Peace Corps and they want to bring the new group of trainees to my site during one of their tech trips, which I´m really excited about! They will be able to help us with tire gardens and practice giving charlas to the kids at the foundation. I will also be able to just meet the new health group and hopefully some of the people who will be moving to communities around Ambato and Riobamba!

That´s about it for now. I´m going on a little vacation next week to see some friends and am really excited to escape the cold of Chibuleo for a bit because it has been horrible lately! The combination of rain, fog, and falling ash from the erupting Tungurahua is not pretty. My computer is broken, which is why I haven´t blogged lately, but hopefully in the next few weeks that will be fixed. Until then, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather in the States!

Abrazos,

Kerry

Good Times, Great Friends, and Fun Adventures!

Hola a todos!

Things continue to be wonderful here in Chibuleo.  Semana Santa was a lot of fun, with only one day of work and the rest of the time to hang out and relax. I took a two-day trip to Otavalo and Ibarra with Shannon, one of the volunteers who I now live near and was great friends with during training. It is so much fun being around so many volunteers, and really makes for a different Peace Corps experience. Shannon and I went and visited 4 other volunteers on the trip and we all had a great time together! We did some shopping in the market at Otavalo and then made the journey back home, which it was! The 4.5 hour bus trip quickly turned into a 9.5 hour trip with Easter traffic, road work, and who knows why else. Overall, however, the trip was a lot of fun!

Easter was very tranquila here. I got home Saturday night, but got sick and stayed in while the rest of the family went to a baptism and after-party. The party lasted until 6am, so the whole family slept until late morning. We had a nice and relaxed brunch, then I headed to the soccer game with Amparo, Pauli and Dalila to cheer on their dad. The community and surrounding area sure are the soccer fans I always imagined in Latin America!

I didn’t work much at the foundation last week because I was still sick on Monday, then my counterpart called me into Riobamba on Wednesday. I went and stayed with her for a few nights so that we could get some work done there for the trimester report that is due next week. It was nice staying with her, and it was a lot of fun because I had plenty of free time to spend with Orrin and his parents who were visiting from the U.S.! I didn’t have any work to do on Friday, so I got to go to Chimborazo with Orrin, his parents, and my host sister Pauli, which was absolutely incredible! We got so lucky on the day we went because Chimborazo was entirely clear and breathtaking. We hitched a ride up to the first refugio, then hiked the trail up to the second refugio, which was at an elevation of 15,000 ft. I got to be in the snow for the first time since arriving in Ecuador, so it was great fun! We made snow angels, wrote our names in the snow, had a mini snowball fight, and ate some of the pure snow of Chimborazo. It was an amazing morning getaway and I am really excited to be near so many volcanoes, great hiking spots, and volunteers who love to see all the natural wonders of Ecuador, so there should be more adventures in the near future!

I came back to Chibuleo on Saturday to hang out with the family and get ready for the big opening day of the soccer league. My host sister, Alba, made all of the soccer uniforms for both the men and women’s teams for Club Caprice. I spent all of Saturday evening in the sewing room watching them work and it is quite something. I’m hoping someday she’ll be able to teach me some basics in making clothing, but for now she is always swamped with different huge orders. The jerseys turned out well, and we were looking sharp for our Sunday debut.

Sunday we went to Juan Benigno Vela, the biggest town of the parroquia, for the big opening ceremonies. All the teams in the leagues were there in uniform and we paraded from the center park to the soccer stadium. There were probably 300 players parading, plus all the family and fans. At the stadium, we stood in formation for about 2 hours as the judges went around looking at the uniforms, mascots, signs, players, etc. There was also the crowning of the Senorita de los Deportes, or the sports princess. My host sister Pauli was our representative, and while she didn’t win, so looked gorgeous. I almost had to be the candidate, but luckily there was a rule saying foreigners were not allowed to participate in the crowning competition. The ceremony was fun and I got to know different people who I’ll be playing with. After the ceremony, the championship game was played for the 40+ league, so we stayed to watch because it was Pauli’s dad playing. His team won, which was exciting, so overall it was a fun and successful day at the soccer field! Our games start next week (I think, or at least soon), which I’m also really looking forward too.

Cora continues to be a cute and fun little troublemaker, hanging out with Precioso and Mr. Pato whenever she can. I am taking her to get spayed this weekend, which I’m sure will go well, but am still nervous about because of horror stories I’ve heard about vets here. I’m taking her to Riobamba to my counterpart’s vet, then staying with her at my counterparts to recover for a few days, so it will be a nice, quiet place for her before coming back to the campo.

This week I will be working with Lila at the high school to finish replicating all of the first taller, receive the third taller, and brainstorm the best way to continue. The vacations of Semana Santa and then my being sick/going to Riobamba put us a little behind schedule, but hopefully the students are still excited to work and we can just pick up where we left off! At the foundation I will be starting my scheduled work with my different groups, including my garden group, environmental group and dance group. I am also planning an Earth Day celebration for the following week, so there is lots to do in very little time, which is wonderful! It is so nice being busy all the time, with work, friends, adventures and play! Life is exciting, fulfilling, and always interesting here and I could not be happier.

Hello to everyone at home – I miss you all and love to hear all the different updates from the States. Happy final block break to all the girls at CC  - I hope it is the best yet!

Abrazos,

Kerry

A Photo Update

Here are some photo updates from my new life in Chibuleo!

                   With my host sister, Pauli, climbing to the 2nd refugio of the volcano Chimborazo

                           The view facing away from Chimborazo with PCV friend, Orrin

                                                  I was so excited to see/play in the snow!!

                                                                   Snow Angels!

                                                 Eating the fresh snow on Chimborazo

                                        View of Chimborazo from my community of Chibuleo

                                       My 1.5 year-old host niece, Dalila, making her tiger face!

                                                   My new arch-nemesis, the family duck

                                      KNH, the foundation I work at, from the community over

                                       Cora with her new best friend #1, Precioso, the family dog

                               Double Trouble: Cora with her new best friend #2, the evil duck

I will have some more updates soon, but things are fantastic and these are just a few glimpses into Cora and my new life!

Kerry

There is One in Every Community...

Hola a todos!

The past week has been full of work, excitement and success! I continue to love my life here in Chibuleo, including the people and the work. I know I continue to say it, but my host family is so wonderful. This past weekend, the two brothers who don’t live in the house came to visit, along with one’s wife, one’s girlfriend, and an adorable 2-month-old. The brothers are both in the military, so had the same weekend off to come visit. It was a lot of fun and a lot going on, always people around, babies crying, and sports being played! It’s great because I feel comfortable with anyone in the family, so can hang out with whoever is around at any given time.

On Sunday we went to the father’s soccer game at a neighboring community. Apparently Sundays are for soccer, so every Sunday someone in the family is playing and others are watching. I may be joining my host-sister Amparo’s team once the league starts up, so it should be fun! Most of the rest of the days we are out on the cement cancha in front of the house playing, so there is always something soccer happening.

Last week the jovenes at the high school replicated the first taller of the series, including the themes of culture, goals for the future, and self-esteem. They were all nervous, but did a great job for the first taller! It was fun to see how much more confidence they had in themselves once the tallers were over and how it helped motivate them to begin working on the next replication! There were of course some difficulties and some things to work on, but I think we were all relieved to get the first one done to know where everyone stands, how they can improve, and how successful they can be with their peers! I’m excited to get back to work with them next week, after Samana Santa!

At KNH, I had sign-up lists for the groups that I’ll be working with and starting. To begin, we will have an environmental group, handicraft group, garden group and dance group. I received a package of awesome science materials to teach the environmental group about the Earth, global warming, etc. from the GLOBE program at UCAR, so it will be fun for the kids to have neat material to work with. With the gardening group, we flipped our first 5 tires to start the gardens. It took us an entire afternoon to cut and turn inside-out the tires, and a lot of kids helping, but we were finally able to succeed! This happened right before vacation, so next week we will go hunting for sticks to give the tires support, line them with the bags, fill them with earth, and begin planting! Once they are planted, I hope to have more nutrition charlas and hands-on meetings with composting, worm beds and more. The kids were really into the tires and my counterpart has already asked if we can flip more before moving to the next step, so I think it will also be a very successful activity!

Last week we had a German madrina visit the foundation to meet her sponsored daughter. It was a short, but nice visit where she went to the family’s home, then we had lunch at the foundation. The final activity was a dance performance for her that the dance group had worked on for the week. I was part of the performance, so I got to dress in the traditional indigenous clothing from the Chibuleo communities and perform with one of my co-workers. It was a ton of fun and the kids were really excited that I danced with them and wore the traditional clothing!

I only had one day of work this week because it is Samana Santa. The kids are all vacation from school, so there aren’t any classes at KNH. We had a Tuesday full of paperwork, but got it all done (hopefully correctly!) and are now enjoying our vacations too! Tomorrow I’m headed to Ibarra with Shannon to visit a few other volunteers for a few days, which should be a lot of fun. I will be back on Saturday in time for the baptism and big party for one of the family’s cousins, then Pauli’s birthday on Sunday.

It is great being so close to Ambato because I can go into the city for just a few hours on any given day, but still get to live the tranquil campo life. Cora is even happier here than I thought – today I went out to feed her and Precioso breakfast and the grandpa who lives in the house behind said that he already fed them both breakfast. He then went on to tell me how great of company the dogs are for him, how he feeds them leftover food whenever he can, and, much to my surprise, how he loves that Cora sleeps so nicely beside him at night! Here I was feeling sorry for her having to be outside at night, but it turns out she is snuggled in bed with the grandpa because he doesn’t mind if the dogs are in his house! The lucky little Cora is living quite the campo life! I feed her and Precioso dog food whenever I go out back, but the other night I was also told that, “no, don’t feed them that, they eat soup for dinner to cut the cold!” My family feeds her soup every night, so she goes to sleep in a warm bed with a tummy fool of hot, tastey soup. Not a bad life!

Cora continues to be friends with my new arch-nemesis. While it was an evil white chicken in my old community, it’s a bitter, mean, white duck here in Chibuleo! I now have to strategize how I enter and leave the house because the duck is always waiting outside for me and just loveees to chase and bite me. Last week I left and it chased me for a solid 20 feet with my pants in it’s quacky little beak. I of course (unsuccessfully) tried to shake it off and run, but it’s surprisingly quick. At least I could provide great amounts of entertainment for the neighbors! They have maybe never seen anything funnier. The next day, I was on the lookout for it and sure enough it was out front, but it was playing with Cora, so I made a safe getaway. At least Cora made a friend out of it…

I am getting more used to the cold, but there are still just some nasty days. We had to take an extra long lunch at work yesterday and just sit in front of the industrial-sized stove to de-thaw before we could continue. It was been very rainy and windy, which doesn’t help an already cold climate! Hopefully my package arrives from home soon – at work in the foundation my fingers are usually stiff from typing in the freezing, so the fingertip-less mittens my mom sent should help. I still can’t imagine what it’s going to be like during the cold season – I may have to plan some vacations then. Luckily, Ambato is also significantly warmer, so I can always escape there to de-thaw a bit.

That’s a quick update for now. I miss everyone at home, but could not be happier with my life here. I hope all is well there, everyone survived the snowstorm, and that warmer weather comes soon for all of us!

Abrazos,

Kerry