Welcome to my office

I know it probably seems like all I do is have fun crazy adventures but, that´s because I tend to only blog about the out of the ordinary things in my life. Then, the other day while I watched a neighbor climbing around barefoot on bamboo while building an open air meeting place at my reserve I thought, hell, my ordinary day things aren´t so ordinary for my friends and family in the states, especially those that sit in offices all day, work on this thing called a computer (that I am currently trying to make do what I want it to do) and crave the outdoors. So, this blog is about my office.

The majority of my projects during my service have been with the Lalo Loor Dry Tropical forest reserve. My counterpart, The Ceiba Foundation for Tropical Conservation, has put me in charge of the Environmental and Tourist Center for the reserve. This includes a beautiful round yellow building that I have filled with tourist information, flora and fauna facts and pictures, conservation tidbits and some interesting stuff about tropical marine life. Basically, I take the foundation’s ideas and try my best to put them into reality. So far, so good. All of my work really has paid off and on September, 11th we officially opened the center and hirer a local employee. Maria is from Tabuga, is super willing to learn and is right now training under me. It all seems silly sometimes that I have arrived at this point where I am training someone to do a job that I just started doing one day. I had some background training with the Peace Corps but mostly, it was all about personality, adapting, being creative and desire. Now, what I was doing for the reserve created a job here and I am happily helping Maria learn everything I have learned and try to be as chipper, creative and friendly as possible. Basically, she gets to learn to be me, but cuter, with better Spanish and she gets paid.

Now that I am slowly handing over my responsibilities to Maria I can really get to the juicy stuff, which in my office means design an environmental education plan for the county, train Maria to do the environmental education activities, work with my buddy Máximo to be a informational and dynamic trail guide and hopefully get hundreds of kids frolicking through the forest throughout the next year. A lot of it is fun and games but atleast I am getting stuff done. And, I don´t want to rub it in, but I love my office.

In addition, I do a lot of stuff within the community. I teach English and sex education in the high school. I helped start a community bank, we recently passed $1,200 in the box (literally, a box) and have held bingos and raffles to make more money. My other projects include an association that is working in leadership and social action in the region as well as helping on a biological corridor project with Ceiba, the Ministry of Environment, the local government and local land owners. Not to mention, I am writing an environmental education manual with two other PCVs and continue my overly-rewarding work with teenage girl’s leadership camps. The next one takes place in the entrance to the Amazon outside of Tena in November.

Sometimes I imagine myself in another kind of office and maybe I´ll be there some day. For now, I love my office and I love my work. As much fun as all my adventures have been, what makes me happiest is being in Tabuga, living my work and doing the best I can with my best friends, see below, Maximo, Bigote (means mustache in spanish) and I are our lunch break.

Roommates United in Ecuador Part II.... Tabuga

For those who have had the incredible opportunity of visiting Tabuga, I am sorry to say that Carmen's week in Tabuga tops all. In March when Carmen was attentively watching ticket prices I had mentioned to Carmen that sometime in the month of September fall the fiestas of Tabuga. Apparently Carmen has good Karma because her trip dates were perfect allowing us to spend a week in Tabuga, working, playing soccer, dancing and just living the life. Entertaining, captivating details follow:

The fiestas of Tabuga this year were planned by a Tabugan who recently returned from Spain with big hopes of putting Tabuga on the map. His new 'modern' ideas learned from Spain led to a 6 day full schedule of local traditions, futbol, gambling and a huge dance. Carmen and I missed day one in order to white water raft which was definitely a good choice. Day two we arrived after an overnight bus and I went to work on my environmental center well Carm got her beauty sleep.

The center is doing incredibly well. After it's inaguration in June I have been working to get it ready to be full functional to open it and put a local employee as the receptionist/welcome person etc. This all gotten taken care of just fine and Carm and I really got the last minute details in place for the big opening Thursday, Day 4 of the fiestas. The girl who is working in the center is 23 and studying at night in the University in Jama. She has a 'husband' and a kid and is super PILAS and awesome. I plan on writing a blog about my work so that you all know how much I do work and that it isn't a party all the time but in short, this Environmental Center has sucked out all of my energy and creativity and to have it now open is a huge success in my Peace Corps service, plus, it was cool for Carmen to help out.

Enough about work, the fiestas are all about playing and you should see Carmen dominate indoor. Indoor is played outdoors on a concrete slab and it´s huge here in Manabí. Everyone in Tabuga is still talking about Carmen and her sweet indoor skills. Highlights from the soccer match include a Tabugan shooting off a gun, 4 times, in celebration of one of Carmen´s goals. Luckily I had warned Carmen about this and she didn´t dive to the ground in fear like I did the first time it happened with me...where do the bullets land? Also, my favorite, was when Carmen schooled a girl, breaking her ankles (figurtively), scored a goal and upon celebrating running towards mid-court a teethless neighbor of mine, in a intense burst of enthusiasm grabbed Carmen´s arm and ran with her in celebration. The ultimate weird indoor experience was definitely the disputable red card. After the ref made the call that the girl from the other team grabbed the ball with her hand while on the ground in the box (not disputable, always a red card), the men in town stormed the court. The men from the neighboring town weird so mad, everyone was yelling. All the girls,those of us playing, moved to the side. Poor Carmen just stood confused wanting to finish the game while I took the opportunity to talk about feminist stuff. For example, why were there a bunch of men yelling when all of us just wanted to play. Then, we realized why, they all had bet mad cash on the outcome of the game.

THe overall indoor highlight was the championship game where Carmen dominated scoring 4 goals and then I chipped in with one perfectly arched left footer to win the game. Gringa RUE domination... very nice.

Besides fútbol Carmen and I enjoyed watching card tournaments, getting drunk with the old men, teaching some locals college drinking games, getting dressed up and dancing the last night and of course the inhumane treatment to a chicken. The Tabugans burried a chicken in the ground up to it´s neck, blind-folded teenage girls, spun them around, handed them a machete and gave them three tries to behead the chicken. It was ludicrous. The best part being when the 4th girl succeeded I took off running and screaming in fear. With embarassment I crouched down to the ground only to see Carmen out of the corner of my eye doing exactly the same thing. All the people who had been eagerly watching the horrific murder of an innocent chicken were turned, watching the gringas run in honest fear and discust. Just mark that up on the list as a HUGE cultural difference.





















In order for Carmen to get a full Andrea lives in Ecuador experience, Carmen and I took Friday night off to party in Canoa. It was a blast and included good fresh sea food, happy hour specials, reminising about Alex Crosby and la uña de la gran bestia, a shot of strong caña alcohol that is left to ferment for 3 months with a scorpion, centipede and maryjuana. I think Carmen liked it.



















After the dance that had people in Tabuga dancing until 7am, literally, Carm and I took a bus to Quito, spent our last R.U.E moments together and departed at the airport. I then headed back to Tabuga on a nightbus.

Where in the World is Carmen?

SHE IS WITH ME!!!!!!!

After 1.5 years of not seeing Carmen, I was worried... is she blonde? Does she wear 3 inch heals and suits? Does she talk like an adult? Is she tall?

No, no, no etc. Carmen is the same, entertaining, enjoying life and my buddy. Imagine, 4 years together in college and reunited in Ecuador.... amazing.

Currently Carmen and I are in Quito after having some great adventures in Quito, El Chaco and Tena. Tonight we are heading to the T to the Buga!

Real quick shout out for TRINITY.... my good friend from NH, met here in Ecuador and my life friend... drink some good beer, eat mexican food and cheese and say hello to NH for me! You will be missed and wrapped around in all of my one upping stories. Especially those that involve going to Columbia, coming back over the border and ending up at Pablos' grandmother's house.

Besides just getting to spend time together and laugh a lot here are the highlights of the last few days.

1) Mitad del Mundo - Middle of the world - Yes, Carmen and I traveled to the middle of the world and there lies a line, painted on the ground about 100m off from the equator. And on this line lies a monument and around this line a bunch of stores and resturants with eager employees waiting for the tourists to come. "If you build it they will come" was the strategy Carmen imagined they used for the planning of this place but really, no one is coming. So, the middle of the world feels like a deserted DisneyLand, without the cool rides.

2) Playing tourists in Quito... stops included...The virgin angel, with strength enough to tame a dragon. She is a statue overlooking old town Quito. We also did some arts and crafts market shopping and churches.

3) Duke v UNC... okay, not really, Ecuador v Bolivia... but we got equally into team spirit and Carmen almost cried with genuine excitement. For those of you who don't know Carmen she is a kick butt soccer player and soccer aka fútbol remains a big part of her life. SO, when we realized the Ecuador v Bolivia game was happening in Quito saturday, we scratched ziplining off our schedule and put in Fútbol. It was a blast and Ecuador won 3-1. Unfortunately, Carmen and I were in the bathroom during two of the 3 goals and the attendent suggested we stay in the bathroom so that Ecuador could win by a bigger margin, Carmen and I opted to watch the game and had a blast.





4) From this spectacular event Elliot, Trinity, Ryan, Carmen and I dragged Carmen to the bus terminal, she was tired from Jet Lag (read between the lines, 2 hour time difference?), and headed to El Chaco, East of Quito towards the Amazon. The bus ride alone was a highlight with some classic lines from Carmen. For example: FRIED CHICKEN ON MY FACE (refering to the KFC we saved her) and GOD IS ABOUT TO THROW A CURVE BALL AT US IN 15 Seconds (not sure what she was refering to) when I did not agree, Carmen revised GOD IS ABOUT TO THROW A CURVE BALL AT YOU (finger point at me) IN 10 SECONDS, later she claimed that FRIED CHICKEN IS GOD's CURVE BALL and therefore she had INCREDIBLE FORESIGHT, I JUST DON'T KNOW WHY, IT'S INCREDIBLE. Her foresight was in hindsight of my foresight of knowing she would want fried chicken on her face.





5) Can we say second wind? After a trip to the middle of the world, a world cup qualifying fútbol game and God's curve ball we landed in El Chaco. At first we weren't sure if we could rally, but, oh we rallied. Until 4 am. The night involved a lot of Carmen speaking English to this cute Ecuadorian and him responding romantically in Spanish. After 2 hours of hanging out with him Carmen told me she thought he wanted to come rafting with us, which is funny, since he was our rafting guide and had been trying to tell her since introductions were given. When he invited her to go home with him her response, in her own language was: Yeah, I am really excited for rafting tomorrow too! The poor Ecuadorian remained confused as Carmen walked away after clearly accepting the invitation. They were the most romantic couple I have ever seen that couldn't understand a word they were saying to eachother. Dancing, latenight food and randomness landed us at 4 am, bed time 5:30am, wake up time 7:45am... efe.





6) Rafting. Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness. Amazing. Elliot and Jeff who raft often even said this was one of their best runs. We opted for the longer course and really dominated it. Not to mention jumping off rocks 50 feet up and making sugar cane juice along the way. Amazing.

Yes we are somewhere in that big splash of water, aka rapid... can you spy a helmet or paddle?

7) Monkeys, Monkeys, Monkeys. Last night we booked it to Tena only to get a yummy pizza dinner and a good nights sleep. Our plan was to go tubing (tubbing according to local guides in English). Tubbing got cancelled because of dangerous river conditions but even monkeys don't leave the rain forrest when it rains.





And here we are again, halfway through the trip. So much goodness has passed and only more awaits. Let's see what curveballs God throws at us for part II.... maybe the old wrap around.





over and out

R.U.E.

Roommates United in Ecuador

Returning to Reality

I have chills writing this email. Partly due to the air conditioning in the internet place. I swear I leave here with a cold everytime, I am so used to living in tropical heat. But, mostly, my chills come from the feeling I get talking about Tabuga. Tabuga is my home now and it is my reality. After vacation in the Galapagos, party time in Canoa and relaxation in the PentHouse I returned to Tabuga weary of the reality I live in. As always, Tabuga suprised me and today I love Tabuga more than ever, I love that it is my home and my current reality. I respect that it isn´t always going to be my reality but I have embraced it with all my heart, and in return Tabuga has embraced me. The chills continue...

Saturday evening I returned to Tabuga sleepy or should I say passed out on the bus. A neighbor had to wake me up. I could hear the music blaring from the farside of town, an awful techno-cumbia echoing through the hills surrounding Tabuga. I knew I had to find the energy to go, all of Tabuga attends the fiestas and this was for the school. Each grade has a little king and queen dolled up to represent their classmates. I couldn´t miss the photo opportunity and honestly, I missed the people of Tabuga. So, I Ecua-showered (threw water in my hair and on my face) and headed with my Conmadre (mother of my godson) to the fiesta. To be honest, this fiesta was a little dull and I wasn´t the only one without energy. The presentation of the queens was adorable and after one extra-long Ecuad-dance with my godson I returned home. That night I went to sleep with a big smile. I had just spent time with so many good friends and then, back in my home I was happy, people were happy to see me and I felt fully content.

In the middle of the night I woke up in the darkness unsure about where I was, I had recently been sleeping around (haha) Ecuador and I muttered to myself... I am home... and with a childlike contentment feel asleep in my arms.

Sunday I woke up and did some work on my dying laptop. Just like heat and humidity get to old people, my computer wavers in the Ecuadorian coast. Then, I had one of the most tranquilo days of my life. With my Ecuadorian Mom, Dad and brother Angel, I walked the 3 km to visit my god-daughter. The mother (my conmadre) is 19, pregnant again, for the third time, with a third man, with whom she is not with, again. She lives with her Aunt who has the biggest heart in the world and cares for everyone. My pregnant conmadre, Maria, has had an awful pregnancy. She was just bleeding for a full month. The doctors in the area couldn´t tell her what was wrong and told her the baby was dead. As soon as the news reached me I sent $20 and told her Aunt to take her to Bahia (where the PentHouse is) because there is a good hospital there. Turns out the baby is fine and the visit to the hospital saved her and the baby. I don´t really know what was wrong because the Aunt didn´t understand. What they understand is that Maria and the baby are fine. Being a woman of science, I wonder how fine the baby is and wonder if bringing the baby into the world is actually a cruel joke from god rather than a blessing. They don´t want the baby and are trying to give it to someone, not sell it, gift it. The situation is depressing and heart wrenching and with this in mind I went to visit my god-family.

I got there and my little 18month old god daughter ran to me with open arms. Her cousins and older brother all followed. Soon I was surrounded by dirty little kids and I was in heaven. All of the negative feelings I felt during the walk melted away. The most amazing thing to me in the world right now are children. Children who have holes in their clothes, destented bellies, no decent bathing and often no parental love, these children amaze me because they seem to have the biggest hearts and give the best hugs. Attention, hugs, playing and care can transform a sad little girl into a princess and I get to give this to so many kids. People here always remark ¨Look, Andrea doesn´t have any kids but knows how to care for them better than most mothers¨. Children for me are the little energy that keep me going. Children whose mothers are irresponsible, father´s are non-existent and opportunities seem limited. Making a child like this giggle is an incomparable feeling.

And so, I spent my Sunday. With my Ecuadorian family, my god-daughter and kids everywhere. The aunt killed a chicken for us for lunch. This is a tradition here in honor of important guests. My Ecuadorian Mom and brother are the god parents to the little boy, my father and I god parents to the little girl so this was important. A chicken must be sacrificed. Right in front of my face. She twisted the neck about 5 times and just snapped it with an artistic experienced hand. No blood was shed and later, this chicken made a delicous soup. While the adults ate at the table the kids all huddled around on the floor eating. I drank juice that I knew would kill my stomach later, made with water out of the river, not boiled, not treated. After I relaxed in a hammock with the kids pushing me side to side, climbing, giggling kids. The airness of the bamboo house kept the temperature perfect, the lighting just right and so, I dozed off a little bit until the walk home. I couldn´t believe the photo opportunities that I missed this happy Sunday, I hope my words do it justice.

Arriving in Tabuga, work called and on my little trip to the center of town I found everyone I needed to talk to. Everything was going so well, so happily and in this air of good energy I ran into a good friend of mine, I would say one of my few really good female Ecuadorian friends, Geomira. I was holding her beautiful baby, talking business with the cook from the reserve. When I went to drop the baby off in her house Geomira handed me a pretty blue devil blue ring. I was obviously confused until she showed me hers and explained, rings of friendship.

As I headed back to my house, my godson and brothers joined me and admired my ring. My Sunday was complete, full of family and friends. As I went to sleep I thought to myself, the only Sunday in the world better than this Sunday would be going to sleep in the arms of a true love. But, hey, life is about timing and a spinster´s life seems to be the best for me... for now...

Lots of love and contentness (a word I made up because I am not very good at English right now.. Commonly used is the word contentment)

HUGS
Andrea